Articles - Page 100

Agentic AI for Agencies in 2026

bmckeiver

The Concrete5 Marketplace consists of a <a href="http://www.concrete5.org/marketplace/themes/" target="_blank">Themes marketplace</a> and an <a href="http://www.concrete5.org/marketplace/addons/" target="_blank">Add-ons Marketplace</a>. Both have now been upgraded to include dedicated Concrete5 5.7 sections.
The open-source content management system has a strong history and a firm community. Recently, <a href="/concrete5-5.7-released-and-updated/" target="_blank">version 5.7 was released, and then swiftly upgraded</a> with a further two minor updates.
From amongst these latest updates to the marketplace though, merchants offering add-ons and themes within the Concrete5 marketplace have enhanced capabilities. For example, developers can sell 30 day support windows and offer upgrades from one add-on/theme to another.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-13700x0.png" />
Here's a video explaining all the new Concrete5 Marketplace upgrades:
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LonNkW_KQ8I?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
The announcement was made via the <a href="http://www.concrete5.org/about/blog/core-releases/some-updates-to-concrete5-org/" target="_blank">Concrete5 blog</a>.
To learn more, check out <a href="/products/concrete5/" target="_blank">Concrete5 via our CMS Directory</a>.

Concrete5 Introduces Marketplace Improvements

mike-johnston

A website builder is primarily designed for the aspiring webmaster who possess limited knowledge of web design and development.But that hasn’t stopped <a href="/products/motocms">MotoCMS</a> from catering to the developer community.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/untitled-3.jpg" />So far during this featured week, <a href="/getting-to-grips-with-motocms-3-0/">I’ve given an overview of the platform</a>, touched on <a href="/a-look-at-motocms-as-an-ecommerce-solution/">MotoCMS as eCommerce solution</a>, and <a href="/an-interview-with-motocms-ceo-demetrio-fortman/">interviewed MotoCMS CEO Demetrio Fortman</a>.Let’s now delve into how developers can make the most of this website builder.<h2>Developer Discounts</h2>The MotoCMS for Developers system puts those who want to purchase templates in bulk at an advantage.The idea is, you purchase a discount code, which can be used at any time to purchase either; 10, 15, 20, 30 or 50 templates. Every pack of Templates at the Exclusive price comes with 1, 2, 3, 4 or 6 months of Paid support for free.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-10746x0-is.png" />To give you an example regarding the kind of savings a developer could make, a Guru Pack buyer would save up to $3,500 after buying all 50 of his or her discounted MotoCMS 3 templates.Furthermore, it’s also worth noting that those expenditures (and those savings) come as and when they’re needed. Since you only purchase the discount code, you’re free to buy your set of templates whenever you like.So, you don’t need to invest until your next client rolls in. Not too shabby.On another note, MotoCMS also has an affiliate program, where developers and marketers alike can earn a commission by referring people to MotoCMS.

How Web Designers Save Money With The MotoCMS Developer Program

WordPress is the most vulnerable CMS to cyber attacks, according to a report by Imperva, a data security firm. 
The Imperva Web Application Attack Report (WAAR) – an annual report now published for the fifth time – <a href="http://blog.imperva.com/2014/10/imperva-web-application-attack-report-waar-5.html" target="_blank">was recently released via the Imperva blog</a>. Amongst a long list of findings, it turns out that websites running on WordPress are attacked 24% more than those running on all other content management systems combined.
Here's a closer look at the report.
<h2>WordPress In Hacker Crosshairs</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wplogoblue-stacked-rgb.png" />
In section 2.2.2 of the Imperva report, WordPress was identified as having suffered 60% more Cross Site Scripting incidents than all other CMS-running websites combined.
Other key findings include an increase of 10% in SQL Injection attacks, while retail websites were targeted by 48.1% of all attack campaigns. 
The most alarming find though, that WordPress is attacked 24% more than all other CMS combined, comes in the form of a graph within the report. The graph pits WordPress against, “the other popular CMS systems”.
Notably however, the other popular CMS were not named. 
Why WordPress in particular though? Imperva weigh in with this insight:
<blockquote>
“When an application or a platform becomes popular, hackers realize that the ROI from hacking into these platforms or applications will be fruitful, so they spend more time researching and exploiting these applications, either to steal data from them, or to use the hacked systems as zombies in a botnet.”
</blockquote>
A question I personally have about the report, is wether the sheer amount of live WordPress websites compared to any other CMS had any impact on the findings. Is WordPress hacked more often simply because it exists more abundantly, or because it is the most vulnerable CMS on the market? 
I'd be inclined to the former conclusion.
To read the blog announcement of this report, <a href="http://blog.imperva.com/2014/10/imperva-web-application-attack-report-waar-5.html" target="_blank">click here</a>. Otherwise, you can <a href="http://www.imperva.com/docs/HII_Web_Application_Attack_Report_Ed5.pdf" target="_blank">download the report for yourself</a>.

