Articles - Page 145

Agentic AI for Agencies in 2026

bmckeiver

For those who are unaware, K2 is a component for Joomla that provides the popular CMS with the ability to further customize the way content is displayed on your site. Users who have played with or used Drupal at some point might best equate this to being similar to CCK (<a href="http://drupal.org/project/cck">Content Construction Kit</a>) but for Joomla.
K2, designed by Joomla developers, JoomlaWorks adds an incredible amount of flexibility and allows developers and web masters to do some pretty amazing things with their content.
This video best highlights some of it's capabilities:
<pre>(Note: Video from March 20, 2010)</pre>
The opportunities that K2 present for Joomla are pretty incredible and given how easy the component is to use, it has, in our opinion, opened the door to far more usage possibilities than were previously available.
There is a demo site online that showcases some of the various things that can be done with the product. You can check it out at <a href="http://demo.getk2.org/">http://demo.getk2.org/</a>.
K2 also appears to have sparked a lot of interest (not surprisingly) in the Joomla developer community and a large number of plugins have begun to crop up in the extensions directory. As of last count, there was around 130 new extensions that make use of K2. That's a pretty impressive number.
In speaking with Fotis Evangelou, lead developer for <a href="http://www.joomlaworks.gr">JoomlaWorks</a>, he mentioned the following key accomplishments for K2:
<ol>
<li>All Joomla template providers now support K2 by default on all new templates that they release.</li>
<li>It's the first extension to have passed official security/code auditing by the Joomla core team in order to be used on the <a href="http://magazine.joomla.org">Joomla! Community Magazine</a></li>
<li>K2 was the first component in the Joomla! community to get an award for component of the year at the Joomla! and Beyond 2010 conference that was held in Germany this year.  (full story here)</li>
<li>K2 has been downloaded over 350,000 times in the last year and a half and has been translated into dozens of languages. It is also one of the top extensions in the Joomla Extensions Directory.</li>
<li>The Joomla Extensions Directory contains over 130 extensions that makes use of or link into K2 content in one way or another which is a huge accomplishment for the component.</li>
<li>K2 powers two of the world's top Joomla websites in absolute visitor count. They are Gazzetta.gr and TNAWrestling.com.</li>
</ol>
These are just some of the accomplishments of this fine product. If you've been considering using Joomla but have felt restricted somehow in the past, you need to do yourself a favor and install it with K2. You'll be astounded by the amount of functionality it adds to any stock Joomla installation.
You can get K2 from the official Joomla extensions directory:<a href="http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/news-production/content-construction/8061"> http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/news-production/content-construction/8061</a> or learn more by visiting the official K2 website at: <a href="http://getk2.org">http://getk2.org</a>

Has K2 opened the door to more opportunities for Joomla? We think so.

