Articles - Page 40

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

matt-garrepy

<a href="https://amplitude.com/" target="_blank">Amplitude</a>, a digital optimization platform trusted by leading brands like Ford and Walmart, today announced the launch of two new tools: Experiment Results, a new feature of <a href="https://amplitude.com/amplitude-experiment" target="_blank">Amplitude Experiment</a>, and new innovations within the <a href="https://amplitude.com/?utm_source=adwordsb&amp;utm_medium=ppc&amp;utm_campaign=Search_AMER_US_EN_Brand&amp;utm_content=branded_split_home0522&amp;utm_term=amplitude%20analytics&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwp7eUBhBeEiwAZbHwkRQ_RMbM6I-uLvu9QVZPRkzRvt7RV7IQ45IXedOoauMiA92YUdF36xoCZ_kQAvD_BwE" target="_blank">Amplitude Analytics</a> suite – including Campaign Reporting. These new tools will enhance Amplitude's insights around digital optimization and growth performance. 
We've been following Amplitude's rise across market segments for quite some time, and it continues to challenge the staple offerings with its rich mix of analytics features. Companies are finding significant value in Amplitude's behavioral insights, which help organizations to devise new strategies for improving user engagement, retention, and revenue. With the addition of these new tools, Amplitude seems poised to elevate its value for product and marketing teams – and give competitive platforms a run for their money. 
<h2>Accelerating and streamlining A/B testing with Experiment Results</h2>
A/B testing has become a powerful resource for understanding how the market is reacting to products and services. With the right insights into customer behavior and sentiment, organizations can optimize content, pricing, and other dimensions of their offerings to enhance conversions and sales. 
OK... so what's the downside?
The fact is (and we can corroborate this), most testing solutions and processes are incredibly time-consuming. Further, many conventional platforms focus on "vanity metrics" that don't fully reveal whether customers are happy with a product, service, or experience. According to Amplitude, Experiment Results will accelerate and streamline experimentation, empowering companies to make more informed product decisions, accelerate innovation, and drive business outcomes. 
Experiment Results allows teams to plan, track, and analyze experiments to make smarter decisions while using their existing feature flagging system. Product and data science teams can now dramatically scale experimentation with Amplitude's powerful self-service experimentation analysis – all built on the industry's #1 product analytics solution. Amplitude says that Experiment Results will deliver the right data and analytics for teams to set goals, determine if experiments reach a required level of statistical significance, and automatically provide recommended next steps.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/05/pr-54-experiment-results-t-test-results.png" alt="Experiment Results - T-test Results" />Experiment Results - T-Test Results
The top product teams test all new features – often running tens of thousands of experiments to understand the impact of each product change. The biggest barrier to scaling product experimentation is having data and analytics to analyze the results of experiments. Many companies already have infrastructure to deliver new experiments, but rely heavily on data science teams and homegrown infrastructures to formulate the results and provide recommendations on what to do next. 
Experiment Results effectively removes those bottlenecks with self-service experimentation – so more teams can run more experiments quickly and efficiently. Starting today, companies can pair their existing feature flagging infrastructure with Amplitude's sophisticated experimentation analysis capabilities to inform product decisions, accelerate innovation, and drive revenue.  
"Winning product leaders use data-driven insights to determine what product changes to make. With Experiment Results, customers can exponentially increase the number of experiments they run, and get recommended next steps on their experiments," said Justin Bauer, SVP of product at Amplitude. "This means non-technical teams can make smarter decisions faster at scale and ultimately deliver the right features that drive value for their customers and growth for their organizations." 
Key innovations from the company's announcement include:
<ul>
<li>Multi-Metric Causal Analysis: Experiment Results helps teams determine the causal, statistically significant outcomes of experiments – like identifying if users increased their average order spend due to the product change. It reduces the effort to define metrics, analyze data, and present results, supporting both sequential testing and t-test analysis within the Amplitude Experiment product.</li>
<li>Downstream Analysis for Experiments: With predefined metrics and pre-populated charts, Experiment Results moves teams from experimentation to decision-making stages faster. Amplitude's easy-to-understand dashboards enable cross-functional leaders to quickly share experiment results for accessible downstream analysis.</li>
<li>Automated Goals and Recommendations: Experiment Results also guides users to set the right goals, automatically uncovers whether tests are statistically significant, and provides recommended next steps in a quick snapshot.  </li>