Imperva Report: WordPress Is The "Most Attacked" CMS

Squarespace, the popular website builder, has announced the release of Squarespace 7 to the public.
Squarespace 7 features a number of significant changes including a completely redesigned interface, integration with Getty Images making over 40 million images available for just $10 each, an integration with Google Apps allowing for easy email setup under your domain, and more.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9IDeKXQuiik?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<h2>Squarespace 7 – The Interface</h2>
What's new with the interface in Squarespace 7? Quite a bit actually. The team has worked hard to make the interface cleaner and more intuitive.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/squarespace_7_interface_screenshot_11086x0.png" alt="squarespace_7_interface_screenshot_1" />
As you can see, there is a new sidebar to the left that contains quick access to all of your menus. The process of getting around on your site is much easier as a result. The bulk of the editing tools are now more easily accessible, something that makes Squarespace more competitive against other website builders such as <a href="https://www.weebly.com/">Weebly</a> and Wix for instance.
Furthermore, they've added front end editing capabilities. Simply hover over an editable area and the interface reveals itself. A quick click lets you make the necessary changes quickly and easily.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/squarespace_7_interface_screenshot_21086x0.png" alt="squarespace_7_interface_screenshot_2" />
<h2>Squarespace 7 – Getty Images Integration</h2>
For those looking for high quality images to use within your website or blog, Squarespace has also struck a deal with Getty Images giving you the ability to quickly purchase and use an image from their massive repository at a very reasonable $10 per image.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/gettyimages.jpg" alt="getting images" />
This is a great way to get beautiful imagery for your site at a fraction of the cost of typical photography websites. Sure, there are less expensive ones but having the option is always nice.
<h2>Squarespace 7 – Cover Pages</h2>
Bad news for website builders like <a href="http://www.websitebuilderscritic.com/website_builders/reviews/strikingly/" target="_blank">Strikingly</a> (which specializes in single page websites) is the new introduction of Cover Pages. Cover pages let you quickly make single page websites or simply create powerful landing pages to grab a readers attention.
Here's a great example of one:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/squarespace_7_-_cover_pages1042x0.jpg" alt="squarespace_7_-_cover_pages" />
<h2>Google Apps Integration</h2>
For businesses like ours that integrate with Google Apps for email, documents and more, this is exciting news. Squarespace 7 can link your domain to branded email accounts, office productivity tools, cloud storage, and more via Google Apps.
<h2>Wait, there's more! </h2>
These are only some of the new features that Squarespace 7 brings to the table. To learn more and sign up for a free trial of Squarespace to try them out, <a href="http://www.squarespace.com">visit Squarespace today</a>.

