1. Getting Started

• Collection lifecycle management on Technology Zone
• Guidance and Standards
• Branding Standards
• How to filter content and environments by Brand
• Get started with V2 Content Framework

2. Collections

• Introduction to Collections
• Working With Collections
  • How to Create a Collection?
  • How to Edit a Collection?
  • Ownership Transfer
  • Examples

3. Resources

• What is a Resource?
• Resource Type Definitions
• How to Create a Resource on a Collection?
• Change the Order of Your Resources

4. Environments

• Delete an Environment

• How do I search for an Environment or a collection?

• How do I share my Environment with another user?

• How do I transfer my Environment/Reservation/Request to another user?

• Introduction to Environments (Content Contribution)

  • How to do I create an environment?

  • Change the order of your Environments

5. Journeys

• Introduction to journeys
• What does a journey look like on a collection?
• How to create a journey?
• Change the order of your Journeys

Getting Started
As a community‑driven platform with contributions coming from across the business, we operate within a consistent set of standards and guidelines to ensure quality, governance, and a unified user experience across all content on Technology Zone. To learn more about how we manage and maintain collections throughout their lifecycle — including creation, editing, ownership, and structural best practices — please refer to the official IBM Technology Zone Content Documentation available below for each respective area:

• Collection Lifecycle Management on  IBM Technology Zone
• Standards on Environment and Collection Level
• Standards (Certified, Recommended, Community)
• Branding Standards
• How to filter content and environments by Brand?
• Get started with V2 Content Framework
• V2 Content Framework Architecture
• V2 Content Framework/Nextgen Content Tutorials

Automated collection lifecycle management on Technology Zone

As of today, content contributors must adhere and agree to guidelines and standards before creating and publishing any collection on IBM Technology Zone. Refer to screenshot below on terms you agreed to as a contributor to maintain consistent, accessible, and quality content is published on the site. (screenshot below - this pop up modal displays after select "Share your content" button)

• Due to the maintenance  of content authors collections being a manual process today, the IBM Technology Zone team is working on a solution to automate notifications to content authors when their collections have an identified issues to resolve regarding quality standards. Below are a list of issues that our team will be automating checks for regarding content issues:
• Collection ownership: When and if a collection owner is not longer within IBM or their is no longer active, a new author/owner should be assigned.
• Collection last updated date: Depending on your collections badge, different standards apply today: - Bronze & Silver adheres to a 90 day refresh cycle. - Gold adheres to a 60 day refresh cycle. - Platinum adheres to a 30 day refresh cycle.
• Collection has proper taxonomy applied: Collections have to have valid IBM Federated catalog offerings applied for a consistent user experience searching for your content and for proper reporting offering usage metrics.
• Collection has an associated brand: Collection have to have a brand applied for a consistent user experience searching for your content and to ensure proper reporting offering usage metrics are captured appropriately which is reliant on this field as well.
• Collection has been badged appropriately: Collections must have a badge associated with their collection and should be reviewed when refresh cycle approaches to ensure that your collection still meets the minimal criteria for each badge at that time.
• Why is this process being automated? As content contributors accumulate and contribute more collections the ability to manage timeframes of when updates should be made and the meta data underlying is tagged appropriately can be hard to maintain manually. We appreciate the contributions made to IBM Technology Zone, now let us help you manage it with friendly reminders and content checks.

What is changing: Emails sent to authors to remind them to update content based on content badge standards. Refer to the above list of issues that our new validation service will check regarding your content.

Collections

As a community‑driven platform with contributions from teams across the business, we ensure that all Collections within Technology Zone are created, maintained, and evolved in alignment with our shared standards and governance model. Collections allow contributors to organize related resources, environments, and learning paths into coherent, discoverable structures that support consistent user experiences across the platform. 
To help users, authors, and contributors work effectively with Collections, the following areas provide guidance and best practices — please refer to the official IBM Technology Zone Content Documentation available below for each respective area:

