Articles - Page 123

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

matt-garrepy

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/">CMS Made Simple</a> (or CMSMS for short) has finally made version 2.0 available for download.The popular open source platform is first choice for many, and proved it by winning the <a href="/2014-best-small-to-midsize-business-php-cms/">2014 People's Choice for Best Small to Midsize Business PHP CMS</a>.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/cmsms_newlogo300-1.png" /> The CMSMS community has been waiting for this release for a while now, and the development team have acknowledged that in their release announcement:<blockquote>“CMSMS 2.0 has been a long and tiring uphill war, with many large and small battles; some of which we won, and some of which we lost. Throughout our battles the Dev Team has always remembered our primary goal and tagline: “Power for the Professionals, Simplicity for the End Users.”This means that the professionals have a standards-oriented, powerful engine to build websites and web based applications, and the system still remains simple and fast for the average non-technical user to be able to manage the content of his or her website.”</blockquote><h2>WYSIWYG Editing &amp; Performance Improvements</h2>CMSMS 2.0 brings about a new WYSIWYG editor, an improved and dynamic file manager, and a brand new content managing module.Content editors can now easily find, control and edit thousands of pages without concern that they will accidentally erase somebody else's work.Furthermore, the CMS Made Simple developers have revealed that they took on numerous code review sessions, performance tuning sessions, and optimization sessions to ensure that site visitors receive the best performance possible out-of-the box.According to them, depending upon the site's purpose, CMSMS 2.0 should be ready to produce better response times, reduce performance load, and ensure that the website visitor's experience is smoother than ever before.<h2>More Power, Flexibility &amp; Ease of Use to the Website Builder</h2>CMS Made Simpe's new rationalized and unified template, design, and stylesheet management interface enables developers to exercise complete control over the various different types of templates in a single website (Page Structure, News Articles, News Summary Views, Navigations).Everything is managed from one place instead of dozens of different locations in the Admin console. Additionally, all of the templates and stylesheets can be organized together into ‘designs' for easier importing from and exporting to other CMSMS websites.Here's a summary what's new in this area:<ul><li>The new “Navigator” module allows the website designer to create fast, flexible, and powerful navigations with more power and simplicity than ever before.</li><li>The new “AdminSearch” module allows an editor or a website developer to quickly and easily locate a portion of text or code. This makes their job faster and easier.</li><li>A completely rewritten module management interface provides an integrated way of managing, upgrading, searching and interacting with modules.</li></ul>Plus, CMSMS 2.0 boasts a much easier installtion process, thanks to an “installation assistant” and the existence of only one file.More information on CMSMS 2.0 can be found via their blog. Alternatively, you can <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/2015/09/Finally-Released-CMSMS-2-0-Australia/">skip ahead to the dowload page</a> to grab a copy for your next project.

CMS Made Simple 2.0 Released

mike-johnston

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

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

There's a new bug-fix release of Bludit available for download. Version 2.3.3 brings with it some fixes to address a few bugs discovered after the latest release.
For those who are not familiar with Bludit, it's another flat file CMS with a slick user interface that has been gaining popularity of late.
Here's a screenshot of the admin interface.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/bludit-admin_xlgzwx.png" style="max-width:696px" />
Interested in giving it a try? Check it out here: <a href="https://www.bludit.com/">https://www.bludit.com/</a>