Squarespace releases Squarespace 7

We recently had an opportunity to have a chat with Brian Kim, COO and Cofounder of <a href="/products/liferay/">Liferay</a>, providers of one of the most popular open-source Enterprise Content Management Systems / Portals on the market. Here is the interview.
Please tell us a bit about yourself and your background.
I’m the Chief Operating Officer and one of the cofounders of Liferay. I was born and raised in Chicago. Growing up, I always had expressed interest in computers, but unfortunately never had the opportunity to get more exposure to it. In fact, I didn’t get my first PC until senior year of high school. It wasn’t really until I was an undergraduate at the University of Chicago that I took the leap into programming. At Liferay, most of my time is now centered around the business and streamlining our internal operations, but I definitely still miss being a developer.
What is your opinion on the state of the CMS industry? How do you feel it has evolved over the past few years?
<img style="max-width:100px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/image_gallery100x0.png" alt="Brian Kim" />
The CMS industry is continuing to evolve in unique and exciting ways. I am particularly intrigued by the number of applications that are beginning to evolve toward focusing on mobile content ahead of traditional web content. As content is reused for multiple purposes and for multiple platforms, it is becoming increasingly important to ensure that the right content is delivered to the right person at the right time. CMS platforms need to be intelligent enough to dynamically display content based on factors such as a user's location, device and previous interactions with the system, while also taking into account the special behaviors of mobile users (i.e., the fact that users on their mobile devices have shorter attention spans).
What do you think is lacking in the industry at the moment? What needs to change?
The health of the CMS industry provides a multitude of choices for content managers, and with so many different CMS solutions available, application integration needs to be on the forefront of every vendor's mind. Enterprise customers may have ten different CMS's serving different user bases with different needs, but if these systems don't integrate well, then it becomes increasingly difficult for this content to be used and repurposed by different systems. CMIS-compliance is a step forward and provides many opportunities for cross-platform integration, but developers and vendors need to get out of the mindset that their solution is the single “best” solution for a customer — odds are, it is a piece of a very large puzzle, and they need to make integration a priority.
You are involved in the CMIS initiative. What led to that involvement and what do you hope to see come from it?
Perhaps the most attractive aspect of CMIS was its ability to interoperate regardless of the underlying technologies, unlike JCR which only works with Java-based repositories. To put it another way, it was like WSRP for the Java portlet spec. We hope that CMIS can be useful for enterprises looking to unify their various repositories under one, unified interface — the portal.
Can you explain the concept behind CMIS and when you see it being used?
CMIS is a protocol that enables interoperability with content and document repositories. Liferay, having a built-in document repository, can act as a client to mount one or many CMIS-compliant repositories similar to how one would mount a network drive on an operating system. Through the portal, the user is thereby provided with a unified view of all the third-party repositories he or she may have the credentials to access.
Liferay has long been a very versatile company that has been able to stay on top of changing trends easily, why do you think this is? How have you managed to maintain this ability throughout the company’s growth?
In contrast to other commercial open source companies out there, Liferay was born as an open-source project first. It wasn’t until years later that the company was created. What that means is that we have always taken our community very seriously, and as a result, they play a vital part in the growth and direction of our product. Furthermore, as a private company not having received funding, we have always had the liberty to focus on building great software, without having to worry about meeting quarterly targets. And of course, we have such avid lovers of technology all throughout our company who are always looking to find ways to incorporate them into our product.
For those who are confused about the concept of portals, can you explain in laymen’s terms what a portal is and how they fit in the market?
Portal software makes it easier to build a single website out of multiple sites or web-based services. Because portals bring together content and offer a single cohesive experience across departments or organizations within an enterprise, they “sit above” other products in the market, such as dedicated content management systems, records management, customer relationship management, HR, and other enterprise systems.
But more than just surfacing the same information from other applications into a central location, we are looking to help connect those different sources or different applications in such a way that would create more business value than using them independently. For instance, assume you had a CRM and a marketing automation tool that integrated into your portal. Being able to view data from each centrally within the portal is great, but what if the portal allowed you to make connections between the two that provided unique analytics otherwise unavailable by each independently? Then imagine that the business user could make those connections using a GUI tool without having to request someone to code that for them. This is where we envision the portal bringing even more value to an organization.
Technically, Liferay is a very adaptable solution that can be deployed into a large variety of environments. What is the ideal use case for Liferay and when do you think it should be the first tool to consider using?
We’re seeing Liferay become more and more strategic within organizations looking to standardize their development processes. For example, companies, sometimes as a the result of acquisitions, may have inherited many different technologies making reuse and integration difficult. The benefit is that by using Liferay as a base platform for development, applications built on Liferay, using standard SDKs and following specifications, can then be reused and even repurposed for other business units within the same organization. Likewise, information that may be spread across many different groups and applications can also be shared, tagged and categorized centrally within Liferay.
What type of creative and unique technical uses of Liferay have you seen? What are some of your favorites?
The Liferay community is doing so many amazing and innovative things that this could be a very long list, but I will keep it short. There has been a very large push by our customers to deliver specific content to specific roles based on different behaviors the user has exhibited on their system. By using Liferay's auditing tools, rules engine and CMS and integrating it with their own systems, they are able to deliver relevant content from across the enterprise to their users. Additionally, they are utilizing our device recognition capabilities to ensure this content delivery happens regardless of the medium they are using.
Another very interesting use case of Liferay is by a book publisher that is creating a cross-platform publishing application. Content is entered using any one of their disparate systems. Liferay’s workflow engine will then put it through the appropriate approval processes for publishing to the web, but may include pushing specially marked content to other publication channels (books, magazines, etc.).
What can we expect to see from Liferay in the next release? Any new and exciting upcoming features or changes?
First of all, we’re making big changes to its look and feel by making sure that it works with Twitter Bootstrap. Not only will users be able to choose from a huge library of Bootstrap themes, but it will make the creation of custom themes even easier. Another cool feature is the ability to preview how your site would look on a different device (i.e. mobile, tablet, etc.) but all in your browser – no more having to find a specific device to test on. And finally, we took the time to enhance the functionality of all our applications, but especially our CMS, making management of content and sites all that much easier and streamlined for the regular user. There’s plenty more to talk about, but I’ll save some for the actual release.
How mobile-capable is Liferay? What types of changes are coming down the pipeline to make it more mobile-friendly?
Liferay has been designed to support unified web and mobile applications for quite a while, and there are new features coming in Liferay Portal 6.2. Out of the box, developers have multiple options for how they wish to build their mobile sites. Developers can leverage responsive design and build their sites to look great no matter how large or small the user's device is. But in some scenarios, developers need much more flexibility and would like to have a much more customized experience for different types of devices. For instance, they may wish to have all tablets and smartphones go to a dedicated mobile site, or they may just wish to apply a different theme for different devices. That's where our feature of Mobile Device Rules comes in. Using Mobile Device Rules, site administrators can configure different actions (changing the theme, redirecting to another site, changing the layout, etc), depending on different device types.
In the future, we're building out tools to help developers and site administrators easily leverage Liferay to seamlessly connect users to their data, regardless of device. We're also more tightly integrating the administration apps into using responsive design so they can be used from as many devices as possible.
Do you have any parting remarks you'd like to share?
With over 700,000 deployments worldwide, Liferay has helped to satisfy the business needs of our customers while growing a vibrant Liferay ecosystem. Our company has always strived to innovate and develop the best open-source software with the participation from contributors worldwide. In recent years, we’re happy to say Liferay community members have had even more opportunities to contribute to the future of the project through our ideation engine, forum posts, blog articles, user groups, marketplace applications and special project teams. I hope I’ve given you a little more insight into our company as we aim to make a positive impact in the world through great software. Thanks for your interest in Liferay.
—
Want to learn more about Liferay? Check them out in the CMS directory – <a href="/products/liferay/">Liferay</a>

