Articles - Page 35

Bland Brands Beware: Optimizely’s New Identity Brings Human Creativity to its Agentic AI and AEO Ambitions

matt-garrepy

<a href="https://wpengine.com/" target="_blank">WP Engine</a>, the managed WordPress hosting solution, has been very busy lately.
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/wp-engine-page-performance/">Page Performance</a> was recently rolled out by the company, a feature that makes WP Engine the first managed WordPress hosting platform with a web page speed performance tool built into the user dashboard. This new interface gives users actionable insights to help quickly and dramatically improve the speed of their websites.
WP Engine also just <a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160707005380/en/WP-Engine-Unveils-Web%E2%80%99s-Wordpress-PHP-7">unveiled a PHP7 compatibility checker</a>, which is a plugin that they're toting as the internet's first tool to verify PHP 7 compatibility on WordPress website.
Amidst all this news, I managed to grab a moment with WP Engine's Vice President of Product, Jason Jaynes.
<h2>Who is Jason Jaynes?</h2>
<img style="max-width:175px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/biopic_jaynes_web.jpg" alt="Jason Jaynes" />Jason Jaynes is an experienced software executive with eighteen years of practice across multiple functions including marketing, product management, sales and software development; and multiple disciplines including social media, security, mobile, online advertising, and SAAS.
Jason is currently the Vice President of Product at WP Engine where he oversees product management and product strategy. Prior to WP Engine, Jason served as the co-founder and CTO of Apptive where he oversaw all product strategy and development. Prior to Apptive, Jason has served in numerous roles including Vice President of Business Marketing for Demand Media, Vice President of Product and Marketing for Demand Media's social division, and Director of Product Management for Credant Technologies.
Jason holds an MBA degree from the University of Texas and a B.S. in Computer Science from Texas A&amp;M University.
<h2></h2>
 
<h2>The Interview</h2>
KI: Can you briefly tell us a little bit about yourself, and your role at WP Engine?
JJ: I am responsible for product management and product strategy across the entire company. I work extensively with customers to understand overall market needs and to define and create the next generation of product features. A few months ago, WP Engine released Page Performance, a solution that empowers customers to obtain and utilize actionable insights that boost site performance. It's helped many of our customers improve their site speed, typically a 15% increase in front-end performance.
However, you can only optimize your code so much. Sometimes, the answer is putting a race car engine on your site, that is what PHP 7 is, a high performance PHP engine that will bring even greater performance to our customer base. However, it’s an involved process, so we created this <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/php-compatibility-checker/">PHP Compatibility Checker plugin</a> to help our customers ready their sites for PHP 7, coming to our platform later this fall. As a managed platform, we are enabling our customers in many ways to reach their peak website performance.
KI: As the internet becomes more and more ingrained into the daily life of the human race, can you tell us (preferable with some statistics), just how demanding the average internet user is for fast-loading websites?
JJ: We actually have a great infographic on this, which explores all the ways in which the “need for speed” has evolved over the years in a range of ways:
<ul>
<li>Desire for instant gratification</li>
<li>Online shopping expectations</li>
<li>Mobile site speed expectations</li>
<li>The emotional toll of load times</li>
<li>Site speed in the real world</li>
<li>How to improve page load time</li>
</ul>
KI: What does your latest product, Page Performance, bring to the table?
JJ: It’s clear that a poor digital experience sinks sites in a heartbeat — a <a href="https://blog.kissmetrics.com/speed-is-a-killer/">study</a> by Akamai and Gomez showed that even a one-second delay in page load time will result in 11 percent fewer page views, a 16 percent decrease in customer satisfaction and a 7 percent drop in conversion. With site owners and developers literally on the clock, it’s critical that the customer experience be seamless in order to not affect the bottom line – it’s all about performance and conversion.
Our latest intelligence product, Page Performance, empowers customers to obtain and utilize actionable insights that boost site performance. Integrated into the WP Engine user portal, Page Performance provides a detailed site speed report and actionable recommendations to solve for technical issues impacting digital businesses, resulting in higher visitor retention, improved Google rankings, increased conversions and positive reputations and customer experiences. Key benefits include:
<ul>
<li>Access to key metrics on any Page with report history to see improvements over time. Report includes such metrics as cacheability, render start, visitor complete, render complete and other data.</li>
<li>Actionable recommendations with rich context, including links to a library of support material enable users to make fast, significant, measurable impact to site performance.</li>
<li>Integrated into WP Engine user portal to support a convenient developer workflow.</li>
</ul>
KI: What sets WP Engine apart from other managed WordPress hosting solutions?
JJ: WP Engine powers amazing digital experiences for websites and applications built on WordPress.
With award-winning customer support and state-of-the-art technology, our managed WordPress platform provides performance, reliability and security to brands, agencies, SMBs and individuals. Engineered at a code level to make resource-hungry WordPress deployments run faster, the WP Engine platform displays stunning speed while incorporating an industry-leading hardened infrastructure that allows webpages to load up to four times faster than any non-WordPress platform. Offering different plans to fit the needs of customers ranging from individuals to the enterprise, our platform helps our customers create robust and reliable websites with direct SFTP, Git version control, built-in CDN, enhanced security, one-click staging, automated migrations and restore and more.
Through our efforts, WP Engine has contributed significantly to establishing WordPress itself as a platform that can be reliably deployed in a range of enterprise scenarios. We were involved in introducing or popularizing platform features that have become key characteristics of hosting, including site staging (as we mention above), integration with developer workflow tools and advanced caching strategies.
With the recent launch of our Page Performance service (noted above), WP Engine is adding a layer that is likely to continue evolving customer expectations of a managed WordPress offering. Performance Intelligence for sites, of which Page Performance is the first product, will be an area of continued investment for us.
To find out more about WP Engine, <a href="https://wpengine.com/" target="_blank">visit their website</a>