Bludit v2.3.3 Bug-fix Release Now Available

We’re kicking off another featured week here at CMS Critic, and this time, we’re focusing on <a href="http://www.elcomcms.com/" target="_blank">elcomCMS</a>.
Boasting clients such as Hyundai, VolksWagen and Target Australia, elcomCMS was born out of Sydney, Australia, by Elcom Technology back in 1996.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elcom_logo_ewcm_positive1035x0-is.jpg" />
The enterprise-grade platform has been utilized by brands and government bodies across the world for projects including; websites, corporate intranets, social intranets, mobile sites, eCommerce websites, and more.
To get everybody acquainted with elcomCMS, I’m going to take a look at its core functions revolving around web content management, Intranets and its stance as a learning management system.
<h2>elcomCMS as a Web Content Management System</h2>
elcomCMS is able to power websites and web-based instances fit for the world’s largest brands.
Some core features include; in-line editing, WYSIWYG content editing, drag-and-drop layouts, themes, powerful search functionality, team workspaces, Bootstrap front-end support, <a href="http://www.elcomcms.com/en-au/product/base-features/base-features">and much more</a>.
The multi-site enabled design of elcomCMS gives brands the power to manage multiple websites, intranets, micro-sites and similar projects, via a single elcomCMS instance.
elcomCMS is also a modular product, meaning that additional features can be acquired via a <a href="http://www.elcomcms.com/en-au/product/modules/modules">long list of modules</a>. Pre-defined <a href="http://www.elcomcms.com/en-au/product/modules/module-packs/module-packs">module packs</a> are also available for brands working within specific industries.
For example, elcomCMS’ long list of modules can open the door to; A/B testing, eCommerce, social Q&amp;A, store locating, user memberships, and so forth.
Learn more about elcomCMS’ content management features.
<h2>elcomCMS as a an Intranet Solution</h2>
Corporate intranets are fast becoming the central communication and collaboration hub for brands and organisations the world over.
elcomCMS provides a focus on the organization, searchability and maintenance of internal documentation and knowledge assets.
It integrates with third-party solutions like Microsoft Office and SharePoint, and boasts over 100 features and modules, including; document management, version control, real-time updates, blogs, wikis, forums, a powerful search function, a workflow engine, and more.
Plus, thanks again to elcomCMS’ multi-site management capabilities, intranets can integrate with existing web instances including websites, extranets and external databases.
elcomCMS also caters for brands with staff members on the move, with mobile-friendliness coming out of the box with their Intranet solution.
Furthermore, elcomCMS streamlines the workload surrounding staff detail administration, with a powerful directory resting upon directory hooks and single sign-on technology.
<a href="http://www.elcomcms.com/en-au/product/elcomcms-overview/intranets/intranets">Learn more about elcomCMS’ as an intranet solution</a>.
<h2>elcomCMS as a Learning Management System</h2>
elcomCMS is also capable of handling staff training projects. Impressively, Volkswagen and Kia make use of the platform to manage all of their dealership training programs
Features include; a simple visual user interface for mapping training programs, reports for employee progress, user profiles, to-do lists, visual qualification pathways, and more.
As ever, elcomCMS bridges the gap between its solutions by enabling organizations to offer their training courses through their elcomCMS intranets or portals.
<a href="http://www.elcomcms.com/en-au/product/elcomcms-overview/learning-management/learning-management">Learn more about elcomCMS as a learning management system</a>.
Visit elcomCMS on our CMS Directory for more insight, and stay tuned for more featured coverage throughout the next week.
On a side note, elcomCMS has recently released a beneficial eBook titled, “<a href="http://www.elcomcms.com/en-au/resources/whitepapers-ebooks/8-signs-you-need-a-social-intranet?utm_campaign=8%20Signs%20you%20need%20an%20intranet&amp;utm_content=8%20Signs%20eBook&amp;utm_medium=Social&amp;utm_source=CMS%20Critic">8 signs you need a social intranet</a>”. You can download your <a href="http://www.elcomcms.com/en-au/resources/whitepapers-ebooks/8-signs-you-need-a-social-intranet?utm_campaign=8%20Signs%20you%20need%20an%20intranet&amp;utm_content=8%20Signs%20eBook&amp;utm_medium=Social&amp;utm_source=CMS%20Critic">free copy here</a>.

