Articles - Page 109

Agentic AI for Agencies in 2026

bmckeiver

BuddyPress are now edging closer to the release of version 2.1, <a href="http://buddypress.org/2014/09/buddypress-2-1-release-candidate/" target="_blank">making the release candidate available</a> for the first (and last) time.
Built by the guys behind WordPress, BuddyPress allows you to create a fully featured social network inside your WordPress.org powered site.
This release candidate means that the final release of BuddyPress 2.1 should be announced any day now. So, now would be a good time to talk about what's new.
<img style="max-width:400px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/disc-1_400x0.png" alt="BuddyPress" />
<h2>New @mentions, Better Security &amp; Tons of Tweaks</h2>
We'll know more about BuddyPress 2.1 once it actually arrived, but for now, here's what we know is in the box:
<ul>
<li>@mentions: Type an “@” when leaving a status update or commenting on an activity item or blog post, and the new suggestions panel will open.</li>
<li>Password Upgrade: Set more secure passwords with the password strength meter on the registration and user settings pages</li>
<li>New Field Type: New “URL” XProfile field type</li>
<li>Performance: Continued performance enhancements, particularly on the Members and Groups directories.</li>
<li>Translations: Higher quality translations (automatically fetched by WordPress), courtesy of our translation volunteers; thanks!</li>
<li>Tweaks: Tons of under-the-hood tweaks</li>
</ul>
For more information on BuddyPress 2.1's features, <a href="http://buddypress.org/2014/08/buddypress-2-1-beta-1/" target="_blank">check out their blog announcement of the first beta</a>.
To grab a copy of the release candidate, <a href="http://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.2.1-RC1.zip" target="_blank">click here</a>.
Also, be sure to explore more of <a href="/products/buddypress/" target="_blank">BuddyPress via our CMS Directory</a>.

BuddyPress 2.1 Release Candidate Now Available

mike-johnston

As a heavy internet user and a bit of a gadget geek, I’ve been accused of being one of those people who’s always glued to some kind of interactive screen. This is part of my life, as well as hundreds of individuals across the world. Gone are the days when you would wake up, check the morning paper and head out to go to work. These days, the first thing you’d check upon waking up is your email using your phone, and then probably flick through a couple of websites on your iPad or android tablet while sipping your coffee.
<img style="display:block;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/responsive-design-hero.png" />
This presents an interesting challenge for web designers who have, for the longest time, been creating websites for laptops and personal computers. This challenge is in the form of responsive web design, and something that can make web pages adapt to different screens to accommodate the numerous handheld devices that are currently being used by a large segment of the world’s population.
It is estimated that more that by 2014, the number of mobile devices will exceed the world’s population. This means that web designers simply can’t afford to ignore mobile users anymore given the incredible demand for mobile-based services and websites. At the same time, continents such as Asia and Africa lead the pack in having the most number of mobile phone users. This peculiar statistic is due to the cheapness or easy availability of internet-based mobile devices compared to that of laptops or tablets.
If you’re a savvy business looking to gain more exposure, the best thing you can do for yourself is to ensure that your customers can navigate through your website on any device that’s currently being used by many people within your target market. This means that you need to know of some basic web design tenets to help you build a responsive site. What follows is a list of tips that can help you come up with a versatile and easily adaptable website.
<h2>Keep It Simple, Stupid</h2>
The KISS acronym is like a cactus tree for most web designers. This group of people likes to play around with code and design template in their quest to come up with a website that has all the bells and whistles you can cram into it without causing a server crash. The problem with this kind of overzealousness is that most of these design principles don’t translate when you try to view these sites on smartphones or tablets. The idea here is to exercise some self control and simple but classic design aspects. For example, the designer might want to use a simple HTML5 doctype and guidelines, as well as a simple and semantic core layout which can go a long way in helping the website make a smooth transition from laptop to mobile screens. Another way of simplifying web design is to get rid of all inline styles.
<h2>Content Matters</h2>
One of the most ignored aspects of web design has to be content. This is because there might not be clear collaboration during website design between copywriters and web designers. The result is often a clunky website with chunks of text that can only be read with a magnifying glass. Jokes aside, this is something that may drive away potential clients to your website. You want to have a marriage between content and web design that is complementary. You can do this by ensuring that your content is ready for uploading during the early design phases so you can see how the puzzle pieces fit. Waiting until you’re done will be like completing a huge puzzle game and realizing that you have an extra puzzle piece remaining.
<h2>Media Queries to the Rescue</h2>
Media queries let you specify width, height, orientation and color conditions, helping you create websites that can shrink down to fit different screen sizes and resolutions. These are easy to use, and can be set once without you having to reset them over and over again. You can come up with a media query via an external stylesheet as well as writing directly inside a stylesheet. It’s worth noting that media queries aren’t only made for smaller screen, as it’s not uncommon to have gaming devices that connect to the internet via browsers splashed on huge LED screen. The fact is that media queries can be manipulated to fit either small or large screens, making them infinitely versatile.
Lastly, other tips such as having a fluid layout to enable you to have flexible sites can go a long way in making your brand visible on handheld devices. Lastly, use breakpoints for alternate pictures if you have enough bandwidth to pull it off. There are so many things you can do to create a responsive website, and the best way to approach the whole thing it to test and retest, whittling down to what works for you in the end. Do you have any responsive web design tips you’d like to share with our readers? Please leave a comment with your suggestions in the text box below.

