Articles - Page 39

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

matt-garrepy

<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-7.png" alt="sshot-7" /> Website security is a concern for one and all. Content management systems are fighting a constantly evolving battle against hackers and malware producers by releasing regular security patches to keep our data as safe as possible.
Still, for further protection, we install plugins and rely on third party applications to build a secure digital perimeter around our websites as a first line as defence – and rightly so.
But what about your last line of defence; the worst case scenario of total data loss?
Backing up your data is supremely important, as anybody who has endured the pain of having their website hacked or compromised will testify to.
Let’s take a look at how <a href="https://mithra62.com/projects/view/backup-pro">Backup Pro</a> can help.
<h2>CMS Agnostic Backups</h2>
Backup Pro is the first – and so far the only – CMS agnostic data backup tool that will save your skin in the worst case scenario.
At the time of writing, it supports the following five content management systems:
<ol>
<li>WordPress</li>
<li><a href="/concrete5-marketplace-gets-backup-pro/">Concrete5</a></li>
<li>Prestashop</li>
<li>Craft</li>
<li>ExpressEngine (2 &amp; 3)</li>
</ol>
Although, further support for other content management systems is in the works.
Launched in 2011 by <a href="http://blog.ericlamb.net/">Eric Lamb</a>, Backup Pro has built a reputation for being feature-rich and flexible in the face of disaster recovery.
<h2>Backup Pro: The Solution to the Risks of SaaS Backup Platforms</h2>
SaaS backup platforms are popular because they handle all the heavy lifting in a remote location. But such solutions come bundled with risk.
What happens if you change FTP or database credentials? What happens to your data should you cancel or miss a payment? What about losing access to the account? What about the general security of those backups?
The point is; SaaS solutions are a relatively hands-off way of handling the data that is most vital to your business but isn’t without very real risks. The questions above easily illustrate that.
Alternatively, Backup Pro provides a solution that eradicates all of the risks outlined above.
How? I’m glad you asked.
Backup Pro allows for abstract and redundant storage of your backups through any combination of Local Storage, Amazon S3, Rackspace, Google Cloud Storage, Dropbox, FTP (with SSL), SFTP, and even an Email Inbox
Furthermore, you can create your own Storage Engines for complete control over your backups. Talk about flexible.
What’s more, Backup Pro further outdoes SaaS solutions by offering itself as a product that only requires one initial purchase, with no extra running costs, and no expiry date. Install Backup Pro, set it up, and walk away.
On top of ALL that, Backup Pro will even let you know if there are issues in missed backups (missed scheduling, for example), or worst case, even if a backup archive file is corrupted and not usable in disaster recovery. All automated.
<h2>Customizable &amp; Developer Friendly</h2>
Backup Pro is also a highly customizable tool. It comes with over 70 configurations out of the box, allowing you to configure things like:
<ul>
<li>Exactly what you want to backup, and what you don’t want to backup</li>
<li>Notifications and alerts</li>
<li>File size limits</li>
<li>Backup frequency/amount limits</li>
</ul>
As for catering to developers, Backup Pro is scriptable through console commands, has online database restoration, and allows for  configurations to be overridden in a file for VCS (git, svn, mercurial, etc) love.
Plus, thanks to the new REST API support (added in 3.3), administrators don’t just have total access to their data, they have absolute control over it, too.
To find out more about Backup Pro <a href="https://mithra62.com/projects/view/backup-pro">visit their website</a>.
Also, be sure to check out the <a href="/backup-pro/">Backup Pro hub</a> here on CMS Critic.
<hr />
This post is <a href="/advertising/">sponsored</a> by Backup Pro. Find out more on <a href="https://mithra62.com/projects/view/backup-pro">their website</a>.

Backup Pro: CMS Agnostic Backups

mike-johnston

<a href="http://www.blueconic.com/" target="_blank">BlueConic</a>, the digital marketing platform, has announced some new and notable integration options.
The platform collects and unifies user actions, decisions and profiles, thereby activating relevant interactions accordingly. Founded in 2010, and headquartered in Boston, more than 70 brands including Volvo, Boston Globe, ING and Ahold make use of BlueConic to drive their marketing campaigns.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-1700x0.jpg" />
BlueConic’s new “Quick Connections” feature, the main proponent of this update, connects previously separated marketing applications into a single, rich view of the customer that is actionable in real time. 
Built on a flexible Rest API structure, Quick Connections enables marketers to integrate BlueConic with platforms like Salesforce, Google Universal Analytics, Facebook Connect and a host of customer relationship management systems (CRM), data management platforms (DMP) and content management systems (CMS).
The integration allows for a direct exchange of information and data between previously compartmentalized components within the marketing stack. 
Bart Heilbron, the CEO and Co-founder of BlueConic, made these comments upon the release:
<blockquote>
“We’ve built BlueConic to help marketers identify, understand, and interact with customers on an individual basis. This release is another step in our commitment to improving marketing outcomes at a faster rate, without the need to rip and replace existing marketing applications and without reliance on IT organizations.
With this latest release, marketers can quickly synchronize and leverage their existing marketing ecosystem within the BlueConic platform, to drive richer, more meaningful customer engagement.”
</blockquote>
To find out more about BlueConic, <a href="http://www.blueconic.com/" target="_blank">visit their website</a>.
Furthermore, the official announcement for this piece of news <a href="http://www.blueconic.com/news/blueconic-delivers-unparalleled-marketing-outcomes-synchronizing-data-across-siloed-ecosystem/" target="_blank">can be found on the BlueConic blog</a>.