elcomCMS: CMS, LMS & Intranets

I've been a Linux user for as long as I can remember. Pretty much since I was a kid (I'm now 41) and there was a Linux distribution I could find. I didn't start with just Linux though.. I was installing OS/2 by floppy disk (30 or so of them) which was basically akin to punching oneself in the face for hours on end, especially when the last or next to last disk failed repeatedy and you had to start over.
Oh OS/2. How I hated your many disks and the install time of 2+ hours.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/os2_box.jpg" />
I even messed around with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BeOS" target="_blank">BeOS</a> for a while. I purchased every release and loved it.. such a shame it didn't survive.
Remember this beauty?
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/beos5741x0-is.jpg" />I first got started with Linux either with Red Hat or SuSE. I remember Mandrake Linux when it first came out and being hugely excited. I remember falling in love with Slackware and feeling like a purist for using it. I remember stubbornly fighting with Red Hat to get Quake running on it and, once successful, bragging to my friends about the extra 2 frames per second I got over there Windows desktops.
The biggest problem I've always had with Linux or any operating system was the desire to move on once I got it to where I was happy with the way it performed and completed all of my self assigned goals. This, I suppose, makes me the type of person who just loves to mess with software and love challenges. I suppose that makes sense given that I now do exactly that on this very website but I've never been able to run anything for longer than a week without either reinstalling it or something else or the latest thing that just came out.
For a long time I didn't know what to call this affliction until I saw some others using the term “Distro Hopping”. In fact there's actually a <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/distrohopping" target="_blank">/DistroHopping</a> subreddit full of people with the same inability to keep a stable desktop / laptop running without wiping it and reinstalling something else. I don't know how much time (or data) I've spent downloading ISOs and burning them to CD, DVD and finally USB so I can once again wipe my poor computers hard drive and run through yet another install process. Over the years though, I've learned quite a bit. I remember battling with Slackware, ArchLinux (when it first came out), Gentoo (that one was tough to get going) and many others. I remember the feeling of accomplishment when I finally managed to surpass all of the issues that arose and was finally satisfied with a functioning desktop environment that properly made use of my graphic card, had functioning sound and made proper use of all of my mouse and keyboard buttons.
What's truly amazing, however, is how far things have come and how much easier it is now to install and get up and running with minimal configuration required. In some instances, it's also disconcerting how far behind some systems are but I can also appreciate the need to satisfy the purists. The problem with the ease of installation and configuration is that some systems have gone the route of simplifying things so much that they are actually restricting configuration capabilities and making it harder to access some of the administration functions that make Linux such a joy to work with. While I understand the need to try to make things simple and easy and will always be a champion of improving the user experience, I don't support the removal or restriction of functionality in order to do so.
As an admitted Distro Hopper, I secretly yearn for challenges and while I do love to see a smooth and easy install process, part of me still loves it when I have to fight a bit to get things “just right”. The same applies for my desktop environment which is probably why I'm now a Plasma user (it still has more configurability than anything else out there, IMHO).
How about you? Why do you Distro Hop? What drives you to have fifteen USB drives standing by and a never ending stream of ISO or torrent downloads going?

The Trials and Tribulations of a Distro Hopper

<a href="http://www.wix.com/" target="_blank">Wix</a>, one of the world's most popular website builders, has introduced CRM capabilities for its user base.
The platform won the <a href="/the-winner-of-the-2014-peoples-choice-cms-award-for-best-website-builder/" target="_blank">People's Choice CMS Award for Best Website Builder 2014</a>, and was chosen to be covered in detail over at <a href="http://websitebuilderscritic.com/" target="_blank">Website Builders Critic</a>.
<a href="http://www.wix.com/" target="_blank"><img style="max-width:241px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wix-musa-1.png" /></a>
This update brings about CRM features like contact management, e-mail marketing and automated communications, in the form of “MyAccount”.
<h2>MyAccount</h2>
<img style="max-width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/354887.jpg" />
Wix's MyAccount allows small business owners to manage and automate different aspects of their business including:
<h3>Collect &amp; Manage Contacts</h3>
MyAccount enables website owners to create and manage customer contact lists with contact information and activity data sourced through the owner's site.
Website owners are also able to upload, integrate and manage external contact lists. Wix's data sharing API, WixHive, further enables users to capture a variety of actions taken by a user's website visitors, such as contact information, messages, purchases, bookings, and more.
<h3>Send WixShoutOut e-mail Campaigns</h3>
WixShoutOut emails can be distributed, and announcements can be made to specified contacts or groups.
<h3>Automate Communications Using Smart Actions</h3>
Rule-based communications can be configured and managed, which are triggered by visitor activities including welcoming new subscribers, thanking customers after purchases, informing customers of special offers and more.
MyAccount offers several pre-defined and customizable Smart Actions which users can choose from or can create their own.
<h3>Manage Industry-specific Products</h3>
Website owners can access and manage Wix's verticalized solutions including WixStores, WixHotels and WixMusic all from the MyAccount interface.
Using the MyAccount dashboard, website owners can track their sales, reservations and downloads, issue bills for payment, manage inventory and more.
<h3>Review Site Activity &amp; Alerts in Newsfeed</h3>
Site owners can view real-time updates of visitor activities as well as customized product information and articles tailored to each website owner's business category.
<h3>Administer Website &amp; Account Settings</h3>
Premium subscriptions, domains and mailboxes, website apps, site settings and analytics, SEO wizard, site permissions, and more are all manageable from MyAccount.
Wix Co-Founder and CEO Avishai Abrahami made the following statements upon the announcement of MyAccount:
<blockquote>“MyAccount is the central nervous system, coordinating numerous essential business elements in a single, unified setting.
We've created an ecosystem where small business owners can seamlessly integrate their web creation with robust business applications and functionalities that help them manage and grow online”</blockquote>
To find out more about Wix MyAccount, <a href="http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2015/08/26/763595/10147187/en/Wix-com-Adds-Integrated-CRM-Capabilities-for-Small-Businesses.html" target="_blank">check out the official press release</a>.
Also, visit the <a href="http://www.wix.com/" target="_blank">Wix website</a> for more information about their platform, and be sure to swing by <a href="/products/wix/" target="_blank">Wix in our CMS Directory</a>.

