As with any new enterprise software, it can be a challenge at first to understand how all of the different components fit together, and Cascade Server is no different. I know first hand how confusing it can be at times. Even with almost 20 trainings under my belt, I still remember my first month here at Hannon Hill. I had no idea how Cascade worked, no idea what the terms were and no idea how it all fit together.

As Hannon Hill's lead trainer, I work with a lot of people with very different technical abilities. I get to see how people initially interpret all the moving parts that go into building out and publishing a Site. I have experienced 15-year IT veterans immediately pick up the subtle differences between Configuration-level and Template-level Block assignments, and I have encountered student assistants studying Computer Science who struggle with why we write Formats.

During each and every training, I do the best I can to help equip everyone there with the basic knowledge and skills to start using Cascade. It is important to me that everyone leaves with an understanding of what each part is and how they fit together. This desire has led me to put together a few tools to aid me in that quest. From a comprehensive binder of step-by-step instructions in the event that another trainer needs to take over, to a reference guide of basic Velocity syntax and tools that includes example documentation and explanation, I have a few tools at my fingertips to help others.

So here is another one of those tools that aims to help make the transition to using Cascade a little bit easier. We have put together a diagram to help you visualize how assets in Cascade CMS relate to one another. We know that there are more than a few other diagrams out there--shout out to Syracuse University, UC Davis School of Law, James Madison University and Northwestern University--and we are not in any way trying to overshadow what others have done. (In fact, we used Jason Aller's diagram from UC Davis School of Law as a starting point for ours.) We simply think this is another great resource to provide as supplemental material. A screenshot is below and you can download the full resolution pdf.

As time goes on, we are preparing more resources and discovering new ways to enable Cascade users to quickly and efficiently create and manage their content. I would love to hear about any other visual tools that would benefit your organization and invite you to share any that we do not know about yet.