Articles - Page 41

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

matt-garrepy

Manjaro Linux is one of the most popular Linux distributions on the planet and impressively, one of the top three over at the ever popular website <a target="_blank" href="http://distrowatch.com/">Distrowatch</a> but does it hold up as something you should run as a daily driver? Find out in this Manjaro Review.This review has been updated and is now based on the most recent Manjaro 18 release.Installation is exactly the same as it has been for as long as I can remember so I'm not going to get into how it works. It's pretty much identical to every Linux distribution from that standpoint.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/manjaro-review-the-install-process_ywu7fe.png" />The Install Process – Manjaro ReviewThe particular edition I'm testing is the XFCE release since it's the default desktop of choice for Manjaro. They do, however, offer KDE, Gnome and an Architect edition (which is used to build and customize your own iso).<h2>The Desktop</h2>Boot-up was, as expected, quite fast. Manjaro has always impressed me from a speed perspective.One of the nice features that Manjaro (and a handful of other distributions) include is a handy welcome window (Manjaro Hello). From a user experience perspective, this is a good way to introduce users to their new environment and offer them some resources to help them familiarize themselves. I've always been a big fan of these little touches.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/manjaro-review-welcome-screen_ottc8y.jpg" />Manjaro Review – Welcome ScreenFor those who speak different languages and prefer to switch to something more native, the top left drop down allows you to switch quickly and easily.<h2>The XFCE Desktop</h2>The Manjaro desktop is a customized XFCE experience using a customized version of the <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/adapta-project/adapta-gtk-theme">Adapta</a> theme. There is a menu on the left hand side of the screen, your system tray on the right and a few icons on the desktop.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/manjaro-review-the-desktop_igj7lb.png" />Manjaro Review – The DesktopBy default, Manjaro comes packed with a solid selection of software such as Firefox, LibreOffice, Audacious for your music library and more.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/manjaro-review-the-menu_qi7n48.png" />Manjaro Review – The Menu<h2>Customization</h2>XFCE is fairly easy to customize. For the panel, you can quickly add items to the panel by right clicking on it and choosing Panel followed by Add New Items.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/manjaro-review-adding-to-the-panel_hlfp59.jpg" />Manjaro Review – Adding to the PanelTo modify the various theme settings, you can open Appearance from the menu in the bottom left.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/manjaro-review-appearance-settings_y6xt60.jpg" />Manjaro Review – Appearance SettingsThe Manjaro folks are kind enough to include quite a few nice theme options to select from if you don't like the default look and feel so feel free to explore.<h2>Manjaro Apps</h2>Aside from the obvious beauty of the Plasma desktop, Manjaro provides some of their own integrated software as well such as the Manjaro Settings Manager which allows you to select from a number of available kernels, download additional language packs and install third party drivers for your hardware. You can access it either from the small M icon in the system tray by the clock or under Settings in the menu.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/manjaro-review-manjaro-settings-manager_gynmco.jpg" />Manjaro Review – Manjaro Settings ManagerSwitching kernels is incredibly easy. Just be careful in doing so. I wouldn't recommend just swapping it out unless you know what you are doing or have a distinct purpose for doing so.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/manjaro-review-choose-a-kernel_oksbww.jpg" />Manjaro Review – Choose a Kernel<h2>Included Applications</h2>Audacious is included as the default music player and does a good job of providing enough features to suit most people. It also has a nice selection of plugins to help extend your player.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/manjaro-review-audacious_sk4sva.png" />Manjaro Review – AudaciousSteam, for gaming, appears to be included with this release as well.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/manjaro-review-steam_gut2bo.jpg" />Manjaro Review – SteamSoftware is managed with the easy to use Pamac package manager and it worked for me as intended without issue. There's a nice hefty selection of software to choose from here as well – which is nice to see.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/manjaro-review-pamac_iyn2yv.jpg" />Manjaro Review – PamacOverall, there's a good selection of pre-installed and available applications to choose from.<h2>Conclusion</h2>In summary, Manjaro 18 feels like a pretty solid release. I came across no deal breakers and was able to work within the environment without issue. Everything felt fast and lean; something I've come to expect from Archlinux based releases; and worked well. If you suffer from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/the-trials-and-tribulations-of-a-distro-hopper/">distro hopping</a> syndrome like myself, give it a shot and let me know your thoughts. Also, if you are aware of any issues with this release, please let me know in the comments. I'm giving it a 5/5 due to the inclusion of such a wide variety of solid software and the stability and speed of the release.Don't forget to check out some of our other reviews as well:<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/elementary-os-review/">Elementary OS Review</a><a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/ubuntu-mate-review/">Ubuntu MATE Review</a><a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/reviews/solus-review/">Solus Review</a>You can grab your copy of Manjaro from their website here: <a target="_blank" href="https://manjaro.org/">Manjaro Linux</a>