A Quick, Easy and Basic Guide to Responsive Web Design

Since the birth of the Internet, website builders have always endeavoured to create online communities. Naturally, the emergence of Facebook marked the beginning of a new era in social networking, helping to bring people together in new, more innovative ways.
Ning, is a powerful, well balanced CMS which can offer you the perfect platform to create your very own social network.  With over 2 million online communities already supported, you can be sure that your online social project is in good hands.  
 Using Ning, you can design, structure and control your online community in a variety of ways. Customizable templates and branding options allow you to make your social network unique, whilst extensive admin control features allow you to dictate the way in which users can view and interact with content. Ning also takes care of your hosting needs, helping you to launch a social network as part of an existing website, or even as a brand new venture, in a matter of minutes.
<h2>The Right Image</h2>
As with most websites, aesthetically pleasing design is vital. Moreover, when it comes to building a social network, you'll have to ensure that the overall feel, quality and professionalism of the platform, as well as the various interfaces, all work well together. After all, a social network should be easy to use for all its members, in order to increase their activity within the community.
Ning allows you to brand and personalise your network in any way you wish. Your fan base or community will no longer need to go through third-party platforms in order to view or discuss your content. Essentially, your social network will look and feel the part – and that's always a good thing.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-1700x0.png" alt="Ning" />
When it comes to actual design, Ning enables you to choose from a range of expertly pre-designed themes, whilst giving you the option to customize them to your hearts content. All of Ning's themes make use of HTML5 and are also responsive, ensuring that visitors can enjoy your community on any device.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-3700x0.png" alt="Ning" />
Although design and usability are important, they are of little use if there is a severe lack of features and activities for users to get involved with. Thankfully, Ning offers a wide range of community based mediums to enable your visitors to enjoy the overall interface of the website in a socially constructive way. These features include forums, user profiles, photos, liking, sharing and more.
These different social functions will not only enhance the beauty of your Ning website, but will also invoke a strong sense of community amongst regular users. 
<h2>Controllable Communities</h2>
One of Ning's strongest features, is the amount of control given to you as an administrator. Building your community is one battle, but being able to control and selectively give access to different member groups is something else entirely.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-2700x0.png" alt="Ning" />
Using you admin powers, you can make your community completely public, completely private, or create sections for public and private mingling. You can make individual members moderators, and even charge membership fees in order for users to gain access to unique features.
Additionally, Ning allows you to integrate your social network with Facebook, Google+, YouTube and Twitter, enabling users to sign in using their existing accounts, with full access to their time line or feed. These social media integration options are also helpful when it comes to geting the word out about your own community. 
<h2>A Handy Head Start</h2>
With giants like Facebook and Twitter roaming the social networking world, it's safe to say that building your own online community from scratch will get a little challenging at times. However, whether you're looking to create a community, or simply looking to build a new home for an existing one, Ning offers you the best head start you could ask for.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/6700x0.png" alt="Ning" /> Once you sign up, you'll have access to discussion boards powered by Ning's 2 million strong user base, all of whom are looking to share ideas, tips, tricks and answer any general queries. What's more is, Ning offers further support options by giving you the chance to ask questions to their in-house experts, who are always on hand to help.
To polish off their well-rounded support system, Ning's securely hosted platform ensures that your website stays up and running over 99.9% of the time, without you ever needing to worry about extra hosting costs.
Sound Good? Check out <a href="https://www.ning.com">Ning's 14-day free trial</a>.

