Articles - Page 146

<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

Drupal software &amp; solutions specialists <a href="https://t.yesware.com/tl/91e3a7ba29aa960855d37ea0e1bb697a5c298307/ff073599a00d4066fc6e3b29a623bb57/1068b875e19f53eb809cc996558faca3?ytl=http://www.acquia.com/" target="_blank">Acquia</a> have announced the launch of <a href="https://t.yesware.com/tl/91e3a7ba29aa960855d37ea0e1bb697a5c298307/ff073599a00d4066fc6e3b29a623bb57/ed8ac9465bf6496085e1cef409020f59?ytl=http://www.acquia.com//products-services/website-personalization" target="_blank">Acquia Lift</a>, an optimization platform that enables marketing teams to transform the digital experiences they offer customers into engines for revenue generation. 
 Acquia offers developer tools, cloud solutions and global expertise, helping over 4,000 companies and brands including Twitter, Mercedes Benz, Warner Music Group, and Stanford University.
For a quick look at what Acquia Lift can do, check out the introduction video below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7Zx_rY5_6A
<h2>Built for Drupal, Designed for Easy Implementation</h2>
With Acquia Lift, marketers can easily create, iterate, and optimize content directly within Drupal, rather than toggling between multiple products and managing content in multiple systems. 
That means that all of your personalized content including text, images, videos, etc, can all be managed within Drupal as per usual.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen_shot_2014-02-19_at_10_22_03_pm700x0.png" alt="Acquia Lift " />
While the idea of creating and delivering personalized digital experiences isn’t new, most existing solutions require marketing teams to create manual customer segments and rules. 
This worked if marketers were only targeting a few segments, but it didn’t scale to the one-to-one digital conversations which consumers have come to expect from using sites such as Netflix and Amazon.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/preview_option_a700x0.png" alt="Acquia Lift" />
Furthermore, Acquia Lift is completely automated, based on unique learning algorithms that calculate the right digital experience to deliver to each user for optimal results and engagement.
You can simply select from a list of visitor attributes you’d like to test – such as demographic, location, daypart, user profile attributes, and Acquia Lift helps you to discover and implement the best experience for your users, all on its own.
<h2>Optimization, Personalization &amp; More</h2>
Acquia Lift provides powerful optimization tools to get a campaign up and running with a single click, and tests content not only against consumer profiles but also against specific consumer attributes. 
Using these new insights, Acquia Lift then automates the delivery of personalized content to each site visitor, inspiring actions like registration, subscription, purchasing, or improved engagement on both desktop and mobile devices.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen_shot_2014-02-19_at_10_51_29_pm.png" alt="Acquia Lift" />
Additional features and benefits of Acquia Lift include:
<ul>
<li>
Easy implementation: Designed to enable anyone within an organization to get testing and targeting functionalities up and running fast on their Drupal-based site.
</li>
<li>
Intuitive: Enables organizations to easily create, iterate, and optimize content within the same interface, rather than toggling between web content management (WCM) and targeting systems.
</li>
<li>
A/B and Multivariate Testing: Includes a variety of different testing and targeting options at the site owner’s disposal natively within the Drupal interface. These options enable the site owner to do both simple A/B and more complex multi-variate testing and then report back the results.
</li>
<li>
Interoperable: With Acquia Lift, there’s no need to focus on a single stack. The solution integrates easily with third party technologies, letting organizations have the freedom to leverage existing digital marketing tools, and explore emerging high value tools they may consider using in the future.
</li>
<li>
Measurable: Acquia Lift enables developers to define custom conversion goals for their sites and provides an easy-to-implement Drupal-specific personalization tool that automates the delivery of relevant experiences. Digital marketing teams can also create and track conversion goals, and gain real-time, granular insight into website conversion performance against KPIs.
</li>
<li>
Auditable Record of all Interactions: Enables the marketing team to gain insights from explicit information within the site, to anonymous user actions, to third party applications.
</li>
<li>
No “Instrumentation” Needed: Acquia Lift does not require developers to “instrument” a website HTML with Javascript tags, reducing the cost and time required while increasing web page load performance.
</li>
</ul>
The launch of Acquia lift also prompted a response from the Acquia CEO, Tom Erickson. He had this to say:
<blockquote>
“Until now, it’s been tough for the millions of Drupal sites to easily incorporate robust personalization capabilities. Acquia Lift equips the digital marketer with powerful website testing and content targeting tools to optimize content for each visitor. As content, community and commerce converge, digital experiences are becoming more complex. Acquia Lift ensures that each interaction delivers a relevant, high-quality experience customers expect.”
</blockquote>
For more information on Acquia Lift, check out <a href="http://www.acquia.com/products-services/website-personalization" target="_blank"> Acquia's official website </a> .

