Articles - Page 101

The Top 10 AI Tools for Small Business: From Automation to a Coordinated Team of AI Agents

matt-garrepy

You may have noticed that things look a little different around here.I'm pleased to announce that CMS Critic has completed its migration from ProcessWire to WordPress, the world-renowned platform that CMS Critic originally launched with back in 2008.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/vgufaw4n.png" alt="VgUfaW4N" /><h2>What's New?</h2>Well, everything really.Our homepage is now far easier to navigate. A slider and the categories below make it simple for you to find new and interesting content without having to dig too deeply into the website.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-21.png" alt="sshot-21" />Also, our growing <a href="/products/">CMS Directory</a> looks fancier than ever, and it has been joined by a few new friends:<ul><li>CRM Directory</li><li>Ecommerce Directory</li><li>Marketing System Directory</li><li>Analytics Directory</li><li>Hosting Directory</li><li>Themes Directory</li></ul>And with those new directories, come new product hubs – and they're better than ever before.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-17.png" alt="sshot-17" />From a product hub, you can quickly view; a product's site rating and average user rating, an overview of the product, the product's latest review, and the latest news from CMS Critic, and the vendor's very own blog.The overview section gives you a synopsis of the product, along with; the business sizes we think suit it best, featured videos, screenshots, and more.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-16.png" alt="sshot-16" /> We even provide relevant content to help get new users started, like recommended hosting solutions for open source products.And perhaps most interestingly, you can go straight to any product hub and rate it out of ten stars, making an impact on the “Average User Rating” displayed in all hub headers. Furthermore, you can submit your very own reviews of products by clicking “Write a Review”.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-18.png" alt="sshot-18" />As you can see, our new directories cover all the essentials of business software. You won't ever need to look elsewhere to plan the next digital move for your brand.But wait, there's more.<h2>A Better Experience For Our Readers</h2>This new design brings about numerous benefits for our readers.First of all, you can now sign up to CMS Critic using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and a whole bunch of other social platforms by clicking “Register” at the top of the page.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-22.png" alt="sshot-22" />After signing up, you can “Follow” product hubs from within any directory.Once you follow a hub, like the WordPress hub for example, you'll be notified (within the confines of your account here at CMS Critic) of any new WordPress-related articles that we publish.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-23.png" alt="sshot-23" />We also have a new and improved commenting system, powered by Spot.im.Each visitor is given a unique username to partake in conversations below articles, even if that visitor is not logged in.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-24.png" alt="sshot-24" />Plus, there's a newsfeed that you can access from the bottom right corner of the page, which highlights conversations from around the website.<h2>A Stronger Presence for Vendors</h2>Vendors will also benefit from this new-look CMS Critic.The product hubs that make up all of our directories are now far better equipped than ever before. They're ripe for content publication, lead generation and building customer-vendor relationships.Over the new few days, we will be notifying vendors personally about the new opportunities that our product hubs have to offer.<h2>More (Relevant) Topics</h2>After my appointment as Editor back in 2015, Mike and I got to steering CMS Critic towards covering more topics, but we were adamant that we would not stray into industries that don't complement web content management.Why? Because the world of CMS has been meshing with other industries for years now.Content management systems, CRMs, marketing automation systems, and analytics platforms have all become essential tools for the toolbox of every ambitious brand.To put it simply, a CMS isn't enough to propel your business online anymore.And that's why our new directories are accompanied by new industry hubs, where we will cover the new topics alongside our usual CMS news and editorials.These new industry hubs are:<ul><li>CRM Hub</li><li>Ecommerce Hub</li><li>Marketing Hub</li><li>Analytics Hub</li><li>Hosting Hub</li><li>Themes Hub</li></ul>So, we're talking about improvements for visitors, more opportunities for vendors, and broader industry coverage. I don't know about you, but I'm liking this all-new CMS Critic already!Found an issue? Want to work with us? <a href="/contact/">Get in touch</a>.

