Articles - Page 188

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

matt-garrepy

<p></p>
<p><a href="https://www.pagecloud.com/?utm_source=pressrelease&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_campaign=seriesa" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">PageCloud®</a>, developer of the world’s most innovative website creation platform, closed its Series A financing round, bringing total funds raised to $11.5 million CAD (~$8.6M USD). Key investors include early-stage venture capital firm Accomplice and trade-finance agency Export Development Canada, as well as notable angel investors from SalesForce.com, LinkedIn, and Shopify. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“This funding lets us scale our team and continue to democratize the Web for everyone,” said Craig Fitzpatrick, founder and CEO, PageCloud. “We’re shattering the technical barriers to creating content on the world’s greatest medium: the Internet. For the last 20 years, the Web has been dominated by rigid cookie-cutter templates and labor-intensive manual coding. We’re making it as easy as using a pencil and paper, for everyone with an Internet connection. This new financing is a great vote of confidence from investors who share our vision.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>PageCloud’s website creation technology, which debuted in the fall of 2015, marks a major change in the way content is created online. It puts control in the user’s hands with a powerful website creation and editing solution that enables anyone to create rich, unique user experiences without requiring any coding knowledge. PageCloud greatly simplifies the process of creating and editing websites, including the complex process of making web content mobile, with intuitive drag and drop functionality.</p>
<p>The $20.1 billion US website creation market hasn’t changed much in the past 15 years, with tools still too technical for most people to use:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>70% of website budget and effort still goes into manual coding, but only 1% of the population knows how to code</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>45% of businesses in developed countries still don’t have websites yet, and 2/3 of the planet still isn’t online</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>785 million websites exist today, with 16 million new ones created monthly (or 6 new sites per second)</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Since releasing its website creation platform to the public one year ago, PageCloud has acquired more than 15,000 customers in over 130 countries worldwide. This Series A funding will help the company continue to develop the platform and add more groundbreaking functionality, helping anyone create their dream website.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We love the PageCloud team’s product-first mentality and that we could find early-adopter users who validated the promise of the tech and the approach. It’s a very big market that hasn’t changed a lot since the advent of the Web, and it’s time for a new, more agile option,” said Jeff Fagnan, founder and general partner, Accomplice. “PageCloud frees people from the shackles of what website creation used to be. It gives non-technical people the ability to build beautiful websites.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>PageCloud is available now for $24/month, which includes hosting, after a 14-day free trial at <a href="https://www.pagecloud.com/?utm_source=pressrelease&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_campaign=seriesa" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.pagecloud.com</a>.</p>
<p></p>


PageCloud Funded to Change the Web Forever  by Bringing Website Creation to Everyone

mike-johnston

<p></p>
<p>If there's one thing that drives everyone nuts, it's spam, especially when it comes to running a website. One of the most common complaints new website owners have is the amount of spam comments, contact form submissions and signups that occur when your website goes live. Without some form of spam prevention, you are in for an administration nightmare. Fortunately, there are plenty of excellent options in existence and today, we're going to list out the ones we think are the best.</p>
<h2>CleanTalk</h2>
<p><strong>Website:</strong> <a href="https://cleantalk.org/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://cleantalk.org/</a></p>
<p>CleanTalk is a great service that offers spam protection for websites, forums, online stores and much more. The advantage is that it does not require captchas, questions or anything on the user end of things. The services checks for spam bots and spam in comments, orders, widgets, registrations, bookings, custom web forms, contact emails and much more. It works by sending the request to the cloud and using special algorithms to analyze the requests.</p>
<h2>Akismet</h2>
<p><strong>Website: </strong><a href="https://akismet.com/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://akismet.com/</a></p>
<p>Akismet is the popular spam prevention plugin for WordPress by Automattic. While it's most often used on WordPress installations, a large percentage of web applications also have plugins for it. I'd recommend searching within their plugin directories to see if it's integrated with the software you are using (if you do not run WordPress).</p>
<h2>Captcha</h2>
<p><strong>Website:</strong> <a href="http://www.captcha.net/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.captcha.net/</a></p>
<p>While Captcha certainly isn't one of my favorite options, I have to admit that in a lot of cases, it works well. I prefer the one that simply asks you to check a box saying that you are not a robot as opposed to the sometimes difficult to read captcha's that come up on some websites. Having said that, it does work in a lot of cases otherwise it wouldn't be so widely used.</p>
<h2>Mollom</h2>
<p><strong>Website:</strong> <a href="https://www.mollom.com/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.mollom.com/</a></p>
<p>Mollom is a website spam filtering service similar to Cleantalk. It was originally created by Dries Buytaert (founder of Drupal) and his team and is now part of Acquia. Mollom is available for WordPress, Drupal, Radiant, SilverStripe, Java, PHP, Ruby, Python, Perl, .NET and more.</p>
<h2>Sblam!</h2>
<p><strong>Website:</strong> <a href="http://sblam.com/en.html" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://sblam.com/en.html</a></p>
<p>Sblam! is a web service that blocks spammy posts in blog comments, forums and guestbooks (blocks bots posting adverts for viagra, porn, credit, casinos, etc.). It detects spam server-side and doesn't bother users with any puzzles to retype.</p>
<h2>The Honeypot Technique</h2>
<p><strong>Website:</strong> <a href="http://jennamolby.com/how-to-prevent-form-spam-by-using-the-honeypot-technique/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://jennamolby.com/how-to-prevent-form-spam-by-using-the-honeypot-technique/</a></p>
<p>The honeypot technique involves creating a hidden field which only spam bots will see and when they fill it out, you block the submission as normal users wouldn't see it and therefore would not fill it out. Since it's more of a technique than a web service, I've linked to an excellent tutorial I came across that explains how to implement it. Most form plugins have this ability integrated and it should be very easy to find tons of tutorials on the web if the one above doesn't suit your needs.</p>
<p>Did we miss one? Please let us know in the comments below. Also, if you have another method that works for you, we'd love to hear about it!</p>
<p></p>


