Articles - Page 135

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/andycohen">Andy Cohen</a><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/deane"> </a>is the founding architect of Sitecore XM Cloud. He is VP/Chief Architect at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.altudo.co/">Altudo</a>, and a CMS Critic contributor. <hr /> When people talk about personalization, they often mean “the right content to the right person at the right time.” That idea is now past tense.I have watched this shift play out up close, from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/sitecore">Sitecore’s</a> early rules-based personalization, through <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/contentstack">Contentstack’s</a> use of edge-based personalization in a composable architecture, to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/optimizely">Optimizely’s</a> launch of Opal, a system of marketing AI agents. Personalization no longer stops at swapping content on a page. It now reaches into the interaction itself, and soon, into the relationships agents form with one another.<h3 id="when-agents-adapt-to-us">When Agents Adapt to Us</h3>That shift, from “what” to “how,” is where the major CMS players are already moving, and you can see it in the different bets they're making:<ul><li>Contentstack has put its weight behind <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/livin-on-the-edge-contentstacks-new-adaptive-dxp-might-just-rock-your-world">EDGE</a>, which they call a hyper-personalization platform. It blends their headless CMS with a real-time CDP, AI, and automation. The goal is simple but ambitious: deliver one-to-one experiences in the moment and at scale. Because it is composable, brands can adapt interactions without locking themselves into rigid patterns. What strikes me about EDGE is that it reframes personalization as something continuous, not a campaign you set and forget.</li><li>Optimizely has taken another route with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/optimizely-opal-gets-supercharged-for-agentic-ai-powering-infinite-use-cases-for-marketers">Opal</a>. Instead of a single assistant, Opal is built as a collection of agents that act like members of a marketing team. There is a campaign manager agent, a personalization advisor, a market researcher, and more. With the 2.0 release, Optimizely put the emphasis on letting these agents collaborate and run multi-step workflows across content, data, and experimentation. I have seen teams spend weeks coordinating those same steps manually. Opal hints at a world where marketing execution is handled by an ensemble of digital teammates who can plan, act, and adjust together.</li><li>Sitecore has focused on bringing assistance directly into daily work. Through <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.sitecore.com/products/sitecore-stream">Stream</a>, they have introduced AI copilots that support authors and marketers in real time as they draft and optimize campaigns. On top of that, Sitecore’s partnership with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/sitecore-sharpens-ai-focus-with-strategic-partnership-and-new-leadership-appointments">Gradial</a> shows how agentic workflows can extend into campaign execution. It is not just about smarter editors or quicker drafts. It is about agents that can carry intent through to delivery and adapt along the way. For a company that has lived for years in the world of static content publishing, that is a meaningful step forward.</li></ul>None of these approaches feels like a gimmick.They are different answers to the same problem: personalization is no longer about what content you are shown, it is about how the interaction unfolds. Whether that happens through hyper-personalization at the edge, through orchestrated marketing agents, or via copilots and execution partners, the shift is real and already in motion.<h3 id="what-nondeterminism-really-means">What Nondeterminism Really Means</h3>Most software behaves like math: 2 + 2 always equals 4. Generative AI does not. Ask it to draft a thank-you note and you will get three different answers, all plausible, none identical. That variability is what we call nondeterminism.It is the very thing that makes AI feel creative, but also the reason it needs personalization to stay useful. As <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://parivedasolutions.com/perspectives/managing-the-non-deterministic-nature-of-generative-ai/">Pariveda Solutions points out</a>, nondeterminism is what makes AI flexible and creative, but it also introduces governance challenges that remain unresolved. In my own work with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/getting-loud-with-xm-cloud-sitecore-reports-100-growth-of-its-ai-powered-cloud-based-cms">XM Cloud,</a> I have seen how unpredictable outcomes can be a feature if the system adapts well – and a liability if it does not.<h3 id="when-agents-adapt-to-each-other">When Agents Adapt to Each Other</h3>The next frontier is agents adapting not just to us but to each other. Nondeterminism multiplies when two autonomous systems interact. They need ways to converge on workable outcomes.Sometimes that looks like adjusting communication style, where one agent is structured and terse, another free-form and verbose. Sometimes, it means learning to accept differences in task style, such as fast approximation versus cautious step-by-step reasoning. Other times it's about role negotiation: who leads, who validates, who escalates.And sometimes it is memory. Agents do not just adapt in the moment; they remember. That memory can look like a grudge. A search agent that hallucinated last time will get fact-checked the next. A procurement agent that botched a deal may face stricter oversight. Even first impressions stick. If an agent’s very first hand-off is sloppy, the other agent may never fully trust it, no matter how good the later work becomes.Humans behave the same way. In corporate life, one bad kickoff meeting can color a partnership for months. Agents will carry those patterns too.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.deepset.ai/blog/ai-agents-and-deterministic-workflows-a-spectrum"> Deepset calls this the “spectrum of determinism to nondeterminism</a>.” I call it relationship management.