Interview with Brian Kim, Liferay’s Chief Operating Officer

For those of you who have always wondered what the difference was between Squarespace and WordPress and how they compare, check out our latest article on Website Builders Critic entitled “<a href="http://www.websitebuilderscritic.com/squarespace-vs-wordpress/">Squarespace vs WordPress</a>“.
The question of <a href="http://www.websitebuilderscritic.com/out/squarespace">Squarespace</a> vs WordPress isn't a straightforward one. 
 WordPress isn't a website builder in the same way that Squarespace is. At the same time, Squarespace isn't as flexible as WordPress, nor is it well known for building large websites like WordPress can. 
 However, WordPress rivals Squarespace in terms of being being simple and user friendly. So, when somebody wants to build a small, simple and good looking website quickly, the question of WordPress vs Squarespace can crop up. A lot.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wordpress-or-squarespace.png" />
In the article, Kaya compares six flash points aimed to help you decide between the two.
The items he compares are as follows:
<ol>
<li>User Friendliness</li>
<li>Themes and Design</li>
<li>eCommerce</li>
<li>Blogging</li>
<li>Pricing</li>
<li>Maintenance and Support</li>
</ol>
Check out the full article here: <a href="http://www.websitebuilderscritic.com/squarespace-vs-wordpress/">Squarespace vs WordPress: The Full Comparison</a>

Squarespace vs WordPress

Power your CMS on AWS

Manage your websites & apps in the most trusted cloud.

#ffffff

Nuxeo have officially launched their latest update in the form of Nuxeo Platform 5.7.3, bringing with it a host of new improvements for administrators, general users and also developers.
The open-source platform is primed for building content-centric business applications, with an aim to integrate and align with existing IT infrastructures which many organizations may already have in place.
The 5.7.3 update offers features that can help users and administrators get work done quicker as they use the platform's interface, whilst also offering some more technical improvements.
<h2>Enhanced User Interface &amp; Workflow Features</h2>
One of the ways in which Nuxeo have improved the user interface, is through some simple, yet effective ways. A “Form Submit Shield” for example deters errors and unhappy users who wish to crazily click the “Submit” buttons more times than necessary. Now, the interface will simply present the user with a message telling them that their request is being processed.
Another handy feature comes in the form of an inactivity screen, which alerts users to the fat that their session has expired, and that they need to log back in to continue.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-1.png" alt="Nuxeo Platform 5.7.3" />
Additionally, some interesting Workflow improvements have been added. Workflow tasks can now be specifically assigned to other users, and a clever multitasking feature creates a different task per assignee.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-2.png" alt="Nuxeo Platform 5.7.3" />
Nuxeo also further enhanced Workflow by implementing a visual graph, allowing users to visualize the tasks at hand, their context, relevance and structure. All of these useful improvements will almost certainly streamline tasks and make life easier for all Nuxeo users.
<h2>Automation, Widgets and Much More</h2>
As well as all the new interface and Workflow enhancements detailed above, Nuxeo have piled on quite a few more updates which may pique the interest of developers and technically minded Nuxeo users.
The Nuxeo REST API provides several new endpoints for documents, users, groups and more. Additionally, users can now enable tracing of Content Automation call using the Automation trace feature.
What's more is, UI/UX frameworks have been re-worked, Select2 widgets have been integrated, and much more has been done behind the scenes, to help the entire platform run smoother than ever before.
To find out more about Nuxeo Platform 5.7.3, or to get a better understanding of the new enhancements discussed above, check out <a href="http://www.nuxeo.com/en/about/news/nuxeo-releases-a-new-fast-track-version-of-the-content-management-platform" target="_blank">Nuxeo's official release notes regarding the update</a>. You can also utilize our <a href="/products/nuxeo/" target="_blank">CMS Directory to explore Nuxeo further</a>.

