Articles - Page 124

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

matt-garrepy

Content is increasingly one of the most valuable business drivers across all industries, and we at <a href="http://ez.no/">eZ Systems</a> work to simplify the way organizations create, deliver and optimize it.
<a href="http://ez.no/" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ez-logo-no-tagline_max600height250.png" /></a> Fueled by over 15 years of organic development, eZ is on the brink of releasing its next generation content management solutions, eZ Platform and eZ Studio.
Unifying the power and flexibility of our current platform eZ Publish with increased scalability and a fresh, modern UI, eZ Platform and eZ Studio signify a leap forward for the company. But more importantly, our new solutions will give developers, designers and content creators better tools to build remarkable digital experiences.
<a href="http://ez.no/Home/Forms/HTML-forms/Find-out-how-eZ-can-help-you-grow-your-business" target="_blank"><img alt="5e45kw_zX7HJKF95QB49vHUZATzOpB4ZsP7tgn2L" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/5e45kw_zX7HJKF95QB49vHUZATzOpB4ZsP7tgn2LhYSUNuSPg2JvEoNiaOITnzQBt5CdRi6rwrcQ_eqcPytLE2ZVD9byOP89YBQj0EQjCstGrPw-mY1cqMlWk0o3LKkErTeUjDQ" /></a>
<h6>eZ Systems will launch eZ Platform and eZ Studio, pictured above, in Q4 2015</h6>
Showcasing a layered approach to our content management infrastructure, eZ’s new stack features an entirely rewritten open source foundation, eZ Platform; an easy-to-use content creation center, eZ Studio; and a portfolio of cloud services for personalized content, real-time analytics and marketing automation.
Designed with technologists and business users in mind, the platform will streamline development processes, improve user efficiency across the board and, we believe, make creating content a delight.
“With our fully featured REST API and structured content repository, eZ Platform will allow developers to customize, extend and scale their sites and apps with more ease than ever before,” said Roland Benedetti, Chief Product and Marketing Officer at eZ. “And in eZ Studio, content editors will see vast improvements in their daily experience with the system. They will also be able to set more flexible workflows and build sites and apps with intuitive in-page editing, increasing productivity and collaboration.”
<a href="http://ez.no/Home/Forms/HTML-forms/Find-out-how-eZ-can-help-you-grow-your-business" target="_blank"><img alt="Screen Shot 2015-08-26 at 12.12.01 PM.png" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/E5Al2sHaYwcMi2nmfHUh_AecJfXpmKHtkpzQDBELAqToOcBdcr8cEtruhJyRQ2lz2LjVViREuEy9ZoXAx7xcvu12pFHPmPgWDwqwQlBgIupsC11ggZIQwMwc9Sa0Lfxg_60grL73" /></a>
<h2>Accelerating Development with the Symfony Full-stack Framework</h2>
Like its predecessor eZ Publish Platform 5.0, eZ Platform is built on top of the <a href="https://symfony.com/">Symfony</a> full-stack framework. This means any organization using eZ can integrate any Symfony bundle available today or in the years to come. An example of this comes from one of our dedicated partners <a href="http://www.netgenlabs.com/">Netgen</a>, who integrated the Symfony-based e-commerce solution <a href="http://sylius.org/">Sylius</a> into eZ.
Symfony has become the leading PHP framework and organizations who adopt it stand to benefit tremendously, especially when it comes to unifying and standardizing their PHP-based application development processes.
Other CMS like Drupal have followed their own approach with Symfony but in our case, Symfony developers can take full advantage of eZ’s capabilities without modifying the way they work. This means expedited development and faster time to market.
Interested in learning more? <a href="http://ez.no/Blog/(tag)/Symfony">Check out our blog</a> for various posts on Symfony.
<h2>“A Major Milestone”</h2>
If we step back to the beginning of eZ Systems, the company has always followed an open source development model. Openness and collaboration are core values at eZ, and we’ve seen substantial growth within the eZ Community.
Today, we have over 45,000 developers and content experts worldwide contributing to the eZ roadmap as well as Symfony, PHP, Lucene and other initiatives in the LAMP stack.
“From the beginning, we thought of eZ as an open source development platform where content is separated from the delivery channel and where organizations can build unique digital experiences,” said Bård Farstad, co-founder of eZ Systems. “We've always been classified as a CMS but we always knew our solutions were much more.
“The release of eZ Platform and eZ Studio is a major milestone for us,” he added. “It comes at a time when organizations recognize the need for a content- and user-first approach to grow their businesses, one where engagement is highly personalized and the right content flows into the right channel at the right time.”
For their new platform, <a href="http://ez.no/" target="_blank">eZ Systems</a> will offer online and in-person training, certification and professional support and services to enterprise customers.
<a href="http://ez.no/Home/Forms/HTML-forms/Find-out-how-eZ-can-help-you-grow-your-business" target="_blank">Discover eZ Platform and eZ Studio</a>

eZ Systems Set to Launch eZ Platform and eZ Studio

mike-johnston

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.django-cms.org/en/">django CMS</a>, the free and open source platform born out of Zurich, Switzerland, has unveiled its latest version.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/djangocms_green_909x0-is_1.png" />The content management system is used by the likes of NASA and L'Oreal, and they seem to have put quite a bit of effort into their latest update; django CMS 3.2.I touched upon some of the features of <a href="/a-look-at-the-django-cms-3-2-0-preview-release/">django CMS 3.2 in a preview article published a few weeks back</a>. Now though, let's now take a closer look. <h2>Better Touch-support &amp; A Revamped UI For Content Editors</h2>First of all, django's user interface has had a facelift. That includes changes to menu actions, button behavior and display logic. Plus, interface elements are now bigger and clearer with better contrast ratios.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/content-1_png_1170x1170_q90_crop_subsampling-2607x0-is.png" />Most editing and management operations now, “work well on most devices” according to the django team. Not exactly promising language, but I'm sure it works well enough.They also mentioned that they are, “moving ever closer to complete touch-screen support.”<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/structureboard-1_png_1170x1170_q90_crop_subsampling-2607x0-is.png" />django CMS 3.2 also brings about a new wizard, called the Content Creation Wizard. It's an extensible tool for helping content editors quickly add content to their site.The wizard can be adopted by third-party developers for their own applications, to provide a quick overview of the different types of content that can be added to the site. It's another step towards making the CMS truly the best tool for content creators that it can be.<h3>django's Need for Speed</h3>Further to visual improvements, the django team has aimed to enhance performence with django CMS 3.2.On the subject of speeding things up, they said:<blockquote>“We've rewritten a significant portion of our internal code, especially frontend-related code, optimising speed and load times. We're using techniques such as automatic minification and bundling to wring even better performance from the system.”</blockquote>For the full details of this release, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.django-cms.org/en/blog/2015/11/24/django-cms-32/">check out django's official blog announcement</a>.You can also explore more of <a href="/products/django-cms">django CMS via our CMS Directory</a>.

