Identifying Gaps

Evaluation of Optimizely CMS 13 during its pre-release phase requires a detailed understanding of the material differences from CMS 12. While the upgrade path within the .NET ecosystem is streamlined, certain functional gaps and environmental constraints exist that technical teams must account for during the discovery and planning phases. These constraints define the boundaries of what is technically achievable before General Availability (GA).

1. Architectural and Environmental Constraints

Project evaluation must prioritize infrastructure alignment. CMS 13 mandates a shift toward a more composable architecture, which introduces specific constraints on how environments are configured and managed.

• .NET 10 Runtime Dependency: CMS 13 is built on .NET 10. Technical evaluation must ensure that build pipelines, developer workstations, and third-party libraries used in the solution are compatible with this runtime.
• Mandatory Service Provisioning: Both Opti ID and Optimizely Graph must be provisioned via the PaaS portal before valid application testing can occur. Evaluation is blocked until these services are active.
• REST API Unavailability: The native CMS REST API is not included in the early pre-release phases. Integrations relying on the established REST endpoints for content delivery or management must be re-evaluated against the capabilities of Optimizely Graph.

2. Functional Gaps in Content Editing and Management

The pre-release introduces significant changes to the editorial interface, most notably the transition from On-Page Edit (OPE) to Visual Builder. This shift results in temporary functional gaps that impact the editorial user experience.

Visual Builder Limitations

Visual Builder replaces the legacy OPE mode, which is disabled by default in CMS 13. During evaluation, note the following constraints:

• Experience-Bound Layouts: To leverage the full dynamic layout capabilities of Visual Builder, content types must be defined as "Experiences." Content not converted to this model will lack dynamic layout features.
• Forms Support: Optimizely Forms are not supported within the Visual Builder interface in the initial pre-release versions.
• On-Page Edit (OPE) Deactivation: Because OPE is disabled, editorial workflows that rely heavily on the legacy side-by-side editing view must be re-mapped to the modern Visual Builder environment.

Content Manager Constraints

• Selector Limitations: The Content Manager cannot yet be utilized as a content selector within property definitions. This functionality is scheduled for release in version 13.0.
• Empty Content Sources: Functional areas for "Content Sources" and "Contracts" are present in the UI but return empty responses during the initial pre-release. These are foundational for cross-product interoperability and will become active as the GA date approaches.

3. Decommissioned and Obsolete Features

Evaluation must account for features that are discontinued or require a significant pivot in implementation strategy.

• Search & Navigation Removal: CMS 13 no longer supports Search & Navigation (formerly Find). Implementations relying on EPiServer.Find must be planned for a full refactor to Optimizely Graph.
• Projects Support: The "Projects" feature is not supported in the pre-release and must be disabled to successfully launch the CMS shell. Evaluation of scheduled content and multi-editor workflows must account for this absence.
• Internal Framework APIs: Obsolete internal APIs identified in CMS 12 have been systematically removed. Solutions with custom UI extensions or complex routing overrides must be audited for these missing dependencies.

4. Integration Gaps

As CMS 13 moves toward the Optimizely One strategy, certain platform-level integrations are still in development:

• Opal Integration: The agent orchestration platform (Optimizely Opal) is not enabled in early CMS 13 pre-releases.
• DAM Integration: Direct integration paths for Digital Asset Management (DAM) are not fully enabled, impacting cross-product asset workflows during the evaluation phase.

Conclusion

Identifying functional gaps and constraints is a critical component of a responsible upgrade strategy. CMS 13 pre-release provides a modern, high-performance foundation but requires a clear understanding of what features are currently "offline" or undergoing architectural transition. By documenting these gaps early, technical teams can provide realistic timelines and manage stakeholder expectations regarding when specific functionalities—particularly around search, forms, and platform-level integrations—will be operational.