Articles - Page 110

Bland Brands Beware: Optimizely’s New Identity Brings Human Creativity to its Agentic AI and AEO Ambitions

matt-garrepy

WordPress and Textpattern are two of the most well-known blogging platforms out there. Each has its own share of advantages and disadvantages as well as supporters and critics. Both have a great user base and power many wonderful websites! In this article, I shall attempt to provide a comprehensive comparison of both WordPress vs Textpattern. Be informed though, this piece is just based on personal experiences and most users of either WP or TXP might agree (or disagree) at will. For the sake of clarity, I've attempted to sub-divide this article into multiple heads.
Functionality
WordPress seems to be the leading CMS when it comes to functionality and ease of use. Its latest version has undergone a good revamp and the organization of the administrative back end is now as user-friendly as it can get! You can control every major section of your blog through it in a matter of few clicks.
TextPattern, on the other hand, has a slightly less refined administrative back end. Yet, it still is fairly user-friendly and very robust. The only catch is that TXP's back end looks slightly dated, in comparison to that of WP.
Customizability and Extendability
Both Textpattern and WordPress are equal customizable by means of themes and templates. On a similar note, both TXP and WP have a good quiver of plugins and extensions. However, if you delve deeper, you'll find that WP has more themes and plugins as compared to TXP. While this clearly does not mean that WP is a better CMS than TXP, it surely goes a long way in building the user base for WP. Since majority of commercially viable tech blogs and websites are powered by WordPress (not to mention the millions of blogs at WordPress.com), it is but natural that WP has a large number of themes and plugins.
If you are geeky enough, you really should not be worried as you can tweak TXP to your liking and build a website. But if you are just planning to get a blog or website up and ready with as little technical expertise as possible, WP should be your safest bet!
Usability and Operation
This seems to be the most debatable topic. WordPress has a WYSIWYG Editor that makes editing posts and articles a breeze.
<img style="max-width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/weaver_elizabeth_submission_manager_screenshot_gcloaz.jpg" alt="WordPress vs Textpattern" />
Textpattern, on the other hand, has an equally awesome (though not so end user friendly) editor, which can do almost all that you want it to, but is slightly confusing in operation (at least for starters). While Textile and other related items can be your best friends if you get used to them, they really will seem mind boggling features if you are a stranger to them.
<img style="max-width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/weaver_elizabeth_submittable_screenshot_rpavbu.jpg" alt="WordPress vs Textpattern" />
Moving around the back end too, you'll find that installing themes or plugins, checking your blog's stats or even upgrading the CMS – all can be accomplished in WP in a way easier manner as compared to TXP.
Are they alive?
Both WordPress and Textpattern are in active development (so this sub-heading perhaps should've been different, but I couldn't resist). Similarly, both TXP and WP have a good community base and many forums where you can turn for support.
However, WP is updated on a more frequent basis as compared to TXP. Supporters of WP will be tempted to portray this as higher level of activity at their developers' end, while supporters of TXP can attribute this fact to a sign of maturity of TXP in itself.
To sum it up
With that said, lets summarize each CMS's pros and cons:
Textpattern (<a href="http://www.textpattern.com">http://www.textpattern.com</a>):
Pros:
<ul>
<li>Textile is a very popular element among TXP users, and once you get used to it, you really will find WP's interface bit over done.</li>
<li>The Template System lets you tweak your website to the heart's content.</li>
<li>Extensive documentation.</li>
</ul>
Cons:
<ul>
<li>Admin back end slightly unattractive.</li>
<li>Confusing for beginners.</li>
<li>Lesser number of themes or templates (as compared to WP)</li>
</ul>
WordPress (<a href="http://www.wordpress.org">http://www.wordpress.org</a>):
Pros:
<ul>
<li>Arguably the easiest CMS out there</li>
<li>Numerous themes for customization</li>
<li>Easy updates</li>
</ul>
Cons:
<ul>
<li>Unless you install WPMU, it can power only one blog</li>
<li>Slightly limiting back end (if you're a geek)</li>
<li>Editing article meta data is difficult</li>
</ul>
The verdict?
Well, ideally picking a CMS is a decision that is governed by the user's specific needs (and perhaps bias towards a personal favorite). Still, if you need a CMS just to power a blog or a small website, WordPress should do the trick for you. If, however, you have plans of doing something beyond the ordinary such as having multiple blogs or prefer to tweak your articles before posting them (or simply like to get to the bottom of things), Textpattern might solve your purpose.
Have you used either WP or TXP (or both) earlier? Got some opinions to share on either of these two blogging platforms? Let me know in the comments!

WordPress vs Textpattern

mike-johnston

It's almost officially summer in the Northern Hemisphere. And while some outdoorsy types are packing their Airstreams to do a bit of camping, WordPressians made the virtual hike to <a href="https://europe.wordcamp.org/2021/" target="_blank">WordCamp Europe 2021</a> last week. 
As one of the largest community events in the WordPress ecosystem, WordCamp Europe attracted nearly <a href="https://torquemag.io/2020/06/wordcamp-europe-2020-report/">10,000 registrees from over 140 countries</a> to their first online forum in 2020 (2021 figures are not yet published, but we're anticipating even bigger numbers). Now that we're emerging from Covid, it will be interesting to see how WordCampers migrate to these meetings worldwide in 2022. 
Our staff had a chance to peruse a number of the sessions, and there were some definite standouts. One of the most interesting talks we caught was called <a href="https://europe.wordcamp.org/2021/speaker/robert-jacobi/">"Invisible CMS" by Robert Jacobi</a> (of Joomla fame). There was also a great interview with <a href="https://europe.wordcamp.org/2021/session/conversation-with-marieke-van-de-rakt-of-yoast/">Marieke van de Rakt of Yoast</a> that was timely and relevant. You can catch a lot of the content on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaYQGYDpXpU4A17kxN-AgJQ">WordCamp Europe YouTube channel</a>.
During a packed schedule of fireside chats and presentations, attendees were treated to an update on WordPress 5.8, which is currently in Beta. As of right now, the current target for the final release is July 20, 2021. 
WordPress 5.8 is expected to deliver a host of new features, including more powerful blocks, enhanced editing capabilities, and other <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2021/01/21/big-picture-goals-2021/" target="_blank">big picture goals</a> like Full Site Editing – which was a focus area at WordCamp. We've covered some of the features we're expecting to see below. 
<h3>What is Full Site Editing?</h3>
OK, so <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/design/handbook/focuses/full-site-editing/">Full Site Editing</a> (FSE) may not be a game-changing new addition to WordPress, but it's another clear signal that WordPress is moving on from editing PHP templates to building websites entirely out of blocks. Full Site Editing is more akin to a "collection" of features that allows you to edit (quite literally) everything on your site. The collection isn't 100% complete, but it's a work in progress for the second phase of Gutenberg. 
FSE involves three main components: Template Editing, Block Themes, and Global Styles.
<h3>Template Editing</h3>
Page Templates are the building blocks of a WordPress site, and they’re composed using PHP. Every theme has its own custom templates such as “Single Page,” “404”, or “Header,” “Footer,” and so on. If you know some HTML and PHP, you can also edit these templates.
WordPress 5.8 is making a bold move by giving users the ability to create their own custom Page Templates by editing their theme template directly. Imagine creating templates entirely out of blocks without having to deal with PHP code. 
Don't imagine it: watch it here in this <a href="https://youtu.be/IdLGO-PzNJ0?t=8896" target="_blank">WordCamp Europe online video</a>. 
<h3>Block Themes</h3>
WordPress 5.8 features new blocks for Page Lists, Site Title, Logo, and Tagline. A powerful Query Loop block offers multiple ways to display posts and comes with new block patterns that take advantage of its flexibility and creative options.
Among the new block features, there is one notable one: the Lists View. This is a panel that can be easily toggled, allowing you see all the blocks in a list form and navigate complex blocks and patterns:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/06/block-list-view.png" alt="Gutenberg Block List View" />
<h3>Global Styles</h3>
Global Styles extend the efforts of Full Site Editing by bringing a higher level of customization to Gutenberg and WordPress. Together, these features enable users to have improved control over aesthetics and layouts beyond the context of single Pages and Posts. Global styles also bring consistency across your website without having to edit individual blocks or pages.
For example, you can select a body background color or change the line-height of all their headings from one place. Styles added to individual blocks will still override the global styles.
The first version of Global Styles has been ported to WordPress core and will be part of the WordPress 5.8 release. Any relevant update will be posted in <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/20331#issuecomment-848685044" target="_blank">this GitHub issue</a> on demand.
<img style="max-width:327px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/06/global-styles-sidebar.png" alt="Global Styles" />
<h3>Additional Highlights in WordPress 5.8</h3>
Here are some other cool features we're expecting from 5.8: 
<ul>
<li>An all-new Widgets screen and updated Customizer, which lets you use any block in your theme’s widget areas</li>
<li>A new template editor that allows you to create custom page templates using blocks</li>
<li>Themes that can control and configure styling with a .json file, including layout configuration, block supports, color palettes, and more</li>
<li>New design tools and enhancements to existing blocks, including more color, typography, and spacing options</li>
<li>Drag and drop features for Cover backgrounds</li>
<li>Additions to block transformation options</li>
<li>The ability to embed PDFs within the File block</li>
<li>Improvements to how the editor is rendered to resemble the frontend more accurately</li>
</ul>
The new Duotone filter is a noteworthy addition to 5.8. It allows you to change the color of an image and add various effects. If you love to use filters on your photos, you’ll get a lot of use out of this:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/06/duotone.gif" alt="Duotone Filter" />
You can read the complete list of new features on the <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2021/06/wordpress-5-8-beta-2/" target="_blank">WordPress news release</a>.
<h2>What’s new in Gutenberg 10.8?</h2>
Gutenberg 10.8 focuses on stability and performance while also introducing enhancements to the Template Editor that enables more design tools for blocks.
<h3>More Typography Options</h3>
Gutenberg 10.8 comes with more typography editing functions, including <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/27510" target="_blank">font-weight for the heading block</a> and <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/27510" target="_blank">custom fonts for the List block</a>. As with other design tools, you can configure them in your theme.json file.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/06/font-weights-edited-1.png" alt="Font weight options" />
<h3>Template Editor Enhancements</h3>
Gutenberg 10.8 also introduces a few enhancements to the Template Editor, improving the overall user experience. Now, the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/32037" target="_blank">title area in the Template Editor corresponds to the current post title</a>. Also, the appearance of the <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/32042" target="_blank">template details popover</a> has been enhanced with more detailed information and an improved layout. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/06/template-editor-enhnancements.png" alt="Template Editor enhancements" />
You can see the complete list of new Gutenberg 10.8 features and bug fixes over <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/06/10/whats-new-in-gutenberg-10-8-9-june/" target="_blank">here</a>.
<h3>Internet Explorer 11</h3>
Ah yes. Our update wouldn't be complete without discussing Internet Explorer. It is, as they say, the end of an era. 
Or <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/05/22/999343673/internet-explorer-the-love-to-hate-it-web-browser-will-die-next-year#:~:text=Microsoft%20is%20officially%20pulling%20the%20plug%20on%20Internet%20Explorer%20in%20June%202022.,-Alexander%20Hassenstein%2FGetty&amp;text=Internet%20Explorer%20is%20nearing%20the,%2C%20buggy%20net%2Dsurfing%20option.">as NPR so elegantly noted</a>, it's "nearing the end of a long and slow death." 
As Microsoft continues its planned retirement of this storied browser – a journey that began 25 years ago – support for IE11 is slowly waning. While the final sunset is planned for <a href="https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2021/05/19/the-future-of-internet-explorer-on-windows-10-is-in-microsoft-edge/" target="_blank">June 15, 2022</a>, WordPress is deprecating its support for IE this year. So if you haven't already, say your goodbyes. 
<h3>More to come for WordPress in 2021</h3>
The WordCamp world is still abuzz from days of drinking the open source kool-aid, particularly in anticipation of the official 5.8 launch. 
In the meantime, if you’d like to test the new 5.8 Beta, you can install the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/" target="_blank">WordPress Beta Tester plugin</a> and activate it. You can find the full set of instructions on how to use the latest Beta version <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/beta-testing/" target="_blank">here</a>. 
Like everything in the world of WP, it bears repeating that the new features like Full Site Editing are still a work in progress. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day – and for a CMS that powers over 40 percent of the web, changes need to be carefully tested for mobile performance, security, accessibility, and so on. 
What's clear is that the various page-building plugin options for WordPress – such as <a href="https://elementor.com/">Elementor</a>, <a href="https://www.elegantthemes.com/gallery/divi/">Divi</a>, and <a href="https://www.wpbeaverbuilder.com/">Beaver Builder</a> – have ramped up the innovation and certainly inspired WordPress to improve its own block editor. It's important to remember that when Gutenberg first arrived, it was <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/gutenberg-2-years-later-is-wordpress-better-off/" target="_blank">very green</a> and met with an abundance of criticism. WordPress is definitely listening, and working to make content editing even easier for the non-coding folk who don’t want to rely on a developer. While the editor still has a steep learning curve and is clunky in some areas, it seems that Gutenberg is heading in the right direction.
Now, forget the code and fire up your Coleman grill. It's summertime!