Extreme Makeover: CMS Critic Edition

mike-johnston

There's no doubt that there are plenty of excellent email marketing platforms out there but one of the most common issues I've come across when using them is deliverability of emails. As such, I've been on the lookout for a solid platform that gave me a good drag and drop builder alongside the power of Amazon's email servers. I believe I've found that with MailGet so allow me to show you how it works in this MailGet Review.
For the longest time, I've used a standalone email marketing software called Sendy (see my <a href="/sendy-review-cheap-inexpensive-email-marketing-for-the-masses/" target="_blank">Sendy review</a>), that has worked reasonably well for me up until recently. Lately, I've been on the lookout for something with more automation (such as automatic unsubscribe, bounce handling, etc). However, I'm also very much committed to using Amazon SES for my email delivery as I feel it is more reliable than other architectures. I recently stumbled across MailGet and I believe I've found that solution.
<h2>Getting Things Configured</h2>
With Amazon SES services, my emails always get through properly and now, thanks to MailGet, I can use both an intuitive email marketing platform alongside Amazon for the best of both worlds.
Here's a quick video showing the basics of how MailGet works:
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Tybd0QNL4aU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Connecting Amazon is incredibly simple and the MailGet folks have full, detailed instructions with screenshots to help you get it done quickly and easily. I found it super simple to configure.
You aren't just stuck with Amazon though. If you prefer, you can use other third party providers such as Gmail, Mailgun, Postmark, SendGrid, Mailjet, Mandrill and others.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/mailget_review_-3855x0-is.png" alt="mailget review" />
Furthermore, MailGet also offers MailGet Bolt which is the same service but with their own built-in SMTP saving you from using a third party SMTP server entirely!
Need Bounce and Spam Handling? This one is a lifesaver. MailGet provides you with full instructions including the URL's to use to configure automatic bounce and spam handling for any of the supported SMTP providers. This one for me, is huge.
Add on Google Analytics integration, <a href="https://zapier.com/" target="_blank">Zapier</a> integration (super useful) and even Wufoo (although frankly I'd probably just use <a href="https://www.formget.com/">FormGet</a>, since it's made by the MailGet folks) and you have a very well put together email marketing platform.
<h2>List Cleaning Tools Too!</h2>
Ok, how many of you DON'T have subscriber lists that have spam subscribers or rogue emails in your list that are no longer valid. Raise your hands.
I don't see any hands. That's what I thought.
MailGet includes some super useful list cleaning tools that I absolutely love. MailGet uses several methods to clean your lists:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/mailget_review_-4.png" alt="mailget review" />It's as easy as clicking a button and letting MailGet go to work. Tell me you don't love this.
<h2>Designing your Emails</h2>
Aside from the configuration being easy to use, the next most important aspect is the email design end of things.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/mailget_review_-_11087x0-is.png" alt="mailget review" />
From your MailGet dashboard, click on Create Email. You now have several options.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/mailget_review_-51147x0-is.png" alt="mailget review" />
For those of you who like to do things the easy way, click on Drag and Drop Email Builder. For those who like to do things the geek way, click on Custom Code Editor and for those of you who just want to type something basic, click on Basic Text Editor. The Email Templates option shows numerous examples but frankly, I didn't find it super helpful as there's no easy way to apply it to your email other than through copy/paste. For me, the drag and drop builder was better.
The Drag and Drop Email Builder works like a charm and is super simple to use.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/mailget_review_-6859x0-is.png" alt="mailget review" />
Once you've finished your email, simply click next and you will be given the opportunity to select which list you want to send to, whether you want to schedule it or send it all in one shot and that's it!
Back on your dashboard, you'll see a handy little widget showing your email and giving you a quick view on how it's performing.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/mailget_review_-7.png" alt="mailget review" />
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
That's all there is to it. It's a simple, easy-to-use email marketing platform that works like a charm. MailGet has excellent help and the tutorials will get you through any issues that might arise quickly and easily. Most importantly, however, is their support.
Should you ever come across any issues.. the MailGet folks are close by to help. Simply click on the live chat box in the bottom right and you'll get a rep almost instantly. I was actually surprised how quickly I was connected to someone and during my test, they solved the problem quickly. Well done guys!
Overall, I'm content with it and using MailGet now for all of our email handling for CMS Critic. It's that good. I recommend trying it yourself, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
<a href="https://www.formget.com/mailget-app/">Try MailGet Now.</a>

MailGet Review - Beautifully Easy Email Marketing with Amazon SES

<a href="http://www.wix.com/" target="_blank">Wix</a>, one of the world's most popular website builders, has launched a campaign called <a href="http://createthestars.com/" target="_blank"> CREATE</a>, which aims to light up the sky of New York City for one starry night.
Wix – the <a href="/the-winner-of-the-2014-peoples-choice-cms-award-for-best-website-builder/" target="_blank">winner of the 2014 CMS Award for Best Website Builder</a> – has invited people from around the world to create and dedicate their own stars using unique Wix.com design tools. After creating a star, users can dedicate it to someone special before dragging and dropping it into a virtual sky, contributing to the creation of a collective star-field.
This star-field can be seen by anybody attending the CREATE event on November 1st 2014 at New York’s Madison Square Park. There, attendees will have thee unique experience of creating stars and shooting them up into the New York City night sky.
<h2>Celebrating Web Design Freedom</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/29708-1.jpg" alt="CREATE wix" />
The CREATE campaign launches as part of Wix's collaboration with agency of record Silver + Partners, and ties directly into the company's mission to enable anyone to easily create a professional online presence, exactly the way they want.
Selected to be among the website building elite over at Website Builders Critic, Wix powers millions of websites for individuals and small businesses across the world. CREATE is just one of many great Wix ideas.
Avishai Abrahami, the Wix Co-Founder and CEO, made these comments regarding the project:
<blockquote>“Simplifying the web creation process is what Wix is all about. We give our users an advanced, code-free platform, and we're constantly blown away by how incredibly creative they get when there are no tech or design barriers to limit them.
The CREATE campaign celebrates this freedom. Wix.com lets you create anything online, and now, by simply dragging and dropping elements, you can even put stars in the sky.”</blockquote>
The Wix powered CREATE customization tools allow you to choose from a wide range of start shapes, sizes and colours. A caption of 140 characters can then be added before completion.
To create and dedicate your star, head over to the <a href="http://createthestars.com/" target="_blank"> CREATE website</a>.
Also, be sure to check out more of <a href="/products/wix/" target="_blank">Wix via our CMS Directory</a>.