Wix Unveils Integrated CRM Capabilities for Small Businesses

App development can be quiet lucrative if you hit the market just right, but many people don't have the time to invest in learning how to code their own apps. This is where AppMachine comes in, they are a CMS for app development. AppMachine is not open to the public yet, but people can now <a href="http://www.appmachine.com/de/sign-up-for-the-beta/" target="_blank">apply for an invite</a> to test out the beta version. I managed to get my account approved and I got a sneak preview of what's to come. They are a CMS (rather than a <a href="http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1636259/difference-between-web-application-framework-and-a-content-management-system" target="_blank">framework</a>) and cater to those who wish to connect all their content, social networks, services and online products into a handy app for their customers.
<h2>Using AppMachine</h2>
A lot of the steps are rather simple in AppMachine so I will glance over them a little. When you first login you will be asked to agree to the beta agreement, terms and conditions as well as being prompted to watch the demo video. Unfortunately there seems to be an issue in this part of the system. I've noticed after some time when I click back on the “My Apps” tab in the main menu, after being away from it a little while, it will ask me to sign all these agreements again. Even if you check the tick box on the video, not to be shown the next time you login, it still pops up. Also the demo video they offer seems to be in Dutch. I had to go off to their main <a href="http://www.appmachine.com/" target="_blank">website</a>/<a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/appmachinecom" target="_blank">youtube</a> to find an English video, which to be honest, I found a little off putting in style. Things got better however.
After that you are automatically thrown into the wizard for creating a new app. If you exit out of this screen you will go to your app list, which by default has a few example apps in it to give you inspiration. The wizard, however, will take you through 4 stages. It will ask you to enter your app name and a website that holds links to all the content associated with this app. It will then automatically search the site for posts, feeds, images and other connected networks to import content.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2013-03-05-appmachine-searching-feeds-620x404.png" alt="AppMachine Searching Feeds" /> click to enlarge image
It will then give you the chance to decide which content you want include; your app is then generated and ready for customization. Under the “Build” menu you work with a “Lego-style” block interface to configure the functionality of your app. Each block has a number of setting tabs, some of which you may not have access to depending on the type of plan you have. If you are a designer who wants to completely redesign the look of the interface, AppMachine also gives you template images you can open in Photoshop to use as a guideline. Make sure that whenever you change something under the build menu, you click the yellow “save” button in the top right-hand side of the screen. There are a couple of issues in this part of the system too: I found that sometimes the save button doesn't show up and when I navigate away I lose work. It should show up the second you change something, if it doesn't then refresh the page. The other issue is the block text areas for the “information block” and “product description” seem not to save at all. They did, however, have rich text editors for those long text fields, so once they save your data they will be quiet useful.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2013-03-05-appmachine-product-novopulp-620x325.png" alt="AppMachine Product NovoPulp" /> click to enlarge image
<h2>LiveView and the Previewer App</h2>
I think one of the best parts of AppMachine is the way it lets you preview your app whilst you build it. AppMachine comes with two handy tools for previewing your work: LiveView and Previewer. Previewer is a free app you can install on your mobile phone and login with your AppMachine account details. Then it gives you a list of your apps that you can preview in it's current state. I found this to be easy to use and a great way to see how your app looks on a mobile device to resolve issues.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2013-03-05-appmachine-previewer-np-app-620x930.png" alt="AppMachine Previewer NovoPulp App" /> click to enlarge image
LiveView is an option to connect your mobile device to the mock-up iPhone wireframe that you see on the right-hand side of every webpage in the AppMachine dashboard. You do this by going into the Previewer app and clicking the “LiveView” button in the top right-hand side of the app list. This will then connect to LiveView in your browser. You will see a list of your devices connected and then you can browse your apps in much the same way as the previewer app.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2013-03-05-appmachine-liveview-620x287.png" alt="AppMachine LiveView Connected" /> click to enlarge image
The only downside about LiveView is that it is bandwidth intensive and if you're on a rural broadband connection like me it is rather slow. I stuck to the Previewer app in the end.
<h2>Pricing</h2>
AppMachine is free whilst you develop and test your app but when you want to publish there is a one off charge. There are 3 plans: gorgeous (individuals building their own apps), designer (advanced design features) and developer (advanced developer features). I was given a gorgeous account so I can't comment on the other two plans. The advanced plans have additional kinds of blocks to add to your app and the other features listed below to improve the quality of your mobile application. The development plan will allow for web services, which opens up a whole lot of possibility. I understand, at the moment though, that not all of the developer plan features are ready yet.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2013-03-05-appmachine-plans-620x520.png" alt="AppMachine Pricing Plans" /> click to enlarge image
On top of the publication charge there is also an update fee, which can be either a one off upgrade or on a monthly service plan to cover all eventualities.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2013-03-05-appmachine-updates-620x222.png" alt="AppMachine Update Fees" /> click to enlarge image
<h2>The Verdict</h2>
If this was a product that gave you a framework to build more than the equivalent of a landing page app it might be a better return on investment, but I think at this stage it is unlikely to refer enough sales and customers to cover the costs for most users. For larger companies that can afford to take a hit as early adopters in order to provide a useful service to a large customer base, however, may still find it useful. Coming in now does allows you to participate in moulding it's expansion and to get ahead in development experience at a platform that I'm sure could be popular. The process for creating apps is very intuitive and uncluttered, developing and testing is very user friendly. I put my app together in about an hour and I never had to look for help.
Once AppMachine is live to the public, who knows what other functionally they may add next. With time I could see them “go enterprise” and earn the price range they seem to be targeting.