Updates on WordCamp 2021, WordPress 5.8 Beta Details, and Gutenberg Enhancements

paris-tuzun

One of the most prominent blog software platforms with one of the biggest communities in both the blog and CMS world, WordPress is a force to be reckoned with. Or is it? WordPress has been around for a long time and has/is growing like mad. It's like a weed. Except one you don't want to pull out of your garden because it keeps getting prettier, better and nicer. Today, we'll examine this popular platform in this review of WordPress 2.5.
Let's look at the ridiculously easy install. This is the first screen you see. Brings new meaning to the term “keep it simple stupid” doesn't it?
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wp1_1.gif" alt="review of WordPress 2.5" />
WordPress then gives you the precursor screen below that tells you basically what to expect on the next couple screens.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wp2_1_.gif" alt="review of WordPress 2.5" />
Now that you've been informed. You can fill in the info below:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wp3_11.gif" alt="review of WordPress 2.5" />
Enter your Blog title and email below: <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wp4_1.gif" alt="review of WordPress 2.5" /> Bam, done. Now that's a total of 4 screens to get installed. Insanely easy, very quick and ridiculously simple. <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wp5_1.gif" alt="review of WordPress 2.5" /> Now log in with admin details provided on the screen above. And you can change the password after your first login. You have to love the sense of humor the lads at WordPress have. <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wp6.gif" alt="review of WordPress 2.5" /> After logging in you get to the admin screen or “dashboard”
Ok let's take a breather and review the dashboard. Here's where wordpress really shines. You want a blog that makes your life easy? You've found it. WordPress 2.5 has auto update capable plugins.. just click on the plugin link.. wordpress will automatically tell you if there's an update available and let you automatically download and install it. No effort required. Where do you get the plugins? Well they have 2200 as of this review. Yes, 2200. and it's a BLOG platform for crying out loud.
Need themes? There are thousands.. literally. You can't type anything in google without tripping over a wordpress theme about it. The control center has one click theme switching (with screenshots). Installing and updating a plugin consists of clicking a button.. The dashboard provides you with the latest wordpress news and the Wysiwyg editor just works beautifully.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wp7.gif" alt="review of WordPress 2.5" />
Where does wordpress fail? I guess the default theme could use some work:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wp8.gif" alt="review of WordPress 2.5" />
Can you tell I'm smitten? Seriously though.. for a blog platform… You simply cannot find a better solution than WordPress. Some will claim it's also very capable as a CMS.. while I think it would struggle in that area, mainly due to lack of forums integration and lack of CMS like themes (wordpress does LOOK like a blog after all).
Community? Massive. WordPress has a community larger than most CMS communities. Support is amazingly quick and there are tons and tons of sites with hints tips and more to get the eager blogger any info they need quickly. With the size of the community and the number of people using it, it's quite possibly the best supported blog platform that exists today.
Would you use it for a portal? Perhaps not. However, for what it claims to be able to do, it does it and more with ease.
Our ratings are below:
Community 10/10 (I said it before and I'll say it again, massive with a huge number of support sites around)
Expandability 9/10 (For a blog platform, very expandable. The only thing lacking is forums or some kind of discussion platform)
Themability 10/10 (Can't touch wordpress for themes.)
Useability 10/10 (Fabulous dashboard, easy install and simple theme switching, auto updating plugins. nuff said)
<h2>Overall Score: 9/10</h2>

A Review of WordPress 2.5

As the U.S. heads into the Fourth of July holiday weekend, we've got some fireworks on display across the digital experience stack. 
Let's light things up with some of the biggest news we've been following this month.
 
