Articles - Page 107

Not All Heroes Wear Capes. Here's Why CMS Is Your 'Unsung Hero' in 2025

janus-boye

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.prestashop.com">Prestashop</a>, the rapidly growing eCommerce solution, has just unveiled its latest version in the form of PrestaShop 1.6.1.It's been over a year <a href="/prestashop-1-6-released/">since the release of PrestaShop 1.6</a>, and just a few months since the unveiling of <a href="/prestashop-cloud-review/">PrestaShop Cloud</a>, the worlds first totally free, yet premium-grade cloud-hosted eCommerce solution.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/gi_149548_vertical-logo-2015.png" />It's worth noting that this update comes just days after <a target="_blank" href="https://www.prestashop.com/en/press-releases/2015/06/22/corinne-lejbowicz-as-the-company-s-new-ceo/">PrestaShop announced the arrival of their new CEO, Corinne Lejbowicz</a>. She thrived at organizations such as AOL and Vivendi, and will be looking to push PrestaShop to new heights.You may have also noticed that PrestaShop now has a new and quirky logo.With this latest update, PrestaShop have served up performance enhancements and some design tweaks to their Back Office. Lets take a closer look.<h2>Better Looking At The Back &amp; Faster Everywhere</h2>Cosmetic adjustments have been applied to the PrestaShop Back Office, mainly in relation to contrast and visibility in the navigation. Changes include new logos, images, colors, and a few other design elements.PrestaShop has also worked on improving the installation process, the update process, the search function and back office controls.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/new-design-b-2-1024x528793x0-is.png" /><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/new-design-b-2-1024x528793x0-is.png" />As for performance enhancements, PrestaShop has targeted SQL queries. Thanks to some optimization, PrestaShop stores are now up to 200% faster at carrying out back office operations. Which is impressive.The optimizations also mean that stores will be better equipped for traffic spikes.Finally, PrestaShop 1.6.1 sees the insertion of 15 new options into the “Advanced EU Compliance module”, helping European merchants meet the legal requirements of their land with greater ease.To find out more about PrestaShop 1.6.1, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.prestashop.com/blog/en/delivering-new-improved-v1-6-1-0/">check out their blog announcement</a>.Also be sure to explore <a href="/products/prestashop">PrestaShop through our CMS Directory</a>.

PrestaShop 1.6.1 Released With Performance Improvements & Back Office Facelift

mike-johnston

If you are overwhelmed by Google Analytics or just looking for an alternative that offers heatmaps and shows you how people actually use your website, then you should consider taking a look at Lucky Orange.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/luckyorange-logo.jpg" /><h3>What is Lucky Orange?</h3>It's an exceptional analytics platform that offers not just your typical users stats but something more. You can actually play back each individual session to see what and how a user surfed your site. Sound too good to be true? Must be expensive right? It's not. Not only do you get unlimited session recordings but you get a huge host of features for as little as $10 / month. That's a pretty amazing investment if you ask me.To see how the live session recording works, check out this video:Not only does Lucky Orange offer session playback (something that really is incredibly useful as a marketer) but it also offers user heatmaps and a ton of other features such as:Form Analytics<ul><li>Automatically calculate form metrics</li><li>Abandonment Rate</li><li>Conversion Rate</li><li>Engagement Rate</li><li>Time to Start Forms</li><li>Time Spent in Each Field</li><li>Which Fields are Most Often Abandoned</li><li>Which Fields are Repeated</li><li>What Order are Fields Filled Out</li><li>Watch Recordings of People that Abandoned, to Learn Why</li></ul>Real Time Analytics<ul><li>Accurate counts of what's happening right now on your site</li><li>Unique visitor count vs number of browser tabs opened</li><li>Top Keywords</li><li>Top Countries &amp; Cities</li><li>Top Referrers</li><li>Top Pages</li><li>Realtime Related Tweets</li><li>Uses various available transports to create a cross browser/platform real time experience</li></ul>Live Chat Software<ul><li>Chat box stays on the page and follows visitor as they browse your site for a seamless experience.</li><li>Can watch visitors screen while chatting with them</li><li>Add Customized Pre Chat Questions</li><li>Customizable colors, text, positioning</li><li>Multiple Chat Operators and Operator chat room</li><li>Operators can have profile pictures and sub titles</li><li>Ability to transfer chat to another operator</li><li>See when a visitor is typing, typed, stopped typing</li><li>Simple dashboard lets you chat with many people at the same time</li><li>Ask a user to chat</li><li>Searchable Chat Logs</li><li>Visitor can Initiate Live Chat</li><li>Toggle chat on/off with one click</li></ul>Visitor Polls<ul><li>Ask simple questions with up to 4 responses and comments</li><li>Quickly gain valuable customer insight</li><li>Watch results in real time</li><li>Create country specific polls</li><li>Show polls on specific pages</li><li>Show polls to random sample</li><li>Show polls after certain number of seconds</li><li>Instantly add / delete / pause polls without adding any more code to your site</li><li>Graph and searchable log of responses</li><li>Can push poll results, views, closes, to Google Analytics</li></ul>Visitor Recordings &amp; Live Sessions<ul><li>Watch in real time or automatically records visitor browsing sessions</li><li>See exactly what your visitors did on your site</li><li>Ability to chat with visitor while you watch them browse.</li><li>Watch every mouse movement, keypress, scroll, screen resize</li><li>Works with dynamic html and member only pages</li><li>Saves the HTML that the visitor saw at the time of the recording</li><li>Works across multiple browsers / screen resolutions</li><li>See mouse paths drawn over the html</li><li>Watch Visitor Path accross site and jump to any page</li><li>Searchable recordings, including finding recordings that include a specific url</li><li>Stores visitor keywords, search engine, referrer information with recordings.</li></ul>Heat Maps<ul><li>Aggregate lots of click data to form beautiful heatmaps</li><li>Click heat maps</li><li>Mouse movement heat maps</li><li>Scroll Depth heat maps (see how far people are scrolling down the page)</li><li>Works with fluid layouts &amp; different browser sizes</li><li>Create heatmaps based on date ranges, urls, browsers, location and more.</li><li>Accurately finds the actual div the user clicked on instead of just using relative mouse coordinates.</li></ul>Live Visitor Map<ul><li>Watch a real time visitor map of all your website visitors</li><li>Animated with custom effects</li><li>Plot line between points for neat effect</li><li>Can be launched in Full Screen for use with large monitors, or to display in a waiting area</li><li>Simple or Detailed Map View</li></ul><a target="_blank" href="https://www.luckyorange.com/">See here for a full breakdown of features.</a>Pretty amazing sounding isn't it? The software really is a marketers dream and the price point is well within any budget which makes it even more tempting. The best part is you can get a free trial to play around with the system before making any firm committments one way or the other.<blockquote><a target="_blank" href="https://www.luckyorange.com/">Check it out a 7 day free trial (no credit card required)</a></blockquote>