Acquia Announce Acquia Lift: Drupal Website Personalization Made Easy

mike-johnston

<a href="http://www.hannonhill.com/downloads/cascade/" target="_blank">Cascade Server version 7.10</a> by Hannon Hill has today become available for download. 
Hannon Hill's award-winning Enterprise CMS now boasts several new user experience features and improvements, from the admin dashboard to the end-user mobile experience.
So, here's a look at the highlights of what's new with Cascade Server 7.10.
<h2>Progressive Disclosure, Better Dashboard &amp; Mobile Experience</h2>
It's always great to see developers listen to their customers, and so we'll start with the fact that <a href="http://www.hannonhill.com/" target="_blank">Hannon Hill</a> have implemented the second most popular idea on their customer idea exchange by introducing Progressive Disclosure.
Users can now select dependencies between Data Definition fields where one field will be hidden unless a specific value is selected in another “parent” field. This allows  for progressively showing more fields to the user as needed and hiding other fields that are irrelevant when editing structured data Pages and Blocks. 
For example, suppose a Data Definition contains an “Address” group containing a number of data definition fields used to capture address information.  This group can be configured such that it will only be displayed if a user changes the value of another data definition field called “Include Address?” to “Yes”.
Parent fields can be radio buttons, checkboxes, dropdowns, and multi-select boxes.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/progressive-disclosure700x0.png" alt="Cascade Server Progressive Disclosure" />
What's more is, the Home area Dashboard has received a face-lift, allowing every user to be able to customize their own dashboard for each site. The dashboard has been split into widgets that can be dragged and dropped to a new position or removed from the dashboard completely.
The Stale Content widget, the Content to Review widget, and the Analytics widgets can also be configured to show specific information in particular time frames.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/customizable-dashboard.png" alt="Cascade Server Customizable Dashboard" />
The dashboard is also responsive and compatible with most mobile devices.  The layout of the dashboard will seamlessly transition from a 3 column layout down to a 2+1 layout and then finally down to a single column layout as the viewport gets smaller.
Additionally, in a continuing effort to improve the Cascade experience on mobile devices, a number of mobile bugs have been addressed and improvements implemented that allow users to better interact with Cascade using their phones and tablets. This effort began in the 7.8 series and will continue through 7.10 and beyond.  
Thanks to these improvements introduced in version 7.10, Cascade's goal of creating a mobile experience as close as possible in functionality to the desktop experience for all core Cascade features is now a few steps closer.
Such changes include:
<ul>
<li>A mobile optimized login screen</li>
<li>Responsive home area dashboard</li>
<li>A fixed 800px width viewport for mobile devices</li>
<li>Improvements to editing to allow better navigation of edit forms</li>
<li>Addressed issues with the layout on mobile devices including an issue with the site dropdown sticking during scrolling</li>
</ul>
<h2>Advanced Code Editor, UI Improvements &amp; More</h2>
The Advanced Code Editor as introduced in <a href="/cascade-server-7.4-feature-overview/#.UwU-M_l_vhM" target="_blank">Cascade 7.4</a> has been added to the HTML View in the WYSIWYG.  This adds things like syntax highlight, code folding, line numbers and other convenient features to HTML editing. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ace-html-wysiwyg-view700x0.png" alt="Cascade Server Advanced Code Editor" />
Also on the list of updates, Cascade users can enjoy some revamped control icons, which make them easier to distinguish and easier to click.
This includes the links to expand and collapse folders in the left-hand navigation:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/left-hand-side-collapse-expand.png" alt="Cascade Server User Interface" />
Along with added controls to re-order, add and remove multiple fields when editing pages and blocks:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/structured-data-controls.png" alt="Cascade Server User Interface " />
Over the next two weeks, Cascade will be releasing a series of blog posts to give you more details about the major improvements in 7.10, but you can also learn about the new features in the <a href="http://www3.hannonhill.com/c/1675/172220/48853" target="_blank">7.10 Release Notes</a>, the <a href="http://www3.hannonhill.com/c/1675/172220/49238" target="_blank">7.10 Press Release</a> or by signing up for the <a href="http://www3.hannonhill.com/c/1675/172220/48987" target="_blank">7.10 Release Webinar</a>, to take place February 26th at 2PM Eastern Time. 
To download Cascade Server 7.10, check out the official <a href="http://www3.hannonhill.com/c/1675/172220/48852" target="_blank">Downloads Page</a>.

Cascade Server 7.10 Released

Although the platform is still in beta, <a href="http://microweber.com/" target="_blank"> Microweber CMS</a> is attracting a fair amount of interest. 
 Focused on stripping away the complexities of most other content management systems, Microweber has hundreds of registered users, a growing online community and a platform which boasts some simple yet effective features, none of which require any technical ability to use.
 To get a taste for what Microweber has to offer, check out their quick demonstration video below.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eajCiD0ha2s?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<h2>The Microweber Story</h2>
It's always nice to get a feel for how a CMS came into being, and it just so happens that Microweber have a rather pleasant tale worth reading.  
 After working in the web design sector for some time, Bulgaria based Microweber co-founders Boris and Peter decided to try something new. They felt that the CMS sector lacked a truly easy to use service for the end-user lacking technical knowledge. Thus, the idea of Microweber was born.
Following a failed attempt to raise funds via Kickstarter, they made a bold move. A video was recorded and posted on their small YouTube channel in late January 2012, where Boris and Peter asked for financial support from whoever saw the video and liked their idea.
Less than a month later this move yielded a result, as investor Nicholas Gerber from the USA decided to help the duo. For almost two years though, Nicholas never met Peter or Boris, communicating solely via occasional e-mails. This means that between early 2012 and late 2013, all investments from Gerber relied completely on the sole trust that Boris and Peter were honest men who were focused at creating something innovative. 
However, during Christmas 2013, all parties met for the very first time in Istanbul, Turkey.
Since then, Microweber has quickly been advancing through its Beta phase, accumulating several hundred registered users, scores of orders from websites and a helpful community. The latter resulted in the purely voluntary translation of Microweber in six languages: English, German, Spanish, Russian, Slovenian, and Greek. Some users even wanted to teach about Microweber in their academic institutions. Thanks to this exponential growth, the project got its third developer – Alexander, who is responsible for front-end development.
With 2014 now underway, the trio decided that it was time for Microweber to go live and unleash its full potential. Their aim is to deliver an easy, free product that is rich on customization for end-users and that is open source so the designer/developer community can benefit.
<h2>A Superbly Simple CMS</h2>
Now that you know the Microweber story, let's delve into their digital offerings. 
Microweber is a CMS that lets you Drag &amp; Drop modules alongside its “Live Edit” feature. This means that websites can be drastically modified and tweaked via live preview, so that you can experience the end result as you edit.
<a href="http://microweber.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2700x0.jpg" alt="Microweber CMS Dashboard" /></a>
The free and open source platform is aimed at delivering an optimal user experience, with simplicity always in mnd. It is also customization friendly, so developers and designers can have a take on it and create their ideas using the platform. 
Using Microweber, you can create a website, blog, or online store using the default theme of Microweber. The Microweber development team is also currently preparing a whole load of new templates so users can customize their sites according to their needs and wants. 
You can also make use of Microweber's Drag &amp; Drop technology when creating content, uploading images, embedding videos and a range of other tasks. Users can arrange elements with just a click of the mouse, dragging and dropping them across the screen before clicking them in order to modify them further.
<a href="http://microweber.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/5700x0.jpg" alt="Microweber CMS Live Editing" /></a>
The highlight feature of the CMS is the real time text writing &amp; editing function. With it, you can manage the site content without any use of admin panel, going “live” on the site interface instead. As an addition, there are different modules and layouts that offer rich customization in the pursuit of crafting the most suitable website.
Furthermore, Microweber can also be used as an ecommerce platform. The platform allows you to upload products, pictures and videos, set pricing &amp; shipping costs, customize products using custom fields (size, colours, everything needed) and track orders and payments.
<a href="http://microweber.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/4700x0.jpg" alt="Microweber CMS ecommerce" /></a>
The developers and designers can benefit from the fact that Microweber is open source. They can create and share themes, modules or plug-ins and either distribute them freely or sell them. A Marketplace is in the making so the process can become more coordinated.
For more information on Microweber CMS, visit their <a href="http://microweber.com/" target="_blank">official website</a>, or better yet, <a href="http://demo.microweber.org/" target="_blank">test out a demo</a>.