<h2>Constant Contact to acquire SharpSpring</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/constant-contact-sharpspring-1.jpg" alt="Constant Contact and SharpSping logos " />
<a href="https://www.constantcontact.com/" target="_blank">Constant Contact</a>, the e-commerce focused marketing platform, announced it has signed a <a href="https://news.constantcontact.com/2021-06-22-Clearlake-Capital-and-Siris-Backed-Constant-Contact-Agrees-to-Acquire-SharpSpring" target="_blank">definitive agreement to acquire</a> SharpSpring. Backed by Clearlake Capital Group and Siris Capital, the all-cash transaction is valued at approximately $240 million.
<a href="https://sharpspring.com/" target="_blank">SharpSpring</a> is a cloud-based marketing automation platform that improves the effectiveness of marketing strategies for small businesses (SMBs). A preferred toolkit for digital agencies, SharpSpring helps generate leads, improve conversions to sales, and drive higher returns on marketing investments. 
Nearly a household name across the digital marketing community, Constant Contact is a legacy platform that provides a full suite of marketing tools catering mainly to small businesses, freelancers, and nonprofits. Constant Contact continues to be one of the most recognized services for managing email marketing campaigns but has more recently added <a href="https://www.constantcontact.com/website" target="_blank">website building features</a> and social media marketing capabilities. 
With the integration of SharpSpring, Constant Contact's users will be able to easily engage customers throughout their journey and deliver better marketing-driven results. SharpSpring also brings a layer of CRM capabilities to the mix, allowing Constant Contact to elevate and evolve the customer experience.
"Constant Contact and SharpSpring share a mission to help small businesses succeed, and this acquisition represents a powerful opportunity to combine our best-in-class email and e-commerce offerings with SharpSpring's strong suite of revenue growth and marketing automation tools," said Frank Vella, CEO at Constant Contact. "Today's Constant Contact retains the customer-first culture that defined our heritage, and I am excited to expand upon that with a commitment to innovation that will accelerate our growth and build upon the passion and agility that has made our brand a leader in digital marketing for so many years."
<h2>WP Engine launches Premier, its new enterprise WordPress platform</h2>
<img style="max-width:899px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/wpengine-premier.png" alt="WPEngine Premier" />
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/wp-engine-releases-worlds-first-study-of-the-wordpress-economy-cites-awe-inspiring-numbers/" target="_blank">WPEngine</a>, a digital experience platform for WordPress, has <a href="https://wpengine.com/blog/wp-engine-launches-premier-enterprise-wordpress-platform/" target="_blank">announced</a> the launch of Premier – a new enterprise platform that delivers improved security, performance, and scalability. 
An established <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/wp-engine-releases-worlds-first-study-of-the-wordpress-economy-cites-awe-inspiring-numbers/" target="_blank">leader in managed WordPress hosting and services</a>, WP Engine powers the top 200,000 websites by traffic, making it one of the most trusted brands on the market. Now, with the addition of Premier, the DXP will offer enterprise-grade security for WordPress – a sought-after requirement for many organizations concerned about the risks posed by WordPress. 
As part of their enterprise strategy, WP Engine completed a <a href="https://www.imperva.com/learn/data-security/soc-2-compliance/" target="_blank">SOC 2 Type II</a> examination to ensure that Premier met the highest standards of security and availability. It also features protection from unauthenticated file system access, managed web application firewall (WAF), DDoS mitigation, and encrypted global network routing.
For WP Engine customers, Premier is an island of stability in a sea of open source. The new platform boasts a 99.99% uptime SLA, a global network of data centers, managed CDN, <a href="https://wpengine.com/evercache/" target="_blank">WP Engine Evercache</a> (proprietary front-end caching), and automatic PHP and WordPress updates. This mix could have a dramatic influence on organizations as they consider modernizing and re-platforming on WordPress for enterprise applications. 
"Enterprises need more time focusing on their customers and growing their business, rather than worrying about the security and scale of the technology they use," said Lisa Box, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Enterprise for WP Engine.
To learn more about WP Engine's Premier Enterprise WordPress platform, visit the <a href="https://wpengine.com/enterprise/" target="_blank">Premier web page.</a>
<h2>Salesforce and AWS expand partnership with key integrations</h2>
<img style="max-width:770px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/aws-salesforce.jpg" alt="AWS Salesforce logos" />
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/reviews/salesforce-cms-review-evolving-a-crm-powerhouse-into-a-dxp-challenger/" target="_blank">Salesforce</a>, the world's leading CRM platform – and <a href="https://www.aws.com" target="_blank">AWS</a>, the industry's undisputed champion of the cloud – <a href="https://www.salesforce.com/news/press-releases/2021/06/23/salesforce-aws-partnership-expansion/" target="_blank">announced</a> a significant expansion to their global partnership. 
While the two tech giants have had an existing relationship for some time, they are now offering an enhanced set of capabilities that will make it easier for developers to build and launch custom applications in Salesforce that natively leverage AWS services. This tighter integration will also connect data and workflows securely across both ecosystems.
Custom coding has long been a requirement for integrating AWS and Salesforce, but this expanded offering will enable customers to use both platforms seamlessly through a set of unified capabilities. The companies have also collaborated on new low-code tools to help customers build innovative applications that connect data in real-time between Salesforce applications and AWS services. 
"For more than five years, our customers have benefitted from a tight relationship between AWS and Salesforce. Now, we are taking the partnership to the next level by integrating our offerings so developers using both AWS and Salesforce can build unified applications much faster and simpler than ever before," said <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/andy-jassy-amazons-new-ceo-signals-bold-future-for-loud-and-digital-experiences/" target="_blank">Andy Jassy</a>, CEO of Amazon Web Services. "With this partnership, we are significantly simplifying developers' lives and empowering them to develop applications however they want, from wherever they want globally, at any scale."
You can read all the details of the new capabilities in the <a href="https://www.salesforce.com/news/press-releases/2021/06/23/salesforce-aws-partnership-expansion/" target="_blank">Salesforce press release</a>.
<h2>Joomla 4 RC 1 and Joomla 3.10 Alpha 8 are here</h2>
<img style="max-width:870px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/joomla4-400-rc1.jpg" alt="Joomla 4" />
The Joomla! Project <a href="https://www.joomla.org/announcements/release-news/5839-joomla-4-rc-3-and-joomla-3-10-alpha-8-are-here.html" target="_blank">announced</a> the availability of the first <a href="https://joom.la/4rc3" target="_blank">Joomla! CMS 4.0 Release Candidate 3</a> and <a href="https://github.com/joomla/joomla-cms/releases/tag/3.10.0-alpha8" target="_blank">Joomla 3.10 Alpha 8</a>. These releases are aimed at extension and template developers so they can prepare their products for the stable release of Joomla! CMS 4.0. 
Here are a few of the standout features:
Joomla4Accessibility: Accessibility is a must with every modern digital experience, and Joomla! 4 delivers some marked improvements from the ground up. The platform aims for <a href="https://www.w3.org/" target="_blank">W3C Accessibility Guidelines</a> (WCAG) 2.0 with AA compliance – and the layout, contrast, and infrastructure all have accessibility built-in at a foundational level.
Joomla4Speed: Whether a website is focused on e-commerce or static content, speed is one of the top factors impacting conversions. With Joomla! 4, users can benefit from increased load time and performance, which can improve the overall customer experience. 
Joomla4Workflows: Combined with a number of improvements in the media manager, Joomla!'s new workflow and media manager are designed to streamline processes and help users work more efficiently with their content operations. 
Joomla4Emails: From a marketing automation perspective, Joomla! now lets you craft and deliver customized emails with its new templating system, allowing for greater control over branding and formatting.
Joomla4Search: With advanced filtering and indexing, Joomla! 4 boasts a boost to search with its enhanced capabilities.
<h2>OpenText and Hyland named "Leaders" in Content Platforms by Forrester</h2>
<img style="max-width:600px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/forrester-wave-content-platforms-2021.gif" alt="Forrester Wave Content Platforms 2021" />
It's hard to believe that it's already Q2 of 2021. Like clockwork, Forrester has issued its quarterly Wave Report for Content Platforms, and both <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/opentext-adds-new-content-services-to-power-modern-work-in-the-cloud/" target="_blank">OpenText</a> and <a href="https://www.hyland.com/" target="_blank">Hyland</a> are battling out the pole position with <a href="https://www.microsoft.com" target="_blank">Microsoft</a>. 
OpenText <a href="https://www.opentext.com/about/press-releases?id=D5A0D9EE2F914B948C0C0722E5F2B23B" target="_blank">announced</a> that its Extended ECM has been named a "Leader" in the <a href="https://www.opentext.com/info/ecm/forrester-wave" target="_blank">Q2 2021 Wave Report,</a> receiving the highest possible scores in the criteria of support for team or project workspaces, packaged applications, integration and interoperability, and lifecycle management.
OpenText's product strategy and focus on enterprise applications have been amplified by its multi-year cloud investment. In April, OpenText also launched its cloud-native SaaS offering, <a href="https://blogs.opentext.com/introducing-opentext-core-content/" target="_blank">Core Content</a>, built on its OT2 platform. All of this is shifting the dynamics in its favor, and Forrester is clearly taking notice – as they are only trailing Microsoft. 
Likewise, Hyland has also been <a href="https://www.hyland.com/en/learn/it-programs/forrester-wave-content-services-Q2-2021" target="_blank">named a "Leader"</a> in the report, buoyed by its cloud and innovation strategy and its vertical focus. If you recall, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/hyland-enters-agreement-to-acquire-nuxeo/" target="_blank">Hyland purchased Nuxeo</a> in March of this year, giving the platform some extra juice with both enterprise content management (ECM) and digital asset management (DAM) capabilities. 
Hyland is clearly driving digital transformation with a modern and forward-thinking approach, leveraging a cloud-first vision and a variety of scalable cloud offerings – including the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/hyland-acquires-alfresco-focuses-on-cloud-and-global-expansion-of-enterprise-cms/" target="_blank">Alfresco Digital Business Platform.</a> Additionally, Hyland is gaining ground with its wide array of options, including open platform development, low-code toolkits, and repeatable, specialized industry and departmental solutions. 
<h2>Firecrackers, anyone?</h2>
We prefer bottle rockets, but that's just us. From the entire staff at CMS Critic, we wish you a safe and happy Independence Day.