Lucky Orange - An Excellent Alternative to Google Analytics

Nuxeo Platform is an open-source content management system used primarily by architects and developers to build, deploy, and run content-centric business applications.
<img style="max-width:100px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/nuxeo-zago-x_logo_symbol_small_transp.png" />
This latest release from Nuxeo, Nuxeo Platform Fast Track 7.3, brings about integration with cloud file sharing platforms, secure Elasticsearch queries with built-in permission checks, better branch management and new options to store files locally or in the cloud.
There's a lot ere's a detailed look at the new features and improvements introduced with Nuxeo Platform FT 7.3.
<h2>Nuxeo Live Connect</h2>
First up, this new feature provides Nuxeo developers with native integration with Cloud-Based Enterprise File Sync and Share (EFSS) platforms. Nuxeo has added native support to natively connect to files stored in EFSS systems including Google Drive and Dropbox.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-18633x0-is.png" /> 
Editors on these platforms, e.g. Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets, can be viewed and accessed within the Nuxeo environment, providing free and open collaboration without having to copy files and store them locally.
With this release, Nuxeo customers can not only access the standard editors on these platforms but also the wealth of third party editors that have been created. Notably, two or more users can collaborate on a given file – for example, a legal contract or a press release being readied for distribution – within the Nuxeo environment or outside of it while maintaining the approval workflow and publishing capabilities.
<h2>Elasticsearch Query API with Automatic, Dynamic Security Filtering</h2>
Developers can now use a new Elasticsearch API to query the Nuxeo repository.
This new feature also allows developers to build custom Elasticsearch frontend applications, with no need to worry about user authentication or permissioning, which are now automatically enforced by the Nuxeo Platform.
Furthermore, Nuxeo developers are now able to use the native Elasticsearch Query DSL, with the Elasticsearch client of their choice (JavaScript, Python, etc.), to build search functionality in the Web UI of the Nuxeo Platform. From here on out, Nuxeo will dynamically apply permission filters to end user search queries, ensuring that only those objects that the user has access to are presented in search results.
<h2>Branch Management and Collaborative Configuration with Nuxeo Studio</h2>
Nuxeo users can create and manage branches of their Nuxeo Studio Projects.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-19.png" /> 
This allows developers to collaborate while building applications by configuration. Development time can be accelerated and Nuxeo developers can easily use Nuxeo Studio in their development workflow and integration tools.
<h2>Cloud Media Publishing</h2>
Nuxeo customers now have an easy way to push digital media, managed by the Nuxeo Platform, to video publishing platforms. The 7.3 release introduces the ability to publish videos directly to YouTube and Wistia out of the box with the ability to easily add other providers.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-18633x0-is.png" />Once the video is published, users can retrieve URLs, embed an HTML snippet to publish on an external website, and view analytics directly from the video platform inside of Nuxeo.
<h2>Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM)</h2>
Last but not least, is the introduction of HSM.
Nuxeo developers can now implement a HSM policy that complies with business rules while also improving application performance and storage cost efficiencies.
The platform's new File Storage Dispatcher empowers developers to specify which BLOBs are to be stored in Amazon Simple Storage Services (S3), locally, or on a different on-premises storage system. This can be determined based on multiple criteria, including document metadata, file path, file type, or as specified within written code.
Nuxeo's CEO, Eric Barroca, made the following comments upon the release of version 7.3:
<blockquote>“Even though EFSS revolutionized the way people work together, adding this benefit to your business processes has required a copy and paste approach or, at best, upload them to your ECM. The business part, the information part hasn’t reacted. We are changing that.
With Nuxeo Live Connect, it’s time to revolutionize the way organizations use content to benefit their business.”</blockquote>
For more information on Nuxeo Platform FT 7.3, check out <a href="http://www.nuxeo.com/nuxeo-platform-7-3-integrates-google-drive-dropbox-automates-elasticsearch-security/" target="_blank">Nuxeo's official announcement</a>.
Also, you can explore <a href="/products/nuxeo/" target="_blank">Nuxeo through our CMS Directory</a>.