Interview With Jason Jaynes, VP of Product at WP Engine

mike-johnston

Just weeks after the <a href="/wordpress-4.1-dinah-released/" target="_blank">final release of WordPress 4.1</a>, the CMS giant has unveiled the first beta for WordPress 4.2. 
The exact date of the final release hasn't been revealed, with WordPress only saying it will be ready for “next month” (which translates as April 2015). 
Here's what you can expect from the latest version of WordPress.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wplogoblue-stacked-rgb.png" />
<h2>Intuitive Plugin Installation, Emojis &amp; More</h2>
<ul>
<li>“Press This” has been completely revamped to make sharing content from around the web easier than ever. The new workflow is mobile friendly, and all you have to do is navigate to the Tools screen in your WordPress backend to get started.</li>
<li>Browsing and switching installed themes has been added to the Customizer interface, making switching between themes faster and more convenient. <a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/31303"> </a></li>
<li>The workflow for updating and installing plugins just got more intuitive with the ability to install or update in-place from the Plugins screens. </li>
<li>Need some more Emojis in your life? WordPress 4.2 comes with Emoji support nearly everywhere, even post slugs.</li>
</ul>
As for the developers out there, WordPress has included some goodies under the hood:
<ul>
<li>Taxonomy Roadmap: Terms shared across multiple taxonomies will <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2015/02/16/taxonomy-term-splitting-in-4-2-a-developer-guide/">now be split</a> into separate terms when one of them is updated. </li>
<li>New <code>wp.a11y.speak()</code> functionality helps your JavaScript talk to screen readers to better inform impaired users what’s happening on-screen. </li>
<li>Named clause support has been added to <code>WP_Query</code>, <code>WP_Comment_Query</code>, and <code>WP_User_Query</code>, allowing specific <code>meta_query</code> clauses to be used with <code>orderby</code>.</li>
</ul>
To get your hands on the beta, download the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/">WordPress Beta Tester</a> plugin (try “bleeding edge nightlies” if you're confident with code). Alternatively, you can <a href="https://wordpress.org/wordpress-4.2-beta1.zip">download the beta zip file here</a>.

First Beta Released For WordPress 4.2

While the days of mailing self-addressed, stamped envelopes (along with typed or laser-printed poems, short stories, or short creative non-fiction) to journals are not completely behind us, it's become increasingly rare to find a literary journal that does not use cyberspace as a way of accepting submissions. Today, in fact, when one talks about a submission system being “old fashioned” or “low-tech,” chances are pretty good that that means email! More and more literary magazines today are leaving even email submissions behind, instead using submission management systems to track authors and their writing, including updates on which editors have read what so far and whether staff members have voted to accept or reject the work.
<h2> Submittable </h2>
By now, editors and aspiring writers alike have certainly encountered the user-friendly interface of the open-source software of Submittable (formerly called – and often still referred to as – “Submishmash”). Authors who click the “submit” button on the websites of journals that use Submittable recognize the pop-up form that's branded with the company's familiar orange logo. Submittable is used not only by some of the most well-known and prestigious journals like The New Yorker, McSweeney's , and The Atlantic – but it's also what a large percentage of respected journals that are not as well known outside of the literary world are using, too.
From the editorial side, Submittable has been called a “one-stop shop,” allowing for automatic emails to be sent to authors, acknowledging receipt of submissions – and also allowing editorial staff to easily rank submissions and track information. The Submittable website also boasts that no web designer is needed to use the system, and submission capability can be built into a journal's existing site. Submittable is PCI compliant and secure – and it also allows for analytics, reporting, and the exporting of data. Editors can review submissions on their iPads, iPhones, or Kindles.
There are 3 Submittable plan levels, costing from $220 to $2200 per year, depending on the number of editorial staff who will be accessing the account, as well as the number of submissions the system will be able to handle. However, non-profits and/or publishers of art or literature get a 50% discount with the coupon code “NonProfitArtLit .” And, speaking of the issue of money, Submittable also allows journals to collect reading fees.
One Submittable features writers appreciate is that a Submittable username (the user's email address) and password, once set up for one literary magazine, is good for logging in to all journals with submissions systems powered by Submittable. They may also appreciate the fact that authors, whenever they're logged in from any Submittable-subscribing journal's website, will see a complete list of work submitted to other Submittable journals as well, along with a note on what's accepted, rejected, or still simply “in progress.”
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/weaver_elizabeth_submittable_screenshot.jpg" alt="submission management systems - Submittable user interface screenshot" />
<a href="http://www.submittable.com"> Check out Submittable </a>
<h2> Submission Manager </h2>
Writers who submit their work to journals that don't use Submittable may often experience a strange feeling of déjà vu when clicking on a literary magazine's “submit” button and finding themselves being asked to create an account on a vaguely familiar-looking grid page. There's a reason for this feeling of déjà vu: sign-up and log-in pages powered by another popular literary journal submission management system – going simply by the name “Submission Manager” – does, unfortunately, require writers to create a new account for each journal; despite the familiar-looking user interface and the feeling that you've “been here before,” the déjà vu often just means you've submitted work to another journal that uses Submission Manager – but not yet for this particular journal (meaning, yes, you do have to create a new account).
Submission Manager's website boasts that it manages reading periods – which means that neither authors nor editors have to face the annoyance of trying to submit work (or of getting work) during a time when editors are not accepting it. It also allows the capability, where an SMTP application is available, to send automatic emails that acknowledge submissions. Submission Manager consists of a MySQL (version 4.1 or higher) database with a front end programmed in PHP (version 4.3 or higher). It requires a web server and a browser that's set up to accept cookies. While there's no eye-catching logo like the memorable orange one that Submittable uses, the color scheme and fonts can be customized.
Most marketing for Submission Manager seems to be through the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP), a non-profit organization which is funded in part by the National Endowment for the arts – and which offers Submission Manager's services to literary journals for $200.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/weaver_elizabeth_submission_manager_screenshot.jpg" alt="submission management systems - Submission Manager user interface screenshot" />
<a href="http://www.submissionmanager.net/">Check out Submissions Manager</a>
<h2> Tell it Slant </h2>
A third submission management option for literary journals is Tell it Slant. One feature that Tell it Slant predominantly markets is how it handles simultaneous submissions; like Submittable (and unlike Submission Manager), Tell it Slant allows authors to use a single username and password – when logging in either from individual literary journal websites or directly from Tell it Slant's own site. This particular submission management system, however, goes a step farther, also taking full advantage of having all information together in one place – by first detecting when a single piece of writing has been submitted to more than one journal that uses Tell it Slant; then, when one journal on the system accepts the simultaneously submitted piece, that piece of writing is automatically deleted from the submission queues for other journals on the system. This is great news not only for journals but also for authors, who usually have to go through and individually withdraw the accepted piece of writing from consideration by other journals.
Tell it Slant also boasts of forum-style discussion capability that allows editors to have meaningful online exchanges about specific submissions and authors – as well as a function that allows editors to perform keyword searches in author bios. A handy feature for writers is that there's also a specific area of the user profile that builds this bio – whereas, with other sites, adding biographical information tends to be a matter of authors having to copy-and-paste their bios in from elsewhere every time they submit work.
Their site is free for literary journals, with processing fees being charged only for submissions to journals that receive more than 75 a month submissions a month. The processing fee also applies for journals which charge a reading fee.
As far as payment information is concerned, from the writer's perspective, authors who submit their work purchase “credits” through PayPal in order to pay submission fees when using the system. According to Tell it Slant's website, prices vary by journal but tend to be between $1.50 and $3.00.
While it is true that many journals using Submittable and Submission Manager, by contrast, don't charge submission fees, it's worth noting that submitting to journals the the old-fashioned way (through the U.S. Postal Service) requires sufficient postage for sending the writing (costing more or less, depending on the size of the manuscript), plus a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply (and an additional amount of postage when authors want to have the manuscript returned to them) – all of which adds up for any writer trying to get their work out there. According to Tell it Slant's website, their credit system was started with the plan of eventually offering discounts for writers who buy credits in bulk, so they're making an effort to really make this fee system worth everyone's while.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/weaver_elizabeth_tell_it_slant_submission_mgmt_system.jpg" alt="submission management systems - Tell it Slant user interface screenshot" />
Check out Tell It Slant
Writers and literary journal editors alike today appreciate the ways in which technology has helped to streamline the editorial process. While email is easier to search and track than the old-fashioned paper-and-envelope method, many literary magazine editors have embraced the multitude of features that submission management systems offer. Submitting writers, too, appreciate the seamless, paper-free systems that more journals are using now; with any luck, the fact that more writers are able to get out of the post office line – and get online instead – also means they're able to spend more time crafting great work that's one step closer to being discovered.

