Articles - Page 125

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

matt-garrepy

We’ve already explored <a href="/ingeniux-web-experience-management-content-management-social-collaboration/">Ingeniux as a web experience management, content management and social collaboration solution</a>. Now though, it’s time to look at the platform’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) positioning.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ingeniux_cms_home_preview668x0-is.png" />Ingeniux CMS is offered as an on-premise solution and as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution. The majority of Ingeniux customers use the SaaS solution, which provides full application and website management. Ingeniux has a global network with operations in the US, Canada, and Europe, and Asia.Ingeniux was early to the SaaS market. With over ten years under its belt as a SaaS solution, ingeniux finds itself in a position to offer modern brands a streamlined entry and re-entry into an online market that’s more demanding than ever before.<h2>What is SaaS?</h2>Before we delve into the benefits of Ingeniux as a SaaS solution, it may be wise to understand what SaaS actually is.Software-as-a-Service, commonly known as SaaS, is typically a software that’s centrally hosted and licensed on a subscription basis.So, instead of having software installed and configured on-premise, end users can take out a subscription, and enjoy the benefits of readily hosted, automatically set up, automatically updated and vendor-managed software.<h2>Ingeniux &amp; SaaS</h2>Ingeniux has been offering itself as a SaaS solution since 2005, Dave Hillis, the Ingeniux VP of Business Development, shed some light on how Ingeniux is positioned in the market:<blockquote>“People often don’t think of Ingeniux as a SaaS CMS, but Ingeniux is one of the leading SaaS options in content management. The platform has a very mature offering and strong Service Level Agreement. Ultimately SaaS is all about support.It’s a very different business model where Ingeniux and the customer have equal stakes in customer success. Ingeniux is part of the customer’s team. It takes a long time to learn how to be good at SaaS and build the operations and capabilities to successfully manage complex websites and applications.We feel that our track record, uptime, and service-level are unmatched in the industry .”</blockquote>The Ingeniux SaaS program also includes website and CMS application management, cloud services, 24/7 support, disaster recovery, security, and fully managed upgrades.Because of the high-level of service and security, Ingeniux has many large, regulated companies in its SaaS solutions, including financial services with AIG and Janus Capital, energy with Hawaiian Electric Company, Diamond Offshore and TransOcean, high scale media companies like Patheos, and large trade associations and Universities.On top of the benefits mentioned above by Dave Hillis, brands who adopt a Software-as-a-Service product will see further advantages.One such benefit can be found in the virtualization of the software. Virtualization provides dedicated networks that can be configured for the customer’s needs, provides a high-level of security, enhanced performance without bad neighbor degradation, and easier multi-site set-up for disaster recovery and failover.<h2>Ingeniux: Bringing it All Together</h2>The Ingeniux SaaS architecture supports zero website down-time for upgrades. Upgrades are delivered when the customer is ready, and are fully tested in a UAT (User Acceptance Testing) environment before being moved into production.Ingeniux CMS is architected for the cloud with a NoSQL database, a high performance mem-cache delivery system, native support for CDN, and decoupled architecture that supports multi-site deployment. Furthermore, the software has been certified by Microsoft for Azure Sites deployment with auto-scaling as a deployment option.The aim of Ingeniux is to capture all of these combined benefits in the best way possible through their SaaS offering. And I have to commend them for that, because those are the benefits that every modern brand is looking for.To find out more about Ingeniux, visit <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ingeniux.com/">their website</a>.

A Look at the SaaS Positioning of Ingeniux

mike-johnston

<a href="https://buddypress.org" target="_blank">BuddyPress</a>, the popular WordPress social network and community building plugin, has just released its latest version.
Following its tradition of naming versions after their favourite restaurants, BuddyPress 2.3.0 has been titled after “Chez Livio”, an Italian Pizza specialist in Paris, France.
Version 2.3.0 comes bundled with a number of noteworthy features.
<h2>New Avatar UI, Better Blog Media Handling &amp; More</h2>
First up, BuddyPress users now have better control over avatars, thanks to a new interface.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/avatar-ui.gif" />
The interface allows users to drag-and-drop upload and then quickly crop their desired image.
Users who have a webcam enables, or users who are using their smartphones will also be able to take a photo directly from the interface using the “Take Photo” tab.
BuddyPress 2.3.0 is the best looking version yet, thanks to companion stylesheets for bundles WordPress themes like Twenty Fifteen.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/twentyfourteen.jpg" />
Also, blog media, such as images and video, will now show up in activity feeds as part of the excerpt when blog posts are published.
Further features include member-type specific directories and private message starring for better inbox organization.
The initial announcement was made on the <a href="https://buddypress.org/2015/06/buddypress-2-3-livio/" target="_blank">BuddyPress blog</a>.
And as always, be sure to explore more of <a href="/products/buddypress/" target="_blank">BuddyPress via our CMS Directory</a>.