Nuxeo Platform 5.7.3 Released

With the People's Choice CMS Awards coming to a close in the next 10 days or so, it's time now to announce the judges for this year's Critics' Choice CMS Awards. This is the portion of the awards that are selected by our panel of judges.
This year, we've mixed things up a bit and added a new judge to the mix. First, let's get the obvious part out of the way. Your judges this year include myself and two others. Here are the profiles of the judges.
<h3>Judge #1:</h3>
<h3><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/cmscritic_1408494048_7796x0.jpg" /></h3>
<h3>Mike Johnston Founder of CMS Critic and Co-Founder of Website Builders Critic</h3>
Mike founded CMS Critic in 2008 and has since developed it into the premier website for content management system reviews, articles and coverage. He has assisted hundreds of companies and individuals in their quest to find the perfect CMS for their needs. He is also the co-founder of the recently launched <a href="http://www.websitebuilderscritic.com">Website Builders Critic</a> alongside CMS Critic writer, Kaya Ismail. Mike can be found traveling the globe covering web development and content management conferences, speaking at events and spreading the word about the amazing products within the industry. You can reach him at mike@www.cmscritic.com.
<h3>Judge #2:</h3>
<h3><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/cms396x0.png" />Kaya Ismail CMS Critic Writer and Co-Founder of Website Builders Critic</h3>
Kaya has been a writer with CMS Critic for a number of years and has developed a wide knowledge of the products in the industry. His passion for the world of CMS has shone through and he's helped take CMS Critic to new heights within the market. Kaya has also joined forces with Mike Johnston to co-found the newly launched, Website Builders Critic, a project aimed at furthering the resources we can make available to those in the market for a solution. Kaya can also be found writing on his personal blog, <a href="http://www.employtheinternet.com/">Employ The Internet</a> where he discusses employing the internet to expand his career in freelance writing and blogging. You can reach him at kaya@www.cmscritic.com.
<h3>Judge #3:</h3>
<h3></h3>
<h3><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/me.jpg" /></h3>
<h3>Barb Mosher Zinck Digital Content Strategist and the Founder and Editorial Director of Digital Tech Diary</h3>
For those of you who have been in the industry for a while, you know Barb. She is the former editor of CMS Wire (and also a fellow Canadian!) that has been in the industry for years. Barb has coordinated teams of writers to produce content management related articles for years and as the editor, has an in-depth knowledge of the industry. She now is a digital content strategist and the Founder and Editorial Director of <a href="http://www.digitaltechdiary.com" target="_blank">Digital Tech Diary</a>, an online resource for marketing technologists. She spends her days learning how to build better customer experiences, translating what she’s learned into actionable strategies for her clients and practical guidance for her magazine audience. As a former Application Architect, Barb is able to understand the value of technology and translate it into guidance and strategies for today’s practitioners. Residing in Nova Scotia, Canada, Barb and her husband spend most of their time in hockey arenas and dance studios with their three kids. You can reach her at barb@digitaltechdiary.com.
I am very pleased to have Barb and Kaya ias judges this year and can't wait to see what we come up with together as this year's Critics' Choice CMS Awards get under way. Stay tuned for the announcements as we begin the deliberation process.