Nuxeo Platform 7.3 Released: Automates Elasticsearch Security, Integrates With Google Drive & Dropbox

Progress, the recent purchaser of Telerik, <a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150624005777/en/Progress-Extends-Telerik-DevCraft-Web-Native-Mobile#.VYqtj_lVikp" target="_blank">has announced</a> the latest release of Telerik DevCraft, its popular .NET toolbox.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-17.png" /> DevCraft Q2 2015 brings about innovations to improve the speed, productivity and agility of the platform, streamlining and accelerating the development process of its customer base.
<h2>Mobile Optimized UI, Native Mobile Apps &amp; More</h2>
Here' a summary of the key enhancements:
<ul>
<li>Mobile Optimized UI for Telerik Web Controls: Progress has added more responsive features to its Telerik family of web controls, including the wildly popular Kendo UI HTML5 and JavaScript framework including mobile-optimized UI for the Editor, TreeList, Data Pager and Image Gallery controls in UI for <a href="http://asp.net/" target="_blank">ASP.NET</a> AJAX and Editor, Chart and TabStrip controls for UI for<a href="http://asp.net/" target="_blank">ASP.NET</a> MVC and Kendo UI.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Build Native Mobile Apps: With the new addition to UI for Xamarin, developers can implement the ListView for Xamarin.Forms, which is often the backbone of a mobile app, in their iOS and Android apps from a single, shared C# codebase.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>The Desktop UI Suites: A new predefined Visual Studio template enables developers to create a scheduler app in just a few clicks, and document processing improvements for existing controls in both UI for WPF and UI for WinForms provide more export options to PDF, Word and Excel files.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Support for MVC 6: Progress continues to work on leveraging MVC 6 functionality in the Telerik UI for <a href="http://asp.net/" target="_blank">ASP.NET</a> MVC, as well as Telerik Kendo UI, products and is committed to deliver official support when Microsoft announces the RTM version of the framework.</li>
</ul>
To find out more about all the finer details of this latest DevCraft release, you can check out Telerik's scheduled webinars; “<a href="http://www.telerik.com/campaigns/devcraft/new-dotnet-webinar?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=marketo&amp;utm_campaign=dt-devcraft-new-webinar-june15&amp;mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRomrfCcI63Em2iQPJWpsrB0B%2FDC18kX3RUpJr2Zfkz6htBZF5s8TM3DUFtEXqRG8EEOS7E%3D" target="_blank">The New .NET is Coming Fast: 5 Tips to Get You Ready</a>”, to be held on July 8th, 11 a.m. ET, and “<a href="http://www.telerik.com/campaigns/kendo-ui/july-2015-release" target="_blank">Build Responsive or Bust</a>”, to be held on July 22nd, 11 a.m. ET.
Also, be sure to explore more of <a href="http://www.telerik.com/devcraft" target="_blank">Telerik DevCraft via their official website</a>.

Progress Software Releases Telerik DevCraft Q2 2015

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.silverstripe.org/">Silverstripe</a>, the open source CMS, has rolled out the Beta for their latest release, SilverStripe 3.2.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/silverstripe_800_transparent.png" />With almost 100% backwards compatibility, improved documentation, a new interface and a new ORM, SilverStripe users have a lot to be excited about.Here's a more detailed look at what SilverStripe 3.2 has in store.<h2>New Interface &amp; ORM</h2>First of all, SilverStripe have, “spent a great deal of time” on enhancing their user interface, and the user experience as a result.The publish, unpublish and delete actions have been overhauled, while many interface elements have been resized. Some elements are also now collapsible, giving users more space to work with if they wish.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/resizedimage800412-cms-32-collapse709x0-is.png" />Perhaps SilverStripe 3.2's most notable feature though, is the new ORM. Concerning this enhancement, SilverStripe have said the following:<blockquote>“We’re proud of the steps we’ve taken towards modularity and clean code. As a result, we’ve split the old connector classes into smaller, more focused roles. You can still use your favourite database, and extending the ORM will be easier for you and maintaining it will be easier for us.By default all SQL queries are parameterised as standard, meaning the threat of potential SQL injection vulnerabilities are all but eliminated.”</blockquote>Also, thanks to the adoption of <a target="_blank" href="http://semver.org/">Semantic Versioning</a>, SilverStripe 3.2 will be backwards compatible. Meaning that, existing code works and will continue to work in any 3.x version going forward.To find out more about SilverStripe 3.2 Beta, head over to the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.silverstripe.org/blog/silverstripe-3-2-beta-now-available/">SilverStripe blog</a>.Also, you can explore more of <a href="/products/silverstripe">SilverStripe via our CMS Directory.</a>