Manjaro Review - Fast, Sleek and Packed with Software

mike-johnston

If you haven’t already noticed, video and the Internet go together pretty darn well.
From video-based social media to on-demand movies, video content is everywhere, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. Businesses large and small are making use of video to demonstrate their products, provide information, and above all, win custom.
Launched in 2013 out of Rockville, Maryland, <a href="http://www.uscreen.tv/" target="_blank">Uscreen</a> is a platform built to sell video content, allowing visitors to either download or stream the good stuff from any device. Vendors using Uscreen can set their content to be sold or rented, and can also run a video subscription service.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-1700x0.jpg" alt="Uscreen" />
Impressively, Uscreen already boasts of delivering over 10,000 videos per month, despite being less than two years old as a standalone platform.
<h2>A Flexible Video Storefront</h2>
Speaking of videos, here's a quick video demonstrating some of Uscreen's key features.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzcX2qFNvKc
Essentially, Uscreen enables you to create a digital storefront, similar to that of most other eCommerce websites. Visitors can then browse through your visual collection before deciding on how they wish to pay for, and eventually view the content.
Here's an additional breakdown of Uscreen's features:
<ul>
<li>Uscreen gives you a fully customizable storefront to post and sell videos to your customers. The platform also handles all transactions &amp; eCommerce duties.</li>
<li>Viewers can stream videos on any device including phones, tablets, TV’s &amp; Apple Airplay. They can do so at anytime, anywhere. Plus, they can even download them, if you allow them to.</li>
<li>Viewers can Buy, Rent, or Subscribe to any of your videos, you set the price and manage your subscriptions via your Uscreen publisher admin area.</li>
<li>All videos are protected with a proprietary DRM &amp; encryption, giving you optimum security across the board.</li>
<li>Dedicated iOS &amp; Android apps make the viewing expereince more enjoyable, and videos more accessible.</li>
</ul>
Furthermore, when viewers access your streamed video content, Uscreen gives you the ability to; offer different content chapter and episode markers, link to PDFs and other webpages, and more — all within the same window. Thus, the potential for what Uscreen could be used for, is intruiging.
One of the standout business models which crossed my mind when exploring Uscreen, was online training and education, although the possibilities are endless. 
<h2>Providing The Video Dimension</h2>
Remember when having a blog was the latest “new dimension” for online businesses?
Well, now that blogs are pretty much necessities, the newest dimension on the block is video content. It’s easy to interact with, highly effective at conveying messages, and it’s an excellent opportunity for brands to show yet more personality.
Uscreen is giving brands that outlet in a manageable way.
The pricing structure, which starts from $49.95 per month plus a 15% revenue share, doesn’t freeze out startups or small businesses. Rather, it’s a professional video selling and streaming service for the masses. Now that's an exciting prospect.
To find out more about Uscreen, <a href="http://www.uscreen.tv/" target="_blank">visit their website</a>.

Uscreen: Sell Videos, Simply

Newscoop, the open-source content management system for publishers, has a new release available. This version was released to improve articles and comments within the system as well as improving support with PHP 5.4.This video introduces the system, but doesn't showcase the features. You can check out the system yourself with a demo from their website:<figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EZF916Cet4"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3EZF916Cet4" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure>A list of some of the new features and changes in this list:<ol><li>Overhauled media archive Multiple file upload, faster search and new features!</li><li>Drag-and-drop front page management Use lists to add articles to your front page (or other site area) and re-order your front page.</li><li>Intelligent image renditions Use Newscoop to crop images and display perfectly in different areas of the site.</li><li>Dynamic Maps Points of interest from multiple articles can now be displayed on a single map on your website.</li><li>Video and picture slideshows Slideshows can be attached to articles and can be managed through the Media Archive.</li><li>Citizen journalist and community management tools Newscoop allows visitors to sign up for a profile, comment on articles and even follow topics.</li><li>Two new adaptive CSS themes, the New Custodian and the Rock Star Theme manager allows you to switching from one theme to another with one click.</li><li>Improved SoundCloud plugin Upload audio to the web's best audio sharing service and use it as your sound archive.</li><li>Related Article Lists Create thematic and semantic links to group articles.</li><li>Better comments We've improved the UI and made it pluggable into services like Disqus.</li></ol>Here's an example of one of the many themes for Newscoop. This particular one is called Zen and is mobile responsive.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ipad-820272_1280_3_ovbrqs.jpg" alt="newscoop" />For more info on Newscoop or to try the demo, check out their website: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.sourcefabric.org/en/">http://www.sourcefabric.org/en/</a>