Django CMS 3.2 Lands With New Interface & Enhanced Touch-screen Support

CMS Critic is constantly looking for ways to better serve its readership. As of right now, that means adding to the team.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/logo.png" />
We're looking for somebody to contribute regular news articles here on the site, in a way which upholds the values of CMS Critic.
These values include professionalism, integrity, and unbiased coverage for the benefit of the website's growing audience.
If you're interested in applying, check out the details below. If you know of somebody who would be a good fit for the role, please share this post with them.
<blockquote>
As a content management system news and review website, CMS Critic specifically covers news coming out of the world of eCommerce, blogging platforms, website builders, marketing suites and so forth.
Naturally, a keen interest in the CMS / Web Design / Web Development industry is required, while experience with a range of CMS platforms is ideal.
The selected candidate will need to submit one article per week. Payment will be on a monthly basis, at a fixed rate of $250.
The selected candidate will work under an Editor, and may be asked to source and suggest news content.
Only applicants from North America or the UK will be considered.
[Please Note: The above stipulation is to ensure that; (1) applicants are native English speakers, (2) applicants reside within similar timezones to the existing editorial team, (3) the successful candidate may have the opportunity to travel to CMS events, which are primarily held in North America &amp; Europe. Thus, a closer proximity is beneficial.]
<h2>How to Apply</h2>
You can send your pitch / resume to kaya@www.cmscritic.com
Please ensure that your email’s subject line is “Writer Application”, and please include a short paragraph about what your favourite CMS is, and why.
</blockquote>

CMS Critic is Hiring!