</ul>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/05/pr-54-experiment-results-create-metric.png" alt="Experiment Results - Create Metric" />Experiment Results - Create Metric
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/05/pr-54-experiment-results-dashboad-distribution.png" alt="Experiment Results - Dashboad Distribution" />Experiment Results - Dashboard Distribution
<h2>Campaign Reporting, Metrics, and Data Tables in Amplitude Analytics </h2>
With <a href="https://amplitude.com/amplitude-analytics" target="_blank">Amplitude Analytics</a> — Amplitude’s #1 ranked product analytics solution — marketing and product teams can measure campaign and channel performance alongside downstream product metrics like user engagement and retention. Now, with the addition of Campaign Reporting, those same teams will have unprecedented visibility into metrics across the entire funnel, all in a single system. 
Additional new features in Amplitude Analytics include outcome-focused Metrics and Data Tables. These enhancements will empower teams to discover how their marketing programs and product usage meaningfully affect key business outcomes such as sales and revenue. Together, these tools enable cross-functional teams to quickly close the insights-to-action loop and make better business decisions.
Traditionally, there’s been a disconnect between product and campaign data. Organizations leverage product analytics for visibility into customer behaviors and product changes, but struggle to connect marketing performance metrics like attributing user growth to specific channels. For the first time, Amplitude is bringing both marketing and product teams together in a single system to understand how their investments drive growth.
Key innovations in Amplitude Analytics include:
<ul>
<li>Campaign Reporting: With Amplitude’s new Campaign Reporting capabilities, businesses can see which acquisition channels users are coming from across organic and paid sources, understand how marketing programs impact product KPIs using built-in attribution modeling, and understand cross-channel return on ad investments with brand new integrations into their advertising data platforms. </li>
<li>Metrics: With new outcome-based Metrics from Amplitude, product and marketing teams can quickly create a standard set of metrics that make it easy to connect behaviors with outcomes such as sales or revenue. Teams can now align around common definitions for the metrics that matter most to their business and make faster decisions with trusted insights. </li>
<li>Tables: With new Data Tables, customers can measure multiple KPIs in a single view in order to compare and make decisions about their business. Data tables allow for more flexible reporting so marketing and product can have a side-by-side analysis of metrics across the entire customer journey.</li>
</ul>
“Traditionally, marketing, product, and analytics teams have all relied on separate tools to do their jobs, but today, this siloed approach is no longer effective as organizations seek to understand how every decision and action impacts their most important metrics,” said Justin Bauer, Chief Product Officer at Amplitude. “With these customer needs in mind, we’re doubling down on digital analytics and investing in new tools that will provide holistic product insights faster. The introduction of campaign reporting, outcome metrics, and data tables make it easier for teams to consolidate their analytics solutions while expanding the types of metrics they can track across the end-to-end customer journey.”
You can learn more about Amplitude Analytics <a href="https://amplitude.com/blog/new-digital-analytics" target="_blank">here</a> or watch a <a href="https://info.amplitude.com/watch-amplitude-demo" target="_blank">demo</a>. If you're interested, Amplitude is currently hosting <a href="https://amplitude.com/amplify" target="_blank">Amplify 2022</a>, its product and growth conference, through May 26, 2022. You can <a href="https://web.cvent.com/event/6b55d27c-9646-4126-86af-bd79f33821fe/regProcessStep1:ee30c3a1-0f30-4fee-ba8c-32147f226758?refid=linkedin_organic&amp;rp=f066f728-f047-4d92-a561-ec9cf275401b" target="_blank">live stream</a>, follow on <a href="https://twitter.com/Amplitude_HQ" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, and read the <a href="https://amplitude.com/blog/" target="_blank">Amplitude blog</a> for more updates. 
<h2>About Amplitude</h2>
Amplitude is the pioneer in digital optimization software. More than 1,700 customers, including Atlassian, Instacart, NBCUniversal, Shopify, and Under Armour rely on Amplitude to help them innovate faster and smarter by answering the strategic question: "How do our digital products drive our business?" The Amplitude Digital Optimization System makes critical data accessible and actionable to every team — unifying product, marketing, developers, and executive teams around a new depth of customer understanding and common visibility into what drives business outcomes. Amplitude is the best-in-class product analytics solution, ranked #1 in G2's 2022 Spring Report. Learn how to optimize your digital products and business at <a href="https://amplitude.com/" target="_blank">amplitude.com</a>.