BuddyPress 2.3.0 “Livio” Released

Established in 2009, Cloudways Click&amp;Go is a Malta-based managed <a href="http://www.cloudways.com/en/cloud?id=10601" target="_blank"> cloud hosting </a>  solution.
With <a href="http://www.cloudways.com/en/cloud?id=10601" target="_blank"> Cloudways Click&amp;Go </a> , independent bloggers, designers, developers, web agencies, small businesses and enterprises can all deploy popular web applications with just one click.
These web applications include WordPress, Magento, Drupal, Joomla, and Moodle. Cloudways Click&amp;Go also lets you deploy PHPStack, which enables you to manually install any CMS or App you wish to.
Cloudways Click&amp;Go is a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and is hosted entirely in the Amazon EC2 cloud – so there's no downloading or installation required. The ideas is that you configure exactly how much you want your server to offer, with the option to scale later on if you wish.
Cloudways describe their platform as:
<blockquote>“An affordable, Secure and Scalable Cloud Hosting that super-charges your websites.”</blockquote>
So, the aim of Cloudways Click&amp;Go is to simplify application deployment, before offering secure, speedy hosting with options to scale your online presence.
With this review, I'll explore just how much of that Cloudways does, and how well it does it.
<h2>Initial Thoughts</h2>
When it comes to online platforms and services, the host's website is important. It's where you go for support, and it provides customers and clients with their first impressions of the product along with the team behind it.
The Cloudways website is professional. When I paid it my first visit, I was convinced that I'd eventually be using a platform which was being run by a team who knew what they were doing – and that's precisely the type of vibe a website should send out.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/0700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" />
I did have some gripes though. Despite each page looking simple at first glance, I noticed that those same pages were quite lengthy.
I found myself scrolling more than I should have in an attempt to find out what Cloudways could do. There's plenty of text, but the main issue was the size of that text, along with the bulky nature of other elements.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/0_01700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" />
Obviously, the Cloudways website isn't their platform. However, I'm always weary of issues like these, as they often leak into the platform itself.
<h2>Getting Started</h2>
Cloudways offer a 3-day free trial, asking you to provide your email address and cell number – which is needed in order to receive a a verification code. No credit card is required though, which is nice.
As part of the set up process, Cloudways Click&amp;Go allows you to select precisely what you want your plan to include. Server sizes, bandwidth, storage size and more can all be finely configured.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/0_1.png" alt="cloudways review" />
Thanks to Cloudway's pay-as-you-go pricing system, the monthly price you pay will depend entirely on what exactly you request for your plan.
Here's what you get to configure:
<h3>Applications</h3>
First of all, you'll be asked to select which application you want to run with.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/1700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" /> 
WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Magento, Moodle, Media Wiki and PHP Stack are all on offer. For the sake of this review, I selected WordPress.
<h3>Server Size</h3>
Step two lets you select the exact size of the server you wish to create.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" />
Using the slider, you can select the amount of pageviews per month you're expecting to receive. From this, Cloudways recommends a server size for you.
<h3>Location</h3>
Step three allows you to select your server location, which is done via a simple drop-down menu. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/3700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" />
Cloudways Click&amp;Go has 8 datacenter locations to select from. These include:
<ul>
<li>USA – Northern Virginia</li>
<li>USA – Northern California</li>
<li>USA – Oregon</li>
<li>EU – Ireland</li>
<li>Asia Pacific – Singapore</li>
<li>Asia Pacific – Sydney</li>
<li>Asia Pacific – Tokyo</li>
<li>South America – Sao Paulo</li>
</ul>
<h3>Bandwidth</h3>
Step four asks you to select your desired bandwidth.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/4700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" /> 
Once again, you can use the slider to set the total GB of bandwidth you want, or simply type in into the field to the right of the slider.
<h3>Storage</h3>
Finally, you can also decide on the storage/disk size of your server.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/5700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" />
This section is split into two; Application Web Files and Database. The slider makes another appearance, allowing you to quickly define the exact storage size of each section.
Below step five is the Pay as you Go counter, which adapts to the changes you make in any of the above steps. More bandwidth for example, pushed the price up. I thought it was a nice touch to display it on the server configuration screen, since it allows customers to make changes immediately – before server set up begins – in order to accommodate their budgets.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/6.png" alt="cloudways review" /> 
However, I would have preferred if the pricing was scrolling with me as I went through the steps, instead of being the last thing you see before launch.
After I configured all of the steps and was happy with the price, I simply hit “Launch”. Cloudways then got to work on creating the server which I had just designed. It told me I needed to wait 7 minutes, which isn't too bad.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/7700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" /> 
In the meantime, I had a handy introduction video to watch, which walked me through some of the core features of Cloudways Click&amp;Go.
<h2>Server Management</h2>
After set up was complete, I was presented with my new server on the same set up page, just as I had designed it.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/8700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" />
I renamed it, checked the various stats and facts, and noticed some handy options including; stop, restart, delete, add app, clone and of course, manage server. Clicking “Manage Server” allowed me to get to some more interesting features.
The Server Management tab gives you a quick summary of your server, similar to the summary shown on the previous set up page.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/8_9700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" />
Scrolling further down revealed the following features and options, neatly laid out in expandable tabs.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/tabs700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" />
<h3>Monitoring</h3>
One of the most impressive features I found within Cloudways Click&amp;Go, was monitoring. Using an extremely simple graph and drop-down menu, you can choose to analyse  over 15 different variables, including; Idle CPU, Reads per Seconds, Incoming Network Traffic, and so forth.
Furthermore, you can choose to view statistics hourly, every 12 hours, daily, weekly and monthly.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/9700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" />
What I liked most about the monitoring feature though, was the short and sweet explanation of each variable. For example, in the image above, you can see a short explanation of what Idle CPU means. This goes for every other variable also, and makes the statistics approachable for less technically orientated users. A small, but very useful feature indeed.
<h3>Vertical Scaling</h3>
If you need to scale your server or disk size up at any time, Cloudways Click&amp;Go lets you do so with ease.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/10700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" />
Found below the monitoring tab, the Vertical Scaling tab allows you to use a slider across three different sections, giving yourself more or less room to expand your server. Naturally, new costs will be incurred for scaling, in line with the Pay as you Go system. Personally, I think this is a brilliant way to manage a server.
<h3>Manage Services</h3>
Other services like MySQL, Apache and so forth can also be managed through the server management section.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/11700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" />
You can stop, restart, purge and disable certain services, as well as review their active or inactive statuses.
<h3>Backups</h3>
One of the most important aspects of any cloud-based hosting solution is the backup system. Cloudways Click&amp;Go enables you to set the server to back itself up every day, two days, and so forth – up to a weekly period.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/12700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" />
You can also click “Take Server backup now” to manually backup the server. It could be argued that some customers may wish for more frequent backup periods, but once per day seems reasonable as a starting point.
<h3>Add-ons</h3>
Although Gmail SMTP is the only add-on available, the tab is present in the server management section. Naturally, this means that Cloudways are working on further add-ons.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/13700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" /> 
It's a shame though, that only one is current available. It makes you wonder whether the add-on section should even be accessible at this point.
<h2>Application Management</h2>
Switching to the “Application Management” tab, you'll find some more technical configurations waiting to be tinkered with (or left well alone). 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/14700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" /> A summary of your server is given, along with admin area access credentials and MySQL access credentials. You also have the option to launch an SSH terminal, along with secure FTP credentials.
Just like with the Server Management section, you'll find more options further down the page.
<h3>CNAME/Alias Management</h3>
In the CNAM/Alias Management tab, you can add a new alias, which is essentially a domain name.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/15700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" />
Once again Cloudways offers a helping hand, informing you to create a CNAME DNS record on your DNS provider in order for the alias to work correctly.
<h3>Restoring Backups</h3>
Backing up files is important, but not if you can't restore them again. Cloudways enables you to do this from the Application Manager section – although I personally feel it would make more sense to place this feature along with the backup feature, in the Server management section.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/restore700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" />
Nevertheless, the option is indeed there as expected, and allows you to restore the latest backup. This is fine, although the option to see a list of recent backups and select files manually would greatly improve this rather important feature.
On top of these application management features, Cloudways Click&amp;Go also offer SSL Certificate configuration, and are currently working on two further features. These are Application Add-ons and Migrator Tools. Both of these upcoming features – although empty tabs – are present in the admin dashboard. Again, this doesn't do much for the simplicity of Cloudways's interface, providing unnecessary clutter.
<h2>Getting Help</h2>
Cloudways do a really solid job when it comes to help and support.
With 24/7 live chat (with helpful staff on the other end), an FAQ section and a dedicated <a href="https://support.cloudways.com/en/" target="_blank"> knowledge base </a>  with searchable archives, there's little room for anybody to get lost and stay lost whilst using Cloudways.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/help700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" />
Also, dotted around the admin panel are useful help tips, which display when question marks are hovered over. These provide users who aren't technical geniuses find their way around a little easier. It's a nice touch.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/help33700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" />
Ironically though, I actually think Cloudways could do with toning down some of their on-screen support options.
The server management dashboard (and all other pages) display not one, not two, but three support-related tabs.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/help2700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" />
The tab on the right asks visitors and customers for feedback, whilst the tabs on the left and on the bottom of the screen offer the same functionality – live chat.
Both are good to see, but that doesn't mean I want to see them all the time. There's no way to close the tabs, and with two of them offering the same thing, it just seems a bit much.
<h2>Pricing</h2>
With every option set to its lowest possible configuration, Cloudways Click&amp;Go starts from $44.56. For powerhouse users who want to max out every available option, prices soar to $113.92 per month.
However, Cloudways Click&amp;Go is running a 30% off Special Offer, offering the plan which should cost $44.56 at $32.32 instead. It's a pleasant price drop, but I did notice that there was no mention of that within the set up process itself, which left me slightly confused.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/pricing700x0.png" alt="cloudways review" />
Competitors such as Siteground for example, charge from $75.58 for cloud hosting, which puts Cloudways' prices into a pleasant perspective.
Perhaps the icing on the cake for Cloudways Click&amp;Go's pricing, is the 30-day money back guarantee on offer. With starting prices already low, it's a pretty sweet deal.
<h2>The Verdict</h2>
Cloudways Click&amp;Go does a great job of blending technicality and approachability together.
The platform has just the right amount of technical detail for users and businesses to modify, scale and configure their servers to suit their projects, without losing touch with its friendly side. This is partly down to the simple user interface, but perhaps more to do with the useful tips and help windows dotted around, along with the 24/7 live chat support found on every page.
Not to mention, applications like WordPress, Drupal, Joomla and Magento are all seamlessly integrated, making Cloudways one of the better connected hosting solutions out there.
There are a few interface elements which I would change, and a few which I'd remove altogether. But looking at Cloudways Click&amp;Go holistically – I only have positive comments to make.
For me, Cloudways Click&amp;Go is a managed cloud hosting solution which offers everything you need, and all the support you could ever use to keep servers not just running smoothly, but running how you want them to.
<h3>Pros</h3>
<ul>
<li>Cloudways Click&amp;Go offers a great range of applications including WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Moodle, Magento and more.</li>
<li>A simple and user friendly interface</li>
<li>Servers can be built in minutes, renamed, restarted, cloned, deleted and added to, all from the same interface.</li>
<li>Backups are easy to configure and carry out.</li>
<li>Server monitoring is easy, yet very detailed.</li>
<li>You can build your own servers, finely configuring database sizes, bandwidth, and more.</li>
<li>The Pay-as-you-go pricing system works hand in hand with database building, which ensures you pay only for what you need.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Cons</h3>
<ul>
<li>Although the interface is good overall, three support-related tabs on the left, right and bottom of the screen can get annoying.</li>
<li>Only one server add-on available, in the form of Google SMTP.</li>
<li>Minor inteface issues include the presence of features which are not yet ready for use.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Final Remarks</h2>
I've looked into the Cloudways Click&amp;Go interface to determine just how easy it is to run and manage servers. Also, I've read comments dotted around the Internet and Twitter from customers and clients, all of whom seem to be quite happy with the performance of Cloudways.
The only real issues I faced were in the form of some interface elements which could be improved upon. Certainly, the gripes I had with the bloated Cloudways website weren't found in the platform itself. Instead, it was simple, easy on the eyes and above all – fast.
With that being said, I'd have no issues recommending Cloudways Click&amp;Go as a solid cloud hosting solution.
Don't just take my word for it though, start your <a href="http://www.cloudways.com/en/cloud?id=10601" target="_blank"> free 3-day trail with Cloudways Click&amp;Go today </a> .