AppMachine Review - CMS for App Development

CMS Summit 26

Find out at Open Source CMS 26, October 20-21 in Utrecht, Netherlands

What's ahead for Open Source CMS?

#ffffff

<a href="http://www.crescendocontent.com/">Crescendo Content Marketing</a> (<a href="http://www.crescendocontent.com">http://www.crescendocontent.com</a>), a closed-loop B2B content marketing system, launched today to help marketers scale the content creation process and access actionable insights into how content is driving engagement and revenue. Built by marketers for marketers, Crescendo is a complete system that replaces the need for many point solutions used by today’s marketers to publish, distribute and measure the performance of content.
B2B marketers have traditionally struggled to connect the dots between marketing success and sales success. Now, Crescendo helps them create repeatable, measurable practices for creating quality content and tracking its impact through the entire buyer’s journey – not just top-of-the-funnel lead generation. Integrated with Salesforce, Crescendo tracks which specific content is driving the most deals.
“Content is the foundation of marketing and yet most content marketers hack together project management, optimization and analysis from a variety of systems. With marketers spending an average of 30 percent or more of their budget on content, it’s time we used purpose-built tools,” according to Samantha Stone, a Crescendo customer, content marketing expert and founder of the <a>Marketing Advisory Network</a>. “With Crescendo, marketers have the opportunity to understand what content is driving the best business outcomes and improve content production efficiency and effectiveness.”
“Until now, content marketing has been a fuzzy science but with Crescendo, we’re equipping content marketers with actionable ROI data they can take to the boardroom,” said Claudine Bianchi, co-founder and chief marketing officer of Crescendo. “Crescendo not only helps growing content marketing teams improve productivity but also ensure their focus is on doing more of what impacts the bottom-line, not just for buzz.”
Crescendo helps B2B marketing teams improve the efficiency of the six key stages of the content marketing lifecycle: 
•Create and Optimize: Crescendo provides an intuitive workflow for planning, assigning and scheduling content production across teams, complete with tips for improved SEO and readability so that content is engaging and easily found.
•Publish and Amplify: With Crescendo, marketers create their own blog content or import existing assets like PDFs, videos and infographics. Once created, these can be published directly from Crescendo to existing Web content management systems, including WordPress, using new or existing templates. Crescendo also prompts content contributors to craft social posts that can be scheduled and published to social media channels for maximum exposure. 
•Analyze and Suggest: Crescendo’s powerful content analytics dashboard displays a real-time ranking of top performing content assets and associated metrics, replacing the numerous point Web and social analytics solutions that content marketers have had to rely on before. Key to this is Crescendo’s Smart Tracking Code, a system which tags each piece of content. Through the integration with Salesforce, Crescendo correlates the tagged content with leads, opportunities and deals through APIs — linking top performing content with the dollar value of the deal they impact.
Screenshots:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/crescendo_analytics_11044x0-is.png" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/crescendo_analytics_2.png" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/crescendo_content_analytics_31044x0-is.png" /><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/crescendo_content_analytics_4.png" />
For more information, go to <a href="http://www.crescendocontent.com/">http://www.crescendocontent.com/</a>