Amplitude Announces New Testing and Analytics Tools for Making Smarter Product Decisions at Scale

cms-critic-staff

<a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.onehippo.com&amp;esheet=51042117&amp;newsitemid=20150218005454&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Hippo&amp;index=1&amp;md5=8c25ba830bcb9f352242fdf61317f289" target="_blank">Hippo</a>, a leading Web Content Management System provider, has announced an enhanced working relationship with EMC® Documentum®, as part of its participation in the EMC Business Partner Program for Technology Connect Partners.
Hippo CMS is a big player in the world of open source software, and was recently awarded both the <a href="/2014-critics-choice-award-winner-best-free-java-cms/" target="_blank">2014 Critics' Choice Award For Best Free Java CMS</a>, and the <a href="/2014-best-enterprise-java-cms/" target="_blank">2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Enterprise Java CMS</a>.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/media_screenshots-login_cms7_9700x0.jpg" />
The aim of this integration between Hippo CMS and Documentum is to enable businesses to leverage the power of Hippo’s omnichannel web content management, alongside enterprise content management.
<h2>Seamless Integration Into Online Ecosystems</h2>
The combined power of Hippo’s Web Content Management System and Documentum deliver the following key benefits to end users:
<ul>
<li>Seamless integration into online business ecosystems with Hippo’s lightweight Java stack built for uptime, security and performance</li>
<li>Improved content performance through data driven content optimization and delivery that makes content a business driver</li>
<li>Editorial velocity across channels that seamlessly integrates Documentum content and publishes it to the web</li>
<li>Consistency of workflow that enables users to run content through a secure validation workflow, maintain versions, and serve approved content to external audiences</li>
<li>Ease of use with the freedom to integrate external data sources (such as Pivotal Big Data Suite) to drive personalized web experiences</li>
<li>Flexibility to run Hippo on premise, in the cloud, or in a hybrid solution with <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.onehippo.com%2Fen%2Fondemand&amp;esheet=51042117&amp;newsitemid=20150218005454&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Hippo+OnDemand&amp;index=2&amp;md5=b626870cd724a0fdffeee7294ab9da08" target="_blank">Hippo OnDemand</a></li>
</ul>
Hippo's CTO,  Arjé Cahn, made these comments:
<blockquote>“We’re proud to be offering EMC’s customer base a best-in-class Web Content Management System solution.
There’s a strong technological alignment between Hippo and EMC. Hippo’s roots in the Apache Software Foundation and Open Source, and EMC’s ECM heritage and relationship with Spring and Pivotal, and our mutual belief in content as the backbone of online business make us a great fit to empower our joint customers to innovate through the creation of truly compelling web experiences.”</blockquote>
Mr Cahn's enthusiasm was echoed by Jeroen van Rotterdam, the CTO of the Enterprise Content Division at EMC:
<blockquote>“EMC is pleased that Hippo has achieved the Select tier level in the EMC Technology Connect track, demonstrating its commitment to excellence in technology innovation for Enterprise Content Management, Web Experience Management, Real-Time Analytics and Personalized Content Delivery.
Hippo validates our platform strategy by embedding EMC's open, extensible information infrastructure platform for managing information and expanding our combined solutions into new markets. We look forward to working with Hippo to ensure that our mutual customers have the highest level of support possible for their information infrastructure initiatives.”</blockquote>
To learn more about this new working relationship between Hippo CMS and EMC Documentum, <a href="http://www.onehippo.com/en/about/news/2015/hippo-partnership-emc-documentum.html" target="_blank">check out the official announcement</a>.
Also, you can explore more of Hippo via our CMS Directory.

Hippo & EMC Documentum Come Together To Enhance Web Content Management

mike-johnston

Impact Radius, a popular marketing and affiliate solutions provider, has announced that they have acquired Forensiq, a top provider in advertising fraud prevention.
“Together the teams will focus on the development of artificial intelligence technologies, pioneering the new digital currency of attribution, viewability and ad fraud,” said Per Pettersen, Impact Radius CEO. “Exposing and removing fraudulent traffic across devices and ecosystems will create a more pure, real-time data hub for media buyers, analysts and executives to stay on the same page, share granular insights  and maximize marketing ROI.”
Forensiq uses advanced technology plus an obsessive team of data scientists that help companies eliminate impression fraud, click fraud, affiliate fraud and cookie stuffing.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/forensiq-what-we-do-infographic-1024x652.png" alt="forensiq-what-we-do-infographic" />
Impact Radius is an affiliate provider that helps companies market their products through an affiliate program. Their system manages insertion order proposals and tracks / reports click through and affiliate sales. With the combination of these two platforms, Impact Radius has positioned themselves in a unique place for those who are running affiliate campaigns to promote their businesses. Now you can get full affiliate program management with the safety of knowing that you have a complex fraud prevention solution in place as well, to prevent unnecessary ad spend.
“We are thrilled to join the Impact Radius team and assist their impressive roster of clients in the fight against ad fraud,” said David Sendroff, Founder and CEO of Forensiq. “We believe in a world where advertisers can focus on improving ROI, and not have to worry about eliminating fraud from the equation. Our automated and seamless solutions allow advertisers to maximize the impact of every dollar spent.”
To learn more about this acquisition visit <a href="http://www.impactradius.com/impact-radius-acquires-forensiq-creating-worlds-first-marketing-system-record-built-fraud-detection?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWWpVd05tUTBZamcxWlRneCIsInQiOiJ0NFlLbHBZQVZ5dDl3Z21nT3M3MU9Pa3YzSENCOGNwbHNCZWxuWmhuSVwvWUU5OER3MmU1RDl6QlkzWG85ZmV2anpcL2U2RVF1RytJVWVmSUVsdXBvTzFpaE93RUNKanJld3lYVDVld1lWdlNRPSJ9">Impact Radius</a>, to learn more about Forensiq, <a href="https://forensiq.com/">visit them online</a>.