• Introduction to Collections – Understand what a Collection is, how it groups resources, environments, and nested structures, and how it supports guided learning experiences.
• Working With Collections – Overview of how Collections function within Technology Zone and how contributors can manage them responsibly.
  • How to Create a Collection? – Learn the required steps, fields, and contributor guidelines for submitting a new Collection on Technology Zone.
  • How to Edit a Collection? – Guidance on updating and refining Collection content as resources, journeys, and environments evolve.
  • Ownership Transfer – Process for transferring Collection ownership to ensure continuity and proper maintenance within our collaborative contribution model.
• Examples - Here is an example of a collection: TechZone Certified Base Images
• Collection Image Upload Recommendations - Content owners that would like to leverage the collection cover art field, please leverage the guidance below:
  • General Guidelines:
    • Avoid Images with Text: Ensure the image does not contain any text as it may not display properly and can distract from the overall design.
    • Simplicity is Key: Choose images where intricate details are not important. This ensures the image looks good across various screen sizes and resolutions.
    • Aspect Ratio:
    • Preferred Aspect Ratio: 2:4 (2 units tall by 4 units wide). This aspect ratio is optimal for our platform and ensures the best display quality.
    • Square Images: While uploading square images is acceptable, extremely tall or wide images will appear stretched. Aim for images that are more balanced in height and width.
  • Image Display Dynamics: - Centering: Images will be centered both vertically and horizontally on the screen. Ensure your subject is in the center for the best visual appeal. - Cover Fit: Images will cover the designated area completely. This means they might be stretched to fit the width or height, so avoid using images where this could distort important details.
  • Theme and Content: - Pattern-Centric Themes: Images with patterns or abstract designs work well. These images generally look good when stretched or resized, maintaining their visual appeal. - Minimal Fine Details: Opt for images without small, fine details that could be lost or blurred when the image is resized.
  • By following these guidelines, you can ensure that your images will look great and maintain their quality regardless of the screen size or browser used by your audience.

NOTE: Collections can be customized to look more complex than this one. For example, collections with journeys. Read the Introduction to Journeys to see how owners/authors can drive a specific learning journey with their collections by ordering resources and environments into tabs that we call journeys.

• A collection can encompass resources, environments, and journeys. It can be as complex or as simple as the owner/author deems fit to make the collection based on the experience they intend to drive to the consumer of their content.
• A collections is not limited to pointing to other additional collections from one collection. Collections can be nested within a collection and managed similar to a resource on a collection.

NOTE: The color and text at the top left part of the header of each asset represents that this resource is of type collection. Hover over the box to see the type for yourself.

What is a Resource?

As a community‑driven platform supported by contributors from across the business, IBM Technology Zone upholds shared standards and governance to ensure that all Resources added to Collections provide clear, actionable value. Resources serve as practical, outcome‑driven assets that help practitioners progress through hands‑on activities, demonstrations, or guided learning experiences. Whether it’s a demo script, a walkthrough video, or a step‑by‑step tutorial, each Resource should meaningfully support the end user in achieving a real, tangible next step in their technical journey. To help contributors create and manage Resources effectively, the following areas provide guidance and best practices — please refer to the official IBM Technology Zone Content Documentation available below for each respective area:

• What is a Resource? – A Resource is any asset that supports or leads to a hands‑on experience, such as demo walkthroughs, scripts, or tutorials that guide practitioners through real tasks.
• Resource Type Definitions – Resources can take multiple forms, and selecting the correct type ensures clarity, consistency, and alignment with TechZone standards.
• How to Create a Resource on a Collection? – Steps for adding a Resource, selecting its type, defining its business value, setting visibility, and ensuring accessible, properly permissioned URLs across platforms like Box, GitHub, OneDrive or Seismic.
• Change the Order of Your Resources – Guidance on adjusting Resource order within Collections and journeys to ensure a logical, user‑focused flow.

Below are the resource types available to associate on your collection today based on the resource agenda above:

Environments

As a community‑driven platform supported by contributors across the business, IBM Technology Zone is designed to provide reliable, consistent, and easy‑to‑use environments for hands‑on learning and demonstrations. In TechZone, an environment (also referred to as an asset) is the virtualized service or instance that gets provisioned according to the definition created by an author. Once provisioned, it becomes the live system the end user interacts with through a reservation. These environments power demos, guided exercises, evaluations, and technical exploration, so maintaining accuracy, usability, and governance is essential for both authors who create them and practitioners who use them.
The following areas offer clear guidance for managing and working with environments - please refer to the official IBM Technology Zone Content Documentation available below for each respective area:

• Important Note - As the reservation/environment/request owner, you can share, transfer ownership, and extend once a valid opportunity is added.
• Delete an Environment – Guidance for removing an environment safely and appropriately within platform rules.
  • Steps on how to Delete a reservation/request

  • Log in to the TechZone portal using your IBM ID

  • Go to "My TechZone" and click on "My reservations" (V1)/"My requests" (V2)

  • 

  • From the list of your reservation - find the reservation that you want to delete.
  • Click on the 3 vertical dots and click "Delete"
  • 
  • Enter the reservation/request name and click "Delete"
  • 
• How do I search for an Environment or a Collection? – Steps for finding relevant environments or collections to support demos, testing, or learning activities.

  • Search for environments - Enter desired environment name in the search box and click enter, a list of environments will be available to choose from

    • We have Filter by and Show advanced filter which narrows down your search list, displaying only the data that interest you. Options available : Brand, Resource Type, Language, Audience, etc. Set the resource type to Environments.
    • 

  • Search for Collections/resources - Enter the desired collection/resource name in the search box and click enter, a list of collections/resources will be available to choose from. Select your desired collection from the list to explore. 

    • We have Filter by and Show advanced filter which narrows down your search list, displaying only the data that interest you. Set the resource type to Collection.