mike-johnston

If you've been waiting to cast your vote for your favorites in the People's Choice Awards, now is the time to do so.Voting has officially opened and you may now <a href="/cms-critic-awards/">cast your vote</a>! So head on over to our <a href="/cms-critic-awards/">awards page</a> and submit your favorites.If you are in the running, we have created a handy badge you can use to spur interest...Simply download the graphic (shown below) and link it to <a href="/cms-critic-awards/">https://www.cmscritic.com/critics-choice-cms-awards/</a>.For those who missed it, here are the nominees in each category:<h3><a href="/cms-critic-awards/">Best Open Source CMS</a></h3>2013 Nominees ( <a href="/announcing-the-peoples-choice-for-best-open-source-cms-nominees">read the announcement </a>):<ol><li><a target="_blank" href="https://modx.com/">MODx</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.dnnsoftware.com/">DNN Platform</a></li><li><a href="/products/liferay">Liferay</a></li><li><a href="/products/processwire/">Processwire</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://e107.org/">e107</a></li></ol><h3><a href="/cms-critic-awards/">Best Free CMS</a></h3>2013 Nominees ( <a href="/announcing-the-peoples-choice-for-best-free-cms-nominees/">read the announcement </a>):<ol><li><a target="_blank" href="https://processwire.com/">Processwire</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://tiki.org/HomePage">Tiki</a></li><li><a href="/products/concrete-cms">Concrete5</a></li><li><a href="/products/wordpress/">WordPress</a></li><li><a href="/products/umbraco/">Umbraco</a></li></ol><h3><a href="/cms-critic-awards/">Best Small to Midsize Business CMS</a></h3>2013 Nominees ( <a href="/announcing-the-people-s-choice-for-best-small-to-midsize-business-cms-nominees/">read the announcement </a>):<ol><li>Adobe Business Catalyst</li><li><a href="/products/ingeniux/">Ingeniux</a></li><li><a href="/products/kentico/">Kentico</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.percussion.com/">Percussion</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.progress.com/sitefinity-cms">Sitefinity</a></li></ol><h3><a href="/cms-critic-awards/">Best Enterprise CMS</a></h3>2013 Nominees ( <a href="/announcing-the-peoples-choice-for-best-enterprise-cms-nominees/">read the announcement </a>):<ol><li><a target="_blank" href="http://www.adobe.com/solutions/web-experience-management.html">Adobe Experience Manager</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.hannonhill.com/products/cascade-cms/index.html">Cascade Server</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.optimizely.com/">EpiServer</a></li><li><a href="/products/liferay/">Liferay</a></li><li><a href="/products/sitecore/">Sitecore</a></li></ol><h3><a href="/cms-critic-awards/">Best eCommerce Solution </a> (New for 2013!)</h3>2013 Nominees ( <a href="/announcing-the-people-s-choice-for-best-ecommerce-solution-nominees/">read the announcement </a>):<ol><li>3dcart</li><li>Aspxcommerce</li><li><a href="/products/bigcommerce/">BigCommerce</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://business.adobe.com/products/magento/magento-commerce.html">Magento</a></li><li><a href="/products/shopify/">Shopify</a></li></ol><h3><a href="/cms-critic-awards/">Best Website Builder</a></h3>2013 Nominees ( <a href="/announcing-the-people-s-choice-for-best-website-builder-nominees/">read the announcement </a>):<ol><li>Adobe Business Catalyst</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.jimdo.com/">Jimdo</a></li><li><a href="/products/squarespace/">Squarespace</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.ucoz.com/">UCoz</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.webydo.com/">Webydo</a></li></ol><h3><a href="/cms-critic-awards/">Best Forum Solution </a> (New for 2013!)</h3>2013 Nominees ( <a href="/announcing-the-peoples-choice-for-best-forum-solution-nominees">read the announcement </a>):<ol><li><a target="_blank" href="http://vanillaforums.org/">Vanilla Forums</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="http://nodebb.org/">NodeBB</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="http://www.simplemachines.org/">Simple Machines Forum</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.vbulletin.com/">VBulletin</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="http://www.invisionpower.com/">Invision Power Board (IPBoard)</a></li></ol><h3><a href="/cms-critic-awards/">Best Social Networking Solution</a></h3>2013 Nominees ( <a href="/announcing-the-people-s-choice-for-best-social-networking-solution-nominees/">read the announcement </a>):<ol><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.dnnsoftware.com/products/evoq-engage">Evoq Social</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.phpfox.com/">PHPFox</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.oxwall.com/">Oxwall</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="http://www.socialcore.com">SocialCore</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://socialengine.com/">Social Engine</a></li></ol><h3><a href="/cms-critic-awards/">Best Hosted/Cloud CMS </a> (New for 2013!)</h3><ol><li><a target="_blank" href="http://acquia.com/products-services/acquia-cloud">Acquia Cloud</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://agilitycms.com/">Agility CMS</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.paperthin.com/products/commonspot-cms.cfm">CommonSpot</a></li><li>Gutensite</li></ol>Best of luck to all who are in the running!

It's Official! Voting is Now Open for the People's Choice Awards!

Here's a good introductory video to Caribou CMS. Caribou is a web development platform with integrated eCommerce. It's a good platform to consider if you have an inclination to sell digital products, start a membership website or sell subscriptions. Check it out.
Their website is here: http://www.cariboucms.com/