6 Best Anti-Spam Plugins for your Website

<p></p>
<p>In addition to revealing which document management system features simplify <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/document-management-system-simplifies-compliance/">compliance</a>, this guide will be helpful in revealing which features make DMS users more efficient while at work.</p>
<h2>Templates</h2>
<p>A template is a document management system’s means of emulating what one has created for either a digital cabinet or folder within a document management platform, and further applying it across other webs of information, reducing the need to manually re-create an existing file structure.</p>
<p>The more intuitive and simple the template, the better its capacity to summon information valuable to employees, and the more readily these employees will be able to find and collaborate through the workflows templates create.</p>
<p>Essentially, templates take the concept of a shared drive, as one would see it on a Windows Desktop, and regenerate it to yield the benefit of automated but user-specified information structuring, resulting in fewer clicks to information structuring.</p>
<p>Document management system vendors should have “erase template” features as well, which erase the template created in a specific area. Templates’ functionality will vary from DMS vendor to DMS vendor, but these functionalities are frequently overlooked, for many DMS users are satisfied with the product despite not having used templates or the benefits they can bring to an organization.</p>
<h2>Enhanced Searching</h2>
<p>When it comes to retrieving information, responses to searches should be limited to match users’ preferred server settings. When perused by the software, default search settings will rest between 1,000 and 1,250 unless specified otherwise by document management system users.</p>
<p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2015/06/25/the-future-of-algorithmic-personalization/">Searching algorithm</a> options should include quasi Boolean specifiers with search functions containing “begin with,” “end with,” and “equal to.” Sophisticated search features should also include having simple search and more advanced search options.</p>
<h2>Zonal Optical Character Recognition and Metadata Taxonomy</h2>
<p>Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and metadata are highly interrelated components of all document management system products. In defining their interrelatedness, the following tidbits are useful:</p>
<p>OCR is a scanner’s encoding of handwritten or typed text, and an enterprise-grade document management system should have what is sometimes referred to as <a href="http://www.efilecabinet.com/what-is-zonal-ocr/">“zonal” OCR</a>; this form of Optical Character Recognition allows users to scan, view and digitize specific portions of documents, lending two benefits to users:</p>
<ol>
<li>More storage space for documents and</li>
<li>faster search times for document retrieval, particularly due to how a document management system can simplify and utilize metadata. Based on the OCR of a scanner integrating with a DMS solution, OCR retrieves metadata from scanned documents, helping DMS users store and classify documents as specified by users.</li>
</ol>
<p>Metadata also describes information about digital files, making these digital files easier to retrieve, manage, and audit. Common types of metadata in digital files include but are not limited to specifiers such as author, date created, date modified, users who partake in transactional documents, and file size.</p>
<p>Metadata also opens searches to Boolean search terms like “And” and “Or.” This separates certain documents from others by whether they abide by classification terms. This allows users to find documents they may not otherwise remember the names of.</p>
<p>The benefit of metadata, as it pertains to organization, is keeping employees from storing information in a scattered, inconsistent, and manual fashion. Most information is stored, named, and retrieved through arbitrary means in most organizations not relying on a document management system.</p>
<h2>Full-text Search</h2>
<p>Although zonal OCR enables full-text searches to users’ advantage, whole-text searches are slower, on average, if not used in moderation. For example, to find preselected words in the documents employees are looking for, it not only takes longer to find information, but the information surmised within the DMS solution is more likely to be irrelevant, arbitrary, or impertinent to the searcher’s intentions.</p>
<p>This is because when software scans more text, it increases the probability for confounding phrases and words, even under Boolean search guidelines. For instance, if an employee is searching for a client with the first name “April,” full-text searches may summon calendar events in the month of April instead.</p>
<p>Although metadata is a seemingly complex term, those unfamiliar with it are usually well versed in creating it; for instance, any time one saves a document, he or she is creating or reinforcing metadata, for metadata is simply data describing information about digital files, or “data about data,” making these digital files easier to retrieve, manage, and audit. A DMS solution’s ability to index metadata allows DMS users to specify file components independent of an operating system’s binary, modal, and computerized logic.</p>
<h2>Drag and Drop Functionality</h2>
<p>Arguably the most intuitive way to overthrow the inefficiency of manual processes without sacrificing the intuitiveness of said processes is the drag and drop feature. This feature, although functionally different across document management system products, is common to the internal workings of most DMS. The best document management system vendors will have an <a href="http://www.efilecabinet.com/efilecabinet-sidekick/">instant access icon</a> that readily facilitates this efficiency.</p>
<h2>Automated Workflows</h2>
<p>Workflow is among the most underutilized features of DMS. In fact, many DMS users who are satisfied with the product are often unaware of the benefits automated workflow offers.</p>
<p>Through DMS workflow, managers can specify who collaborates on what documents and projects, automating a desirable process to project and document completion; essentially, workflow visualizes, diagrams, and specifies the order of tasks in a project, making employee accountability, deadlines, and optimal workflow processes easier to gauge, manage, and actualize. The best DMS vendors for small to mid-sized organizations also have email notification features tied to workflow, alerting project members and leaders to when actions or analysis are needed on their end, or when a workflow process has been completed.</p>
<p>Furthermore, a document management system can streamline, diagram, and automate the most complex workflow processes, allowing information cycles to go through multiple rounds between two, three, and even four workers before summoning action from the person responsible in the next phase of the workflow cycle. In other words, workflow is not limited to linear task management, and can accommodate the workflow design standards of any user.</p>
<p>Additionally, one of the most important components of managing workflow within a DMS system are profile-routing features, which allow administrators to predetermine the workflow for each document based on a matching set of values.</p>
<p>When fully implemented and actualized within an organization, the features of workflow can automate in-house processes, an extremely valuable function for knowledge workers in any industry.</p>
<h2>Electronic and Digital Signatures</h2>
<p>For any organization in need of means to send advanced security files, as displayed above with the client-sharing portal feature, an electronic or digital file signature process is also often required, especially with contractual agreements, and use of a digital signature software prevents the need to fax documents back and forth to get signatures.</p>
<p>In general, it should be noted that an electronic signature is the idea of a legally binding signature as upheld by precepts of law, whereas a digital signature is the actual copy of document signed electronically. Please reference the ESIGN Act to learn more about the differences between electronic and digital signatures.</p>
<h2>Structured Query Language (SQL)</h2>
<p>The best document management system vendors will meet SQL standards put forth by the American National Standards Institute. Essentially, a structured query language is used in DMS to communicate with a database. A DMS with a sufficient SQL function will help organizations of all sizes (not just small to mid-sized organizations) better manage very large amounts of files, folders, content, or users, as well as superior performance improvements in searching, template and permission applications, drawer imports from CSV formats, and workflow processing features of DMS solutions.</p>
<p>Many up-to-date document management system vendors have revamped the SQL functions of their solutions in the past two years to create better communication with computer databases, and depending on how much an organization wants to manage its systems, irrespective of its size, selecting the DMS option with the most recent SQL upgrade is beneficial. The optimal grade SQL option for organizations can improve the speed of software functions up to 1,000x—putting the efficiency advantage of <a href="http://www.efilecabinet.com/how-sql-structured-query-language-helps-organizations-better-manage-large-amounts-of-information-within-dms/">enterprise-grade SQLs</a> in perspective.</p>
<p></p>