CMS Monthly Recap: WP Engine Launches Enterprise WordPress Platform, Salesforce and AWS Expand Partnership, and More

Monthly Recap with fireworks in background

Today we're going to take a look at the latest release of PHP Fusion: Core Edition 7 in this PHP Fusion Review. This is an interesting release and has been long awaited as version 6 has consistently been in the running for the PacktPub CMS awards that are held every year.
I'm very eager to see what kind of improvements have been made. Let's examine some of the changes since version 6.
There is a new Smiley admin panel. The user group admin panel has been rewritten to be easier to use. Forums rewritten to include several new features such as forums polls, mass thread deletion, new admin interface, etc
This is just a teeny number of the changes, there is a nice feature comparison available here:
<a href="http://www.php-fusion.co.uk/infusions/features/index.php" target="_blank">http://www.php-fusion.co.uk/infusions/features/index.php</a>
Let's take a look at this new offering shall we?
After copying the appropriate files to your host (local or otherwise) you start the install process by visiting <a href="http://myhostname/setup.php">http://myhostname/setup.php</a>
You will be greeted with this screen:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/phpfusion1-300x146.jpg" alt="PHP Fusion Review" />
Once you've selected your locale (and do note that you can download additional ones from their website as well) you will proceed to this screen:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/phpfusion2-300x212.jpg" alt="PHP Fusion Review" />
On this screen if you notice anything not marked as green then you need to change permissions on the specified files. Be prepared to involve your hosting company if you do not have shell access or are unfamiliar with how to do this via ftp client. Once you've gone this far, proceed to the screen below:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/phpfusion3-300x142.jpg" alt="PHP Fusion Review" />
Once you've completed these and if the installer can successfully access your database you should get the next screen:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/phpfusion4-300x107.jpg" alt="PHP Fusion Review" />
Once you've successfully done this stage, there's not much left.. so let's continue:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/phpfusion5-300x165.jpg" alt="PHP Fusion Review" />
The above screen is where you put in your admin settings. Note that it will not allow you to have the same password as both admin and login so you will have to differentiate the two (which is a good security move anyways and it's nice that they enforced it).. You will also note specific password rules should you try to put something in that's too easy.. which is another good feature.
We then proceed to:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/phpfusion6-300x123.jpg" alt="PHP Fusion Review" />
As suggested, it's a good idea to delete the setup.php file at this point so that a potential hacker cannot restart the setup process and potentially “pooch” (that's a technical term btw) your existing setup.
Overall, i'd say their install process is quite simple compared to some other CMS installs i've witnessed and it's a great improvement over previous versions. PHP Fusion has always been the best Portal based CMS i've ever used and continues to improve as they work hard to make it easier and more useful than ever.
Now you get to see the results of your actions.. What does your new homepage look like? Well here it is:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/phpfusion7-300x175.jpg" alt="PHP Fusion Review" />
Visually, it's a very attractive new look for them and in my opinion, much nicer than the default look that they had in previous versions. Let's examine a few more screens. Once you log into the system, either as an administrator or a user you'll receive a menu in the right sidebar that will look similar to below. Note that if you are not an admin, you will not see the admin panel choice here. There is also a nice shoutbox setup ready to go for you as well.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/phpfusion8-179x300.jpg" alt="PHP Fusion Review" />
Let's see what the Admin Panel looks like:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/phpfusion9-300x204.jpg" alt="PHP Fusion Review" />
With a very nice layout and easy to use tabs and icons to represent the various areas, this is one of the better admin panels and much improved over previous versions. I think the labelling of the icons is much improved and a lot easier to understand.
The newly re-designed user admin screen:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/phpfusion10-300x96.jpg" alt="PHP Fusion Review" />
and the Sysadmin panel:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/phpfusion11-300x156.jpg" alt="PHP Fusion Review" />
One of the main downfalls this CMS suffers from is it's somewhat pidgeon holed into a portal type of CMS.. this isn't necessarily a bad thing though as there are plenty of them out there and they are definitely needed. There are a few themes that have taken PHP Fusion beyond this look but it's not as easy as some of the other platforms in this aspect.
Overall, this is a great new version of this already much touted CMS and i'm very pleased to say for a Portal, I can't think of anything better. Theme wise, there are tons available through a number of sources and modules are a plenty as well.
Overall, my ratings are:
Community 8/10 (Good community with quick response to issues and plenty of frequent visitors)
Expandability 7/10 (Outside of a portal, it's tough to use it for much else other than this type of site)
Themability 8/10 (Plenty of themes available and more coming daily)
Useability 9/10 (Pretty easy with a very low learning curve)
<h2>Overall Score: 8/10</h2>

PHP Fusion Review

In what is probably the most most confusing release announcement I've read yet, a new release of Drupal has been made available. I believe it's 7.7 that's out, but 7.5 and 7.6 are also mentioned so it's a bit confusing. See for yourself:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/drupal-7_7-released-drupal-580x222.png" />
As you can see, it's either 7.5 or 7.7 or maybe 7.6?
Long story short, if you run Drupal 7.x, you should probably upgrade. Hopefully, we'll see more clarity in future release announcements.
Here's the full announcement (note the URL is 7.6 but the announcement says 7.7): <a href="http://drupal.org/drupal-7.6">http://drupal.org/drupal-7.6</a>

Drupal 7.7 is out (or maybe it's 7.5... or 7.6?)

Quintype can be best described in three alliterative words; the “publisher’s publishing platform”. Everything in this headless CMS is directed at the dedicated content creator, and all aspects from the design to the UI to the UX are focused on the content.<h2>Getting Started</h2>Getting started couldn’t be easier. You can get a free trial from the homepage and from there you’re taken to your Workspace. The Workspace is the hub from which all of your content can be created, pushed and managed to any scale.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/q1_b9rpsg.png" />It really is very simple but it’s far from basic. The Workspace places top priority on posts and the content management, which isn’t as common in a CMS as you’d think.Getting into the application was incredibly easy and well designed. There were just a few short clicks between signing up and getting right into the central hub of the site.<h2>Design</h2>The design you’re met with when you enter the Workspace is reflective Quintype’s entire aesthetic – simple, easy to use, and content focused.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/q2a_kaasrn.png" />Quintype is incredibly intuitive to use and everything follows a WYSIWYG formula that never feels clunky or under-utilized. Everything just seems to flow. Want to change the header? The steps are clear. Want to add a hero image? Two clicks and you’re in.The basic template I saw on the trial I used was eminently readable and well put together.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/q2_yuwylb.png" />Quintype have more expansive design features available once you subscribe to their service, which they say will help you establish your brand guidelines and “deliver custom design templates”. The templates shown on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.quintype.com/">their site</a> are of a high quality with a design aesthetic that could suit any size of business and any style of content. Simplicity and a content-first approach sums up the approach of this CMS to their templates and layouts.The backend, where all the real hard work takes place, is focused entirely on managing your content and making it as easy as possible to get your stories in place.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/q3_hfuyum.png" />Their text editor is clean and easy to use, with an ability to layer in different images, hyperlinks, quotes, tables, slideshows, and question and answer sections. All of these are tool tipped and easy to use with clear instructions. It makes creating and polishing content incredibly easy and it comes out in a lovely, crisp layout that’s very easy to read. From a design perspective, Quintype is really sharp.As Quintype is a headless / decoupled CMS. clients also have complete control over their front end development.<h2>Usability and Support</h2>Quintype is one of the easiest to use sites I’ve tried in quite a while. It’s intuitive without losing finesse. It’s a powerful CMS that places a lot of focus on the articles and stories. In my opinion, the placement of the content as the primary focus on the homepage of the Workspace offers a key differential from the likes of WordPress. Everything felt like it was in easy reach or just a short click away.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/q4_n5sdsr.png" />Everything you could want to access is clearly labelled and presented with as little jargon or proprietary language as possible. Do you want to add Facebook or Twitter integration? Just go to Settings and Social Sharing. Within three clicks, you’ll be ready to set yourself up.Quintype has an extensive FAQ and Help section that covers everything you could need when you get started. I had an extensive look through everything and it seemed to cover every base you could reasonably expect to query. The answers were detailed and clear.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/q5_qlr87r.png" />If the Help Section isn’t doing it for you then they have multiple support languages and online chat support. In addition, you’ll receive regular emails with helpful tips and tricks for using Quintype after signing up and you can also book a free demo to run through how to get started. These aren’t like those annoying emails you often get when you sign up to an app either; you know the kind that basically just want you to level up to a pro plan? Nope. The emails I received from Quintype offered genuine and quality support and really helped to enhance my user experience and motivate me to use the app.The readily available free help and support and the effort that these guys put into making sure you know exactly what you’re doing from the get-go is commendable.<h2>Key Features</h2>Quintype’s scalable server capacity is a key feature of their offering. Sometimes a viral article or piece of content can stretch your web server to breaking point and beyond. Quintype’s scalable servers react to large traffic events by increasing your bandwidth as and when you need it.Their custom ad monetization service looks really interesting too. They have a mix of native advertising and custom ads that are in line with your branding, with the overall aesthetic being key.I also really liked their different product offerings. There really is something for every content vehicle, large or small. Their AccessType feature is heavily geared towards reader subscriptions with metered paywalls, pay per article, recurring payments, multiple levels of access, coupon codes, gift subscriptions, and more.It’s a spectacularly powerful service that immediately puts them in the same sphere as a service like Patreon, except with better fee structures and more control. It’s a massive potential upside for them.<h2>Pricing</h2>Packages start from $99 depending on your needs.<h3>Pros</h3><ul><li>Easy to use.</li><li>Clean design and intuitive UI structure.</li><li>Very clean and professional templates with potential for custom development.</li><li>Different site-packages for different website needs such as Bold, MeType, AccessType and Ahead.</li><li>All with their own styles and individual features.</li><li>Scalable server capacity to handle viral stories without changing your entire hosting package and all the costs associated with it.</li></ul><h3>Cons</h3><ul><li>The pricing structure isn’t viewable on the site for understandable reasons this early in their business but it may put off some potential clients.</li><li>The templates aren’t endlessly customizable in the same way as WordPress which isn’t a bad thing in my opinion but might not suit some.</li></ul><h2>Final Verdict</h2><figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXzlMw8Zfk4"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mXzlMw8Zfk4" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure><a target="_blank" href="https://www.quintype.com/">Quintype</a> is an excellent, powerfully built CMS that scales to any business’s needs. It’s clean design and content focused aesthetic is perfect for companies with multiple editors and writers who need one place to manage their workflow and production. It’s one of the best content management systems I’ve seen of this type and it has the potential to make a big splash as it grows its user base.Other great articles to read:<ul><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/superdesk-digital-newsroom-review/">Superdesk Digital Newsroom Review</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/9-essentials-your-enterprise-cms-should-deliver-in-2019/">9 Essentials Your Enterprise CMS Should Deliver in 2019</a></li></ul>