CREATE Powered by Wix Set to Light up NYC

<a href="http://www.webs.com/" target="_blank">Webs</a>, a widely popular website builder, has announced the launch of “Local Search” – a new online local listings tool for small businesses.
Part of a suite of marketing products including Pagemodo and ContactME, Webs is an easy-to-use drag-and-drop website builder designed for small businesses.
This newly introduced local listings tool enables businesses to quickly get listed in more than 100 local listings sites and major search engines, exposing it to prospective customers. The listings include the top local search directories such as Google, Bing, AOL, Yahoo, Yelp, YP.com and more.
<h2>Mass Local Listings Made Simple</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/local_listings_blog_header700x0.png" alt="Webs Local Search" />
Local Search works for small businesses with and without physical presence. All users need to do is produce basic company details, taking less than five minutes to get submitted to more than 100 online directories. Once submitted, businesses can easily monitor and update their listings using their own online dashboard.
Local Search also includes a free check on whether a business is already included in top local directories. In addition to small business owners, marketing agencies can use Local Search to improve their clients’ local search results (local SEO).
Scott Bowen, Webs' General Manager, made these comments about the new release:
<blockquote>“We’ve found that most of our customers build a website to attract new customers to their business and provide a platform to sell their products online. If a company’s website or online profile isn’t easily found on local listings sites and search engines, customers will never know about that company and its offerings. Local Search isn’t just for businesses with a physical presence – it’s a tool any business looking to grow its sales can benefit from.”</blockquote>
To find out more about Webs' Local Search feature, <a href="http://www.webs.com/blog/2014/10/21/introducing-webs-local-search-get-business-listed-today/" target="_blank">check out their official blog announcement</a>.
Plus, be sure to explore more of <a href="/products/webs/" target="_blank">Webs via our CMS Directory.</a>

Webs Launches Local Listings Tool

ImpressPages have now launched the latest version of their user-friendly CMS in the form of <a href="http://www.impresspages.org/" target="_blank"> ImpressPages CMS 3.6 </a> , which boasts a Theme Marketplace with a twist. 
 The creation of ImpressPages CMS by <a href="http://www.aproweb.eu/" target="_blank"> Apro Media </a>  – a web design firm, came in response to the difficulties faced by many of their customers, who were having trouble learning the ropes of other popular content management systems on the market. So, the team at Apro Media decided to build ImpressPages, in a bid to make life easier for their customers, and the wider web community in general. 
 The main addition made to ImpressPages via the latest update, has been the introduction of the Theme Marketplace, which is a lot more than your average theme or template store.
<h2>The Theme Marketplace</h2>
ImpressPages CMS' <a href="http://market.impresspages.org/" target="_blank">Theme Marketplace</a> houses a range of beautifully designed themes, all of which work seamlessly with the content management system. You can currently find a mixture of six free themes, alongside four premium themes, selling at $49 each.
Users of ImpressPages don't even need to visit the marketplace, as the theme repository can be browsed through without needing to leave the admin panel. Similarly, each theme can be previewed in the same way, before purchase. There is also a one-click install feature, which naturally ties in with the ImpressPages ethos of user friendliness.
 <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/1700x0.png" alt="ImpressPages CMS 3.6" /> You can go a step further by customizing pre-designed themes too, by adjusting colours, fonts, layouts, and other parameters, all within the admin panel.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/3.png" alt="ImpressPages CMS 3.6" />
However, ImpressPages have also given their Theme Marketplace an interesting spin. Developers using ImpressPages can quickly and easily begin building, publishing and selling their themes to other ImpressPages users through the Theme Marketplace.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/21.png" alt="ImpressPages CMS 3.6" /> Developers can choose to charge for their themes, or create completely free ones for the benefit of the community. ImpressPages merchants can also choose to contribute between 10% to 50% of his fee to the growth of ImpressPages.
<h2>Still Keeping It Simple</h2>
With version 3.6, ImpressPages CMS have remained true to their rule of simplicity, by streamlining their platform even further.
For example, LESS CSS support has been integrated – making it easier to understand and modify CSS, along with default widget styles which are now fully responsive and are also available in plain CSS and configurable LESS formats.
To find out more about these additional features bundled with ImpressPages CMS 3.6, as well as to get an insight into the future of the platform, you can read through ImpressPages' <a href="http://www.impresspages.org/blog/impresspages-cms-3-6-and-theme-marketplace-in-a-nutshell/" target="_blank">official release notes</a>.

ImpressPages CMS 3.6 Released Along With Theme Marketplace

Five years of continuously evolves, InsiteCreation CMS reach the new high in CMS world. The latest version takes the website building into the new level of ease and simplicity yet retaining rich and robust functionality and flexibility.
<a href="http://www.insitecreation.com/Video/Insite2012.html"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wp_200x0_kpnp7i.png" /></a>
InsiteCreation is entry to medium level CMS that is designed to cater for a wide range of usage scenarios, e.g. corporate website &amp; document management, clients' area, portfolio site, article portal, club website, personal home page, blog, etc.
<a href="http://www.insitecreation.com/"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/visitbutton.png" /></a>
<h2>Realtime Designer</h2>
Realtime Designer is key feature and also the unique point of InsiteCreation CMS. It makes InsiteCreation more than just a CMS, it is also a designer tool to create multiple and dynamic designs faster!
Traditional CMS requires user to use FTP to download specific formatting file or template, make changes and then upload to server to see the changes. InsiteCreation’s Realtime Designer intelligently discard all this hassles and allows user to enter into design mode and change the appearance of page’s elements such as page body, menu, footer, banner, logo etc. online. User will see the changes realtime while they are modifying the design aspects.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best_smb_net_cms-1_paarka.png" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/250px-orchard_logo_1_svg_jd2vbu.png" />
 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/dropdown-450x319.jpg" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best_smb_java_cms_zdrbno.png" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/percussion-logo_onvdlr.jpg" />
 