Want to Build a Social Network? Try Ning

UXPin Merge Review: Sync Your Design Libraries with React Components in Git

cms-critic-staff

UXPin and Merge logos against a highway with merge sign

<a href="https://www.magnolia-cms.com/">Magnolia</a> is an open source company that produces the popular enterprise content management system, Magnolia CMS. Recently, we were given an opportunity to interview Magnolia co-founder and CTO, Boris Kraft. For those unfamiliar with Magnolia CMS, <a href="http://www.betterfasterbigger.com/2007/03/magnolia-not-so-brief-history.html">this brief history</a> of the product (and company) will get you up to speed.
<h2>Who is Boris Kraft?</h2>
<img style="max-width:200px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/363f874.jpg" alt="Boris Kraft" />
Cofounder of Magnolia International Ltd., the Swiss company that develops Magnolia CMS, a commercial open-source Content Management System used by leading organizations around the world.
His goals are simply to develop the world's best Content Management System by building a company that attracts world-class talent and focuses on people first, technology second.
In summer 2007 he launched the New-York-based Magnolia Americas, Inc., to establish a stronger presence for Magnolia in the American market. He has won new clients like Sony Latin America, Johnson &amp; Johnson, J2 Global (efax) and the US Navy.
At Magnolia International, his current responsibilities include product management, business strategy, and marketing.
His experience as a speaker include the keynote speech at Magnolia Conference 2009, 2010, and 2012, talks about Magnolia for the Web Content Mavens, Washington, 2008, the Server Side Java Symposium in Barcelona 2006, Innovation &amp; Transformation, Washington DC, 2006, at OSCOM 2004 and at LOTS (Lets open the source) in 2004 and 2005. Earlier experiences include teaching computer science at the University of Cooperative Education Loerrach and presenting his parallel real-time simulation environment at the 8th Workshop on Parallel and Distributed Simulation in Edinburgh.
His career in IT includes object-oriented software development under NeXTSTEP, several years of active involvement in a leading Internet security company, the development of a distributed real-time simulation environment, the use of Oracle web technology, databases and CASE tools as well as programming the first ever intranet solution for Roche Vitamins AG.
Since 2002 he has been focusing on the development of Magnolia from a strategic and marketing perspective.
He likes to blog about all things Magnolia and regularly publishes articles in print magazines as well.
He lives in Switzerland with his wife and three kids.
<h2>The Interview</h2>
What do you think makes Magnolia unique in the industry?
That depends on the direction from which you look at us. From a business perspective, I think it is interesting to see that the company is led by its two founders (Pascal Mangold &amp; Boris Kraft), who make all strategic decisions jointly. It is also amazing to see that Magnolia has had no outside funding, no VC, no debt. Magnolia is independent in its best sense. We have found a business model that is sustainable: software licenses subscriptions – which in turn means that we can execute on our vision of building the worlds best CMS. This is no small endeavor, but given that that is no VC breathing down our necks, and that the business model works, we can move forward one step at a time and produce a product that is second to none in its quality, usability and focus.
Magnolia doesn’t compete with its partners. We don’t do project implementations – they do. That is why we have a rapidly growing partner network and a lot of trust between the implementation partner, us and our clients. It is a nice separation of concerns that is beneficial for our customers and our partners.
Technically, Magnolia 5 is the world’s first major CMS that has been rethought from the ground up to work on tablets as well as desktops. This opens up new horizons for its deployment for our customers, like its use for field services and intranet apps. We also happen to sport the world’s best Spring framework integration, something our high end customers benefit greatly from in their need to bring business logic &amp; applications to the web, for instance in the travel, finance or telecoms industry.
Magnolia also has a technological advantage by providing a sophisticated best practice templating framework called STK (<a href="http://www.magnolia-cms.com/stk" target="_blank">http://www.magnolia-cms.com/stk</a>) which reduces project risk and speeds up implementation time. It allows pixel-perfect sites both on mobile and desktop and is the reason many large enterprises see a very low TCO in their projects.
There is also the aspect that Magnolia is open source but vendor-driven, so you get the best of the proprietary support &amp; sales bundles with the quality and transparency of open source software.
What made you, as a company, choose to be an open source product?
Pragmatic decision, see <a href="http://www.betterfasterbigger.com/2007/03/magnolia-not-so-brief-history.html">history</a>. No ideology behind it. We originally wrote Magnolia because we wanted a product that focuses on usability and scales to enterprise requirements. There was no intention to sell the product, so why not open source it. In 2006 we started selling an Enterprise Edition, which at the time was a novum for an application. It changed our future.
What is the biggest advantage to using Magnolia over other products?
Our customers would say its flexibility and ease-of-use. Indeed given our history as a service provider and personal interest in usability, design &amp; architecture, this is understandable. When we started out we were clear in our ambition: write the world’s best CMS. Build something that is user-friendly and enterprise-grade. This has resulted in a highly flexible, usable and focused content management product, which is starting to be rare these days.
With the latest release of Magnolia, there seems to be a heavy focus on the user experience, can you address that?
Magnolia 5 has been on our minds for years, and when the mobile revolution and the rise of tablets came to the equation, we knew we had to drop how user interfaces of enterprise software are usually done and take a radical new approach. In our case, we were starting from the question “What would software (a CMS…) look like if we would write it for a tablet computer?”. This was an almost heretical approach. We started from scratch and did more than 3000 mock-ups for Magnolia 5. The result is an enterprise software unlike any other, which fulfills all our wishes regarding usability and extensibility. It is a platform for years to come, and in fact I believe that all enterprise software will  eventually take a similar path. At the core is its reduction to task focused apps – like on your smartphone. We have added to it a way to communicate between the system, apps, and users (called “the Pulse”) and a smart way to create custom task lists called “Favorites”. The result is outstanding and blows our customers away in its simplicity, flexibility, and usability.
With many vendors shifting their focus to online marketing, what changes are you making to stay competitive?
Vendors have always been shifting their focus. That is part of the problem. If you try to build the world’s best limousine and then realize that people are now starting to spend money on private planes, will you buy a wing manufacturer, attach the wings to your car and call it a plane? That is pretty much what the competition does. Except they wouldn’t call it a plane, they’d call it “airborne transportation vehicle” or “ATC”?
But back to us. Content Management is hard to do right. We have been on it for more than 10 years now. The web has developed rapidly, and so have our clients’ needs. You rightly point out a shift to marketing – that is understandable because much of the business now happens on the web. But what about the business part of it? How can you integrate those back end applications and bring them to the web and mobile?  You still need to pull that off. So I think the heart of your infrastructure should be able to do the right things right. That is what we work on with Magnolia.
There are a myriad of tools available for online marketing, and every day we see new ones pop up. Our approach to deal with that is what we call “open suite” – with Magnolia at the core, customers have the ability to plug in any new tool for marketing or business needs using Magnolia’s integration capabilities. With Magnolia 5, these third party tools can then be exposed as an app. This approach is unlike your typical “customer experience management” lock-in suite. Magnolia allows you to take one step at a time and add whatever is most relevant for your next digital endeavors.
Over the years our customers have added pretty much any marketing tool on the planet to Magnolia, and thus proven that it is great to have such an open platform.
If you were to choose the ideal target customer for a Magnolia deployment, who would it be, what industry would they be in and why?
Well, customers chose us, not the other way around. We are strong in the financial industry, travel, retail etc. Typically, our customers create considerable revenue from their online offerings. They have a strong java team in place which is valued and respected by business (and marketing) because they understand that these are the guys that provide their online offering with unique advantages. Whenever technicians with a need for Java evaluate the CMS space, Magnolia will be on their shortlist.
What do you consider your biggest accomplishment as a company?
Having survived for 16 years now, attracting great talent, making our customers happy.
Your biggest failure?
To educate more people out there why Magnolia really is the better choice.
What are your favorite Magnolia CMS-based websites that are still running it today and why?
The Ticket websites (Ticket.se and Ticket.no), which are the largest online travel retailer in Scandinavia. This is not our largest customer by any means, but the innovation that went into developing these sites, the work with the implementation partners, and the customers, shows the true strength of open source and collaboration.
By working with the customer to integrate Magnolia with the Spring Java Framework, we found one of our most talented new developers and created a new product, Blossom, which is currently one of our strongest selling points.
With Blossom, customers that have back-end systems created using the Spring Framework (and there are a lot at the high-end) can now just drag this code into Magnolia to expose them as secure services on the web and mobile devices.
What is the most under-rated feature of Magnolia CMS?
Simplicity. People confuse simplicity with a lack of power, but it is about delivering powerful features, efficiently, where and when they are needed. The effect this has on creativity and efficiency can be astounding.
Our customers typically are well aware of all the benefits Magnolia brings. One feature that is often overlooked by prospects and implementation partners are Magnolia's on-demand image manipulation capabilities. This is a very powerful feature referred to as image variations, and is asset management functionality to generate different format images for different use cases, e.g. From one base image we automatically generate a smaller one for a teaser and yet other formats for mobile devices. This saves editors a lot of time because they can simply rely on Magnolia to generate all formats requested by the various output channels.
What can we expect to see from Magnolia in the coming 1-2 years?
Several commerce engine integrations; the productizing of personalization and content pool functionality. We also expect a lot of interesting apps to come out of our partner’s development efforts. In fact, some will already be presented at this year’s Magnolia Conference in September.
Do you have any parting comments?
With the launch of Magnolia 5, we are at the start of a new era for Magnolia. The whole app-based approach, has opened up the user experience to new levels of input and innovation. As an open source community, we cannot wait to see where our customers and partners take this new platform. We certainly have our own vision, but the joy is in combining this with the ideas and real-world needs of our customers and partners.
<h2>Want to learn more about Magnolia?</h2>
Check out <a href="http://www.magnolia-cms.com">their website</a> or read our related articles (see the right sidebar on this site) to learn more.