SilverStripe 3.2 Beta Now Available

As a small business owner, entrepreneur or startup founder, you specialize in frugality, creativity and innovation — but are you taking advantage of all the best free and low cost tools available for your marketing needs?
Probably not, and it’s often because there’s so many options that you don’t have time to comb through them all.
To help get your project organized and in front of more paying customers, here are seven affordable marketing tools that you probably overlooked.
<h2>1. Google Drive</h2>
Struggling for space?
Google Drive's cloud storage allows for virtual offices, lower overheads, and freedom for your marketing team to share, download and upload from anywhere.
There are seemingly limitless options for sharing, storing and editing documents/media online, but Google Drive remains one of the best. It offers an incredible amount of free storage (often more than enough for small businesses) and it’s popular enough that many people are already familiar with how it works.
<a href="http://drive.google.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Visit the website</a>
<h2>2. Shoeboxed</h2>
One of the best options for storing, organizing and safeguarding receipts in the cloud so you can share with your CPA when the time is right.
All those little business expenses add up, from the parking meter to meet a client to buying a refill cartridge for your stapler. Write off enough and you can inch your way into a lower tax bracket (and perhaps into paying lower taxes).
<a href="https://www.shoeboxed.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Visit the website</a>
<h2>3. Canva</h2>
You know a picture’s worth 1,000 words, but what’s an infographic worth?
In an era where numerous studies show that people would rather look at a graphic than read blocks of text, infographics have become a marketing mainstay. Canva is a free website where you can create stunning graphics without needing an art degree. Perfect for startups who don’t have a graphic designer on board.
<a href="https://www.canva.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Visit the website</a>
<h2>4. Simply Measured</h2>
There's nothing like a free offering from an ordinarily premium service.
Simply Measured offers free performance analysis for all major social networks, so you can see where your accounts are succeeding and failing. They even serve up free traffic source analysis and a free trial of their premium platform.
<a href="http://simplymeasured.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Visit the website</a>
<h2>5. Babble-on</h2>
If you don’t have app localization, you’re missing out on the majority of your potential app customers. This goes beyond translation and includes cultural sensitivities, formatting, and details like currency and measurements.
You can’t get localization for free, but at $0.21 per word and other special package deals, Babble-on offers fantastic prices for a team of localization experts. (Want “just” translation? Google Translate works in a pinch).
<a href="https://www.ibabbleon.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Visit the website</a>
<h2>6. Ultimate Guest Blogger </h2>
Need more content?
Guest blogs are an incredible way to reach new audiences, build your online reputation and create a symbiotic relationship between yourself (or your company) and the blogging world. Ultimate guest blogger is free software that links the best guest bloggers with appropriate “other” blogs.
<a href="http://ultimateguestblogger.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Visit the website</a>
<h2>7. YouTube</h2>
Yes, technically this YouTube is social media, and it’s certainly not anything new — but it's is an often overlooked marketing tool.
Video content is becoming more and more relevant in the world of marketing, and your startup shouldn't ignore the potential benefits of a simply YouTube channel with some interviews or product demonstrations uploaded.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com">Visit the website</a>
<h2>Over To You</h2>
The face of marketing is changing with “martech” becoming an in-demand job description, and ways of reaching audiences are constantly shifting.
Keeping up with enterprise-grade tools with startup budgets isn't easy, but the seven solutions above should hopefully take the edge off. What are your favored marketing tools? Let us know in the comments below.