Unveiling Crescendo: A Content Marketing System to Help Marketers Scale, Optimize and Measure the ROI of Content

After the <a href="/ez-conference-day-one-cms-is-alive-digital-transformation-is-tricky/" target="_blank">success of day one</a>, day two of the eZ conference kicked off with an interactive presentation hosted by Yann Gourvennec, the CEO of Visionary Marketing.
Throughout his talk, he asked the crowd a series of questions directed at the IT and marketing teams within most modern organizations.
The audience got to cast their votes for each question via a website accessible by short URL or QR code, with separate URLs being provided for Team IT and Team Marketing in order to compare the answers coming out from the two camps. The answers were presented as they came in via pie chart on the big screen.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/img_6514577x0-is.jpg" />
It was certainly different, and it was cool to see what the audience was thinking in real time – even if there were far more IT guys than there were marketers!
<h2>Content &amp; Commerce</h2>
Later on in the day, Roland Benedetti, the Chief Product &amp; Marketing Officer at eZ Systems, opened up the discussion of eZ Systems bringing together content and commerce.
He stressed that eZ was all about content – and although it has been used as a framework in order to build stellar online selling solutions for big brands – eZ didn't want to focus too much on churning out eCommerce features.
It simply isn't their field, and they're showing intelligence by sticking to their strengths.
<blockquote>
“<a href="https://twitter.com/eZSystems">@eZSystems</a>‘ focus is:
• Content management • Content personalisation • Content delivery”
– <a href="https://twitter.com/rolandbenedetti">@RolandBenedetti</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ezConf2016?src=hash">#ezConf2016</a>
— CMS Critic (@cmscritic) <a href="https://twitter.com/cmscritic/status/784004905153560576">October 6, 2016</a>
</blockquote>
During the breaks, I was back to my finger foods and games. <a href="/ez-conference-day-one-cms-is-alive-digital-transformation-is-tricky/" target="_blank">Yesterday it was Candy Crush</a>, but today, I got to play Super Mario Bros between sessions. A proper classic.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/mario446x0-is.png" />
As the event went on, I also got to learn a little more about the evolution that eZ Systems has undergone over recent years. They've moved on from being that software company that only has content publishers for clients. Instead, they have branched out into various verticals, and now boast clients like BMW and the European Space Agency.
So, it's still all about content, but that doesn't mean it's all about content publishers.
I managed to grab eZ's Roland Benedetti for a chat on this subject after he delivered his presentation. I'll be sharing the full interview with you guys at a later stage.
<h2>A Belter from Paul Boag: Defining Digital</h2>
To bring the two-day event to an close, Paul Boag of <a href="https://boagworld.com/" target="_blank">BoagWorld</a> – a renowned public speaker and consultant – delivered the closing keynote. He was enthusiastic about digital transformation, and he addressed some of the more real problems surrounding the struggle that most traditional businesses face when it comes to embracing digital.
He spoke about how going digital involved far more than just embracing technology, and then asked us if we could actually define ‘Digital' if we really had to. Nobody gave him a solid response.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/img_6529469x0-is.jpg" />
<blockquote>
‘If it [Digital Transformation] was just about the technology, we would all be sorted by now. But it’s not about the technology, it’s about the impact of the technology.’ – Paul Boag
</blockquote>
He said some pretty profound things, and he left us thinking about digital transformation in a very different way. It wasn’t a talk designed to wind the crowd down, it was a talk designed to intrigue us – and it did.
It was a great end to a brilliant event. An event which I thoroughly enjoyed.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/img_6530460x0-is.jpg" />
The atmosphere was friendly, the venue was amazing, and I felt entertained throughout. A big thank you – and a big congratulations – goes out to the eZ Systems team. I don’t envy you in your quest to top this event next year!
To catch up on everything as it happened, be sure to check out the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ezConf2016?src=hash" target="_blank">#eZConf2016 Twitter hashtag</a> for our live tweets. As usual, we rocked the official hashtag with videos, images, quotes, and polls.