<h3 id="everyday-illustrations">Everyday Illustrations</h3>Picture a grocery agent told to buy apples if they are $0.99 a pound. A deterministic system comes back empty because they are $1.09. An adaptive one checks with you, “They are a little higher today. Should I buy anyway?” That is useful, until the store’s own agent learns to nudge yours into paying even more.Or ride-hailing. You set a $20 target. The price surges to $23. Do you want your agent to decline, wait, or decide on its own? What happens when the ride-share’s agent starts upselling yours into priority pickup at $28?Or travel. You say, “Book me a flight under $500.” The system finds none. A flexible agent returns with, “There is one at $525 with better times. Should I grab it?” Helpful, but it shows how quickly rules can bend.In the enterprise, this gets thornier. Procurement policies might cap software licenses at $50 per seat. A deterministic agent halts the deal. A personalized one negotiates to $55 and closes it. That looks like a win until you realize the vendor’s agent deliberately anchored higher, knowing yours would flex upward.Healthcare raises the stakes even more. You ask for an appointment with your doctor next week. A rigid agent says none available. A personalized one offers a nurse practitioner tomorrow or a specialist in two weeks. That looks like a better experience, but it could also push you toward higher-margin services instead of the care you really wanted.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.salesforce.com/blog/deterministic-ai/">Salesforce has written about this exact problem</a> of when to script agents tightly and when to let them roam. I see it every day in delivery projects. Too rigid and you frustrate users. Too loose and you open the door to manipulation.<h3 id="agents-that-carry-“you”-with-them">Agents That Carry “You” With Them</h3>Now push it further. Imagine your agent not only executes tasks but carries your personality footprint into every interaction. If you are cost-sensitive, it pushes harder. If you are time-poor, it pays more for speed. If you are detail-driven, it double-checks everything.What if you could swap personas entirely?<ul><li>"Frugal Andy" does the grocery shopping</li><li>"Executive Andy" books the flights</li><li>"Playful Andy" explores games and hobbies.</li></ul>Your agent would not only personalize to you. It would personalize as you.But there is risk in this. If the other agent knows who you are or which persona you are using, it can adapt back. That can be powerful when aligned with your goals, but it can also be exploited. Imagine a vendor agent that recognizes executive mode and steers you toward premium packages.This is not hypothetical. Optimizely’s Opal agents already act like different team members depending on context. Contentstack’s Brand Kit lets you define voice profiles and store guidelines so that every AI-generated artifact reflects your identity. Sitecore’s Stream copilots are designed to guide content creators in real time, aligning their work with brand and role expectations.These are early signals of a future where agents carry pieces of us, including quirks, preferences, and even biases, into every exchange.<h3 id="why-this-matters">Why This Matters</h3>This is why nondeterminism is not a flaw but the feature. Deterministic systems did not need personalization. There was only one output. Nondeterministic systems can go in many directions, and personalization is what prevents chaos.The best metaphor I know is jazz. Musicians improvising do not know exactly where the others will go. They adapt, they respond, they personalize their playing to the group. The music works not because it is scripted but because the players trust each other enough to bend and flex.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/seizing-the-agentic-ai-advantage">McKinsey has argued</a> that this adaptability is the defining advantage of agentic AI. From what I have seen in publishing systems, SaaS cost optimization, and large-scale CMS migrations, I agree. The resilience comes not from rigid plans but from the ability to adapt in context.<h3 id="what-leaders-should-prepare-for">What Leaders Should Prepare For</h3>Leaders should focus on their readiness in key areas. For example, trust frameworks must extend beyond human-agent interactions into agent-to-agent ecosystems. Standards cannot stay as fixed APIs; they need flexibility built in. Identity management has to protect personality profiles and alter egos from misuse. And agents must be able to remember not just what they did for us, but how they worked with others.<h3 id="the-future-of-personalization">The Future of Personalization</h3>Personalization started with content. It evolved into experiences. Now, it is moving into interactions – first with humans and then with other agents.If we get this right, nondeterminism will not be something to suppress. It will be the source of resilience, adaptability, and creativity. The companies that thrive will not just personalize their websites. They will personalize their agents. Those agents will adapt to us, and to each other, in ways that reflect who we are or even who we choose to be.And like humans, they will remember. First impressions will matter. Grudges may form. And relationships between agents will start to look a lot like relationships between people. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:31.61%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/storyblok-joyconf-2025-logo.jpg" /><h4 id="storyblok-joyconf-2025"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://joyconf.storyblok.com/">Storyblok JoyConf 2025</a></h4>October 14-15, 2025 – Amsterdam, Netherlands November 4, 2025 – New York, NY November 6, 2025 – Los Angeles, CAJoin us at JoyConf 2025, where the future of content meets the people shaping it. Built for developers, marketers, and digital innovators, this free conference goes way beyond product updates or yet another strategy playbook. It’s where you’ll get inspired, get real, and get connected – to ideas, to the community, and to what’s possible when you build joyfully. Whether you're building lightning-fast frontends or launching cross-channel campaigns, this is where content becomes connection and collaboration becomes second nature. Come for the talks. Stay for the community. Leave with joy. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://joyconf.storyblok.com/">Save your spot.</a> <img style="width:28.9%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/sitecore-symposium-2025.jpg" /><h4 id="sitecore-symposium-2025"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/">Sitecore Symposium 2025</a></h4>November 3-5, 2025 – Orlando, FLAt Sitecore Symposium, you’ll learn how to meet your customers where they are – across channels, moments, and touchpoints that didn’t exist a year ago. You’ll hear how the boldest brands in the world are transforming content into outcomes and creating experiences that are fast, relevant, and human. Join 1,500 marketers, digital leaders, and technologists in Orlando to see what’s possible when personalization scales, AI accelerates creativity, and trust becomes your competitive edge. This is the Third Wave of the Internet. And this is your moment to lead in it. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/">Get your tickets today.</a> <img style="width:31.44%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/cms-kickoff-2026-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">CMS Kickoff 2026</a></h4>January 13-14, 2026 – St. Petersburg, FLMeet industry leaders at our fourth annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global CMS event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">so secure your tickets today.</a>