Introduction to Caribou CMS 3.0

Anthony Casalena is the founder and CEO of the extremely popular content management system / website builder, Squarespace (read our <a href="/squarespace-review-the-long-awaited-commerce-solution/">Squarespace Review</a> for more on the system). We recently had an opportunity to interview him and get his insights on how Squarespace got to where it is today and where it's going in the future. Read on for the full scoop! Please tell us a bit about yourself and your background.I grew up in Northern Maryland and learned to program around age 15, initially with a focus on user interfaces. I launched Squarespace from my dorm room at the University of Maryland in 2004, moved to New York, and still live and work here today.Can you tell us a bit about the circumstances that guided you to the creation of Squarespace?I was trying to make my personal website and I wasn’t satisfied with any of the existing services. At the time, you had to seek out and cobble together a mix of blogging software, statistics software, page builder software, and web hosting. Instead of going that route, I decided to create an elegant solution that offered all the necessary elements to build a professional website.Further, none of the hosting or publishing services available really had a focus on design. I wasn't comfortable using them for my online identity.Did you ever suspect it would turn into such a large and successful player in the CMS industry?I've always sought to make Squarespace the best platform possible. I had set out to solve a problem for myself, but quickly realized that others also struggled with a similar predicament. It was exciting to think that Squarespace could be a solution for them as well, and that what made me decide to open up the platform to others.Of the achievements you’ve made as a team at Squarespace, what are you the most proud of and why?The launch of Squarespace 6, which we introduced in July, has been a huge accomplishment for us. We worked on Squarespace 6 for about two years behind the scenes, with the mission of disrupting the publishing platform that got us to where we were since our inception.We wanted to create a platform that truly allowed us to create any kind of website, but also a platform that would allow consumers to manage those sites on their own once developers created them. Squarespace 6 is that platform: developers get full code control and use of their own tools, while consumers get a modern, refined content management system that is a joy to use. The kinds of sites consumers can create on Squarespace 6 are revolutionary. We see our customers winning design awards by simply using our templates. I don't think the judges know about that.The next year will be incredible for us as we continue to build on the powerful base that is Squarepsace 6. We introduced a completely seamless eCommerce component last month, and have an ambitious roadmap ahead that we're uniquely posed to execute on.What do you think has contributed to the huge success of Squarespace?There are so many things — Squarespace is really here because so many things are working out well in one place. Our template and interface design is industry-leading, our engineering to pull that off is phenomenal, and we have a superb support team in place backing it all up.It’s no secret that a large selling point for Squarespace is the excellent user experience, how did that come to be? What led to the choices your team made with the design /structure of the UI?A lot of the initial user interface choices are the result of a very small group of us refining a consistent, simple style over the years. I think a lot of it comes from just using the interface over and over to accomplish things for ourselves, then fixing what doesn't work.Once you have a framework like that, you can reuse those stylistic building blocks over and over with great results.Now with eCommerce in the mix, how has this affected the overall appeal of Squarespace to designers / developers? Are you seeing a boost in signups?We are indeed seeing a big lift from the introduction of eCommerce. Squarespace Commerce was one of the most requested features since the platform's inception. It's awesome to be able to finally offer a commerce solution that's completely integrated with the rest of the CMS. I believe we're really the only product on the market that establishes this level of a fit between commerce and the underlying system.Can you share with us some of your favorite Squarespace implementations? Are there any that really stood out to you as great use of the CMS?Here's just a few.<a target="_blank" href="http://www.destinationkors.com">http://www.destinationkors.com</a> <a target="_blank" href="http://www.destinationkors.com">http://skiesandbeyond.bottegaveneta.com</a> <a target="_blank" href="http://www.aldernyc.com/">http://www.aldernyc.com/</a> <a target="_blank" href="http://www.hodinkee.com/">http://www.hodinkee.com/</a> http://blog.maptia.com/There are actually hundreds of great examples linked to our template pages for inspiration. We love showcasing our customers.What is your team doing to improve the overall experience that customers have when it comes to dealing with Squarespace (support issues, etc)?Customer experience is extremely important to us — that encompasses everything from how you perceive our brand from an ad, to your initial signup experience, to our product, and through to your interactions with customer support.Customer support represents about a third of our company and has always been one of the best parts about using Squarespace. I personally answered tens of thousands of support tickets over the years when we were getting started, so I am intimately familiar with how great support can improve customer experience.With the recent success of Squarespace 6, we are seeing upwards of 15,000 tickets per week. Making sure these are well handled and seeing that everyone receives personal attention is critical to our success.What other features would you like to see come to fruition within the CMS?We've really just begun our expansion across multiple verticals: portfolios, small businesses, blogs, stores, restaurants, etc. Many of the features in our CMS are common to all of these groups, but we're starting to introduce some really amazing features specific to them. From things like the iOS Portfolio app for artists and photographers to menu blocks and OpenTable integration for restaurants – we have a lot of new features on the docket.What is your next goal for Squarespace? What can we expect to see coming down the road in future releases?We choose not to comment on details of our upcoming releases, but if you take a look at our blog, we are on a tear. The last 6 months have brought us some really incredible and long-awaited releases. We are a team of 120 now. That sort of size allows us to accomplish an incredible amount at once.Rest assured, we're working on some huge things that will further cement our position as the absolute best publishing platform on the web.—And there you have it folks. Want to learn more about Squarespace, the winner of our <a href="/critics-choice-for-best-website-builder-goes-to/">Best Website Builder</a> award? Check them out here: <a href="/products/squarespace">Squarespace</a>