3 Submission Management Systems for Literary Journals: an Overview

CubeCart has announced that their latest version is now ready for live environments, following a beta testing period.
According to the CubeCart team, CubeCart V6 is part of, “a whole new philosophy for online commerce.”
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/1634_1634_37_37_cubecart_logo210_1.jpg" /> Previously, <a href="/cubecart-goes-open-source-launches-extensions-marketplace/" target="_blank">I covered the news of CubeCart v6 Beta going live</a>, which brought along with it an extensions marketplace, as well as news that CubeCart is now totally open source.
Key Points:
<ul>
<li>CubeCart v6 is Open Source and 100% Free.</li>
<li>You can upgrade from v3, v4 &amp; v5 to v6.</li>
<li>No bloatware: CubeCart v6 ships with no additional extensions, and only one minimal, responsive theme.</li>
<li>Extensions such as payment gateways, shipping rate calculators, skins etc now have individual version releases which means updates can get to you faster than having to wait and upgrade your store entirely.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.cubecart.com/technical-support">Technical support</a> plans are available for experienced web masters and those with little or no technical expertise at all.</li>
<li>Developers can submit their extensions into the CubeCart <a href="http://forums.cubecart.com/topic/49315-four-reasons-you-must-list-your-extensions-in-the-cubecart-marketplace/#entry206138">Extensions Marketplace</a>.</li>
<li>CubeCart v6 is ported from v5 which means existing v5 skins and extensions are forward compatible. </li>
</ul>
It's always good news when open source is being embraced, although the expansion of CubeCart's extension marketplace is also well worth noting. Those are two highly approriate enhancements taken on by CubeCart in my opinion.
To find out more about CubeCart v6, <a href="/cubecart-goes-open-source-launches-extensions-marketplace/" target="_blank">check out my previous coverage</a>, as well as their <a href="http://forums.cubecart.com/topic/49383-cubecart-600-available-now/" target="_blank">official blog announcement</a>.