New Release of Newscoop Improves Articles and Comments

When compared to mammoth rivals like Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok, <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> can feel... well, less interesting. 
OK, so maybe it's not as visible as its social brethren, and the stats codify this. According to a recent <a href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/pinterest-statistics-for-business/" target="_blank">article</a>, the image-sharing app – popular for posting recipes, home decor, and more – ranks fourteenth on a list of the world's most used social media platforms. 
Fourteenth. That seems like quite a few rungs down the social ladder. But shockingly, Pinterest's <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/463353/pinterest-global-mau/#:~:text=How%20many%20users%20does%20Pinterest,million%20international%20monthly%20active%20users." target="_blank">431 million active global users</a> still puts it ahead of Twitter.
Take that, Elon Musk.
Along with posting "pins" of paint chips and curtain fabrics, shopping is one of the top activities for Pinterest users, and the platform's expansive community has emerged as a channel for e-Commerce. Given the number of users browsing boards and perusing products and services, it makes sense that sellers might be interested in connecting their storefronts to Pinterest to peddle their wares. 
Now, <a href="https://business.pinterest.com/en/blog/introducing-pinterest-for-woocommerce/" target="_blank">WooCommerce</a> is giving its merchants a way to turn their product catalogs into shoppable "pins" on Pinterest, making it easier to build audiences and drive more sales. Whatever a seller might be offering – from fashion to apparel to appliances – this new feature will allow each product listing to become a shoppable pin on the platform, just like this:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/04/pinterest-product-tags-975x1024.webp" alt="Pinterest product tags" />
The companies recently <a href="https://business.pinterest.com/en/blog/introducing-pinterest-for-woocommerce/" target="_blank">announced</a> a strategic partnership that's designed to simplify the connection via a new integration, which will be available to WooCommerce merchants in the <a href="https://woocommerce.com/products/pinterest-for-woocommerce/" target="_blank">Products section</a> of the company's website. 
"By partnering together, we provide the best integrated Pinterest shopping experience possible for WooCommerce merchants to be on the cutting edge of social commerce," said Aleksandra Bettin, VP of Business Development at WooCommerce. "WooCommerce is highly invested in our merchants' success. Merchants need the right options to reach the right audiences – this integration with Pinterest helps them do that."
<h2>Using Pinterest to drive more traffic to WooCommerce stores</h2>
The category of <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/social-commerce.asp#:~:text=What%20Is%20Social%20Commerce%3F,retweets%2C%20likes%2C%20and%20shares." target="_blank">social commerce</a> is booming, and brands are looking for new ways to reach their audiences. While all social media platforms can help amplify traffic (both paid and organic), Pinterest has introduced some innovative features to help augment SEO. This includes a new visual search tool that makes finding customers on the platform even easier. Likewise, using pins, boards, and collections on Pinterest can drive organic traffic to a WooCommerce site. This combination gives merchants more power when it comes to expanding their reach. 
According to Pinterest's statistics, a whopping <a href="https://business.pinterest.com/audience/" target="_blank">97% of the top searches on Pinterest are unbranded</a>. That means Pinterest shoppers haven't made up their minds about specific products or brands – and they're open to learning and exploring. This is an opportunity that both WooCommerce and Pinterest have keyed in on, and are now simplifying the connection points to convert a shopper's interest into a real brand purchase. 
<h2>How to use the WooCommerce Pinterest extension </h2>
Adding the Pinterest integration to a WooCommerce store is very simple. It starts by installing the <a href="https://woocommerce.com/products/pinterest-for-woocommerce/" target="_blank">Pinterest for WooCommerce extension</a>, which will upload an entire WooCommerce product catalog to Pinterest. From there, shoppable pins will appear in people's feeds as they search and browse. The extension also logs when customers interact with products on Pinterest so users can track their best-selling or most saved items. 
While some WooCommerce merchants might have already manually uploaded their catalogs to Pinterest, the company recommends switching to the new extension instead. It's the easiest and most efficient way to keep your products current on Pinterest since it automatically updates details like pricing and product availability. 
The Pinterest for WooCommerce integration is currently available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Japan will gain access later this year. 
<h2>About WooCommerce</h2>
<a href="https://woocommerce.com/" target="_blank">WooCommerce</a> is the leading open-source e-commerce platform, powering 28% of the top million online stores (BuiltWith). Built on <a href="https://wordpress.com/" target="_blank">WordPress</a>, it empowers anyone, anywhere, to sell anything with truly unlimited extensibility, flexibility, and control over how they build and evolve their business. Founded in 2011 and acquired by Automattic in 2015, WooCommerce is a fully distributed company with employees based around the world.
<h2>About Pinterest</h2>
People around the world come to Pinterest for inspiration. It's a visual inspiration platform where people find inspiring creators, shop new products, and seek out ideas to take offline. People have saved more than 330 billion Pins across a range of interests, from creating a home office, cooking a new recipe to finding your next vacation spot. Headquartered in San Francisco, Pinterest launched in 2010 and has more than 400 million monthly active users. Available on iOS and Android and at pinterest.com.

WooCommerce and Pinterest Announce Partnership, Offer New Integration for Connecting with Shoppers

paris-tuzun

Woocommerce and Pinterest logos together on a dark background

Microsoft Office 365 subscribers can now make use of <a href="http://www.wix.com/" target="_blank"> Wix.com </a>  to launch a website directly from within the Office 365 platform.
Wix, <a href="/the-winner-of-the-2014-peoples-choice-cms-award-for-best-website-builder/" target="_blank"> winner of the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Website Builder </a> , is one of the world's most popular website builders, and was recently <a href="https://www.websitebuilderscritic.com/website_builders/reviews/wix/" target="_blank"> featured on Website Builders Critic </a>  as a recommended product for those with no website building experience. The cloud-based platform boasts hundreds of high quality templates, a simple drag-and-drop design system, and an array of useful apps.
In addition to having access to Wix within the Office 365 platform, subscribers who currently host a domain with Microsoft will also be able to automatically connect the domain to their site built on Wix.com.
<h2>Wix To Fill The Void, Empower Businesses</h2>
<a href="http://www.wix.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wix_com.png" alt="Wix" /></a>
This news comes as Microsoft pulls the plug on its “Public Website” feature on SharePoint Online. The feature is no longer being offered to new Office 365 customers, while existing customers may only have access to it for the next two-years.
This Wix integration then, will fill the website building void being left within the Microsoft platform.
Avishai Abrahami, the Co-Founder and CEO of Wix, made these comments:
<blockquote>“Both Microsoft and Wix share the common vision of enabling small and medium-sized businesses to access and utilize cloud technology to operate all aspects of their business. Wix simplifies the website and mobile site creation and management processes, all critical for any business today, by providing enterprise class functionality to every business, no matter how small. Through Office 365, we are excited to provide even more business owners with an easy and affordable platform on which to create, manage and grow their business online.”</blockquote>
According to Eric Mason, the Wix Director of Strategic Marketing Communications, Office 365 users will have access to Wix “immediately”.
The full press release regarding this exciting piece of news <a href="http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2015/02/04/702998/10118512/en/Wix-Announces-New-Microsoft-Office-365-Capabilities.html" target="_blank">can be found here</a>.
Visit the <a href="http://www.wix.com/" target="_blank">Wix website</a> for more information about their platform, and of course, be sure to explore more of <a href="/products/wix/" target="_blank">Wix via our CMS Directory</a>.