<h2>Content Management and Listing</h2>
In InsiteCreation, content is not html page only, they can be document (file, pdf, doc) and media(image, video or link). Content are organized into Channel which could have designated level of protection. Any page in InsiteCreation can be easily converted into a document, media or a link and presented in various listing/gallery templates. Here are just some of the ways you can use listings:
<ul>
<li>Media Wall. With a Multimedia Wall, you can post rich content on your wall – not just Photos or YouTube videos, but downloadable documents, music or video playlists, etc – content support you may not find on common online wall or blog applications.</li>
<li>Blog. By selecting the Blog listing template you can immediately convert any page into a powerful blog. Start posting your blog entries or edit the template to customize the look &amp; feel of your blog.</li>
<li>Music Playlist. Create a playlist of your audio files and let your users play them using the built-in MP3 player. With InsiteCreation, you can even sell downloadable music (as well as any other file type).</li>
<li>Video Playlist. Creating an interactive video playlist has never been easier. Just select the Video Playlist listing template and start uploading your collection of videos (FLV) which can be viewed on your site with the provided player.</li>
<li>Document Explorer. Give your users secure access to the documents they need. Convert any page into a document sharing area and start uploading any type of files, for example MS Office files, PDF documents, etc.</li>
<li>Custom Catalog. Create a book library, product list, hotel &amp; property database or inventory: custom fields give you the flexibility to shape a listing to your needs.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Powerful Authoring Tools</h2>
The simple user interface and logical approach make content management accessible to businesses without dedicated IT staff. InsiteCreation CMS incorporates high performance authoring tools to enhance user’s authoring experience.
<ul>
<li>Advanced WYSIWYG Editor. Create stylish content, design your own typography, create beautiful tables, apply colors, and much more… all in a convenient editing environment.</li>
</ul>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best_smb_java_cms-1_hgos2y.png" />
<ul>
<li>Quick In-Context Editor. If you need quick editing, just enable the in-context editor. It's quick to load and allows you to edit content directly on page. The in-context editor provides basic editing features. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/small02.jpg" /> </li>
<li>Insert Photos with Lightbox &amp; Reflection Effect. Easily select a photo, choose thumbnail size, and make it clickable to open the actual image in a smooth lightbox. Thumbnails are generated on the fly without maintaining separate images. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best_smb_other_cms-1_yztnzr.png" /></li>
<li>Music and Video player. Upload video files (FLV) or MP3 files that can be embedded in your content. You can also attach YouTube URLs and a small thumbnail will be displayed automatically. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/561px-django_cms_logo_svg_bgxxnf.png" /></li>
<li>SEO Friendly. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best_smb_other_cms_hmnbj0.png" /></li>
</ul>
Built in and Custom Modules
InsiteCreation CMS provides long list of built in modules in standard package including some important modules: Shopping Cart, Pooling System, Discussion (Forum), Newsletter, Event Calendar, and Content Block. Modules can be embedded on any page. Also InsiteCreation's highly extensible framework allows you to develop custom modules and extend InsiteCreation with custom functions.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/modules-450x441.jpg" />
<h2>And more…</h2>
There are still many features in InsiteCreation CMS that worth mentioning such as Mini Sites, Comment System, Statistics, Content Approval and Dashboard, it will be too much to cover in this article. Find out more information about InsiteCreation CMS at <a href="http://www.insitecreation.com/" target="_blank">www.insitecreation.com</a>

InsiteCreation CMS Takes Website Building to the Next Level

Power your CMS on AWS

Manage your websites & apps in the most trusted cloud.

#ffffff

As the name aptly implies, <a href="/products/bigcommerce" target="_blank">Bigcommerce</a> has had a big role to play in the eCommerce industry over the last few years, and it's just undergone a massive rebranding process that pushed it to new, highly professional heights.
Bigcommerce covers all the bases by offering an inclusive range of price plans, as well as a 15-day free trial. Their user base consists of small businesses, enterprise-grade companies, and everything in between.
According to a Bigcommerce statement, their new brand, “reﬂects our long-term commitment to powering growth, removing complexity and supporting businesses around the world.”
<h2>Bigcommerce's Big Makeover</h2>
Bigcommerce now sports a new (and very slick) logo, which sends out a far more executive vibe than its predecessor. Their website has undergone a total makeover too, with new fonts, colors, shapes, and messaging.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-15857x0-is.png" />
Here's what Bigcommerce had to say on the matter:
<blockquote>“This new brand helps better convey our story, and the story of our merchants. Just as with the businesses that rely on our platform, design plays a vital role in how customers interact with and experience our brand.
The changes to our website and control panel were informed directly by our customers and partners, and are designed to make interacting with and discovering information easier and more efficient. This is represented in our new logo — an ode to the “growth chart” used in boardrooms and offices around the world to quantify progress.
At its core, our logo is a dramatically simple composition of elements that convey our brand’s promise to help merchants grow “up and to the right”.”</blockquote>
Although this “update” is primarily aesthetic, I feel it's a big milestone in Bigcommerce's history. And I think it will shape the way it approaches its future, too. As far as I can see, this rebranding event seems to be an attempt to push Bigcommerce in the direction of higher-end clients.
The previous branding was welcoming and happy-go-lucky. But now, Bigcommerce looks like it means serious business.
It may not directly impact user experience, but I'm sure it will help attract more large and enterprise-scale companies (which Bigcommerce seems to be chasing more ardently than ever) towards the platform.
More details can be found on the <a href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/bigcommerce-rebrand/" target="_blank">Bigcommerce blog</a>.
Additionally, you can explore more of <a href="/products/bigcommerce/" target="_blank">Bigcommerce via our CMS Directory</a>.