Digital Marketing Platform BlueConic Announces Enhanced Integration Options

<img alt="Inbound-Marketing-Report_465x475-thumbnails" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/inbound-marketing-report_465x475-thumbnails.png" />
A joint study between Act-On Software and Demand Metric has shown that 84% of marketers are moving away from inbound marketing.
Instead, what we're seeing is a merge between inbound and outbound marketing – forming something that Act-On and Demand Metric are calling ‘Allbound Marketing'.
<h2>The Emergence of Allbound Marketing?</h2>
According to Act-On and Demand Metric, marketing across the buyer's journey now requires an “Allbound” strategy to be effective. 
Their finding indicate that a campaign should be tailored to a persona or account, and needs to go beyond attracting a visitor to the site. Marketers must engage buyers to help them come to an educated decision. 
A balanced approach puts the right content in front of the right person at precisely the right time. Survey respondents underscored the value of an “Allbound” marketing strategy, with 84 percent agreeing that it’s the combination of inbound and outbound that drives their business.
Their study also debunked the notion that marketers perceive inbound marketing as more valuable than outbound. 
In fact, most surveyed marketers assigned near-equal numerical values to each approach. On a scale from 1 to 10 where 1 = very unimportant and 10 = very important, they gave outbound a score of 7.3 and inbound 7.4.
<a href="http://mktg.actonsoftware.com/acton/fs/blocks/showLandingPage/a/248/p/p-0860/t/page/fm/0">The study</a> also covers:
<ul>
<li>Which tactics are driving business, leads, and revenue</li>
<li>Average annual percentages of inbound and outbound spend</li>
<li>Top inbound and outbound marketing tactics</li>
<li>Where marketers plan to invest their marketing spend in the near future</li>
<li>Benchmarks so you can compare approaches</li>
</ul>
<h2>Inbound for Buzz, Outbound for Results</h2>
Act-On Software's CMO, Kevin Bobowski, also chimed in with some insights:
<blockquote>
“While Inbound Marketing generates buzz, combining Inbound and Outbound Marketing produce real business results.
And as more marketers adopt Account-Based Marketing and the outbound tactics that support it, it will be time to rethink the role of Inbound Marketing.”
It’s time to rethink Inbound Marketing and understand that a balanced approach to marketing drives the business.”
</blockquote>
Get your hands on the study <a href="http://mktg.actonsoftware.com/acton/fs/blocks/showLandingPage/a/248/p/p-0860/t/page/fm/0">here</a>.

Allbound Marketing: Study Shows Inbound & Outbound Marketing Merging

<a href="https://www.weebly.com/" target="_blank">Weebly</a>, one of the world's most popular website builders, has released Weebly for Enterprise.
Chosen to be one of our recommended website builders over at <a href="https://www.websitebuilderscritic.com" target="_blank">Website Builders Critic</a>, Weebly offers a simple drag-and-drop interface enabling users to customize sleek templates.
Weebly for Enterprise combines comprehensive content management, robust APIs, and Weebly signature drag-and-drop editing.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/weeblyenterprise700x0.jpg" alt="Weebly for Enterprise" />
<h2>Scalable, Powerful, Professional</h2>
Weebly for Enterprise has been launched to simplify the process of building and managing hundreds of websites, providing a flexible content management system for a wide variety of applications across industries including technology, real estate, healthcare, and education.
Weebly for Enterprise features include:
<ul>
<li>Powerful Site Creation and Editing: Weebly for Enterprise extends Weebly’s popular creation and editing experience to large organizations giving employees the freedom to design high-quality websites. Organizations can customize site design to match their brand identity and empower users to create and edit sites on their own with ready-made building blocks such as text, images, buttons, contact forms, maps, and videos. They can then publish those sites online in minutes.</li>
<li>Scalable and Customizable Site Management: Weebly for Enterprise offers a powerful CMS to administrators and can be easily scaled to the needs of any organization, streamlining the process of managing a large number of websites and setting up user accounts and permissions. It is fully customizable so that customers can define, limit and build on top of Weebly to meet any specific need.</li>
<li>API Support Simplifies IT Implementation: Weebly for Enterprise comes equipped with full API support, easing the process of integration with existing IT structures and protocols. No need to re-work supporting systems such as billing, CRM software or security protocols.</li>
<li>Central Cloud Hosting: Weebly for Enterprise provides remote site hosting with exceptional site speed, reliability and redundant data centers on Weebly’s servers, letting users access company sites from anywhere and saving time and money on server setup and maintenance when compared to internally hosted sites.</li>
</ul>
<h2>“It Shouldn’t Be So Difficult &amp; Expensive To Build &amp; Manage Hundreds Of Websites.”</h2>
Regarding the release of Weebly for Enterprise, I managed to get some questions answered by Nick Dellis, Weebly's Vice President of Business Development. Here is our full discussion:
<h3>1) What has spurred Weebly into moving into the Enterprise space?</h3>
The idea for Weebly for Enterprise grew out of organic demand. Organizations of all types regularly approach Weebly to leverage our intuitive consumer experience for a wide-variety of applications.
The main requirement they had was for enterprise features like the ability to manage staff and clients, permission control, APIs, automation and things like that. We already have thousands of companies of all sizes using Weebly in this way in a pilot program we kicked off to understand these use cases.
When we dug into the reasons people reached out, the main driver was that the expectations of the average employee are changing, and they want to use enterprise software that’s intuitive, effective and easy to use, just as they can at home. It shouldn’t be so difficult and expensive to build and manage dozens or hundreds of websites, but surprisingly most enterprises are using a costly internal CMS or open source solutions that don’t scale effectively and are extremely resource intensive. We heard horror stories from IT managers who had dozens of requests for simple marketing and content changes to sites that couldn't be done for months. Marketing departments and staff were frustrated because they couldn't just do it themselves.
With Weebly, we can provide the same intuitive site creation and editing experience every customer gets, while also integrating the tools, controls and scalability required in the Enterprise space.
Weebly for Enterprise is the end result, and is a simple, turn-key solution for any organization to build and scale their business on top of the Weebly platform. It’s an off-the-shelf solution that’s fully customizable and has enterprise level controls and robust APIs for easy integration into existing IT structure. We already have customers in over 15 verticals and there is huge opportunity for expansion.
<h3>2) In a nutshell, what are the key differences between “Normal” Weebly and “Enterprise” Weebly? </h3>
The “normal” consumer version of Weebly is a product more intended for a person or a small company who wants to build their own website, blog or eCommerce store — they can choose a theme, drag and drop elements like images or video and enter text quickly and effectively, publishing a site in minutes. It’s perfect for a person or organization who wants to build just one or a handful of sites.
However, for an organization that needs dozens of websites (or hundreds), things get complicated quickly. You need to manage staff members, admins, control branding elements and assets, integrate into your internal workflows and systems, add your own themes, develop your own apps/elements and so on. Weebly for Enterprise is the core Weebly consumer experience with a “layer” on top designed for enterprises to easily do those things.
<h3>3) What does the future hold for Weebly Enterprise, both short term and long term?</h3>
We see expansion into new verticals, where we use Weebly for Enterprise as a base and add components that are specific to certain industries on top.
For example, we are pretty sure that hosting companies who want to sell 100,000 websites to their clients are going to have different needs than a large hospital who is using Weebly for Enterprise to create and lock down 1,500+ physician sites. When you think about digital agencies, universities, franchises and dozens of other use cases, we have a lot of work ahead of us.
To find out more about Weebly Enterprise, check out their official website.
Also, be sure to explore more of <a href="/products/weebly/" target="_blank">Weebly through our CMS Directory</a>.