Ryan Cramer is the founder and lead programmer behind ProcessWire, the winner of our Critic's Choice Award for <a href="/critics-choice-for-best-free-cms-goes-to/">Best Free CMS.</a> Earlier today, we took time to speak with Ryan about ProcessWire, the future and his thoughts on the CMS market.  Without further adieu, here is the interview.
Can you tell me a bit about how ProcessWire came to be?
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/a-250x250.png" alt="Ryan Cramer" />ProcessWire has been a project since around 2003, though under a different name. None of the original code base remains as the system has evolved. But if you used that old system, you'd still recognize it as ProcessWire. The overall architecture and hierarchical page tree is very similar.
ProcessWire came about from my own needs as a web designer/developer. Before ProcessWire, I had already been building custom CMSs for various clients for several years. Open source CMSs weren't really on the radar, though there were a few like Moveable Type.
When I started working on my own as Ryan Cramer Design, LLC, I needed a tool to help solve the common recurring needs for projects. So I kind of looked at ProcessWire as like an employee, someone (rather something) to take care of a lot of hard work so that I could get more time and enjoy the work day more.
This continued for 7 years, and ProcessWire continued to evolve. I had always wanted to get involved in open source, and didn't really know how. I didn't know how ProcessWire would be received, so I instead focused on getting a little part of it released as open source. This was a jQuery plugin called asmSelect.
That was pretty well received. In fact, it ended up as a Drupal module (apparently) and I'm assuming elsewhere. So that gave a little necessary confidence to put the whole thing out there.
It was originally called Dictator CMS. The website is still there: <a href="http://www.dictatorcms.com/">http://www.dictatorcms.com/</a>. For while, I was developing both as separate projects (around 2005-2007) but that was mainly because I had clients on both platforms, and you couldn't swap one in for the other. So I had to continue maintaining Dictator CMS for quite a while after new installs were no longer being done.
Dictator was not open source. At the time, the clients (or at least my clients) did not want open source and were scared by it. I'm very glad that attitude has reversed.
The name came from an old Thomas Edison machine but between Saddam, Khadafi, North Korea, etc., the name started evoking the wrong things.
Does ProcessWire have any backers or financial support? How does it earn money or does it?
Backers of financial support… probably not in the traditional sense. But we do have some support. Avoine is a company in Finland, and they provided some support for development of multi-language support, between the release of ProcessWire 2.0 and 2.1.  Also ServInt (the hosting company) supports ProcessWire by hosting our site. I saved for many years to be able to dedicate lots of time to it. Now we've got lots of people dedicating time to it, so I feel like we are well supported by people's time.
Are there any plans to commercialize (not sure if that's the right word) any portion of ProcessWire or add commercial services, hosting, etc?
Not commercialize the software itself, but we do support commercial services, whether support, custom module development, or the like. We also encourage commercial module development, as I think it is beneficial for the perception of the project and for attracting the interest of full-time developers.
Hosting is one thing we've not looked into, but perhaps should. Ultimately though, most of us get paid by the work that we do with ProcessWire for our clients. ProcessWire saves lots of time and lets us be more competitive web developers.
Recently, ProcessWire won our Critic's Choice Award for Best Free CMS. Has this helped with exposure? What have you seen as a result of this award?
Thank you for highlighting ProcessWire with the award. I do think it has been great for the project and exposure. It brings new people to ProcessWire (I think you may be our biggest referrer in Google Analytics), and it's also great to be able to communicate this to people. It also energizes the whole team. I think I could go on and on. We appreciate this exposure for ProcessWire more than I can find the words to describe. Lots more people searching for “ProcessWire” on Google too, it seems.
What do you think makes ProcessWire such a great product for developers / designers. There are lots of products on the market that are great choices, why ProcessWire?
I think ProcessWire is a great product for designer/developers because it's developed by people who are full-time designer/developers that are focused on constant simplification and reduction to essentials. It's developed in the field, so to speak, according to the actual landscape. It fits to the environment and the needs like a glove.
ProcessWire becomes a tool to designer/developers much like other tools they may use. Much inspiration has come from jQuery. And I like to think that ProcessWire opens up content management in the same way that jQuery opens up JavaScript. ProcessWire is built to be simple and easy, but it's also built to be extremely powerful and scalable. Lots of people initially confuse it with being something very small and simple for basic needs… and it can fit that role just fine. But it really shines when you throw a really big project at it. The system scales without getting more complex, while saving you huge amounts of time. There isn't any other system that nails it as well as ProcessWire.
The way I sometimes describe ProcessWire to my clients on terms they can understand is to describe Google's search engine. You have something that appears to be very simple (just a search box and interesting artwork/logo). There is much more power and capability than it would appear. Yet it remains accessible to all, and what you can do with that simple interface grows as you do. It's a simple and easy interface to powerful engineering–that's always been the goal.
What is the most complex in size or scope, project you've seen implemented with ProcessWire?
That's a good question. For a long time, my own sites were some of the biggest and broadest in scope, that had been built-in ProcessWire. Now, others have gone far beyond that. I was recently helping someone optimize ProcessWire selector queries for a site with more than 100k pages in it. Now that's a big site, though I imagine there are people going beyond that too. ProcessWire doesn't get more complex as you go larger. It stays simple, and it's meant to scale as far as you would like it to.
What is the most under appreciated feature in your eye?
That's a tough question, but I think some decisions behind the admin interface are often misunderstood, at first. When I first put ProcessWire out there, people were emailing me their mockups of fixes to things that they perceived as a problem. For instance, the way the page tree works is one of them– It might seem overly minimal when you are initially testing it out on a small site. Yet when you are working with those sites with several hundred to thousands of pages, a lot more becomes apparent. The most “pretty” solutions are no longer good solutions. So I don't know about most under-appreciated, but I think the most misunderstood aspects of ProcessWire relate to the underlying goals to provided consistency across all scales.
Btw, many other admin themes are now available for ProcessWire too (many that are really fantastic), so this misunderstanding is much more rare now.
What do you think ProcessWire is missing in terms of either features or functionality that you'd like to change / add?
That's also a tough question because I'd like to simplify as much as I would like to add, so we have to balance the two. We have to make sure that as the system grows, it doesn't become any more complex, and hopefully, becomes simpler. The way we do this is by taking complex things and building them as modules. So they aren't adding any complexity to the system unless one has the need for that complexity.
An example: ProcessWire doesn't provide out-of-the-box capabilities for enabling things like user registration in the way that systems like Drupal do. We provide the API to make these things possible, rather than having them turn-key. There are some people that benefit by going the ProcessWire way and building these things exactly the way they want them to work. There are others that benefit more from turn-key solutions. I think that having turn-key solutions is very important, as the growth of WordPress proves. So I'd like us to continue building more turn-key solutions as modules for ProcessWire, while continuing to simplify the core.
How about eCommerce capabilities, have you seen any integrations that have been impressive? Are there specific modules that makes this possible?
Antti Peisa is maintaining a ProcessWire Shop module project, and I think he's done some impressive things here. I don't have experience using it myself, as my e-commerce needs are fairly limited. But there is a lot of positive discussion about this in the forums and I'm quite impressed by what he's done with this. For my own client work, e-commerce is one of the things that I really like to send to a dedicated service provider. That's because after running osCommerce and Drupal UberCart for years, I've come to see e-commerce as one of those things that is always threatening to take over my day for one little issue or another. So I just prefer to hand over my ecommerce to Shopify (or other dedicated ecommerce providers). I particularly like Shopify for their post order hooks. It integrates beautifully with ProcessWire and enables me to create ProcessWire accounts for users after an order is successfully placed, etc. So much potential in easy reach. All the fun without all the time and frustrating trying to self host an ecommerce software.
Basically, I'm not the best one to ask about e-commerce. OSCommerce and UbertCart (among others), as great as they are (or were) soured me on wanting to self host these things. But ProcessWire itself is a great module platform from which to build ecommerce modules, as Antti has proven.
What can we expect from the next major point release ? Any specific new features you are working on ?
ProcessWire 2.3 is just around the corner. Here's a partial list of what's coming with that: <a href="http://processwire.com/about/news/feb-2013/#article4">http://processwire.com/about/news/feb-2013/#article4</a>
What do you see for the future of ProcessWire? Say, next 5 years. What would be your ideal scenario?
ProcessWire 2.4 will emphasize adoption of PHP 5.3+ specific features, so we'll be dropping PHP 5.2 support with the next major release, while gaining all the great things that come from being able to focus on PHP 5.3+
More info about that in the roadmap here: <a href="http://processwire.com/about/roadmap/">http://processwire.com/about/roadmap/</a>
Next 5 years: I'd like to see ProcessWire continue to grow in audience. I think we're just at the top if the iceberg in terms of audience now, as we're still relatively unknown. So I think there is just a whole lot of room for growth. Currently we have a really strong platform that I'm very proud of. But in 5 years, we will be 10-years better. We're on a constant path to improvement and won't rest as long as there is room for improvement. And there's always room.
Why do you feel open source was the right way to go when it comes to PW? What about open source made it a good choice?
First off, I have benefited so much from open source that I wanted to give back. I think that anyone that spends years as a web designer/developer develops a strong bond with open source. So as a web developer, when you reach the point where you think you've got something to give that is really better than what's already out there, it's an honor to be able to do.
Secondly, I thought that ProcessWire had a lot of good ideas in it that would never see the light of day if I didn't get it out there. I'd put a lot of work into it and getting paid license fees or getting big projects from it just wasn't satisfying enough. I felt it needed to be open source in order for the ideas to make a difference. Proprietary CMSs don't have a future anymore.
What types of changes would you like to see within the CMS market?
I think there is a real over-use of the “big 3” systems (I won't name them). These systems are the right fit for some projects, but the wrong fit on so many more. Often they are used simply because they are known… they are the one that the boss will recognize, so no questions will be asked (playing it safe). This makes for a weaker and less diverse web. I would like to see the whole idea of “big 3” disappear. My hope is that a few years from now there will be a much greater understanding of all the different options out there.
What does the term CMS mean to you personally?
To me a content management system is two things: 1) a system that enables the client to create and edit content in the context of a web site or application; and 2) a system that enables the developer to design the content structure and layout, and build on top of it.
Thanks for your time today, Ryan. I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you.
Thanks again for inviting me to do this, it's a real honor. 
You can find out more about Ryan (or hire him!) by visiting his website <a href="http://www.ryancramer.com">http://www.ryancramer.com </a>or check out ProcessWire at <a href="http://www.processwire.com">http://www.processwire.com</a>