Bigcommerce Undergoes Rebranding, And Now They Mean Serious Business

<a href="http://www.websitebox.com/" target="_blank">WebsiteBox</a>, a Toronto-based startup that provides real estate professionals with a professional website for a one-time fee of $99, has announced a print-marketing tool called Prints App. 
Focusing on providing a powerful online presence for real estate agents, WebsiteBox serves up a hundreds of responsive templates, customization options, and options between different types of real estate websites. 
Prints App is WebsiteBox's way of giving realtors the ability to print real-estate marketing materials quickly and easily. Here's an introductory video:
http://vimeo.com/108529744
<h2>Branding Made Easy  </h2>
WebsiteBox CEO Peyman Aleagha sees Prints App as a way for Realtors to stramline their branding and marketing efforts:
<blockquote>
“Real estate agents rely on print marketing for branding, to connect with former clients, and to attract new client. While much of the real estate world is moving online, a creative and consistent print marketing campaign is still essential to increasing a Realtor’s visibility within the community.  What’s more, quick, clean messages on brochures, flyers, and other literature can ultimately drive traffic to a real estate website.
Prints App provides Realtors with a straightforward and inexpensive way to share news, tell a success story, or invite buyers to a new listing – all from one simple platform.”
</blockquote>
The best part of Prints App, is that it automatically integrates with existing WebsiteBox websites, enabling it to pull information from listings for use in print materials.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/logowebsitebox_light_background700x0.jpg" alt="WebsiteBox" />
Agents can use the app to create vibrant business cards, newsletters, flyers, postcards, letterheads, property sheets, and other materials in three simple steps:
<ol>
<li>Agents select the type of print piece and layout they want to create. The prints wizard helps users customize the piece with intuitive drag-and-drop editing tools.</li>
<li>Next, the app automatically loads data from the multiple listing service. No manual data entry is needed.</li>
<li>In the final step, the app turns the marketing collateral into a high-resolution PDF file that agents can print immediately. Or, for jobs that require expertise, users can email the file to <a href="http://www.printchomp.com/" target="_blank">PrintChomp</a>, a WebsiteBox partner that will help users choose a local printer who’ll complete the job for the required budget, quality and deadline.</li>
</ol>
The Prints App is avaialble via the <a href="http://www.websitebox.com/realtors/apps-extras.php" target="_blank">WebsiteBox Apps &amp; Extras market</a>, for $99.
To find out more about WebsiteBox, <a href="http://www.websitebox.com" target="_blank">check out their website</a>.

WebsiteBox Unveils Print-Marketing Tool for Realtors

<img style="user-select:auto" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/t7a10501150x0-is.jpg" />
In this brave, new digital world, there are countless awards and accolades that celebrate the efforts of technology companies. But there are few competitions that highlight the true impact of innovative thinking for the customer.
Last week, government and tech titans from across the world converged in Washington D.C. for the annual Amazon Web Services Public Sector Summit. The purpose was the discussion and display of how government organizations and technology companies can continue to innovate in collaboration with one another – and how Amazon Web Services can help various government entities be more efficient, secure, and cost-effective.
But there was also a palpable vibe in the air. Who would go home with the coveted ‘City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge’ award for 2017?
If you’re not familiar with this competition, here’s the low-down: every year, Amazon Web Services recognizes institutions and AWS Partners that have gone above and beyond to innovate in their respective public sector fields. Despite tens of thousands of applicants, only three winners are named in each of three main categories. I’m proud to announce that last week, Solodev CMS clinched the win for ‘Best Practices’ in the Large City category with Seminole County Public Schools (SCPS) for their newly launched website. The project was created using the Solodev Web Experience platform, which is the only true CMS built from the ground up for Amazon Web Services.
Aside from the instant and vast global recognition and the strengthening of our partnership with Amazon Web Services, there’s a monetary prize of $50,000 – all of which SCPS will reinvest in their online strategy. This includes the rollout of 57 new school websites across the district, all built on the Solodev platform. As a result, each school will have greater control over their individual web presence while saving the county thousands of dollars in management and hosting costs.
Making an impact in both the education and public sector fields isn’t new for us. In fact, just days before winning the award for ‘Best Practices’, Solodev was officially named as one of the first AWS Partners to obtain the newly announced AWS Education Competency. This was a hard-earned validation, demonstrating our deep commitment to the Amazon Web Services Platform while focusing our efforts on the education community.
In recent months, Solodev has experienced tremendous growth with federal, state, and local government agencies, public academic institutions across the globe, and Fortune 500 companies working on a wide variety of projects leveraging AWS. This got us thinking: what is Solodev doing differently than the rest of the CMS pack to have grown from a small <a href="https://www.solodev.com/" target="_blank">content management software</a> company to a true disrupter – and the “go-to” Web Experience Platform for Amazon Web Services?
If I may be so bold as to borrow from Apple, then it’s simple: we started thinking differently. 
Our story began in 2014 with a plan to move from typical on-premise CMS deployments to the Amazon Web Services Cloud. It took a few years of blood and sweat, but within weeks of launching on the AWS Marketplace, Solodev was named the ‘Best Cloud CMS of 2016’ and one of a select number of AWS partners to join their new SaaS Subscriptions Program.
The catalyst for rebuilding Solodev for AWS was fairly simple: we wanted to disrupt the CMS market and create more value. It had been in a period of stasis with little to no change in product development or business model. While almost every other enterprise software vertical had moved to the cloud, the CMS industry just kept adding features or acquiring companies. Wasn’t it time to evolve the modern CMS to a SaaS delivery model – built on the world’s most advanced infrastructure? And what if we could deliver it all on-demand at a fraction of the average cost?
It would all be a game changer.
So we embarked on rebuilding Solodev layer by layer to fully leverage the power of AWS. After nearly four years of engineering, testing, re-engineering, re-testing, and turning our code base over to AWS for review, we were finally seeing our dream come to life. But the big moment came when we decided to deliver a new kind of CMS – one that empowers users to craft unique web experiences with total <a href="https://www.solodev.com/blog/" target="_blank">web design</a> freedom, based on different customer segments. This completely changed the game not only for the CMS industry, but also for the entire digital world. CMS touches everything on the Web; every website, every mobile interaction, every digital experience. What we discovered was the value of the complete experience, and thus we dubbed our new innovation the Web Experience Platform (WXP).
Knowledge is the bedrock of humanity. So what better place to start our new endeavor than with education? While there are many challenges in the public realm, K-12 schools have increasingly struggled to compete with well-funded private institutions. The root of the problem wasn’t actually the difference in quality of education; it was the perception of quality. And where is that perception shaped and influenced with the greatest energy? Websites.
The SCPS project was an opportunity to challenge myths, to trail blaze a new model for a public school’s digital strategy. Despite the disparity in budget between public and private institutions, the Solodev Web Experience Platform made it possible for a district to enhance their digital brand presence and compete more efficiently and effectively. The entire project was a collaboration of creative, development, and marketing minds at both Solodev and SCPS, and the result has hence been dubbed the ‘K-12 Website of the Future.’ It’s beyond gratifying to know that our innovation has resulted in their success – and helped an invaluable community resource secure its digital future.
So why did Solodev win the ‘City on a Cloud’ Innovation Challenge?
Because everything we did was about helping <a href="https://www.scps.k12.fl.us/" target="_blank">Seminole County Public Schools</a> win with the Web. Because of our unshakable belief that websites are more than just websites – they’re experiences that connect us, from across a classroom to the far end of the globe. Yes, we’ve worked tirelessly to raise the bar for the industry, but with the goal of making CMS a more valuable and reliable asset for every company. We must always find new ways to innovate and improve. The world depends on all of us.
Whether you are a technology executive, web developer or designer, marketing professional, or dreamer, we have built the platform of your dreams – one where you can finally unlock your full potential, and build your own city on the cloud.
Are you still skeptical? Visit <a href="http://www.solodev.com" target="_blank">www.solodev.com</a> today and get started with the next step in the evolution of web content management.