Cloudways Review

Ingeniux certainly has been racking up a lot of accolades lately. It was named to the EContent 100, a KMWorld Trendsetting Product, a High Performer G2 Crowd, and to the Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest growing companies in the world. One of the reasons for the recent success of Ingeniux is its focus on innovation around core content management features that help brands manage their digital experiences.After looking at the some of the <a href="/ingeniux-web-experience-management-content-management-social-collaboration/">core features of Ingeniux</a>, its standing as a <a href="/a-look-at-the-saas-positioning-of-ingeniux/">SaaS solution</a>, and its positioning as an <a href="/not-all-asp-net-platforms-are-equal/">ASP.NET CMS</a>, it’s time to wrap up this featured week with a focus on the platform’s <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ingeniux.com/">digital asset management</a> capabilities.<h2>The Significance of Digital Asset Management</h2>A CMS acts as the orchestrator for managing and deploying content and digital assets. That includes images, videos, audio files, and more.Without a solid DAM system in place, brands can struggle to upload assets, organise them, find them, and deploy them whenever necessary.Many brands rely on third party Digital Asset Management systems to do the job, but in today’s market, Content Management Systems like Ingeniux are attempting to close the functionality gap.<h2>The Ingeniux Approach to Digital Asset Management</h2>Ingeniux CMS users can upload multiple images, documents, media files, templates, and other assets using the Ingeniux Digital Asset Manager. Its part of the CMS platform and is designed to provide the same level of management and control that web pages and components have in the system.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ingeniux_cms_assets693x0-is.png" /> Assets can be edited with full meta data and usage rights, supporting group-level security and collaboration. The Asset Manager also supports true federation; including integration of Microsoft SharePoint lists for document management, media servers and CDN's for rich media storage, and file level storage in NAS and SAN systems.Speaking of meta data, Ingeniux supports <a target="_blank" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/url?q%3Dhttp://www.ingeniux.com/company/blog/key-taxonomy-features-for-web-content-management-system%26amp;sa%3DD%26amp;usg%3DAFQjCNELIObDiw36BLEL3I5iQQBpApWQfw&amp;sa=D&amp;ust=1448038424818000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEGuEp8LKlSQklcJSTqaDbWPuQmAQ">taxonomy</a> categorization for assets, automatically extracts “machine meta data” from files, and wraps assets with an XML content type with full meta data support.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ingeniux_cms_assets_2654x0-is.png" />The Ingeniux asset manager empowers developers to take control over their code with in-CMS code editing for CSS, ASP.NET, and other languages, code deployment, and code versioning. Ingeniux understand that developers do not want to do all of their development and code management in the CMS, but it’s very handy for quick edits and updates to templates. The CMS also works with Git and other systems.Furthermore, Ingeniux has recently introduced feature to help teams collaborate better when it comes to digital assets. Such new collaboration features include connectors to cloud-based systems and applications for asset storage and import, along with easy staging for reviews and approvals.<h2>“The Same Capabilities as a Standalone DAM Tool”</h2>Dave Hillis, the VP of Business Development over at Ingeniux, has also chimed in on the importance of DAM within Ingeniux:<blockquote>“Assets have never been more important. Ingeniux believes in the shift from web content management to digital experience management. Content is now multi- or omni-channel and needs to be deployed in many locations.The rise of Content Marketing has placed more value on asset management within CMS solutions because assets are often deployed standalone, and more focus is on asset development.Our aim was always to make Assets first class content citizens, meaning that an asset in Ingeniux has the same capabilities as text-based content, including; versioning, workflow, direct publishing, and more.All in all, we wanted to provide a connected DAM solution that provided the same capabilities as a standalone DAM tool, but with better integration and content publishing capabilities.”</blockquote>To find out more about Ingeniux, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ingeniux.com/">visit their website</a>.Furthermore, you can explore more of <a href="/products/ingeniux">Ingeniux via our CMS Directory.</a>

Exploring the Digital Asset Management Features of Ingeniux

Hippo CMS has partnered with Commercetools — the company behind cloud-based eCommerce platform <a href="http://sphere.io/" target="_blank">Sphere.io</a> — in what the two companies have called a “technical alliance”.
As the winner of the <a href="/2014-critics-choice-award-winner-best-free-java-cms/" target="_blank">2014 Critics' Choice Award for Best Free Java CMS</a> and the <a href="/2014-best-enterprise-java-cms/" target="_blank">2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Enterprise Java CMS</a>, Hippo's influence and importance in the Java niche is only increasing.
<img style="max-width:400px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/hippo_logo_-_color_400x0.png" />
Sphere.io is also a well-rounded eCommerce PaaS (platform-as-a-service), servicing the likes of RedBull and Brita.
Here's what this news means for enterprises making use of either platform.
<h2>“Relevant Content &amp; eCommerce Has a Bright Future”</h2>
The integration of Sphere.io and Hippo CMS brings flexibility, agility and the insights of content performance metrics to enterprise eCommerce content strategies and the technical infrastructure supporting them.
For Commercetools, Hippo CMS brings a modern, proven Web Content Management System to support the platform's APIs with the power of relevance, personalization and onsite content targeting.
As for Hippo, partnering with Germany-based Commercetools offers a key step into the DACH region. With offices in Boston and New York both companies will work together to market their joint offering globally.
Hippo's CEO Jeroen Verberg made these comments upon the announcement.
<blockquote>“Hippo has a long history of anticipating future screens and devices, and we’ve found a shared vision in Commercetools.
At Hippo we see that better customer experiences drive results in online commerce. We believe the marriage between relevant content and E-Commerce has a bright future – and we look forward to making that future a reality with this partnership.”</blockquote>
Find out more about Hippo via our CMS Directory.