Document Management System Efficiency Facilitators: An eFileCabinet Guidebook

<p></p>
<p><a href="https://www.coastercms.org/">Coaster CMS</a> is a free, open source, and beacon-compatible CMS developed by <a href="https://www.web-feet.co.uk/">Web Feet Ltd</a> – a certified Google partner with over 16 years of experience.</p>
<p>Built upon Laravel PHP, Coaster CMS is aimed at independent developers and development agencies that handle large scale projects.</p>
<p>According to its website, Coaster CMS is, “the next generation of Content Management Systems” – which is a bold claim indeed.<img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/booW2EgadoaASwQrts-3FJz6alqt3tJgPD-2o2GyhsojKxHGaeC-VmZQN-2YdlHEgjXwK8TSbjrrXFBF5jsVAwwWBbF_PbVWnCeXmp-hTjdV1EkzPjMvk23FmVMUJb42uFwohuaz" /></p>
<p>But as I explored the features of the platform, I began to see where the Coaster CMS team was coming from. Kind of.</p>
<p>I’ll tell you exactly what I mean by that throughout the course of this review. Let’s get started.</p>
<h2>First Impressions</h2>
<p>As always, I began my journey – as any user would – through the vendor’s website.</p>
<p>I found the Coaster CMS site to be bold, professional, and informative. All positive signs.</p>
<p><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/JWaKEsqF9OY33vZfjTdbCjZKrtudRW06Unv0ahi4kWFs1z2iVLcnsPedo537h64obj_tqljQ9755cELFb_5IskXz_VwR4f_G-mno_SLt2j06P6ihyU4skIteLqtNJdjbHwljNHDN" /></p>
<p>It also boasts an interesting chart pitting Coaster against WordPress and Joomla. To be fair to the Coaster CMS team, the results show no bias, and they aren’t attempting to preach that Coaster renders WordPress or Joomla useless.</p>
<p>Instead, it’s more about highlighting the areas that Coaster excels in, where the other two fall short.</p>
<p><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/sedV7bNOHpIflt2--hWjkvcBGsaiWNzt7CwNCEQLo5ZWmzxu-w8NUzAOgQ7dYMg4YmKAyappoRESybdQl0VRSx7djbkaPbN_5joBmdpr188qDkpWO_UuXH8V9W-0sLr-p7o02VQL" /></p>
<p>As you can see, the chart happily presents prominent areas where Coaster CMS isn’t so well-rounded. This level of honesty right there on the homepage is endearing, and I think it does a sound job of contextualizing Coaster CMS for those who aren’t familiar with it.</p>
<p>To get started, the platform is – as previously mentioned – free and open source, so you can <a href="https://www.coastercms.org/download">download Coaster CMS</a> directly from their website. Or, you can make use of their <a href="https://www.coastercms.org/demo">free online demo</a> which demonstrates most, if not all, of the platform’s functionalities.</p>
<h2>Getting Started</h2>
<p>I like a platform to wow me when I first arrive at the dashboard, but to be frank, Coaster CMS didn’t do that.</p>
<p><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/LXGY3EzUy4XCUYbbM5ElKTEBW58T3dEurqmLOrGqIOL-H3nV91eDcKEqzT2DNaFniGEQ223hkUmJEP5NHCzKfphWb9NkAUIFNmSCCO5cMeijsDa7dh3o3-n0FnlcImc5jrT10Jpk" /></p>
<p>The only piece of information displayed is the site’s recent administrative updates, which is handy if you work as part of a team that regularly makes website changes. Other than that though, the Coaster CMS dashboard is quite bare indeed.</p>
<p>As for the default theme, I really liked it. It wasn’t your stereotypical white-washed plain Jane attempt at a template – Coaster CMS had given it some personality.</p>
<p><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/KqmvbKLx-nzhLHY9uz4Wr2p8bCOfM8EkU5zQTM-bmgyjcXbhUoajjvVW0y2BttKNbR8_rnwXpQVEgu3vC11A1jf8ZGL_uuENP3jzJoaFCqvoWGDOJbk66lU8UslkSljZ8vYpI-Rk" /></p>
<p>However, I didn’t come across any design customization features, which is a shame. Although, do bear in mind that Coaster CMS isn’t geared towards small businesses in need of a website builder, it’s very much designed to be tinkered with via code.</p>
<h2>Page Management</h2>
<p>To manage a website’s pages, Coaster CMS has drafted in a tree page view system that has been adopted by a growing number of content management systems as of late.</p>
<p><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/bC3DfXA_ZiUMQOXkdyyXEBIUwUdWF7uMrnkWOCpsLa_XsU2yHj5kIrZjRg44EyaT2KpscwGPMTBa-qCzMAZjZjcZ2qqFllCWLOOx0gfJqxMB7TTzlYbqNvTLO5Y1M0MgUTkaq_FF" /></p>
<p>It’s easy on the eyes, and gives you a clear overview of your site’s structure via a relatively small amount of screen space.</p>
<p>You can drag-and-drop pages around to adjust their positions, and you can also drag them into sub-page positions. An edit and preview button are both visible on the right-hand side.</p>
<p>You can also open and collapse sub-pages quickly and easily. Just as with the rest of the platform, it’s all very fast and responsive.</p>
<p>I also noticed that on the contact page – a page type which comes out of the box with Coaster CMS as opposed to having to install a plugin – you can quickly view submitted forms by clicking a button on the tree page interface.</p>
<p><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/k8MtzwRaYvJlUTumMmSmkVYG6L4M02aktC7Fj3-cMPd6NyEC_-xVa--fbB5A5VSON0zaz_JNNtqYPmmnl0vIcIaGpi_6RF-fxqb4Ki-3WWju9hjXN92JBxd_EUGCEYyCSQFOMoJS" /></p>
<p>When it comes to editing pages, Coaster CMS takes a very detailed approach. Content can be configured for the main area of the page, sidebars, and footers. SEO options are also available.</p>
<p><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/MsaiySLoVZhVCfTgCAGZQSOCI9ReH1QQBBFReApUBLLGi0CvRn_TAEhmcJMrTbkrlUjQ0rUgu1esLIlsyQmI6Lw5lcNvDa5RMfebG8Z3_aFiWbZRy5BoNCRWbCocEsERyMVnFVJY" /></p>
<p>The WYSIWYG editor was made up of all the standard stuff, as it should be. That includes image insertion, linking, aligning, font formatting, and so forth.</p>
<p><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/DDanA1LF2aGHNUkMSNZJh3BtOd3yAByUl_jU7yUQ3BiQHz7-qBK5S5A5mLHHkyz2kIDOQC7GF27JG5DwztUqEWk9kYCrNiA1hI2mVzsob6LermcE2F-J6n_BlrxayQomQ_wWtGHw" /></p>
<p>There was also an option to insert files from Coaster CMS’ file manager, and a video insertion tool that lets you find and embed YouTube videos without having to leave the Coaster CMS interface. It even uses YouTube’s search function to suggest similar videos to you – which is pretty cool.</p>
<p><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/R5vzxysu_LIoom6HOmIBoV3BuiXcHyTvUoUSNNQ2Ah_rumH99D2rr2WWZdrHhgJP3acCs0v5OKWTIgdumv3-ZfwBHkSCDGa09UepNe6m3xtPTbsv_hHbMXxNHKOy076Yh7syUnoM" /></p>
<h3>Time Specific Pages</h3>
<p>Here’s another feature I found interesting.</p>
<p>With Coaster CMS, you can make pages visible to the public during specific time periods only.</p>
<p>There are also repeat options available if you wish for pages to appear annually, weekly, monthly, and so on.</p>
<p>For example, you might want to specify one day of the year to offer a 50% off sale on all your products. With Coaster CMS, you can create a page to promote that sale in advance, and then configure it to automatically be accessible for just 24 hours on any chosen day of the year.</p>
<p>This can all be set when creating or editing a page, under the Page Info tab. (or using the versions tab for more complex rules with versioning turned on.)</p>
<p><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/n8MEUR1A8PkXhCQEnxZS1TueghVtb9oKiYR9M17AnUF7wbAJmH0E-1WDYddLK5TxtqmulpyWouZPWfmooLB-N4uqZISM_ykOxtRpbI-MKc4xBpYC4VRGP-2DcNAxIBQuFfiNdkmZ" /></p>
<h3>Site-Wide Content</h3>
<p>Coaster CMS also lets you configure site-wide content, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Header HTML</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Logo uploading</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Banners</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Scroll to the top text</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Footer HTML, links, and other footer content</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Meta title, description, and keywords</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>This is all done via the Site-Wide Content page, which segments all of the above (and more) into five different tabs.</p>
<p><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/EztFDRqWdry2X1XY0uqx7qCOPHb26oc85ZpXkfGErMR7RAAGgtcDraUrcim6F7lx6vLuazPh8vIIFG8PKQF3X0WpaTKxGQJdj4E-8xju12PvAEEganjRtJLn47hqFDl3GUn6awyW" /></p>
<p>NB: some of these features may depend on the template you are using meaning that themes in Coaster can use a wide range of features as required by each website.</p>
<h3>Menus</h3>
<p>Coaster adopts a similar tree page view system to handle menus, which works nicely.</p>