7 Affordable Marketing Tools That You Probably Overlooked

Customer demand for personalized buying experiences is at an all-time high.
We have grown accustomed to getting exactly what we want at the swipe of a finger – everything from clothing and takeout to private drivers and child care services. In this “there’s an app for that” world, brands have no choice but to provide seamless and relevant customer experiences across all channels from mobile device to store front.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/office-620822_1280-1550x0-is.jpg" />
This means understanding customers on a personal level and then engaging them in targeted real-time journeys to deliver the most relevant customer experience.
So, how are brands doing?
<h2>Misunderstood &amp; Disconnected</h2>
At a time when consumer demand is up and loyalty is tenuous at best, marketers are struggling to gain a clear picture of their customers. In fact, a <a href="#resource">recent study</a> from IBM and Econsultancy found a massive disconnect between how well businesses think they are marketing and the customer’s actual experience.
While 90 percent of marketers agree that personalizing the customer experience is critical to their success, four out of five consumers believe that the brands they interact with do not understand them as individuals.
But wait, there’s more.
Half of these consumers reported changing their banking, mobile, internet or satellite/cable service provider in the last 12 months due to experience-related factors. This perception gap has huge implications for a brand’s bottom line and begs the question of why are brands missing the mark?
One explanation for this relevancy void may be that many marketers lack the innovative tools that are crucial for multi channel engagement. According to the study, only 34 percent of marketers said they do a good job of linking their online and offline customer experiences.
So, what can brands and marketers do to bridge this great customer experience divide?
<h2>Personalization, Engagement &amp; Trust</h2>
Below are three tips for evolving the consumer/brand relationship into a two-way relationship to build true customer loyalty and brand trust:
<ul>
<li>
Make it personal: With an overwhelming percentage of consumers believing that brands do not understand them as individuals, it’s time for marketers to leverage the power of big data and analytics to better understand their customers. Instead of making educated guesses, marketers must dive deep into who their customers are, how they are feeling and then glean insights that can be used to make valuable connections.
	Gone are the days of the old-school “spray-and-pray” model that pushed the same message to thousands of individuals – consumers see right through that and demand more tailored interactions to catch their attention and more importantly, their wallets.
</li>
<li>
Customer experience should be your #1 priority: We’re seeing a shift where consumers value their experience with a brand even more than the price of the item or the service itself.
	According to Gartner, brands that offer personalization will outsell those who don’t by more than <a href="http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2962317">15 percent by 2018</a>. It has become imperative for brands to compete based on their customer experience, or risk losing valuable customers to the competition.
</li>
<li>
Earn your customers’ trust for greater insight: The IBM/Econsultancy study found that 61 percent of consumers would be willing to share highly-sensitive personal information with a brand they trust.
	For marketers, earning your customers’ trust is like hitting the jackpot. The more information a brand can gather about a specific customer, the better they can tailor offers and communications to deliver a more relevant experience.
</li>
</ul>
Brands have a unique opportunity to engage and serve their customers’ needs like never before. By personalizing each interaction, engaging with customers at every touch point and leveraging analytics to understand each individual, brands can drive customer loyalty.
These outstanding experiences cultivate a powerful and influential core of individuals who are doing you the ultimate service, advocating your brand by sharing across their social networks.

The Great Customer Experience Divide: Three Tips for More Personalized Marketing

After <a href="/motocms-3-0-beta-now-available/">being in beta since November 2014</a>, MotoCMS 3.0 has finally arrived.Powering over 140,000 websites across the world, MotoCMS is a website builder with a range of excellently designed templates, and a user interface renowned for its simplicity.MotoCMS 3.0 brings in a new and “revolutionary approach” to color palette tweaking, easier media files management and, of course, responsive design. Here's an overview of what's new.<h2>A Look at MotoCMS 3.0</h2><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-15765x0-is.png" /> MotoCMS 3.0 templates are have been available via TemplateMonster for a while, but now they're formally up for grabs on the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.motocms.com/website-templates/motocms-3-templates/">MotoCMS website</a>, witht eh company making sure everything was ship-shape before an official release.With each one of the cool MotoCMS 3.0 templates you get:<ul><li>100% responsive design;</li><li>Improved WYSIWYG editor with drag-and-drop functionality;</li><li>2-minute step-by-step installation for hosting;</li><li>New plugins and widgets (with more to come);</li><li>Multi-language admin panel;</li><li>24/7 free support;</li><li>Free automatic updates within a product etc.</li></ul>Being totally responsive was something that MotoCMS was struggling with for a while. With Google's latest update making responsive design more important than ever for SEO purposes, MotoCMS have managed to bring their platform into the responsive safety zone with this update.Perhaps the most notable new feature though, is the Color Picker, one of MotoCMS' newest innovations.According to MotoCMS, “this small widget [Color Picker] has great powers for website tweaking. [it] should become a handy tool for color aficionados and for color theory newcomers.”<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/motocms-3_0_-color-picker733x0-is.jpg" /> Color Picker shows main five colors of a template color palette with five additional sub-tones for each one (thus, you have 25 hues to work with).When one colour is changed, all related elements across the entire website will be changed instantly. It's a great way to define a website's colour-set with consistency, from headers to buttons.MotoCMS has come a long way with this update, making their already sleek interface a force to be reckoned with by getting faster and more Search engine friendly. It will certainly be interesting to see how they progress from here on out.There are already over 70 MotoCMS 3.0 templates for users to experiment with, all of which can be <a href="/products/motocms">purchased right here</a>.To find out more about MotoCMS, and to sign up for a totally free trial, <a href="/products/motocms">check out their website</a>.