CubeCart v6 Released

SEO Samba have recently upgraded their CMS/Website builder, SEOToaster and we thought we'd take a look at their new release and examine the improvements. We previously shared our experiences with their tool back in 2010 and you can read that review <a href="/seotoaster-review/">here</a>.To get started, the installation process is pretty straight forward and within a few clicks, you'll be up and running with the latest version of SEOToaster CMS.Once installed, you'll be greeted with a page that contains a number of steps you can take to get started. The first step is shown below:I have a couple of issues with the way things are done with this page. First off, I noticed a spelling error with the very first paragraph on the page. As some of you know from reading my previous reviews, I've got serious issues with spelling mistakes. The issues are twofold. First, it shows poor quality control and as a result, lowers my confidence in the code and the rest of the product. Second, it's unprofessional. The word that's misspelled for those who can't tell is “Successfully” (note that it's missing the third S). To find a mistake this early on is not reassuring at all.The second issue is that I am given a rather poorly highlighted error with no instructions on how to resolve it. The error, you can see in the screenshot above, is “can not create widcard plugin. You have to install the proper loader”.  A bit vague isn't it?I checked their website (seotoaster.com) to try to find a solution to the error after Google returned no results and could not find the support section for SEOToaster CMS. I ended up scrolling to the footer of their main website, where I found a link to the forums. Assuming this would be the place to look,  I searched the forums and received no results. Frustrated, I went back to the main page and again, scrolled down to the footer to find “Q &amp; A Support” and clicked on it. I searched for the term “widcard” and finally found an article telling me I needed the IONCube Loader that the installation routine had told me was “optional” (see below):<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/seotoaster-review-4.png" />As a developer, if you are going to mark something as optional, tell the user what they will lose by not installing it so that they can make an educated decision or link to an article explaining what types of issues they will encounter when not choosing to meet the optional requirement. This will eliminate the confusion later on. Further to this, if it's going to create a confusing issue during the install routine, you are probably better off making it mandatory before proceeding.With the installation complete, I moved to the theme selection piece, which indicates that I can choose from one of their themes, download it, then reupload it back to the system and select it as a starting point. Following the instructions, I went ahead and downloaded the insurance theme thinking it was a decent starting point. To my chagrin, after uploading it and selecting it, I can't seem to get past the theme screen. Clicking done appears to do nothing and the system just sits there on the theme selection page.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/seotoaster-review-5-620x375.png" />Also, oddly, it doesn't appear to show a preview of the theme either which I found rather odd.  Given that I was unable to move past the screen, I clicked the X in the top right of the window above and was greeted with a framework of the theme but not the actual theme itself:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/seotoaster-review-6-620x382.png" />While it serves as a structurally usable template, it defeats the purpose of having a theme preset with sample data and colors. While I am able to enter content into any of these boxes without issue and can certainly make due, we're dealing with issue after issue so far and it's not making the process easy or giving me much confidence in how the experience will be for the end user.Obviously, the installation process needs a bit of work but the bulk of the business SEO Samba does is with hosted installations which eliminates the need for an installation routine so we'll cut them a bit of slack for the issues I've encountered today.Once installed, however, it's time to get to the meat of the system which is the adding and management of content. SEO Toaster uses inline content editing and to get started, you simply click in an editable area (defined by the small colored icon in the screenshot above) and the editor launches.Here's how the editor looks:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/seotoaster-review-10-620x381.png" />Obviously, it can handle the majority of typical formatting that you'd come to expect from a standard WYSIWYG editor but it also can be used to insert other content and widgets. To add an RSS widget to a content area for example, you simple fill out the widget details and click apply.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/seotoaster-review-11-620x382.png" />Once you've got the widget details entered, click Save Content and you'll see the end result:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/seotoaster-review-12.png" />A cool thing about this RSS feed widget is that it cycles the content with a slider motion so that the most recent 5 items from the RSS feed are each displayed. It's hard to show via a screenshot but just trust me that it looks cool, ok? ?Headers are defined by an H icon and clicking on those gives you a simple text entry box that you can type your header into:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/home-google-chrome_2012-09-24_11-38-48.png" alt="SEO Toaster Review" />Once you click save, it's instantly updated. Pretty simple isn't it?The bulk of the work you'll do with SEO Toaster is via the inline content editor or the collapsible menu that floats to the right of the screen when logged in. It looks like this:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/home-google-chrome_2012-09-24_11-41-06.png" alt="SEO Toaster Review" />From this menu, you can create pages, edit page properties, organize them and much more. When editing the page properties, you'll get the following options:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/home-google-chrome_2012-09-24_11-42-21-620x373.png" alt="SEO Toaster Review" />Adding media and images is quick and easy. I particularly enjoyed the naming of the menu items under the media menu:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/home-google-chrome_2012-09-24_11-44-02.png" alt="SEO Toaster Review" />To add images, simply click on the aptly named “Upload things” menu item and you'll be presented with the following image upload window:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/home-google-chrome_2012-09-24_11-46-07.png" alt="SEO Toaster Review" />From here, you would either select a destination folder for your images, or create a new one and choose the files to upload. The whole process is quite quick and took a few seconds. Now, to add any of the images you've just uploaded to a content area, simply click and launch the inline content editor, select your folder, the size of image you want to insert and the image itself from the preview thumbnail and you are done.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/home-google-chrome_2012-09-24_11-53-30-620x382.png" alt="SEO Toaster Review" />As you can see, adding content and widgets to come up with a unique design is very simple and straight forward and definitely where SEO Toaster shines. Working with the system, I encountered no issues or speed concerns and everything was snappy and worked well.In the SEO section of the menu you are able to do a number of things including editing your robots.txt file, adding 301 redirects, creating deeplinks and sculpting.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/home-google-chrome_2012-09-24_11-57-04.png" />You can learn more about the various SEO options available and how they work from here: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.seotoaster.com/seo-website-design.html">http://www.seotoaster.com/seo-website-design.html</a>. They are a bit advanced for me to go through in this review but I will say that there are plenty of great options that can be integrated with SEO Toaster and they are well implemented.If you are a developer or a coder, you'll be happy to know that SEO Toaster provides full editing functionality for your templates and CSS including line numbering. To edit, simply click on the layout section and choose either edit template or edit CSS.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/home-google-chrome_2012-09-24_12-01-42-620x374.png" alt="SEO Toaster Review" />Under the “Other” menu item, you can change basic configuration settings including the default media sizes, email settings and more.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/home-google-chrome_2012-09-24_12-04-24.png" />Perhaps one of the best features that potential users will be interested in hearing about are the plugins that SEO Toaster has available. Under the plugins menu, you'll be presented with a good number of great plugins that help extend the functionality of the system such as:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/home-google-chrome_2012-09-24_12-06-55-620x374.png" alt="SEO Toaster Review" />You'll note that on this page, the system does actually warn you about the IonCube Loader not being installed. For most people, you'll want to either ensure it's installed or use their hosted service. For this review, installing the loader wasn't something that could be done quickly and easily so I chose to skip it. As you can see, there are some pretty amazing plugins available including a variety of payment modules for eCommerce use. This is great news for those looking to use the system to create a store or sales page. There is also an eCommerce version of SEO Toaster coming soon which will likely implement things much better but for the interim, there are definitely some options.Not all of these plugins are free, some are available on a month to month payment basis or for a onetime fee but hey, a company has to make money somewhere and it's good to see there are a number of options to choose from, including how to pay.Overall, SEO Toaster is a pretty simply and straight forward CMS. I'd almost prefer to call it a website builder but since you can download it and host it locally, it's kind of a blend between the two. Installation process aside, it's easy to use, has a slick and simple interface that even the most inexperienced user could get used to within a few minutes and offers plenty of ways to extend the functionality of your site.If you are in the market for a simple to use CMS that makes getting a page online quick and easy, SEO Toaster just might be something to consider. You can learn more at their website: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.seotoaster.com/">SEO Toaster</a>

SEOToaster V2 Review

Reflections on WordCamp Europe 2022

paris-tuzun

Power your CMS on AWS

Manage your websites & apps in the most trusted cloud.