<p>You can rename menu items, and specify the amount of sublevels you want to display to users all from the same interface.</p>
<p><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/zsByO0BPOdGV9ddbxDhNDa4kNvmoJm3k11YwpIDbbcixaTSS5YRRfJItgTwIyNJ6bJiX_dxdSlNNMLXGP10TbVT6NzXqkKV5QtlmgNuZ2A5sbJjwUU2XHOxVXz_O87sqIOTuldiH" /></p>
<h2>Beacon Management</h2>
<p>A beacon is a small Bluetooth transmitter that transmits a single signal that other Bluetooth-enabled devices can see.</p>
<p>By using beacons, brands can transmit marketing materials to people passing close by, alerting them to sales and information directly to their smartphones or other devices.</p>
<p>When it comes to beacons, Coaster CMS teams up with <a href="https://kontakt.io/">Kontakt.io</a> to produce the neccessary functionality.</p>
<p>Kontakt provides the hardware and software required to manage beacons, and Coaster CMS makes it easy to integrate it all with your website.</p>
<p>You’ll need to purchase beacons from Kontakt, and sign up for a free account to access their web panel, too. At the time of writing, that will set you back $60.00, which gets you three beacons.</p>
<p>Would it be even better if Coaster could offer all of this by itself? Yes, but that’s not really the point. Coaster CMS is the software that helps you align your beacon marketing efforts with your digital strategies. As such, I don’t expect it to be a hardware vendor too – although it would be pretty awesome if it was.</p>
<p>The Coaster CMS team are meeting this requirement through a separate solution called proximateapp.co.uk which will allow beacon purchases and pre-defined templates for users to quickly and easlily deploy beacons and make use of the unique Coaster features as an off the shelf solution.</p>
<p>Of course more complex solutions can be handled in a more bespoke manner using Coaster.</p>
<h2>Extras</h2>
<p>There aren’t many bells and whistles, but Coaster CMS does have a built in page redirection tool that’s simple yet effective.</p>
<p><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ynMJa_V_xs869LcjePkgTTl8dSmOTKbUpqLeRm9dWCGT9Ho5GqBzMLmgHC8QrYk3RL3qKiRDVwn-MTWprGQlArEDVvfgrxbo5tFP_syf35skh0sAEduJ4R4LNyrh_UUqWK3TcGB6" /></p>
<p>Furthermore, I noticed that the file manager was fairly feature rich, with folders, a variety of viewing options, detailed filtering, and a range of search options.</p>
<p><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/HAy2G4cYIEZta_saBOGGKefIopByBT4vCy-HaL7h_hlhBO5U3hH4dyN7Rh_WeV4NBfJZDxK1DbUepDG5Kn_1vvJ3eXb_1Ed447n6JgENw4Jet7gs50OHvLEvRgdVBtCz1-7k9Xp5" /></p>
<p>I also found additional options under System Settings. There, I could specify an administrator email, page limits, and a URL for a WordPress powered blog, which would be redirected to whenever users access the /blog/ page on my Coaster CMS site.</p>
<p><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/BgDJ5VXtNvSfK_c5Yqm823aXg-nyeLmITXZ-vMnMGN45sq2D9ODD8gN2-UFca7ffFczgyKFOvmygzJvY0WEumbj8rh_UibOaT53XwVWj_7Z-IX8NkXH4s0MHljZtszRwMRa3HvYJ" /></p>
<p>Unfortunately though, there is no native blogging functionality, which is something that a modern CMS should have, in my opinion.</p>
<p>This was originally done intentionally as the Coaster CMS team felt WordPress was so widely known as a blogging platform and could be used to supplement Coaster. However, version 5.3 of Coaster (line with the next release of Laravel) will address this with blogging in the default theme. This makes use of Coaster’s standard feature of multiple templates (depending on design) for varied blog post (page) designs.</p>
<p>There also seems to be no officially endorsed plugins or themes, which is an area I think the Coaster CMS team should focus on, given the platform’s open source nature of the platform.</p>
<p>After all, part of the greatness of being open source is all the useful extras that the community can come up with.</p>
<p>NB: Coaster CMS will be creating additional “Coaster CMS wrappers” for specific purposes, such as ecommerce and marketing. We will begin to encourage others to develop these “wrappers (or plugins) keeping the main framework code at their heart and adding features specific to a purpose to avoid bloat.</p>
<h2>Getting Help</h2>
<p>As far as <a href="https://www.coastercms.org/support">support</a> options go, Coaster CMS offers up some decent documentation for general user and developers.</p>
<p><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/bNDJurMVz8ntpLAl2B7jhCAyOcuU44RhVCk4XBg7unqoTVBl4P_pGFQ4q8hoCGJpDb9VS7Mvl-hXFeUW9F9Q367pFhorFiyD1u17tcxpzMAofqIXRoxZFUrdatNpi5gwSIIcn47w" /></p>
<p>Coaster CMS also boasts a <a href="https://github.com/Web-Feet/coastercms">GitHub</a> and <a href="http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/coastercms">StackOverflow</a> pages.</p>
<p>Other than that though, you’ll be hard pressed to find help if you run into any issues.</p>
<p>It would be nice to see a community forum set up, where the Coaster CMS team and community can come together to aid each other, share project, and cultivate a community feeling that – in my opinion – fuels the growth of any platform.</p>
<p>Coaster CMS have addded a forum to coastercms atcoastercms.org/forum.</p>
<h2>The Verdict</h2>
<p>Coaster CMS offers features that align with the next generation of marketing. Beacons have been around for a while in primitive forms, but as location-based marketing evolves, they’re set to be used <a href="http://www.mycustomer.com/community/blogs/az-ahmed/the-future-of-beacons-in-retail-marketing">more intelligently by brands such as Nestle and Mercedes</a>.</p>
<p>I also like Coaster’s time-specific page publications, a feature which will give marketers an idea or two.</p>
<p>The platform also deploys a tree page view, a trend which has well and truly caught on amongst modern content management systems – and for good reason.</p>
<p>However, would I describe Coaster CMS “the next generation of content management systems”?</p>
<p>No, not really.</p>
<p>There is no blogging feature, for starters, but by decision to hold back on such a statement is less of a reflection on the platform itself, and more of a call for the Coaster CMS team to re-think their homepage copy. After all, there are very few platforms out there that I would refer to as “next generation”.</p>
<p>It seems to me though, that Coaster CMS is primed to be a content management system suited to modern brands with big marketing plans. Beacon technology is indeed a growing trend among larger brands, and if the Coaster team can supplement this compatibility with some more marketing features, I can see them carving out a real niche for themselves.</p>
<p>All in all though, I enjoyed using Coaster CMS, and if you’re looking for a platform that’s free, open source, and beacon compatible, I can’t think of a simpler solution.</p>
<p>The features that are in the latest version of Coaster, released on 31st August 2016) are detailed on their blog.</p>
<h3>Pros</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Coaster CMS is free and open source – which is always a positive.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Beacon compatibility is an increasingly relevant feature as far as marketing is concerned.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Time-specific pages further bolster the marketing capabilities of Coaster CMS.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Tree page view interfaces for page and menu management.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Makes it easy to integrate a WordPress powered blog.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>The file manager is of a good standard, with plenty of search and filtration options.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Cons</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Support options and the community feeling you expect with an open source platform is lacking somewhat.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>No built-in blogging functionality – although it is coming in version 5.3.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>The user interface isn’t the most beautiful I’ve come across, and sometimes looks a little cramped. However, the Coaster team has assured me that they’re focusing on improving this with the release of version 5.3.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Have you had any experience with <a href="https://www.coastercms.org/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Coaster CMS</a>? Let us know how you feel about it in the comments section below!</p>
<p></p>