Interview with Squarespace CEO and Founder, Anthony Casalena

KnowledgeTree, provider of online document management solutions that allow businesses to share content and control document processes, today announced an expanded integration with online web applications provider Zoho.
As a result, users of KnowledgeTree’s software as a service (SaaS) offering have the ability to create new documents and spreadsheets by accessing Zoho Writer and Zoho Sheet from within KnowledgeTree.  These documents can be saved directly to the KnowledgeTree repository in a wide variety of file types.  In addition, KnowledgeTree users are able to edit documents and spreadsheets in the repository without needing desktop software such as Microsoft® Word.
Zoho.com offers a comprehensive suite of award-winning online business, productivity and collaboration applications.  “For editing, the Zoho integration is a huge time saver,” stated Evan Person, director of product, KnowledgeTree.  “It means that users can quickly make changes to a document online without going through a multi-step check out/check in process. ”
KnowledgeTree’s cloud-enabled document management solution provides customers with the ability to share files and manage their business processes at a low cost of product ownership. KnowledgeTree offers a complete, fully functional 30-day trial for an unlimited number of users. Available for free, users can access all the rich functionality of KnowledgeTree, including the ability to download and install client tools such as a Microsoft® Office Add-in and a cross-platform explorer for Windows, Mac and Linux desktops.
“The expanded integration between KnowledgeTree and Zoho facilitates communication between business professionals and enhances knowledge sharing among business groups,” commented Raju Vegesna technology evangelist at Zoho.  “As a Zoho API Integration Partner, KnowledgeTree is meeting the needs of today’s mobile workforce by bring document management online where it is accessible anytime anywhere.”
About KnowledgeTree
KnowledgeTree makes sharing content and controlling document processes simple with secure, affordable online document management solutions for growing SMBs and departments at larger companies. Designed for business professionals, KnowledgeTree is easy to use, does not require extensive training and enables content to be accessed and managed anytime, anywhere via cloud computing. Rich and open APIs allow for seamless integration of popular third party business applications.
KnowledgeTree accelerates return on investment by streamlining document-centric business processes and increasing collaboration with workflow, document alerts, version control and full transaction histories. KnowledgeTree is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information, visit <a href="http://www.knowledgetree.com/" target="_blank">www.knowledgetree.com</a>. Follow us on Twitter <a href="http://www.twitter.com/knowledgetreesw" target="_blank">@knowledgetreesw</a>

KnowledgeTree Expands Integration with Zoho

InfoSpace, Inc. (NASDAQ:INSP) today announced the unveiling of its Content Experience Platform, which upgrades its current portal into a more versatile and adaptable service to meet the needs of various devices. The start page portal and content management system will be demonstrated by representatives to attendees at the 2011 NCTA Cable Show in Chicago.
The new portal offers businesses a cost-effective solution with a complete user experience. It includes customizable search and content solutions compatible with several user devices, including mobile phones, tablets, laptops and PCs. The customizable formats offer numerous layout and design options, creating a more personalized experience for its users.
<blockquote>
“InfoSpace's new Content Experience Platform offers Internet users a richer user experience while addressing the challenges caused by differing content formats across multiple devices,” said Nathan Rohm, senior product manager at InfoSpace. “The platform helps satisfy end users’ expectations and enables new monetization opportunities for our partners.”
</blockquote>
The new Content Experience Platform offers customers a hub of adaptable, localized content including news, weather, sports, and entertainment. Currently available to business customers in beta, the robust start page portal is delivered through a flexible user interface that adapts seamlessly to different devices.
InfoSpace representatives will give demonstrations, answer any questions, listen to feedback and sign up new business customers for the beta at the 2011 NCTA Cable Show in Chicago held June 14-16, 2011.
<blockquote>
“This new platform will provide a user experience that demonstrates the future of content delivery,”said Rohm. “As we roll out our beta version, we will continue to work very closely with our business customers to ensure that we’re building the portal experience they want to provide for their end users.”
</blockquote>
If you are interested in applying for the private beta program now or if you’d like to participate in testing or analyzing new content and technology solutions which could help shape our product roadmap, please contact contentexp@infospace.com. For additional information, please visit www.infospaceinc.com/business/hp_privatelabelportal.aspx.

InfoSpace Unveils Demonstration of New Content Experience Platform Portal

A new version of ImpressCMS has been made available. Version 1.2.3 ushers in a number of changes and features including:
<ul>
<li>The most important change is official PHP5.3 compliance for the core modules and libraries. Note that modules might need adaptations to work in PHP 5.3. That is beyond the control of the core team.</li>
<li>Fixed: search pagination and page title</li>
<li>Improved: session security for the installation proces</li>
<li>Improved: migration of images in the imagemanager during an upgrade from ImpressCMS 1.1</li>
<li>Improved: use of smarty variables</li>
<li>Fixed : search functionality issues</li>
<li>Security : possible SQL injection vulnerability</li>
<li>Fixed regression in the icmsForm class</li>
<li>Fixed : XoopsThemeForm undefined</li>
</ul>
To learn more, visit the release page: ImpressCMS 1.2.3