MotoCMS 3.0 Formally Launched

Call Tracking + AI 

Call Tracking + AI that Turns Calls into Leads

#ffffff

So you want to start your own discussion forum. Awesome. Now all you need is some forum software to help build and manage it.
The world of CMS (content management systems) has a lot to offer no matter what kind of website you're looking to build. That's both good news, and bad news.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/laptop2.jpg" />
As for the good news, it means that you'll eventually find yourself a forum platform that tickles your fancy. The bad news is, thanks to there being so darn many to choose from, it'll be hard to make a final call.
To give you a helping hand, here are my top picks for forum software in no particular order.
<h2>1. Vanilla Forums</h2>
<a href="https://vanillaforums.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-6.png" /></a> 
Got yourself a large community? Vanilla is an open-source and extendable discussion forum which comes in two flavours, <a href="https://vanillaforums.org/" target="_blank">self-hosted</a> and <a href="https://vanillaforums.com/" target="_blank">cloud-hosted</a>.
If you're comfortable with the technical side of running a website, you can download the self-hosted version for free. To make use of Vanilla as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) and forget about the hosting and technicalities, their pricing begins from $99 per month.
Thanks to a detailed level of design customization, Vanilla can be branded to match existing websites, or tailored to look just the way you want. Plus, it integrates with WordPress, Salesforce, Zendesk, Mailchimp, and more.
<a href="https://vanillaforums.com/">Try Vanilla</a>
<h2>2. Ninja Post</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-12.png" /> 
If you're looking for something quirky, Ninja Post could be the forum CMS for you.
The charming interface is simple for both users and administrators, while a live-feed approach is used by default on the homepage, giving community members a look at the latest threads as they roll in.
Ninja Post isn't lacking in features either. With real-time updates, built-in spam defence, thread tagging, gamification and some neat analytics, the platform can hold its own against any rival. To get more acquainted, check out my <a href="/ninja-post-review/" target="_blank">Ninja Post Review</a>.
<a href="https://www.ninjapost.com/" target="_blank">Try Ninja Post</a>
<h2>3. Node BB</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-10.png" />
NodeBB is sleek. It also has various themes and plugins ready to be used alongside a host of built-in features.
On top of the basic offerings of media embedding, mentions and social integration, NodeBB also serves up real-time updates, favorites, drafts, desktop notifications and instant messaging, keeping members connected as they browse the forums. It's a feature-filled solution by anybody's standards.
NodeBB can be downloaded and self-hosted for free, while the cloud-hosted version has plans starting from $35 a month.
<a href="https://nodebb.org/" target="_blank">Try NodeBB</a>
<h2>4. GetSatisfaction</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-9.png" />
GetSatisfaction is actually a customer community platform, designed to be used by companies wishing to give their customers a place to congregate.
The platform brings forth CRM integration, gamification features, powerful analytics and various ways to glean feedback and testimonials from customers. GetSatisfaction also helps promote a company's community as a self-serving support source for their customers.
Try GetSatisfaction
<h2>5. PlushForums</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-13.png" /> 
PlushForums is a commercial fork of Vanilla Forums, but there's nothing Vanilla about its style.
The user interface is sleek at every turn, while features like real-time updates, member blogs and gamification make it a robust forum solution — especially as it offers plans starting from $49 per month. PlushForums is also easy to monetize, with PayPal subscriptions and banner advertising settings built in. So, it's not just a pretty face.
In fact, we here at CMS Critic like PlushForums so much, we decided to use it for our own <a href="https://forum.www.cmscritic.com/" target="_blank">CMS discussion forum</a>. You can find out more through my <a href="/plushforums-review/" target="_blank">Plushforums Review</a>.
<a href="https://plushforums.com/" target="_blank">Try PlushForums</a>
<h2>6. VBulletin</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-8.png" /> 
Initially released in 2000, VBulletin has been around for a while, and for good reason.
Renowned for handling of some of the Internet's largest discussion forums, VBulletin comes in two forms; <a href="https://www.vbulletin.com/en/features/" target="_blank">VBulletin 5 Connect</a> and <a href="https://www.vbulletin.com/en/vbulletin-cloud/" target="_blank">VBulletin Cloud</a>. The former being the self-hosted version, for which a license needs to be purchased.
Unlike some other cloud-hosted solutions though, VBulletin offers an extremely cost-effective route into owning your own forum, with plans starting from just $14.99 per month.
<a href="https://www.vbulletin.com/" target="_blank">Try VBulletin</a>
<h2>7. MyBB</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-7.png" />
Founded in 2002, MyBB has been in the forum industry for years.
Thanks to being free, open source, and mature, MyBB can be heavily customized through its theme and plugin library. I wouldn't put it at the top of my list for non-technical users, but for those who know their way around code, MyBB has long been known as an excellent platform.
It's also worth noting that there is no cloud-hosting here, although features like polling, reputation, and built-in email campaign management make it a solid option.
<a href="https://www.mybb.com/" target="_blank">Try MyBB</a>
<h2>8. bbPress</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-11.png" /> 
WordPress fan? Of course you are. Thus, bbPress is worth checking out.
Written by Matt Mullenweg (the Founder of WordPress) during a trip, bbPress is a lightweight forum solution that benefits from a long list of themes and plugins, just like its older brother, WordPress.
Used together with BuddyPress, you can have yourself a fully fledged online community-forum hybrid, with all the perks and trimmings enjoyed by WordPress users across the world. For free.
<a href="https://bbpress.org/" target="_blank">Try bbPress</a>
<h2>9. phpBB</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-14.png" /> 
So long as you aren't new to the Internet, you're almost bound to have come across a phpBB forum in digital travels.
It's a tried and tested open source solution, and although it isn't bursting with modern features, it's supremely easy to set up, manage and use on a day-to-day basis. Just like many other oldschool forum softwares though, phpBB has stuck to the good old-fashioned model of free, open source, and do it yourself — with no clouds in sight.
<a href="https://www.phpbb.com/" target="_blank">Try phpBB</a>
<h2>Over To You</h2>
So there you have it, nine particularly fantastic forum CMS, each one capable of building online discussion boards. They differ somewhat in price, ease of use and scalability, but I believe there's something for everybody within the list above.
Which one is your preferred platform? Let me know via the comments below if I missed your favorite forum software out.