Interview with Boris Kraft, CTO of Magnolia

The 2014 Sitecore Symposium has come and gone and I'd be remiss if I didn't call it a big success.<figure class="image"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sitecore3.jpg" /></figure>Held this year at the beautiful Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, the symposium kicked off with a <a href="/the-keynote-sitecore-north-american-symposium-symna/">keynote from Sitecore CEO, Michael Seifert </a> where he shared his thoughts on the importance of the customer experience and where the company is headed. (Check out <a href="/the-keynote-sitecore-north-american-symposium-symna/">this post </a> for a more detailed breakdown of the keynote).<figure class="image"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sitecore2.jpg" /></figure>Following the keynote, Sitecore's CSO, Darren Guarnaccia came on stage to help show off Sitecore's soon to be released, version 8. Currently this release is slated for a Christmas release but here's a sneak peak of the new launchpad (pardon the poor quality but it was taken from a screen during the demo).<figure class="image"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sitecore81036x0.jpg" /></figure>As you can see, there have been some significant changes to the look and feel that Sitecore is looking to achieve. They are going for a cleaner, more simple interface and personally, I like it!I took the opportunity following the demo during the keynote to touch base with some of Sitecore's customers to find out what they were thinking after the demo and let me tell you, there are a lot of customers that are eager to move from earlier version to 8 as soon as possible. Quite a bit of buzz was going around the room and there was definitely some excitement brewing.The symposium ran from September 8th to 10th and after all of the various sessions that were attended by the record 1,500+ attendees, Sitecore decided to kick things into fourth gear and host one of the hottest parties I've been to.Sitecore, with the help of some sponsors such as Coveo, took over the extremely tough to get into, Club Marquee where they offered an open bar and dinner buffet, together with one of Time Magazine’s top-rated resident Las Vegas DJs—DJ E-Rock. He’s the DJ of choice for A-list athletes, musicians, actors, and celebrities at nightclubs across the country.Here are some pics we snapped during the party:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/20140909_1935401000x0.jpg" /><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/20140909_1949551000x0.jpg" /><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/20140909_1946031000x0.jpg" /><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/10684147_865328836811953_151724167_n-1.jpg" />In case you can't tell from the pictures, a good time was had by all.  It was incredible and was the most fun I've had in a long, long time. Of the many conference parties I've attended, I'd rate this one as the top so far by a mile. The venue was amazing, the music was fantastic and we had a blast. It takes quite a bit to get this guy out on the dance floor yet DJ ERock managed to make it happen (and thrill my wife at the same time). The party initially was intended to end at 10pm but ended up being extended since everyone was having such as great time.In closing, Sitecore has shown that rather than have a long, drawn out conference it's better to choose quality over quantity. I am looking forward to seeing how they one up themselves next year given the huge success they experienced with this one.

The Sitecore Symposium 2014

Despite still being in its development stages, AllianceCMS is on its way to becoming a flexible, powerful and feature extensive content management system.
Currently, AllianceCMS is at a stage where it is installable and ready for experimentation. However, it should be noted that the platform is still pre-alpha, which means it is still being developed and honed.
The developers who are carrying out work on the system are actively adding new features on a daily basis, and have also made the theme and plugin API available for public use and experimentation.
<h2>Current Features</h2>
Although AllianceCMS is in the pre-alpha stage, you can install it via a browser based installation, and begin tinkering with the various features available.
At the time of writing, AllianceCMS offers a flexible template system which allows you to create templates that can be used inside your main site theme. You also have the ability to create templates that will can be used within another template.
Additionally, a useful FormHelper class which makes building form elements a lot easier, which is a big help when creating themes and templates.
To help speed up initial installation and streamline future updates, AllianceCMS is divided into three separate folders consisting of axis, public_html and zones.
The axis folder contains the main functions of the system, and should therefore be left well alone. The public_html is of course where other basic files such as themes reside, whereas the zone folder contains all custom plugins, as well as database connection files.
<h2>Planned Features</h2>
As AllianceCMS grows, more features are being planned and implemented.
From amongst these features, the developers over at AllianceCMS are working on fully incorporating an installation/updates database schema API for all major system updates. Essentially, this feature will allow all users to install or update from any version to the most current version, almost instantly.
It goes without saying that such a feature would offer plenty of convenience, and the most exciting part is, the developers are currently working on how to automate the updating process even further.
<h2>Can You Help?</h2>
As previously mentioned, Alliance CMS is currently pre-alpha, and thus there is still plenty of work to be done before it can experience its first stable release.
In order to speed up the development process, AllianceCMS have appealed for assistance in the following areas:
<ul>
<li>Graphic Design / CSS / Theme Creation</li>
<li>Plugin Development</li>
<li>Data Management</li>
<li>Documentation</li>
<li>Translation</li>
</ul>
AllianceCMS is without doubt on track to be an open-source platform which is genuinely interested in enjoining communities. Their name, slogan and website all reflect their social awareness, and reaching out to the public for development assistance is also a friendly touch.
<h2>Screenshots</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/alliancecms-home-page1395x0.png" alt="Alliance CMS - Home Page" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/alliancecms-wiki1395x0.png" alt="Alliance CMS Wiki" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/alliancecms-api1395x0.png" alt="Alliance CMS - API" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/alliancecms-installation-start1395x0.png" alt="Alliance CMS - Installation Start" />
If you can help out in any of the areas listed above, or if you simply wish to find out more about the exciting Alliance CMS project, visit their <a href="http://www.alliancecms.com/"> official website </a> .

Introducing AllianceCMS

Shopify - The global commerce platform

Build your business with Shopify to sell online, offline, and everywhere in between.