ImpressCMS 1.2.3 Released

Call Tracking + AI 

Call Tracking + AI that Turns Calls into Leads

#ffffff

Unless you’re one of a handful of IT executives at Fortune 500 tech companies, ‘Big Data’ and ‘CMS' platforms do not work together. You're managing a majority of your online presence through your CMS which stores immense amounts of realtime data. You're sitting on millions of dollars worth of oil but you lack the rig to access the value that is Business Intelligence gleaned from Big Data.
So what is ‘Big Data’ and why is it so valuable? By aggregating and analyzing large sets of data included but not limited to product data, site usage, financial transactions, inventory, locations, customer behavior and more, unprecedented insights can be leveraged to enable businesses to make data-driven decisions. Big Data companies make a fortune by building ways to display that data in an intuitive and interactive dashboard, totally customizable by you and built to make sense of all the data. The question is, how do you connect the two together?
Some solutions have emerged that involve too much manual work. Everything in your CMS is in a database that you’d need to analyze so connect your database(s) to a tool like Periscope and utilize their API to keep the data flowing? Sounds easy but it's not. If you have a fortune and the manpower to set up and manage that process, you wouldn't be reading this. The connection between Big Data and Content Management Systems is the next step in the evolution of the enterprise. Something has to give.
Thus far, no one has come up with an efficient way to leverage the tremendous amount of data that most CMS instances store. It is our opinion that the CMS provider(s) that find the way to leverage Big Data sitting in CMS databases in the most efficient and useful way possible will become the next giant in the CMS space.
Big Data has become a buzz word but unlike most buzz words it actually means exactly what it’s called, there is so much data about humans, earth, commerce, an endless web of transactions and information that can be analyzed to find patterns that provide unparalleled insight into our respective interests. As a species, we can avert crises — even war, natural disasters, and economic collapse — and make global advancements in the realms of science, technology, government, energy, and business.
In the world of business, critical decisions can be made based off of intelligence gleaned from pattern analysis and data mining of large data sets in their organization. Imagine leveraging all of your data using Business Intelligence to make the most informed decisions in brand awareness, marketing, sales, product development, strategic positioning, vendor selection, and content authoring, all tied into your CMS platform. Wouldn't it be nice?

How Can Big Data and CMS Platforms Work Together?

<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/exploring-the-solodev-web-experience-platform/" target="_blank">Yesterday we kicked off Solodev's featured week with a high level overview of the new Solodev Web Experience Platform.</a>
Today, we're going to do a deep dive into the platform. Solodev made major strides in their product roadmap this year from being just another player in the enterprise content management space to disrupting the space by becoming the world’s first enterprise content management system available on-demand in the Amazon Web Services Cloud.
On top of their move to the cloud and all that entails such as unparalleled levels of security, scalability, and reliability, Solodev also shifted its focus towards empowering marketing teams to use Solodev to target customer segments with tailor made content.
Solodev also rolled out a new short code language to make web development in Solodev easier for the non-technical user. Other features rolled out include its own website analytics application as well as Solodev Experiments which allow you to A/B test pieces of content against one another. Last and certainly not least, 2016 marked the first year Solodev released a Windows flavor of their flagship product. The combination of these major strides makes Solodev a serious contender in the enterprise content management space in 2017.
Now let’s take a look under the hood…
<h3>Enterprise Features</h3>
Solodev includes enterprise features such as multisite management, granular permissions, content scheduling, staging, and publishing, approval workflows, versioning, digital asset management, and just about every other standard enterprise CMS feature on the market. Like all aspects of Solodev, however, they have made major strides in their enterprise product feature set as well, improving existing features and adding new features such as:
* Native Analytics
* CodeMirror to enhance “in CMS” coding
* Templating Language (Short Codes)
* Theme Importer
* Drag and Drop Form Builder
* Improved SEO-friendly URLs
* Solodev Experiments for A/B Testing Content
* Table Schema Editor
* New Meta Tags for Social Media
* Redesigned Dashboard
What sets Solodev’s enterprise features apart from their competition isn’t the mere existence of their feature set; it’s the way they implemented their features both old and new to improve their ease of use and maximize the desired effect of the function of every feature. Moving on…
<h3>Custom Applications</h3>
One of the coolest things about Solodev is its application development framework, which utilizes “modules” to enable you to build literally any custom web application you can think of.
The role of an application or “module” in Solodev is to manage how data entered into the module is displayed on your website. Modules are extremely powerful and creating your own is fairly easy due to Solodev’s extensive documentation and optional short code language. Solodev allows you to customize which entries are included, how the entries' information is displayed and what information you want to be displayed on your website.
Solodev also provides short codes that you can use to print this data on your web pages. Again, this is all thoroughly documented and Solodev is kind enough to provide the sample code that powers their most popular enterprise modules, which you can customize to fit your needs.
<h3>Develop Websites Faster with Solodev</h3>
The staple of the Solodev <a href="https://www.solodev.com/" target="_blank">Web Experience Platform</a> is a templating system that speeds up development time by preventing the need to duplicate HTML code during web development. When you build your website in Solodev, you build what are called “page templates” such as your home template, sectional, and content templates, etc. When adding web pages to your website, you can simply use these page templates and insert new content into drop zones within those templates. In essence, you can build a 50,000 page website and only actual code three templates in a matter of a few hours. Solodev is definitely at the frontier of streamlined web development within a CMS platform.
As a standalone CMS for the Enterprise, Solodev has everything you need and perhaps a bit more. What makes Solodev particularly unique from a web design perspective is its “blank canvas” philosophy where it doesn’t restrict you or force you to compromise on design. If you know HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, you can begin coding your website within minutes of purchasing Solodev directly in the platform. And as if that wasn’t cool enough, Solodev is one of the only web development platforms that actually allows you to see what you are building as you are building it.
Solodev is currently offering a 14 Day Free Trial of the Solodev Web Experience Platform. This includes an instance of Solodev on an Amazon EC2 server as well as 50GB of storage, 2GB of memory, as well as email and chat support.