Microsoft Office 365 Subscribers Now Have Wix Website Building Power

<img alt="Magnolia Conference 2016" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/img_4204-1.jpg" />
Need to catch up? Check out my <a href="/magnolia-conference-2016-day-one/">coverage of Magnolia Conference 2016 Day One</a>. 
Typically, the second day of a conference is far more mellow than the first – and Day Two of the Magnolia Conference 2016 was no different.
However, <a href="/magnolia-conference-2014-reflections-of-an-attendee/">just like back at the Magnolia Conference 2014</a>, Magnolia didn't try to force or feign urgency. Instead, they embraced this inevitability with open arms by hosting a far more casual ‘Unconference'. 
For those unaware of the concept, an Unconference is where attendees pitch topics to discuss, take a vote, and then take a more active role in discussing the selected topics. 
Magnolia began by explaining that concept to the audience early on Day Two, before opening up the floor for individual attendees to pitch their ideas to the audience.
The ideas soon rolled in, and it wasn’t long until we had a filled schedule for the rest of the day.
<img alt="Setting up the Unconference schedule" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/img_4182-e1465600581489-1024x691.jpg" />
As the various discussions took place across the Pathe Kuchlin Theatre, I made my way around the various rooms and screens to try and drink in as much of the event as possible. And to <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23mconf16&amp;src=typd">live-tweet it all</a>, of course.
Unlike the presentations on Day One, attendees were free to voice opinions, suggestions, and concerns. You could feel the open source nature of Magnolia being physically lived out. <img alt="Magnolia Conference 2016" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/img_4232.jpg" />
For those who wanted a more traditional conference experience, business and technical tracks continued to run throughout the day alongside the Unconference. Those presentations came from the likes of Netcetera Software, who explored Atmomic Design and how it related to Magnolia CMS.
<img alt="IMG_4200" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/img_4200.jpg" />
Other presentations were given by Canto, SysEleven, Arvato, and others.
In fact, thanks to the Unconference events, there was actually more going on during Day Two than there was during Day One. However, because the day's activities were divided up across the theatre, you might be forgiven for thinking the opposite. 
<h2>Same Atmosphere, Different Day</h2>
The same friendly atmosphere I felt during Day One was also present during Day Two.
But, as Magnolia encouraged at the start of the day, I felt more comfortable leaving and entering rooms where discussions were already in flow. I also popped to the lobby for an Espresso every so often, without feeling the need to wait for the official coffee breaks.
The whole day was one, big, enjoyable blur.
And of course, I got my hands on some conference loot, including a tee-shirt, a hoody, and a very cool <a href="https://www.thetileapp.com/">Tile</a>.


Although the nature of Day Two was entirely different to what I experienced during <a href="/magnolia-conference-2016-day-one/">Day One</a>, I can firmly say that the Magnolia Conference 2016 was a genuine joy to attend.
I saw some great presentations, learned a few things, and met some very friendly representatives from the likes of IBM, as well as Magnolia of course.
<img alt="Plus, free Croissants!" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/img_4168-e1465600722119-1024x714.jpg" />
And with that in mind, I'd like to thank Magnolia CMS (and in particular <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorrainechandler">Lorraine Chandler</a>, Magnolia's Senior Content Strategist), for inviting CMS Critic to the event.
As for those who missed out, you can re-live the whole event through the Twitter hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23mconf16&amp;src=typd">#MConf16</a>. You'll find that, as usual at these events, CMS Critic's account was the most active.
Furthermore, be sure to keep your eye on <a href="http://www.magnolia-cms.com/">Magnolia's website</a> for news on next year's conference. You won't regret making the trip.

Magnolia Conference 2016 Day Two: The Unconference

LightCMS, the website builder geared towards web designers, has revamped its text editor and media manager.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sf59439logo-1-2-220x220-e1465832487358.jpg" alt="Lightcms" />The platform enjoyed a featured week on CMS Critic back in 2015, and boasts a <a href="/a-closer-look-at-the-lightcms-developer-program/">Developer Program</a> to give web design agencies all the tools they need to grow.<h2>Improved Text Editor</h2>LightCMS has gone to work on their editor by firstly removing the ‘Show More' button, which used to reveal further formatting options. The new toolbar, though, manages to squeeze in all those options into one manageable toolbar.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2016-05-17_16-11-38.png" alt="2016-05-17_16-11-38" />Furthermore, toolbars in the editor adapt depending upon the task you are performing. For example, if your document includes an image, when you click the image a small toolbar with image related tools is displayed in the editor.Or, when you click a link in your text, the link manager toolbar is displayed below the text. This toolbar lets you edit the link or remove it. You still add a new link by clicking the link manager button on the main toolbar.Finally, ‘Design View' and ‘Code View' have been made easier to toggle between.Before this update, the two views were accessed by clicking the corresponding button at the bottom of the text editor. Now, these view are controlled by a single button on the toolbar. Clicking the ‘Code View' button once toggles the editor to code view. Clicking the button again returns it to the WYSIWYG view.‘Code View' also now comes with syntax highlighting and line numbers for easier coding.<h2>New Media Manager</h2>The new media manager looks totally different to the old one, and it has more features, too.Drag and drop uploading has finally been added, allowing you to bulk upload images directly from your desktop or other folders. This is a much needed addition to LightCMS, as I'm sure you'll agree.As for aesthetics, the new media manager window is far larger, making it easier to work with.Plus, LightCMS' new media manager lets you filter through media by file type. That includes options like:<ul><li>Show: All</li><li>Show: Audio</li><li>Show: Documents</li><li>Show: Video</li><li>Show: Images</li></ul>As per usual, this is a solid update from LightCMS. The importance of media management in website building environments can make a break a platform, and I'm glad to see the LightCMS team recognizing that.

