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Common Use Cases

Real-world scenarios and examples of using the Entityqueue Form Widget in your Drupal site.

Use Case 1: Featured Content Management

Scenario

A news website wants to feature specific articles on their homepage and category pages.

Challenge

Editors previously had to create an article, then navigate to a separate queue management page to mark it as featured. This was inefficient and increased the chance of forgetting to feature important content.

Solution with Entityqueue Form Widget

  1. Create queues for different feature sections:
  2. "Homepage Featured" (for main homepage highlight)
  3. "Category Featured" (for category page highlights)

  4. "Trending Now" (for timely content)

  5. Editor workflow:

  6. Write article
  7. Check relevant featured queues
  8. Save
  9. Article immediately appears in selected featured sections

Benefits

  • Time savings: No navigation to separate management page
  • Reduced errors: Less chance of forgetting to feature content
  • Immediate visibility: Featured status appears immediately on save
  • Flexibility: Easy to unfeature content by unchecking

Example Assignments

Article Homepage Featured Category Featured Trending Now
Breaking News ✓ ✓ ✓
In-depth Guide ✓
Opinion Piece ✓ ✓
Archived Article

Use Case 2: E-commerce Product Curation

Scenario

An e-commerce site wants to curate product collections such as "Staff Picks," "Seasonal," and "Sale Items."

Implementation

  1. Create product-related queues:
  2. "Staff Recommendations"
  3. "Summer Collection"
  4. "Current Sales"

  5. "Best Sellers"

  6. Product editor workflow:

  7. Add new product
  8. Check appropriate queues:
    • Staff Pick? → Check "Staff Recommendations"
    • On sale? → Check "Current Sales"
    • Seasonal? → Check "Summer Collection"

  9. Save

  10. Frontend displays:

  11. Staff Picks section shows items from "Staff Recommendations" queue
  12. Seasonal carousel shows "Summer Collection"
  13. Sale banner shows "Current Sales"

Benefits

  • Cross-selling: Products can appear in multiple curated collections
  • Seasonal management: Easy to swap seasonal collections
  • Promotional flexibility: Quick updates for sales or promotions
  • Editorial control: Non-technical staff can manage collections

Use Case 3: Blog Category Curation

Scenario

A blog with multiple topic categories (Development, Design, Business) wants to highlight and organize posts by category and importance.

Implementation

  1. Create category and priority queues:
  2. "Development - Featured"
  3. "Design - Featured"
  4. "Business - Featured"
  5. "Recent Posts"

  6. "Most Viewed"

  7. Author/Editor assigns:

  8. Topic-specific featured queues (1-2 per post)
  9. "Recent Posts" queue for all new content

  10. "Most Viewed" if tracking indicates popularity

  11. Results:

  12. Each category has featured section
  13. Recent posts sidebar shows latest content
  14. Popular content highlighted separately

Benefits

  • Topic organization: Readers find content by category
  • Highlight important: Feature key articles per topic
  • Recency: Keep "Recent Posts" fresh and current
  • Popularity: Surface high-engagement content

Use Case 4: Onboarding Content Series

Scenario

A SaaS company wants to guide new users through onboarding content in a structured way.

Implementation

  1. Create onboarding queues:
  2. "Onboarding: Getting Started"
  3. "Onboarding: Basic Features"
  4. "Onboarding: Advanced Features"

  5. "Onboarding: Troubleshooting"

  6. Documentation editors assign articles to progression queues:

  7. "Create your first account" → "Getting Started"
  8. "Understanding dashboards" → "Basic Features"
  9. "Custom integrations" → "Advanced Features"

  10. "Connection errors" → "Troubleshooting"

  11. User experience:

  12. New users see "Getting Started" content
  13. As they progress, next level content becomes relevant
  14. Troubleshooting always available

Benefits

  • Guided learning: Structured progression for new users
  • Progressive disclosure: Content appears at right time
  • Support efficiency: Users find answers before contacting support
  • Reduced churn: Better onboarding = higher retention

Use Case 5: Event-Based Content Promotion

Scenario

A tech conference website wants to manage speaker bios, session descriptions, and sponsorship content.