Agent-to-Agent Personalization: Trust, First Impressions, and the 'Grudge' Factor

andycohen

After getting off to a great start on <a href="/day-one-of-magnolia-conference-2014-personalization-apps-a-roundtable/" target="_blank">day one of the Magnolia Conference 2014</a>, which was a day full of technical, business and digital marketing tracks, day two of Magnolia's fifth annual event had something refreshing to offer.
Mike and I got ourselves back down to the Pathé Theatre venue in the heart of a hot and humid Basel, just in time to witness the start of an interesting and engaging conference activity.
It was the Magnolia “Unconference” 2014, and everybody was getting involved.
<h2>Engaging with the Ecosystem</h2>
Magnolia’s Unconference – which dominated day two – was all about attendee engagement and collaboration.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/14496228536_de86accf9e_b700x0.jpg" alt="Magnolia Conference 2014" />
An unconference is a style of conference where the attendees propose, schedule and present their own sessions. Magnolia state that:
<blockquote>
“The Magnolia Conference attracts some of the most engaged, skilled and innovative people from the Magnolia ecosystem and broader CMS industry. The unconference helps harness this potential, giving each attendee the opportunity to discuss what matters most to them in this rich environment.”
</blockquote>
So, if the purpose of day one was to allow Magnolia to talk to their audience face-to-face, day two was simply a chance for that same audience to respond.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/14333613217_ef936085e9_b700x0.jpg" alt="Magnolia Conferece 2014" />
Although the concept of an unconference is nothing new, they aren’t always incorporated into a company’s largest annual event. It was an invigorating activity, and I have no doubt that the attendees were glad Magnolia chose to offer it.
<h2>How it Worked</h2>
To ensure the unconference ran smoothly, Magnolia handed out some (very slick) conference folios throughout day one, which contained suggestion cards, amongst other things.
Attendees were encouraged to fill out these suggestion cards in preparation for day two, when their suggestions would be compiled and eventually discussed.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/14332728609_fbce0a7ede_b700x0.jpg" alt="Magnolia Conference 2014" />
The day began with the audience getting to briefly introduce their session ideas, in what was a very bubbly and relaxed theatre room. 
All kinds of ideas were flowing through the room, from Magnolia migration best practises to more comical activities. 
<blockquote>
.<a href="https://twitter.com/topherzee">@topherzee</a> suggests an Unconference session to compose a rap song on Magnolia CMS essentials. Looking forward to the result! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mconf14?src=hash">#mconf14</a>
— Magnolia CMS (@magnolia_cms) <a href="https://twitter.com/magnolia_cms/statuses/482064869207056384">June 26, 2014</a>
</blockquote>
In the end, a full day of attendee-suggested sessions were planned out. The sessions spanned from discussions about eCommerce platform integration to brainstorms regarding the top 20 most needed apps &amp; modules.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/14332667100_81490a1f20_b700x0.jpg" alt="Magnolia Conference 2014" />
The finished unconference wall for Magnolia Conference 2014 can be seen in more detail <a href="http://wall.magnolia-cms.com/unconf/" target="_blank">right here</a>. 
<h2>Technicalities Continued</h2>
Running side-by-side with the unconference, was a technical track similar to that found during day one.
<blockquote>
There we go! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mconf14?src=hash"> #mconf14 </a> <a href="https://twitter.com/edbananeman"> @edbananeman </a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Jelastic"> @Jelastic </a> <a href="https://twitter.com/lazarenkod"> @lazarenkod </a> <a href="http://t.co/SXy5Kydbrc"> pic.twitter.com/SXy5Kydbrc </a>
— Info.nl (@infonl) <a href="https://twitter.com/infonl/statuses/482130249707446272"> June 26, 2014 </a>
</blockquote>
Magnolia’s attending clients and partners were running the show, with Tricode, Tinext,Aperto, Jelastic, Lemonize and Agido all dishing out technical presentations.
They spoke on topics such as vanity URLs, utilities portal building and there was even mention of some tips for when it comes to developing a Magnolia website with speed in mind.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/14496225166_c58327f020_b700x0.jpg" alt="Magnolia Conference 2014" />
Overall, day two had everything it needed to close out the Magnolia Conference 2014. The technical tracks were there for those who wished to hear from industry experts, but the casual nature of the unconference was the icing on the cake. It was fun, engaging and genuinely informative for those who attended. 
To get a sense of how Magnolia Conference 2014 went down on the ground, be sure to check out the event’s <a href="http://eventifier.com/event/mconf14/popular?utm_content=buffer3fe0d&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer"> social media wall</a> revolving around the #MConf14 hashtag. CMS Critic was even ranked as the top contributor!
For a recap on day one of Magnolia conference 2014, <a href="/day-one-of-magnolia-conference-2014-personalization-apps-a-roundtable/" target="_blank">check out my coverage of the opening day</a>.
Images: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/magnolia-cms/" target="_blank">Magnolia</a>