LightCMS Gets New Text Editor & Media Manager

<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigstock-five-businesspeople-at-boardro-4132768-e1465817759919.jpg" alt="Business meeting" />
Many fear financial advisors will become obsolete due to robo-advisor technologies. Ironically, another technology, DMS (document management software), forces us to reconsider that claim.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/can-robo-advisers-replace-human-financial-advisers-1456715553">robo-advisors</a> are posing a threat to their human counterparts in the financial services industry.
Financial services professionals worry their expertise will be rendered obsolete by the algorithm-based precision these robo-advisors bring to the marketplace, relegating humans in the financial services industry to the economic equivalent of cashiers and data entry specialists.
In fact, there hasn’t been such a resurgence of fear in humankind losing its proverbial battle with artificial intelligence since Garry Kasparov, arguably the greatest chess player who ever lived, lost a chess tournament to IBM’s super computer, Deep Blue, in 1997.
On one hand, the human brain and software are very similar: both are conduits for electrical activity—the brain’s synaptic, whereas software’s are silicon-derived.
On the other hand, at the threshold of each sits a world cognitive computing may never grasp: Although computer scientist and creator of modern computing, Alan Turing, proved nearly 70 years ago that computers are capable of ‘thinking’ as humans can, financial advisors aren’t doomed so long as they rely on DMS as a means to the following ends:
<h2>1. DMS Enhances Financial Advisors’ Already Superior Accountability</h2>
As human beings, financial advisors have an innate sense of accountability to their clients, whereas technology itself, without any human guidance, doesn’t. What’s more, money is never an asset in and of itself. Rather, it’s a means to another end whether that end be more vacations, fewer years to retirement, or a nicer car. Cognitive computing and robo-advisors alike cannot account for the value these items hold in the eyes of their users.
Working in unison with the human understanding of clients’ values, DMS helps financial advisors remain SEC and FINRA compliant, keep track of sensitive information, organize client materials effectively, and access critical information from <a href="http://www.efilecabinet.com/efilecabinet-online/">anywhere there’s an internet connection</a>. In other words, being accessible and reliable to clients through the right technology forges the professionalism and accountability which, in the hands of the advisor who possesses it, enables him or her to produce the staying power technology alone will never emulate.
<h2>2. DMS Yields Greater Value to the Advisor-Client Relationship</h2>
The adage ‘it’s all about relationships’ persists, and for good reason: Research has proven strong relationships, whether with family members, loved ones, or financial advisors, help us cope better with stress, and managing money is a stressful business for both financial advisors and their clients alike. What’s more, trust has brought humankind together for thousands of years. It’s a fundamental component of how we understand and relate to others.
DMS, in confluence with the benefits it provides as a technology used to go paperless, helps facilitate an advisor-client relationship built on value-added responsiveness—an advisor’s ability to rise to the occasion of a client’s requests with poise, knowledge, and understanding of the task at hand. Any financial advisor relying on paper to conduct his or her business will find it difficult to create value-added responsiveness in a way as profoundly impactful and positive. Although updating traditional service channels in other ways (such as for telecommunications purposes) can help streamline processes outside the context of documentation, most financial advisors understand the need to work from the point of filing and documentation outward when reconstructing their business processes.
<h2>3. DMS Abounds Operational Efficiency</h2>
The term ‘robo-advisory’ has become so pervasive in the finance industry that a term explaining the methodology of controlling it has come to the forefront, and this term is ‘robo-shield.’ Financial advisors are increasingly interested in how they can leverage the tools and strategies comprising ‘robo shield’ to their competitive benefit, and much of it has to do with any means that creates the operational efficiency to stave off the analytical superiority these robo-analysts are believed to possess.
For instance, Deborah Fox, the woman who coined the term ‘robo-shield,’ asserts that using ‘technology to be more effective and by creating operational efficiencies that will enhance client services,’ is crucial to financial advisors’ ability to stave off competition from robo-advisors.
At least as Fox contends, DMS can augment this robo-shield by way of the operational efficiencies it provides as a model for going paperless and reducing the amount of time spent searching for information. The metadata-enhanced retrieval features of DMS are integral to this outcome, and are even more intuitive (and effective) than search features inherent to windows operating systems.  Essentially, a well-organized financial planner with time to help sort the answers to your questions can take a client far, and DMS provides financial advisors with the <a href="/the-intangible-benefits-of-document-management-software/">time</a> to make this a reality.
<h2>4. DMS Provides Security to the ‘Human Touch’</h2>
The ‘human touch’ isn’t a term to justify some false sense of security, it’s a term used to justify the true value of financial coaching that only financial advisors can provide. Otherwise, too much reliance on robo-advisors turns what would be a temporary problem into a major kink in a long-term financial plan.
What’s more, the stock bots that buy and trade within slivers of a millisecond can neither manage nor convey the psychological aspects of wealth. For one, cognitive computing can’t replicate human intuition—a form of intelligence where both the left and right hemispheres of the brain process information in unison.
This intuition lets financial advisors look at the entire financial picture, and assimilate clients’ goals into a broader system of portfolio management. To put it simply, financial advisors (in human form) are better equipped to handle the personal aspects of finance, which range from taxation and retirement to estate planning and will writing.
However, as powerful as the ‘human touch’ is, it must be complemented by technology insomuch that a middle ground is obtained. By keeping files and client information compliant, accessible, and secure, financial advisors accent their ‘human touch’ with the technology their clients can trust.
<h2>5. DMS Lets Financial Advisors Profit More, and with Lower Client Fees</h2>
In order to compete with robo-advisors, financial advisors must lower their fees—especially when attempting to widen their scope of services and expertise for a younger demographic. And in an age dominated by instant gratification, hefty up-front fees (as usually administered from fee-only financial planners) are overlooked (despite the advisor’s skillset) due to the excitement of low cost robo-advisors.
You can truly charge clients less money with DMS, though. Carlene Patterson, founder and CEO of Ascension Financial Group, reports that she <a href="http://www.efilecabinet.com/financial-services-document-management-software/">saves $4,000</a> annually on storage alone—this is before accounting for the time saved on locating and retrieving information, and circumventing the costs of potential in-compliance issues.
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This post is <a href="/advertising/">sponsored</a> by eFileCabinet. Find out more at <a href="http://www.efilecabinet.com/">efilecabinet.com</a>.
Image: <a href="http://www.bigstockphoto.com/search/?contributor=monkeybusinessimages">MoneyBusinessImages</a>