Implementation

Before Event: 1. Create event queues: - "2024 Conference: Featured Speakers" - "2024 Conference: Training Sessions" - "2024 Conference: Sponsors" - "Upcoming Events"

  1. Marketing assigns:
  2. Key speaker bios → "Featured Speakers"
  3. Training sessions → "Training Sessions"
  4. Sponsor pages → "Sponsors"
  5. Event overview → "Upcoming Events"

After Event: - Archive current queues - Create "Past Events" queue - Move content to historical archive

Benefits

  • Time-limited promotion: Easy to create and remove event-specific content groupings
  • Cross-promotion: Features multiple related content types
  • Historical record: Preserved for future reference
  • Quick updates: Rapid changes during event planning

Use Case 6: Content Versioning and Variants

Scenario

A documentation site maintains multiple versions of guides and wants to highlight version-specific content.

Implementation

  1. Create version-specific queues:
  2. "Documentation: Version 2.x"
  3. "Documentation: Version 3.x"

  4. "Latest Documentation"

  5. Technical writers assign to version queues:

  6. Guides for v2.x → "Documentation: Version 2.x"
  7. Updated guides for v3.x → "Documentation: Version 3.x"

  8. Current version → "Latest Documentation"

  9. Users see:

  10. Content filtered by their software version
  11. Related articles for their version
  12. Migration guides when available

Benefits

  • Version clarity: Users see content for their version
  • Deprecation management: Easy to retire old versions
  • Cross-version links: Guide users through version upgrades
  • Maintenance: Organize content by version lifecycle

Use Case 7: Editorial Calendar Management

Scenario

A publishing company uses queues as part of their editorial calendar system.

Implementation

  1. Create time-based queues:
  2. "Editorial: Week of Jan 1"
  3. "Editorial: Week of Jan 8"
  4. "Editorial: Week of Jan 15"
  5. "Editorial: Queue for Review"

  6. "Editorial: Published"

  7. Planning process:

  8. Content managers assign articles to weekly queues
  9. "Queue for Review" holds pending content
  10. Editors assign to weekly queues after review

  11. "Published" tracks completed articles

  12. Publishing workflow:

  13. Write article
  14. Assign to review queue
  15. Editor reviews and approves
  16. Move to appropriate week queue
  17. Content publishes per schedule

Benefits

  • Planning clarity: Editorial calendar is visible
  • Workflow tracking: See content status at a glance
  • Schedule adherence: Publish on planned dates
  • Team coordination: Everyone sees schedule

Use Case 8: Recommendation Engine Foundation

Scenario

A website wants to build personalized recommendations based on user behavior.

Implementation

  1. Create behavioral queues:
  2. "Tech-Heavy Content"
  3. "Beginner-Friendly Content"
  4. "Video Tutorials"
  5. "Case Studies"

  6. "Quick Tips"

  7. Content team assigns to behavioral categories:

  8. Technical deep-dive → "Tech-Heavy"
  9. Step-by-step guide → "Beginner-Friendly"

  10. Screen recording → "Video Tutorials"

  11. Recommendation system uses queue memberships:

  12. User interested in tutorials? → Show "Video Tutorials" content
  13. User prefers quick reads? → Show "Quick Tips"
  14. User wants case studies? → Show "Case Studies"

Benefits

  • Personalization: Recommendations match user preferences
  • Machine learning ready: Queue data enables better algorithms
  • Editorial control: Humans decide which content goes where
  • Data-driven: Recommendations based on quality curation

Best Practices Across Use Cases

Universal Recommendations

  1. Clear Queue Naming
  2. Use descriptive names: "Featured" vs "Homepage Top Banner"
  3. Include context: "2024 Q1" vs generic "Quarterly"

  4. Avoid ambiguity: "Important" is unclear

  5. Document Queue Purposes

  6. Maintain a queue reference guide
  7. Share with entire editorial team

  8. Update as queues evolve

  9. Regular Audits

  10. Monthly: Review queue contents
  11. Quarterly: Assess queue relevance

  12. Annually: Retire unused queues

  13. Limit Queue Count

  14. Avoid too many queues (reduces widget clarity)
  15. Start with 3-5, add as needed

  16. Consolidate similar purposes

  17. Consistent Assignment Logic

  18. Define assignment rules upfront
  19. Train all editors on guidelines
  20. Review assignments periodically

Next Steps