Interview with Ryan Cramer of ProcessWire

If you haven’t considered a <a href="/8-enterprise-marketing-automation-softwares-to-complement-your-cms/" target="_blank">marketing automation system (MAS) for your business</a>, you could be falling behind.
A good MAS helps you reach out to your customers and prospects better than ever before, personalizing your marketing efforts to maximize their overall impact.
As a business owner or marketing executive, you’ve watched from a front row seat as marketing automation has caused a dramatic shift in the business landscape. While you recognize the marketing potential that an MAS offers, you might still have some reservations about cost, and whether or not it is right for your business.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/marketing-automation712x0-is.jpg" />
If you’re worried about cost, you’re not alone. Although most enterprises have long since added an MAS to their marketing arsenal, most SMBs have lagged behind. One of the primary reasons for the hesitation in adapting a marketing automation systems is the misconception that they cost too much for them to worthwhile for SMBs.
However, the returns that an MAS can bring apply just as much to smaller customers as they do to larger, enterprise customers, and there are many options available that can fit even the smallest of budgets.
As you deliberate whether or not your business needs a marketing automation system, consider the following 9 statistics from Wishpond’s <a href="https://blog.wishpond.com/post/115216467162/the-2015-state-of-marketing-automation-the-33">State of Marketing Automation in 2015</a>.
Not only do these statistics emphasize the benefits of marketing automation, but I also believe that they will prove once and for all that your business probably needs a marketing automation system to maintain a competitive edge in today’s marketplace.
<h2>1. 79% of the CMOs at high-performing companies rely on an MAS to boost their revenue.</h2>
This is the big one, so let’s tackle it right off the bat. A good MAS can help you increase your bottom line in a number of different ways. It can help bring in more leads, keep you in closer contact with your best customers, and ensure that you’re tracking your marketing efforts properly.
According to Nucleus Research, automating your marketing can increase sales productivity by 14.5% while also reducing overhead by 12.2%. That’s an incredible difference from such a simple change.
<h2>2. 75% of all businesses that use an MAS see positive ROI within the first year.</h2>
This statistic addresses the elephant-in-the-room: cost. Many small-to-medium-sized business owners are hesitant to use an MAS because they fear it will be added cost to already tight budget.
However, what is being overlooked is that the software will pay for itself – many times over. After all, even if all it did was reduce your overhead, it would be worth every penny, but it’s also bringing in new customers every day.
Those new, targeted leads and customers will offset the cost of the system in the first year, and the increase in value that you’ll see from your existing customers can push you into the black. Keep in mind, that’s only in the first year – you’ll see huge returns from these customers year after year, all thanks to your MAS.
<h2>3. Companies that use an MAS generate twice as many leads as companies that only use blast email software.</h2>
It’s no secret that email marketing continues to be one of the most effective ways to generate and nurture leads. While blast email software has been used effectively in the past to reach new prospects, its effectiveness pales in comparison to the results obtained with an MAS. By doubling the number of generated leads, an MAS will bring you more prospects, and if successfully converted, more customers and more revenue.
Of course, effective communication isn’t just about pumping new blood into your business; it also keeps your existing customers happy and loyal.
<h2>4. Successfully nurtured leads through the use of an MAS make spend 47% more than non-nurtured leads.</h2>
An MAS gives you the ability to narrowly target your leads so that you can design hyper-focused, personalized content that fits their needs.
This makes them happier, more loyal, and more appreciative of your services – to the tune of radically increasing the size of their purchases. In fact, when a successfully nurtured lead converts into a happy and informed customer, they’ll spend as much as 47% more than they typically would. Now that’s a revenue booster.
<h2>5. Successful lead nurturing brings in 50% more qualified leads while cutting costs by 33%.</h2>
While it’s great to get more out of your existing customer base, every business on the planet wants to grow.
Unfortunately, getting new leads is expensive, and it’s even harder to drum up sales-ready leads without nurturing them effectively. Instead of just grabbing cold leads and jamming them into your sales funnel, an MAS allows you to cheaply nurture your leads and coax them along at their leisure. This gives you 50% more sales-ready leads…at 33% less per lead.
<h2>6. Companies that effectively use a marketing automation system have reported as much as a 451% boost in qualified leads.</h2>
Automating your marketing allows you to spend much more time nurturing prospects. Since it’s all hands-off, you can educate and persuade many more leads at once, without taking up all of your time.
This means that you’ll be able to turn more prospects into leads, and more leads into qualified leads. They’ll come into your sales funnel with a better understanding of your business, and a clearer idea of why it’s valuable to them.
<h2>7. Companies using an MAS have reported conversion rates up to 50%.</h2>
An MAS opens up a world of communication with your customers. You can follow up warm leads with personalized correspondence, automatic reminders, and even birthday wishes.
All of this keeps you in constant contact with your prospect and customer base, increasing their trust in you while boosting your conversion rates. If you’ve had difficulty closing with your prospects, it may mean that you need to automate your marketing efforts.
<h2>8. 36% of marketers state that marketing automation systems help them get more out of their marketing efforts by taking repetitive tasks out of their hands.</h2>
There is a common misconception that when an MAS is utilized, it will entirely replace a company’s existing marketing department. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Marketing automation systems are designed to augment your existing efforts, and because they can take repetitive, unskilled tasks out of your marketers’ hands, it frees them up to do higher-level work. No longer will they have to be concerned with monitoring every customer and prospect in every section of your sales funnel. Instead, the MAS will keep tabs on this for them, so that they can dig deeper into your market and brainstorm new ways to connect with your audience.
<h2>9. Most importantly, 63% of companies that outgrow their competition use marketing automation.</h2>
All of these stats add up to giving you an undeniable advantage over the companies in your industry that are handling their marketing the old-fashioned way. An MAS doesn’t just let you get more out of your leads and customers, it also lets you get more out of your employees – and that adds up to explosive growth.
To put this in perspective, 60% of companies that earn more than $500 million a year use marketing automation – versus only 3% making less than $5 million. It’s clearly a strategy that the biggest players have recognized will benefit them tremendously in the long run. As you’ve seen in the above statistics, an MAS will help your business not only grow revenue, but also cut costs.
Moreover, you don’t have to blow up your company’s marketing budget to get started using an MAS. Whether you’re looking for all the bells, whistles, and every in between offered by a more expensive, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/8-enterprise-marketing-automation-softwares-to-complement-your-cms/">enterprise-level MAS</a> solution, or you simply want a <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/12-free-or-super-cheap-marketing-automation-systems/">high-quality yet cost-effective SMB-level MAS</a> solution to supercharge your marketing efforts, there are plenty of options available.
<h2>Make The Change, See The Results</h2>
If you haven’t already done so, it’s time you brought your company’s marketing efforts up to speed with the current marketing landscape by <a href="/8-enterprise-marketing-automation-softwares-to-complement-your-cms/" target="_blank">choosing an marketing automation system that best suits the needs of your business</a>.
After all, if there’s one thing that these statistics should have made clear to you: when used properly, marketing automation systems get impressive results.
Which of the nine stats stands out most to you? Leave us a comment below.