The global commerce platform

#ffffff

Ghost has always been an excellent blog platform but since the <a href="/ghost-3-0-brings-subscriptions-memberships-and-more/">release of Ghost 3.0</a>, the development team has been slamming out the features on a regular basis to make it even better.
This latest feature is the ability to send native email newsletters with Ghost using their new Members &amp; Subscriptions feature (which you can read more about <a href="https://ghost.org/members/">here</a>).
The way this works is simple; when you write a new post, you can now choose to deliver the post to subscribers via email as shown below.
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/image.png" alt="Ghost 3.0 Native Newsletters" /></figure>
This isn't just a quick email notification, however, you can even set a custom subject line, preview the email before it goes out and send yourself a test one to make sure everything looks OK.
The dev team have included a stunning new email template that does a great job of making the content look beautiful. If you use the members function within Ghost to offer paid subscriptions, then content specifically marked as paid only will only go to that subset of users and the same goes for free content of course. 
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/image-1.png" alt="Ghost Email Template" /><figcaption>Here's a look at the email template.</figcaption></figure>
There is an unsubscribe link within each email and users can, of course, choose whether or not to subscribe from within their profile on your website.
There's more information about this feature over on the Ghost blog where they first shared the news so <a href="https://ghost.org/blog/native-email/">go check it out</a>.