Quintype Review - A True Digital Publishing Platform

grainne-logue

Shopify - The global commerce platform

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

The global commerce platform

#ffffff

WordPress is perhaps the best known name in the world of Blogging, CMS' and Open Source and most certainly is a massive entity with over 4 million blogs alone on WordPress.com and countless millions of downloads of their open source cms platform.
All of this in thanks to one young man (and his team of crack developers of course), Matt Mullenweg. We recently had an opportunity to ask Matt a few questions, and here are his replies:
CC: With the recent injection of funding into your company, can you tell us a little about what your plans are and where you plan to take Automattic now that you have some solid funding?
MM: There aren't really plans to change our direction significantly from what it was before. We raised funding because things were working well, not because we wanted to do the opposite of what has worked thus far.
CC: With the recent aquisition of Gravatar and the past formation of Akismet, WordPress, BBPress and your other projects, you've positioned yourself and your company AutoMattic into quite the comfortable niche market. It's obvious that WordPress has become somewhat of the darling of the blog market, if not the CMS market as well. What drove you to make these choices in life and do you have further plans to enhance your offerings with further acquisitions or are you comfortable with where you are in the market today?
<img title="WordPress Content Management System" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/mcm_22771-141x150.jpg" alt="Matt Mullenweg" />
MM: Generally the decision to acquire something vs just building it is a matter of time, cost, and how much momentum the existing service has. With Gravatar, for example, it was trivial to replicate technically but already had a great community and was already built in to a million places.
CC: There have been numerous articles touting WordPress as the future of Content Management Systems. What is your view on this? How do you define content management and how it relates to your platform?
MM: I'm not crazy about the term content management. I don't wake up and say “I want to manage some content today!” I want to blog. I want to podcast. To the extent WordPress is a competitor in the CMS space I think it's because we try to re-examine common assumptions that traditional bloated CMSes make.
CC: What do you see as the future of the blog platform?
MM: I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure that rich media like slideshows, audio, and video are going to be a big part of it.
CC: What is the future direction of Automattic? Where do you see your company taking you in the next few years?
MM: With Automattic our goals are somewhat modest: to continue to grow our personnel in an organic fashion and keep up with the explosion of usage in our main products like WordPress.com.
CC: What prompted you to write BBPress? I understand it was written over a couple of days back in 2004. Do you foresee any future merging of the two platforms?
MM: Nope, bbPress and WordPress will always be separate, though I think their integration could be better. I wrote bbPress because after a ton of research I couldn't find anything out there that fit my needs. For example as far as I know bbPress was the first forum system to use CSS instead of tables for layout. It was basic stuff like that.
CC: It's no secret that you are a promotor of Open Source software. What prompted you to choose this route?
MM: I've benefited so much from Open Source in my life it just seems fair to give back.
CC: If you could change one thing about your product or it’s offerings what would it be?
MM: At the data layer I'd like if the database names and organization in WordPress were a little more consistent, they sometimes vary in capitalizations and such because of the legacy of b2.
CC: What makes WordPress better than the numerous other open source CMS and Blog platforms on the market today? What differentiates your product?
MM: I don't think it's any one feature or thing, it's the thousands of plugins and themes available for the platform. That community is impossible to duplicate.
CC: Can you give us a sneak peak of upcoming features we can expect?
MM: In 2.7 look for a redesigned dashboard, drag-and-drop reorganization of the dashboard and write pages, and a built-in plugin browser and installer.
CC: In what ways can WordPress/Automattic use our help as users?
MM: First and foremost would be to introduce the people you care about to blogging and help them with the technical management and upgrades of using WP.
Second I would say that our support and documentation teams could always use more help. However little you think you know, there's always someone out there that knows less and could use your help. Plus doing support is the single best way I know of to learn WordPress inside and out.
CC: Thank you very much for your time, Matt. We look forward to speaking with you again soon!
Matt's personal blog is at <a href="http://ma.tt">Ma.tt</a>