Microweber: A CMS Stripped of Complexity

It was just over a decade ago that WordPress was first released as a free and open source blogging tool. Since those good ol’ days WordPress has grown up; it has gone from a simple blogging platform to a fully fledged CMS (content management system) that literally has no boundaries! Has WordPress gone too far from its roots though -so far even that a new platform needs to exist?Apparently John O’Nolan and over 5,000 backers think so. The Ghost blogging platform is a new contender that recently entered the blogging ring, ready to throw some jabs at the blogging giant. The question that has come to mind is…<h2>Should you ditch WordPress and start using Ghost?</h2><h3>Installation</h3><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wordpress-vs-ghost1-1328x0.jpg" alt="wordpress vs ghost" />You would expect a platform that describes itself as a simple blogging solution to have an easy installation; however that wasn’t the case with Ghost. The most important thing you need to know about doing a self-hosted Ghost blog is that your server MUST support <a target="_blank" href="http://nodejs.org/">Node.js</a>. If your hosting provider doesn’t, than you are plain out of luck.This was the case for me since I use a bulk account for hosting about 45 websites. I was forced to make the decision of either upgrading to a dedicated VPS or going elsewhere for my hosting. Fortunately there are a whole slew of providers that offer suitable hosting for Ghost for as low as $5 / month.Although the installer documentation is still a work in progress, I will say it was pretty thorough and helpful. Just don’t expect a 1-click install at this point without some terminal based action.Since WordPress along with numerous other popular applications are built with PHP, nearly any hosting provider will support it. Not only that, but WordPress has the clear upper hand advantage with it being tweaked and optimized over the past 11 years.Installing WordPress is relatively painless and straightforward, especially if your hosting provider has Installatron or Fantastico installed. Regardless of whether you use a guided installer application like those mentioned or install WordPress manually, it can be up and running in 10 minutes or less.Both of these platforms threw some punches, but WordPress stood out as the clear victor when it comes to installation. I do believe that given more time, that Ghost will be better supported and easier to install.<h3>UI Experience</h3>Now we get it to see each of these contenders throw some hurtin’ bombs! Let’s start with usability.I’ve got to be honest with you, I am really enjoying Ghost’s user interface. It is completely different from what WordPress offers and I mean that in a good way.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wordpress-vs-ghost-editor-ii.jpg" alt="wordpress vs ghost" />Creating new posts in both platforms is extremely straightforward and easy. What really sets Ghost apart though is its two column system.It is obvious that a lot of thought was put into the user experience. You would almost expect that O’Nolan had previous experience in user interface design; oh wait, he does! O’Nolan was deputy head of the WordPress user interface team for two years.Simply put, the two column system is intuitive, well put together, and easy to use. You get your markup on the left and the preview on the right. Not sure what the shortcode is for a specific font styling? It’s as easy as clicking on the ‘markdown help’ to have a lightbox pop up with all of the shortcodes listed.Creating and updating posts on WordPress is completely different from Ghost. With WordPress you get a traditional WYSIWIG editor along with a ‘kitchen sink’ full of goodies.You do have the option to preview your post before publishing, which opens a secondary tab showcasing exactly what your post will look like when live.I have used WordPress and built literally hundreds of websites with WordPress over the past few years -and it works great! What I don’t like is having to have multiple tabs open at the same time as well as going back and forth so much.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wordpress-vs-ghost-editor.jpg" alt="wordpress vs ghost" />I can see why WordPress still maintains using this traditional editor though. With many themes and plugins you install, it adds more to the kitchen sink through added columns, shortcodes, and features.What’s happened over the past few years though is that it really has gotten so feature heavy that it doesn’t always have the best user experience; everything is clearly labeled and in obvious locations but leaves you clicking back and forth much of the time. As you keep adding plugins and shortcodes the kitchen sink can become cluttered.So, what ‘blogging platform’ has easiest to use? It was a close match but I would have to say that Ghost is the victor if you’re looking for just blogging. The two column system just works.Hold up though, the fight isn’t over yet! Yes, Ghost won the battle for user friendliness.. but what about features?<h3>Features and Customization</h3>Right out of the far corner WordPress comes out swinging! WordPress is so feature packed that it can be overwhelming sometimes, especially with using a ‘high end’ theme that wants to be your everything.Before moving forward I want to make a note of exactly this whole theme debacle. WordPress by itself is a great platform for running your website. What has happened, especially over the past two years, is that ‘premium’ themes have taken over. WordPress really is more than just a blogging platform and wants to be your entire CMS.Theme developers have really taken things too far in my opinion. There is nothing wrong with having a multi-purpose theme that would work for a portfolio, business, personal, any niche website. The problem that has occurred is that themes have become so feature packed that they overly complicate standard WordPress use. It isn’t uncommon in today’s market for premium WordPress themes to have 20+ pages of documentation. Is that really necessary?Whoa, sorry for that tangent! Anyways now we’re back to features. Since WordPress has been out for so long there are literally thousands upon thousands of free and premium plugins available. Need a secure contact form? No problem! How about a pop up generator to reduce your bounce rate? Again, no problem.WordPress has a whole slew of free plugins <a target="_blank" href="http://wordpress.org/plugins/">over here</a> and you can get some really nice premium plugins over at <a target="_blank" href="http://codecanyon.net/?ref=cmscritic">CodeCanyon</a>.Ghost, being so new to the market, already has a nice set themes available. If you take a look at the <a target="_blank" href="http://marketplace.ghost.org/">Ghost Marketplace</a> you can see some beautiful themes have already been developed.Plugins for Ghost on the other hand, are few and far between. The Ghost forums are pretty active on plugin development, but there just aren’t many released yet – just as you would expect with it being such a new platform.So when it comes to features, WordPress would be the clear winner. You are literally just a Google search away from any feature you would require with WordPress. In all fairness, however, Ghost never set out to be a feature rich CMS -it was created simply for blogging.<h3>Your Turn</h3>It was a brutal match and punches were thrown with WordPress emerging as the victor. But for how long? I can definitely recommend Ghost if you are looking at running a blog; but if there is even the slightest chance of growing that blog into a complete website you should still consider WordPress.Will Ghost continue to stay the straight and steady course to becoming the best solution for blogging? Or will it strive to be more competitive with WordPress CMS and other platforms? Time will tell and this match may have to be revisited.Don't forget that when you go to set up your Ghost or WordPress website, you'll need a reliable web <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliates.arvixe.com/track.php?id">hosting</a> company. We recommend Arvixe. They are currently offering great discounts to our readers, so be sure to take advantage of the offer before it expires. <a href="/bluehost">Click here to get cheap, reliable hosting from Arvixe</a>.Do you agree with the outcome? Did I miss covering something you think is crucial? Make sure you let me know below!