Weebly For Enterprise Announced

<a href="http://designmodo.com/?u=1182" target="_blank">DesignModo</a>, the company behind Startup Framework, has released a new version of their WordPress plugin, Qards.
Qards 1.1 adds to the plugin's ability to bring drag-and-drop website building to WordPress. Users can combine pre-designed cards (or Qards!) to create a variety of one-page-style website types. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/reimagine4700x0.png" />
No coding is neccessary of course, and the interface works nicely with the standard WordPress backend, making for a relatively smooth website creation and management process. Here's a short video detailing Qard 1.1.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uj2rOm8Jdx8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
According to their announcement, DesignModo claim to have added new Qards and “spiced up the process of site created on WordPress and now you have a completely new fun and simple experience.”
To get the full breakdown of Qards 1.1, checkout the official features page.
Also, you can check out my <a href="/startup-framework-review/" target="_blank">review of DesignModo's Startup Framework</a>.

DesignModo's Qards 1.1 For WordPress Released

Welcome to yet another featured week here on CMS Critic! For the next five days, our focus will be on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ecwid.com/">Ecwid</a>, the cloud-hosted shopping cart that integrates with your existing website or social media page. Impressively, over 900,000 merchants make use of Ecwid to power their online stores.According to Internet Retailer, 42% of all mobile sales generated by the world’s leading 500 retailers came from mobile apps during 2014.Furthermore, the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.statista.com/statistics/330695/number-of-smartphone-users-worldwide/">number of smartphone users is forecast to surpass 2 billion</a> by the end of 2016 – meaning that the demand for mobile shopping experiences is only increasing.With these statistics in mind, Ecwid recognized that they couldn’t rest on their laurels as just an eCommerce solution. They needed to be an eCommerce solution that give merchants the power of the app.<h2>App Power</h2>Thanks to Ecwid’s recently released ShopApp feature, Ecwid users can now launch their very own native iOS and Android retail app.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ios-img.jpg" alt="ios-img" />ShopApp’s store content, such as inventory, prices and product descriptions, is fully synchronized and integrated with a retailer’s online store and includes one-touch checkout with Apple Pay, providing a seamless omnichannel ecommerce solution.And perhaps best of all – the ShopApp is available for free to all Ecwid Unlimited users.<h2>Your Store In Your Customer’s Pocket</h2>This goes beyond simply adopting responsive design to meet the needs of mobile device users. By having a native app, you give your online store a whole new shiny layer of professionalism.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sync-img-1024x684.jpg" alt="sync-img" />With your store in your customer’s pocket – a mere finger tap away – sales are bound to increase.Ecwid’s President, Jim O’Hara, called the release of ShopApp a “huge leap”:<blockquote>“With ShopApp, Ecwid is making a huge leap in how native ecommerce mobile apps are created and operate for smaller retailers globally.Similar to how the dramatic innovation in web development introduced by DIY sitebuilders like Wix, WordPress and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.weebly.com/">Weebly</a> democratized website creation, Ecwid now allows our merchants to create their own ecommerce apps instantly.”</blockquote>For me, this release is nothing less than exciting. In fact, I almost want to start a brand new store with Ecwid just so I can launch my own app.But for now, I’ll be keeping tabs on it to see just how much of an impact it has on the bottom lines of Ecwid’s merchants.To find out more about Ecwid’s ShopApp, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ecwid.com/">check out their website</a>.