10 Stats to Prove That Your Business Needs a Marketing Automation System

<a href="/products/bigcommerce">Bigcommerce</a>, one of the world's most successful eCommerce platforms, has named former HomeAway and PayPal executive Brent Bellm as their new Chief Executive Officer.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/logo-1.png" />The eCommerce platform has grown impressively in recent years, and now powers almost 100,000 stores across the world. Brands like Samsung, Marvel and Ubisoft also make use of <a href="/products/bigcommerce">Bigcommerce</a>.That growth was recognized by CMS Critic in the 2014 CMS Awards, where <a href="/products/bigcommerce">Bigcommerce</a> was crowned winner of the <a href="/2014-winner-best-ecommerce-for-enterprise-and-best-ecommerce-for-smb/">Critic's Choice for Best Enterprise eCommerce Solution for SMB</a>.Here's a look at the company's latest and most significant recruit.<h2>“A Strong Backbone”</h2>Bigcommerce have said that they, “sought a leader whose backbone is strong, but whose ultimate goal is employee and customer success.”For them, they have found such a leader in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/pub/brent-bellm/14/52/3b3">Brent Bellm</a>.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/23584f4.jpg" />The executive was formerly the President and CCO of HomeAway Inc, as well as the VP of Global Product and CEO of Europe at PayPal. An illustrious professional history by anyone's standards.Here's what the new Bigcommerce CEO had to say upon his appointment:<blockquote>“In just six years, Bigcommerce has grown from a small, relatively unknown company to a recognized leader and disrupting force in commerce.I have been serving offline and online retailers, with a focus on small- and mid-sized ones, for 20 years. Bigcommerce is the right platform at the right time and place to power these merchants and drive business results.”</blockquote>Bigcommerce have also <a target="_blank" href="http://blog.bigcommerce.com/brent-bellm/">conducted a light hearted interview with their new CEO on their blog</a>, which is well worth reading if you want a better feel for exactly who Brent Bellm is.To find out more about Brent Bellm's appointment, or to get started with your own store, check out the <a href="/products/bigcommerce">Bigcommerce website</a>.Plus, you can explore more of <a href="/products/bigcommerce">Bigcommerce through our CMS Directory</a>.