WordPress vs Ghost: Should you ditch WordPress and start using Ghost?

vince-polston

Earlier this month, as you may have seen from our Twitter feed, we had the pleasure of being invited to join Jahia at their very first official conference in the beautiful city of Paris, France.
During this great two day conference, which you can read about <a href="/tag/jahia/">here</a>, I had a chance to sit down with Emmanuel Garcin, Vice President &amp; General Manager, Jahia North America for an interview. 
Here is that interview:
http://youtu.be/HiXZ0a20EcQ
To learn more about Jahia, visit them on the web at <a href="http://www.jahia.com">http://www.jahia.com</a>

Interview with Emmanuel Garcin of Jahia

If you are a fan of PHPFox and are using it as your social networking solution of choice, then you'll be pleased to know there's a new update of the popular software.
Check out our <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/phpfox-review/">PHPFox Review</a> if you aren't familiar with the product, it's a great option for those looking to build a social network.
Version 3.7.5 is a maintenance release offering a number of bug fixes and security improvements. If you are on a version prior to 3.7, you can read all about the enhancements that came with these updates here: <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/phpfox-3.7.5-released/">https://www.cmscritic.com/phpfox/blog/v3-7-0-released/</a>
Check out PHPFox today to see if it's the right software for your social network and if you are currently running it as your SN of choice, be sure to make sure you update to keep your site safe and protected.