Launch Your Own Retail App With Ecwid’s ShopApp

<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ipad-820272_1280-1-2-e1466076927587-1024x538.jpg" alt="ipad-820272_1280 (1)" />
Why do organisations need to consider a digital transformation?
Organisations need to do more than just consider a digital transformation. It is a vital step when you need to kick start your company’s digital strategies overlooked during its evolution.
Being left behind and forced to play catch-up is an expensive gamble that will allow your competitors to gain a significant advantage over you. Digital transformation is not just an empty phrase, it is a true philosophy for defining a content strategy that charts the needs of your target audience by establishing the kind of content they should find engaging, by identifying the channels and schemes for reaching them and formulating the KPIs necessary to measure it effectively.
Only by defining the touch points you want to track across all channels, both online and offline, and then optimising the customer journey accordingly, can you determine the tools essential for you to capture and gather the data required for optimising your content strategies. In this way, you can achieve a marketing performance that goes way beyond just satisfactory.
Also, segmenting your customers using their behaviour or character traits and making sure you are integrating your e-commerce strategy with your multi-channel strategy, makes it possible for you to achieve customer delight and boost your sales revenue.
By delivering a consistent user experience that exceeds customers’ expectations across all devices and channels through things such as having a responsive web design, your digital presence can achieve a true single customer view.
These tools are vital parts of your digital brand marketing strategy, as well as ensuring that the client data you gather fully integrates with your email data through your CRM. Plus, when you are keeping your corporate vision in line with a thorough understanding of both your customers and current digital trends, you can help your company resonate as a brand-leading multi-channel business. This in turn will assist you in achieving your strategic objectives.
<h3>Can you point to examples of large organisations with traditional business models that embraced digital transformation, as well as the results they’ve seen?</h3>
Groundforce (part of the Vibroplant group) have been offering total solutions to the construction industry for the last 30 years in the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe. They had an obsolete CMS and it was crucial to improve the speed, functionality and usability by incorporating all websites into a one-domain strategy on a fully-responsive website. The challenge was to import products, users and technical documents to the new site and unify them into a consistent user experience.
As Claire Locker, Account Director at NetConstruct explains, “Our client, Groundforce, was very forward thinking… Rather than the website branding being born out of the existing marketing requirements, the website has been the driver for their branding and marketing. These aspects are now found in all their communications, from brochures to presentation formats.” Since that digital transformation, there has been a rapid upturn in results. Several large orders were placed on the UK and German sites shortly after launch and there is now a drastic reduction in page load time. These are precisely the ways in which digital transformation can improve the customer experience, promote brand advocacy and boost ROI.
By keeping an eye on how your customers relate digitally to their interaction with your company, you can actively continue to enhance and refine the customer journey, garnering favourable responses from your users.
<h3>What are the consequences for companies that don’t embrace digital transformation?</h3>
Ignoring digital transformation can be perceived by customers as you having a lack of interest in them. Clunky and awkward customer experiences quickly result in customers looking elsewhere. Users are no longer limited to where they can access online content, and they know it. With mobile phones, tablets and laptops affording consumers access on the go, it is necessary to keep your site fast and efficient, regardless of the device on which it is viewed. It is essential to understand the way in which your website is accessed as it is a defining factor in understanding your customers.
Claire Locker goes further to illustrate users’ perceptions of a bad digital experience. “Any obstacles in their way such as poor usability, poor navigation, links which don’t work or poor design are held against the company.  The website is possibly the first point of call for a potential client – if they do not like what they see, the chances are that they never contact the company at all – a missed opportunity.” It is then a tough, if not impossible, task to try and win that visitor over again. So, consider this when implementing digital transformation without a proper understanding of whom you are attempting to engage with.
<h3>What is the value of approaching digital transformation as a coordinated strategic programme as opposed to through separate digital initiatives when individual needs arise?</h3>
Coordinated strategic plans must be based on an understanding throughout all areas of the organisation. This means knowing what the goals and expected outcomes are, and what they mean to the people involved. They should have an clear understanding of the transformation process, and how their roles fit into it. Creating measures that in turn unify the look, the feel and the perceived identity of the company is an essential part of making sure that digital transformation has a consistent and homogenous quality.
Welcome the constructive input of all staff in the process, and gain an understanding of how the customer will relate to your changes – determine whether this reaction is favourable for your digital business model and your users’ needs. Implementing digital transformation based on deliverables and a realistic schedule means regular departmental meetings to assess the process, the project’s progress, measuring the real-time effect and checking that the vision is still relevant and being implemented correctly.
Claire Locker has done a lot of work with clients performing such transformations. In her experience, having a, “holistic and recognisable approach to all the marketing channels – website, social media, advertising campaigns, brochures and development internationally – serves to strengthen the design aesthetics and build customer loyalty and recognition.”
Making sure all processes are fully supported through the correct structure and tools will ensure the transformation promotes the digital maturity of your company.
After all, businesses need to grow and develop. A badly implemented digital transformation that generates a misaligned digital experience and loses customer loyalty will result in a King Midas in reverse effect, and nobody wants that.
<hr />
This post is <a href="/advertising/">sponsored</a> by Kentico. Find out more at <a href="http://www.kentico.com/">Kentico.com</a>