Why Solodev CMS Won Amazon Web Services 'City on a Cloud' Innovation Challenge

This week was full of surprises from some big DXP players. A couple of days ago, Sitecore <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-embarks-on-1-2b-investment-plan-to-accelerate-growth/">announced</a> that it received $1.2 billion in capital investment to accelerate growth. Now, <a href="https://www.acquia.com/">Acquia</a> dropped another bomb by announcing <a href="https://www.acquia.com/why-acquia/acquia-digital-commerce">Acquia Digital Commerce</a>, which brings together Lucidworks' advanced AI-Driven personalization and recommendations with commercetools' headless commerce. Using Acquia Digital Commerce with Acquia Open Digital Experience Platform (DXP), marketers can drive real-time, personalized, shoppable experiences at every customer touchpoint.
After <a href="https://www.acquia.com/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/acquia-announces-majority-investment-vista-equity-partners">receiving a significant investment from Vista Equity Partners</a> last year, Acquia had recently <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-launches-new-open-digital-experience-platform/">launched its Acquia Open Digital Experience Platform</a> in July. With its new DXP, Acquia further leveraged the power of open-source Drupal CMS capabilities. The Acquia Open DXP comprises both the Acquia Marketing Cloud and Acquia Drupal Cloud and integrates their acquired technologies – including AgilOne, Mautic, and Cohesion – with their existing core. This integration aimed to bring marketers and developers together with an easy-to-use platform.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/01/acquia-dxp.png" alt="Image of diagrams of Acquia Drupal Cloud and Acquia Marketing Cloud" />
Now, together with partners <a href="https://commercetools.com/">commercetools</a> and <a href="http://lucidworks.com/">Lucidworks</a>, Acquia has built Acquia Digital Commerce, creating yet another successful integration. While Acquia Open Digital Platform brought marketers and developers together, Acquia Digital Commerce seeks to make the commerce experience more personalized and user-friendly.
According to <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/the-great-consumer-shift-ten-charts-that-show-how-us-shopping-behavior-is-changing">McKinsey</a>, over 75% of U.S. consumers have changed shopping behavior and switched to new brands during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many have shifted to digital channels permanently. Using Acquia CDP's customer data profiles and advanced segmentation, retailers can gain a deeper understanding of new and existing customers – and serve up personalized, shoppable, content-driven commerce experiences with Acquia Digital Commerce. These experiences, combined with intelligent promotions, increase conversions and improve customer lifetime value (LTV).
"As retailers adjust to a hybrid of in-person and online commerce shopping behaviors, solutions like Acquia Digital Commerce become even more valuable," said Kevin Cochrane, SVP of product marketing at Acquia. "By understanding customer segments and serving the right content and products at the right time on the right channel, retailers can reach customers with personal experiences that drive revenue.”
<h3>Acquia Digital Commerce</h3>
Acquia Digital Commerce is a solution that enables marketers to unify data, content, commerce, and digital merchandising into a single data layer to deliver a seamless omnichannel experience across the customer lifecycle.
Teams can maximize their commerce investments by integrating this headless, cloud-native shopping platform with Acquia Open DXP. commercetools provides an omnichannel shopping platform, and the Lucidworks AI-powered product discovery solution delivers personally relevant products and content to customers.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/01/acquia-lucidworks-commercetools.jpg" alt="Image of Acquia features" />
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One of the most valuable features Lucidworks brings to the Acquia DX Alliance is its advanced machine learning capabilities. <a href="https://lucidworks.com/cxc/">Lucidworks CXC</a> utilizes one of the broadest combinations of machine learning techniques in the industry, including NLP, Named Entity Recognition, Deep Learning Sentiment Analysis, self-learning, and relevancy tuning. This allows them to deliver extremely relevant results to users and ensure the system continuously improves based on usage.
According to a <a href="https://hbr.org/2017/01/a-study-of-46000-shoppers-shows-that-omnichannel-retailing-works">study</a> of 46,000 shoppers, 73% of consumers use multiple channels during their shopping journey. To provide a successful omnichannel experience for customers, brands need an API-first headless CMS. commercetools' headless commerce platform and API-first framework will give brands flexibility and scalability.