Coaster CMS Review

<p></p>
<p>During my <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/my-visit-to-prestashops-paris-hq/">tour of Prestashop’s Paris headquarters</a>, I got to lay my eyes on <a href="https://www.prestashop.com/en/1.7">Prestashop 1.7</a>, the eCommerce platform’s latest release.</p>
<p>The PrestaShop team are aiming to officially release 1.7 before the turn of 2017. Release candidate two already out there in the wild, <a href="https://www.prestashop.com/en/1.7">ready to be downloaded</a>.</p>
<p>But before it lands – and subsequently changes the way 250,000 merchants sell online – let’s take a look at what’s new.</p>
<h2>What’s New With PrestaShop 1.7?</h2>
<p>Let’s start with a video:</p>
<p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nl2-de2Q4cA?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>Built (in part) on the famous and robust Symfony framework, PrestaShop 1.7 is set to make a splash in the eCommerce industry. Let’s take a look at exactly how it plans to do that.</p>
<h3>Easier Product Creation</h3>
<h3><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/FhgAANRD8fq1EVzt-mV2F2km6myjwFSEw5FCw-9xqYURhDxgRbaw7-nviUSytfUi0PdsUpg6p3iSaP9II0dyLJYjbtuH7kmqsOTrkf-KrtaeU0JK0TsLnDdVEpXU1GcCKCjz5gtA" /></h3>
<p>PrestaShop 1.7 brings about a brand new way to add products to your catalogue – and I have to say – it’s far better than the product creation process found on PrestaShop 1.6.</p>
<p>It has a refreshed interface, quick actions, shortcuts, automatic management for combinations and much more. The entire process has been revamped for the better.</p>
<h3>A New Modules Page</h3>
<h3><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/UfVy7bP2wRomN_MAGE0KCSOAgglkguGA4fhu-kskDluR2OJfDfhfyF_rgpWA25MeHIUSRl_OREEIpczs2FFSv0GWgtzJ-aRXqG4CT9_svcSWLgU4IDwCkI3fnpRA_-gdAfoBrEY3" /></h3>
<p>An overhauled modules page will also make it easier to add and manage your modules on a daily basis.</p>
<p>This new page boasts tabs to let you easily navigate between three new sections, making it easy to view your installed modules, manage the ones that require an action, and discover more that can be helpful for your business.</p>
<h3>A New Default Theme and a Streamlined Checkout Process</h3>
<p><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/r8aRrFbMis5cNDjmOz6Add80-wmY5OL_STRSlHlqJLmOjwudQG8HbCbQV_5ld9aW62onvk_lRuqppNtMD4V-iSux3Mt-4VS_U-Wd3I1ZhbSDbL7v1LuDgYH4R4hn2oRLHQr8pOp1" /></p>
<p>The latest PrestaShop default theme is called “Classic” – and it looks classy.</p>
<p>This new template will bring a fresh and minimalist look to your store. But more notably, this new theme brings about a vastly improved checkout process. Just as PrestaShop impressed me with their new product creation page during my visit, they also wowed me with this redesigned checkout process.</p>
<p>The entire checkout process is split into sections, but is housed on a single page. If a customer leaves the page and comes back, their progress will be remembered. Plus, a landing page style template has been adopted to help keep customers focused on completing their checkout.</p>
<h3>A Starter Theme For Developers and More</h3>
<p>Free from any markups or custom style, PrestaShop has introduced a new starter theme for front-end developers. It acts as a skeleton for their projects, making it easier to build custom templates.</p>
<p>And of course, there’s a whole bunch of updates to be seen both under the hood and around the back-end of the platform.</p>
<h2>“Code Better, Create Easier, Sell Faster”</h2>
<p>The PrestaShop team are really running with this slogan that accompanies version 1.7. I heard it being used at least once <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/my-visit-to-prestashops-paris-hq/">during my PrestaShop office tour</a>.</p>
<p>It’s not rocket science; PrestaShop is trying to make it easier for developers to code, easier for marketers and merchants to create product pages, and easier for shoppers to buy. And from what I can see, they’ve done exactly that with PrestaShop 1.7.</p>
<p>I was a big fan of PrestaShop’s efforts with PrestaShop 1.6, and I have very high hopes for 1.7, too.</p>
<p>To find out more about PrestaShop 1.7, check out the <a href="https://www.prestashop.com/en/1.7">PrestaShop website</a>.</p>
<p>Also, be sure to stick around for more coverage of PrestaShop during this PrestaShop Featured Week.</p>
<p></p>


A Preview of PrestaShop 1.7

<p>In 2007, PrestaShop burst onto the scene as a free, open source, and on-premise eCommerce solution.</p>
<p>Within just a year, PrestaShop had been translated into 15 different languages by users in France, the US, Italy, the UK, Brazil, and Indonesia. All through <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/an-interview-with-sabrina-marechal-director-of-product-marketing-at-prestashop/">word of mouth alone</a>.</p>
<p>Today, PrestaShop powers over 250,000 active online stores, and <a href="https://www.prestashop.com/forums">their online community</a> boasts over one million registered members.</p>
<p>When I visited PrestaShop’s Paris headquarters, I got to see for myself that PrestaShop is no longer just a popular eCommerce solution – it’s a software project with deep and meaningful roots that spread to the four corners of the earth.</p>
<h2>A Timeline of PrestaShop’s Global Growth</h2>
<h4>2007</h4>
<ul>
<li>PrestaShop Founded</li>
</ul>
<h4>2008</h4>
<ul>
<li>Raised $220k in funding</li>
<li>PrestaShop 1.0 released</li>
<li>In the first month, there were 100 stores running in 10 countries</li>
</ul>
<h4>2009</h4>
<ul>
<li>PrestaShop holds the first Community Barcamp with 250 attendees</li>
<li>PrestaShop 1.1 and 1.2 are released</li>
</ul>
<h4>2010</h4>
<ul>
<li>Raised $700k in funding</li>
<li>PrestaShop 1.3 is launched</li>
<li>The 2010 Barcamp has 450 attendees</li>
</ul>
<h4>2011</h4>
<ul>
<li>Raised $3M in funding</li>
<li>100,000 active stores</li>
<li>200,000 community members</li>
<li>The 2011 Barcamp has 1000 attendees</li>
<li>PrestaShop version 1.4 is launched</li>
</ul>
<h4>2012</h4>
<ul>
<li>PrestaShop software reaches 2 million downloads</li>
<li>The Barcamp goes international to NYC and Barcelona</li>
<li>PrestaShop version 1.5 is launched</li>
<li>PrestaShop development goes on Github for the first time</li>
</ul>
<h4>2013</h4>
<ul>
<li>PrestaShop software reaches 3 million downloads</li>
<li>The Barcamp has 1500 attendees from 15 countries</li>
</ul>
<h4>2014</h4>
<ul>
<li>Raised $9.4M in funding</li>
<li>PrestaShop version 1.6 is launched with 23k downloads in the first day</li>
</ul>
<h4>2015</h4>
<ul>
<li>PrestaShop hosts the largest community day ever with 2000 attendees</li>
<li>New offices opened in Miami and Paris</li>
<li>PrestaShop launches a global Ambassador Program</li>
<li>PrestaShop launches PrestaShop Cloud</li>
<li><a href="https://www.prestashop.com/blog/en/prestashop-launches-1000000-integration-fund-community/">PrestaShop announces $1M fund for developer</a></li>
</ul>
<h4>2016</h4>
<ul>
<li>The PrestaShop community surpasses 1M members</li>
<li>PrestaShop Days in Madrid, Paris and Milan have over 3000 attendees</li>
<li>PrestaShop 1.7 is announced</li>
</ul>
<p>Looking for more detail? Check out <a href="http://weare1million.prestashop.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">PrestaShop's timeline</a>.</p>
<p>As you can see from the timeline above, PrestaShop’s eye for innovation was recognized by investors almost immediately. The core features of PrestaShop itself were always impressive, and that led the way for community members to help grow the platform in the first few years of its life.</p>
<p>Today, PrestaShop uses that solid foundation and rich history to welcome third-party plugin and theme development (as well as the sale thereof via the <a href="http://addons.prestashop.com/en/8057-advanced-marketplace.html">PrestaShop Marketplace</a>), roll out innovative projects like PrestaShop Cloud, and expand into new regions of the world.</p>
<p>Speaking of which…</p>
<h2>Big Movements In Europe &amp; South America</h2>
<p>Europe has always been the major hotspot for PrestaShop. It was born in France, and so neighbouring nations were the first to accept it in its early stages. Today, PrestaShop is considered to be the most popular eCommerce solution in a range of european countries.</p>
<p>But during my tour of PrestaShop’s headquarters, I was told about the platform’s recent growth across South America.</p>
<p>Here’s what Leah Anathan, PrestaShop’s CMO, has to say about that growth:</p>
<blockquote><p>“We are very bullish about Latin America. Today we have over 15,000 active stores in the region and the growth rates are extremely positive. To give an example, we had a meetup recently in Buenos Aires, led by one of our Ambassadors, and several hundred people showed up. The interest in PrestaShop and market opportunity in Latin America is very exciting.”</p></blockquote>
<h2>A Localized Foundation, A Future In The Cloud?</h2>
<p>PrestaShop has worked hard over the years to hone their core product and bolster their theme and module library – which is today their biggest driver of revenue. The impressive features of their downloadable product, plus the option for users to localize it through translations and adaptations, has led to its phenomenal growth across the globe over the last nine years.</p>
<p>I expect that growth to continue, with Latin America being the latest in a long line of regions that has accepted PrestaShop, along with all its flexibility, with open arms.</p>
<p>In terms of the future, the release of PrestaShop Cloud – a totally free and cloud-hosted eCommerce solution – was the moment that PrestaShop entered a new market, gave their platform a new dimension, and carved out a new route forwards.</p>
<p>Now that PrestaShop has an on-premise and cloud-hosted offering, the potential for its growth is nothing short of exciting.</p>
<p>To find out more about PrestaShop, and the upcoming PrestaShop 1.7 release, check out the <a href="https://www.prestashop.com/en/1.7">PrestaShop website</a>.</p>
<p>Also, be sure to stick around for more coverage of PrestaShop during this PrestaShop Featured Week.</p>