You Can Now Send Email Newsletters Natively With Ghost

In Hollywood, sequels are a roll of the dice. Few manage to capture the magic of an original film, and most burn up on re-entry. I won’t partake in any “sequel shaming,” but the list of losers is long.
But then there’s “Top Gun: Maverick,” a film that surprisingly managed to <a href="https://boardroom.tv/highest-grossing-sequels-of-all-time/">earn $1.4 billion globally</a>. While not the biggest franchise follow-up (that still belongs to Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame”), it cemented its place at the top.
At this year’s <a href="https://the.machalliance.org/machtwo/">MACH Two Conference</a> – the sequel to the <a href="https://machalliance.org/">MACH Alliance’s</a> inaugural event in 2022 – Tom Cruise wasn't piloting any box office blitz. But as the final session wrapped, there was more Maverick in MACH than anyone could have predicted.
I had the opportunity to attend the much-anticipated event in Amsterdam this week at the swank <a href="https://delamar.nl/en/">DeLaMar Theater</a>. And while dodging airport delays with international connections was nerve-racking, it was well worth the effort.
Because MACH Two was, in a word, awesome.
Don’t take my word for it. As <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/netlify-to-host-headless-commerce-summit-for-talks-on-building-world-class-e-commerce-experiences/">Netlify</a> co-founder <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianbachdk/">Chris Bach</a> observed, it was the “crème de la crème of events, and I wanted to talk to everyone.”
While the MACH Alliance is still a relative newcomer to the tech landscape, its signature conference has already attained world-class status. Along with an impressive lineup of 36 speakers, the event featured expert practitioners, technology vendors, integrators, and brands willing to share their MACH journeys.
Betwixt the lively keynotes, there were numerous workshops, a co-lab zone, learning circles, social groups, afterparties, and more. Even the tasty plant-based bites provided by Food Line-up – Europe’s first <a href="https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/" target="_blank">B Corp</a> caterer – were <a href="https://the.machalliance.org/machtwo/?overlay=Sustainability-pledge">sustainably produced</a> (and you know how boring conference food can be).
Over the two days of the conference, I connected with Alliance leaders, sponsors, and attendees to discuss MACH and how it’s shaping the composable landscape. While innovation and technology were central to the content, it was evident that the “Art &amp; Science” of this event’s theme had more to do with people and community.
I met so many great people and there are too many stories to tell, so I tried to compress everything into six big takeaways that made MACH Two a winning sequel.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/06/mach-two-image-1.jpg" alt="MACH Two presentation" />
<h2>1. Interest in MACH and composable is growing in a big way</h2>
During Tuesday’s opening keynote, the lower bowl of the DeLaMar Theater was solidly packed. This echoed what MACH Alliance president <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/the-future-is-composable-a-conversation-with-new-mach-alliance-president-casper-rasmussen/">Casper Rasmussen</a> said during his opening remarks: “The footprint has grown.”
To be sure, last year’s shindig was smaller – which makes sense when you’re throwing a party for the first time. During the planning phase for MACH One, a few Alliance members admitted to me that they weren’t sure if anyone would show up.
But that wasn’t the case this year. With just over 600 attendees from numerous countries, things sometimes got elbow-deep.
Since last year’s event, the Alliance has grown to nearly 90 members, with a pipeline of new applications streaming in. <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/aws-joins-mach-alliance-as-enabler-member-reflects-growth-of-cloud-native-solutions/">AWS joined</a> as an Enabler in 2022, bringing industry-leading brands to the ecosystem ­– and that trend has continued. In fact, as the show was opening, it was <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/stripe-joins-mach-alliance-bringing-organization-to-nearly-90-members/">announced that Stripe</a> had joined the ranks.
At one point during the opening session, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-diliberti-73801140/" target="_blank">Danielle Diliberti</a> of Sommsation (who shared MC duties with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nialledwards/?originalSubdomain=uk" target="_blank">Naill Edwards</a> of Lego Group) asked for a show of hands to see who was attending their first MACH event. It looked to be around 60% – evidence that interest is swelling, and the market sees more potential than it did just 12 months ago.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/06/mach-two-image-2-1.jpg" alt="MACH Two ASICS presentation" />
<h2>2. MACH has moved from early adoption to real impact</h2>
One of the most notable transformations from MACH One to MACH Two is the shift from ideas to successful implementations. Across both days, the event featured customer stories from an array of verticals, all told through the voice of the internal MACH champion. In every example, we saw the realization of the MACH journey through working architectures and KPIs.
Each use case was brilliant, from Interflora to IKEA to M&amp;M. But as a runner, I was a bit partial to ASICS, the international sportswear brand. With a global omnichannel platform serving Japan, Europe, North America, and Australia, it was a perfect example to showcase the potential of MACH at scale.
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjmontgomery/" target="_blank">Mindy Montgomery</a>, Associate Director of Product Management at ASICS, gave a fantastic overview of how her company evolved beyond a purpose-built eCommerce solution and broke its monolithic dependency. Starting with a change in mindset, her team built a modern DXP to support loyalty, search, promotions, design systems, and other functions across its digital business. She’s now looking to make parts of the stack available via headless for other company initiatives.
One concept that kept surfacing with ASICS and other brands is the concerted move to a product-led philosophy. As Montgomery explained, removing the small, feature-based approach was critical to embracing MACH. She also emphasized the importance of having a trust-based relationship between product and engineering to improve delivery.
AI made its way into numerous stories, and ASICS was no exception. Montgomery admitted that the emergence of <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/from-chatbots-to-contentops-how-ai-is-coming-to-your-cms-whether-you-like-it-or-not/">ChatGPT</a> forced them to pause and rethink their product search initiative. The company is now considering a generative AI application to augment its shoe finder experience.
One key takeaway: while AI might be changing the game, composable could make the pivot much less painful.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/06/mach-two-image-3.jpg" alt="MACH Two Media Q&amp;A" />
<h2>3. More education, tools, and transparency are on the way</h2>
During a dedicated media Q&amp;A on Tuesday, I had an opportunity to engage with a panel of Alliance leaders and ambassadors. In addition to Casper Rasmussen, the group included <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellygoetsch/" target="_blank">Kelly Goetsch</a>, MACH Alliance Chair &amp; CSO of commercetools; <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jguthmann/" target="_blank">Jasmin Guthmann</a>, Alliance VP &amp; Head of Corporate Communications at Contentstack; <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/balakrishnancs/" target="_blank">Balki Subramanian</a>, VP Digital Experiences, Mars; and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/anca-iordanescu-phd-computer-science-3756971/" target="_blank">Anca Iordanescu</a>, VP Engineering at IKEA.
When asked about what’s changed since MACH One, Rasmussen said, "MACH is at an intersection, " leading to more opportunities. He suggested that it also requires a carefully managed expansion that relies on improving interoperability and standards for new and current members.   
Kelly Goetsch also reflected on the last year of growth, saying MACH “now feels like the default,” and that “we’re no longer advocating from the sidelines.” Jasmine Guthmann also suggested that the MACH philosophy will play a bigger role moving forward, helping reinforce the organization's spirit.
There was a clear consensus around the need for more education, a key requirement for improving adoption. Along with a cache of thought leadership content and other knowledge resources, the Alliance just launched a new MACH TCO tool, and plans to release a maturity assessment tool that focuses on 6 key pillars, such as governance.
Later this year, we can expect new educational programs for brands and members, and Rasmussen hopes to offer some degree of certifications based on different levels of MACH expertise. This would include foundational programs, developer and architecture modules, and even a “MACH Expert” certification.
Rasmussen also talked about the evolution of MACH principles. He said that two years ago, we didn’t talk about MACHifying operations or enterprise resource planning. To that end, the framework needs to be flexible, as definitions and criteria will continue to change over time.
The panel shared a few other insights worth mentioning. First, there’s been a noticeable growth of MACH requirements in RFPs. In fact, one brand mentioned that MACH membership had become a baseline requirement when picking technologies – positioning MACH as a standard for the future.
The other topic was transparency. At both evening mixers, I heard from multiple ISVs and SIs about their concerns regarding the membership selection criteria and wanting more visibility into the process. According to Rasmussen, 53% of membership applications are rejected – but the majority resubmit. He noted a clear evolution in those resubmissions, suggesting that companies understand the gaps and adjust to meet the criteria. That said, the panel recognized this need for even more transparency and expressed a commitment to deliver it.
<h2>4. Relationships and trust continue to drive value</h2>
One of the persistent gaps in composable strategies is the responsibility model. Monoliths provide one throat to choke, while composable architectures might require seven.
Researching, procuring, and managing multiple technology partners can be challenging and time-consuming. More importantly, when things go sideways – and they always do – who takes responsibility? Who owns the issue?
For vendors like <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/contentstack-launch-aims-to-simplify-front-end-hosting-interview-with-dean-haddock-senior-product-manager/">Contentstack</a>, its “Care without Compromise” provides an SLA-like template for handling problem resolution. But not all vendors have that kind of framework in place.
Over the last few days, I spoke to numerous SIs and ISVs about their composable partnerships and how they handle the hard stuff. I kept hearing the importance of their human relationships and the clear reliance on trust.
In one such example, an agency praised a headless CMS and its dedicated customer service manager, crediting them for their ongoing success. In another conversation, I used the word “vendor” to describe a platform, and was politely asked to use “partner” instead.
I heard several attendees talk about the need for more guidance when handling these partnership challenges. There may not be a common template or SLA yet, but it’s evident that MACH members are investing in the quality of their relationships to deliver and maintain high-value customer outcomes.  
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/06/mach-two-image-4.jpg" alt="MACH Two Impact Awards" />
<h2>5. The Impact Awards is a win for the MACH movement</h2>
It was an honor to help judge the MACH Two 2023 <a href="https://machalliance.org/mach-impact-awards" target="_blank">Impact Awards</a>. Over the last month, I read through dozens of detailed entries, each with a compelling story of composable transformation. They were bold, ambitious, innovative… and sometimes downright scary.
I say that with the greatest reverence, but I won’t pull any punches on the level of complexity in some of these use cases. But that’s just it: MACH isn’t for the faint of heart. Building a composable stack requires the right use case and a thoughtful implementation strategy. As Kelly Goestch once said on LinkedIn, “I love MACH, but regularly tell people 'MACH is not for you' – and then promptly refer them to Shopify.”
American Bath Group, winner of the "Best Overall Change Project,” truly brought the rain from an innovation perspective. Not only did they embrace MACH tenants at a foundational level, but they embodied the MACH mindset from planning to best practices. From an architectural perspective, this was all reinforced by its agency partner, Konabos, and its headless CMS, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/kontent-ai-raises-40-million-to-bring-the-power-of-ai-to-content-management/">Kontent.ai</a>.
The <a href="https://machalliance.org/mach-impact-awards">winners in each category</a> were all well-deserved. At the same time, the bulk of the 150+ entries showcased how far MACH has progressed. <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-releases-study-on-adoption-of-mach-technologies-by-tech-leaders-qa-with-sonja-keerl/">Sonja Keerl</a>, former president of the MACH Alliance, spoke about the importance of demonstrating real change when selecting the Impact Awards – and American Bath Group delivered the most compelling results from end to end. You can read the <a href="https://kontent.ai/customers/american-bath-group-success/">complete case study here</a>.
Even if you didn’t take home a statue, the Impact Awards represent a win for the MACH movement. With this much adoption and successful implementation, we can only expect more entries next year.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/06/mach-two-image-5.jpg" alt="MACH Two mentoring program presentation" />
<h2>6. Women in MACH, mentoring, and other initiatives are becoming top of mind</h2>
Above all, the MACH Alliance is a community that strives to put people first. That was made abundantly clear throughout MACH Two, just by watching the networking and interactions between attendees – many of whom were experiencing a MACH event for the first time. Even the Whova conference app encouraged social engagement, with groups sprouting organically around various business and personal interests.
Aligning with this cornerstone of its mission, programs like <a href="https://machalliance.org/women-in-mach">Women in MACH</a> took on an elevated level of visibility within the physical event space and throughout the MACH Two communications. The group is still relatively new but has already established an important role within the Alliance community.
While credit is due for making this effort, there’s still work to be done across the tech industry to shatter the silicon ceiling. We need more allies to support programs like this – and for businesses to truly walk the talk.
Surely, we can do better by emphasizing STEM education and career mentoring at the earliest stages. But here and now, we need more female tech leaders in MACH and a continued focus on diversity. In his closing session, Casper Rasmussen called for more female representation, and this is where the Alliance is acting as a conduit for change. 
In addition to people, there’s our planet, and several attendees inquired about the roadmap for weaving sustainability and green technology initiatives into the fabric of the MACH Alliance. Rasmussen also touched on this in his final presentation, suggesting that more can be done with partners like AWS to enable greater sustainability in the cloud – and that more is coming.
<h2>Accelerating ahead to MACH Three</h2>
I'm still feeling the sonic boom of MACH Two. It might be hard to top the success of this sequel – but with so much growth and potential ahead, MACH Three could be an even bigger story.
As more brands evaluate MACH and composable strategies, hearing successful use cases from actual stakeholders might be the best way to overcome reluctant executives. Couple that with a community of ambassadors and members – many of whom are willing to share their time and expertise – and you might build consensus at MACH speed.
While no specific date or location has been publicized, MACH Three is tentatively planned for 2024 in North America. We’ll keep you posted on the details as they emerge.