"By leveraging the market-leading solutions offered by commercetools, Acquia, and Lucidworks, retailers can quickly and effectively engage with end-consumers by composing relevant shopping experiences to meet customers on their own terms," said Kelly Goetsch, chief product officer at commercetools. "It's more important than ever to be able to pivot quickly, and our joint solution offers exactly that."
"Omnichannel personalization remains a top priority for brands; however, most companies lack the ability to optimize digital experiences in real-time, leading to missed revenue or loss of potential new customers," said Peter Curran, general manager of digital commerce at Lucidworks. "We're excited to be part of this best-of-breed solution to provide merchandisers and marketers with a single-layer view of all the information they need to make more informed decisions that serve their unique customer base. The value of Lucidworks advanced machine learning capabilities is compounded by Acquia Open DXP and commercetools Commerce Engine, ensuring that customers are maximizing their investments in the digital experience.”
<h3>Creating a community with Acquia DX Alliance</h3>
Along with Acquia Digital Commerce's launch, Acquia also unveiled the <a href="https://www.acquia.com/blog/acquia-dx-alliance-elevating-customer-value-through-open-technology-partnerships">Acquia DX Alliance</a>, the company's open technology partner community, to drive collaboration through an ecosystem of leading technology vendors providing choice and jointly delivering interoperable solutions that extend Acquia Open DXP. Building a robust technology partner community enables Acquia and its partners to best support rapidly evolving customer needs.
<h3>About Acquia</h3>
<a href="https://www.acquia.com/">Acquia</a> is an open Digital Experience Platform designed to give enterprise companies the ability to build, operate, and optimize websites, apps, and other digital experiences. Acquia produces better business outcomes for CX leaders by enabling organizations to build, host, analyze and communicate with their customers at scale through websites and digital applications.
<h3>About commercetools</h3>
commercetools is the world's leading platform for next-generation B2C and B2B commerce. To break the market out of being restrained by legacy suites, commercetools invented a headless, API-first, multi-tenant SaaS commerce platform that is cloud-native and uses flexible microservices. Using modern development building blocks in a true cloud platform provided by commercetools, customers can deliver the best commerce experiences across every touchpoint on a large scale. commercetools has offices across the US, Europe, and Asia Pacific, with headquarters in Germany. Since its founding in 2006, commercetools software has been implemented by Fortune 500 companies across industries, from retail to manufacturing and from telecommunications to fashion. More information at <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=2812013-1&amp;h=3676190503&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fcommercetools.com%2F&amp;a=commercetools.com">commercetools.com</a>.
<h3>About Lucidworks</h3>
Lucidworks offers the Connected Experience Cloud (CXC) that captures user signals from every action and applies them to omnichannel digital experiences everywhere. CXC combines the power of search and machine learning to personalize experiences that meet employees' and customers' unique intent. The world’s largest brands, including Lenovo, Morgan Stanley, Red Hat, Reddit, and Cisco Systems rely on Lucidworks’ suite of products to power product discovery, customer service, and knowledge management applications that delight customers and empower employees. Learn more at <a href="http://lucidworks.com/">Lucidworks.com</a>.

Acquia Digital Commerce Unifies Data, Content, Commerce, and Digital Merchandising

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This year has been an incredibly successful one for the CMS Awards and as our third consecutive year, we've had more nominations and voters than ever before!Competition this year was very tight between contenders LightCMS, Surreal CMS and Acquia Cloud but in the end, there can be only one winner.It is with great pleasure that I announce the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Cloud CMS For SMB (Small to Midsize Business) goes to:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/lightcms-1.jpg" alt="Best Cloud CMS for SMB" />LightCMS fought hard this year and it was incredibly close between them and runner up, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.surrealcms.com/">Surreal CMS </a>but in the end, LightCMS prevailed.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best-hosted-cloud-cms.png" alt="Best Cloud CMS for SMB" />Congratulations to everyone at LightCMS (and mother company, Netsuite) on their win!If you aren't familiar with LightCMS and would like to learn more, read our in-depth  LightCMS review on our new site, Website Builders Critic where you can find LightCMS Tutorials and more.Share this using <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/bestcloudcms">http://bit.ly/bestcloudcms</a>

The Winner of the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Cloud CMS for SMB