PHPFox 3.7.5 released

Previously, I managed to derive some important lessons regarding <a href="/how-to-avoid-the-prevalent-pitfalls-of-deploying-an-enterprise-website/#.UwJGvfl_vhM" target="_blank"> enterprise website deployment via a Magnolia CMS Whitepaper</a>.
 But Magnolia CMS has far more to offer than mere advice. 
Magnolia's powerful platform enables customers to create their own bespoke suites with all the benefits of Magnolia's enterprise-grade Java foundation – otherwise known as <a href="http://www.magnolia-cms.com/campaigns/open-suite-cms-critic.html" target="_blank">Magnolia's “Open Suite Approach”</a>. 
 The Open Suite approach keeps companies agile, enabling them to use state-of-the-art customer and communications management as the digital world continues to evolve. 
This is all thanks to Magnolia's open architecture, which allows organizations to connect existing and future tools into an integrated platform for digital marketing, commerce and services. By allowing organizations to combine the best available tools for the job without any vendor restrictions, Magnolia helps to maximizing choice and future-proof digital investments.
<h2>The Importance of a Modern &amp; Flexible CMS</h2>
With new technologies constantly changing the way everybody experiences digital content, flexibility is key to marketing technology.
Your analytics, social sharing features and customer relationship management (CRM) system, not to mention your other existing tools, all have to work together for the benefit of both your organisation and its customers.
This is no easy task, but a solid and open content management system (CMS) at the core of your digital presence is by far the most effective way to meet such a challenge.
Let's take the online retail sector as an example. With mobile devices becoming pervasive, it is no surprise that smartphones are a common starting point for multi-channel shopping experiences. According to Google Insights, 65% of such experiences (known as sequential shopping) are started on a smartphone and 67% of shoppers start shopping on one device before continuing on another. Companies must therefore strive to offer optimal customer experience across all types of devices.
To deal with these constantly shifting trends, your CMS must now enable you to deliver compelling and personalized customer experiences that are assembled from a range of content sources, data sets and services. Social media, device information, customer-generated content and back-ofﬁce services must all be brought together across a wide range of devices to provide customers with a service worth their time. 
<h2>Magnolia's Open Suite Approach</h2>
Throughout the last decade, Magnolia has worked with forward-thinking organizations to develop an open, agile CMS that is able to integrate with marketing technology tools, third-party services and back-ofﬁce systems. Magnolia's Open Suite approach enables its customers to build their own suite of tools and services, precisely targeted to their current needs and requirements. 
Thanks to the Open Suite approach, you can build your digital presence step- by-step, and at each step, benefit from what you have already invested. 
For example, you can begin by using Magnolia CMS to build your main website. You can then add micro-sites, mobile sites or country-specific sites as you need them, all from within Magnolia CMS so that you have less systems to manage and can easily reuse website assets. Later, you can integrate the CRM you already use, add a commerce engine and plug in analytics. You can also integrate it with existing bespoke back-office systems or with third-party services.
<a href="http://www.magnolia-cms.com/campaigns/open-suite-cms-critic.html" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/magnolia_open_suite.png" alt="Magnolia Open Suite Approach" /></a>
This approach enables you to gradually build your online infrastructure and focus on the most promising next step, while adapting to change by replacing outdated components with best-of-breed innovations as they come to market. 
Magnolia's Open Suite approach stands in stark contrast to the “closed suites” offered by many vendors. A “closed suite” is one that comes pre-integrated with many tools which have to be adopted by an organization, increasing the complexity of transitions. In addition, such pre-configured suites are inherently less agile, because these types of software are not designed to easily integrate with new tools.
<h2>Wide Ranging Benefits, Enterprise Integration &amp; More</h2>
Magnolia's Open Suite approach allows you to create a complete enterprise solution built with multiple tools. These tools span various categories, including ecommerce platforms, analytics, marketing automation, social media, document management and on-site search.
On the Web, persuasive content and personalized experience are key to repeat business. Magnolia CMS lets you collect information from across mobile, social and in-store channels and integrate it with world-class ecommerce platforms, to ensure that your customers always have the best possible shopping experience. 
Below is a quick overview of the integrations on offer:
<a href="http://www.magnolia-cms.com/campaigns/open-suite-cms-critic.html" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/magsuite.png" alt="Magnolia Open Suite Integrations" /></a>
It's not just about integrating a number of external tools and services though. Magnolia's Open Suite approach allows you to enjoy a range of benefits. 
Below is a list of just some of the benefits brough about by Magnolia's Open Suite approach.
<ul>
<li>Choice: Magnolia's Open Suite approach enables you to integrate your choice of best-of-breed tools in each category, instead of being locked into the tools a closed-suite vendor thinks are best (or happens to have acquired by the vendor and bolted together over time). This ensures that business needs will dictate technology and not the other way around. </li>
<li>Value: Competitive marketplaces combined with diverse user needs, force vendors of most closed suites to offer all-in-one solutions encompassing a broad range of tools – at a high cost. When organizations purchase such a suite, they typically end up paying for components they don't want, need or plan to use. With Magnolia's Open Suite approach, users always only pay for what they need right now.</li>
<li>High Interoperability: For the Open Suite approach to be successful, there must exist the possibility of interoperability. Magnolia CMS supports many open standards for data exchange, including standards like Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS), a speciﬁcation for improving interoperability between enterprise content management systems. </li>
<li>Dynamism: With Magnolia's Open Suite approach, you can keep evolving parts of the suite as your needs change, while keeping the rest of your tools as they are. The promise of our Open Suite approach is that it allows you to upgrade different parts of the digital marketing mix at different speeds depending on your current priorities. If your business priorities change, our Open Suite approach gives you the ﬂexibility to change your technology to keep pace. </li>
<li>Efﬁciency: With Magnolia's Open Suite approach, different products and systems optimization, analytics, CRM, ecommerce and more – work toether around the core publishing tools of the CMS. This helps create efﬁiencies within teams, departments and companies. For organizations, it’s easier to react, by quickly launching new campaign microsites and landing pages. By using Magnolia CMS' built-in Apps provisioning to enforce access policies for staff and customers, regardless of how and where they log in from. </li>
<li>Flexibility: Think of Magnolia's Open Suite approach as an option on future technology: it gives you maximum ﬂexibility to move to different technologies and toolkits if existing ones aren't meeting your needs. Want to swap out your marketing automation tool for a better one when it comes along, or add new ecommerce functionality as your online store grows? With a closed suite, you'd need to start afresh, draining time and money. With Magnolia at the core of your Open Suite, on the other hand, your suite evolves with your needs.</li>
<li>User Experience: When other applications are integrated with Magnolia, it's done with a small, single-purpose App that behaves like the other Apps within Magnolia CMS. It runs across all browsers, users go to one place to ﬁnd it, and data can be accessed in a consistent fashion. On the administration side, too, controls for integrated applications can be managed within Magnolia, allowing disparate systems to be part of the same workﬂow system. By providing a consistent user experience across platforms, Magnolia's Open Suite approach reduces the learning curve, raises productivity and fosters higher adoption.</li>
</ul>
All of these qualities are essential to deploying and running a smooth digital operation, where the needs of both an enterprise, and all of its clients or customers are met.  Magnolia don't just understand these needs, but they cater for them too. It's no wonder then, that Magnolia CMS is the choice of a range of enterprises around the world. 
In fact, leading organisations such as aviation corporation Airbus Group, news outlet Al Arabiya and media company Foxtel all boast Magnolia's services, and all reap the assorted rewards and benefits listed above.
To explore the benefits of Magnolia's tried and tested open suite approach further, check out their highly detailed white paper, <a href="http://www.magnolia-cms.com/campaigns/open-suite-cms-critic.html" target="_blank">The Magnolia Open Suite Approach</a>.

Magnolia's Open Suite Approach: Maximizing Choice & Future-proofing Digital Investments