WordPress CMS Founder, Matt Mullenweg Interview

Webasyst Review

Reid Hoffman, the serial tech entrepreneur and founder of LinkedIn, once said: “If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late.”
Of course, in the world of open source software like WordPress, it’s hard to know exactly when anything will launch. And when it does, there’s certain to be a lot of bugs.
That was the case with Gutenberg, the long-awaited upgrade to the WordPress visual editor that was first introduced in late 2017. At the time, the WordPress editing experience had grown stagnant, and content managers were hungry for new page building capabilities. There’s no question that the impetus to develop a more robust editor was a reaction to the rise of authoring platforms like Medium and easy page-building competitors like Wix and Squarespace.
But as is often the case in software, things don’t always go according to plan. And when they don’t, end users are the first ones to let you know.
Time flies, and it’s hard to believe that it’s already been over two years since Gutenberg’s launch. Much like the printing press of its namesake, the first edition was fraught with issues and drew a lot of negative feedback. Nonetheless, it brought the promise of more modular page building capabilities within a modern, React-based UI. This helped circumvent some of the massive tech debt and backward compatibility challenges that exist with WordPress, favoring a more forward-leaning solution over fixes to the core software.
Over time, users have adapted to the good, the bad, and the unpredictable. Now, Gutenberg has graduated to a core role in the WordPress platform. In fact, the WordPress 5.0 release in 2018 <a href="/the-first-release-candidate-for-wordpress-5-0-is-now-available-and-sadly-it-brings-gutenberg-with-it/">featured Gutenberg as the default editor</a>, cementing its place in version history. But fear not: the WordPress Classical Editor is still available and supported, although it should be officially sunset on December 31, 2021.
Change is always scary – especially for long-term users. While some of the early adopters have grown to prefer (or even love) Gutenberg, the general reaction continues to be tacitly negative.  So far, Gutenberg has amassed more than 3,000 reviews with an <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/gutenberg/reviews/">average rating of 2/5.00</a>. Considering two years have passed since Gutenberg was released, the reviews indicate the major issues with Gutenberg – specifically the UX – have yet to be resolved.
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/gutenberg-reviews.png" srcset="/wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w600/2020/07/gutenberg-reviews.png 600w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/2020/07/gutenberg-reviews.png 626w" /></figure>
When it comes to WordPress reviews, users seldom hold back (just read a few of the posts and you’ll see more rants than raves). While Gutenberg hasn’t garnered a lot of stars, the picture isn’t all bad. The most common reactions are that it’s slow, not intuitive, and requires a lot of extra mouse clicks to get where you’re going. But many users agree that it’s heading in the right direction and addressing persistent issues like accessibility.
After two years of pressure-testing in the real world of web development and CMS, we’ll look at what Gutenberg gets right – and where it misses the mark.
A Brief Overview of Gutenberg
If you’re not at all familiar with Gutenberg for WordPress, it’s a visual editor with a dynamic drag-and-drop interface. It fully replaces the WordPress TinyMCE editor (aka the Classical Editor) as the default editor within the package. Most of this is being spearheaded by <a href="https://automattic.com/">Automattic</a>, the open source development company behind WordPress.com
Unlike the Classical Editor, Gutenberg uses “blocks” rather than text fields to manage content. In fact, everything in the experience is represented as a block: the paragraphs, buttons, images, quotes… everything. By using the inherent drag-and-drop functionality in the editor, you can arrange the order of your blocks around your specific content needs.
The block-based model is nothing new. Visual editors such as Wix and Squarespace are similarly designed, helping users create and manage content faster and easier. In addition to these platforms, there are also page builder plugins for WordPress such as Divi, Elementor and Beaver Builder, which use drag-and-drop functionality with a simplified UI. All of these feature embellishments have empowered content editors to be more productive with less coding.
With more than 74.6 million websites using WordPress, including major brands like Disney, TechCrunch, BBC America and more, the platform’s pervasiveness is undeniable. But this level of market penetration is understandable: content managers and editors want to focus on content, not code – and from the beginning, one of the main selling points of WordPress has been its low-code/no-code experience. It abstracted most of the complexity with building and managing websites by relying on libraries of pre-programmed themes and plugins. These widgets, both diverse and abundant, enabled any user to add functionality to their website – from schedulers to lead forms to shopping carts – with just a few clicks.
There was, however, one big exception: the TinyMCE editor. It still required editing HTML for deeper customizations. 
Open source platforms struggle to provide a roadmap that is both complete and reliable, and WordPress is no exception. While the market waited for improvements to the visual editor, other plugins emerged to address the challenges. When assessing the pros and cons of Gutenberg, it’s easier to compare it to these alternatives to see where the opportunities and issues exist.
How does Gutenberg differ from the Classical Editor &amp; How it Compares to Page Builders
So how does Gutenberg stack up against the Classical Editor and other page builder plugins? Well, the rise of these new block-based options has certainly stoked innovation. That said, it’s important to keep in mind that while Gutenberg is quite similar to these other WordPress page builders, it’s currently not a good replacement. In fact, WordPress doesn’t even classify Gutenberg as a “page builder” per se. While it might evolve to one in the future, WordPress more appropriately refers to it as a “block editor.”
Let’s compare just a few of the more notable features between Gutenberg and other page builders:
1.     Drag &amp; Drop Capabilities
Traditionally, to type text, insert content, or write code using the Classical Editor, you would have to manually shift your content around by cutting and pasting. With Gutenberg, you can assign each content component as its own block – such as a paragraph – and re-arrange the order of your blocks by simply dragging them up and down. 
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/gutenberg-dragging.png" srcset="/wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w600/2020/07/gutenberg-dragging.png 600w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/2020/07/gutenberg-dragging.png 737w" /></figure>
Paragraphs aren’t the only content blocks types. With Gutenberg, you can define headings, rows, columns, images, buttons, symbols, custom boxes, and even templates as blocks – and use the same drag-and-drop features to reorder your content. 
Although Gutenberg offers this slick drag-and-drop block feature, you’ll be compromising on customizations. For example, you can’t adjust the height and width of elements or add custom margins and padding, and elements can only be aligned to the left, right, and center. You can get around some of these limitations with additional CSS classes, but that means more coding and complexity. It all comes down to how much control you want over the details. 
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/gutenberg-image-aligning.png" srcset="/wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w600/2020/07/gutenberg-image-aligning.png 600w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w1000/2020/07/gutenberg-image-aligning.png 1000w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/2020/07/gutenberg-image-aligning.png 1499w" /></figure>
2.     Front-end Visual Editing
There’s no question that Gutenberg does a better job than the Classical editor of displaying your front-end styling within the visual editor. That said, it doesn’t provide the same level of accuracy as when you’re using a page builder like Elementor or Divi. With other page builders, you can see all of your changes rendered in the back-end – so you know exactly what your page will look like when published. With Gutenberg, you still need to manually click on the “Preview” button to see a draft page, which can be limiting from a content management perspective. For example, here is how a page looks in back-end editor versus in the preview mode:
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/preview.png" srcset="/wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w600/2020/07/preview.png 600w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/2020/07/preview.png 650w" /><figcaption>Back-End view of the page</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/backend-editor-2.png" srcset="/wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/size/w600/2020/07/backend-editor-2.png 600w, /wp-content/themes/cmscritic/img/cmscritic/content/images/2020/07/backend-editor-2.png 885w" /><figcaption>Preview of the page</figcaption></figure>
3.     Design and Styling
While Gutenberg is a big step up from the TinyMCE Classical Editor, it still falls short of page builder plug-ins when it comes to customizing styles. The Gutenberg editor will reflect any specific theme you’re using, which is quite useful – but that’s the extent of it. Page builder plug-ins not only offer complete control over styling from the ground up, but you also have the ability to override your theme’s visual settings.
We’re just scratching the surface on the pros and cons, but does this mean you should ditch Gutenberg for a page builder? Not necessarily. It all depends on what you want to accomplish. If your website has a simple layout and you want your content to fit harmoniously into a theme, going with Gutenberg might be a good idea. But if you crave more control over your page layouts and styles, a page builder is likely your best bet.
To Gutenberg… or not to Gutenberg?
That is the question! The answer? Well, that’s a little more complicated…
The real Gutenberg could never have imagined the evolution of his printing press. If only he could marvel at the invention of four-color digital presses that can instantly print thousands or even millions of impressions – all with a few mouse clicks. Sadly, innovation is sometimes slower than we would like it to be, and mistakes are all part of the process.
Much like these digital presses, the Gutenberg editor is a milestone in the evolution of the WordPress platform. It continues to demonstrate the commitment of the open source ecosystem to serve the needs of millions of web developers and content creators, each with their own set of goals – from managing a basic blog to crafting a custom experience.
Making things more “user friendly” is key to any software’s growth, and that’s where Gutenberg is endeavoring to shine. Unfortunately, it’s still not at a point where page builders like Divi or <a href="/elementor-hits-3-million-sites/">Elementor</a> compete. But that’s the beauty of WordPress and its ecosystem of plug-ins: there’s an incredible amount of choice, and that only seems to be expanding.
Custom is always the costliest commodity, and even the real Gutenberg knew that. That’s why his first books were simple and limited in their scope. But over time, the block components became more elaborate and decorative, and font styles more abundant. Eventually, it all felt “custom.”
The same might happen for the modern digital incarnation. The real question is: when?

Gutenberg, 2 Years Later: Is WordPress Better Off?

While redesigning their websites, many businesses expect modern UIs and cool features alone to generate big leads. But they won’t. Unless backed by a consistent content marketing strategy that talks big clients.
Let me explain what I mean.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/how_to_win_big_customers_with_your_website-02603x0-is.png" />
<h2>Understand Big Customers</h2>
Big attracts big. You don’t need to be as big in size as they are, but be big in your approach, look big, sound big. Embrace enterprise thinking in your message. Speak their language.
Because of the strict vendor selection policies, large companies tend to cautiously assess candidates’ competencies and processes. Don’t make them guess about your authority, state it right away on your pages. No gambling. They don’t want you to be the best, they want you to be reliable in delivering what they expect from you. They want you to solve problems.
<h2>Create Problem-oriented Content</h2>
Talking about problems on your website builds credibility. It means you probably know how to solve them. These guys seem to be experts, they’ll think. You will have to prove it, though, but for now it’s all about the first impression. So take your chance.
Use your blog to create problem-oriented yet engaging insights. To make your content more effective, follow these key steps:
<ul>
<li>
Build content around clients’ problems and needs, not your products/services. No salesy, screaming copy
</li>
<li>
Insert cross-references between posts and pages to engage visitors to read more
</li>
<li>
Link articles with product/service pages
</li>
<li>
Include confident CTAs
</li>
</ul>
However, don’t try to cover every area of your expertise. Narrow down the focus to emphasize your strongest competences.
<h2>Increase Promotion of Key Expertise</h2>
Make your key products/services disproportionately visible for search engines and people (but don’t abandon other business directions). You will need to publish over 100 webpages to promote the focus area.
Should you start looking for copywriters? Yes, you should. Sounds heavy on your marketing budget? Yes, it does. But we are talking big customers, remember?
<h2>Provide Deep Insights</h2>
Large enterprises don’t make spontaneous moves. They take the time to think. So give them food for thought by offering detailed case studies and white papers (executives love white papers) available through registration. White papers are still the most influential lead generation tools.
For example, according to Eccolo Media 2014 B2B Technology Content Survey Report, 49% of respondents (US companies) rely on white papers (among other content items) while making technology purchases. But don’t disappoint potential clients by talking too much about your company and products/services.
Leave out that marketing hype and biased or too general information.
Personalize Content
Don’t be surprised if a potential client returns to your website in 2 months or more after downloading a white paper. You want to be prepared for that by showing relevant content based on the interaction tracked down during their previous visits. Collecting and analyzing data such as the time spent and the buttons clicked on particular pages, you can build each visitor’s up-to-date profile to help you personalize the content for further interactions.
In other words, you will increase your chances for conversion by giving visitors what they want on the go. If, say, last time they were looking for translation services at your agency, it makes no sense bombarding them with proofreading options now.
Have you ever noticed how accurate personalized product recommendations can be? You’d probably go ‘No way! How do they know?’ That’s exactly how you want to surprise your leads during the next visits.
So, when looking for a <a href="https://www.scnsoft.com/web-portal-development">web portal development vendor</a> to redesign your website, make sure to state your need for personalization features in an RFP to filter out those who can’t do it.
<h2>Ready for the Big Hunt</h2>
Generating big leads with a website requires a consistent content marketing strategy based on a complex portal development technology beyond just a cool design. But it is possible.
At <a href="https://www.scnsoft.com" target="_blank">ScienceSoft</a>, we delivered websites that attracted, and converted into customers, Royal Bank of Canada, Robert Half, Siemens, Philips and other large companies. Now, it’s your turn to win big leads.
* * *
This post is sponsored by ScienceSoft. Find out more at <a href="https://www.scnsoft.com" target="_blank">ScnSoft.com</a>.