Hippo Teams With Commercetools to Bring Relevant & Content Rich eCommerce Experiences

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.jahia.com/products/digital-factory">Jahia's</a> second international conference kicked off in sunny Paris yesterday, and it wasn't short of appeal.Mike Johnston and I were in attendance, <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/cmscritic">live-tweeting</a> all the best bits as they happened under the <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JahiaOne?src=hash">#JahiaOne</a> hashtag while soaking up the nerd-friendly atmosphere.Before the conference began, Mike also got to sit down and interview both <a href="/cms-critic-interviews-christopher-justice-of-jahia-ahead-of-jahiaone/">Chris Justice</a> and <a href="/cms-critic-interviews-emmanuel-garcin-of-jahia-ahead-of-jahiaone/">Emmanuel Garcin</a>, discussing Jahia's recent growth, current projects and future aspirations.Here's how the first day of Jahia One went down.<h2>Looking Back on Jahia's Recent Achievements &amp; Preparing For Future Innovations</h2>Just as he did at Jahia One 2014, Elie Auvray, Jahia's CEO and Co-founder, kicked off the proceedings with a welcoming keynote.He spoke of Jahia's growing role in the CMS industry, and expanded on Jahia's focus on building an ethos based upon, “Convergence, Resilience and Commitment”.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/img_2863205x0-is.jpg" />Elie Auvray went on to single out Ben &amp; Jerrys (a Jahia customer) as one successful Jahia case. He told of the company's need to adapt and provide for its growing mobile audience, particularly in the far east.Based on this example of what used to be nothing more than an Ice Cream company, Elie made the call that technology was no longer classed as its own industrial sector. Rather, he asserted that technology was now an integral part of almost every sector in existence.Gene Phifer from Gartner followed up with a presentation of his own, delving deep into how technology is still surprising us — as well as how it will continue to surprise us.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2015-06-11_10_27_44649x0-is-hidpi.jpg" />He spoke of how companies are already using beacons and geofencing to engage and market to customers, the future of 3D printing, smart medical devices, and so forth. More importantly though, he touched on how this technology would impact industries like the healthcare and transportation sectors.The Gartner veteran eventually linked this all back to the growing need for user experience platforms like Jahia to help companies sell experiences, and not just products.<h2>Forms, Cars &amp; Jahia On Your Wrist</h2>Day One of JahiaOne was also host to a presentation of the upcoming Jahia Digital Factory 7.1, given by Senior Vice President Clement Egger.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2015-06-11_11_37_14727x0-is-hidpi.jpg" />Scheduled for release before the end of June, Digital Factory 7.1 brings about features like easy module duplication, “work-in-progress” statuses for unpublished (designed to relieve confusion between multiple editors), improved elastic search, better tag implementation and multi-language publishing.This was followed by a demonstration of Jahia Form Factory, by Stephane Monier, Jahia's VP of Business Development EMEA.Jahia customer Europcar was also present, represented by David Roux. He discussed Europcar's online presence before and after Jahia, detailing the key differences and benefits brought forth by the Jahia platform and support team.He highlighted the launch of 15 websites in 15 different countries within just two days as the most impressive example of how Jahia helped evolve Europcar's online presence.Perhaps the most interesting presentation though, came from Jahia CTO Serge Huber.In an impressive display of technical versatility, Jahia has rapidly responded to the release of the Apple Watch by releasing <a target="_blank" href="http://www.jahia.com/apple-watch">a rather tidy integration</a>. Serge Huber demonstrated the Apple Watch Jahia integration live at the event.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/img_2797545x0-is-hidpi.jpg" />He showed off some handy functionality, including managing and replying to comments, highlighting the convenience of dealing with spam while on the move.Serge Huber stressed that all good Apple Watch apps should refrain from asking you to take out your iPhone in order to make use of the app itself. This was obviously the case with Jahia's integration, which seemed to work extremely well entirely on its own. However, that's not to say that a “Handoff” feature wasn't available for those wanting to continue comment management on their iPhones.<h2>Sailing on The Seine</h2>To cap off the first day of Jahia One, Jahia invited all attendees aboard a boat for a Gala Dinner.The charming vessel cruised through the waters of the Seine river, which flows through the heart of Paris.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2015-06-11_22_20_53727x0-is-hidpi.jpg" />The food was excellent, the atmosphere was friendly, and the views were stunning. Fortunately for everybody on board, night happened to fall just as the boat floated past the Eiffel Tower, giving everyone a beautiful close up view of the tower lighting up as the sun gradually set.Before the boat docked, Mike Johnston presented Elie Auvray with Jahia's recently claimed awards from the 2014 CMS Awards here at CMS Critic.The awards won by Jahia were the <a href="/2014-critics-choice-award-winner-best-java-cms-for-small-to-midsize-business/">Critic's Choice for Best Enterprise JAVA CMS for Small to Midsize Business</a> and the <a href="/2014-critics-choice-award-winner-best-enterprise-java-cms/">Critic's Choice for Best Enterprise JAVA CMS for Enterprise</a>. It was a positive way to end a lovely evening.Stay tuned for our coverage of Day Two on <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/cmscritic">our Twitter page</a>, as well as right here on the website.<a target="_blank" href="http://www.jahiaone.com/home">Learn more about Jahia One</a>.

Jahia One 2015 Day One: Achievements, Apple Watches & A Boat Ride

The progress continues for <a href="https://awards.www.cmscritic.com/vote/" target="_blank">The People's Choice CMS Awards 2015</a>, with the voting stage now well and truly underway. In fact, 500 votes were cast in the very first hour of the polls being open.
<a href="https://awards.www.cmscritic.com/vote/" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/votenow-1.png" /></a>
This year marks the fourth consecutive year of <a href="https://awards.www.cmscritic.com/" target="_blank">CMS Awards</a> here at CMS Critic. The awards are made up of; The People's Choice Awards, and The Critic's Choice Awards.
The awards were originally designed to give the public a way to get behind their favourite products, and also to recognise and reward the progress made by CMS vendors large and small, new and established.
Today, the awards play a big role in the decisions of many soon-to-be webmasters hunting for a sutiable CMS. In fact, <a href="/the-cms-awards-what-they-mean/" target="_blank">CMS vendors themselves have vouched for the importance and relevance of the CMS Awards</a>.
<h2>The Most Inclusive Category List. Ever.</h2>
With the nomination stage now complete, a range of vendors (all of which were selected by you) are now battling within their respective categories.
We've worked hard to make the categoriy list as inclusive as possible this year. The list includes:
<ul>
<li>Best eCommerce Solution for SMB</li>
<li>Best Website Builder</li>
<li>Best Enterprise Portal</li>
<li>Best CMS for Marketers</li>
<li>Best CMS for Developers</li>
<li>Best CMS for Personal Websites</li>
<li>Best CMS for Enterprise</li>
<li>And Many More</li>
</ul>
The full list of categories, along with the three products nominated for each one, <a href="https://awards.www.cmscritic.com/vote/" target="_blank">can be found on the voting page</a>.
To make voting easier and more informed, we've linked to each individual solution so you can explore the candidates before voting for your preffered CMS.
With that being said, it's time to <a href="https://awards.www.cmscritic.com/vote/" target="_blank">get voting for your favourite CMS</a>. Don't delay, though, because the voting stage ends on January 1st, 2016.
Who are you voting for? Let us know in the comments below.

The People's Choice CMS Awards 2015: Let the Voting Begin!