Bigcommerce Appoints Brent Bellm As CEO

It was a mild yet sunny October day in Paris, and just a short distance from the world famous L’arc de Triomphe, the eZ Conference 2016 was about to kick off.
Before I get into the conference itself, let me just take a moment to comment on the superb venue.
The Châteauform' City Le Cnit is a relatively small building in comparison to the stunning skyscrapers that surround it, but its architecture is remarkable nonetheless – both inside and out. Kudos to the eZ Systems team for their venue selection.
<h2>“CMS Is Not Dead”</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/img_6465733x0-is.jpg" />
The opening keynote was delivered by the founders of eZ Systems, Bard Farstad and Aleksander Farstad. Together, they shed light on the vision of eZ Systems, hammering home their content-centric approach.
Interestingly, they saw it fit to also mention that:
<blockquote>
.<a href="https://twitter.com/eZSystems">@eZSystems</a> founders <a href="https://twitter.com/bardfarstad">@BardFarstad</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/AleksFarstad">@AleksFarstad</a>:
“CMS is not dead, it's just not the CMS you knew from the past.” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/eZConf2016?src=hash">#eZConf2016</a>
— CMS Critic (@cmscritic) <a href="https://twitter.com/cmscritic/status/783643953530798080">October 5, 2016</a>
</blockquote>
What they meant of course, was that the way in which consumers consume content has changed drastically over the last ten years – and eZ Systems is prepared to help brands take their content to audiences through every available channel in a way that's consistent.
It was a solid opening keynote which settled everybody in for the day ahead. There was a business and technical track running simutaneously, so every attendee would have felt catered to.
Mark Brincat from The Economist was next up, and he showcased some of the benefits that eZ Systems had afforded the global publishing company. At one point, he walked us through the astonishing array of channels that The Economist's content can be found through.
<blockquote>
From Amazon Echo to Apple TV; thanks to some help from <a href="https://twitter.com/eZSystems">@eZSystems</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/TheEconomist">@TheEconomist</a> has a seriously long list of distribution channels.
<a href="https://t.co/QUJMhJZJ8f">pic.twitter.com/QUJMhJZJ8f</a>
— CMS Critic (@cmscritic) <a href="https://twitter.com/cmscritic/status/783658710577061888">October 5, 2016</a>
</blockquote>
Coffee and snacks were available throughout the day, and there was some fun to be had, too.
A wacky photo competition was in full flow during break time, and an interactive table made it possible for attendees to squeeze in a quick game of Candy Crush before the next presentation.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/img_64622482x2448-cropx458y0-is384x0-is.jpg" />
Kieron Sambrook-Smith from <a href="https://platform.sh/" target="_blank">Platform.sh</a> also presented, and he used his time to walk us through the benefits of Platform, which enables enterprise-grade software to embrace the power of the cloud. So far, they have partnered with large brands such as Orange, Magento, Microsoft, and most recently, eZ Systems
<a href="/ez-systems-partners-with-platform.sh-to-accelerate-development-of-content-rich-websites-and-applications/" target="_blank">Platform's partnership with eZ Systems was only recently announced</a>, and naturally, that announcement came as the eZ team unveiled their plans to offer a cloud based PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) solution.
<h2>The Pitfalls of Digital Transformation</h2>
Dietmar Schantin from OwnWay Media capped the day off by taking us through his personally selected, ‘7 Pitfalls of Digital Transformation (And how to Avoid Them)'.
He touched on the lack of resources, poor management, and lack of efficiency that so often plagues the digital transformation process of a brand or organization. He also offered some sound advice on how to combat each issue.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/img_64712048x1335-cropx0y223-is580x0-is.jpg" />
It was an insightful and highly relevant presentation which I thoroughly enjoyed, and the live Q&amp;A session that came afterwards went down a treat, too.
To polish off the day, eZ hosted their annual awards ceremony later in the evening. There was plenty of pre-award food, hype, and entertainment (the master of ceremonies was seriously good at his job), and the awards themselves were handed out with a few jokes. It was effortlessly casual, and that felt perfect after a day of formalities.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/img_64842048x1344-cropx0y404-is576x0-is.jpg" />
Now that I'm back in my hotel room, I can safely say that day one of the eZ Conference 2016 was a success. The atmosphere was jovial, the food was good, and the presentations were useful. Plus, the awards ceremony was pretty damn entertaining.
Here’s to an even better day two!

eZ Conference 2016 Day One: CMS Is Alive & Digital Transformation Is Tricky

Ghost, one of WordPress' competitors in the blogging arena, have made some major interface changes improving the overall look and feel of the system and making it easier to work within it.Here's a screenshot of the new interface:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zelda635x0-is.png" />Now, for comparison purposes, here's the old one:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2013-11-11_07_11_23-mozilla_firefox_1125x0673x0-is.png" />Are you can see, pretty significant changes. From the post on Ghost.org announcing the change:<blockquote>This project has been a work in progress since the end of last year, and we're very excited to see it being used out in the wild.The biggest change has been to the main structure and navigation within Ghost's admin. We were fast hitting the limits on the old top-nav placement. The new side-menu placement should provide some familiarity to most desktop applications, works better on mobile and, significantly, gives us a lot more space and flexibility to introduce upcoming new features. Winky face.</blockquote>Search has also been improved drastically as show in the animated gif below:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/search.gif" />For more information on Ghost <a href="/products/ghost">visit their page</a> in the CMS directory or check them out on the web at <a target="_blank" href="http://ghost.org">http://ghost.org</a>

Ghost Improves Interface with New Look and Functionality

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<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/understandinguxd-620x354.jpg" alt="understanding user experience design" />
When you hear the phrase “user experience design,” you will have one of two reactions: 1) you skip over the phrase because it sounds like meaningless techno-jargon. 2. You latch on to the word because you know what UXD is, and want to find out more. For the uninitiated “user experience design” is the kind of term you just want to skim over, because you frankly don't care.
This article is going to tell you what you need to know about user experience design. It's pretty important.