Impact Radius acquires Forensiq

<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

This month, I had the pleasure of visiting the head office of the popular open source enterprise CMS, Magnolia in beautiful Basel, Switzerland.Their offices are situated on one of the longest rivers in Europe, the Rhine River, which runs over 1200 kilometers through Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands.It was an absolutely gorgeous view from the balcony outside their offices.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/magnolia18.jpg" alt="Rhine River" />When <a target="_blank" href="http://www.thekitchenmagpie.com/about">my wife </a>and I first arrived, we were greeted with a smile by Boris Kraft, CTO &amp; Co-Founder, and Ben Price, Marketing Communications Manager for Magnolia International. Of course, we did the obligatory pose for the camera (that's Ben on my left and Boris on my right).<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/magnolia.jpg" />We had a tour of the offices, which were really well set up in a beautiful old building that, according to Boris, were previously a dorm for students.  For your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures of their head office and their awesome team.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/magnolia14.jpg" />Natascha Natum, Management Assistant and HR Coordinator.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/magnolia13.jpg" />(left) Ben Price, Marketing Manager, (centre left) Isabelle Dubach, Marketing Manager, (centre right) Gavan Stockdale, Technical Writer, (right) Laura Gambell, Marketing Assistant<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/magnolia19.jpg" />Magnolia CMS Core Developers<figure class="image"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/magnolia21.jpg" /></figure>Magnolia CMS Core Developers<figure class="image"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/magnolia16.jpg" /></figure>(left) Sebastian Stang, Senior Sales &amp; Partner Manager and (right) Samuel Schmitt, Technical Account Manager.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/magnolia2.jpg" />Alain Kugelmann, Head of FinanceAfter my tour, I had a chance to sit down with Boris while he gave me a tour of the latest release, Magnolia 5.2.2 on both iPad and Desktop:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/magnolia6.jpg" alt="Boris Kraft and Mike Johnston" />What makes this release unique is the amazing new interface they developed for it. The entire backend and CMS has been redesigned from the ground up to be completely functional on mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets. There's even a beautifully designed touch interface.Here's a great video showcasing the interface on the iPad: And here is another showing content authoring from the desktop: As we walked through the interface, I couldn't help but be impressed with the slick implementation. I know, I've said before in my “<a href="/how-to-find-the-perfect-cms">How to Find the Perfect CMS</a>” article that you should always be careful about being “wowed by the interface” but in this case, it's not just a pretty face with no functionality. Not only is the interface one of the best I've seen, it truly is amazingly simple yet functional on all devices.As Boris explained during our discussion, their goal with Magnolia 5 was to offer a CMS that actually doesn't just manage your content but rather provides a framework where users can build their website quickly and easily using a flexible system that is expandable through apps. They also wanted to ensure that this same system worked on the latest technologies such as tablets like the iPad.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/magnolia8.jpg" alt="Boris Kraft and Mike Johnston" /><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/magnolia10.jpg" alt="Boris Kraft and Mike Johnston" />They were so concerned with the interface being functional but not overwhelming that they went through three major redesigns before finally feeling like they hit the nail on the head with the Magnolia 5 interface. I have to agree. It truly is an amazingly slick interface.If you haven't had a chance to play with it yet, I strongly suggest you <a target="_blank" href="http://www.magnolia-cms.com/">head over to their site</a> and try out the free demo (scroll down and fill in your details, it takes about 1 minute and it's well worth it to see what they've done here).Want to learn more about Magnolia? Check out the <a href="/products/magnolia-cms/">Magnolia CMS page</a> in our CMS directory.

