Manage content externally for use in Management Center

If content management capabilities other than the functionality that is provided by default with WebSphere Commerce is required, WebSphere Commerce can be integrated with IBM Marketing Center. If WebSphere Commerce is integrated with IBM Marketing Center, we can use content from content libraries with Management Center objects.

By default, we can use Management Center to upload and manage files, create meta-tags for content, and associate content with business objects. Content can be associated as attachments, images, text information, and HTML. In this integration, Management Center is changed to include a punch-out window to IBM Marketing Center. We can use the punch-out window to to retrieve or edit content that is created within IBM Marketing Center.

When we select content through the punch-out window for an object, a link to the content in is associated with the object in Management Center. The content is retrieved when the storefront must display the content. The content can be pre-rendered or rendered live when the storefront retrieves the content for display. provides users with rich text editing tools, multilingual support, content pre-rendering, extensive user personalization support, and more content management capabilities that can be used to manage content. users can create content within and assign the content to a content library that is approved for use in WebSphere Commerce. If you have access to work in all Management Center tools, we can select or edit content for any type of Management Center object that can have content associated with it. For more information about IBM Marketing Center, see IBM Web Content Manager 8 Product Documentation.

After content is created in IBM Marketing Center, we can open through the punch-out window from Management Center to immediately select or edit the content. You do not have to wait for the content from to be loaded into WebSphere Commerce before we can associate the content with an object. If WebSphere Commerce is integrated with through the web feed utility integration that was introduced in WebSphere Commerce, content has to be loaded into WebSphere Commerce before we can associate the content with an object. The punch-out integration removes the need for the web feed load, and gives Management Center users the control of content retrieval from for use in Management Center.

We can retrieve content from for the following Management Center objects.
Management Center tool Management Center object
Catalogs tool Category
SKU
Product
Bundle
Kit
Sales catalog
Sales category
Attribute
Marketing tool Marketing content
Attachments tool Attachments
Commerce Composer tool Marketing content

When Management Center is integrated with IBM Marketing Center, we can access the application through a window that opens from Management Center. The process is illustrated within the following image.

Before we can open to retrieve or edit content, users must create the content within IBM Marketing Center. Management Center users cannot create content when is opened through the punch-out window from Management Center. With content created, we can select or edit content in for use in Management Center. The process to select or edit content in is illustrated in the preceding diagram.

For information about using IBM Marketing Center, see the product help that is available when we are working within IBM Marketing Center.


Benefits and capabilities

With an integration between WebSphere Commerce and IBM Marketing Center, users can gain the following capabilities:


Considerations

While this integration provides users with a greater number of options for creating and managing content, there are some limitations and considerations:

Your site administrators can also integrate Management Center with a content management systems other than IBM Marketing Center.


Related tasks
Manage marketing content
Manage catalog assets
Manage attachments