Weglot - The easiest way to translate a website

The easiest way to translate a website

#18164c

Last week, CMS Critic were in Paris, attending Jahia's first ever international conference, <a href="http://www.jahiaone.com/home" target="_blank"> Jahia One</a>.
 I previously covered <a href="/jahia-one-day-one-jahia-7-glowing-feedback-and-more/#.Uv5Mu_l_vhM" target="_blank"> day one of the conference</a>, along with <a href="/jahia-one-day-two-jahia-7-release-date-demos-surprises/#.Uv6OQPl_vhM" target="_blank"> day two</a>, detailing some of the biggest Jahia news of the year so far, including Jahia 7, Portal Factory and eCommerce Factory. 
 Today however, I wanted to delve into other aspects of Jahia One – away from keynote quotes and product announcements. 
I'd like to take you through the experience of a typical Jahia One attendee, exploring the smaller details which usually go unreported at such events. 
<h2>The Venue</h2>
Jahia One was held at the <a href="http://www.pan-piper.com/corporate/" target="_blank"> Pan Piper conference and events centre </a> , deep in the heart of Paris. 
Spread out over two floors, with multiple conference rooms being used at once, the Jahia conference was well housed, allowing attendees to freely roam between talks, or sit and enjoy presentations within a comfortable setting. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/conferencedayone5.jpg" alt="Pan Piper Venue Jahia One" />
The Pan Piper
The modern design of Pan Piper suited Jahia perfectly. Seating was comfortable, and the well-lit main stage created the perfect setting for Jahia executives to talk everybody through what was to come for the company.
<h2>The Food</h2>
A menu can say a lot about an event organiser, and when it comes to conferences hosted by companies such as Jahia, the same rule applies. Thankfully, the food was absolutely fantastic.
Soups, salads, Salmon, assorted breads and even miniature hot dogs were on offer, all beautifully presented, and pleasing to the taste buds.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/conferencedayone2.jpg" alt="Jahia One Food" />
Presentation Goes a Long Way
However, it wasn't just the quality of the food which was impressive, but the way in which the entire lunch break was set up. 
Not only was there a large table being constantly re-stocked with food, but waiters and waitresses were also on hand to take dishes to attendees, who were standing around in conversation. A small task, but one which helps keep a talkative room alive.
Courses were also changed periodically, with starters turning into fuller meals, and eventually into delicious deserts.
<h2>The Atmosphere</h2>
A pleasant atmosphere is made up of more than just polite greetings at the door of an event. A great atmosphere also needs bubbling attendees who are excited to be a part of the conference. Additionally, conference organisers and speakers need to be amongst the crowd, answering questions and making connections. 
 As mentioned in my <a href="/jahia-one-day-one-jahia-7-glowing-feedback-and-more/#.Uv5Mu_l_vhM" target="_blank"> day one coverage</a>, Anne de Forsan was active during the lunch break on day one of the event, interacting with attendees with a microphone and a cameraman in tow.  She was capturing attendees on camera answering questions about their experiences so far, sharing their views and airing their observations. It was all good fun.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/conferencedayone1_2.jpg" alt="Anne de Forsan Jahia One" />
Anne de Forsan
Overall, the lunch session embodied the event, with a bubbly atmosphere full of professionalism, but not without a hint of fun and friendliness.  
 Another noteworthy aspect of the conference, was it's size. 
 With around 170 attendees, Jahia One can be considered as a relatively small conference – which worked brilliantly in its favour. The smaller, cosier feeling on the conference grew as it went on, allowing attendees to meet and build relationships throughout the day, instead of losing sight of each other within minutes of greeting. 
 The Gala Dinner on day one helped solidify these relationships further, allowing attendees to relax more around those they had already met. Essentially, thanks to its smaller size, the conference was able to have its very own mini-community by the end of day two.
<h2>A Roaring Success</h2>
As an attendee, I feel it's fair to say that the Jahia One conference was a roaring success. 
All Jahia executives and guest speakers were easy to listen to as they presented on stage, whilst CEO Elie Auvray kept both days flowing nicely with some light humour peppered throughout his own presentations.  
 The Gala Dinner capped off day one off perfectly, and allowed attendees to mingle just a little further in preparation for a smooth, yet exciting day two.  
All in all, this may have been Jahia's first ever international conference, but they pulled it off with perfection anyway.

Jahia One: Observations of an Attendee

As you know, last year we launched our innovative new <a href="/products/">CMS Directory</a>, which we are constantly in the process of ramping up and improving thanks to your awesome feedback.
Yesterday, we launched another service that we think is pretty awesome, our new CMS News page.
<h2>What's cool about it?</h2>
For starters, every single product in our CMS directory that has an RSS feed url attached to it, gets to have their latest news displayed on this page. What we are doing is pulling the latest news items from the last 7 days from around the CMS world and showing them to you in an easy to use list. This isn't some mom and pop aggregator, though. This list can be filtered by product name and you can toggle the summaries quickly for easy browsing.
<h2>Help us make it better!</h2>
How can you help? If you are a vendor, make sure your product is listed in our CMS Directory and has an RSS feed url within. How do you do this? Easy. Just submit it using this handy Add a new CMS form.
One your product is accepted and approved (usually within 48-72 hours) your latest news items will begin showing on our CMS News page! It's that simple! The best part? You get the added bonus of having an entry in our directory, so make sure you include videos and screenshots and as much detail as you can to give your product the best exposure possible.
Not a vendor? Maybe your just a fan of a particular product? That's ok! You too can submit a CMS to our directory, we just ask that you make sure the form is as complete as possible (and check first to see if it's already listed) and we'll do our best to fill in any blanks.
<h2>We hope you like it!</h2>
We work hard to make sure we offer you as much content and useful information as possible when it comes to this ever evolving market. If there's something you feel is missing please let us know.
Go check out the new CMS News page for yourself and be sure to bookmark it for regular reading!

Looking for CMS News? Check out our new CMS News page

Liferay Social Office is a unique app that has been around for some timebut up until recently, it hasn't been compatible with the most recent release of Liferay, namely Liferay 6.2. Well, no longer will you have to wait. Social Office is now available and updated to work with the latest release of both the Community Edition and Enterprise Edition of Liferay.
This new release now takes advantage of all of the great new features provided by Liferay 6.2, including the upgrade to AlloyUI 2.0, the revamped Calendar and Document Library and a new, extensible Notifications portlet.
Here's some more info (and some sweet, sweet screenshots) about Social Office for those who are not familiar with it:
Liferay Social Office is a dynamic team workspace solution that provides holistic enhancement to the way you and your colleagues work together. By adapting today's most innovative social technologies to the unique needs of productivity and goal-driven enterprise teams, it enables an important shift in how and why communication happens. Key features include, but are not limited to:
<ul>
<li>Documents: shared document repository with Microsoft Office integration.</li>
<li>Communication: instant notifications, team calendars, webmail, task management and contact management.</li>
<li>Collaboration: integrated threaded discussions, blogs, and wikis with related assets and federated search.</li>
<li>People: searchable user profiles with user tagging, friending, integrated chat and simplified Social Office user management.</li>
</ul>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/contact_center_notification.png" alt="liferay social office" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/site_home_strata_scheme.png" alt="liferay social office" />
Check out more about <a href="http://www.liferay.com/web/vicki.tsang/blog/-/blogs/announcement-social-office-3-0-ce-ee-released-for-portal-6-2">Social Office</a> or learn more about <a href="/products/liferay/">Liferay</a>.