My visit to Magnolia's Offices in Basel, Switzerland

Summer is (almost) here in the Northern Hemisphere, and headless is heating up. 
Right on the heels of Netlify's <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/netlify-to-host-headless-commerce-summit-for-talks-on-building-world-class-e-commerce-experiences/" target="_blank">Headless Commerce Summit</a>, Sanity – a unified content platform for powering digital experiences – is hosting a unique conference that's focused on structured content. It should come as no surprise that the company's inaugural shindig has been aptly named "Structured Content," and will offer a global experience to content professionals at multiple levels across the industry. 
The event will provide live access at three locations in the U.S. and Europe: San Francisco from May 24 - 25,  and London and Oslo from May 25 - 26. If a live event isn't in the cards, you can also <a href="https://hopin.com/events/structured-content-2022" target="_blank">watch the conference online for free</a> during the San Francisco sessions. 
While this might be Sanity's first foray with a conference of this kind, the company managed to attract some heavy hitters to sponsor its dance card, including <a href="https://www.netlify.com/" target="_blank">Netlify</a>, <a href="https://vercel.com/" target="_blank">Vercel</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-headless-commerce-platforms/" target="_blank">Shopify</a>, and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/gatsby-unveils-v3-0-cloud-hosting-and-more-at-gatsbyconf-2021/">Gatsby</a>. According to <a href="https://www.sanity.io/" target="_blank">Sanity</a>, the three-day conference is expected to have more than 2,000 content strategists, engineers, marketers, and designers in attendance. Not too shabby for a first outing – and a testament to the platform's growing presence in the content space. 
To be clear, Structured Content is not a Sanity-focused event. This distinction is summed up quite elegantly by <a href="https://structuredcontent.live/speakers/carrie-hane" target="_blank">Carrie Hane</a>, Sanity's Head of Content Strategy Relations: "Structured Content 2022 is not a Sanity user conference. It’s not about our product. This is what we hope is the beginning of a movement. We created this event to educate and inspire the entire cross-disciplinary community of people who work on digital experiences."
<div>
<h2>What to expect at Structured Content 2022</h2>
</div>
According to the event's website, the program schedule includes a variety of workshops about structured content design, presentations about the future of digital experience, workshops on how organizations can harness structured content, and so much more. Some of the most noteworthy include: 
<ul>
<li>“The Future of Digital Experience Will Be Powered by Structured Content”</li>
<li>“Bridging Disciplines with Structured Content”</li>
<li>“How Publishing Organizations Harness Structured Content to Power Editorial Experiences”</li>
<li>“Design and Structured Content: Where We Are, Where We Could Go”</li>
<li>“Reflections on the Future of the Web”</li>
<li>“Content Makes Commerce Human”</li>
</ul>
"We’ve put together <a href="https://structuredcontent.live/program" target="_self">14 wide-ranging sessions</a> about the benefits of structured content, fresh approaches to solving problems, and thoughts on what the future holds for us as both consumers and creators of digital experiences.," said Hane. "You’ll discover new ways of thinking about the potential of content and what it can accomplish."
And that's just scratching the surface. Check out the whole program at<a href="https://structuredcontent.live/program" target="_blank"> https://structuredcontent.live/program</a>. 
<h2>So what exactly is "structured content," anyway?</h2>
While we have you here, let's get this whole "structured content" thing straight.  
One of the best analogies we've seen for explaining structured content is Legos. Just like the toy that everyone loves to tinker with, structured content is broken down into independent, reusable components, accessed from a single source of truth – and planned in a technologically-agnostic way. Structured content can be used across channels and delivered through APIs, and it's easier to prototype and iterate with – making development faster and easier.
As a platform, Sanity is uniquely designed for structured content. In addition to being open-source, API-based, and headless, the company has pioneered an entirely new approach to building websites with structured content as the mechanism for building pages. 
Sanity positions itself as a "fast-growing alternative to the traditional CMS." What makes Sanity different is that it treats content as data. By storing resources in its <a href="https://www.sanity.io/docs/datastore" target="_blank">Sanity Content Lake</a>, organizations can effectively "de-silo" their content – making it available for both collaboration and global distribution. By leveraging APIs, users can manage their text, images, and other media in a unified platform and build engaging digital experiences in real-time.
At CMS Critic, we talk about <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/tag/headless/">headless</a> and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-headless-commerce-platforms/">headless CMSes</a> quite a bit. What's interesting about Sanity is that it combines the power of a headless CMS with structured content, so its offerings go beyond the typical headless CMS. In fact, the company wrote a <a href="https://www.sanity.io/blog/web-developers-headless-cms-structured-content" target="_blank">spicy post</a> about the need to focus on structured content more the headless CMS itself, much to the chagrin of its industry peers. 
<img style="max-width:1000px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/05/traditional-headless-structured-content.webp" alt="Traidional CMS vs Headless CMS vs Structured Content Platform" />
<div> </div>
<div>Structured Content 2022 is next week, and looks to be a solid event. We'll do some follow-up on the other side. In the meantime, <a href="https://structuredcontent.live/" target="_blank">register to attend live or online. </a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>You should also check out<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sanity-raises-39-million-focuses-growth-on-content-as-data-for-transformative-digital-experiences/" target="_blank"> our interview with the Sanity founder and CEO, Magnus Hillstead</a>, where he shared some of his views on the CMS market and the value of being headless.</div>
<div> </div>
<h2>About Sanity</h2>
<a href="https://www.sanity.io/" target="_blank">Sanity</a> is the platform for structured content that en0ables teams to build exceptional digital experiences. By treating content as data, modern organizations use Sanity’s APIs to build optimal editing workflows and share content between systems to increase digital velocity.
Sanity’s unique model for orchestrating content is used by more than 100,000 developers at major brands like Conde Nast, Nike, Unilever, and Cloudflare. They use Sanity to shape and mold content to build multimedia-rich experiences both for their public-facing brand and the way customers experience their products and services firsthand. Our mission is to be the most versatile system for creating and distributing digital content to any device, application, or channel.