Day Two of Magnolia Conference 2014: The Unconference

mike-johnston

For the third time this year, the CMS Critic team – consisting of Mike Johnston and myself – were in Europe for a conference. This time, it was the <a href="http://www.magnolia-cms.com/conference.html" target="_blank"> Magnolia Conference 2014</a>.
Set in the surprisingly hot and sunny city of Basel, Switzerland, Magnolia were hosting their fifth annual conference in the wake of the <a href="/magnolia-5.3-blends-cxm-with-cms-to-deliver-best-of-breed-software/" target="_blank"> release of Magnolia 5.3</a>.
Mike and I got ourselves down to the venue (a modern and beautifully designed Cinema) bright and early to ensure a front row seat for the opening keynote. As always, we were <a href="https://twitter.com/cmscritic/" target="_blank"> live-tweeting</a> throughout the event. 
<h2>Success, Growth &amp; New Horizons</h2>
The Magnolia Conference 2014 was split into technical, business and digital marketing tracks, but it all kicked off in the same place by Pascal Mangold, Magnolia's Co-founder and CEO.  
 He spoke with energy about the recent history of Magnolia, citing some very impressive financial figures along the way. Notably, he mentioned how Magnolia had doubled their revenue in just two years, growing by 35% year on year in the process. 
 <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/pascal.png" alt="Pascal Mangold" />
Pascal Mangold, Magnolia Co-founder &amp; CEO
Following up from Pascal Mangold was Boris Kraft, who was introduced with his brand new title of Chief Visionary Officer.  
 Being a co-founder and a now former CTO himself, Boris picked up where Pascal Mangold left off with Magnolia's progression.
He touched on some of Magnolia's biggest clients, and gave some brief details about how each one had made use of Magnolia 5 in particular. Such clients included Virgin America, Al Arabiya and The Telegraph. 
 <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/boris1.jpg" alt="Boris Kraft" />
Boris Kraft, Magnolia Chief Visionary Officer
Before wrapping up the opening keynote, Boris Kraft had a chance to speak about Magnolia 5.3, the latest version of their platform which boasts a heavy focus on personalization. 
 The Chief Visionary Officer skimmed through this focus before mentioning some of the new features, such as the Magnolia App Finder. You can read more on Magnolia 5.3 <a href="/magnolia-5.3-blends-cxm-with-cms-to-deliver-best-of-breed-software/" target="_blank"> right here</a>.
<blockquote>
“What I really like about Magnolia 5.3, is that it validates our apps approach” – <a href="https://twitter.com/bkraft"> @bkraft </a> Chief Visionary Officer of <a href="https://twitter.com/magnolia_cms"> @magnolia_cms </a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mconf14?src=hash"> #mconf14 </a>
— CMS Critic (@cmscritic) <a href="https://twitter.com/cmscritic/statuses/481704756550049793"> June 25, 2014 </a>
</blockquote>
<h2>Personalization Nation</h2>
Following the opening keynote, Philipp Barfuss of Magnolia got the ball rolling with the word on the lips of almost every Magnolia Conference 2014 speaker and attendee. Personalization. 
 He spoke about how Magnolia 5.3 utilizes four key personalization tools; visitor/user traits, content variations, segments and personas. 
 Together, these four tools combine to form a formidable arsenal to help personalize content for users of different ages, locations, device, and more. Not to mention date and time specific content and other such variations.
<blockquote>
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Personalization?src=hash"> #Personalization </a> in <a href="https://twitter.com/magnolia_cms"> @magnolia_cms </a> 5.3 via traits and content variants being showcased at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mconf14?src=hash"> #mconf14 </a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cxm?src=hash"> #cxm </a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CMS?src=hash"> #CMS </a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/wxm?src=hash"> #wxm </a> <a href="http://t.co/pxchgdi0dN"> pic.twitter.com/pxchgdi0dN </a>
— CMS Critic (@cmscritic) <a href="https://twitter.com/cmscritic/statuses/481713780716752896"> June 25, 2014 </a>
</blockquote>
. Philipp Barfuss also showcased the previews feature, which allows publishers and marketers to preview content variations and targeted content as if they were the intended audience, simply by selecting different personas from a drop-down menu. 
 Andreas Weder and Mikael Geljic of Magnolia then took to the stage to walk the audience through app creation with Magnolia 5.3.
<blockquote>
. <a href="https://twitter.com/mgnl_ux"> @Mgnl_UX </a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/mikaelgeljic"> @mikaelgeljic </a> recapping <a href="https://twitter.com/magnolia_cms"> @magnolia_cms </a> ‘ 5.3 enhancements related to app building <a href="http://t.co/qffpIXjd66"> pic.twitter.com/qffpIXjd66 </a>
— CMS Critic (@cmscritic) <a href="https://twitter.com/cmscritic/statuses/481732382123622400"> June 25, 2014 </a>
</blockquote>
 They both demonstrated how the “Photo Scout” app worked, fetching images from Instagram to be readily used within Magnolia. Leaving the technicalities to one side, it was a good way to simultaneously showcase Magnolia 5.3's app development features, along with its social media integration options.  
 Meanwhile, in other sections of the Cinema, clients and partners of Magnolia such as SysEleven, Atlassian, MBC Group and more also had time to talk about how they make the most of the CMS. For me though, the highlight of the day was to be found right at the very end. 
<h2>The Roundtable Discussion</h2>
Day one of the Magnolia Conference 2014 was capped off with a roundtable discussion. Technically, there was no round table in sight, but the professional (yet quirky) panel members more than made up for it. 
 Our very own Mike Johnston was joined by Tim Walters from Digital Clarity Group, Adriaan Bloem from MBC Group, and Janus Boye, CEO of J.Boye. The discussion was also moderated by Magnolia's CMO, Christopher Justice.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/table.png" alt="Roundtable" />
The Roundtable Discussion Panel
The discussion between the panelists began regarding customer experience management, which quickly led us back to the question of personalization. 
<blockquote>
“You can call it personalization, but relevance is the goal.” – <a href="https://twitter.com/tim_walters"> @tim_walters </a> from <a href="https://twitter.com/Just_Clarity"> @Just_Clarity </a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mconf14?src=hash"> #mconf14 </a>
— CMS Critic (@cmscritic) <a href="https://twitter.com/cmscritic/statuses/481817367056748544"> June 25, 2014 </a>
</blockquote>
 Opinions about the validity of the term and the extent of its reach were broadly discussed by the panel. A concensus soon emerged though. Personalization is all well and good, but relevance is the true driving factor for good, consistent customer experience management. 
 After that, the creepiness of personalization became the talking point. 
<blockquote>
The discussion is now about the fine line between relevant/helpful personalization, &amp; creepy personalization <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mconf14?src=hash"> #mconf14 </a> <a href="http://t.co/Lski4TMyMX"> pic.twitter.com/Lski4TMyMX </a>
— CMS Critic (@cmscritic) <a href="https://twitter.com/cmscritic/statuses/481819586028113920"> June 25, 2014 </a>
</blockquote>
 By creepy, I mean the insanely fine-tuned personalization tactics employed by the likes of Amazon. For example, their personalized product recommendations are great, but sometimes they're a little too great. Which can get creepy. 
 The discussion came to an end with the spotlight on the term “CMS”. One member of the audience felt the term was outdated, but the panel seemed to be more inclined to blame marketers, who seem to regularly throw out jargon to reinvent the term, slowly drowning the average consumer in acronyms.
<blockquote>
Mike Johnston discussing the jargon surrounding CMS. Do marketers come up with new acronyms too regularly? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mconf14?src=hash"> #mconf14 </a> <a href="https://t.co/mxpBCELN6v"> https://t.co/mxpBCELN6v </a>
— CMS Critic (@cmscritic) <a href="https://twitter.com/cmscritic/statuses/481821658626666497"> June 25, 2014 </a>
</blockquote>
 Immediately after the roundtable discussion, it was time for the after-party, where the conference came to a relaxed end with some drinks and snacks. 
A World Cup fixture was even being screened for those wishing to watch the action, which I felt was a very nice touch. The venue? A Church.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/magnol.png" alt="Magnolia After Party" /> All in all, day one of Magnolia Conference 2014 was enjoyable, informative and even quite funny at times. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to day two. 
To access our full twitter coverage of day one at the Magnolia Conference 2014, <a href="https://twitter.com/cmscritic/" target="_blank"> head over to our Twitter page</a>, or the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mconf14?src=hash" target="_blank">#MConf14</a>.
 For more information on Magnolia Conference 2014, <a href="http://www.magnolia-cms.com/conference.html" target="_blank"> check out the official website</a>. 
Images: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/magnolia-cms/sets/" target="_blank">Magnolia </a>