DMS Keeps Financial Advisors from Yielding to Robo-advisors

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With the shift in shopping habits over the past few years from the standard brick and mortar stores (which still retain much of their popularity) to online shopping from the convenience of your home (or office), eCommerce solutions have become more and more an essential part of doing business online.  Today, I'm going to take share some simple rules for choosing the best solution.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigstock-flat-design-vector-illustratio-62778259400x0.jpg" />To put things in perspective, according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/amzn/financials">MarketWatch</a>, leading eCommerce retailer, Amazon Inc. saw a 19.5% increase in net income for 2014 with a total sales of 88.99 billion dollars. These figures don't lie, eCommerce is a booming market. But you already knew that. So now it's time to figure out what you can do to get your business into the fray. Let's look at how to get started.First there are a few rules that I think are important to stick to:<h2>Rule #1: Don't try to build it yourself.</h2>When it comes to eCommerce, my personal opinion is that custom coded solutions are the wrong way to go. It's much more intelligent and cost effective to implement a proven solution rather than to attempt to create your own from scratch. More often than not, you are simply duplicating effort and spending precious dollars attempting to overcome hurdles and red tape that have already been taken care of by a qualified eCommerce vendor.<h2>Rule #2: Create a needs and wants list.</h2>I'm all about saving money but when it comes to implementing an eCommerce solution for your business, you want to do it right the first time. With the huge number of competing vendors (in most marketplaces anyway), there's always someone else they can go to so be sure not to give them a reason to go elsewhere. Do it right the first time. You don't want to implement something that cannot handle the anticipated volume or does not offer the features you need from the beginning. Don't cheap out and go with a solution that offers only part of what your customers need, find one that fits as many of your needs as possible. One way I do things is to create a list with my clients where we break down expectations into two categories; Needs and Wants. Do your best to find a solution that fits as many of your needs as possible. These are items that you absolutely must have in order to be operational and competitive. Only then would you start to check off the Wants that are offered by the vendors you are considering. These are considered bonuses.<h2>Rule #3: Involve all Stakeholders in the Decision Making Process</h2>Once you are ready to start exploring solutions, make sure you involve all of the stakeholders in your business. I find that businesses that task one department (IT or Marketing for instance) to choose a solution more often than not miss out on picking the right product. The reason is simple, the needs differ for each department and as such, your marketing department may not be as concerned with the overall scalability of the product and could choose something based on features as opposed to worrying about whether it can scale properly to your needs. This is why involving all those who will be using or interacting with the solution of choice is critical. This may mean involving distribution, marketing, sales, management and IT, but in the end, you'll have a much more rounded solution than relying on one department to be the brain for all of the others.<h2>Rule #4: Choose a Proven and Scalable Solution</h2>Be careful when choosing a solution to go with. You'll want to make sure that it's a proven solution that is both scalable and well supported. Don't go with a solution that can't show solid, well performing customers running their platform. My personal solution of choice for enterprise solutions would be . While there certainly are other solutions on the market like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.shift4shop.com/">3dcart</a> and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.magento.com">Magento</a>, I personally have seen much smoother and more successful implementations when choosing <a href="/products/bigcommerce">Bigcommerce</a>. They have proven themselves to be competent and successful vendor in this arena and when it comes to your business, that's exactly what you want.A commenter below mentioned that he thinks that my recommending these systems is a mistake given that there are other large enterprise solutions like Oracle Commerce, IBM Websphere and SAP Hybris and that enterprise eCommerce means connecting to an ERP solution etc. Allow me to clarify here. I've had real world experience with these solutions and I'll say this simply. Show me a person who has not found any of these a headache and a massive money sink and I'll be pleasantly surprised. I've worked beside Websphere admins who've spent 95% of their time on the phone with support trying to fix broken B2B and B2C transactions over stupid config file issues more than you can imagine. Oracle solutions are a massive money pit driven to collectively get you to buy in to the full Oracle package (ERP, eCommerce, Database Licensing and so on) or pay through the nose to connect them with non-Oracle solutions. None of these are what I'd call “good recommendations”. Do they work? Yes. Do they do a better job than any of the cheaper ones out there? Not in my opinion.<a href="/products/bigcommerce">Bigcommerce Enterprise</a> does have ERP connectors that can integrate with your solution of choice and offers just as broad a feature set as some of the bigger players but don't let me make the decision for you, explore your options and do your research before choosing your provider of choice. I simply want to make sure you don't get trapped buying in to the concept of “price tag = capability” because it's a complete misnomer.Now that you know how I do it, it's time to get out there and start the selection process. You may want to start by exploring some of my recommendations but in the end, it relies on following the rules I've laid out above first and foremost. Good luck in your search and of course, if you need assistance, I offer <a href="/contact">consulting services</a> as well.