MACH Two Conference Wrap: Six Takeaways from the Composable Event of the Year

matt-garrepy

MACH Two featured image with photos from the event in a collage

Elxis is an interesting cms that expands upon traditional mambo code by adding an amazing set of SEO features (something sorely lacking in Joomla and Mambo by default) and enhanced security among other improvements. In this Elxis review, let's examine their latest edition and see how it looks.
As you can see from the picture below, they feature an attractive installer with several options such as quick links to their help forums, the ability to click ONCE and restart the installation (which is a very sweet addition.. thank you Elxis team).. as well as a percentage complete and tons of quick notes to make sure you are well informed as you proceed through the installation.
I'm one for appreciating tips and stuff that not just expand the knowledge of the user doing the install… but helps them understand what and why they are entering the data they are entering.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elxis1.png" alt="Elxis Content Management System" />
Once you've passed this stage, you will get the screen below:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elxis2.png" alt="Elxis Content Management System" />
Accepting this license agreement will allow you to proceed:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elxis3.png" alt="Elxis Content Management System" />
Fill in your database details, select a sample data package and you are ready to proceed. Elxis has a very solid selection of database options as well.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elxis4.png" alt="Elxis Content Management System" />
Select your language, site name, timezone offset.. and continue:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elxis5.png" alt="Elxis Content Management System" />
Enter in your admin settings on this screen. I like the fact that it auto generates a very secure password for you.. you are of course not forced to use it but it's nice to have the option (although admittedly with my memory, there'd be no way I'd manage with something as obscure.. )
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elxis6.png" alt="Elxis Content Management System" />
Configure FTP access if you like, the only reason I can see doing this.. is to allow file attributes to be changed by the installer instead of having to do them yourself.. Personally, I prefer to maintain control.. but I like the fact that I have the choice.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elxis7.png" alt="Elxis Content Management System" />
Now we are ready to get to the test site and see how she looks:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elxis8.png" alt="Elxis Content Management System" />
What I like about the default page is that it covers each of their major features such as SEO Pro and serves as a nice set of instructions and documentation for making the most out of their package. It's a nice looking default template and works well with typical expectations.
There currently aren't a huge amount of themes and templates available but it wouldn't be tough to port over a Joomla or Mambo one as they are basically the same framework. I haven't tested to see if they work by default but if someone knows, please let me know.
Plugin wise, I do know that I tried a few Joomla plugins and they worked fine so I suspect it's a trial and error situation there as well. Again, if someone has more detail, please advise.
On the topic of plugins though.. I admittedly don't think you would need much. The fact is, Elxis has pretty much everything I'd need from the get go without the need to install third party apps… a fact that I think is one of it's strengths for sure.
The admin panel is a redesigned mambo one with a few additions.. not much of a surprise and very usable and clean:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elxis10.png" alt="Elxis Content Management System" />
This new version also boasts the addition of eBlog component.. which is very nice! Here is a screenshot of it's configuration page:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elxis11.png" alt="Elxis Content Management System" />
One other thing before our rating that I wanted to point out and that's this nice little addition that I just noticed in the content section.. When you choose to add a new content item, it gives you the choice to have an SEO Page Title or SEO Post title generated and also gives you a Validate link:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elxis12.png" alt="Elxis Content Management System" />
That is a brilliant addition and something that may have been present in 2008.0 but I certainly don't recall it. I'll have to ask the developers about that..
On with the ratings:
Community 7/10 – Not super active yet, but maybe after this review things will improve ? 
Expandability 8.5/10 -Not alot of expansion required, but several options available if needed.
Themability 8/10 – Needs more but I love the ones it has.. for instance, there is a CNN clone!
Useability 9/10 – Very usable, very well thought out and easily outclasses Joomla and Mambo in my eyes.
<h2>Overall Score: 8/10</h2>

Elxis Review - a look at Elxis CMS 2008 series

<a href="http://www.cmsmadesimple.org">CMS Made Simple</a> has won the best Open Source CMS award in the 2010 Packt Publishing Open Source awards.
CMS Made Simple is a an open source content management system that allows rapid website development in a fraction of the normal time, avoiding hours of coding by providing modules and 3rd Party add-ons.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sitefinity6-580x387_zmvjzb.jpg" />
Runners up were <a href="http://silverstripe.org">SilverStripe</a> in second place and <a href="http://modxcms.com">MODx</a> in third.
Congratulations to all.