#ffffff

Despite engaging in some pseudo-journalism within the CMS industry, I don't consider myself to be a journalist in the traditional sense. Although from the outside looking in, you probably can't tell the different. Or, you know, you probably just don't really care.
My point however, is that journalists who report on the movements of large companies and organizations seem to be receiving less material to work with, forcing them to exert more effort. As a result,<a href="http://news.isebox.net/2015-journalist-survey/" target="_blank"> a recent study has found that 68% of journalists are unhappy and overworked</a>.
Here's an infographic with all the details.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/journalist-survey-results-infographic-isebox700x0.png" />
Now, although I wouldn't class my own experiences in the exactly the same ways, I definitely see where that 68% is coming from. For sure, the above infographic doesn't perfectly reflect the reality of journalism within the world of CMS, but it does hold some weight.
However, instead of latching on to this journalism sob-story, I'd prefer to take this conversation in a more relevant direction.
So, with the eyes of CMS vendors across the world being my target, allow me to explain.
<h2>Why CMS Vendors Should Do More To Help Journalists</h2>
My role here at CMS Critic has now spanned a period of almost two years, and the quality of material given to me by some vendors (and I reiterate some, not all) has been consistently lacklustre.
Of course, I'm not talking about the quality of the actual products. I'm talking about the way in which many vendors choose to promote and portray their most recent updates to their customers as well as their go-to journalists. Here is what I humbly suggest that those vendors stop doing.
Stop the boring bullet-point lists with no additional next, stop making key announcements via a casual forum post, and stop sending out boring press releases with obscenely long quotes and “About” sections.
Instead, I would kindly urge vendors to focus more on spreading the news via company blogs, video content (which demonstrate new features), short interviews, and so forth. It's about time such announcements became engaging.
Am I saying this simply to make my own life easier? No.
My role here extends to reviewing products, <a href="/announcing-this-years-judges-for-the-2014-critics-choice-awards/" target="_blank">judging products</a>, and <a href="/cms-critic-on-tour-paris-amsterdam-basel/" target="_blank">covering conferences</a>, while CMS Critic also provides consultancy services. Because of this, I feel it necessary that I do all of that extra research mentioned in the infographic, no matter how dazzling or daunting each news update is. Whatever the case, my personal workload is unaffected.
Rather, it is in the best interests of the vendor to spend more time on the presentation of their news announcements.
It will make journalists more eager to cover the story, and customers far likely to pay attention. Not to mention, the overall brand will benefit from some more stellar marketing and outreach strategies. A win, win, win.
Those are my two cents anyway. If you need me, I'll be crying into my overworked keyboard.

Writer Woes: 68% of Journalists Are Unhappy (And Why CMS Vendors Should Care)

Looking for our <a href="/socialengine-review/">SocialEngine Cloud Review</a>?In my view, there’s a notable lack of capable social network builders out there. They exist, sure, but if you compare it with the eCommerce industry, there’s a serious shortage of vendors.SocialEngine though is one platform that has been around for a number of years (since 2006, actually). It was also voted in as the <a href="/announcing-the-2015-winner-for-best-social-network-software/">Best Social Network Software of 2015</a> here on CMS Critic.It comes in two flavours; SocialEngine Cloud and Social Engine PHP.As for SocialEngine Cloud, it’s a SaaS (Software as a Service) solution that lets you launch a community from SocialEngine’s servers. You can read our <a href="/socialengine-review">SocialEngine Cloud Review</a> for more information.SocialEngine PHP on the other hand is a downloadable and self-hosted version of the platform which I’ll be focusing on throughout this review. Let’s get started!<h2>Getting Started</h2><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/socialengine-get-started.png" />You can download a free trial of SocialEngine which lasts for 30 days, or you can try it out via their online demo.In either case, what you’ll find is a functional admin panel that lacks decoration.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/socialengine-app.png" />It serves up recent SocialEngine news, site stats, and some quick links to help you find vital areas of the dashboard. It does it’s job, but it’s not as beautiful as the SocialEngine Cloud dashboard – which I find odd.The rest of the dashboard is equally bare in terms of design, but it is quick and easy to navigate.<h2>Core Features</h2>SocialEngine really is feature-rich – there’s no denying that. Here's an overview:<ul><li>Mobile Web App</li><li>Chat and IM</li><li>Private messaging</li><li>Social feeds</li><li>Photo galleries</li><li>Groups and sub-groups</li><li>Events</li><li>Forums</li><li>Blogs</li><li>Polls</li></ul>You can also use drag-and-drop software to visually arrange content, customize widgets, create whole new pages, and position banner advertisements.This is all after you piece together your social network using themes, addons, and social frameworks. Here’s a breakdown of those features, and more.<h3>Plugins &amp; Themes</h3>SocialEngine boasts a plethora of addons in the form of plugins at themes, many of which are third-party contributions.The quality of the addons vary, and although themes have started to look a lot more modern, I wouldn’t put them on par with the average WordPress theme – if I were to use them as a benchmark.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/socialengine-plugins-and-themes.png" />All SocialEngine addons can be found via the SocialEngine marketplace.<h3>Full Content Ownership</h3>Your community’s content is yours to own. Unlike most hosted services, SocialEngine PHP never prevents you from moving your community or serving your own advertisements.SocialEngine PHP gives you a simple, unbranded network that you can customize in any way. You’ll have the freedom to maintain fine-grained control over all aspects of your site and content.<h3>Site Stats</h3>SocialEngine offers a relatively stellar site stats solution, and I’m a fan of native analytics systems within content management systems, even if they aren’t that detailed.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/socialengine-site-stats.png" />SocialEngine’s analytics system is fairly well detailed, though. They offer site-wide stats, referral stats, as well as stats within your community. That includes metrics on things like:<ul><li>Private messages</li><li>Friendships</li><li>Comments</li><li>Abuse reports</li><li>Sign ins</li></ul><h3>Multiple Social Frameworks</h3>SocialEngine lets you choose from two-way friendships (like Facebook), one-way followers (like Twitter), verified/unverified friendships, and more.This lets you build a community around common frameworks that your members will be familiar with.You can also add sub-networks to segment members by factors such as age, workplace, location, gender, or anything else you deem necessary.<h3>Moderators &amp; Membership Levels</h3>Create multiple levels of membership in your community to give some members access to special content or extra privileges. You can also assign moderators to help you maintain your community and remove unwanted content for you.<h3>White Labelling</h3>Thanks to SocialEngine have been generous by not including their branding on licensed versions of their product. That means you can go ahead and white label it – so it looks like the software is your own invention.This goes a long way in convincing potential community members of your website’s autehticity and prestige.<h2>Pricing</h2>Unlike SocialEngine Cloud – which requires you to pay a monthly fee – SocialEngine PHP is available at for a one-time fee.There are three deals currently on offer, as seen in the image below.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/socialengine-pricing.png" />Starting from $299, you can’t say that SocialEngine is pricing anybody out, but it’s not exactly cheap either. You could say it’s pretty well priced, actually.However, it must be said that, despite being well priced, the $299 version doesn’t give you access to SocialEngine’s best features.As for the higher plans, they afford you extras like mobile apps, instant messaging for members, forums, blogs, polls, marketplaces, and so forth. Those deals come in at $499 and $699. Which is kind of pricey.<h2>Getting Help</h2>With every purchase of SocialEngine PHP, you get 30 days worth of ticket-based support. Which isn’t a lot.Further help can be found via the <a target="_blank" href="http://community.onsocialengine.com/">global SocialEngine community</a>, as well as through detailed documentation. But to be quite honest, for a product that costs at least $299, I expect ongoing support from the SocialEngine team that lasts longer than 30 days.You can get extended ticket-support access, but that comes at an extra cost.<h2>Verdict</h2>SocialEngine PHP is indeed a platform with plenty of history, and a strong community. It ships with a wide range of features, and it has the potential to power a seriously epic social networking website.But I must say, it is still a platform that’s rough around the edges.Regardless, if you’re in the market for a social network builder, SocialEngine PHP is certainly worth a try.<h3>Pros</h3><ul><li>Awesome amount of features out of the box</li><li>Different social frameworks to choose from</li><li>A solid community to help you grow and provide you with addons</li><li>No SocialEngine branding</li><li>An industry veteran</li></ul><h3>Cons</h3><ul><li>Templates and plugins lack quality for the most part</li><li>Support options are very limited unless you pay extra</li><li>The $299 deal gets you a very bare-bones version of SocialEngine PHP, while more feature-rich plans are far from cheap.</li></ul><h2>Final Remarks</h2>SocialEngine is a solid social networking solution, with an excellent range of features. Themes, plugins, and the admin panel aren't of the highest quality though, and you will have to pay a high price to make use all of features,<a target="_blank" href="https://community.socialengine.com/signup">Click here to sign up for a free trial with SocialEngine</a>.