Day One of Magnolia Conference 2014: Personalization, Apps & A Roundtable

Magnolia 5.3 has offiically been released and with it, introduced a new blend of CXM and CMS for this rapidly growing company.
With year over year growth exceeding 35% and a churn rate lower than 5%, Magnolia has seen some incredibly promising up ticks in sales and presence over the past few years.
To keep the ball rolling, they've introduced a new release that offers even more amazing refinements to their mobile first open source CMS. Magnolia 5.3 focuses on better positioning the product in a market of customer experience management driven suites by focusing on expanding capabilities such as personalization in order to improve customer interaction.
<blockquote>
“Creating better brand experiences is about taking the best tools and the data collected from them to quickly deliver new and personalized customer interactions” explains Boris Kraft, Magnolia Co-founder and Chief Visionary Officer. “The innovation in this release has been driven by our customers and their need to track, enhance and organize every online interaction through a simple-to-use content management system.”
</blockquote>
Let's take a look at some of the new capabilities and changes in this release.
<h3>Personalization</h3>
Magnolia's new personalization feature is based on page variants. Variants are alternative content that replace the original content in personalized delivery. You can target page variants to visitor according to traits such as country, date, or new vs. returning. Dedicated apps support creating segments and personas and impersonating visitors. Take the example below for instance, as you can see, you can personalize the experience based on the individual user or other traits as outlined above.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/magnolia-personalization953x0.png" alt="Magnolia 5.3" />
<h3>Tag Management</h3>
Another new feature in this release is the introduction of the Tags Manager app. This app lets you take those often used snippets of code for best-of-breed services such as <a href="http://www.google.com/analytics/"> Google Analytics </a> , <a href="http://www.comscore.com/"> comScore </a> , <a href="http://www.turn.com"> Turn </a> , <a href="https://www.omniture.com/"> Omniture </a> , <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/"> Optimizely </a> , <a href="http://www.leadlander.com/"> Leadlander </a> and many others and integrate them quickly and easily into your platform with no developer support required.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/teaser-tags-manager_2014-06-24-12-15-05.png" alt="Magnolia 5.3" />
These tags can be used for a number of purposes and you aren't required to use any specific vendors, it's simply a way to quickly integrate code with minimal effort. What's nice is you can determine whether they show within your content and which platforms you'd like to display them on.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/diagram-tags-manager_2014-06-24-12-16-45.png" alt="Magnolia 5.3" />
Is it revolutionary? No of course not. This type of functionality already exists in a number of systems but the implementation here is what counts in my mind. There are similar solutions in products such as WordPress for specific themes (I'm thinking Genesis snippets here) and with the use of third party plugins but this being an app that is developed for Magnolia by Magnolia makes me more likely to consider it over an unvetted third party solution.
<h3>Tasks Inbox</h3>
This is one of the items I've been waiting to see the most since my  <a href="/my-visit-to-magnolias-offices-in-basel-switzerland/"> first visit to the Magnolia offices </a> last year. One of the features I saw missing was a workflow process that could be utilized to communicate between team members and Magnolia has done a great job in creating what I consider a solid implementation.
<blockquote>
The new Tasks Inbox provides instant visibility into open tasks, allowing administrators to easily check status and assign tasks to users. The Tasks Inbox is integrated with the Pulse, so assignees get instant notifications of new tasks…and of course, it all works seamlessly whether you're at work or on the move.
</blockquote>
In a demo by Andreas Weder and Mikael Geljic here at the 2014 Magnolia Conference, we saw a good example of how this Tasks inbox can be utilized when they demo'd the creation of an instagram based app that pulls photos and suggests them for future content to approvers.
Here's a great video that showcases a bit of what the Tasks inbox can do:
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZrwbBBnGiKg?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<h3>Content at home or abroad</h3>
Perhaps you use third party cloud storage or web services in addition to databases to store your content.
<blockquote>
With Content Connectors, developers can now build Magnolia apps with the same great user experience as native apps, and quickly interact with any external data source while users manage the content in a familiar way. 
 All native Magnolia content apps in community and enterprise editions are updated to use the new content connector automatically. Magnolia 5.3 also introduces an improved DAM API making it possible to plug in external asset providers such as Flickr, YouTube or a file system, and integrate the DAM with WebDav and CMIS.
</blockquote>
With Magnolia 5.3, you can manage all of it using your favorite Apps. Content can be stored in a number of places as illustrated by the diagram below.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/teaser-content-connector_2014-06-24-12-16-12.png" alt="Magnolia 5.3" />
The obvious advantages here are that you don't need to create yet another repository just to make things work with Magnolia but rather, you can simply connect it to existing services and manage them from within.
In addition to these new features, Magnolia has also introduced their new App Finder, which is a centralized repository for Magnolia approved applications, modules, source code and partner contributions.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/appfinder887x0.png" alt="Magnolia 5.3" />
It is available to all customers and community contributors and can be found at <a href="http://apps.magnolia-cms.com"> http://apps.magnolia-cms.com </a>
To learn more about this new release from Magnolia, visit https://www.magnolia-cms.com/home/campaigns/magnolia-5-3  and be sure to  <a href="http://www.twitter.com/cmscritic"> follow us on Twitter </a> to get the latest updates.

Magnolia 5.3 Blends CXM with CMS to Deliver Best of Breed Software

<a href="http://www.elcomcms.com/" target="_blank"> ElcomCMS </a>  have unveiled version 9.5 of their platform, with a “focus on customer experience”.
Geared towards mid-large size enterprises, ElcomCMS comes with over 70 core features to enable users to manage multiple sites, intranets, micro-sites, and so forth.
ElcomCMS 9.5 is scheduled to go live on July 1st 2014.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elcomcms9_5.jpg" alt="ElcomCMS 9.5" />
The Elcom team has identified some common challenges facing IT managers, marketing executives, and everybody in between.
Here are some of those common challenges ElcomCMS 9.5 is aiming to address:
<ul>
<li>Reducing the time it takes to transfer content from old sites to new sites with a migration toolkit.</li>
<li>Authorized staff will be able to update the website anywhere, anytime on a mobile-friendly admin interface.</li>
<li>Push important information out to your employees through a new intranet mobile app.</li>
<li>Segmentation-based delivery of content to website audiences.</li>
<li>Faster performance resulting in quicker page-loading and reduced bounce rates.</li>
</ul>
Elcom's Product Director Tim Kirkman made the following comments regarding the announcement:
<blockquote>“Increasingly, IT and marketing teams are working together to create websites and intranets that not only meet the basic corporate requirements but integrate the many elements of marketing technology that are now critical to sales strategies.
As technology advances, companies are able to build on their existing platforms rather than having to change products. At the same time most want to take more control over migration and administration, to cut out the middle man and reduce time delays.
In upgrading our CMS platform a core consideration has been enhancing both our customers’ experience behind the scenes as well as the experience of their own customers. We want to offer a foundation from which companies can manage all their communication tools with flexibility to grow in the future.
Our goal is to help businesses get the most from their websites, intranets and portals by integrating existing systems with new functions. By putting the focus on communication rather than technology or sales, we can ensure the needs of all departments are met – regardless of a company’s core business.”</blockquote>
For more information on ElcomCMS 9.5, check out <a href="http://www.elcomcms.com/Resources/Articles/elcomcms95-customer-experience" target="_blank"> Elcom's recent blog post</a> regarding the impending release.