Announcing this Year's Judges for the 2014 Critics Choice CMS Awards

With an estimated attendance of 300+ people, this year's West Coast Symposium has seen tremendous growth from the previous year.
Day One of their symposium started off with a great keynote from Chief Executive Officer, Bryan Cheung in which he highlighted some of Liferay's successes such as their recent presence in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Horizontal Portals where they were positioned in the Leader's Quadrant.
Liferay 6.1 was also introduced to us for the first time. You can read our recent post on the 6.1 release here: <a href="/liferay-announces-6-1-release-at-west-coast-symposium/">Liferay announces 6.1 release at West Coast Symposium</a>.
There were also a number of excellent talks from various speakers on topics such as:
<ul>
<li>AlloyUI and Liferay Themes: Q&amp;A with the Directory of UI Engineering with Nate Cavanaugh</li>
<li>Web Services Supercharged: Consuming Web Services the Right Way with Brett Swaim</li>
<li>Games, Intranets and Harnessing Employee Creativity with Josh Asbury</li>
<li>Using Liferay as a Platform for Social Applications with Rich Sezov and Manish Dixit</li>
<li>Building a Social Platform: OpenSocial and Liferay with Dennis Ju</li>
</ul>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/liferay-audience.jpg" alt="Liferay WCS 2011 - The Audience" />
Check out the rest of our pictures from the event on Flickr here: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmscritic/sets/72157627607337725/">Liferay WCS 2011 Pictures from CMS Critic</a>
Following a full day of talks, <a href="http://www.cignex.com/">CIGNEX Datamatics</a>, a Liferay Partner, put on an amazing after party with a beer tasting from the <a href="http://widmerbrothers.com/">Widmer Brothers Brewery</a> in Portland, Oregon.
I've got to hand it to the guys at Cignex, they put on one heck of a party and it was an absolute blast. Perhaps it's because I'm Canadian but I can't think of any other type of party that could possibly top a beer tasting one. Oh and thank you for the Pretzel necklaces as well guys, good idea!
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-28_qgbfxn.png" alt="Liferay West Coast Symposium - After Party" />
Check out the rest of our pictures of the After Party on Flickr here: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmscritic/sets/72157627607454939/">Liferay WCS 2011 After Party Pictures from CMS Critic</a>
On the East Coast? You're in luck! There's an East Coast Symposium coming up. Stay tuned to <a href="http://www.liferay.com">Liferay's website</a> for details on the time and place.

Liferay's West Coast Symposium - Day One - #LRWCS2011

Brandcast is the only end-to-end web design platform for professional designers, allowing users to design, host, manage, and publish custom websites without being limited by code and generic templates.
It’s full of professional-grade tools, allowing you to make your design vision a true reality. The streamlined workflow makes it possible to have multiple projects open and going at the same time, boosting your design time and efficiency, so you can publish to a custom domain right away with just one click. 
I decided to check out Brandcast for myself. Keep reading for my full review of the platform. 
<h2>Getting Started</h2>
Signing up with Brandcast is definitely simple. It’s easy to sign up, log in, and get started. Here’s how it went:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/brandcast_review_-_1.png" />
Once you are signed up and logged in, you are presented with a helpful tutorial that walks you through all the processes and steps necessary to design your website.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/brandcast_review_-_2.png" />
You can enter in a custom domain for your website, and then enter a description about your website. From there, you can publish your website, upload a favicon and social images, add a password to make your site private, and add in your meta tags for your SEO.
<h2>Building Your First Website</h2>
The tutorials and lessons offered by Brandcast for new users are remarkably straightforward and helpful. You can watch the videos, and then try it yourself.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/brandcast_review_-_3.png" />
The tutorials walk you through each step, from picking your background image to adding text. It’s a very basic drag-and-drop format, which makes it fast and easy for both the professional and amateur designer.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/brandcast_review_-_4.png" />
Designers can add video and images, either from their own library or the provided Media Library offered by the platform.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/brandcast_review_-_5.png" />
The platform is very easy to use, and you can have a great website designed in a short amount of time. You can also have multiple website projects going, so you can tab back and forth to work on them all at once.
<h2>Usability</h2>
If you watch the tutorials first, it’s SUPER easy to find what you need, and to use all of the features. Simply drag the image/video/text box onto the page, and then double-click the area to begin working.
If you have an image to add, drag and drop it, and then click the Match Browser Height button to have it automatically formatted for you.
You can also copy different sections, pages, or websites to use as a foundation for new designs or to create templates. This significantly boosts design efficiency and saves time!
Users can also instantly publish a live version of the site they have created at any time. They can batch website changes, and then publish with just one click of the mouse.
If you do get stuck, and aren’t sure how to proceed, the tutorials will prompt you and walk you through it. If you prefer to get help from a live person, there is customer support readily available to help you.
Without the tutorials, it can be overwhelming and a bit difficult to figure out if you are not a designer.
<h2>Optimization and Responsiveness</h2>
Brandcast lets you see how your website will appear across all devices, and is automatically responsive.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/brandcast_review_-_6.png" />
The platform’s advanced web infrastructure and accelerated mobile device compatibility allows your sites to load as fast as possible, while still looking fantastic on any device.
This is a big problem with a lot of websites, and Brandcast has found a way to circumvent this issue so designers don’t have to worry about coding and optimization.
<h3>Features</h3>
Brandcast definitely has no shortage of features!
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/brandcast_review_-_7332x0-is.png" />
The list of features available for the basic account is comprehensive, and covers every aspect of website design and functionality you could need. If you upgrade your account, you gain access to a whole host of special features that are most definitely worth paying for, including automatic SSL protection for your custom domains.
Even with a basic account, they offer a high level of security that is nothing to scoff at. Brandcast regularly updates their database systems and stores your data across multiple AWS availability zones. With Brandcast, data loss is never an issue you need to worry about.
<h2>Pricing</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/brandcast_review_-_8788x0-is.png" />
The Designer Edition, which is best if you just have one or two websites to work on and you work independently, is completely free. You have access to the full design studio, as demonstrated in the previous sections. You also get free hosting and that convenient one-click publishing.
If you work with teams, have clients, or need to juggle multiple projects at once, the Team Edition is the way to go. It starts at $99 per month, and has a HUGE list of features that definitely make it worth the investment.
Here’s a comparison of the features:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/brandcast_review_-_9564x0-is.png" />
<h2>Final Thoughts</h2>
Regardless of whether you’re new to website design, or have been doing it for years, Brandcast is an easy-to-use, versatile platform that I highly recommend.
<a href="https://brandcast.com/contact/">Request a FREE TRIAL</a> and check it out for yourself!