The Genesis of the Personalized Web Experience

The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) has just announced that Apache Rave has “graduated” from the Apache Incubator to a full-fledged Top-Level Project (TLP). This indicates that the community and the products have been have all come together and been well-governed enough to garner the ASF’s TLP status.
Apache Rave is an Open Source platform that provides “easy-to-use infrastructure for building and integrating with social media standards including Activity Streams, OpenSocial, W3C Widgets and more.”
Hippo is extraordinarily proud to have been a part of Apache Rave from its very beginning. As Ate Douma Hippo’s Enterprise Architect said,
<blockquote>
“Apache Rave takes the good bits from traditional Portals, leaves out whatever made them so heavy-weight and adds modern web technologies. We are proud to not only be an initiator, but a principal participant of this project. We plan to make Rave an integral part of our next generation context-aware content delivery platform.”
</blockquote>
Developed completely on open standards, Apache Rave is supported by a number of organizations – including corporations, non-profit organizations, and educational institutions from around the globe. Hippo is a key contributor of course, but other organizations include The MITRE Corporation, Indiana University Pervasive Technology Institute, SURFnet and OSS Watch.
Rave entered the Apache Incubator in 2011, and over that time successfully produced a number of code releases as it prepared for its production-ready v1.0. Additionally, the project received an “Honorable Mention” in the 2011 Open Source Rookies of the Year awards.
<blockquote>
“We are extraordinarily excited to have so many participants and committers to the Apache Foundation,” said Jeroen Verberg CEO of Hippo. “We have more than 70 people on the Hippo Team – and the fact that we have 11 of them as Committers to the Apache Software Foundation speaks volumes about our commitment to Open Source and Open Standards. The Apache Rave project is really an important development for how Social Media will be included in enterprise content management. We really look forward to the continued collaboration in this community.”
</blockquote>
For more information about ASF and Apache Rave, we invite you to visit their blog: http://bit.ly/HgX1tz