ElcomCMS 9.5 Set to Be Released

A new release of the open source content management framework (CMF) Kajona is now available. Version 4.5 of Kajona brings with it a number of changes. Below is the release announcement from the Kajona development team:
Besides the advancement of the index-based search, Kajona V4.5 “gitorious” focuses on the restructuring and enhancement of central components. In addition the project finished the transition from SVN to git.
The index-based search engine, introduced to the backend in V4.4, is now available at the portal, too. This means that the powerful engine is now available to all end-users including all functionalities. The indexer was partly rewritten and is now much faster when it comes to creating and updating the search-index.
The way how events are created and processed within Kajona was changed fundamentally and rewritten from scratch. While the old implementation founded on listener-interfaces, the new approach is based on a fully decoupled mechanism using named events. New event-types are added declaratively, making single packages even more independent. An overview of events available and a description of the new api is available at http://www.kajona.de/en/v4_events.html.
A new template-mapper simplifies the export of objects to templates by extracting all designated properties and providing them to a template directly. Additional, programmatic steps are no longer required. If necessary, the value of properties may be transformed using custom renderers before they are placed into the template.
The database layer was complemented by a new method to handle combined inserts. Inserting multiple records into a table is now possible in a single query using a special api call. The database-layer takes care to generate the sql code matching the current database system in use.
With Kajona V4.5 the team finished the transition from subversion to git. The projects' sourcecode is now available on Github:  <a href="https://github.com/kajona/kajonacms "> https://github.com/kajona/kajonacms </a>
Since Kajona 4.5 includes several bug fixes, security updates and updates for compatibility with current web browsers and web server systems, the upgrade to 4.5 is recommended to all users. The update is available and recommended via the integrated package-management.
The documentation was updated to the latest release. The download of the system is possible on the projects website <a href="http://www.kajona.de"> http://www.kajona.de </a> .
<h3>Screenshots</h3>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/v4_5_portalsearch1635x0.png" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/v4_5_mediamanager1635x0.png" />

Kajona CMF 4.5 Now Available

LightCMS have released a Partner Platform designed to empower web designers and resellers.
The popular website builder gives users everything they need to quickly build and manage a website, blog, or online store.
This Partner Platform unveiling comes after a string of LightCMS updates. In a little over a month, LightCMSm have introduced <a href="/lightcms-announce-new-social-features-interface-changes/" target="_blank">interface changes</a>,  <a href="/lightcms-improve-website-security-through-ftps/" target="_blank"> security improvements</a>, and most recently, <a href="/lightcms-rolls-out-blogging-enhancements/" target="_blank"> blogging enhancements</a>.
Here's a very nicely done introductory video for the LightCMS Partner Platform:
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iRBbtHYprak?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
<h2>Full CMS Capabilities &amp; A Hefty Discount</h2>
LightCMS' Partner Platform can serve as a foundation for your business.
Using the platform gives you unlimited pages for each website, unlimited storage, every LightCMS feature (from eCommerce to blogging), FTP access, automatic updates and even hosting.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/lightcms.png" alt="LightCMS " />
What's more is, the price of this unlimited package has been discounted by over 80%, at just $19 per month per website. Perhaps more importantly though, LightCMS enables you to manually set a markup on that $19, giving you all the room you need to make a profit.
Here's a quick overview of how LightCMS can benefit your business:
<ul>
<li>Multi-Website Management</li>
<li>No-Cost Sites While In Development</li>
<li>Automated Client Sign-Up &amp; Billing</li>
<li>White Label / Private Label</li>
<li>Site Copy Functionality</li>
<li>A Free Website for Your Business</li>
<li>Dedicated Account Manager</li>
<li>Gold Level Support</li>
</ul>
Check out the LightCMS Partner Platform page for more information.
Additionally, don't forget to explore more of LightCMS via our CMS Directory.

LightCMS Launches New Partner Platform

<a href="http://www.telerik.com/" target="_blank">Telerik</a> – the company behind <a href="https://www.progress.com/sitefinity-cms" target="_blank"> Sitefinity</a> – have released major mobile advancements to its award-winning <a href="http://www.telerik.com/devcraft" target="_blank">DevCraft</a> suite of UI controls.
Notably, approximately 130,000 customers from 40,000 organizations across 94 countries make use of Telerik products, including 450 of the Fortune 500. DevCraft is of course one such product.
With this update, Telerik is aiming to optimize mobile development for <a href="http://asp.net/" target="_blank">ASP.NET</a> projects by providing responsive, adaptive and elastic capabilities; mitigating the challenges of developing for multiple devices and screen sizes.
The release also includes document processing and cloud capabilities for UI, as well as additional updates designed to meet the ever-evolving needs of today’s .NET developers. Let's take a closer look at what's new.
<h2>Responsive, Adaptive and Elastic</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/devcraft700x0.png" alt="DevCraft" />
Here's an overview of what you can expect to see in the all new DevCraft Q2’14:
<ul>
<li> Responsive, Adaptive and Elastic:  With the latest Telerik DevCraft release, UI for  <a href="http://asp.net/" target="_blank"> ASP.NET </a>  AJAX controls will gain responsive capabilities in Rotator and Slider, adaptive capabilities in Lightbox and Slider and elastic capabilities in several controls to help developers build applications with a professional UX, tailored for any device.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li> Document Processing:  Now standard in Telerik UI Controls for  <a href="http://asp.net/" target="_blank"> ASP.NET </a>  AJAX, WPF, Silverlight and WinForms, new APIs for processing the most common document formats: DOCX, RTF, XLSX, CSV and PDF, enabling developers to embed, load, create, convert and print documents directly within the app, without Microsoft Office or other external libraries.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li> New Controls: In addition to the more than 420 controls currently available within the DevCraft suite, Telerik is adding new Map, Gantt and Diagram controls for  <a href="http://asp.net/" target="_blank"> ASP.NET </a>  AJAX, making it highly customizable for individual projects.</li>
</ul>
In addition to the advancements listed above, Telerik is releasing additional improvements in Silverlight, WPF, Cloud, the Just product line, WinForms, Reporting and Data Access, all based on user feedback collected throughout the year.
In relation to the release of Telerik's Q2'14 DevCraft, Todd Anglin, EVP at Telerik, made these comments:
<blockquote>“Our development community is asked to do more with less, every day. Our focus at Telerik is to make development a more productive experience in which quality apps can be created and deployed across multiple screens, with minimal rework. With the latest DevTools release, our one million-strong developer community is further empowered to focus on the core of their applications, with the knowledge that Telerik has their back with industry leading UI.”</blockquote>
All of the details of the DevCraft Q2’14 release will be expanded upon during Telerik’s online conference series, “ <a href="http://www.telerik.com/campaigns/devcraft/q2-2014-release" target="_blank"> Be Responsive: .NET UI for Any Device </a> ,” June 24 beginning 11:00am EST.
The three-part series will introduce a wide range of capabilities now available in Telerik DevCraft to help build .NET apps using any technology—established or evolving. The full lineup includes:
<ul>
<li>Tips for Building Mobile-Optimized  <a href="http://asp.net/" target="_blank"> ASP.NET </a>  Projects.</li>
<li>Manage Documents within .NET Apps.</li>
<li>Build Line-of-Business Apps with Maps, Gantt and Diagram Controls.</li>
</ul>
For more details, and to register for Telerik's upcoming online conference series <a href="http://www.telerik.com/campaigns/devcraft/q2-2014-release" target="_blank">right here</a>.
You can also find out more about DevCraft via the <a href="http://www.telerik.com/devcraft" target="_blank"> Telerik website</a>.