In Search of the Best Enterprise ECommerce Solution

I've spent a lot of time recently searching the web to find responsive WordPress themes for a number of sites that I manage, including this one, so I decided to put together a list of places that offer them.
<h2>Where to find Responsive WordPress Themes</h2>
Here is a list I have compiled of places where you can find an excellent selection of responsive WordPress themes. You can also hire a <a href="http://www.imforza.com/">WordPress design company</a> to help you customize it further. In most cases, I've attempted to link directly to the page that lists them as opposed to making you sift through their websites individually.
<h3>StudioPress</h3>
StudioPress is one of the most prominent theme development companies for WordPress. All of their themes are based off of the incredibly powerful and versatile Genesis WordPress theme framework. As of last count, they had over 40 themes on their site, not including those listed in their community marketplace.
I highly recommend checking them out if you're in the market. Sites designed off of the Genesis framework tend to do quite well in Google as the framework is exceptionally lean and expertly configured for the best possible SEO performance. I use Genesis on my wife's site (<a href="http://thekitchenmagpie.com" target="_blank">http://thekitchenmagpie.com</a>) and love how easy it is to design with.
An example of one of their themes:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/generate.jpg" alt="Responsive wordpress themes 2" />
Like what you see? This is only one of many amazing looking designs you can choose from.
[button link=”https://www.cmscritic.com/out/studiopress” color=”#05619F” size=”3″ style=”1″ dark=”0″ radius=”auto” target=”self” ]See their themes[/button]
<h3>WooThemes</h3>
I would be remiss if I didn't mention WooThemes. Like StudioPress, they've been around for a long time and have been providing top notch WordPress themes (and support) for many years. They also have over 20 excellent responsive wordpress themes to choose from.
An example of one of their themes:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zoho-crm_idx1u1.png" alt="responsive wordpress themes 3" />
All of their WordPress themes are built off of the WooFramework, which makes it super easy to handle upgrades and stay compatible with the latest releases of WordPress. The advantage here is that you won't lose your customizations during upgrades.
[button link=”https://www.cmscritic.com/out/woothemes” color=”#05619F” size=”3″ style=”1″ dark=”0″ radius=”auto” target=”self” ]See their themes[/button]
<h3>PageLines</h3>
PageLines provides an awesome framework to build off of. It also happens to be the very framework I use here on CMS Critic. What makes it differ from the other frameworks on the market is that it's drag and drop capable. An example of one of how the framework looks:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/pagelines.png" alt="responsive wordpress themes 5" />
PageLines gives you a ton of options for customization and to be honest, it's almost crazy how much customization you can do. It adds a huge amount of functionality to the dashboard in WordPress and gives you the ability to really do some amazing things.
[button link=”https://www.cmscritic.com/out/pagelines” color=”#05619F” size=”3″ style=”1″ dark=”0″ radius=”auto” target=”self” ]See their themes[/button]
<h3>WPZoom</h3>
WPZoom offers a large selection of responsive WordPress themes. They release new ones constantly and the quality and look of their WordPress themes is outstanding. This is especially true for their magazine and newspaper style layouts.. some of these rival the looks of some of the top websites out there. They have some great looking portfolio themes as well and even a few free ones.
An example of one of their WordPress themes:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/vimes.png" alt="responsive wordpress themes 7" />
You can also check their showcase to see some of the various sites using their WordPress themes. Some of the designs are pretty impressive.
[button link=”https://www.cmscritic.com/out/wpzoom” color=”#05619F” size=”3″ style=”1″ dark=”0″ radius=”auto” target=”self” ]See their themes[/button]
<h3>BizzThemes</h3>
BizzThemes creates some truly unique looking WordPress themes that don't conform to the norm. Their strength lies in the selection of niche themes such as options for Hair Studios, Consulting Agencies and more.
An example of one of their themes:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/streamlined-updates-1-e1471435122911_xdeua8.png" alt="responsive wordpress themes 8" />
The designs are attractive, the themes are responsive and the options panels that they've developed are intuitive and easy to use. I definitely suggest taking a look and seeing if any of their options suit your needs.
[button link=”https://www.cmscritic.com/out/bizzthemes” color=”#05619F” size=”3″ style=”1″ dark=”0″ radius=”auto” target=”self” ]See their themes[/button]
<h3>Elegant Themes</h3>
Elegant Themes has been producing great looking, responsive WordPress themes for a number of years. Currently, they have a great offer where you pay only $39 and get all 77 of their themes. That's pretty incredible for a theme company and certainly the best deal around at the moment.
An example of one of their themes:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/socialengine_1_ilc5ip.png" alt="responsive wordpress themes 9" />
The theme selection is great with options for portfolio, blog, business, magazine and more.
[button link=”https://www.cmscritic.com/elegantthemes” color=”#05619F” size=”3″ style=”1″ dark=”0″ radius=”auto” target=”self” ]See their themes[/button]
<h3>Themeforest</h3>
Themeforest has a huge selection of responsive WordPress themes and I could personally spend all day browsing through their site admiring all of the amazing creations that are being offered there. What makes Themeforest unique is that you can find themes from a wide variety of developers on their site. A lot of developers and designers use Themeforest as a marketplace to sell their themes and as a result, the selection is unparalleled.
An example of one of their WordPress themes:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/alyeska.jpg" alt="responsive wordpress themes 14" />
[button link=”https://www.cmscritic.comhttps://www.cmscritic.com/themeforest-responsive” color=”#05619F” size=”3″ style=”1″ dark=”0″ radius=”auto” target=”self” ]See their themes[/button]
And there you have it. With the above options, you shouldn't have any issues trying to find a good, responsive WordPress theme for your website. Best of luck and if you know of other places that offer a good selection, by all means, let me know.