A Timeline of The Global Growth of PrestaShop

CMS Summit 26

Find out at Open Source CMS 26, October 20-21 in Utrecht, Netherlands

What's ahead for Open Source CMS?

#ffffff

<p></p>
<p>Have you ever had an idea so exciting that you can't wait to secure its place online?</p>
<p>Well, Squarespace has just given you a quick way to kickstart any idea, with Squarespace Start.</p>
<p>Squarespace Start is an app that lets you secure a domain and create a one-page Squarespace website directly from your mobile device, so you can launch your project the second it pops into your mind.</p>
<p>This eighteen second video shows you everything you need to see – which is impressive in and of itself.</p>
<p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7YCmRDsrKlE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<h2>Squarespace Start From iOS &amp; Android</h2>
<p>The Squarespace Start app – which is available on the <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/squarespace-start/id1039520905?ls=1&amp;mt=8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">App Store</a> and the <a href="http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.squarespace.android.coverpages&amp;hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Google Play store</a> – is now probably the fastest way to set your next projct in motion. And I've got to admit, I'm impressed.</p>
<p>It's perfect for quickly announcing new products, services, projects, events, or entire businesses.</p>
<p>Realistically, you aren't going to be launching any long-term websites using Squarespace Start, but you can use it to set up a stunning holding page until you’re ready to build a more robust website.</p>
<h2>Speedy Squarespace</h2>
<p>In recent months, Squarespace has focused heavily on speeding up the time it takes for users to start a website.</p>
<p>First, they launched <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/squarespace-domains/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Squarespace Domains</a> to make domain purchasing easier. Then more recently, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/squarespace-starter-layouts/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Squarespace Layouts</a> was unveiled to help add and modify templates faster. Squarespace Start is just another way for Squarespace users to launch websites quickly and easily.</p>
<p>To download Squarespace Start today, visit the <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/squarespace-start/id1039520905?ls=1&amp;mt=8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">App Store</a> or <a href="http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.squarespace.android.coverpages&amp;hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Google Play Store</a>.</p>
<p></p>


Squarespace Start Lets You Launch a Website In Seconds

<p></p>
<p>Web portals offer a broad spectrum of valuable services to different groups of people your organization interacts with including:</p>
<ul>
<li>Customers and prospects</li>
<li>Employees and prospective employees</li>
<li>Investors</li>
<li>Partners</li>
<li>Members</li>
<li>Volunteers</li>
<li>And more!</li>
</ul>
<p>Each of these groups have different reasons to learn about your products, services, and company history. It’s great to train these people so they are more knowledgeable about what you do and who you are. Self-service CRM portals have the added value of delivering context-specific training content, while keeping track of their progress, and the effectiveness of the content itself.</p>
<p>Here are some effective ways your company could be getting more value out of your web presence, while educating the members of your stakeholder communities.</p>
<h3>Product Training</h3>
<p>It would be great if you could deliver every customer training session in person, but the realities of availability and travel logistics makes that nearly impossible.</p>
<p>Online training is available 24/7, ensures consistent, current content and costs are limited to the time and resources related to building the content. Having a common training platform between your customer portal and your learning management system makes authentication easier, and helps you extend your brand into your learning content. If you have a subscription-based service, product training can ensure adoption of your offering, and help to grow your customer relationship.</p>
<p>If you integrate your LMS and your self-service portal site into CRM, you can keep track of the courses your customers have completed, collect feedback on the content, and create certification programs on your site. <a href="https://elearningindustry.com/gamification-for-corporate-training-8-questions">Gamification</a> is a great incentive to make online training more engaging, and you can keep track of training points for digital or physical incentives.</p>
<h3>Employee Onboarding and Ongoing Certification</h3>
<p>For new employees, getting up to speed on workplace culture, organizational hierarchy and policies can be difficult to take in all at once. Having the content available for an employee to complete on their own time is a great use of your intranet! For HR matters, acceptable use policies, or standard operating procedures, online training is a great way to make sure training content is available in the office, to mobile employees and for access outside of working hours.</p>
<p>Just as with customer product training, deploying an online learning program on your portal is a great way to deliver a repeatable curriculum to your employees. If you’ve set up HR processes in your CRM system, you can track course completion, have employees sign off on required training courses, and generate reports on which parts of your organization have completed their required training. Further, you can set up role-based training access based on job types, seniority and other criteria. If your company has to comply with industry standards for safety training courses like WHMIS, a CRM self-service employee intranet is a powerful way to do it.</p>
<h3>Learning Communities and Portals</h3>
<p>Online learning is a great way to help employees prepare for in-class training, conference training, and to receive follow-up materials after learning in the “physical realm”.</p>
<p>Let’s say you are a <a href="https://www.magentrix.com/solutions/healthcare">medical association</a> with a group of specialists that want to keep in touch with each other, and share ideas on the topics related to your association’s products and services. An online learning community, with news feeds, <a href="https://www.magentrix.com/products/features/forum?src=customer">forums</a> and other <a href="https://www.magentrix.com/products/customerportal">collaboration opportunities</a> is a great way to maintain relationships with your members, and help to cultivate relationships among members who meet each other at your association’s meetups.</p>
<p>A social eLearning platform is a great way to extend collaboration and information sharing beyond the parameters of a course and related testing.</p>
<h3>Maintaining Digital Assets and Protecting Intellectual Capital</h3>
<p>If training is an important part of your company’s revenue stream, you can ensure customers always have access to the latest content as long as they are entitled to it as a paid member. A self-service CRM portal helps you send out targeted e-mail blasts with landing pages related to the training. Tracking web content performance on courses can help to monitor which topics are most popular, and what courses may not be worth keeping in your course catalog.</p>
<p>A secure CRM web portal with e-commerce functionality allows customers to register and pay online, and you can track transactions online with relative ease. If a member or customer should no longer be entitled to certain materials, it’s simple to change a user’s permissions by role or status.</p>
<p></p>