CMS Made Simple wins best Open Source CMS award

<a href="http://www.seosamba.com/" target="_blank">SeoSamba</a> – the company behind open surce CMS, SEOToaster – have launched a completely redesigned version of their CMS, in the form of SEOToaster 2.2.
SEOToaster is a <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001Aar2Bzc3bWq6p-CGH6S2HBsZBUsT7T6ydnbca3TwIYqXxyp865xx6u2pu-84bq_uHNCB1vRz-OK5IbJQeeeXUyqtO7zQMlOBz_2WyRNsdpILIbGII0T6gV6lrUbEekG58H2nmso0iIyCZ0Vy5osBuynDreyb4DRQHRi84EH3s0eIUprW5FH8Cw==&amp;c=A36mZx83ukTZ22I76bM9dTod1PAW16HZBFtFl336OLABBTJauFfjyg==&amp;ch=bkSXcoWrfrJfvrgzgUcGSlcJnoUy2ZadBcU1dL0lFhOE8Y5AbCRX0g==" target="_blank">high-performance and open source free CMS software</a> that makes creating, managing and marketing corporate and eCommerce websites easy for people of all skill levels.
As the platform's name implies, SeoToaster CMS employs a focus on SEO and web marketing technology. SeoToaster eCommerce sits on top of SeoToaster CMS, carrying inline edition through the entire experience.
<h2>Fresh User Interface &amp; Over 100 New Features</h2>
With the introduction of SeoToaster 2.2, SeoSamba have completely revamped the front-end user interface, and have piled on over one hundred new features. Now, that really is a lot of features. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/toaster.png" alt="SeoToaster" /> Below is some highlights of what SeoToaster users can expect in terms of new functionality:
<ul>
<li>Apps: an entirely new way to add functionalities from the cloud and switch services provider with no plug-in tinkering.</li>
<li>Built-in media servers   now provide up to five-times faster web serving, regardless of your web hosting provider.</li>
<li>New specialized inline editor types (imageonly, textonly, etc) help build unbreakable website themes and minimize end-user support calls.</li>
<li>Built-in tripwire web form protections  to prevent bots to spam your email without interfering with conversion objectives, as sometimes Recaptcha does.</li>
<li>Inline product promotion building: add the promotion to your landing pages, and the system takes care of building the logic for you.</li>
<li>Inline product lists building: no need to alter templates to add/edit automated products lists.</li>
<li>A redesigned store dashboard  theme that introduces custom fields, and more filters to easily find and process transactions.</li>
</ul>
Regarding the release of SeoToaster 2.2, David Culot, CTO of SeoSamba, had this to say:
<blockquote>
“For new users, it's like getting a free content management system or eCommerce solution built for SEO &amp; marketing. Those familiar with SeoToaster will enjoy a host of new features and a brand new interface that will still look instantly familiar.”
</blockquote>
SeoToaster 2.2 is available for <a href="https://www.seotoaster.com/free-seo-software-shopping-carts.html" target="_blank"> download now</a>.
For more information on SeaToaster, check out their <a href="http://www.seotoaster.com/" target="_blank">official website</a>.

SeoToaster CMS Unveils New Features & Revamped UI

Following two years worth of development, Elgg – a social networking CMS – has rolled out a release candidate for version 1.9.0.
Elgg is a free and open-source social network software. With it, you can build a variety of online social environments, from a campus-wide social network for your university, school, or college to an internal collaborative platform for your organization.
Although this release is only a release candidate meant for developers and bug hunters, this is still great news for all Elgg users, as the final release of Elgg 1.9.0 cannot now be far away.
<img style="max-width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/untitled_2-1.png" alt="Elgg " />
For those not yet fully up to speed with what's new with version 1.9.0 of Elgg, here's a quick overview:
<ul>
<li>New responsive theme – aalborg_theme</li>
<li>Adds image uploading from editor</li>
<li>Replaces fancybox lightbox with colorbox</li>
<li>Replaces Tinymce editor with CKEditor</li>
<li>Liking and friending use ajax</li>
<li>Removes topbar Elgg logo and made “powered by” themable</li>
<li>Allows keeping group content limited to the group</li>
<li>Site notifications moved into separate plugin from messages</li>
<li>Various accessibility fixes</li>
<li>Improved theme sandbox</li>
<li>Ajaxified the discussion reply edit form.</li>
<li>Alphabetize friends/friends-of, group notifications, group owned/member lists</li>
<li>Adds support for simplecache minification of CSS and JavaScript</li>
<li>Adds new notification system</li>
<li>Changes user directories use GUIDs rather than join date</li>
<li>Adds robots.txt configuration</li>
<li>Adds maintenance mode</li>
</ul>
For the full list of enhancements, check out the changelog.
If you intend on taking this release candidate for a test drive, be sure to report all bugs to <a href="https://github.com/Elgg/Elgg/issues" target="_blank">Elgg's GitHub issue tracker</a>.
Elgg has also advised developers on how to approach this release candidate:
“Developers who have been waiting to test out their 1.8 plugins in 1.9 should take this as a cue to begin upgrading those plugins.  Note that back-compatibility was a big consideration in this release so upgrading plugins should hopefully not be as painful as it was for the 1.7 -&gt; 1.8 upgrade.”
Find out more about Elgg via our CMS Directory.

Elgg Rolls Out 1.9.0 Release Candidate

Weglot - The easiest way to translate a website

The easiest way to translate a website

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Explore a wide range of informative articles, insights, and industry updates. Stay informed and ahead of the curve with our diverse collection of news and posts covering the latest trends and developments in the industry. Page - 109