Sanity to Host Structured Content 2022 Conference in U.S., Europe, and Online

paris-tuzun

Image of Structured Content logo against yellow background

<a href="http://modx.com/" target="_blank">MODX</a>, the free and open source content management system, is taking steps towards making itself (and in turn, the Internet) more accessible for those who would usually struggle to get the most out of the world wide web.
A range of disabilities can and do impair people from experiencing content management systems as they are intended to be experienced. And that's a problem for everybody in the CMS world.
Thankfully, MODX are taking the initiative, shining a much needed light on the issue.
Here's a video detailing MODX's mission.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQlT5isC-2U
<a href="http://modx.com/blog/2015/02/06/help-us-bring-modx-to-everyone/" target="_blank"> </a>
<a href="http://modx.com/blog/2015/02/06/help-us-bring-modx-to-everyone/" target="_blank">In a recent blog post</a>, Ryan Thrash, the Co-Founder of MODX, said this:
<blockquote>“…For people who rely on assistive technologies, building in MODX has been marginal, and not a good user experience.
For example, try surfing the web with your eyes closed while someone reads the page to you, and you try to tab to the right links. What if you misplace your eyeglasses and need to enlarge your fonts 2- to 3-times their normal size? Or, crank down the contrast and brightness on your monitor, and only use your thumb on your non-dominant hand. For many users, there is effectively no alternate way to experience the web.”
Accessibility is for everyone and it’s time to make accessibility a top-priority in MODX.”</blockquote>
<h2>An Improved &amp; More Consistent UX</h2>
<a href="http://a11y.modx.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/modx700x0.jpg" alt="MODX " /></a>
It's worth noting that this project will enhance the MODX user experience for everybody, not just those who require assistive technology.
MODX say that their users will soon benefit from an improved and more consistent UX, thanks to a host of benefits including vastly improved keyboard navigation and other enhancements.
<a href="http://www.osu.edu/">The Ohio State University</a> also deserve credit for helping to fund the project.
Ken Petri, The Ohio State University Director of Web Accessibility, made this statement upon the announcement of the MODX initiative:
<blockquote>“MODX has a lot of traction on campus. For site administrators and content creators, the Manager interface is logical, intuitive, and simple to use. But there are a number of staff on campus who rely on assistive technologies, such as screen readers, or who have other vision impairments or need access by using the keyboard alone because of a motor disability.
To this point, MODX hasn’t been a practical solution for them. But Ohio State and others in the accessibility community are working with the MODX team over the next few months to help guide changes to the Manager interfaces so that they can be used effectively by everyone, including our staff with disabilities.”</blockquote>
I for one, commend MODX and The Ohio State university for this noble move.
In a world where every serial entrepreneur and enterprising organization is trying to reach more people in more ways, MODX are reaching out to those looking to do the simpler things, like build a website of their own.
Making technology more accessible in this sense is exactly the type of innovation needed in the world of CMS. Perhaps every vendor should now ask themselves about how accessible their products really are, especially to those with slightly and significantly different needs.
In my recent <a href="/cms-in-2015-what-we-want-to-see/" target="_blank">article about the future of CMS in 2015</a>, I mentioned the need to make products more accessible, and although I may not have originally meant accessibility in this particular sense, MODX are definitely showing us all the way forward when it comes to innovation in accessibility.
Check out the <a href="http://modx.com/blog/2015/02/06/help-us-bring-modx-to-everyone/" target="_blank">MODX blog</a> for more information on this project, and if you can, do your best to help <a href="http://a11y.modx.com/" target="_blank">by donating towards their $50,000 goal</a>.
Also, you can find out more about <a href="/products/modx/" target="_blank">MODX through out CMS Directory</a>.