9 Fantastic Forum CMS

<a href="https://www.socialengine.com/" target="_blank">SocialEngine</a>, the online community building CMS, has unveiled a new version that brings in a wide range of bug fixes and improvements.
This update follows up from version 4.8.7, where <a href="/socialengine-cloud-gets-responsive-themes-roadmap/" target="_blank">SocialEngine Cloud received responsive themes and a roadmap</a>.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/4_8_9-image-1.png" />
Here's what Social Engine users can look forward to after they upgrade.
<h2>Upgraded Ning Importer, Facebook &amp; YouTube API Fixes</h2>
Online community nurturers who are looking to move from Ning to SocialEngine can now do so with greater ease, as Social Engine 4.8.9 comes with an enhanced importing feature.
Furthermore, SocialEngine has been tweaked to align with new Facebook and YouTube APIs which were recently introduced. That means that users who were experiencing issues with embedding and integration with either Facebook or YouTube should no longer have a problem.
A long list of bug fixes have been implemented also, while a range of plugins also received updates. The full changelog, along with other details, can be found on the <a href="http://blog.socialengine.com/2015/06/22/socialengine-php-version-4-8-9-is-here/?mc_cid=221217ebb7&amp;mc_eid=4633301b38" target="_blank">SocialEngine blog</a>.
The social networking CMS space needs a hero right about now, and although this update alone won't change that fact, SocialEngine 4.8.9 is a small but healthy step forward.
To find our more, you can explore <a href="/products/social-engine/" target="_blank">SocialEngine through our CMS Directory</a>.

SocialEngine PHP Version 4.8.9 Released

<a href="http://www.blackmonk.com/" target="_blank">BlackMonk</a>, the Banglore based CMS founded in 2012, has kicked off a new project in the form of <a href="http://www.teamwave.com/5" target="_blank">TeamWave</a>.
Claimed to be the platform which the BlackMonk team use for themselves, TeamWave has been further developed and honed to be an all-in-one business solution.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-5-1.png" />With <a href="http://www.teamwave.com/5" target="_blank">a private Beta already in full flow</a>, along with the chance for businesses to claim the platform for free, here's a look at what TeamWave does.
<h2>An Overview of TeamWave</h2>
Built primarily for small-medium sized businesses, TeamWave is an integrated suite of business applications. It's designed to give the average business everything they need, from collaboration apps to CRM capabilities.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/blog-022x637x0-is.jpg" />
Here are the core functions found within the different applications of TeamWave.
<ul>
<li>Customer Relationship Management (CRM)</li>
<li>Project Management &amp; Collaboration</li>
<li>Human Resource Management System (HRMS)</li>
<li>Invoicing</li>
<li>Marketing Automation</li>
<li>Analytics &amp; Contact Management</li>
</ul>
BlackMonk have said that inspiration came from SaaS vendors such as Basecamp, Trello, Pipedrive, BambooHR &amp; HubSpot. Their aim has been to take the most useful aspects of each of the tools mentioned, and unify them under the banner of TeamWave.
As of right now, little is known about the specifics of each TeamWave app. As the project progresses, it will be interesting to see just how detailed and powerful the CRM, analytics and marketing automation systems are.
In the meantime, <a href="http://www.teamwave.com/5" target="_blank">TeamWave is free for the first 1,000 companies that sign up during the beta</a>, with no restriction on the number of users each company can have. Further details on this announcement can be found on the <a href="http://blog.teamwave.com/2015/06/18/introducing-teamwave-everything-your-business-needs/" target="_blank">TeamWave blog</a>.
To get an idea of what the team behind TeamWave can do, check out my <a href="/blackmonk-cms-review/" target="_blank">review of BlackMonk</a>.