    • 
    • Filter by: refine your list by "Brand", "Offerings", "Industry", "Resource Type" etc.
    • Show advanced: refine your list by "Owner", "collaborators", "Languages", "Audience" etc.
• How do I share my Environment with another user? – Instructions for granting access to colleagues while maintaining proper governance and visibility controls.
  • Important - Know who can reserve each infrastructure and who you can share with:
    • IBM Cloud environments (this includes ROKS, Hosted, SaaS options): Reserved by IBMrs and Business Partners and can be shared amongst IBMrs, Business Partners, and Clients. Ensure that the user has accepted the IBM Cloud invite or they will not be able to access the environment. The IBM Cloud invite is an email sent to the IBMid email that the owner shared the environment with.
    • AWS and Azure environments: Reserved by IBMrs and Business Partners and can be shared amongst IBMrs, Business Partners, and Clients.
    • Fyre environments: Reserved ONLY by IBMrs at this time due to VPN access. Can ONLY be shared amongst IBMrs at this time.

  • Steps to follow on Sharing

    • Log in to the TechZone portal using your IBM ID

    • Go to "My TechZone" and click on "My reservations" (V1)/"My requests" (V2)

    • 

    • Find the reservation/request that you would like to share
    • Click on the three vertical dots menu, select Share.
    • 
    • Enter the IBM ID to whom you want to share this environment with. If you have multiple IBM IDs that you would like to share this environment with, enter each IBM ID and then separate with a comma.
    • If the user that you wish to share this environment with does not have an IBM ID, please send them to this URL to get started creating their IBM ID.
    • 
    • Click on "Share" blue button. An email will then be sent to the user that you shared the environment with. Access credentials included in the email.
    • Important: Once shared it can not be revoked. Only by ITZ Admins per owner request. IBMrs and Partners that you shared the environment with will be able to login to IBM Technology Zone and see a reservation card on their "My reservations"/"My requests" page. The shared environment will have (Shared) next to their status field. Users that are shared the environment will not be able to extend, share, or transfer the environment. These actions are owner actions and the user that was shared the environment will need to reach out to the owner to request these actions.
    • See who all you have shared this environment with right from the reservation card from "My reservations"/"My requests" page or the notes section of the dedicated environment page.
• How do I transfer my Environment/Reservation/Request to another user? – How to reassign ownership so work can continue without interruption.

  • Steps how to transfer my request/reservation to another user?

    • Log in to the TechZone portal using your IBM ID

    • Go to "My TechZone" and click on "My reservations" (V1)/"My requests" (V2)

    • 

    • Find the reservation that needs to be transferred
    • Click on the 3-dot menu and select "Transfer"
    • 
    • Enter the IBM ID to transfer to, enter the resource name as shown in example below or you can click on the green square to copy text and paste. Note: all fields have to be field for "Transfer" button to turn red.
    • 
    • Click on "Transfer" red button and the environment will automatically become available in the user's "My reservations"/"My requests".
  • Important notes:
    • There are no limits to the number of times an environment can be transferred. An environment can only be transferred to one user per time
    • Once you transfer an environment it is removed from your "My reservations"/"My requests" view
    • You can request the environment be transferred back to you if you need it
    • Use-case where transfers are suggested
      • when you are going on a vacation you can transfer your reservation to a colleague to manage in your absence
      • collaborating with a colleague
• Introduction to Environments (Content Contribution) – An overview for authors defining what an environment is, how it is provisioned, and what role it plays within a collection.
  • How do I create an environment? – Guidance for authors specifying the configuration, parameters, and required components that determine how an environment is provisioned.
  • Change the order of your Environments – Instructions for adjusting how environments appear within collections or journeys to ensure a logical, user‑focused flow.

Note: If any errors occur, request support on by creating a support case. Please include your reservation/request information.

Journeys

As part of Technology Zone’s community‑driven approach, journeys provide a structured, sequenced navigation experience that guides consumers through a collection in a clear and intuitive way. Journeys use a tab‑based layout to organize resources and environments into logical steps, helping practitioners progress through learning flows, demos, or hands‑on activities without confusion. By defining a journey, authors can shape how users move through content, ensuring a purposeful and consistent experience aligned with the collection’s objectives. The following topics provide guidance for both authors creating journeys and users navigating them - please refer to the official IBM Technology Zone Content Documentation available below for each respective area:

• Introduction to Journeys – Understand how journeys use tabbed navigation to guide users through a structured sequence of content within a collection.
• What does a journey look like on a collection? – See how journeys appear within the collection interface and how they group related resources and environments into steps or phases.
• How to create a journey? – Guidance for authors on building a journey, selecting content, and defining the order that best supports user progression.
• Change the order of your Journeys – Instructions for adjusting the sequence of journeys within a collection to ensure clarity and improve the consumer experience.
• Important Note: Resources and Environments that are NOT associated to a Journey will be universal resources that can be found under the journeys resources.