SocialEngine PHP Review

Adobe has made a number of big announcements at the U.S held Adobe Summit, the company's annual Digital Marketing conference.
CMS Critic are present at the Summit, and you can follow our live tweets from the event <a href="https://twitter.com/cmscritic" target="_blank">via our Twitter page</a>.
To be frank, Adobe has already revealed so much that it's hard to know where to start. So, here goes nothing.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/adobe-logo-100275038-orig.png" />
<h2>IBM &amp; Vibes Partnerships</h2>
Adobe and IBM have announced a global partnership. IBM Interactive Experience will build specialized enterprise consulting capabilities around AMC.
Furthermore, IBM Websphere will soon be integrated with Adobe Experience Manager. 
<a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150309006619/en/Adobe-IBM-Interactive-Experience-Announce-Global-Partnership#.VP6FJdLF-8B" target="_blank">Read more about the Adobe and IBM partnership</a>.
Adobe has also got a new partnership with Vibes, a mobile marketing giant. The deal means that marketers using Adobe Marketing Cloud can now seamlessly integrate Mobile Wallet, SMS and Push Messaging into their existing marketing campaigns.
<a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150309006580/en/Vibes-Partners-Adobe-Power-Mobile-Marketing-Campaigns#.VP8sQfmsWSo" target="_blank">Read more about the Adobe and Vibes partnership</a>.
<h2>Internet-of-Things and Wearable Devices</h2>
Adobe has introduced AEM Screens and new functionalities in Target, Analytics and Mobile Core Services that enable brands to bring highly personalized experiences to physical spaces like retail stores, hotel rooms, vending machines and Internet-of-Things.
Furthermore, a new Internet-of-Things SDK lets brands measure and analyze consumer engagement across any of those touch points, while new Intelligent Location capabilities in AMC will allow companies to use GPS and iBeacon data to optimize their physical brand presence.
<a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150309006586/en" target="_blank">Read more about Adobe's movement on the werable device front</a>.
<h2>Mobile Marketing &amp; More</h2>
Adobe has also unveiled a significant enhancements to Adobe Mobile Services, a Core Service across Adobe Marketing Cloud, that include a fully integrated mobile app framework.
The new mobile app framework delivers the complete, integrated solution in the industry for developing and managing apps, and is the first to eliminate marketers’ dependence on an array of disjointed point solutions.
Adobe has also added six top app tech providers (Fiksu, Vibes, Kochava, Ionic, Crittercism, appFigures) to its partner ecosystem, who are integrating their tools into the mobile app framework.
<a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150309006582/en" target="_blank">Read more about Adobe's mobile marketing and app development progress</a>.
And finally, Adobe has announced a new algorithmic engine and advances in Audience Core Services to bring together the worlds of data-driven marketing. Its new Audience Core Services enable brands to connect massive audience and behavioral data. 
A new set of algorithms lets them reach those audiences with paid media in AMO. A new Audience Marketplace lets brands buy and sell anonymous first and third party data
By integrating programmatic buying natively, Adobe brings the marketplace to the marketer and enables consistent experiences across channels
<a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150309006581/en" target="_blank">Read more about the enhancements to Adobe Marketing Cloud</a>.
I told you there was a lot of news! And yet the Adobe Summit still isn't over, so be sure to <a href="https://twitter.com/cmscritic" target="_blank">follow us on Twitter</a> to stay on top of our live tweets direct from the event.

Partnerships, IoT & Wearable Devices: Adobe Makes String of Announcements

Sometimes a seemingly simple CMS is only simple when it comes to the simple stuff.
But when it comes to actually modifying front-end elements and responding to mobile devices and third-party tools, many fall short in their simplicity.
<a href="http://www.surrealcms.com" target="_blank"> Surreal CMS</a>, however, is aiming to be one of the few exceptions.
Their user-friendly ethos seems to emanate from every feature, with usability in mind for an experience that is trying to be, well – simple.
<h2>Inline Editing &amp; Touch-friendly UI</h2>
Surreal CMS is geared towards users looking for a straightforward content management system, and it illustrates this brilliantly with an invitation for visitors to edit some text on their homepage.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/11111.png" alt="Surreal CMS Inline Editing" /> 
This inline editing feature found within Surreal CMS is perfect for those who are new to website design and modification. After all, pointing, clicking, editing and saving just makes a whole lot of sense.
The friendly website editing doesn't stop there though. Surreal CMS boasts a responsive, touch-friendly UI, allowing users to make changes to their web pages from tablet and mobile devices.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/responsive.png" alt="Surreal CMS Responsive" />
<h2>Multi-site Management, Easy Integration Options &amp; More</h2>
Surreal CMS has more to offer than just a pretty face though. There's also a fair bit of functionality and flexibility to be found.
For example, the platform allows you to manage a number of sites from one place, even if you have multiple hosting providers.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sites_1.png" alt="Surreal CMS Site Manager" /> 
Furthermore, Surreal CMS can connect to any site using FTP, SFTP, and even Amazon S3. That means there is no need to make special arrangements to accommodate the platform. It just works.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ftp.png" alt="Surreal CMS FTP SMPT " /> 
Additional features include built-in analytics, photo galleries, file management, and more. To dig a little deeper, take a quick look at their <a href="http://www.surrealcms.com/features" target="_blank"> features page</a>.
<h2>A CMS With a Friendly Face</h2>
One other thing I noticed about Surreal CMS, is its friendliness. Not only was it presenting features which almost anybody can make use of, but it did it with some charm – and that's worth praise.
Far too many content management systems get lost in their jargon and sleek website design to offer up any personality. Surreal CMS on the other hand, keeps it cool and casual.
Just check out their <a href="http://www.surrealcms.com/pricing" target="_blank">prices page</a> for example. Their platform is an ideal solution for website designers looking to streamline their tasks and earn via a platformlike Surreal, and so Surreal CMS go out of their way to explain how best to do this.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2222.png" alt="Surreal CMS Pricing" /> 
Their website layout, copy and even the green Alien mascot found throughout their imagery and icons helps to maintain a friendly, helpful atmosphere. They even offer up a discount to non-profit organizations.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/3.png" alt="Surreal CMS Offer" />
To find out more about Surreal CMS, check out their <a href="http://www.surrealcms.com/" target="_blank">official website</a>.
Additionally, explore some more of the features on offer from <a href="/products/surreal-cms/" target="_blank">Surreal CMS via our CMS Directory</a>.