New Telerik DevCraft Release Brings About Enhanced Responsive Design Capabilities

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<a href="http://www.coremedia.com/" target="_blank">CoreMedia</a> have announced the release of CoreMedia LiveContext 2.0, an IBM WebSphere® Commerce integrated digital engagement application. The application empowers eCommerce and marketing professionals to transform their online stores with deeper, more visually appealing and immersive experiences. 
 Founded in 1996, CoreMedia – a leading WCM (Web Content Management) vendor – is headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, with offices in San Francisco, Washington, London and Singapore. Globally recognized brands are amongst CoreMedia' clients, including the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Deutsche Telekom and so forth.
Using CoreMedia LiveContext 2.0, clients have maximum control and flexibility in meeting the needs of their online shoppers. Let's take a look at exactly how that works.
<h2>Visual Engagement &amp; Immersive Content</h2>
CoreMedia LiveContext 2.0 allows businesses to leverage experiential commerce to connect customers with an engaging experience through the seamless blending of brand, content and community resulting in increased visitor traffic, brand awareness, sales and customer loyalty.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-1.png" alt="CoreMedia" />
The three foundational components CoreMedia LiveContext 2.0 are as follows:
<ul>
<li> Visual Engagement: Great design elements, exciting layouts and a mobile-first responsive and adaptive approach enable e-Commerce and marketing professionals to design experiences that attract and engage shoppers.</li>
<li> Immersive Content: Through product aligned storytelling e-Commerce professionals can deliver inspirational, content-driven stories that are seamlessly embedded with product information.</li>
<li> Incremental Innovation: A grow-as-you-go approach ensures that operations won’t be disrupted while evolving to experiential commerce. A fixed price rapid deployment offering, aligned with tangible business value and delivered within as little as 10 weeks, is provided.</li>
</ul>
Regarding the release of CoreMedia LiveContext 2.0, Jerry Lewis, VP of WebSphere Commerce Practice at SysIQ,had this to say:
<blockquote>
“The seamless integration between CoreMedia and WebSphere Commerce Management Center, minimizes the number of tools that business users need to build a visually compelling and effective e-commerce application. 
Many other commerce and content solutions are cobbled together making them complex and difficult to manage. With CoreMedia, merchandisers, marketers, and merchants can effectively combine content with commerce in a long-awaited, much needed tool set.”
</blockquote>
For further details on the release of CoreMedia LiveContent 2.0, check out the <a href="http://www.coremedia.com/web-content-management/news-events/press-releases/coremedia-live-context-2-0-launch-may-2014-en/-/1602/34776/-/_rkd57cz/-/Tweet%20This:%20CoreMedia%20LiveContext%202.0%20Helps%20Businesses%20Transform%20their%20Online%20Stores%20with%20Experiential%20Commerce:%20www.coremedia.com/livecontext" target="_blank"> official announcement </a> .
You can also find out more about CoreMedia <a href="http://www.coremedia.com/" target="_blank"> via their website </a> .

CoreMedia LiveContext 2.0 Released

<a href="http://www.jahia.com/" target="_blank">Jahia</a>, have given their eagerly anticipated enterprise portal solution – Portal Factory – a release date. June 30th 2014 to be precise. Jahia Portal Factory is built to bring enhanced integration capabilities with external content and business applications.
The initial announcement of Jahia Portal Factory was made back back in February 2014, when we had the <a href="/jahia-one-day-two-jahia-7-release-date-demos-surprises/" target="_blank">pleasure of attending JahiaOne Conference</a>.
Jahia recently launched the latest edition of their open source, enterprise content management system, Now, with the release of Portal Factory, enterprise customers of Jahia can expect a whole new branch of functionality.
<h2>Portals, Portals, Portals</h2>
Jahia Portal Factory brings together the capabilities of <a href="http://www.jahia.com/products/digital-factory" target="_blank">Digital Factory CMS</a> along with additional portal capabilities into one single solution. Here's a quick overview of what it can offer:
<ul>
<li>Users themselves can create ad-hoc portals and personal dashboards based on predefined and approved portal templates and components managed from a central administration interface.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>​Companies can seamlessly expose their existing/legacy business applications within modern multi-channel web portal interfaces, thus securing former investments and reducing the time-to-market.</li>
<li>Companies can also expose their data silos (using custom or standardized data providers such as CMIS) and enrich them with additional content into secured digital portals, without duplicating or re-writing data sources.</li>
<li>Marketing teams can produce and publish content as fast and as regularly as their market requires, embedding data and enterprise applications into compelling and differentiating user experiences for their customers without being constrained by IT applications lifecycle.</li>
</ul>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/jahia-portal-factory-dashboard-browsing-data-from-cmis-mounted-repo700x0.png" alt="Jahia Portal Factory" />
<h2>Key features of Jahia Portal Factory</h2>
Inheriting its extensibility and content management capabilities from <a href="http://www.jahia.com/products/digital-factory" target="_blank">Digital Factory</a>, Jahia Portal Factory has everything it needs to tackle even the most demanding digital projects.
Here's a look at all the key features of Portal Factory:
<ul>
<li>A new non-intrusive integration for enterprise legacy applications: Portal Factory allows for the integration of legacy applications without having to modify them in any way. Regardless of the language the application had been developed with.Marketing teams can produce the content their market requires at the time it needs it, while IT teams can decide and plan to work on the application at their own pace, according to their resources, security and stability constraints.
This server side integration has been built with the new open source framework <a href="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=70112415&amp;msgid=349585&amp;act=LMSD&amp;c=870976&amp;destination=http%3A%2F%2Fesigate.org%2F" target="_blank">Esigate</a>, initiated by Smile and Capgemini, two leading system integrators, and to which Jahia is now a committer.</li>
<li>The External Data Provider: A new core service developed by Jahia which enables developers to declare bridges between internal content and external repositories without neither copy nor duplication or synchronization.With the External Data Provider, external data can be accessed, manipulated and searched as if they were directly stored in Jahia repository. All external and internal data can benefit, among other core Jahia features, from the powerful layout building features of the Jahia Studio.</li>
<li>User centric personalized dashboards with SSO:  Portal Factory comes with sample widgets, preconfigured portals and configuration tools to help administrators create dashboards easily and pick default widgets and configurations that users will then be able to customize at will.</li>
<li>CMIS: New aggregation capabilities to mount CMIS compliant repositories such as Alfresco, Sharepoint etc. into Digital Factory as well as Portal Factory modules.</li>
<li>A Set of Enterprise Portal Features: These include Identity Management, Personalized content and Multi-Portal capabilities, which have been key capabilities of the Jahia platform since its early days.</li>
</ul>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/jahia-portal-factory-external-app-integration-with-esigate700x0.png" alt="Jahia Portal Factory" />
Regarding the impending launch of Jahia Portal Factory, Elie Auvray, CEO of Jahia, had this to say:
<blockquote>“As announced during our first international user conference, JahiaOne, in early February this year, Portal Factory will be available late June thanks to the work done with our community of Customer and Partner. 
In its former version, our CMS solution – Digital Factory –  offered portal features that needed refinement to meet the scope of a complete Portal offering. The conception and development of both the External Data Provider and the Esigate integration, associated with the extension of the personal dashboards exceed everyone’s expectations.”</blockquote>
To find out more about Jahia, <a href="http://www.jahia.com/" target="_blank">check out their website</a>. You can also request a trial of Jahia Portal Factory <a href="http://www.jahia.com/products/portal-factory/try-portal-factory" target="_blank">right here</a>.
In addition, be sure to explore more of <a href="/products/jahia/" target="_blank">Jahia via our CMS Directory</a>.