Joomla is one of the biggest names in the world of CMS, and they've just rolled out version 3.5, along with 34 new features.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/joomla35graphic487x0-is.png" /> Some of those 34 new features include support for the recently released PHP 7 scripting language (PHP is one of the the most popular programming languages for web applications), which in turn, should significantly increase web site speed.So in other words, Joomla should now be a lot faster out of the box.<h2>Pacey PHP</h2>The big news here is Joomla's PHP 7 support. It will bring significant performance improvements to Joomla's general public. But there's more to this update.For example, a new email update notification plugin checks for available Joomla updates and bug fixes, and then emails the designated administrator to make sure they know what the latest news is.Other notable aspects of the Joomla 3.5 release include:<ul><li>Download system &amp; environment information: gives users the option to download system/environment information for support purposes.</li><li>Ability to add a user CSS file to Protostar: currently it is impossible to use a custom.css file when using the Protostar template. This update adds a check to see if the file user.css exists and loads the file to allow for user customization.</li><li>Added site and admin links to module user: adds switches to the mod_status module to show/hide links to the front-end and back-end of the site.</li><li>Article counts: a set of updates that allows the visual presentation of published, unpublished and trashed articles in the Category Manager for articles, banners, contacts and newsfeeds.</li><li>Random category blog and list order: this update answers a common user request to add a random ordering option for articles in the blog category and category list view.</li><li>Editor Buttons added to the Toolbar: You no longer need to scroll down the page to find the “readmore” or “insert image” buttons. Editor extension buttons that used to be placed below the text area can now be found in the toolbar where they belong.</li><li>Easily Insert Modules in Articles: allows users to easily add a module into an article with a button directly on the editor toolbar. Users don’t need to learn any syntax or remember the module details as the user interface does it for them.</li><li>Drag and Drop Images: Adding an image is now as easy as dragging and dropping it from your computer directly into the content. This works anywhere that you are using the default TinyMCE WYSIWYG editor.</li></ul>For full feature details, visit Joomla's <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/joomla/joomla-cms/pulls?q=is%3Apr+milestone%3A%22Joomla%21+3.5.0%22+is%3Aclosed+label%3A%22New+Feature%22">GitHub Repository</a>.<h2>A Strong Move Forward for Joomla</h2>I for one, like this Joomla update.Editor buttons becoming more accessible, modules becoming easier to implement, and drag-and-drop image placement, are all features that the modern CMS user would want.Juggernauts like Joomla aren't really in need of never-before-seen features. Instead, they should be focusing on improving the features they already have. And I think they've done that with Joomla 3.5For more information on this update, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.joomla.org/announcements/release-news/5654-joomla-3-5-is-here.html">check out Joomla's blog announcement</a>.And as usual, you can explore more of <a href="/products/joomla">Joomla via our CMS Directory</a>.

A Look At The Newly Released Joomla 3.5

DreamHost® has announced that its popular website builder, Remixer, has introduced a new tiered pricing structure that gets small businesses and individuals online quickly with engaging, professional-grade websites for just a few dollars per month. DreamHost is also debuting Remixer’s newly available support for multi-page website creation – a highly requested feature among Remixer users – as well as a set of key new upgrades to the platform’s capabilities.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/remixer_multi-page_feature791x0-is.png" /> DreamHost users are now able to quickly and easily build multi-page websites for as little as $4.95 per month with Remixer. The new “Remixer All Access” plan, starting at $7.95/month, delivers Remixer’s intuitive platform and also includes a full DreamHost managed web hosting account, domain email accounts, mail forwarding, and the ability to use other applications like WordPress. When billed annually, both plans include a free domain registration.
“It doesn’t stop there,” said Ralph Castro, DreamHost’s VP of Product for Remixer. “We’ve added a host (no pun intended) of other improvements based on direct customer feedback. These include everything from the ability to conveniently select a website’s domain from within the page manager, to one-click access for creating a new page that’s pre-set with an established theme, to drag-and-drop page layout, to a streamlined navigation menu, to…well, plenty more. Nowhere else can you create a website this easily that looks as sharp as those made with Remixer.”
Both Remixer plans come loaded with additional features designed to make website personalization and creation as straightforward as possible for small businesses, bloggers, and anyone else with something to say or sell online:
— Easy publishing to custom domains (no matter where the site is hosted) — 70+ pre-designed themes and layouts to match your website’s content — Website hosting — Seamlessly import images from an existing website or direct from social media — A pre-populated, high-quality royalty-free image gallery — Google Analytics integration to monitor website performance — Video embedding from YouTube and Vimeo — Audio embedding from SoundCloud — No storage or bandwidth limits — No ads, ever — 24/7 email support — Live chat support
“After ten minutes playing with Remixer, I created a brand new website for a hunting and fishing resort,” said Mike Judge, <a href="http://troutntrack.com/" target="_blank">troutntrack.com</a>. “From start to (beautiful) finish, the build and publish process took less than half an hour. Remixer is as powerful as it is simple to use.”
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/remixer_themes_page791x0-is.png" /> “Remixer’s platform helped me quickly create a new, professional-grade website in just a few clicks,” said Martha Lenio, <a href="http://marsgreen.ca/" target="_blank">marsgreen.ca</a>. “Uploading my own content and photos was intuitive, and customer support was fast and helpful when I had questions. Using DreamHost’s Remixer has given me one less thing to worry about running my small business.”
To learn more or to begin building your website with Remixer, visit <a href="http://dreamhost.com/website-builder/" target="_blank">dreamhost.com/website-builder/</a>.

Remixer – the Powerful Website Builder from DreamHost – Makes Creating Customized Websites Very, Very Inexpensive

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