The Importance of Digital Transformation for Large Organisations

Best Video Experience

Give your audience the best video experience

#000000

With the number of ecommerce platforms out there, how does one determine which ones work as intended and offer the best bang for the buck? Today, we're going to help answer this questions by sharing with you our Top 5 Ecommerce Solutions for your Website.There's no doubt that ecommerce is playing a strong role in the content management market of late. Products and services are consistently being sold online more and more and traditional brick and mortar retailers are quickly discovering that without an online presence, they are sacrificing valuable opportunities to their competition.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigcommerce.png" alt="Bigcommerce" /><a target="_blank" href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/">Bigcommerce</a> is one of the largest and most popular ECommerce providers out there. With a number of offerings including the recently announced <a href="/bigcommerce-launch-bigcommerce-next-beauty-brawn-brains/">Bigcommerce Next</a>, they should definitely be considered as a major player.Check out this video showcasing Bigcommerce Next that was just introduced today: We recently did a <a href="/bigcommerce-review/">Bigcommerce Review </a>, which highlights some of the advantages to using their system. Check it out or <a href="/products/bigcommerce">visit their website directly </a> to get the skinny on this great solution for your business.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/magento-go-logo236x0.jpeg" alt="magento go" />Magento Go is the hosted ecommerce edition of Magento, the powerful enterprise ecommerce suite. With Magento Go, you get tons of power and configurability for a reasonable cost. It's intended for customers who are new to ecommerce and offers an app store, marketing tools and tons of options for the price.This video showcases (in less than a minute) what you need to know about Magento Go:http://youtu.be/2_1vPLB23LcIf you want to learn more, <a target="_blank" href="https://magento.com/">check out Magento Go</a> and see if it's the right fit for your business needs.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/3dcart-logo236x0.jpg" alt="3dcart" />3dcart is another excellent platform for ecommerce. Unlike several of their competitors, 3dcart does not charge transaction fees and offers 24/7 free technical support. With costs that are certainly within reason, they are an excellent option. You won't be sacrificing features either, 3dcart is loaded with all of the features you'd expect from a great online store builder / ecommerce solution.Here's a quick video introducing the product: If you want to learn more, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.shift4shop.com/">visit the 3dcart website</a> and see if it's the right fit for your business needs.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/shopify-bag-and-logotype236x0.png" alt="shopify" />Shopify is another popular ecommerce solution. While it doesn't have as many years on the market as some of it's competitors, the company and the product have developed a very good name for themselves since coming to market. Shopify is a great solution that's very easy to use and chock full of features. By comparison, Shopify isn't as strong on the feature set as say, Bigcommerce but it offers a far more attractive set of themes and is more visually appealing. You can check out our in-depth <a href="/shopify-review-ecommerce-only-simpler/">Shopify Review</a> to learn more.Here's a quick video introducing the product: If you want to learn more, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.shopify.com/">visit the Shopify website</a> and see it's the right tool for you.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ecwid-cart236x0.png" alt="ecwid" />ecwid has been making a great name for themselves recently. Having <a href="/ecommerce-integration-arrives-for-wordpress.com-business">recently been selected by WordPress.com</a> as an ecommerce integration partner, along with Shopify, the ecwid brand has seen a big boost in adoption. Setup is very simple and the costs (aside from their free plan which is available for up to 10 products) is quite low and very competitive considering the features you get in return. With unlimited storage and bandwidth, ecwid is a great option to consider. You will find, however, that when compared with some of the bigger ecommerce players, there are some gaps in both feature set and visual appeal.Visit the <a target="_blank" href="http://open.ecwid.com/3htsZ">ecwid website</a> to check it out and learn more.Do you know of an ecommerce solution that you feel should be on this list? Share it with us in the comments below. Have you had experiences (good or bad) with any of these vendors? We'd love to hear from you! Please feel free to share in the comments.

Top 5 ECommerce Platforms for Your Website

<a href="http://buildwithcraft.com/" target="_blank">Craft</a> has made itself accessible in a new, faster, and much easier way.
Recently, Craft came out on top as the <a href="/2014-critics-choice-award-winner-best-php-cms-for-small-to-midsize-business/" target="_blank">2014 Critics' Choice Award Winner for Best PHP CMS for Small to Midsize Businesses</a>. This news comes just a few weeks after <a href="/craft-2.3-arrives-with-flurry-of-features/" target="_blank">the release of Craft 2.4</a>.
The all-new <a href="https://demo.buildwithcraft.com/" target="_blank">Craft Demo Website</a> allows users to try out the dedicated demo site is called, “Happy Lager”. Each user who signs up will get a personalized version of the site — so there's no having to share the demo with the rest of the community. All users need to provide is a name and an email address.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-1700x0.jpg" alt="Craft" /> 
Essentially, it's a super-easy way to try out Craft for yourself, and perhaps introduce it to friends or co-workers.
Furthermore, <a href="https://github.com/pixelandtonic/HappyLager" target="_blank">Craft have open sourced Happy Lager via GitHub</a>, so you can freely tinker with it on a deeper level.
To find out more, c/dir/products/craft/heck out <a href="http://pixelandtonic.com/blog/meet-happy-lager-crafts-new-demo-site" target="_blank">Craft's blog announcement</a>, and of course <a href="https://demo.buildwithcraft.com/" target="_blank">the demo website itself</a>.
Plus, be sure to explore more of <a href="/products/craft-cms/" target="_blank">Craft via our CMS Directory</a>.