Enhancing Self-Service Portals with Online Learning Content

<p>Acquia, the Drupal digital experience company, has announced some powerful new capabilities for <a href="https://www.acquia.com/acquia-lift" target="_self" rel="noopener noreferrer">Acquia Lift</a>, their personalization platform.</p>
<p>Thousands of brands trust Acquia to handle their web presences and their digital experiences, including the BBC, Cisco, Stanford University, and the Australian Government.</p>
<p>Lift is Acquia’s SaaS solution for creating personalized and contextual digital experiences and is designed for customers to take advantage of personalization faster than ever before. It allows organizations to deliver personalized experiences in Drupal, as well as in any other digital platform.</p>
<p>With this new update, Acquia Lift now includes a simplified card-based, drag-and-drop user experience with the capability to access, unify and personalize content across Drupal and other digital platforms.</p>
<p>Marketers can get started fast by collecting profile data and gaining insight into buyer segments. Lift’s embedded syndication hub unifies content from across these platforms, transforming what was once a labor-intensive and duplicative effort.</p>
<p>With the ability to target prospects and customers in real time, marketers are able to adapt to audience behavior, driving faster conversions and bottom-line results.</p>
<h2>Acquia Lift's New Features</h2>
<ul>
<li>A new card-based, intuitive UI with drag-and-drop content targeting</li>
<li>Merging anonymous and known visitor profiles</li>
<li>Enterprise CMS integration and content syndication from any source</li>
<li>Turnkey integration with Drupal 7 and Drupal 8</li>
<li>Real-time, adaptive segmentation</li>
<li>Behavioral targeting and A/B testing</li>
</ul>
<p>In today's world, a personalized journey throughout a website or app is something that consumers expect by default. Acquia Lift has been known to deliver such experiences before this update, but I think the new user interface will go a long way to helping marketers craft evern better journeys for their customers.</p>
<h2>“Lift Elevates Personalization”</h2>
<p>Because Lift isn't Drupal-specific, brands can leverage this flexibility to capitalize on their existing technology investments and build on what they have. Javascript tags and flexible APIs make Lift easy for the IT team to implement, while an intuitive interface puts the keys into marketers’ hands to orchestrate their organization’s personalization initiatives.</p>
<p>Christopher Stone, Acquia's chief product officer, gave his insights into the newly updated Lift:</p>
<blockquote><p>“Lift elevates personalization for every organization. Going well beyond the world of A/B testing and experimentation, Lift empowers digital teams to deliver holistically crafted experiences in real time. It’s a game changing cloud solution that redefines and simplifies the user model while providing delivery at global scale.”</p></blockquote>
<p>To learn more about personalization with Acquia Lift visit <a href="https://www.acquia.com/acquia-lift" target="_self" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.acquia.com/acquia-lift</a>. Plus, check out the pre-recorded webinar, <a href="https://www.acquia.com/resources/webinars/unifying-content-data-why-context-future-digital-experiences" target="_self" rel="noopener noreferrer">“Unifying Content + Data: Why Context is the Future of Digital Experiences”</a> at <a href="https://www.acquia.com/events" target="_self" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.acquia.com/webinars</a>.</p>


Acquia Lift Gets New User Experience and Personalization Capabilities

<p>A document management system (DMS) should – first and foremost – manage your documents. But a genuinely valuable DMS will do so much more.</p>
<p>In this rapidly evolving world of technology, businesses need to be as agile as possible in order to keep up with the competition, and in order to meet the demands of their customers and clients.</p>
<p>So, what features should a stellar document management software have?</p>
<h2>1. Powerful Search Functionality</h2>
<p>There’s not much point digitizing your filing system if it just makes it harder to find documents. In fact, a DMS should – almost by definition – decrease the time wasted retrieving information.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.efilecabinet.com/">eFileCabinet</a> utilizes a powerful search function that can find any document from any device very, very quickly. Plus, the search tool extends to words within documents, so you can find a file even if you forgot what you named it.</p>
<h2>2. File Versioning</h2>
<p>Accidentally overwriting files with older versions is easily done. With file versioning, you can keep a draft version in addition to a new version, so you’ll never lose any information.</p>
<p>Plus, it prevents you from mislabeling files and ensures that you’re using the most recent version of each document. eFileCabinet facilitates all this.</p>
<h2>3. Mobile Readiness</h2>
<p>Accessing all your data without leaving your desk is great. But being able to access it from anywhere in the world with an internet connection? That’s even better.</p>
<p>Thankfully, eFileCabinet provides free iOS and Android apps so that lets you do exactly that.</p>
<h2>4. Role-based User Permissions</h2>
<p>Large organizations have lots of employees and lots of data. Sometimes, some of that data needs to be protected by restricted access so only a select few employees can see it.</p>
<p>With eFileCabinet, users can be created with different permissions to account for what they can and cannot view within the system.</p>
<h2>5. Secure File Sharing</h2>
<p>Quick and easy sharing should also be part of the package.</p>
<p>SecureDrawer, which is built into eFileCabinet, provides a secure sharing portal which allows you to share data with just a few simple clicks, all with the same high-level security and encryption found elsewhere within eFileCabinet. Say goodbye to email attachments.</p>
<h2>6. Useful Integrations</h2>
<p>Your business almost certainly makes use of existing software to produce documents, manage client relationships, and so forth. So, when you bring a DMS into the mix, you want it to work with your existing system, not against it.</p>
<p>eFileCabinet meets this requirement by integrating with popular software such as Salesforce and Microsoft Office.</p>
<h2>Ticking All the Boxes</h2>
<p>If you’re evaluating document management systems for your company, be sure to check that your chosen platform ticks all the boxes above before you reach for your wallet.</p>
<p>Long story short, EfileCabinet makes work life and life in general easier.</p>
<p>To learn more about eFileCabinet, check out their <a href="http://www.efilecabinet.com/">website</a>. Or, check out our entire set of articles from our <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/?s=efilecabinet">eFileCabinet Featured Week</a>.</p>