Jahia Reveal Portal Factory Release Date

The XOOPS development team has announced the release of version 2.5.7.
XOOPS is an acronym of, “eXtensible Object Oriented Portal System”. It's a free open source content management systems (CMS), written in PHP.
It uses a modular architecture allowing users to customize, update and theme their websites. XOOPS is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) making it free to use, modify and redistribute.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/xoops257finaldownload.png" alt="XOOPS" />
Version 2.5.7 is focused on making XOOPS fully compatible with PHP 5.5.x. Furthermore, it brings about some security enhancements, bug fixes, and updates external libraries to their latest versions, including the following:
– jQuery to 1.11.0 
– jQuery UI 1.10.4 
– jQuery Lightbox to 1.2.3 
– jQuery Form to 3.50.0 
– jQuery Tablesorter to 2.5.11 
– jGrowl to 1.2.14 
– TinyMCE to 3.5.11
There's also a brand new theme to go along with the release. The <a href="http://xoops.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=6571" target="_blank">xBootstrap Theme</a> has been released, which is – as the name implies – based on Bootstrap.
You can also explore more of <a href="/products/xoops/" target="_blank">XOOPS via our CMS Directory</a>.

XOOPS 2.5.7 Final Goes Live

<a href="https://www.phpfox.com/" target="_blank"> PHPFox</a>, the widely popular social networking CMS, has rebranded. From here on out, <a href="http://moxi9.com/announcement/welcome-to-moxi9" target="_blank"> PHPFox goes by the name of Moxi9</a>.
Moxi9 has been around for a number of years as PHPFox, giving users the ability to create unique online communities which can include many of the features found on sites like Facebook and MySpace.
Although I personally like the sound of Moxi9, users and potential users of the platform will be interested to hear that this rebranding brings about more than just a name change.
<h2>PHPFox 4, Pricing &amp; Support</h2>
The PHPFox/Moxi9 team have announced that they are currently working on v4, which is based on a stripped down version of the v3 engine. They say that:
<blockquote>“We have removed many of the default modules that are included with v3 and our new pricing takes this into account, which we will get into below. Our goal with v4 is to develop a strong and stable core, with a brand new way to deliver Apps, Themes and Language Packs to you by using Unity [a feature which will allow you to install Apps, Themes and/or Language Packages with no need to upload files or have developers access your server].”</blockquote>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/phpfox700x0.png" alt="PHPfox" />
Furthermore, the Moxi9 team have unveiled some pricing and support changes, which alters the way users pay for support.
Firstly, the PHPFox product itself has been reduced in price from $299,to $99. A sizeable reduction. However, support options must now be purchased separately via the following two plans:
<ol>
<li> Starter Support Plan – This comes with a 48 hour response time during a 5 day working week, with 30 responses per month at $19 per month.</li>
<li> Pro Support Plan – This comes with a 12 hour response time during a 5 day working week, with 60 responses per month at $49 per month.</li>
</ol>
Also, a Q/A section is currently in private beta, a place where members of Unity or those with active support plans can get assistance from other members and company agents.
For all the details on these announcements, along with comments on the future of PHPFox, check out Moxi9's recent blog announcement.
You can also explore more of <a href="/products/phpfox/" target="_blank"> PHPFox via our CMS Directory</a>.

PHPFox Rebrands to Moxi9, Reveals Pricing Changes

<a href="http://impresspages.org/" target="_blank">ImpressPages</a> have just announced the release of version 4.1of their platform, coming with a much anticipated <a href="http://market.impresspages.org/" target="_blank">Plugin Market</a>.
Founded in 2007, ImpressPages has grown into a popular open-source “drag-and-drop” and “in-line” editing-based CMS, powering just under 50,000 websites worldwide.
After the <a href="/impresspages-4.0-released/" target="_blank">major release of ImpressPages 4.0 back in April</a>, this update contains an important tweak in the software, enabling plugin installation from within the CMS. With ImpressPages 4.1, the whole plugin installation process have been moved from GitHub to inside the ImpressPages CMS itself.
This means that users can install plugins without leaving the CMS, making plugin installation a smooth and speedy process.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/unnamed700x0.jpg" alt="ImpressPages CMS 4.1" /> 
The complete list of active ImpressPages plugins can be found at the <a href="http://market.impresspages.org/plugins/" target="_blank">Plugin Market directory</a>.
ImpressPages also encourages developers to contribute and sell plugins within the <a href="http://market.impresspages.org/dev/" target="_blank">developers section of the ImpressPages market.</a>
In addition, be sure to also explore more of ImpressPages via our CMS Directory.

ImpressPages 4.1 Released Alongside Plugin Market

I've just finished publishing the announcement over on our awards site that breaks down the new categories this year for the CMS awards.
As you know, there are two portions of the awards; Peoples Choice and Critics Choice. These categories apply to both Peoples Choice and Critics Choice. Submissions for both will be considered but in the end, the judges will decide which projects are best suited to receive each type of award.
I think you'll be excited to see the new breakdown of categories. Go check it out here: <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/cms-critic-awards/">https://www.cmscritic.com/cms-critic-awards/</a>

Announcing this year's categories for the CMS Awards

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