Craft Launches New Demo Site

Update [November 2015]: CMS Critic has published an updated <a href="/boonex-dolphin.pro-review/" target="_blank">Boonex Dolphin Review</a>.
Boonex Dolphin is a social networking platform that can be used for creating communities or dating-based social networking sites. Boonex Dolphin has been around for quite some time and has a pretty big following of users. In this Boonex Dolphin Review, I'm going to take you on a tour of the free edition and discuss some of my thoughts on the product and its uses.
This video gives you a bit of an introduction to the product:
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bu5ySi8G3gc?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Boonex Dolphin is available in a number of licenses. You can get it for free (the community edition) or in a plan which gives you various options. The plans range from $99+. Pricing is pretty reasonable considering how much you get for the product. The one drawback to using the free edition is that there are embedded ads for Boonex Dolphin within the product that cannot be removed without purchasing a license. Having said that, I feel it's a fair trade-off considering what you get for free. Let's get to the Boonex Dolphin Review.
Installation is pretty straightforward.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2012-07-15-at-7_42_54-pm-620x506.png" alt="Boonex Dolphin Review" />
Once you click past this installation screen, the system does a quick permissions check to see if your host is configured correctly. If not, you may have to make some permissions changes.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2012-07-15-at-7_44_44-pm-620x535.png" alt="Boonex Dolphin Review" />
Once you've got your permissions sorted out, the system will attempt to detect all of the paths such as the URL, the file folders and more.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2012-07-15-at-7_45_07-pm-620x437.png" alt="Boonex Dolphin Review" />
Next, it's time to configure the system with a site name, admin credentials and email for various system purposes.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2012-07-16-at-10_02_31-am.png" alt="Boonex Dolphin Review" />
Once you get through the installation, you'll be greeted with the default implementation of your social networking site, which looks like this:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2012-07-16-at-5_48_47-pm-620x428.png" alt="Boonex Dolphin Review" />
Obviously, you aren't going to want to stick with the default, but it's a good time now to browse through the system and see what you've got to work with for your social networking website. The default setup is nice and clean and gives you a decent idea as to what you can expect.
Once you've had a chance to explore, you can log into the admin system and get tweaking! Here's what the admin side of things looks like:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2012-07-16-at-5_51_43-pm-620x344.png" alt="Boonex Dolphin Review" />
Clicking on the Members module will bring you to a list of the various members of your site. Since it's a fresh install, at the moment there is just the one but more can be added if necessary. Once you've got a few people signed up for your site, you can modify them here as well.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2012-07-16-at-5_53_08-pm-620x279.png" alt="Boonex Dolphin Review" />
Hopefully you won't need to use it but, there is a ban option as well for those who are rowdy or sign up with the intent to spam.
Next is the Modules menu, where you can add some extra functionality to your site. There are quite a few modules that offer extensive enhancements for any site.
<ul>
<li>Facebook Connect – lets your users log into the system using their Facebook social networking accounts</li>
<li>Polls – You can add or remove polls (or have user generated ones show up here for approval) in the Polls module. You can then display these throughout the site.</li>
<li>Shoutbox – A shoutbox is a widget that you can place on the site that allows people to enter small messages that are shared publicly. It's a way of saying Hi or making a comment, similar to a private messaging system but it's public.</li>
<li>Simple Messenger – A private messaging type application that people can use to chat with individual members.</li>
<li>Spy – Spy is a module you can enable that allows users to see who has updated their profile or content and which users.</li>
<li>Flash Apps – These modules are packaged in their own category and include items like a photo shooter, video player, audio/video chat and whiteboard which can add some fun and enhance the experience within your site. You can add these by using this menu.</li>
<li>Ads – The Ads module is actually a small and simple classified ads module complete with pictures and a buy it now option. There is also an approval function for submitted ads, although there is no indication as to how to configure any payment functions even though the buy it now checkbox exists. Again, documentation would be very helpful here. I am assuming that setting up the Payment module will enable something on the Ads module but it's not clear this is the case and it's outside the scope of this review. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2012-07-26-at-6_22_53-am.png" alt="Boonex Dolphin Review" /></li>
<li>Articles – This module allows you to add an articles list that you can manage and publish to the block on your site. Remember, you can control which blocks appear where in the builders menu. It's a pretty decent module with more than enough functionality for good articles with imagery and full wysiwyg capabilities. It even includes categorizing and tagging of content. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2012-07-26-at-6_27_00-am-620x468.png" alt="Boonex Dolphin Review" /></li>
<li>Avatars – This one should be pretty self explanatory so I will assume you can figure it out ?</li>
<li>Blogs – This allows administrators to give individual users the ability to have their own blogs which they can post to.</li>
<li>Custom RSS – This is a pretty cool little module that allows administrators the ability to let users add custom RSS feeds to their profile and display a certain number of posts from them. I can see this being a big draw to keep users on the site and wanting to use it as they can use this module to either promote their own sites or to show a list of their favorites and use it like Google Reader on their profile. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2012-07-26-at-6_33_55-am-620x303.png" alt="Boonex Dolphin Review" /></li>
</ul>
There are too many to list here but let me just say that Boonex Dolphin has a lot of functionality and there are innumerable ways in which one can expand it. Here is a list of modules you can set up with the default installation (there are plenty more in their market on their website as well if you want even more).
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2012-07-26-at-6_40_22-am.png" alt="Boonex Dolphin Review" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2012-07-26-at-6_40_30-am.png" alt="Boonex Dolphin Review" />
The issue I have with these modules isn't their functionality but rather the complete lack of any help or documentation anywhere within any of them. I had to Google each of these to find out what they did (well, the spy module anyway). It would be more helpful if there was a popup description for each module that accurately describes what it does and how to go about using it / finding it on the site once activated. As it is now, you have to hunt around to see what functionality was added and hope you find them all. This can be confusing and frustrating when you just want to get the site up on a deadline. I checked the help link in the back end of the installation and that simply brought me to their wiki. In the administration guide, I could not find anything on any of these modules, which I found odd considering they are there with the default install.
Under the tools menu, there are a number of options, as you can see below. Some of these are implemented well, while others could use some improvements.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2012-07-16-at-5_55_52-pm.png" alt="Boonex Dolphin Review" />
Take for example, the Mass Mailer tool. Here's how it looks today:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/boonex-dolphin-review-mass-mailer-620x447.jpg" alt="boonex dolphin review" />
There are a couple of inconsistencies that, while not rendering the tool nonfunctional, certainly don't make sense. The first is the naming convention, “Notify letters”. I have no idea why they would call the tool the Mass Mailer and then name the tool Notify letters. Poor English and bad wording just lead people to becoming confused about the purpose of the tool. Secondly, as you can see, the input boxes are ridiculously small and cannot be resized, which is just plain silly. I don't know about you, but I don't want to type a long mass mailing out in a teensy little box that I have to scroll all over the place within to read and check for spelling mistakes. Last but not least, I could not get the preview to work. The system simply flashed something and went back to the input box. I tested it in the latest version of Internet Explorer (yes, I had to launch IE, which was punishment enough) and Firefox. Neither of them worked for the preview.
The other tools within this menu allow you to add banners to various sections within the site, blacklist IP addresses, perform database backups and manage your antispam settings. They are pretty straight forward so I'm not going to discuss them further in this review.
The Builders menu is where you will likely spend the bulk of your time setting up your site and arranging everything.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/boonex-dolphin-review-4.jpg" alt="boonex dolphin review" />
This is where you create the structure for your pages and menus. Let's take a look at the menu builder first off.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2012-07-16-at-5_57_16-pm1.png" alt="boonex dolphin review" />
As you can see, there are a number of available items under theAll Items section. All you have to do is simply drag and drop them as you would like them to appear, click save and the changes are applied. This makes for easy navigation changes and from what I can tell, everything worked without issue.
This design interface is identical for the Profile Fields which users fill out when signing up, as you can see below.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2012-07-16-at-5_57_51-pm-620x511.png" alt="boonex dolphin review" />
I like the interface. It's simply and easy to use and should be pretty easy to pick up for most administrators. The page builder, while quite similar, is slightly different in that it offers column sizing as well. You select the page, add or remove columns and size accordingly.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2012-07-16-at-5_58_14-pm-620x496.png" alt="boonex dolphin review" />
In the page builder, you add blocks of content to the pages via the same drag and drop functionality.
For the most part, you should be able to create a reasonably unique-looking site using these tools in concert with styling via CSS. There are numerous themes available for the system as well which you can find in the market on <a href="https://www.boonex.com/features">the Boonex Website</a>.
Additional settings can be found under the Settings menu.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2012-07-16-at-5_58_45-pm.png" alt="boonex dolphin review" />
Within here, most of the settings are standard fare. The issue of the input boxes being too small is present here as well though and needs to be corrected. You can see what I mean when you try to enter custom CSS styles into a tiny input box similar to the one used for mass mailings.
One thing that Boonex Dolphin is not lacking in is its configuration settings, which allows you to really keep your system clean and functional while controlling almost every aspect of it.
I like the inclusion of the database pruning and watermark settings in Boonex Dolphin. The prior allows you to clean up old content from the database to keep things lean and mean and the latter allows you to embed a watermark on your images while controlling said watermarks' transparency. The watermark capability is rather unique and I've not seen it included by default in similar tools.
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
There are a few things that I've identified above in this Boonex Dolphin review that I'd consider more annoyances than real major concerns and I'm sure they'll get sorted out in due time. In addition to the items mentioned above, there are a few more points I wanted to make:
<ul>
<li>While exploring their help options, I encountered a rather sparse “Beginners Guide” which simply had three paragraphs on how to choose the right hosting for Dolphin. Obviously, this isn't much of a guide and I'm hopeful they either remove it or rename it accordingly. There is some very good documentation present on the main wiki, however, and it includes an administration guide with tips on improving performance of the system as well as troubleshooting information. Cleaning up the useless beginners guide would make the overall documentation excellent, in my opinion.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>SEO wise, the system performs pretty much as expected. There are basic configuration options such as meta descriptions present and permalinks can be configured. This is pretty much standard stuff that most system have built in.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Theming is where Dolphin shines. There are (at last count) just shy of 400 templates on the Boonex market that allow you to customize Dolphin to your needs. This is a huge number and definitely helps for those who struggle in the design department. It's great to see a system enjoy so much developer activity.</li>
<li>From a validation perspective, I was a bit alarmed by the results of a markup validation scan I did with <a href="http://validator.w3.org" target="_blank">http://validator.w3.org</a>. It came back with 56 errors and 7 warnings, which I consider excessive for any system. Having said that, the validator isn't perfect but I'd like to see some improvements here to bring that number down. I've yet to see a system easily pass it completely so I tend to allow for some slack here but 56 errors is a bit much.</li>
<li>The forums on the Boonex website are active and there's a lot of people present that can help with issues and customizations, so from a community perspective, things look good and finding help shouldn't be a problem.</li>
<li>The selection of plugins and modules combined with the various ways you can add functionality to the site make this a very solid option for those looking to engage their users for longer site visits and increased usage.</li>
</ul>
Overall, in concluding this Boonex Dolphin Review, I'd say that Dolphin is a good choice for those looking for social networking software, provided you are willing to overlook the few issues I've identified in this review. The price point for the product seems reasonable, the community is large and there is the option to get the system for free for those who want to mess around and don't mind the Boonex ads.
You can learn more, download, or purchase from <a href="https://www.boonex.com" target="_blank">Boonex</a>.