eZ Systems is the company behind the open source publishing platform, eZ Publish and we recently had a chance to interview their VP of Community, Nicolas Pastorino. Mr. Pastorino has been with eZ Systems for many years and offers up some interesting insights into the company, the products and the future of the platform.
<h2>The Interview</h2>
Please tell us a bit about yourself, your background and how you ended up with eZ Systems.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/nicolas-pastorino-ez-conference-2011-250x165.jpg" alt="Nicolas Pastorino eZ Conference 2011" />I have seven years of experience in Open-source software edition and Content Management, with eZ Systems since 2005, in international context (Western Europe, USA, Norway) as Consultant, Trainer, Software Engineer, in Product Management, and now as Vice President Community at eZ Systems. My role today is to manage the eZ Publish Community (43 000+ members), intensifying and structuring it around our product and mission. I am educated from the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA) in Lyon, France and Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet (NTNU) in Norway in the fields of Telecommunications, Software, System and Network Engineering. When not happily busy with the eZ Publish Community, I can be met in the mountains of our world, rock &amp; ice climbing or ski-touring. As a voracious user of those, I can name a few of my social media profiles, feel free to get in touch:
<ul>
<li>Twitter  <a href="http://twitter.com/jeanvoye">http://twitter.com/jeanvoye</a></li>
<li>Google+  <a href="http://bit.ly/nicolas-on-gplus">http://bit.ly/nicolas-on-gplus</a></li>
</ul>
For those who are unaware, what is eZ Publish?
eZ Publish is now dubbed eZ Publish 5 Platform, an Experience Management Platform for online services. Based on a strong legacy of high-end Content Management, we capitalized on our field experience to transform our flagship product into a centerpiece, a platform for organizations to create fully-fledged online services. All elements a UXP (User Experience Platform), notably Marketing Automation, are served by means of built-in features, or connectors to external products and services, tightly integrated. This allows to implement end-to-end CXM (Customer Experience Management) stories.
The base product is open-source, distributed as “eZ Publish Community Project” in its bleeding-edge version. The full Experience Management platform is distributed as part of a subscription, packaging all experience management features &amp; services around the powerful content management engine.
What types of verticals see the most value in using your product? What kind of adoption rates have you seen in the various verticals?
eZ is historically strong in the media vertical, many of the leading publishers in Europe having chosen eZ Publish as their standard technological platform today. But other verticals like Finance and Telecoms have been ramping-up significantly in the past years, finding eZ Publish Platform as solid, secure and flexible as their usage demands.
<h4>What do you think makes eZ Publish such a strong publishing platform?</h4>
Here are the key points in my opinion:
<ul>
<li>The tight integration of several Experience Management features and services, based on a proven application framework,</li>
<li>It now embeds a rock-solid, modern, well-spread and easy-to-use application development framework: Symfony 2 + a brand new Content Management PHP/REST API,</li>
<li>Strong and long-run experience in the high-end, demanding publishing world,</li>
<li>Innovative and vast feature-set of our content management engine,</li>
<li>Extremely extensible platform, easy integration in large IT systems,</li>
<li>Power of a professional open-source community providing a dramatically extended product portfolio,</li>
<li>Large partner network, meaning tenfold expertise spread across the globe.</li>
</ul>
<h4>What separates your product from the other products in the market?</h4>
Here is the synthetic view on our competitive advantages:
<ul>
<li>Freedom and Openness at heart,</li>
<li>“Platform” rather than shrink-wrapped, constrained product,</li>
<li>Existing tight integration of the required bits to build online services (Marketing Automation, Analytics, eCommerce, Recommendation to name a few),</li>
<li>State of the art scalable architecture and code-base,</li>
<li>Both on-premise and cloud versions available.</li>
</ul>
<h4>The CMS market is a rapidly changing one, what trends do you see coming down the pipeline?</h4>
Content Management is becoming a commodity, we can hardly speak about a dedicated market for this anymore. It might be a touch market-overshooting, but today is about building compelling online services, touching customer journeys, underpinned by a flexible and cohesive technology platform, supporting the increasing, demanding needs of online marketing teams, in any vertical. Silos are steadily taken down between the IT departments and the Marketing departments, leading to joint reflections and decisions on their tools, the technology, and cost-efficiency is more actual than ever: maintaining multiple vendor-relationships to be able to run one's business is decreasingly appealing, they need few, tightly integrated, future-proof tools to do their job.
The CMS market is merging into the bigger one of Experience Management, opening-up the M&amp;A and alliances mercato, placing the “Experience Architects” (the ones who care about their end-users' faint-smiling out of pleasure when using their service) in key decisional positions, even in the traditionally less “fancy” industries, or in case of internal non-public projects.
Continuity with the “past” needs to be enforce though, whereby
<ul>
<li>still rock-solid and innovative content management features,</li>
<li>native multichannel support,</li>
<li>compelling end-user experience in administration interfaces,</li>
</ul>
still need to be continuously improved, not to forget the constantly increasing amount of data (big data) that must not hamper performances in any way.
To adapt and anticipate on this change, eZ Publish Platform is positioned as the “Create Deliver Optimize” TM platform, solving the “CXM challenge”, in other words the “How to create a compelling seamless experience” challenge.
<h4>If you were asked to define a CMS, how would you do so?</h4>
I think this definition is transforming a lot nowadays, this question being related to the evolution of the CMS market. A piece of a whole…larger thing, like an experience management platform for example. By itself, as a stand-alone piece, the use-cases are getting more and more limited for CMSes. Today, even somebody's simple blog requires more than advanced content management features. Value resides in the quality and relevancy of the services provided in the product (less in the software itself), as much as in the quality of the integration of these services with the base.
<h4>How do you see social media changing the way publishers interact / share their content online and how is eZ Publish capitalizing on this?</h4>
My 4 year experience in Community Management led me to understand that social media, on top of nurturing live exchanges, represents a set of key two-ways distribution channels for content marketers. Not only are they an efficient way to rapidly diffuse their content with great “ripple out” effect, but they instantly “close the loop”, providing immediate, direct feedback to the author, who can subsequently, on the fly, optimize their post. The “O” in our “Create Deliver Optimize” TM  paradigm.
eZ capitalizes on this by…understanding what online marketers, content marketers and community managers do to be successful in their jobs, and baking the required tools within our Experience Management platform. Sounds trivial right? Still, simple things like that make our products far better and help us focus. Note: this does not prevent us to embed anticipative features that are not yet needed by the vast majority of our users ?
<h4>From a marketing perspective, what advantages does your product give marketers that they cannot find elsewhere?</h4>
We now provide, as value-adding layers on top of a very powerful and flexible (scalable, extensible) content management engine, unique Analytics and Optimization capabilities. In other words, the large spectrum of tools and services that are required by online marketing activities are integrated into the platform. The Experience Management platform.
<h4>Clearly eZ Publish has a strong presence in Europe, how has it fared in North America and other geographies?</h4>
Indeed, eZ has a large footprint in Europe and we continue to develop it. But North America and Asia-Pacific are in the limelight as emerging regions, very clearly, slightly more nascent markets for us compared to Europe. Plans are already under execution for tapping into these areas and intensively grow them to exceed what we have achieved on the old continent. To be noted: we have had active presence in Japan since a long time, this market having matured a lot throughout the years.
<h4>What do you see for the future of your product?</h4>
We will continue extending the rock-solid WCM platform to fully integrate Customer Experience features and services, including Analytics, Marketing Automation, Recommendation. eZ Publish 5 Platform will become a reference product for high-end marketing-savvy businesses, and digital services of all kinds, in the “Internet of Things”. This positioning comes as a complement, and not a replacement of the high-end WCM projects that we are successfully addressing today.
This comes along with diligent, constant care to usability (major enhancements coming-up) as well as scalability, whereby eZ Publish 5 Platform will be the Experience Management tool that can handle big content, big data.
— end —
Thank you Mr. Pastorino for the time you took with us today, we appreciate it. If you would like to learn more about eZ Systems or their products, visit the <a href="http://www.ez.no">eZ Systems website</a>. You can also check out our <a href="/ez-publish-review/">eZ Publish review</a> to get a birds eye view of their product.

Interview with Nicolas Pastorino of eZ Systems

Call Tracking + AI 

Call Tracking + AI that Turns Calls into Leads

#ffffff

<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/buildyourowncms-620x356.jpg" alt="build your own CMS?" />
I had a recent conversation with a developer at a web agency. He told me this, “We've been using Joomla, but we're not really satisfied with it. I think we might just make our own CMS.” I understand where they're coming from. As an agency, they are committed to providing their customers with high quality websites. They want their clients to be able to maintain those websites with ease. It would seem that making their own CMS might be a good choice. But is it really?