Brandcast: A Web Design Platform Worth Investing In

Over the years, content management systems have evolved in a number of different ways. Depending on your needs, you can find a CMS that works just about any way you can imagine–push versus pull architecture, open source versus proprietary, hosted versus installed, out of the box versus fully customizable, unlimited pricing models versus those based on pages or users or sites, and any variety of coding languages supported by a CMS. As long as you do the research to figure out what your organizational needs are, there is a Content Management System out there for you.
The problem now is that there’s a whole lot more to having an effective web presence than just being able to create and publish content. There’s social media, there’s search engine optimization, there are analytics, there are visitor journeys and customer personas, there’s paid search, and there’s email marketing. There are a heckuva lot of other things that you need to do with your content other than just getting it on the web.
That’s where content marketing software comes in. There are a ton of fragmented applications out there than can help you optimize your content, promote it and see how well it’s performing. The key is to find one platform that pulls everything into one place and works with your CMS.
Whether you work at a large or small organization, there is no reason to piece together content marketing solutions when there are a number of platforms that bring them all together under one roof. The benefits of this go well beyond not having to remember a dozen passwords. Having social media, email marketing, landing pages and forms, pageviews, campaigns and visitor identification all in one single platform means that all these things can work together, sharing information with each other.
For example, when someone fills out a form on your site, you can automatically enter them into a campaign to receive your monthly newsletter without having to import their email address into your email marketing application. Additionally, when a lead comes to your site via a tweet you sent out that was retweeted by a member of your community, you can trace the exact source of this traffic back to that original tweet because your social analytics, visitor identification and forms are all talking to each other.
When you have a blog post that is generating a ton of leads for you, the only way you’ll be able to tell is if your pageview data is linked to individual visitors and leads, as opposed to just viewing the data in aggregate, like in Google Analytics. And when a page is under-performing, one way to assess the reason is to use a tool that integrates your page analytics with SEO metrics and keyword densities. Having everything is one place is the only way to get a comprehensive understanding of how your marketing efforts are working.
One of the biggest reasons that companies invest in content management systems is to allow their less technical users to manage content. The CMS alone is a big investment, a much bigger investment if you also factor in the human resources costs of hiring and training content contributors. It only makes sense, then, to equip these contributors with complementary tools to help them promote this content, optimize it, measure it, and perfect it. The best way to have an effective content strategy is to be thoughtful about it and provide the necessary tools to support your authors and editors.
So, the next time you seek out a new content management system for your organization, be sure to consider your content marketing needs as well. Cascade Server (2013 Best Enterprise CMS Nominee) is the only content management system that comes with a full content marketing platform, which not only integrates with the CMS but also integrates with SalesForce, the leading CRM on the market.
For more information about how Cascade Server’s content management and content marketing solutions can help you go beyond just managing your content, <a href="http://www3.hannonhill.com/content-lifecycle-cms-critic-hannon-hill-cascade-page">get in touch with us</a>, and one of our solutions consultants will be happy to discuss the full content lifecycle at your organization and how we can help. 
<a href="http://www3.hannonhill.com/content-lifecycle-cms-critic-hannon-hill-cascade-page"><img style="display:block;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/hannonhill.png" /></a>