Hippo Proud To Be Part of Apache Rave Top-Level Project

Many businesses face the same problems and as a result, the planet’s sharpest minds have attempted to find solutions. Two such people are Geoffrey Moore, author of the widely popular book “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Chasm-Marketing-High-Tech-Mainstream/dp/0060517123" target="_blank">Crossing the Chasm</a>”, and Malcolm Gladwell, author of “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tipping-Point-Little-Things-Difference/dp/0316346624/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1496153158&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+tipping+point" target="_blank">The Tipping Point</a>”. Both of these books compliment and even reference each other in their comprehensive look at the major problem all businesses and products face: How do you reach mass-market adoption?
Even the largest corporations ask themselves this question when rolling out new products or new services offerings. Throwing money at this universal problem is not the answer. In fact, there is no singular answer but an organic evolution that, when carefully examined, is a map to mass-market adoption. This map is laid out for the world to see in both of the aforementioned books but today; we’re going to use these books as a framework to discuss how global organizations have finally crossed the chasm and are in the process of reaching the tipping point when it comes to cloud computing.
It’s impossible to discuss cloud computing without discussing Amazon Web Services, the true catalyst that eventually led to mass adoption of cloud computing technologies. Yes, there is a number of cloud computing providers today, but in 2006 when AWS was founded, Google and Microsoft hadn’t even considered building their own cloud offerings. Google Cloud launched five years later; Microsoft Azure launched four years later. Despite Amazon being first to go “all-in” with their new offering, it took a few years for their technology, particularly their EC2 server offering, to reach a level of maturity where early adopters would dip their toes in the water. At that time, the technology simply wasn’t ready, and the business world viewed the cloud as unreliable if they even considered it at all. That all changed with a few visionaries that paved the way for the rest.
Around three years after the founding of AWS, a number of startups trying to disrupt their respective industries experimented with cloud computing to varying degrees of success. Between 2008 and 2011, everything changed when startups that were “early adopters” of cloud computing technologies such as Spotify, Netflix, Airbnb and Twilio showcased the benefits of cloud computing to the world through the massive adoption of their respective products. Despite this success and newfound attention focused on the cloud, it was still too early for widespread adoption, even by Fortune 500 companies.
A perfect storm came together that knocked down the concerns most had about cloud computing, namely security and reliability, and would eventually lead to an urgent race to the cloud. Of course it all started with AWS in 2006, but it would take a few years for AWS to even reach the technological maturity required to scale cloud technologies. With the advent of IoT, or the “Internet of Things”, large organizations started to use IoT technologies like smart home products and wearables, and everything from cars to tractor-trailers and oil drills were outfitted with sensors. What these mega corporations didn’t know at the time was these new technologies in IoT were all cloud-based. Suddenly the cloud became much more appealing.
While IoT was getting all of the publicity, AWS continued to iterate and expand their cloud offering. Tech enthusiasts who had adopted cloud technologies began rapidly developing tools to complement and enhance existing cloud technologies. The igniting spark that led to the race to the cloud was the ability for organizations to configure their cloud environments using fully scripted architecture, as well as the evolution, price reduction and availability of server redundancy, namely across multiple regions. What previously took organizations months to complete could now be done in minutes. While it used to take months or weeks to update Solodev to its latest software version for our customers, it now takes the simple click of a button. While IT departments across the globe began their research into the cloud years beforehand, they now had the data to prove the value of the cloud to decision makers at their organizations. In 2014, cloud computing finally crossed the chasm, shifting from limited usage by early adopters to more broad adoption by what Geoffrey Moore refers to as “the early majority.”
The perfect storm also included the aging of outdated technologies and data centers built during the early days of the Internet. As these data centers began to age to obscurity, the major decision organizations faced was whether to renovate their data centers, requiring a massive investment, and keep everything on-premise – or – to move to the cloud where they could scale for increased productivity and efficiency on all fronts. With the advent of technologies like continuous integration, AWS CloudFront, Chef, Docker and hundreds of other tools, organizations could now control their computing resources and speed up software updates while keeping their websites and applications redundant across multiple servers in different regions with absolutely no downtime.
Around 2015 or 2016, cloud computing finally reached the tipping point and became adopted by its many skeptics and conservatives. As a result, a race to the cloud began and is still in full swing as Fortune 500 companies try to catch up to smaller, more agile organizations who found success faster in migrating their operations into true “cloud-based” businesses. Solodev was a part of the early majority of cloud computing, beginning our efforts to rebuild Solodev for the AWS Cloud in 2013 once the technology had fully matured in a way that was scalable, reliable and affordable. After three years of rebuilding the Solodev <a href="https://www.solodev.com/" target="_blank">Content Management System</a> (CMS) to be a true cloud-based solution, the timing couldn’t have been better as the year Solodev was named the “Best Cloud CMS” was the same year cloud computing truly hit its tipping point. Despite being a relatively small software company, we have the expertise and agility to help Fortune 500 organizations move their massive ecosystem of products, services, websites and applications to the cloud and saw it first hand after appearing at Amazon Web Services re:Invent in 2016.
Almost every single phone call, email or inquiry Solodev receives involves large organizations trying to move to the cloud—and we are uniquely positioned to serve that need. Being early in the adoption of cloud computing, the Solodev team has experience with the kind of innovation that most large conglomerates simply can’t risk. It was our belief in the cloud, and our commitment to unlocking the potential of the cloud in the enterprise CMS industry, that brought us to the point of being able to take advantage of the tipping point and bring other organizations to the cloud. Today the tipping point has been reached, and in one-way or another, everyone is moving to the cloud. Now, the real focus is on how to truly build a “cloud-based” business rather than simply making your product or service available on the cloud.
For more information on how Solodev can help bring your organization to the cloud visit <a href="https://www.solodev.com/" target="_blank">www.solodev.com</a> or call 1-800-859-7656
<h3>About the Author</h3>
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mooreshawn/" target="_blank">Shawn Moore</a> is the founder &amp; CTO of Solodev and the driving force behind the Solodev Web Experience Platform. A visionary leader, Shawn has strategically grown Solodev from its inception as a small <a href="https://www.solodev.com/blog/">web design</a> company to a successful software company that services clients across the nation and has been named to the Inc. 5000’s fastest growing private companies for the past two years in a row.
Winner of several industry awards for Best CTO and CIO, Shawn Moore is changing the content management landscape with Solodev. With over a decade of executive experience serving as CEO of Solodev and COO for software company Helium Flash, Shawn has the industry knowledge and product passion that continues to drive the development of the Solodev Platform. He is a graduate of Stetson University and often speaks on IT related trends and topics at conferences and universities across the state.