<h2>So, tell me. What does UX, UXD, and UED mean?</h2>
First off, lets get the acronym stuff out of the way. UXD and UED stand for User Experience Design. The end goal of UXD and UED is UX, or User Experience.
<h2>Who needs to be concerned about UXD?</h2>
The people who are interested in UXD are mostly designers and developers. However, UXD affects more people than just those who use codes and colors. If an organization is involved with the web, UXD is important for just about everyone in that organization.
<h2>I still don't know what it is. Please define “User Experience Design.”</h2>
Here's the formal-sounding definition. User experience design refers to how a person (user) interacts with (experiences) a piece of technology (design).
<h2>What does UXD look like in real life?</h2>
Let’s pretend that a tech company wants to create a device that measures the heart rate of swimmers, times their laps, and tracks their progress toward specific goals. Maybe that want to create an aquatic form of <a href="http://runkeeper.com/home" target="_blank">RunKeeper</a>….SwimKeeper. In order to create this device or application, the designers and developers need to determine the best support device (e.g., Android, iPhone, waterproof case), any accessories required (e.g., underwater heart rate monitor), an interface for usability, understandable actions (swipe, tap, scroll, etc.), and additional features that may be helpful for swimmers (e.g., team goals, competitions, etc.).
The whole process of developing the device and software is a design process — experience design. Thus, every member of the development team participates in user experience design as they create SwimKeeper (or whatever they choose to call it).
<h2>So, how does it all work out in practice?</h2>
When a digital design firm, software business, or app developer begins a project, UXD should be leading the project. Everyone who is involved in the project carries forward a component of UXD. The visual designer's UXD contribution is to makes appealing colors, button sizes, and logos. A crucial contributor to UXD, the programmer, minimizes delay time for loading and startup screens. The information architect advances UXD by creating a wireframe that is aesthetic and intuitive. The project manager visualizes the tasks of the enduser, and how it all relates to UXD.
Unless the team has a clear, unified UXD strategy, team members will either start crying or throwing pens at each other.
<h2>What is a good UXD strategy, then?</h2>
UXD underlies much of the activity of technology firms and online businesses. It's important, then, to have a UXD strategy. Here are three points to remember as you consider your UXD strategy.
<h3>1.  Know what UXD is.</h3>
This is easier said than done. There is no single sacred and unbending definition of UXD. The term is so broad and unwieldy that it defies tidy definitions. Just check out <a href="http://uxdesign.com/about-user-experience-design/article/top-ten-seven-definitions-of-ux-design/24" target="_blank">this conflicted article</a> by uxdesign.com.
However, despite the definition-defying nature of UXD, it’s helpful to have some awareness about what it is and how it works. If your team has the same general definition, all the better. At the very least, become acquainted with UXD and some of its components. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_experience_design" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a> is a fine place to start.
<h3>2.  Figure out your users.</h3>
Now it’s time to dig into the real work of user experience design. User experience design is, obviously, about how the user experiences and interacts with your stuff. So instead of just making cool stuff, you must start by understanding the users. Who are they? What do they do? How do they do it? How do they think? What do they like? Where are they? Why are they doing this? How much money do they have? How old are they? What language do they speak. This is a process of questioning, interviewing, understanding, researching and knowing. In the long run, it pays off.
Keep in mind that a good UXD strategy is more than just making stuff with nice features, a good-looking design, or a flawless interface. User experience is about psychology and the enigmatic and dynamic interaction between humans and computers.
<h3>3.  Unify your project around your user profile.</h3>
The process involves the user at every step of the way. Since you've figured out who your users are, you can now deliver a product that meets their needs. Your entire project has a focal point — the user. Now, whip out your best UXD and get to it!
Mary Muckerman, in an article for Fast Company, wrote, “user experience is the heart of any company.”
The heart? Of any company? Really?
It’s a big statement, but it’s true. User experience influences everything, or at least it should.

What You Need to Know About User Experience Design

daniel-threlfall

ShopLocket, known for being a sleek and easily embeddable eCommerce solution, is shutting its doors for good. Thankfully for ShopLocket users though, FoxyCart are extending a helping hand.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/shoplocket-logo-fc61f95548fc7c1c05ad9dd827fca615.png" /> According to the notice on the ShopLocket website, June 30th is the official discontinuation date.
ShopLocket has also issued some advice on what their users should do next. Essentially though, ShopLocket users have no choice but to jump ship.
<h2>FoxyCart To The Rescue</h2>
Although ShopLocket users are free to migrate anywhere they wish, <a href="http://www.foxycart.com/shoplocket-ecommerce-offer" target="_blank">FoxyCart seems to be the only eCommerce solution offering a supported migration option out of ShopLocket</a>.
FoxyCart is an eCommerce solution that, like ShopLocket, is designed to be used alongside existing websites already leaning on a CMS and various business tools. FoxyCart is lightweight, popular and integrates well with a variety of platforms, from WordPress to Salesforce. <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/foxycart695x0-is.jpg" />Here's FoxyCart's direct message to ShopLocket users:
<blockquote>
“We’re here to help you migrate over and start selling again. In fact, we’ll create FoxyCart versions of your ShopLocket products for you and help you get them on your website.”
</blockquote>
ShopLocket have openly admitted that, although users can export order data in CSV format, there's no way to export product details. Hence, ShopLocket merchants with more than a handful of products are looking at a lengthy re-uploading process to get all their products on to a new platform.
With that in mind, FoxyCart's generous offer to help with this process directly will surely be welcomed by many ShopLocket users. A much-needed life jacket for those jumping ship.
Learn more about <a href="http://www.foxycart.com/shoplocket-ecommerce-offer" target="_blank">FoxyCart's ShopLocket exit plan</a>.
To explore more of FoxyCart as an eCommerce platform, <a href="http://www.foxycart.com/" target="_blank">check out their website</a>.

ShopLocket Discontinued, FoxyCart Steps In To Help Merchants Migrate

<a href="https://www.act-on.com/" target="_blank">Act-On Software</a>, the marketing automation software provider for small and mid-sized businesses, has announced the launch of its latest solution customized for various industries. They've called it Act-On Industry Solutions.
<a href="https://www.act-on.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/act-on_logo.png" /></a>
The industries targeted by Act-On with this release, include; healthcare, travel, finance, manufacturing &amp; retail.
Essentially, Act-On Industry Solutions is a digital collection of marketing assets, pre-built automated workflows, and industry-specific benchmark results designed to help customers improve their ROI and measure success.
<h2>Finely Tuned for Specific Industries</h2>
Act-On has conducted research to finely tune their offering specifically for the industries mentioned above.
From content that uses industry-specific terminology to communication workflows that follow industry norms and protocols, marketers can benefit by measuring individual results against their industry peers to better assess program effectiveness and improve overall performance.
Act-On Industry Solutions offers up:
<ul>
<li>Content – Industry-specific templates for emails, forms, and landing pages with multiple campaign examples that can be easily imported/exported across accounts.</li>
<li>Programs – Pre-built automated workflows to support multi-step nurture and engagement campaigns.</li>
<li>Benchmarks – Access to aggregated performance results for marketing activities in various industries.</li>
</ul>
The CMO of Act-On Software, Atri Chatterjee, pointed out how this new offering is about helping brands get effective marketing campaigns off the ground quickly:
<blockquote>
“We've expanded on our promise of simplicity without compromise by providing our customers with the ability to not only get up and running on the platform quickly, but also access pre-built templates and workflows to make their marketing more relevant and effective for their industry.”
</blockquote>
Act-On Industry Solutions will be available in December 2015 for the five industries listed above. Furthermore, Act-On plan to widen their coverage, with plans to expand the number of industries it supports as well as the content templates and program types it offers.
For more information on Act-On Industry Solutions, <a href="http://press.act-on.com/press-releases/act-on-software-launches-act-on-industry-solutions-to-make-marketing-automation--1231345" target="_blank">check out the official press release</a>.