Boonex Dolphin Review - Software for Social Networking

<a href="http://www.jahia.com/" target="_blank">Jahia</a>, one of the world's leading UXP (User Experience Platform) vendors, has announced the completion of a €20 million (circa $22.5 million) round of funding fully subscribed by <a href="http://invus.com/" target="_blank">Invus</a>, an equity investor focused on transformational opportunities.
The Swiss-based Jahia platform is an integral part of the online presence of major organizations, including the European Parliament, Samsung, Europcar, Abercrombie &amp; Fitch, and HomeAway.
Jahia was recently awarded the the <a href="/2014-critics-choice-award-winner-best-java-cms-for-small-to-midsize-business/" target="_blank">2014 Critics' Choice Award for Best JAVA CMS for Small to Midsize Business</a>, as well as the <a href="/2014-critics-choice-award-winner-best-enterprise-java-cms/" target="_blank">2014 Critics' Choice Award for the Best Enterprise Java CMS</a>.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/jahia_preferred_partner-1700x0.png" alt="Jahia" />
<h2>“To Make Our Solution The Obvious Choice”</h2>
Jahia claims that the €20 million funding acquired from Invus will allow them to:
<ul>
<li>Develop their visibility through targeted marketing operations.</li>
<li>Accelerate distribution strategies and partnerships.</li>
<li>Strengthen their presence in several countries, especially in North America and Europe.</li>
<li>At least double their global workforce by the end of 2015.</li>
</ul>
Those are all major steps individually, and one giant leap collectively — to say the least.
Raymond Debbane, CEO and President of Invus, made these comments upon the funding completion:
<blockquote>“Jahia fits perfectly well with our motto: Equity investors in companies who seek to transform their industries. Not only do they have an incredibly strong technology and the proven ability to deliver complex yet versatile solutions to the most demanding organizations, but the vision of their management is – and has always been – firmly rooted into the will to transform a siloed industry into a user-driven one, beyond technology constraints.”</blockquote>
More optimism came from Elie Auvray, the CEO and President of Jahia, as he added:
<blockquote>“We are incredibly proud and honored to see Invus’ strong commitment and acknowledgment of our vision, our customers successes and our ambitions. This funding will allow us to reach our objective: to make our UXP solution the obvious choice for the Digital challenges of the modern Enterprise.”</blockquote>
To find out more about Jahia, <a href="http://www.jahia.com/" target="_blank">visit their website</a>.
Also, be sure to explore more of <a href="/products/jahia/" target="_blank">Jahia through our CMS Directory</a>.