It's a great question. In fact, there are quite a few agencies, mid-sized firms, and other organizations that might want to make their own CMS. We're going to break the question down and submit a suggestion. The bottom line is this: you probably don't want to build your own CMS.
Here is our rationale.
<h2>Customize, don't innovate.</h2>
If you have the skills required to build your own CMS, you probably have the skills to modify an existing open-source CMS. Doing so would save the hundreds of hours that you would spend if you were to start from scratch. Plus, you would be able to ride upon the shared knowledge of millions of current users for help, insight, advice, and tips. Open source CMS are highly customizable. Take Joomla, for example. You can use Joomla as the basis for a souped-up and customized version that better meets your needs. WordPress allows for the same level of adaptation. When you build your own CMS, you're going to be all alone. Instead of a innovating a brand new CMS, customize an existing one. More power. Less work. Better ROI.
<h2>Survey the options before going it alone.</h2>
There are a myriad of CMS options that may do exactly what you want a CMS to do. “We can't find one that meets our needs” is a complaint of some potential DIYers. I'm skeptical. There are thousands of CMS, ranging from backyard brews to vast enterprise powerhouses. There are CMS that can mange your newsletters, track your Facebook ROI, autotweet blog updates, and just maybe serve you breakfast in bed. To claim that there isn't one that meets the need is to claim that you've surveyed and reviewed thousands of CMS. Keep looking. You may find that the ROI of finding and then paying for a big, powerful proprietary CMS is far better than the ROI of making your own.
<h2>Can you keep up with change?</h2>
Making a CMS isn't a one-and-done kind of thing. That CMS is your baby. You've got to take care of it. The digital world is constantly evolving. In order to be truly effective, your CMS must adapt to meet the changes.This is a process that requires a lot of time and effort. Many of the large CMS are on 2-year upgrade cycles. Is it worth your time to create a CMS that demands constant improvement? Adapting a CMS to meet the needs of a changing technology environment is tough work. Wouldn't it be better to buy a CMS or  to make changes to an existing open-source CMS? Most companies come to understand that the ROI of a roll your own CMS is pretty dismal.
<h2>Consider the cost.</h2>
As mentioned before, undertaking a CMS project is a big deal. You may create the world's next WordPress. But is that what you need to be doing right now? Before you make your own CMS, just count the cost and make sure it's worth it.
And if you do decide to make your own, please let us know. We'd love to check it out.

Should You Build Your Own CMS?

daniel-threlfall

<a href="https://instapage.com/" target="_blank">Instapage</a> is a popular landing page builder that allows you to design and publish landing pages for your product or service.
The platform, which starts from $29 per month, makes use of a drag-and-drop interface, and integrates with over twenty marketing tools and CRMs, including Mailchimp, InfusionSoft and Salesforce.
<a href="https://instapage.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/8x5txlt3f7st.png" /></a> Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or a marketer with a deadline, Instapage promises to churn out a good looking landing page in just three minutes.
With this review, I’m going to run through the entire landing page construction process, to test just how good looking (and how well functioning) those landing pages are.
<h2>Getting Started</h2>
The sign-up process with Instapage is pretty simple. You can create your account via email or various social networks and there’s no need to get the credit card out either, thanks to the 45 day free trial.
Once you’ve completed your sign-up, you’ll receive a welcome email from Instapage with an invite to attend a webinar called ‘Mastering Instapage in 30 Minutes’. It’s definitely worth a watch, but don’t worry if you don’t have the time – it’s all pretty easy to navigate.
<img alt="Screen Shot 2015-11-20 at 20.05.00.png" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/7AYSdHNLcZCqAMR8UWiu4JxXzZTUjSYkgxshug5008WHmzK0jmyaShS6ty5Up9jggu8OTaCCv4gY9EZRoJBy-HyzBEzbrdT9CqOiAlBQlxZBKIU2esYxlQ37ugOLmizX83kpxlbr" />
<h2>Building Your Landing Page</h2>
You have a few options to choose from when building your landing page. You can customize it from scratch, or you can opt for a pre-built template depending on how much time you want to invest in it.
There are over 70 templates available and they’re categorized into lead generation, webinars, click through, mobile app, and thank you pages. However, if none of the available templates take your fancy, Instapage also partners with Themeforest to provide a number of premium templates.
Personally, I think many of the free templates are just as good – if not better.
<img alt="Screen Shot 2015-11-20 at 20.39.47.png" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/ChD35qrPAk8xDZExPNYi8d3ErXPNIEjjFYTHoJme7ZUjkLCVgQTHf3QZLlkofoFkO0C40WkwuK77v_FSnqd2Ibr8TRuL3FRBXBzYC0bRMSVsXbCZh5Chl-kuQxwGhfhhV1OR_jRH" />
Once you have selected your template, the WYSIWG (What You See is What You Get) editor is your next port of call.
The drag-and-drop functionality will ensure that your landing page looks exactly as you had envisioned, and you can edit or add elements using the menu bar on the top left hand side of the page. Instapage is also mobile responsive and you can preview your page on both a desktop and mobile device before hitting publish.
<h2>Support Options</h2>
If you get stuck – the ‘help’ button is on hand. Honestly, though, you’re not going to get stuck. This stuff is simple. I had a landing page designed in less than 30 minutes, and my level of IT knowledge ranks just slightly above ‘turn it off and on again’.
By clicking the help button, you can restart the Instapage tour, talk to a support rep, or simply have another read of the ‘how-to’ documentation. The undo/redo button is also available if needed.
<img alt="Screen Shot 2015-11-20 at 21.02.13.png" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/fxGONwNvtprWra88qtvSvEC1IXdYtEPLH8jqS8Vvzv_P2iPAVuVZ6DNiNP_DkoI2AOzPySp8PQ56CLECh_vYRLdupPQ4nMkUpRzsrARp2TSa7uwvxAvSD0op0iuQ2J6_immTdMO8" />
<h2>Onboarding Your Team</h2>
With the Pro account, Instapage allows you to add users as either ‘admin’ or ‘members.
<ul>
<li>
Admins have access to manage the account, edit pages, and add domains and users.
</li>
<li>
Members can only view or edit pages which you allow them to access.
</li>
</ul>
This option is available by clicking on the (+) sign in the upper right hand corner of the dashboard.
<img alt="Screen Shot 2015-11-20 at 21.07.19.png" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/FinIroZYWLesdYNEuwl9YBa6Jp2gJdqRPq8mEt-svTo2nwWqJlKnOSEYySQ26pJ5kmPneIMiRvajdTGti7iWwSRFYvIxg4JljZjJWlNjndWCIFqk7oAitUbTxc0tFRqYWevyNoDj" />
To add a new user, you simply insert their name, email, permission status, and which pages they can edit and/or view. After you’ve added a user, they will receive an email notification to let them know.
<h2>Marketing Integrations</h2>
Instapage recently launched a new integrations dashboard offering over 20 other Saas tool integrations, including <a href="http://mailchimp.com/">Mailchimp</a>, <a href="http://www.aweber.com/">AWeber,</a> and <a href="https://www.zoho.com/crm/">Zoho CRM</a>. The new dashboard makes it simple to connect your CRM provider, optimization tools and email marketing service in the one place – with very little hassle.
<img alt="Screen Shot 2015-11-20 at 21.19.09.png" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/DY_aZ4tD1UjDk0XBLrxpsCWnGU-90tW71pZPjvUrQ49irGWvARlzOi5gMFLn40wFZBwkykqLU-AiZKmmfgKP7f4YA6G9t9IaReuQk8DzutWUiEMfroPewuwjoF7FI3fGjFppcoeB" />
<h2>Pricing</h2>
After you’ve completed the 45 day free trial, Instapage offers 3 account types depending on your requirements. You can choose whether to pay monthly or yearly – but it’s worth noting that the annual payment is 25% cheaper.
The basic annual package is $29 per month, but if you’re working with a team I’d recommend opting for the professional option at $55 – as you’ll need the extra features if you want to add team members. For more information on Instapage pricing and services, click <a href="https://instapage.com/pricing">here</a>.
<img alt="Screen Shot 2015-11-20 at 21.23.30.png" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/kmKyG5B4KxBIZ4bKTI801kVdg0aDlqWwhilSKU2jUfnVO3wZEhUpcn0G6YFGbBZjCtgZ3QMWjcR-fQcvtCjiqAK4Uv_8uyEKQIVWl9328dISxyaPQPPv6ecXthoyBtojXPFJxK6i" />
<h2>The Verdict</h2>
Overall, I think that Instapage is a great option for anyone who wants to get a quality landing page online quickly and I can definitely recommend it.
A well designed landing page can make or break your marketing campaign and rushing it is not the way to go. Instapage’s templates and customization features make it easy for anyone to create the exact page that they’re looking for, to a professional standard, in a short period of time.
You don’t have to be a professional web developer to design your landing page using Instapage, but everyone who views it will think that you are.
Have you tried Instapage out for your business? We’d love to know how you got on. Why not let us know in the comments below.