Why It’s Not Enough to Just Manage Your Content Anymore

Today is a big day. Mike Johnston and I (the CMS Critic team) are joining forces to launch a project that we have been toiling over behind the scenes.  
 We have compiled a number of the world’s best website builders in order to review, compare and demonstrate their abilities via real and replicable examples. 
 We wanted to reach out to the less-tech savvy world of individuals and businesses looking for a professional online presence, and guide them towards not only the best products on the market, but also towards the best products for their project.  
 Introducing, <a href="http://www.websitebuilderscritic.com/" target="_blank"> Website Builders Critic</a>.
<a href="http://www.websitebuilderscritic.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wbclogojpg.jpg" alt="Website Builders Critic" /></a>
 Along with simple and unbiased reviews, entrepreneurs and businesses alike can expect to find <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/websitebuilderscriti">video tutorials</a> for each major website builder. Such videos will illustrate how each website builder can be used to construct different website types, including blogs, online stores and business websites. 
 The best part? These reviews and video tutorials weren't written or recorded by just anybody. Both Mike and I have worked hard to craft each piece of content, guaranteeing that our knowledge of the website builder industry remains the key ingredient throughout.  
 After all, thanks to our years of work through CMS Critic, it's fair to say that we know these products inside out. We've seen what they're good at, and what they're bad at. 
At the time of launch, Website Builders Critic will have a focus on the following products:
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.websitebuilderscritic.com/website_builders/reviews/squarespace/" target="_blank"> Squarespace </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.websitebuilderscritic.com/website_builders/reviews/weebly/" target="_blank"> Weebly </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.websitebuilderscritic.com/website_builders/reviews/wix/" target="_blank"> Wix </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.websitebuilderscritic.com/website_builders/reviews/lightcms/" target="_blank"> LightCMS </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.websitebuilderscritic.com/website_builders/reviews/strikingly/" target="_blank"> Strikingly </a></li>
</ul>
All of the website builders above have been selected for their quality in terms of user friendliness, functionality and end product creation. Collectively, they serve up a range of website building options, from online stores to one-page websites. 
 So, if you want to find the best website builder for your project, you'll want to check out our demonstrations and insights into the best of the bunch. 
<a href="http://www.websitebuilderscritic.com/">Visit Website Builders Critic</a>

Introducing Website Builders Critic: Unbiased Reviews & Video Tutorials

Not long after the <a href="http://www.opencart.com/index.php?route=feature/blog/info&amp;blog_id=74" target="_blank"> first beta </a>  release, OpenCart 2.0 has now been officially rolled out. 
OpenCart is a well-known free eCommerce solution which offers thousands of themes and hundreds of payment gateways. 
Version 2.0 of OpenCart comes with a responsive, Bootstrap based admin and front end, custom form fields, and even more payment gateways. Let's take a closer look.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/logo-1.png" />
<h2>Bootstrapped UI &amp; Admin Notifications</h2>
Users will be happy to hear that the user interface of OpenCart (including the front and back end) has been completely revamped. Twitter Bootstrap has been utilized, making everything look cleaner and more usable.  
 Plus, a new extension installer makes installing OpenCart extensions much easier and pleasant, as a progress bar now keeps you updated throughout installation. 
 The final major update comes in the form of a notification button on the new admin top menu. It notifies admins about product stock shortages, reviews awaiting approval, and so forth.  
 Notably though, the OpenCart team have said that:
<blockquote>
“OpenCart 1.5.6.* is still considered to be the most stable version of OpenCart available and will continue to be supported for the next six months. As OpenCart 2.0 has only just been released, many modules aren't compatible with it just yet.”
</blockquote>
So, OpenCart users may wish to hold back for a while, if their stores are heavily reliant on modules. 
 To find out more about OpenCart 2.0, as well as to download it, <a href="http://www.opencart.com/index.php?route=feature/blog/info&amp;blog_id=75" target="_blank"> check out the official announcement </a> .

OpenCart 2.0 Released

CMS Summit 26

Find out at CMS Summit 26, May 12 - 13 in Frankfurt, Germany

What's ahead for CMS in the agentic era?

Explore a wide range of informative articles, insights, and industry updates. Stay informed and ahead of the curve with our diverse collection of news and posts covering the latest trends and developments in the industry. Page - 100

News

Power your CMS on AWS

What's ahead for CMS in the agentic era?