How to Win Big Customers with Your Website

If you’re a child of the 1980s – or just a fan of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.netflix.com/title/80057281">Stranger Things</a> – you might remember the directory sign at your local mall. It was the one place you could find exactly what you were looking for in a sea of stores, and they’re still a fixture to this day.Unfortunately, most site searches can’t even get you to the food court. In many cases, you’re left sifting through a morass of results, wondering if you’ll ever find your way to that rad new pair of acid-washed jeans.Like malls, site search has been around for a long time. But now, it’s becoming an even more vital part of the digital experience. After all, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nngroup.com/articles/search-and-you-may-find/">more than half of people are now “search dominant</a>”, meaning they will use a website’s search over the navigation to find what they’re looking for.From an SEO perspective, navigation is key. But modern search tools can add a complementary layer of insights and analytics. These cutting-edge, AI-driven technologies can energize your marketing by understanding how your customers are searching – not just what they’re searching for.One of the best site search tools we’ve seen is Swiftype, which was <a target="_blank" href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/09/elastic-acquires-swiftype/">purchased by Elastic in 2017</a>. This powerful SaaS platform has positioned itself as a clear leader in the site search landscape and has evolved to include app search and a host of other features.In this article, we’ll take a close look at Swiftype’s features and explore how you can customize your search results, leverage analytics, and even build marketing strategies within the platform. It’s like a mall for best-of-breed site search capabilities – and we’ll show you exactly where to shop.<h3>Goodbye, Google Search</h3>Back in the day, Google Site Search was the defacto standard. Not only was it easy to implement, but it brought the world's leading search technology down to the website level. Unfortunately, Google deprecated the service in 2018, forcing thousands of websites to scramble for a new solution.Quite a few niche players answered the call, including <a target="_blank" href="https://www.algolia.com/">Algolia</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cludo.com/">Cludo</a>, and others. Enterprise brands also muscled their way into the game, with <a target="_blank" href="https://aws.amazon.com/cloudsearch/">Amazon CloudSearch</a> and Google Search Console offering alternatives.What was missing was the best of both worlds – a cost-effective, cloud-based service that offered core site search with scalable enterprise features. That’s where Swiftype comes in.<h3>What is Swiftype?</h3>Swiftype is a cloud-based SaaS platform that enables organizations of all sizes to create and manage a tailored search experience with real-time feedback, user insight, and search trend analytics. Users are able to monitor which content visitors are searching for and which results they’re engaging with as they browse your website.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/swiftype-analytics-dashboard.png" />Swiftype is incredibly easy to install and customize. Once you sign up and enter your website’s address, Swiftype automatically indexes your site and renders your custom search engine in real-time. In addition to providing a “marketer friendly” no-code experience, Swiftype also gives advanced developers access to resources including their API.Swiftype offers two main products – Site Search and App Search – which can be added to websites and CMS platforms. We’ve explored both in more detail below.<h3>Swiftype Site Search</h3>Swiftype Site Search provides all the tools you need to deliver more relevant search results for your website users. It's simple to set up and use, and has some dynamite out-of-the-box features, including:<ul><li>Autocomplete: Guide users to the content, answers, or products that matter most with real-time results – right as they type.</li><li>Search Refinements: Dynamically expand on simple search, allowing your users to refine results by attributes such as date, price, author, location, or content type.</li><li>Comprehensive Documentation: Swiftype has clear and simple guides that can help you build the perfect search experience. You'll have all the materials you need to become a master of high value search experiences.</li><li>Advanced Search Algorithm: Powered by AI/ML, Swiftype Site Search is built on an advanced search algorithm that delivers relevant results for even the most complicated queries.</li></ul><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/swiftype-site-search-features.png" /><ul><li>Search Controls and Analytics: Site Search surfaces the most important data points and performance indicators for your search. It also gives you the tools to take action and improve performance, including patented technologies that allow you to tweak your search engine’s output globally or on a per-query basis.</li></ul><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/search-controls-and-swiftype-analytics.png" /><ul><li>Developer Tools: One of Swiftype’s strengths is its ability to appeal to marketers with a no-code experience. But it also provides a robust, developer-friendly API for creating custom record schemas, indexing data in real-time, embedding search into any user interface (such as a website or CMS), and programmatically tracking events. You can view the API documentation <a target="_blank" href="https://swiftype.com/documentation/site-search/overview">here</a>.</li><li>Real-time Search Analytics: Swiftype allows you to see what your users are searching for, clicking on, and engaging with as it happens – so you have more actionable insight about their behaviors. With its powerful real-time search analytics, you can track the highest performing content on your website or app, assess which autocomplete queries are most popular, and learn what content was most commonly chosen from autocomplete suggestions.</li></ul><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/real-time-search-analytics.png" /><ul><li>Tracking conversions and autocompletes: Search conversions tell you where your users go after performing a search.</li></ul><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/tracking-conversions-and-autocompletes.png" /><ul><li>Find out What Users Aren’t Finding: Swiftype shows you common searches that return no results – so you can optimize your content strategy. Swiftype’s custom result ranking feature lets you add results to these search terms to help visitors find more of what they’re looking for.</li></ul><h3>Swiftype App Search</h3><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/swiftype-app-search.jpg" />While Site Search provides a powerful solution without a steep learning curve, Swiftype App Search goes deep with developers. You get access to a robust set of APIs that allow you to customize your search experience – all backed by the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.elastic.co/elastic-stack">Elastic Stack</a>.Swiftype App Search harnesses the power of Elasticsearch, built on the constantly improving foundation that Elastic provides. It includes features like typo-tolerance, stemming, bigram and phrase matching – as well as search customization capabilities like Curations, Weights, Boosts and Synonyms.Together, these tools help you fine-tune relevance based on your business objectives in conjunction with data from App Search’s Analytics platform.Other key features include:<ul><li>Real-time Analytics: Measure how users interact with your search engine and track everything in real-time, revealing unique insights into user behavior.</li><li>Relevance Tuning: The App Search Dashboard makes relevance tuning as simple as point-and-click. Make customizations in the web-based interface and preview their impact in real-time – all with no code.</li><li>Schemaless Indexing: App Search supports dynamic schemas and real-time reindexing. Simply send JSON to the API and Swiftype analyzes it for whatever search application you build.</li></ul>You can see the full list of App Search features <a target="_blank" href="https://swiftype.com/app-search/features">here</a>.<h3>How to Add Swiftype Site Search to Your Website</h3>One of Swiftype’s main selling points is its ease of installation – and based on our experience, it delivers as billed.Swiftype’s website claims it takes as little as five minutes, and for the essentials, that was pretty much spot on. The tools were a quick study, and the interface is clean and lightweight, making it pleasant to work in.To set up Swiftype on your website, you first need to <a target="_blank" href="https://swiftype.com/users/sign_up">create your account</a>, then an Engine (short for “Search Engine”). After beginning your Site Search trial, enter your website's URL when prompted.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/swiftype-create-engine.png" />Once the scan is successful, provide your Engine with a name and select its default language. You can choose from over 13 different languages, including English, French, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and German. For the full list, see Swiftype’s documents on <a target="_blank" href="https://swiftype.com/documentation/site-search/crawler-configuration/language-optimization">language support</a>.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/swiftype-choose-engine-language.png" />The final step is adding the search experience to your website. Once you click on the Installation button, you’ll need to configure the design of your Search Field and Result Container. From there, you can choose how to style your results, configure autocomplete, and tune an array of options.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/swiftype-style-your-results-and-other-configurations.png" />Once you have the basic configuration in place, you’ll receive an embeddable JavaScript snippet. Place that snippet on each webpage to enable the search. The snippet will look like this:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/swiftype-javascript-snippet.png" />And that’s it. If you’re savvy and committed, it can take just a few minutes – and that’s pretty slick.<h3>How to Add Swiftype Site Search to Your CMS</h3>Content management systems often miss the mark on their own search capabilities. By adding Swiftype, you can instantly improve a CMS experience and add your CMS content automatically using Swiftype’s <a target="_blank" href="https://swiftype.com/documentation/site-search/tutorials/add_search_to_any_cms">Site Crawler</a>.On the more advanced end, you can even set up callbacks that can be used to hook into content, alerting Swiftype that new content is available to index.While the installation process is relatively straight-forward – and works well for most CMS platforms based on their documentation – there are a few more steps involved. But Swiftype offers some great <a target="_blank" href="https://swiftype.com/documentation/site-search/tutorials/add_search_to_any_cms">step-by-step guidance</a> to build out the experience.<h3>Customer Support</h3>Swiftype offers broad customer support, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.g2.com/products/swiftype/reviews">according to the reviews</a>, it offers one of the best experiences around.Swiftype Standard and Pro support is focused on making sure your Swiftype Engine is working as expected – and is fully available. To that end, they offer:<ul><li>Analysis of the state of your engine</li><li>Actions you can perform to stabilize or tune your engine</li><li>Pointers to Swiftype documentation or forums if your question is outside the scope of the platform itself</li></ul>Elastic reported their response time and hours below:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/swiftype-customer-support-plans.png" />In addition, they provide a lively community of support for Swiftype users. With the community forums, you can get your more in-depth questions answered.<h3>Pricing</h3>Swiftype has two separate plans for Site Search and App Search. The Site Search plan starts at $79/month and App Search starts at $49/month.Site Search:There are three plans for site search: Standard, Pro, and Premium.The standard plan gives you all the core search features and analytics, as well as multilingual support.With the Pro plan, your website gets crawled twice a day instead of once per week. Additionally, you get cross-domain search and PDF/document indexing.The Premium plan is their enterprise-level search and security.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/swiftype-site-search-plans.png" />App Search:Just like the Site Search plans, Swiftype’s App Search plans offer Standard, Pro, and Premium Packages.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/swiftype-app-search-plans.png" /><h3>Conclusion</h3>While good navigation is important, people always seek the path of least resistance. That’s why site search is so essential: it enables more control over intent, allowing a user to search for specific content quickly and easily – and even discovering new stuff along the way. In that sense, it’s another layer in your personalization strategy.While Swiftype is easy to set up, marketer- and developer-friendly, and offers a broad range of tools, it’s not the cheapest solution on the market. But if you’re looking for a platform that makes search a more strategic part of your experience, Swiftype is at the top of the list. It offers unmatched control and scalability, and brings more power and presence to site search as a strategic asset. With world-class customer support to boot, it’s really a solid platform on every level.You can start a <a target="_blank" href="https://app.swiftype.com/signup?product=ss">free</a> trial today. Acid-washed jeans not included.<h3>About Swiftype</h3><a target="_blank" href="https://swiftype.com/">Swiftype</a> is a search and index company based in San Francisco, California, that provides search software for organizations, websites, and computer programs. Notable customers include AT&amp;T, Dr. Pepper, Hubspot and TechCrunch. Swiftype's site search can be used for faceted search, full text search, real-time search, and concept search queries. The company's plans offer on-demand and live recrawls and indexing of websites. Other features include drag-and-drop result customization, real-time analytics and adjustable weights. In an effort to further grow outside of site search, Swiftype introduced an enterprise search service in February 2017.<h3>About Elastic</h3><a target="_blank" href="https://www.elastic.co/">Elastic</a> builds software to make data usable in real time and at scale for search, logging, security, and analytics use cases. Founded in 2012, the company develops the open source Elastic Stack (Elasticsearch, Kibana, Beats, and Logstash), X-Pack (commercial features), and Elastic Cloud (a SaaS offering). Elastic is used by organizations including Cisco, eBay, Goldman Sachs, NASA, Microsoft, Mayo Clinic, The New York Times, Wikipedia, and Verizon to power mission-critical systems.