eZ Conference 2016 Day Two: Content, Commerce, and Defining Digital

A new and interesting-looking game, Ash of Gods: Redemption, is now available for Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/ash-of-gods-redemption_wpmtgo.jpg" alt="Ash of Gods Redemption" />
Ash of Gods: Redemption is a turn-based RPG that combines tactical combat, CCG elements and a constantly evolving story.
Rogue-like Storytelling means that every decision you make will need to be pondered carefully as any character, even your main one can die permanently. Even this, however, won't stop the game from progressing.
The game uses a blend of turn based strategy and card RPG where the cards drawn will determine how you progress and the strategies you employ. Everything including the character classes has an impact on your battlefield tactics.
It also features PVP and PVE Multiplayer opportunities for those interested. Unlock new characters and cards, upgrade them to build your own unique strategy and tactics. Create your own clans, join forces with friends and participate in the battles together.
Sound interesting? Check out the trailer below:
<h2>Ash of Gods: Redemption – Trailer</h2>
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7dHuZbpxL10?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
You can buy the game from <a href="https://www.gog.com/game/ash_of_gods">GOG.com</a> or Steam.

Ash of Gods: Redemption out now for Linux

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

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

Last year, I published a <a href="/plushforums-review/">review of PlushForums</a>, a tastefully repackaged and remarketed commercial fork of Vanilla Forums.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/vopggzde_200x0.png" />The forum platform has been on the market for over a year now, having been founded by the London-based Adrian Flitcroft back in 2014. Today, <a target="_blank" href="https://plushforums.com/">PlushForums</a> remains geared towards startups and small businesses, despite boasting clients as big as Penn State University and Google.Recently, to celebrate a year on the market, the platform received an update. Let's have a look at what's new.<h2>Mailchimp &amp; Question Mode</h2>First up, PlushForums now integrates with Mailchimp. It's an automated two-way sync, with no management required.Members can unsubscribe and re-subscribe to newsletters via their profile, while unsubscriptions from MailChimp are synchronized back to the user's forum.As for Question Mode, this new feature enables forum members to ask questions, for anybody to come along and answer. It's a feature designed for customer service delivery and knowledge base creation, as definitive answers can be identified and marked as such.<h2>Localization &amp; More</h2>Localization is another enhancement.PlushForums now works in any language, and can now host forums in the US, UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Japan and Australia, for customers who have legal compliance issues with US hosts. DDoS protection is also now available as an optional extra.MathJax is another new integration option, which is a nod in the direction of educational institutes. Mobile users can upload and insert images in one tap, new styling options come into play, and content flagging makes forums easier to moderate.It's always good to see budding platforms doing well, and PlushForums seems to be doing just that. Their first year looks to have been a good one – and I'll be keeping close tabs on their second.To find out more about these updates, check out the <a target="_blank" href="https://plushforums.com/blog/one-year-later">PlushForums blog</a>.