Growth & Expansion: Jahia Receives $22.5 million Round of Funding

The third Beta for Joomla 3.4 has been released, indicating that the final version is edging closer, with a date currently set for February 24th 2015.
More than 3 percent of the Internet runs on <a href="http://www.joomla.org/" target="_blank">Joomla</a>. It powers everything from websites to blogs to custom apps to Intranets.
The Joomla team has also been busy recently. The CMS giant greeted 2015 by <a href="/joomla-now-offers-free-hosted-websites-via-joomla.com/" target="_blank">unveiling Joomla.com</a>, providing the public with a quick and easy way to start a hosted Joomla website — for free.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/joomla_logo_slogan_700x0.png" />
Version 3.4 will address the following areas.
<h3>Front-end Module Editing</h3>
Editing modules will be faster and easier in Joomla 3.4. Incorporating Font end Module editing allows you to to edit modules directly on the page without the need to use Joomla's admin dashboard. Naturally, this new feature simplifies the administration of websites, making them far easier to edit.
<h3>No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA</h3>
Google introduced a <a href="http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.com/2014/12/are-you-robot-introducing-no-captcha.html">no CAPTCHA CAPTCHA API</a> in December 2014, and Joomla has now responded to stay up to date.
Version 3.4 brings about an updated reCAPTCHA plugin to protect your login and registration forms against spam. While still supporting the old reCAPTCHA 1.0, you can now also use it for the new reCAPTCHA version 2.0. A significant number of your users can now attest they are human without having to solve a CAPTCHA. Instead with just a single click they’ll confirm they are not a robot.
<h3>Core en-GB standardisation</h3>
The official language of Joomla is en-GB, and the goal is to standardise all the en-GB language strings in the core of Joomla based on the style guide. This will ensure consistency throughout Joomla. It will provide translation teams with an easy framework and guidelines to create their own style guides to ensure consistency throughout the project across the world.
To find out more about Joomla 3.4, <a href="http://www.joomla.org/announcements/release-news/5584-joomla-3-4-beta-3-released.html" target="_blank">check out Joomla's latest beta announcement</a>.
And of course, be sure to check out <a href="/products/joomla/" target="_blank">Joomla via our CMS Directory</a>.

Joomla 3.4 In Late Stages of Beta

As they approach 1 million live pages around the web, <a href="http://www.silk.co/" target="_blank">Silk</a> announced a brand new Explore page, which greatly improves the way you can visualize and filter the information on any Silk website.  
 With Silk, users can publish facts, data and opinions in a variety of ways. The platform excels with the visualization of information by providing options for the use of crisply designed graphs and charts.  
 Now, with a revamped Explore page, Silk site visitors can search and view information easier than ever before. 
<h2>Explore More</h2>
According to Silk.co, their core goal with to their new Explore page was to make every Silk a joy to search and explore.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/silk700x0.png" alt="Silk Explore Page" /> The upgrade allows you to hit the “explore” button found on all Silks across the Internet, which then presents you with options to filter and search through content in order to experience the data you want faster, and in different ways. 
 Below are some live Silks with great examples of how the new Explore page makes exploration easier for the average visitor.
<ul>
<li><a href="https://world.silk.co/explore/map/collection/country/numeric/water%20area/location/document/filter/matches/region/africa"> Water Areas in Africa (on Countries of the World) </a></li>
<li><a href="http://gendergap.silk.co/explore/linechart/collection/history/numeric/percentage%20male%20nominees/numeric/percentage%20female%20nominees"> Male and Female nominees (on The Gender Gap at the Oscars) </a></li>
<li><a href="http://killedgoogleproducts.silk.co/explore/columnchart/collection/killed%20google%20product/numeric/active%20days%20under%20google/order/desc/active%20days%20under%20google/filter/range/active%20days%20under%20google/1825/-"> A graph of Killed Google Products </a></li>
<li><a href="https://3dprinters.silk.co/explore/columnchart/collection/3d%20printer/numeric/price/order/asc/price/filter/range/price/-/%241000"> A graph of 3D Printers under $1000 </a></li>
<li><a href="http://crowdfunding-funded-technology-projects.silk.co/explore/grid/collection/kickstarter%20funded%20technology%20projects/column/amount%20pledged/image/image/description/date%20funded/order/asc/document/filter/range/amount%20pledged/1000000/-/slice/0/100"> A grid view of popular Crowdfunded Technology Projects </a></li>
<li><a href="http://nea.silk.co/explore/piechart/collection/investment/distribution/sector/filter/equals/status/Current/filter/equals/domain/Information%20Technology"> A piechart of New Enterprise Associates’ IT portfolio </a></li>
</ul>
To find out more about Silk's brand new Explore page, check out their <a href="http://blog.silk.co/post/77289325866/introducing-the-new-explore-page" target="_blank">official announcement on their blog</a> – which also features a neat video introduction of the new interface.
Alternatively, check out <a href="http://www.silk.co/" target="_blank">Silk.co</a> for all the details related to their platform.

Silk Unveil Explore Page Upgrade

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