From Crossing the Chasm to Reaching the Tipping Point

To wrap up our elcomCMS featured week, we’re taking a look at Elcom Technology’s latest eBook; “<a href="http://a-social-intranet?utm_campaign=8%20Signs%20you%20need%20an%20intranet&amp;utm_content=8%20Signs%20eBook&amp;utm_medium=Social&amp;utm_source=CMS%20Critic">8 Signs You Need a Social Intranet</a>”.
<img alt="Elcom_Logo_EWCM_Positive.jpg" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/P_-4209t6RAymr8QRYWn_9Vm4V8xZWtGjAbOIZ62pktga1KMbabiTzwg0ds_8UizkLV9FkymhDP7tbSltoYtED9vTaopQJRdlPNaql3kVbAosGq-Z5SlcESAeO9zsbxZ2RKAtAFt" />
So far during this, I’ve looked at elcomCMS’s <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/elcomcms-cms-lms-intranets/">stance as a CMS, LMS and Intranet solution</a>, its aim to <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/elcomcms-motivating-workforces-increasing-productivity-driving-sales/">supercharge the productivity of workforces through social intranets</a>, and its <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/powering-powerful-brands-how-elcomcms-drives-hyundai-online/">solutions for Hyundai in Australia</a>.
In fact, one of the ways elcomCMS was able to help Hyundai in Australia, was through the implementation of a social intranet.
<h2>What is a Social Intranet?</h2>
An intranet helps to bring an organisation together in order to communicate and collaborate faster and easier.
Features like user profiles, asset management, workflows and directories help to unite each and every worker with the information they need – and fast.
elcomCMS has all of that, but it also goes a step further.
Social elements have been blended into the mix, giving Elcom’s intranet solution a casual twist.
Social feeds for example, similar to the ones found on Facebook or Twitter, give staff members a way to promote ideas, share opinions and ask for assistance, without having to leave the intranet.
Plus, the usage of blog posts, forums, social Q&amp;A, hash-tagging and @tagging, all help to round off a traditional intranet with all the modern social trimmings. A social intranet.
<h2>The Pain Points</h2>
Elcom Technology’s eBook focuses on the core pain points felt by brands large and small.
For example, workers often struggle to access documents when out of the office. Elcom claims to have the solution:
<blockquote>
“Information on your intranet should be accessible from anywhere, anytime on any device. Your mobile intranet is the key to closing that next deal, training your staff, auditing compliance, finishing projects on time and supporting everyone’s need to get the job done efficiently.”
</blockquote>
Additionally, Elcom’s eBook tackles the problem of meeting management, which is a typically tiresome process:
<blockquote>
“Create the event and agenda, post to the calendar, trigger the invitation and all the reminders to send automatically to the group, then use your social stream to post changes and drive them back to the calendar for updates.”
</blockquote>
<h2>Download the Free eBook</h2>
<a href="http://a-social-intranet?utm_campaign=8%20Signs%20you%20need%20an%20intranet&amp;utm_content=8%20Signs%20eBook&amp;utm_medium=Social&amp;utm_source=CMS%20Critic">8 Signs You Need a Social Intranet</a> is an eBook that is totally free to download. You only need to sign up with your name and email address in order to access the document.
Furthermore, you can visit elcomCMS via our CMS Directory for more information.

Free eBook: 8 Signs Your Brand Needs a Social Intranet

From the announcement:
Good news churches &amp; ministry website owners!  We've released the fourth update to Ekklesia 360 since we launched ‘Foundations' in October (see Ekklesia 360 Foundations Project Announced).  On occasion releases that do not impact user experience directly will be released on a ongoing basis but releases that include new or changed features will have an accompany blog post.
<ul>
<li>Nav items are more easily editable to point to any URL and can open in a new window.</li>
<li>Resellers can now view current site information from “Site Config” header menu.</li>
<li>Events can now push status updates to Twitter and Facebook (like sermons and blogposts).</li>
<li>Images can now be featured with individual blog posts.</li>
<li>RSVP and purchase confirmation emails now can include custom form information.</li>
<li>Books and Booklists are now automatically assigned to the Site Group by default.</li>
<li>Improved the Role list screen for users with role permissions.</li>
</ul>
Watch a brief video and read about other improvements at the <a href="http://bit.ly/bTj506" target="_blank">Ekklesia 360 CMS Update</a> page.

Fourth update of Ekklesia 360 - Foundations now available

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