Social Office updated to work with Liferay 6.2

The popular content management framework <a href="http://www.kajona.de/" target="_blank">Kajona</a> today announced the release of Kajona version 4.4.
Since its founding in 2004, the open-source, PHP5 based platform has grown into a comprehensive and powerful framework that provides a wide range of use with a wide range of modules. According to developers, the main focus of the framework lies in usability and performance.
With version 4.4, Kajona are hoping to enhance their platform like never before, with a long list of improvements. So, let's take a look at what's new for Kajona users.
<h2>Fastsearch Capabilities</h2>
More than 400 changes were integrated by the Kajona team in order to build the new version 4.4 “fastsearch”. Besides the optimization of existing functionality and modules, the new, index-based search engine is the biggest change shipped with Kajona 4.4.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/v4_4_search700x0.png" alt="Kajona 4.4 Search Engine" />
While still being enabled for the backend only, tests prove that the index-based approach provides results way faster, especially for large databases. Complex search queries with combined filters and terms are possible using the API but not yet integrated into the user-interface.
Future releases will concentrate on a flexible, user-friendly query box. The search index is updated automatically as soon as a record is being modified. The definition what contents will be added to the index is made on object / class level; each property marked with “@addSearchIndex” is added to the index during index-updates.
<h2>Messaging, Backend Polishing &amp; More</h2>
The layout of the backend was polished and optimized for Kajona 4.4. Input fields supporting the user by autocomplete suggestions indicate the availability of this functionality by default. The path navigation is able to handle a large number of entries and adopts to the screens width automatically.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/v4_4_toolbar700x0.png" alt="Kajona 4.4 Toolbar" />
When working with a data-record, the different actions are available using a toolbar directly. This avoids the time-consuming navigation via the list-views.
The messaging center integrated into Kajona is now also configured using a new configuration panel.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/v4_4_messaging.png" alt="Kajona 4.4 Messaging" />
The activation of message-providers is now way more user-friendly. The dependency management of packages is now formatted more user friendly, spotting unfulfilled dependencies is now way easier then before.. Built and implemented especially for developers, the new, parametrizable properties reduce the effort to localize interfaces.
Kajona makes use of established and well known syntax, e.g. from the Java-world: It is possible to inject values for the placeholders {0} and {1} into the expression “hello my {0}, today is {1}”, depending on the use case and other conditions.
Since Kajona 4.4 includes several bug fixes, security updates, and updates for compatibility with current web browsers and web server systems, the upgrade to 4.4 is recommended to all users. The update is available and recommended via the integrated package-management.
To find out more about Kajona 4.4, check out their <a href="http://www.kajona.de/en/News/newsdetails.Kajona-V4-4-fastsearch-available.newsDetail.925cc9f52f8a07b45fa8.html" target="_blank">official news release</a>. Additionally, you can dig up some more information on Kajona via our CMS Directory.

Kajona Release Version 4.4 of Their Content Management Framework

Magnolia , the open source Java content management system (CMS) company, has announced the initial details for <a href="http://www.magnolia-cms.com/conference."> Magnolia Conference 2014 </a> . The event will be held June 24 – 26 in the Pathé Küchlin Cinema, Basel, Switzerland. Following last year’s successful event with more than 200 Magnolia developers, users and partners from across the globe, Magnolia has secured the multiplex cinema again
Magnolia Conference 2014 will deliver a mix of hands-on workshops, business case studies, technical presentations and digital marketing talks. The event will provide insights for everyone from non-technical newcomers to the most experienced end-users.
This year’s conference introduces two significant structural changes. Firstly, Magnolia will run a third digital marketing conference track in addition to the business and technical tracks.
<blockquote>
“Magnolia is is used by some of the world’s biggest brands – customers like Nissan, Allianz and Sony. We are excited to finally offer their marketing teams a dedicated track at the Magnolia Conference. It will be an excellent opportunity for Marketing Technologists to catch up with real-world marketing challenges and approaches to solving them” says Boris Kraft, Co-founder and CTO, Magnolia International.
</blockquote>
Secondly, the first day of this year’s conference will now consist of a selection of hands-on workshops, led by Magnolia staff members. The workshops will be open to all. Topics include apps development, Spring framework integration and more.
The full program is available here: <a href="http://www.magnolia-cms.com/conference/program.html"> http://www.magnolia-cms.com/conference/program.html</a>
Early bird <a href="http://www.magnolia-cms.com/conference/register.html"> registration </a> is available until March 31st, 2014. The <a href="http://www.magnolia-cms.com/conference/call-for-papers.html"> call for papers </a> is now open with a deadline for submitting papers by April 1
The Magnolia Conference 2014 is open for all to attend and will take place June 24 – 26 in Basel, Switzerland. A day of workshops (June 24) will be followed by two days of presentations (June 25 and 26).