Instapage Review

grainne-logue

Like many writers on Google+, I want to increase my AuthorRank so my work will gain credibility and reach a wider audience. I've been looking into how to get Google Authorship working with WordPress, not the version you install on your own domain, but a blog hosted on WordPress.com. I was surprised to find little information on the subject that was reliable and therefore felt compelled to share what I've learned. I'm a technical person and I have to admit that I've tried researching what to do, wading through conflicting or old information online and trying the various tips only to give up twice. Some of this has come about by Google changing the way in which you link your work to your Google+ account, so some things that used to work now no longer do. On my third attempt however I managed to <a href="https://www.radicalmarketingsolutions.com/how-to-claim-google-authorship/" target="_blank">pursue this issue further</a> and by piecing together information from various different sites I found the answer by trial and error. I know how off putting this process has been for me, and I am a web developer by trade, so I can only imagine the confusion of millions of writers who prefer to host their blogs on WordPress.com and also want Google Authorship.
<h2>Why Use WordPress.com?</h2>
<a href="https://rack.2.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEyLzEyLzA0L2I4L3RoZWJlZ2lubmVyLmFCai5qcGcKcAl0aHVtYgk5NTB4NTM0IwplCWpwZw/0f408018/c56/the-beginner-s-guide-to-wordpress-multisite-18fcb53fac.jpg"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wp-760x427-620x348.jpg" alt="WordPress" /></a> click to enlarge image
I started out with WordPress because I wanted to write rather than spend my spare time developing a website in order to do so. I do have a hosting provider that gives me access to ‘One Click Installs', one of which is WordPress. I installed it on a couple of domains and found, because of all the updates required to keep the websites secure, I easily put those projects on the shelf until I had time to do so. In the end they got so horribly out of date our web host disabled them for security reasons. By this point I had already decided to go with WordPress.com blogs instead, and I stayed because I also liked how quickly Google ranked the posts I wrote. I now have 15 blogs hosted by WordPress.com and although some of them are likely to be replaced over time with <a href="https://drupal.org" target="_blank">Drupal</a>, until such a time I want the writing I've done so far to be picked up by Google Authorship.
<h2>Why is so hard to set-up Google Authorship on WordPress.com blogs?</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/google-plus-in-wordpress.jpg" alt="Google Plus with WordPress" /> click to enlarge image
The main issue is  the fact that you do not own the domain your WordPress.com blog is on so you can neither alter the blog code itself nor use an email address on that domain. Email verification is the easiest way now to set-up Google Authorship, particularly on multi-author websites. In fact it is the default option when you go to <a href="https://plus.google.com/authorship" target="_blank">Google's main page on Authorship</a>. Some of the newer WordPress themes provide a text field to allow you to add a link on the post that can be used to link to your Google+ profile, but you can't rely on that always being there in every theme. If you are like me and prefer the style of an older theme then you will likely find it is not an option. Also WordPress, for security reasons, strips the required bit of code “rel=author” (see Set-Up Instructions below) from the end of your links in your author bio, thus making it even harder to link to your Google+ account. This can be overcome if you have your blog hosted on your own domain by <a href="https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/allow-rel-and-html-in-author-bios/" target="_blank">installing a plugin</a> to disable this behaviour, but you can't install it on WordPress.com. All these in combination could cause many WordPress.com bloggers to fall behind in their AuthorRank and I for one don't want to see that happen.
<h2>Why Use Google Authorship Anyway?</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/google-authorship-620x249.jpg" alt="Google Authorship" /> click to enlarge image
Google wants to find great content that is relevant to their users. The more Google knows about you, the more it can do for you. Google is very good at generating traffic to your blogs, much more than Twitter or Facebook can often do. Getting to the top of a Google search result page is not just about hitting the right combination of keywords (or paying for ads) any more, it is about <a href="https://www.copyblogger.com/google-plus-authority/" target="_blank">authority within your Google network</a>. You may have seen AuthorRank in action when you do a search and people with their profile pictures accompany the search results in the top slots. Just the image alone catches your attention amid a sea of text links. People are much more likely to click on a search result if they recognise the author from their Google+ stream (as along as you have a good standing relationship). If someone had enough interest to circle you then chances are they will be willing to look at your content both inside and out of Google+. Remember this is only the beginning, who knows how advantageous it will be in the future to have Google Authorship behind you. The sooner you sign up to Authorship the longer Google has to promote your work above others who haven't made the switch yet.
<h2>Set-up Instructions</h2>
Before you go further you will need a Google+ profile with a picture and tag line set. You should ideally have built an audience by adding circles and people who match your temperament and topic areas, but this can just as easily be done afterwards. I will demonstrate how to set-up Google Authorship with a WordPress.com blog I haven't converted yet. Just to prove this you can see in the screen shot below that it says under ‘Authorship Testing Result' that ‘Page does not contain authorship markup'. You will also note that my Google+ profile is also missing from the preview.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2013-02-26-hs-before-620x340.png" alt="Hermit Studio Before Google Authorship" /> click to enlarge image
You will need to find the URL address to your WordPress.com author bio. This is typically in the following format:
https://mysite.wordpress.com/author/username
You will need to replace the text in red above; ‘mysite' with the sub-domain of your blog and ‘username' with the username you log in to WordPress with. So in this example my WordPress author bio link would be:
<a href="https://hermitstudio.wordpress.com/author/niamhbrown" target="_blank">https://hermitstudio.wordpress.com/author/niamhbrown</a>.
Then you need to go to your about page on your Google+ profile. Click the blue ‘Edit Profile' button at the top  of the screen. This will put you into editing mode. Scroll down until you reach the section called ‘Contributor to' and hover your mouse over it until you see the block highlighted and then click to edit it. Towards the bottom of this block you will see the option to ‘Add Custom Link' you will need to click on this. Copy the WordPress bio link we created above and put that in the text field called ‘URL'. You can then give the link a label, which you can call whatever you like. In the end it should look something like this:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2013-02-26-hs-add-author-bio-link1-620x429.png" alt="Hermit Studio Add Author Bio Link on Google+" /> click to enlarge image
Make sure the contributor to section is shared to the public and then save it. Click on the blue button at the top of your profile called ‘Finished Editing' and you are done for this step. It is worth noting however that there has been some confusion online over what this link should be. I found it wasn't always clear in the articles I read that you needed a link to your WordPress author bio and NOT to the main blog address. This is how Google knows you are an author on this sub-domain.
Next we need to get your Google profile ID. This is the long number in the URL to your Google+ profile, as shown below.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2013-02-26-google-profile-id-620x34.png" alt="Google+ Profile ID" /> click to enlarge image
So my profile ID is the number 101942254766672606204, but yours will be different. (Don't use my ID otherwise I will get credit for your work!) Save your number somewhere and we will come back to it. Now we go to your WordPress blog. Go to your blog dashboard and click on Appearance &gt; Widgets. Drag a text widget onto one of your slots available on your theme, such as a ‘sidebar' or ‘footer' etc. In that text box add the following code using the profile ID number we got from Google+ as mentioned above.
&lt;a href=”https://plus.google.com/profileid/about?rel=author”&gt;+AuthorName&lt;/a&gt;
The ‘+AuthorName' should match exactly the name you use on Google Plus. So for example in my case I would use:
&lt;a href=”https://plus.google.com/101942254766672606204/about?rel=author”&gt;+Niamh Brown&lt;/a&gt;
 Once you have saved the widget you are done and it should look something like this:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2013-02-27-wordpress-authorship-widget-620x192.png" alt="WordPress Authorship Widget" /> click to enlarge image
<h2>Further Information</h2>
When you set up Google Authorship it will take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks for your details to show up in search results. Be aware that just because you set-up Google Authorship does not guarantee your image will show up in search results.  So in order to be sure you have set-up your website correctly there is a handy <a href="https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets" target="_blank">Structured Data Testing Tool</a> you can use. Here is what it should look like when you have set-up your blog correctly.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2013-02-27-authorship-test-620x282.png" alt="Google Authorship Test" /> click to enlarge image
And that's about it. I recently found a great community on Google+ called <a href="https://plus.google.com/communities/104474428845467390263/stream/f6a897a4-219f-46a8-ac7c-fa6b1189a343" target="_blank">Google Authorship &amp; Author Rank</a>, which I would suggest you join if you have any questions or have other information to share.
Do you have any more interesting tips about Google Authorship on a WordPress.com blog?