BlackMonk Unveils TeamWave: A Unified CRM, Collaboration & Marketing Platform

<a target="_blank" href="https://ghost.org/">Ghost</a>, one of the most exciting blogging platforms in the world, has announced a massive digital migration project.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ghost_logo_big_400x0.png" /> The open source platform has come along leaps and bounds since its relatively recent emergence in 2013. It has been made winner of the <a href="/2014-most-promising-cms/">2014 Critic's Choice Award for Most Promising CMS</a>, <a href="/blogging-platform-roon.io-acquired-by-ghost/">acquired Roon.io</a>, and has rocked the boat of blogging platforms everywhere — <a href="/wordpress-vs-ghost/">including WordPress</a>.Now, in a bid to both improve the quality of Ghost(Pro) — the platform's hosted solution — as a product, and also to protect Ghost(Pro) users from legal issues over their blog-expressed opinions, Ghost has made two separate moves, both of which are interesting.<h2>Ghost(Pro) Begins Migrating to DigitalOcean</h2>Ghost was initially propped up by Dell servers in the UK, but John O'Nolan, Ghost's founder, has opted to relocate the service to a, “new [and] more robust home up in The Cloud (TM) — on top of DigitalOcean’s global infrastructure.”<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/digitalocean-1904x0-is.png" />The transition will be gradual, but will eventually see that Ghost(Pro) users get a better level of performance and stability from their blogs, thanks to them running on far more sophisticated hardware and a wider network.Moving to DigitalOcean will also allow Ghost to work towards providing HTTPS support for all customers, which is a common request according to them.<h2>Customer Data In The UK? No Way.</h2>Historically, Ghost's customer data has also resided in the UK, but not for much longer.Citing the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/interactive/2014/oct/03/conservatives-human-rights-act-full-document">UK government's recent pledge to scrap the Human Rights Act</a>, Ghost has grown concerned over the freedom of the words they battle to help publish. According to them, some of their more outspoken customers could be in legal danger if they choose to keep their data UK based.The Netherlands on the other hand, <a target="_blank" href="http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2013,1054.html">is ranked second in the world for Freedom of Press</a>. And that's why Ghost's customer data is moving there.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/united_kingdom_of_the_netherlands531x0-is.png" /><blockquote>“Ghost stands for freedom of speech and independent publishing.In addition to the big upgrade in performance with this move, we’re also incredibly excited about the greater privacy and legal protection which this new location is going to provide to all of our customers and users.” – John O'Nolan</blockquote>This Dutch promise of enhanced freedom, paired with the presence of DigitalOcean's AMS Centre in the Netherlands, made for the perfect new home for Ghost's default customer data. It's another way in which Ghost seem to be genuinely and proactively putting their customers first.On a side note, this also gives us an interesting insight into how politics impacts the world of CMS. Ghost may not be the biggest name in software at the moment, but their vast potential and rapidly growing user base will be a loss to the UK, for sure.Ghost have also said that, over the coming months, they'll be dishing out more details about how Ghost(Pro) works on a technical level. All part of Ghost's open and friendly (and nerd-friendly) relationship with its user base.Find out more about this announcement <a target="_blank" href="http://blog.ghost.org/digitalocean/">via the Ghost blog</a>.And of course, you can explore more of <a href="/products/ghost">Ghost through our CMS Directory</a>.

Ghost Begins Move to DigitalOcean & Withdraws Customer Data from the UK

<a href="https://www.optimizely.com" target="_blank">Optimizely</a>, one of the world's leading platforms for website optimization and customer experience refining, has just announced “Optimizely Personalization”.
Launched five years ago by two former Google product managers, Optimizely's goal has always been to make A/B testing and actionable data accessible to everyone in the business world.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/optimizely_logo_blue700x0-is-hidpi.png" />
Optimizely offers a totally free to use avenue into optimization, yet also caters for some of the world's biggest brands, including Sony and Microsoft.
With over 7,000 businesses already aided in that regard, Optimizely are now turning their focus towards the latest marketing trend; Personalization.
<h2>Introducing Optimizely Personalization</h2>
Built on Optimizely's Experience Optimization Platform, this new product is designed to help businesses deliver personalized experiences across their web and mobile presence.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screenshot-of-optimizely-personalization-results-700x306_1.png" /> In a nutshell, Optimizely Personalization lets marketers:
<ul>
<li>Discover meaningful audiences to help generate hypotheses for personalizing.</li>
<li>Target visitors in real time based on the actions they take on your site as well as what you know about them from other data sources.</li>
<li>Create compelling experiences tailored to each audience that work on your web and mobile site with an elegant workflow.</li>
<li>Measure the impact of the changes you’re making for every audience, backed by Optimizely's impressive <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/statistics/">Stats Engine</a>.</li>
</ul>
Optimizely Personalization is now in private beta, and has been given a general release date for Fall 2015.
To learn more about Optimizely Personalization, check out their <a href="https://blog.optimizely.com/2015/06/17/introducing-optimizely-personalization/" target="_blank">official blog announcement</a>.
You can also get started on your own Optimizely experiments for free, <a href="http://optimizely.com" target="_blank">via their website</a>.

Optimizely Personalization Announced: General Release Set For Fall 2015

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