Fifth Magnolia Conference Introduces New Digital Marketing Track, Adds Workshop Day

<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/pwpwpw121x0.png" />Numerous upgrades and refinements make ProcessWire 2.4 our most friendly and powerful version yet!
ProcessWire 2.4 is focused on listening to the feedback from of our users and answering with the best CMS experience for web designers/developers and their clients. 
<h2>What’s new in ProcessWire 2.4</h2>
<h3>Field Dependencies</h3>
Thanks to the sponsorship support of <a href="http://www.avoine.fi/">Avoine</a>, we now have support for field dependencies in both the admin and from the API. Your admin form fields can now be shown or hidden based on values in other fields. Likewise, fields can be made required or not required based on values in other fields. <a href="http://processwire.com/talk/topic/4323-field-dependencies/">More</a>
<h3>New Admin Theme</h3>
<ul>
<li>New and fully responsive default admin theme with 4 color scheme options (configurable from the Default Admin Theme module settings).</li>
<li>Support for admin themes as installable modules. <a href="http://processwire.com/talk/topic/4650-new-processwire-admin-theme-on-dev-branch/?p=53671">More</a></li>
<li>Support for multiple admin theme modules to be installed at once. When more than one is installed, admin theme becomes a user profile setting. </li>
<li>New drop down menus providing direct access to fields and templates (for superusers).  </li>
<li>Add New drop-down option for shortcuts to adding predefined page types.</li>
<li>New auto-complete search box with support for searching pages, fields and templates. <a href="http://processwire.com/talk/topic/3768-processwire-231-dev-branch/?p=43930">More</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Admin Upgrades</h3>
<ul>
<li>New ability to install and upgrade modules directly from the Admin Modules page. Think of it as a Modules Manager Lite. </li>
<li>The modules screen now separates modules by Site and Core. (Site modules represent user installed modules). </li>
<li>New grid mode available with Image fields. Now you can view all your images in a grid rather than just a verbose list, and you can easily toggle between the two views. <a href="http://processwire.com/talk/topic/3768-processwire-231-dev-branch/?p=45453">More</a></li>
<li>New double-click to select all mode for marking all files or images in a field for deletion at once. <a href="http://processwire.com/talk/topic/3768-processwire-231-dev-branch/?p=45453">More</a></li>
<li>Core support for font-awesome icons with templates, fields and API level support with Inputfields. </li>
<li>New Link to Child option in the rich text editor link dialog box, along with other enhancements. </li>
</ul>
<h3>Language Support </h3>
Major upgrades to ProcessWire language support for page names/URLs. ProcessWire 2.4 now gives you the simplest, most powerful and stable options for creating multi-language websites. 
<h3>Database Change</h3>
ProcessWire now uses PDO rather than the mysql database driver by default. The mysqli driver will continue to be supported for backwards compatibility. The PDO driver provides better support for named parameters and offers more options for future database portability. 
<h3>New API Additions</h3>
<ul>
<li>New $log API variable for super-easy writing to log files. <a href="http://processwire.com/talk/topic/3768-processwire-231-dev-branch/">More</a></li>
<li>New $database API variable for direct access to the new PDO driver. The mysqli driver continues to be accessible with the $db API variable. </li>
<li>New WireArray functions: implode(), explode(), and(), data(). <a href="http://processwire.com/talk/topic/5098-new-wirearray-api-additions-on-dev/">More</a></li>
<li>New $pages-&gt;add() method for creating new pages more quickly and easily. <a href="http://processwire.com/talk/topic/3768-processwire-231-dev-branch/">More</a></li>
<li>Conditional autoload modules. Now module authors can specify an anonymous function or selector string to trigger if the module is autoload. <a href="http://processwire.com/talk/topic/3768-processwire-231-dev-branch/">More</a></li>
<li>New wireUnzipFile() function for unzipping a file to a destination directory, and wireCopy() function for copying all files from one directory to another (including recursively). <a href="https://github.com/ryancramerdesign/ProcessWire/blob/master/wire/core/Functions.php#L264">More</a></li>
<li>Support for sharpening and auto-rotation of images. You may define defaults in your /site/config.php file, and/or specify arguments to any image resize function. <a href="https://github.com/ryancramerdesign/ProcessWire/blob/master/site-default/config.php#L114">More</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Other updates and additions</h3>
<ul>
<li>Built-in abstraction of URLs in textarea fields. <a href="http://processwire.com/talk/topic/3768-processwire-231-dev-branch/?p=41651">More</a></li>
<li>New locked mode for Inputfields where a value can be shown but not edited.</li>
<li>Upgraded installer that now includes selection of color theme, timezone and more. </li>
<li>Support for an HTTP hosts whitelist for added security.</li>
<li>Countless optimizations, fixes and improvements. </li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/ryancramerdesign/ProcessWire/commits/master">See the full list of changes</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>About ProcessWire</h2>
<h3>ProcessWire is a friendly and powerful open source CMS and CMF with an exceptionally strong foundation.</h3>
With all custom fields, an easy-to-use jQuery-inspired API, and a powerful page selector engine, ProcessWire will rise to any task.
Clients love ProcessWire for its no-fuss simplicity and ease of use when editing their site. Designers and developers love ProcessWire for its thoughtful, easy and powerful API-driven approach that keeps them in control of the markup and makes development fun again. Not to mention, ProcessWire's API can also be booted from other applications or command-line scripts, bringing entire new levels of accessibility to your content.
ProcessWire is a modern SEO specialist's dream come true. It uses logical, readable and search-friendly URLs that always reflect the content's home in the tree. Meaning you'll never have to worry about multiple URLs or play duplicate content games. With full markup control, all custom fields, and support for runtime URL segments, ProcessWire lets you take full advantage of all the on-site SEO possibilities without wasting your time on long irrelevant tags and tricks.
ProcessWire is an incredible multi-language solution. With support for multi-language fields, multi-language URLs and a built-in static translation engine, ProcessWire 2.4 makes building and managing a multi-language website incredibly easy!
ProcessWire is designed for the needs of today and not limited by the past. It is equally at home powering small-to-large scale standards-friendly websites, mobile websites, JSON/XML web services, Flash applications, AJAX-driven content, iPhone/Android applications, and more. This output agnosticism drives ProcessWire's simplicity and makes it support, rather than interfere with your work.
ProcessWire is a mature product that comes from a strong bloodline of content management systems developed over more than a decade. ProcessWire runs beautifully on web servers running PHP 5.3.8+ and MySQL 5.
<ul>
<li><a href="http://processwire.com/">Learn more about ProcessWire CMF/CMS</a> and <a href="http://processwire.com/download/">download</a> »</li>
<li><a href="http://processwire.com/demo/">Try out a demo of ProcessWire</a> »</li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/ryancramerdesign/ProcessWire#upgrades">ProcessWire 2.4 upgrade instructions</a> »</li>
</ul>

ProcessWire 2.4 Released

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