PlushForums Celebrates One Year on the Market With Slew of Updates

Customers are people.
Whether you’re in B2B or B2C sales it is people who make the decisions be it individuals or groups of people and they all share on thing in common: personas.
<h2>What is a Customer Persona?</h2>
A customer persona is a thorough understanding of who you are selling to so you can deliver the proper digital experience. It consists of a customer’s job title, department, product knowledge, education, experience, likes, dislikes, where they trust information from, who influences them and who they influence, their goals, challenges, responsibilities and skills.
Understanding the mass of customer personas out there — and the ones you’d like to target — enables you to ensure your marketing stack is built to maximize your return on investment. So how exactly do you go about tracking down the customer personas you want to target? It’s quite easy actually. I’ll start with some heavy tech speak and then translate it into English for the sake of waxing intellectual.
<h2>The K Nearest Neighbors Algorithm</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/neighbor662x0-is.jpeg" style="-webkit-user-select:auto" />
The K Nearest Neighbors algorithm is used by Netflix, Amazon, Spotify, Facebook, LinkedIn and pretty much any company that has a “You might also like…” function.
But how does it know that?
The answer is the K Nearest Neighbors algorithm which is exactly what it sounds like. It looks for users who are most similar to you and then recommends what they watched, read, listened to, befriended, connected with, etc. Now apply this algorithm to your existing customer base — not literally — just conceptually.
Look for patterns that are consistent in your customers and you’ll likely find a few sets of patterns consistent across clusters of your customers. Example: You look in your customer database and see that your customers who:
<ul>
<li>Spend the most are typically well off stay at home mothers in their mid-30's-40’s from the suburbs who are active online yet typically have little product knowledge</li>
<li>Make the most amount of purchases are men in their mid-20’s from the inner city who are more active online and seem to have more product knowledge than the big spenders</li>
<li>Are the most loyal are men and women in their 50’s and 60’s from the outskirts of cities, have the most product knowledge, a strong dislike for all things “online” and typically make rare yet consistent in-store purchases</li>
</ul>
Bam! So with a little research using the K-Nearest Neighbors algorithm in your brain — or perhaps you’re a high tech company that runs the algorithm on your customer database — you have three customer personas. So how can this help you? I’m going to take a wild stab in the dark and assume you have one website, one TV ad, one PPC campaign, perhaps a radio campaign, and some social media accounts that have a bit of traction.
<h2>Targeting Customer Personas</h2>
Ok — so let’s assume that’s your marketing stack. Now you have to connect the two — how can you pivot your marketing stack to target your three main customer personas?
First, you’ll probably want to go after the big spenders — the stay at home moms who are active online and live in the suburbs. Your radio ads probably won’t do you much good here so tailor your reach to avoid the suburbs altogether in the radio department. Focus on PPC, Social Media, Landing Pages on your Website, Commercials and create new ad content specifically aimed at this customer persona. Your sales will skyrocket because their digital experience won’t just be generic, all about the product and company, it’ll also be about how it benefits them specifically. Allocate your marketing dollars accordingly.
Let’s go after your second customer persona, the ones that make the most amount of purchases but don’t necessarily bring in the most revenue. For this customer persona, I’d recommend in-store marketing since they’re in your store so much. Create a rewards program and get them to come back more. Tailor your online ads and landing pages to focus less on product knowledge and more on the benefits they provide to this customer persona — they already know what they need to know about the product. These people don’t listen to the radio so scale back on the inner city radio spend.
And lastly, the loyal customer persona. These are important because if sales from the other personas drop off, you’ll always have this persona so treat them accordingly. If you’re going to spend money on radio and TV, here’s where to do it. Just keep in mind this persona typically lives on the close outskirts of cities. They also aren’t online so no need to create ads for them online or spend ad money online here. Tailor your TV and Radio ads to this persona. Believe it or not — some customer personas still buy things based off TV and Radio Advertisements.
So now, instead of an amazing one size fits all digital experience, tailor the digital experiences you deliver to the right customer personas. As your company and products/services evolve, you’ll notice the customer personas change, then you’ll need to change your digital experiences and tailor them to the new customer personas. Always keep in mind that you have multiple customer personas and create different digital experiences for all of them to get the most bang for your advertising buck.

A Guide to Understanding Customer Personas

Call Tracking + AI 

Call Tracking + AI that Turns Calls into Leads

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 - 123