How To Set up Google Authorship on a WordPress.com Blog

niam-brown

We’re kicking off another featured week here on CMS Critic, and this time, we’re joined by one of the world’s most popular document management systems; <a href="http://www.efilecabinet.com/" target="_blank">eFileCabinet</a>.
In a market full of big players like Google and Microsoft, eFileCabinet has cornered a delectable slice of the DMS market by securing 160,000 customers.
Their success comes down to a number of features that make document management easy for all business types. But perhaps most interestingly, eFileCabinet leverages the power of being both <a href="http://www.efilecabinet.com/efilecabinet-online/">in the cloud</a> and <a href="http://www.efilecabinet.com/efilecabinet-desktop/">on-premise</a>, giving brands the option to choose between the two solutions for maximum flexibility and diverse deployment options.
But before we delve into eFileCabinet fully, let’s refresh our memories regarding document management systems for just a second.
<h2>What is a Document Management System?</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ipad-820272_1280_31274x679-cropx0y103-is625x0-is.jpg" />
Well, long story short, it’s a software that manages your documents.
Instead of a company storing all their files in physical cabinets and storage rooms, a document management system digitises the process and manages staff access so that anybody can find what they’re looking for.
Efficiency is a vital attribute for any successful contemporary brand, and physical filing is anything but that.
Aside from using a DMS to replace paper-filing tasks and save physical space, companies deploy DMS to manage things like:
<ul>
<li>
HR documents
</li>
<li>
Photos
</li>
<li>
Tax documents
</li>
<li>
Personal files
</li>
<li>
Video
</li>
<li>
PDF and PDF Editor files
</li>
<li>
Large file sets, which you can share within the system
</li>
<li>
Anything you can store on your computer, can be stored inside the DMS.
</li>
</ul>
Read more about <a href="http://www.efilecabinet.com/describing-dms/">document management systems</a>.
<h2>eFileCabinet: In The Cloud &amp; In the House</h2>
Like CMS, there are an array of document management systems to offer. But eFileCabinet offers hard-hitting features that empower a company to manage their data with agility.
<h3>Store</h3>
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vCFcx9Xv_do?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
eFileCabinet works from the second you have a hard copy of a document in your hand. You can:
<ol>
<li>
Scan and save it into eFileCabinet to make it digital
</li>
<li>
Use a drag-and-drop interface to organize it within folders
</li>
<li>
Keep it on-site, or securely in the cloud
</li>
</ol>
<h3>Search</h3>
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cdcLLGFS9i8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Filing things away is one thing, but what happens when you want to find a file that was processed months (or years) ago? A traditional system would have you sifting through mountains of paper and filing cabinets, but eFileCabinet lets you:
<ol>
<li>
Log into your own account
</li>
<li>
Find files within seconds using powerful search functions
</li>
<li>
Browse and view files quickly to find the right version
</li>
</ol>
<h3>Share</h3>
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/K8bFOnPJvVQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
eFileCabinet isn’t just about keeping files behind closed doors, though. With it, you can share your company's documents with those who require it (such as auditors) by:
<ol>
<li>
Emailing or sharing through SecureDrawer (an encrypted web sharing portal that overcomes breach-susceptible email)
</li>
<li>
Apply password protection when sharing
</li>
<li>
Sending large or small files, with HIPAA, FINRA and SEC compliance
</li>
</ol>
<h2>DMS Anywhere</h2>
Impressively, eFileCabinet also transcends the notion that files and folders should stay behind lock and key within a brand’s head office.
Instead, eFileCabinet offers an app that allows for data to be accessed from anywhere via mobile and tablet. Thus, employees can access their digital file cabinets from home, or even from a client’s office.
To learn more about eFileCabinet, check out their <a href="http://www.efilecabinet.com">website</a>. Plus, stay tuned for more coverage during this eFileCabinet Featured Week.

eFileCabinet: DMS in the Cloud or On-Premise

Now that we have all been introduced to the <a href="/efilecabinet-dms-in-the-cloud-or-on-premise/">storing, searching, and sharing capabilities of eFileCabinet</a>, it’s time to check out just how useful this DMS can be outside the office.
Ranked as the top mobile document management software by <a href="http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/8033-best-mobile-document-management-software.html">Business News Daily</a>, eFileCabinet boasts a native iOS and Android app that enables individual users to access their accounts – and therefore their data – from absolutely anywhere with an internet connection.
Not only is this app ideal for companies that regularly send out employees for client meetings, it’s also convenient for entrepreneurs who are constantly on the move, but need unobstructed and secure access to their vital documents.
Here’s an introductory video of the eFileCabinet app for you to get started.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6EDDW8Quk2I?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<h2>The Benefits of the eFileCabinet App</h2>
The access of eFileCabinet through the mobile app is simple and quick. After your first time logging in to the app, you are prompted to choose a 4-digit pin, enabling even easier access in the future.
Once you are logged-in, you have access to any and all of the files or folders that you can access from a desktop.
The interface isn’t just responsive, it’s built for smartphone and tablet screens from the ground up.
The ‘Recents’ tab shows you a list of all the recent files and folders you have been working on, even if you were accessing them from your desktop back at work. Despite all these benefits, the mobile app is just one aspect of what makes digital document management great as a whole.
The ‘Favorites’ tab is self-explanatory, as it shows all the documents you have favorited so you never lose sight of your most most frequently used files. Favoriting new files on a mobile device is also easy, taking just two clicks.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/efco-mobile-med499x0-is.jpg" />
As for the ‘Checked Out’ tab, this allows you to view the files that you have checked out of your digital cabinet. From there, you can quickly view each document, and even search it for specific words, all from your phone or tablet.
You can also scan documents into eFileCabinet directly using your camera, so those new documents you receive at a meeting can go onto the system instantly – even before you head back to the office. This allows your colleagues to access and review those files before you return to the office.
The eFileCabinet app also lets you save files, photos, and videos received via email.
And finally, sharing documents from the app is just as easy as it is on the desktop version of eFileCabinet. You can select multiple files at once, including large file sets, and choose to send them to a colleague or client, all from within the eFileCabinet app via SecureDrawer — a secure client sharing portal with bank-grade encryption that overcomes breach-susceptible aspects of traditional email.
<h2>The Digital Wingman</h2>
To be frank, there’s not a lot the eFileCabinet app doesn’t do when it comes to file management.
Being able to access, scan, search through, favorite, and share company files from your smartphone or tablet – in a way that enables all your colleagues to also access it immediately – makes the eFileCabinet app the ultimate wingman during client meetings.
However, all this accessibility does not compromise the app’s security: all your data is backed up and kept secure via the pin access code and other features within the app, including role-based user permissions.
There’s no more fumbling through a bag for folders, or worse yet, forgetting them back at the office – because every single piece of data your company has is already with you, all the time.
To learn more about eFileCabinet, check out their <a href="http://www.efilecabinet.com/">website</a>. Plus, stay tuned for more coverage during this eFileCabinet Featured Week.

The eFileCabinet App: A Mobile Document Management System

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