MODX Makes Noble Move Towards True Accessibility

<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ipad-820272_1280-1-e1465814975223-1024x458.jpg" alt="Responsive Design Planning" />
Responsive design can be an extremely useful tool and solution when employed properly and for the appropriate problems. It's important to note that not all sites are compatible with a responsive design, while others are perfect candidates for this type of setup.
Deciding to go responsive involves a lot of planning, so to help you get underway, here are five tips to consider if you’re thinking about taking the plunge.
<h2>1. Understand All Viewports</h2>
The very first thing that you need to do is list out all viewports (browser window sizes) that you will need to create wireframes and designs for. If you want to get really specific, this website lists out viewport sizes for nearly every device that currently exists. But a good place to start is with the following widths:
<ul>
<li>320px wide for smartphones</li>
<li>768px wide for tablets (when held vertically) or 1024px (when flipped horizontally)</li>
<li>1024px and up to 1680px (sometimes higher) for desktops.</li>
<li>Additionally, you'll need to consider that content will adapt differently to various devices and operating systems</li>
</ul>
<h2>2. Build a Triple Wireframe</h2>
One you've figured out your viewports, it's time to start <a href="http://agilitycms.com/services/technical-services">wireframing</a>. For the best results, you should create three layouts per page – one for desktops, one for smartphones, and one for tablets.
A good tip is to pick one specific viewport, and design to that one first. Then, adapt the design to other two viewports.
<h2>3. Avoid Bandwidth &amp; Performance Issues</h2>
A big challenge of responsive design is figuring out ways to avoid pushing content down to devices with limited bandwidth. While high resolution photos and numerous JavaScript files look and work great on desktop, they can easily cause a slow and not-so-user-friendly experience on smartphones and tablets.
A great solution is to re-purpose desktop content by pre-optimizing images and other items before sending these files to handheld devices.
Additionally, using compact scripts and lightened-up code will take up as little bandwidth as possible.
<h2>4. Create Content for Your Responsive Audiences</h2>
The way users consume content on a mobile device versus what they’re looking for on desktop is really different.
So, while planning for responsive design, list out what your users want from each experience, what tasks they're looking to complete and what would be the most useful to them on each different device.
<h2>5. Ensure Seamless Experiences</h2>
While users want something different from their mobile interactions with your site than what they want from desktop, there is an increasing trend of users employing both mobile and desktop to complete a task. This use case, starting a task on one device and moving to another, is called sequential screening.
The experience that the mobile and desktop versions of your site provide should therefore compliment each other. The structure of the site should make it easy for these users to move from one device to the other to quickly and easily complete their task.
<hr />
[dropshadowbox align=”none” effect=”lifted-both” width=”auto” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]Wondering what route to take when it comes to a responsive design vs. a mobile site? We have indicated advantages and disadvantages for both. <a href="http://agilitycms.com/resources/a-responsive-design-vs-a-mobile-site?utm_source=cmscritic&amp;utm_medium=blog">Click here to read</a>. [/dropshadowbox]
<hr />
This post is <a href="/advertising/">sponsored</a> by AgilityCMS. Find out more at <a href="http://www.agilitycms.com/">agilitycms.com</a>.

5 Tips for Responsive Design Planning

CMS Summit 26

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

What's ahead for Open Source CMS?

#ffffff

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

<a href="http://processwire.com/" target="_blank">ProcessWire</a>, the content management system currently powering CMS Critic, has released some very useful features pertaining to image editing.
ProcessWire is a free and open source PHP CMS, and was recently awarded the <a href="/2014-critics-choice-award-winner-best-free-php-cms/" target="_blank">2014 Critics' Choice Award for Best Free PHP CMS</a>.
Here's a quick video demonstrating the new image editing power ProcessWire users now have.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vlWIjeukHvc?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
In case you didn't catch it all from the video, here are the highlights:
<ul>
<li>New built-in image cropping feature (in addition to existing resize features), with ability to re-crop from original source image.</li>
<li>HiDPI/Retina image support for images inserted into rich text fields (via resolution doubling and increased compression).</li>
<li>New maximize (all pixels) and minimize (fit-to-window) image tools.</li>
<li>Simpler image alignment tools with live preview (align left, align right, align center).</li>
<li>New tool for viewing all variations of an image with ability to delete any or all of them.</li>
</ul>
So as you can see from the video and from the bullet points above, ProcessWire is now far more powerful when it comes to image editing.
Most of the new features are self-explanatory, and most users will immediately recognise the benefits. One feature though, might need some explaining.
<h2>ProcessWire Now Has HiDPI / Retina Image Support</h2>
HiDPI or Retina-ready images are now the default  option on most smartphones, tablets and notebook computers. So, being able to display them on your website is pretty important.
The best way to display such images is to use an image that's double the size you want to display it at, and then use width and/or height tags to scale it to 50% of its original size. Sound cumbersome, but that's the way it works.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen_shot_2015-02-13_at_4_24_14_pm700x0.png" /> 
To make it easier, ProcessWire now enables user to check a “HiDPI/Retina” checkbox in the image editor before inserting an image into content. ProcessWire then resizes the image to double the resolution you specified, and then adds a width tag (but not a height tag) to the markup, at your specified size.
The reason it doesn't add a height tag is because this makes life a whole lot easier when it comes to handling these images in responsive layouts. So all in all, it's a pretty handy feature indeed.
As a regular user of ProcessWire here at CMS Critic, I'm personally looking forward to making the most of these new features!
To get all the details on this new batch of features, <a href="http://processwire.com/blog/posts/new-image-editing-features-2.5.19/#highlights-of-new-image-editing-features" target="_blank">check out the ProcessWire blog announcement</a>.
And of course, be sure to check out <a href="/products/processwire/" target="_blank">ProcessWire via our CMS Directory</a>.