Surreal CMS: a Straightforward Platform With a Friendly Face

WordPress powers millions of websites and blogs worldwide. More than 60 million in fact, according to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WordPress">Wikipedia</a>. And this number is constantly growing. 
‘What makes it so popular?’ you may ask. Well, the answer is simple – WordPress is easy to setup and use. This CMS allows users to build almost any type of website – from blogs to multipage websites, online portfolios and even eCommerce websites. 
One more thing to mention is the wide variety of WP themes available. As you know, a WP theme is a fast and easy way to “dress” your site, so it is not such a bad thing that the web is flooded with millions of free and premium WordPress themes, developed to serve multiple purposes. 
Below we offer you an overview of the 12 essential components to which one should pay special attention when choosing a WordPress theme. Consider these elements and build a website that will set you apart from the rest.
<h2>12 Things To Look For When Choosing A WordPress Theme</h2>
In this section you may consider 9 basic elements that most popular WordPress templates boast. Making use of them, you can not only save time and effort on site development and management, but also start a project that will be in demand among the online audience. So, read on and remember these suggestions. 
1. Responsive Design
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/heyday.jpg" /> This is one of the indispensable features any website struggling to gain customer loyalty should incorporate. It’s no secret that modern users are shifting from desktop to handheld devices, so targeting mobile shoppers is the win-win solution. 
Think about this for a moment – would you stay on a page that doesn’t display content properly on your smart device? I really doubt that. When choosing a responsive WordPress theme you may feel secure your blog or website will adapt to any screen size, showing all elements the way you intended.
 Prime example: <a href="http://www.templatemonster.com/wordpress-themes/52087.html" target="_blank">Heyday</a> 
2. Auto Upgrades &amp; Support
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/club8700x0.jpg" /> No matter how stunning the look of the theme you’ve picked, customer service is what really sells. The good thing is that WordPress templates from trusted companies like <a href="http://www.templatemonster.com/wordpress-themes.php" target="_blank">TemplateMonster</a> come with auto upgrades and free 24/7 support. 
Prime example: <a href="http://www.templatemonster.com/wordpress-themes/51842.html" target="_blank">Club8</a> 
3. Navigation
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/recipes.jpg" /> You may have great content, a beautifully designed layout and several easy-to-reach social sharing buttons from which to choose, but all your efforts will be in vain unless you make your site easy to navigate. If the layout looks cluttered and users can’t figure out your site, they will simply leave.
Making your website easy-to-navigate is a key to success. So be sure to choose the theme that has a clean and intuitive navigation. 
Prime example: <a href="http://www.wpexplorer.com/recipes-blogging-wordpress-theme/" target="_blank">Recipes</a> 
4. Social Media Integration
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/explorer.jpg" /> It’s unusual to find a modern user who doesn’t have a social media account. If you are running a blog or a corporate website, chances are you are trying to attract more users to participate in discussions and comment/like/share your posts.
With the help of social sharing buttons this can be easily achieved. Social media integration is known as a proven effective way to increase page views and sharing stats. 
Prime example: <a href="https://www.wphub.com/themes/explorer/category/business/" target="_blank">Explorer</a> 
5. Easy Customization
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/yamony.jpg" /> When buying a theme, check out whether or not it’s easy to customize. Some template providers will give you a theme together with detailed guides on installation and management. Depending on what goals you pursue, check out the advanced options with which the theme comes packed; does it include the functionality you might need (like calendar, slider, galleries, portfolios, etc.); what kind of standard pages does it offer? How many color/font options will you have at your disposal, etc.?
Also, check out whether the developer provides you with packaged functionality along with the template itself. As a rule, this functionality is not turned on by default. 
Prime example: <a href="http://www.wpzoom.com/themes/photonote/" target="_blank">Yamony</a> 
6. Fast Load Speed
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elegant.jpg" /> Will you stay on the page that doesn’t load quickly? Modern users want everything instantly, otherwise they go elsewhere to get it. On average, people wait for three seconds for the website to load fully. It would seem a three second wait is not that long.
However, when online it can feel like an eternity. That’s why you should be especially selective when choosing a WordPress theme for your site. Many problems with load speed will vanish once you pick a well-coded, clean template and dedicated plugins created to speed up your site. 
Prime example: <a href="http://www.wpexplorer.com/elegant-portfolio-wordpress-theme/" target="_blank">Elegant</a>
7. Cross Browser Compatibility
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/delaila.jpg" /> People are using a variety of different browsers nowadays. Alongside such popular solutions as Firefox, Safari, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer, there are many lesser known browsers (like Konqueror) that are also being used to view your site. That’s why it’s important to know your site will perform properly across all major media platforms.
To release you from the heavy burden of checking out your web page each time changes are being applied, modern template providers make themes cross-browser compatible for you to feel safe these will look and work effectively in all browsers. 
Prime example:<a href="https://www.wphub.com/themes/delaila/category/business/" target="_blank"> DELAILA</a> 
8. Clean Layout
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/delicious.jpg" /> Apart from functionality, design factor should also be considered. It is not always recommended to pick a template heavy in design elements. Clean and minimalist layouts are always in demand. Have a look at the screen shot below.
Delicious is a clean and minimal WordPress theme best suited for developing cafe &amp; restaurant websites. Thanks to the pale background, users can focus attention on the menu and specialties rather than be distracted by heavy graphics. 
Prime example: <a href="http://www.templatemonster.com/wordpress-themes/50762.html" target="_blank">Delicious</a> 
9. Unique Design <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/oshin.jpg" /> Those who want to stand apart from competitors and grab user attention with something outstanding, can opt for unique designs. As a rule, such resources are very interactive, allowing visitors to participate in storytelling.
For instance, Oshin is a beautifully designed multi-purpose WordPress template with 15 different layouts from which you can choose, 50 page builder shortcode modules, a bundle of free fonts, and much more. Incorporating the latest web design trends, like slow load effect, full- width visuals, ghost buttons, and grids, it was developed to catch the user’s eye at first sight. 
Prime example: <a href="https://www.cmscritic.comhttps://www.cmscritic.com/themeforestitem/oshin-creative-multipurpose-wordpress-theme/9545812?ref=cirvitis" target="_blank">Oshin</a>
10. Cherry Framework
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/car-wash.jpg" /> Cherry Framework, along with its child themes, was launched by <a href="http://www.templatemonster.com/presentations/cherry-framework-wordpress-themes.php" target="_blank">TemplateMonster</a>. This is a free parent framework that comes with various widgets, shortcodes, and solid Bootstrap options.
Originally released in December 2012, Cherry is now compatible with more than 900 child themes. The admin panel resembles the original WP interface in many ways, allowing even those of us who are not tech-savvy to set up a site and bring it to life hassle-free. Cherry is easy to install, requiring only three clicks. Overall, it comes with most of the WP features, like SEO optimization, excellent support, custom post creation, easy import/export data procedures, XML sitemap generation, and a number of other extra features. 
Prime example: <a href="http://www.templatemonster.com/wordpress-themes/51818.html" target="_blank">Car Wash</a> 
11. Custom Widgets
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/agrofields.jpg" /> The best part about WordPress themes is that many of them are filled with widgets that you can add to your site. These range from contact forms to menus, full screen slideshows, and other features. When working on the design of your future site, these are some of the elements in the Library adding functionality to your project. 
Prime example: <a href="https://www.cmscritic.comhttps://www.cmscritic.com/themeforestitem/agrofields-food-shop-grocery-market-wp-theme-/9725100" target="_blank">Food Shop Premium WordPress Theme</a> 
12. Shortcodes
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/dentist.jpg" /> Attaching media data can be facilitated by means of shortcodes. These are known as the easiest way to embed lists, tabs, audio and video data, Google maps, grids, and plenty of other elements into your site. If you need any of the above features, then look for a WP theme that comes with shortcodes. 
Prime example: <a href="http://www.templatemonster.com/wordpress-themes/52373.html" target="_blank">Dentist</a>
<h3>Final Thoughts</h3>
Although there is no way to guarantee success in the online world, one thing is for sure: by taking into consideration the 12 aforementioned elements you can set up a website that will be user-friendly, easy-to-customize, intuitive, easy-to-navigate, appealing and remarkable. 
Interestingly, free WordPress themes don’t lag far behind their paid equivalents, however the latter do provide a number of additional features and functionalities, like free 24/7 support, regular updates, protection from malware of any kind, etc. When looking for a template with which to build your next web project, there are several things to consider in order to obtain a product that is really worth the money. 
If you have any other thoughts or ideas on other elements to consider when choosing a good WordPress theme, you are welcome to mention them in the comments.