6 Features Your Document Management System Must Have

<p></p>
<p>The financial sector has long been a gallant emblem of promise and lucrativeness for Americans, and this perception remains undaunted by increasingly stringent regulations and auditing challenges to which the industry’s been subjected in recent years.</p>
<p>However, if the public and those who work within the financial services sector wish to continually rely on this industry as the backbone of America, professionals within the industry must adapt to Financial technology — and quickly.</p>
<p>Otherwise, it will become difficult for areas with fewer people and resources to keep pace with the suburban and urban competition of this industry.</p>
<h2>Geography &amp; Technology</h2>
<p>Although there is very rarely a singular or even two-fold cause for anything, research suggests that the financial services sector is heavily impacted by two things: geography, and technology—particularly within the United States.</p>
<p>Accounting Principles released an article last month covering a <a href="http://blog.accountingprincipals.com/us-financial-careers-analysis/">state-by-state analysis</a> of where financial professionals should work if they are in search of opportunities that will advance their careers and fatten their wallets. Not surprisingly, these areas are also the most tech-savvy areas of America, areas that overwhelmingly rely on enterprise tech to transact and conduct business: Utah, Texas, and California included in this lineup.</p>
<p>However, that doesn’t mean other states can’t catch up. As enterprise software becomes more intuitive and companies understand in greater numbers <a href="http://www.efilecabinet.com/describing-dms/">what document management software is</a>, professionals in the states lagging behind in terms of revenue and income can use this technology as an equalizer to industry leaders, as document management software reduces operational expenses, increases customers’ trust, and simplifies compliance: failing to ensure these benefits in one way or another lines many businesses up to fail over the long-term, especially given the increasing cost of noncompliance in the financial services sector.</p>
<p>Accounting Principles’ study noted that Vermont, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arkansas, Illinois, and in particular, Mississippi — were suffering from unimproved and downtrodden financial sectors, many of which are deprived of both enterprise technology resources and skilled workers. Of these areas, Wyoming, South Dakota, New Mexico, and Arkansas have the most rural space, strongly correlating rurality with slower career development and opportunity in the financial services sector. This phenomenon was found mostly true for entry level, mid-level and senior level positions across geography.</p>
<p>It should be noted in understanding what document management software is, that many geographies in need of document management technology are rural, and without the right enterprise and small business tech, this rurality imposes several issues that can explain the statistics cited above:</p>
<p>With greater rurality comes greater distances between points of business contact. Organizations without document management software are forced to rely on paper-dependent processes, and, therefore, snail mailing documents long distances, which can negatively impact customer retention, document turnaround times, and the ability to close deals. Document management software helps companies circumvent this trouble via <a href="http://www.efilecabinet.com/securedrawer/">client sharing portals</a> — encrypted file sharing features with Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology that meets Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) protocol.</p>
<h2>The Equalizer: Document Management Technology</h2>
<p>Additionally, enterprise technology can eliminate the barriers imposed by the small population densities characterizing rural areas — giving a fewer number of people the power to accomplish what suburban and even urban areas can. Although this phenomenon is more attributable to automation as a whole, document management software relies heavily on automation to streamline workflow processes.</p>
<p>However, it should also be noted that organizations in rural areas should rely only on specific types of document management technology to ensure optimal performance. Although the online, cloud-based document management solutions are becoming increasingly popular in the financial services industry due to their mobile integration, functionality, responsiveness, and enhanced security that doesn’t compromise accessibility — on premise(s) solutions are more often than not better fits for enterprises working in rural areas, where internet-supported cloud based technologies sometimes struggle to maintain solid connections to the web.</p>
<p>Although the cloud is highly usable, functioning like any web page a user interacts with, on premise(s) solutions are just as intuitive, offering the same features and usability in-office. On premise(s) solutions tend to be most popular among accountants, although there’s been a recent uptick in the percentage of accountants relying on cloud-based software to manage their practices and departments.</p>
<p>Document management software not only increases the profitability rural organizations need to compete with their suburban and rural counterparts, it helps rural areas thrive economically and become sustainable — keeping these locales from relying on paper-dependent organizational processes.</p>
<p>Today, as never before, document management technology is an equalizer that can help financial professionals in rural areas keep pace with the giants of their industry, helping these rural organizations do more with fewer resources.</p>
<p>Be sure to consider a document management vendor with a <a href="https://reviews.financesonline.com/p/efilecabinet/">Verified Quality Seal</a> from an accounting and finance technology reviews site before jumping in to purchase too quickly, as this designation is important for professionals working in the bookkeeping, accounting, and financial services sectors.</p>
<p></p>


The Geography of Fintech: Which Locales Need it Most?

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<p><a href="https://mautic.com/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mautic</a>, the open source marketing automation software vendor, has successfully closed a $5 million A Round, led by <a href="http://www.g20vc.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">G20 Ventures</a> and <a href="https://underscore.vc/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Underscore.VC</a>. A big win for the growing cloud-based marketing company.</p>
<p>Earlier in 2016, Mautic announced $600,000 in seed funding from the same two investors mentioned above. This new round of investment has come following Mautic's significant traction with its customers and open source community.</p>
<h2>A Closer Look at Mautic</h2>
<p>The Mautic open source project has enjoyed a healthy level of growth throughout 2016. The statistics speak for themselves:</p>
<ul>
<li>More than 50,000 downloads of the open source version</li>
<li>More than 20,000 additional companies using the free hosted version</li>
<li>Thousands of contributing developers around the world</li>
<li>Translated into 24 different languages</li>
<li>Launched dozens of new features in 2016 alone due to the vibrant community</li>
</ul>
<p>Those features include things like SMS campaigns, contact management, segmentation, multi-channel marketing, built-in reports, and much more. It's a fully fledged markting automation system – but it's open source, too.</p>
<p>Mautic also recently announced that Matt Johnston has joined Mautic’s founding team and will become CEO at the end of 2016. Johnston is currently the Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at Applause.</p>
<p>The co-founder and CTO of Mautic, David Hurley, had this to say:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Adding Matt, with his track record of growing community-driven startups into major disruptive forces, is a great win for Mautic. We’ve connected seamlessly about Mautic’s vision, and have a shared philosophy for building a great company around an already-strong product and community.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>For more information, check out the <a href="https://pr.blonde20.com/mautic/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">official press release</a>.</p>
<p></p>


Mautic Raises $5M to Fund Open Source Marketing Automation Project

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<p></p>
<p>In their mission to help enterprises build stronger performing applications at speed and scale, eZ Systems and Platform.sh announce today a new partnership that offers developers an accelerated path to build content-rich websites and web applications with eZ’s open source content management system, eZ Platform, and its premium edition, eZ Enterprise. By taking advantage of Platform.sh’s Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), eZ now allows developers to build, test, and deploy new features faster and more frequently, which in turn reduces costs, time, and risk for the business.</p>
<p>Whether it’s ecommerce, news and media sites, multi-channel applications or connected devices (the Internet of Things), users expect seamless, engaging digital experiences. This puts pressure on the C- suite, developers, marketers and editors to deliver new features quickly and on quality to meet users’ heightened expectations. eZ’s choice to integrate Platform.sh’s PaaS into eZ’s content management system provides developers a better user experience, elevating production uptime and continuous delivery of changes, which in turn equips business users and executives for digital success.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The PaaS concept brings the promise of helping developers focus on what really matters: developing new features. With Platform.sh for eZ Platform and eZ Enterprise, this promise turns real. Finally, developers can focus on code, and not on infrastructure. This means a lot for the business!” says Roland Benedetti, Chief Product and Marketing Officer, eZ Systems.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This latest strategic partnership is testament to the level of trust that software vendors have in the power of Platform.sh’s expertise in continuous delivery and PHP. “We are very pleased to sign this strategic agreement with another global software vendor. eZ Systems has a great reputation and has had a strong presence in the PHP marketplace for some time already”, says Fred Plais, CEO, Platform.sh.</p>
<p>The new version of eZ’s platform offers a strong differentiator from other CMS solutions. By choosing to partner with Platform.sh, eZ stands to benefit from accelerated licence sales, and incremental revenue growth from PaaS hosting as part of their business model. “The combination of the Platform.sh PaaS and eZ’s new content management system gives eZ a considerable advantage over their competitors. We are pleased to have already acquired our first joint customer, Gelbe Seiten Marketing Gesellschaft bmbH (The Yellow Pages in Germany) last week”, adds Kieron Sambrook-Smith, Chief Commercial Officer, Platform.sh.</p>
<p>Learn more about eZ Platform at http://ez.no/Products/eZ-Platform and eZ’s premium edition, eZ Enterprise, at <a href="http://ez.no/Products/eZ-Enterprise" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://ez.no/Products/eZ-Enterprise</a></p>
<p>To start a one month free trial of eZ Platform using Platform.sh’s PaaS, visit <a href="https://platform.sh/hosting/php/ez/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://platform.sh/hosting/php/ez/</a> </p>
<p></p>


eZ Systems partners with Platform.sh to accelerate development of content- rich websites and applications

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