ProcessWire Unveils New Image Editing Features

<a href="https://mithra62.com/"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-8.png" alt="sshot-8" /></a>
<a href="https://mithra62.com">Backup Pro</a> has now been serving the CMS community for five successful years, and they’re celebrating this milestone by having a mega sale for a limited time only. The CMS agnostic backup tool was launched in 2011 by <a href="http://blog.ericlamb.net/">Eric Lamb</a>, and now serves as a worthy alternative to SaaS backup platforms.
Currently, Backup Pro supports; WordPress, Prestashop, <a href="/concrete5-marketplace-gets-backup-pro/">Concrete5</a>, Craft CMS and ExpressionEngine (2 &amp; 3). However, support for more CMS is in the works. 
Unlike SaaS data backup systems, Backup Pro is a tool that only has to be purchased once, giving you a life-long disaster recovery tool to use at your website’s disposal. It can be hosted anywhere, from local storage to Amazon S3 Cloud. 
<h2>Keeping Data Safe For 5 Years</h2>
With five years of experience under its belt, Backup Pro <a href="https://mithra62.com/projects/view/backup-pro">comes packed with the features needed</a> for complete disaster recovery. 
Backup Pro’s features include:
<ul>
<li>Online database restoration</li>
<li>Remote storage options</li>
<li>Granular file backups</li>
<li>Automation friendly</li>
<li>Console routing</li>
<li><a href="https://mithra62.com/projects/feature/backup-pro/single-and-common-format">And more</a></li>
</ul>
<a href="https://mithra62.com/"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-9.png" alt="sshot-9" /></a>
To claim your discount, simply head over to Backup Pro website and use the coupon code “Celebrate5Years”. <a href="https://mithra62.com/projects/view/backup-pro">Buy your copy of Backup Pro now</a>. And as always, be sure to explore the <a href="/backup-pro/">Backup Pro hub</a> here on CMS Critic.

70% Off Backup Pro: Celebrating 5 Years of Data Backups

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.volusion.com/">Volusion</a>, the popular eCommerce solution, has revamped its mobile shopping experience.Thousands of online stores across the globe are powered by Volusion, and you can read more about the platform by checking out my <a href="/volusion-review/">Volusion review</a>.This update has focused on improving the general look and feel of Volusion on mobile devices, increasing sales, and improving search engine optimization. Let's take a look at what's new.<h2>New Product Display Grid &amp; Add To Cart Button</h2><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/blog_responsivethemeimprovement-650x350.jpeg" alt="Volusion" />Thanks to Volusion's new product grid display, the products on each user's store will have larger images, paired with a simplified layout.There is now a better balance between text and images, with the aim of boosting engagement. This feature is applicable on homepage featured products, category pages, product pages and search results.Also, no matter what page of a store a customer is on, they can now quickly add their favorite products to the cart, leading to increased sales. This is thanks to a new feature which allows the Add-To-Cart button to be more visible while the customer browses.<h2>Customization &amp; Search Engine Optimization</h2>Volusion merchants can also customize the <a target="_blank" href="http://onlinebusiness.volusion.com/articles/add-to-cart-button-tips-and-best-practices/">Add-To-Cart button design</a> to match their site’s overall design. The Add-To-Cart button will now be available on category pages, product pages and search pages.Furthermore, Volusion claim that thanks to all product-related content now living “within one HTML wrapper”, search engines like Google can now crawl Volusion pages faster, making for a better SEO score.To read more about Volusion's new mobile features, <a target="_blank" href="http://onlinebusiness.volusion.com/articles/responsive-design-templates-update/">check out their blog announcement</a>.

Volusion Enhances Responsive Design & Mobile Shopping Experience

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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