Swiftype Review: Add Powerful Elastic Search to Websites, Apps and CMS Platforms

<a href="/products/bigcommerce">BigCommerce</a> is a popular eCommerce platform that helps newer, growing brands take their business to the next level with a free 15-day trial. On average, those stores that use <a href="/products/bigcommerce">BigCommerce</a> grow twice as fast as the industry average!Because BigCommerce is designed for growing brands, the process for using it should be pretty straightforward and intuitive.The platform is updated regularly, and it has been proven to appeal to both new and seasoned businesses. Must be pretty diverse, right?I decided to check it out for myself. Keep reading for my BigCommerce review.<h2>Getting Started</h2>It’s definitely easy to get started with BigCommerce. It’s an easy sign-up and log-in process. Here’s how it went down:First, you enter your login information. This will take you to a screen where you select what you want to do.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigcommerce-review-1943x0-is.png" />If you still aren’t entirely sure what to do, you can scroll down and select one of the links. I found that to be particularly helpful.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigcommerce-review-2939x0-is.png" />From this Dashboard view, I first started out by customizing my store. I wanted to focus on creating an ecommerce space that followed the same branding as the rest of my business.<h2>Usability</h2>From the dashboard, I chose the ‘Storefront’ tab, presented on the left scrollbar with white text on a dark grey background. Overall, this looks very sleek and user-friendly.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigcommerce-review-3935x0-is.png" />There are drop-down menus to give users additional options, something that is especially helpful when you’re still figuring out the best way to go about things.A great number of free themes are available, but you can also choose to purchase a theme. The process is easy and it’s simple to navigate.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigcommerce-review-4939x0-is.png" />There are themes available for each industry, better enabling users to offer the best shopping experience possible for their customers and maintain consistent branding.For each theme, there are updates, different style options, and some helpful information.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigcommerce-review-5923x0-is.png" /><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigcommerce-review-6676x0-is.png" />It gives you a list of all of the features each theme offers, tells you what each theme is offered for, and then gives links to resources for when you need help and documentation.Once you’ve got your theme chosen, you can move on to the logo portion of the setup.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigcommerce-review-7726x0-is.png" />This area’s super easy to navigate, straightforward, and versatile. Upload your logo, or add some text as a placeholder, and you’re good to go.You can also add a Favicon, located at the bottom there, which adds a little icon to the tab on the user’s browser. This is a great way to further maintain consistent branding, and lets users know which page they’re looking at just by glancing at the tabs.From there, you can start setting up the carousel of your homepage.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigcommerce-review-8935x0-is.png" />This is SUPER easy to use, with text boxes that are easy to type in and edit. In the screenshot above, I’ve swapped out the default text for some of my own, giving you a better example of how this section is done.Moving on down the left menu, let’s go to ‘Web Pages’, which is where you piece together your actual store.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigcommerce-review-9933x0-is.png" />Click on a page to get started. In this case, I started with ‘Shipping &amp; Returns’, because it was first.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigcommerce-review-10931x0-is.png" />Once you click on it, you’re taken to the above page. There are several options, but it’s easy to understand and not the least bit overwhelming.There’s an easy-to-use text box, so you can edit your content directly. Once you’re done with the content of your page, you can scroll down for the remaining options.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigcommerce-review-11855x0-is.png" /><h2>Design</h2><h3>Responsiveness</h3>BigCommerce has definitely taken great strides to make sure their store templates are as responsive as possible, complete with mobile optimization. As demonstrated in the above screenshots, this platform makes it possible for users to customize a lot of the template elements, making it more unique to their business and brand.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigcommerce-review-12.png" />This screenshot is an example of that. As you can see, the template fits neatly within the borders of the screen, and the design is sleek and user-friendly.It’s easy to navigate, and doesn’t look cluttered or misaligned like many other ecommerce platforms do when viewed from a mobile device.<h3>Store Templates</h3>BigCommerce offers a huge range of ready-to-use templates in various styles, allowing users to meet the branding requirements that best align with their business.Even better is the fact this platform takes things one step further and arranges the templates by industry, making it easier for users to select the most effective theme possible.<h2>Features</h2><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigcommerce-review-13181x0-is.png" /><h3>Marketing</h3>BigCommerce has tons of marketing options for your store, all of which are pretty easy to use and allows you to track them with various types of analytics.From there, you can streamline your channels to better allow you to serve customers across your various social media platforms.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigcommerce-review-14.png" />It works really well, but it would be helpful to have a few more channel options available, such as Twitter and Google+.<h3>Apps</h3><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigcommerce-review-15931x0-is.png" />A wide range of useful apps are available, including both paid and free apps. They are broken up into categories, so users can best determine which apps will accelerate the growth of their business.The apps all seem to be very reasonably priced for everything they offer.<h2>Extras</h2>With BigCommerce, there are several extras available to users. This includes additional social media links, email templates, and even gift certificate templates.<h3>Blogging</h3>There is a blogging option available through BigCommerce, which has a very basic blogging platform that resembles WordPress.It’s easy to use, straightforward, and even has SEO options available to help boost the visibility of the user’s content.<h2>Pricing</h2>BigCommerce offers a 15-day free trial period, which gives you plenty of time to decide if this platform is the right one for you and your business. After that, you have a range of price options, all with their own features. All options include a 10% savings if you pay annually, rather than monthly.The most basic price option is a full-featured online store for $29.95 per month, which comes with a whole host of features and everything you need to run a successful eCommerce store.The next option offers optimized lead conversion and customer group management, with a price of $79.95 per month. The next, and final, option starts at $249.95 per month and offers everything plus high-volume security and faceted search.The pricing page clearly showcases which features each package comes with, both with text and visuals – making it very easy to determine which package is right for you.<h2>Conclusion</h2>BigCommerce is an easy-to-use, highly efficient option for ecommerce owners. It’s got plenty of features, including marketing and offering the ability to streamline consumer shopping across multiple channels.The template options are customizable and versatile, and the high level of security on the Pro package is definitely worth the price.Blogging for your business is a great way to reach new audiences, interact with current customers, and keep your sales funnel alive and thriving. The blogging feature built into this platform makes it easy to regularly publish (and schedule) content for your customers.For more information, visit the BigCommerce site <a target="_blank" href="http://bigcommerce.evyy.net/c/12549/185949/2941">here.</a>Have you used BigCommerce, or are you interested in giving it a try? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

BigCommerce Review - An Easy to Use Choice for eCommerce Shops

Hotjar - Spot what confuses

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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 - 110