Choosing A WordPress Theme: 12 Things To Look For

The upcoming DNN World 2012 conference is fast approaching and is slated to take place between October 10th and 12th in beautiful Orlando, Florida. The organizers for this event have put up a call for speakers to submit ideas for a series of Ignite sessions (5 minute quick presentations) and submissions are due by the end of August.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/dnn_header-620x180.png" alt="DNN World 2012" />
Here's a video that was put together regarding this upcoming event:
[[dnnworld]]
The theme of DNN World 2012 is “Cloud Convenience, Social Solutions”. At the conference you will learn how DotNetNuke can enable you to deploy highly collaborative, revenue generating web sites and online communities based on the latest and most advanced development techniques.
This years sessions look to be pretty interesting for those looking to consider this CMS or those that are currently looking for new ways to put it to use. Some of the topics to be covered include:
<ul>
<li>An Introduction to DotNetNuke in the Cloud</li>
<li>
The Services Framework: Security and Development Patterns
</li>
<li>
Advanced Google Analytics for Social Sites
</li>
<li>
Module Development w/ DotNetNuke 6.2 Services Framework
</li>
<li>
Use DNN for your Facebook Page Apps
</li>
<li>
Linking SharePoint &amp; DotNetNuke with the SharePoint Connector
</li>
<li>
Building Social Applications
</li>
<li>
Scaling DotNetNuke in the Cloud: A Guide For Developers and Site Administrators
</li>
<li>
Responsive Web Design in DotNetNuke
</li>
<li>
Building a Mobile Application for DotNetNuke
</li>
<li>and many more.</li>
</ul>
Check out more about this event: <a href="http://www.dotnetnuke.com/News/Events/DotNetNuke-World-2012.aspx" target="_blank">DNN World 2012</a>

DNN World 2012 is Coming, Will You Be There?

Liferay has always been a company focused on finding new ways to improve the overall experience for their users and recently, they launched the Liferay Marketplace, a place where users can download enterprise apps and themes. At launch, there were already over 70 Liferay developed apps and themes in the marketplace.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/liferay-marketplacejpg-620x652.jpg" alt="liferay marketplace" />
<blockquote>
Liferay Marketplace supports multiple goals we have wanted to deliver over the last few years,” said Brian Chan, Liferay's Chief Software Architect. “It greatly enhances our customers' abilities to extend their existing web solutions in a manner that saves them on time and the costs associated with solution upgrades. Also, in keeping with Liferay's longstanding commitment to creating value for the open source community, Liferay Marketplace aims to make it easier for a larger community of developers to share and distribute innovations as easily consumable modular applications.
</blockquote>
In concert with the launch, Liferay has opened the marketplace to outside developers and welcomes them to begin working to put together apps for submission. The next planned phase of the marketplace will bring with it built in transaction and payment processing. This is great news for end users and can only help to build the already burgeoning community that surrounds Liferay's suite of products.
Check it out at <a href="http://www.liferay.com/marketplace">http://www.liferay.com/marketplace</a>

Liferay Marketplace Launches, Offers Over 70 Apps and Themes

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