Act-On Software Targets Specific Industries with Act-On Industry Solutions

<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/enonicstandingcloud-620x356.jpg" alt="Enonic Teams up with Standing Cloud" />
Enonic, the company behind the namesake Enonic CMS, just announced that they are launching open source Enonic CMS Community Edition in the cloud. They have teamed up with Standing Cloud, creating a fresh platform that gives users more flexibility, options, and simplicity.

Enonic CMS is a Java-based software platform for business-critical, innovative, and enterprise-level web solutions. The new cloud offering eliminates the need for downloads. Since it’s open source, it will likely crack open new areas of the market.
Enonic’s move to the cloud is rich in options. Users can select their own hosting provider, data center, and geography. Cloud option providers include Amazon, HP Cloud, Rackspace, VPS.net, and more. Enonic Cloud Hosting also gives users portability options, allowing customers to switch to an alternate cloud provider or platform.
Better upgrades, free backups, point-and-click access to management services, 24×7 server monitoring, auto-restore, and more features are all part of the new face of Enonic CMS. It’s truly a move in the right direction.
Standing Cloud is a one of the foremost providers of cloud marketplace and management solutions. Within just the past few months, we’ve discussed how <a href="/soario-launches-hosted-symphony-cms-cloud-offering-powered-by-standing-cloud/">Soario</a>, <a href="/setseed-cms-launches-new-hosted-cloud-solution-built-on-standing-cloud-platform/">SetSeed</a>, and <a href="/mura-cms-launches-hosted-cloud-offering-built-on-standing-cloud-platform/">Mura</a> have all launched hosted cloud offerings built on Standing Cloud.
<h2>About Standing Cloud</h2>
Standing Cloud is a leading provider of cloud application marketplace and management solutions. Integrating application software with on-demand infrastructure, we deliver an automated application layer for cloud providers, technology solutions providers and ISVs that makes application deployment and management simple for their customers.
The Standing Cloud Marketplace includes a web-based Marketplace Storefront, where cloud users can discover, purchase and deploy software and applications; an Orchestration Engine for provisioning and managing IaaS resources, applications and add-ons through their production lifecycle; and automated Software Packaging, utilizing scripted software packaging to add software to the marketplace and enabling multi-cloud deployment and management via the orchestration engine.
Founded in 2009, Standing Cloud is based in Boulder, Colorado. Investors include Foundry Group and Avalon Ventures.  Visit us online at <a href="http://www.standingcloud.com/">www.standingcloud.com</a>.
<h2>About Enonic</h2>
Enonic is a leading Norwegian based software vendor. The company developed the Java-based web platform Enonic CMS to enable medium to large-sized enterprises to offer a complete and integrated web experience. The Enonic platform supports the entire web value-chain, from business and communication/marketing to development and IT. The company was founded in 2000. Visit us online at <a href="http://www.enonic.com">Enonic.com</a>.

Enonic and Standing Cloud Team up to Bring Open Source CMS Community Edition to the Cloud

Clickability has announced this morning a new and improved user interface for their SaaS (software-as-a-service) web content management system.
According to their press release, Clickability's new UI allows them to offer the following benefits:
<ul>
<li> More Control for Marketers and Content Authors: An intuitive visual environment allows marketers and content authors to more easily edit web page layouts and templates without the help of IT, while in-context editing lets them rapidly create and update content. As a result, they have more control over website presentation and the ability to provide rich, impactful content experiences.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li> Increased Marketing Agility: Design aesthetics have been separated from content and layout, allowing users to independently update designs, layout, and content on the fly with no expensive customizations required. Users are not locked into their design choices and are liberated to swiftly implement new marketing initiatives.   </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li> Faster Content Publishing Across Multiple Channels: Out-of-the-box multi-channel capabilities are built into content and design workflows, removing the need for costly customizations and additional time-consuming steps when publishing to multiple channels. Proprietary technology automatically delivers responsive design, allowing ideal viewing of content and images on all devices.  Users can also preview, as they are editing, how content and designs will appear on desktop, mobile, and tablet devices to ensure optimal customer experiences throughout the digital experience.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li> Sleek and Configurable Experience:   An intuitive, drag-and-drop UI lets users easily complete tasks and perform the most critical functions quickly. They can also tailor their own experiences within the UI by configuring views, navigations, fields, and workflows in a way that best fits their specific needs and preference.</li>
</ul>
Taking a look at the new interface, you can see that it now offers a cleaner and more visually appealing look. The screenshot below is of the content editor which enables users of the tool to create, edit and update website content. It contains workflow capabilities, content configuration and in-context editing functionality as well as the ability to view multiple page layouts.
<img style="display:block;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/content-editor570x0.png" alt="Clickability Content Editor" />
Below is a screenshot of the new Template Editor which is a visual environment for combining page layouts with design bundles and page elements to create publishing-ready page templates. Users create any number of custom templates and easily drag and drop page elements. Additional capabilities include auto-built field and component libraries and multi-device preview.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/templateditor570x0.png" alt="Clickability Template Editor" />
<blockquote>
“Today’s marketers and content authors face increasing demands and expectations,” said Noah Logan, General Manager, Clickability.  “They are tasked with continually publishing new content globally, personalizing customer experiences, integrating campaigns across channels, and quickly addressing new needs and initiatives.  As we developed our new UI, we worked with our users to identify what they required to successfully address these requirements, and we then applied these insights.  The outcome is a very flexible offering that empowers all types of users to execute their strategies effectively.”
</blockquote>
For more on this release, visit <a href="http://www.clickability.com/">www.clickability.com</a>

Clickability Launches New User Interface

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