Where to get Responsive WordPress Themes

<a href="https://ghost.org/" target="_blank">Ghost</a> has released some improvements which will help make tag management a tidier experience.
Recently crowned the <a href="/2014-most-promising-cms/" target="_blank">2014 Critics' Choice Award Winner for Most Promising CMS</a>, Ghost is proving to be an exciting blogging platform, which now releases mini-updates like these on a very regular basis.
Ghost users can now edit and delete their tags in Ghost.  Additionally Ghost users can personalise tag archives by adding cover images and meta data. This allows existing tags to be tidied up a little, both in terms of spelling, quantity and categorization.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2015-01-13-at-14-05-37700x0.png" />
As usual, Ghost Pro users will find this feature enabled automatically, while those self-hosting will need to <a href="https://ghost.org/download/?__hstc=10303082.e349d0ad7a5666a28a9feace53e2dd1f.1416486488818.1422275546673.1422296414441.10&amp;__hssc=10303082.2.1422296414441&amp;__hsfp=3780233567" target="_blank">update to Ghost version 0.5.8</a>.
For more information on Ghost's new tagging system (including a handy GIF showing this new enhancement in action), <a href="http://blog.ghost.org/tag-management/" target="_blank">check out Ghost's official blog announcement</a>.
To find out more about Ghost, <a href="https://ghost.org/" target="_blank">visit their website</a>.

Ghost Tidies Up Tag Management

Founded back in 2001, <a href="http://www.crownpeak.com/" target="_blank">CrownPeak</a> is now a widely respected enterprise CMS solution.
CrownPeak isn't just popular though, it's also an award winner. After securing its place as a <a href="http://www.crownpeak.com/Press/CrownPeak/20141023-CrownPeak-Named-a-Visionary-by-Gartner-for-Web-Content-Management.aspx" target="_blank">“Visionary” in 2014 Magic Quadrant for Web Content Management (WCM) by Gartner, Inc</a>., CrownPeak recently went on to become the <a href="/2014-critics-choice-award-winner-best-cloud-cms-for-enterprise/" target="_blank">2014 Critics' Choice Award Winner for Best Cloud CMS For Enterprise</a>.
I recently had the pleasure of asking CrownPeak's CEO Jim Howard a few questions about the history of CrownPeak, some of the platform newest features, and where he sees the industry heading in 2015 and beyond.
<h2>About Jim Howard</h2>
Jim is focused on advancing CrownPeak's leadership in the cloud services marketplace. Under Jim’s leadership since its founding in 2001, CrownPeak has become the enterprise's only open cloud service for web experience management. Among the companies in the CrownPeak client roster today are Prudential, Diageo, Skype, MetLife, BNY/Mellon, Intuit, Oppenheimer, Zoetis and Eli Lilly.
<img style="max-width:200px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/jim_howard_headshot200x0.jpg" />
CrownPeak has been named as one of the 100 most influential companies in Online Content by eContent Magazine, named as a “cool vendor” and a “visionary” by Gartner, and was chosen as an
SIIA Codie Award finalist for Best Content Management Solution three years in a row.
Jim’s professional background combines extensive startup experience with years of software development and professional services delivery and management. He has spent the past eighteen years working with web content management, analytics and search technologies. Jim previously held senior executive positions in professional services management, sales, and operational management with companies such as USWeb, MarchFIRST, and successful startup, W3-design. Jim holds a degree in Chemistry from the University of Delaware.
<h2>The Interview</h2>
<h3>You founded CrownPeak in 2001 alongside Carl Sutter, the current Chief Product Officer. What were your aims at the start of this journey?</h3>
Carl and I came from one of the big internet consulting firms together. We had been installing and integrating on-premise Web Content Management packages for the previous few years. We both believed that the leading products in the WCM market at the time were simply too hard to get live and too hard to manage. These products essentially became bottlenecks to effective, agile digital marketing. We founded CrownPeak to offer a very cost-effective and results-focused set of WCM tools and services for the managers of websites – only delivered as a service, not installed. This was before the term Software-as-a-Service was even defined, although other startups like Salesforce were helping us to prove the delivery model.
CrownPeak became the first “CMS as a service” to target small to medium-sized businesses. We had to achieve the dual goal of highly efficient management for us and very cost-effective delivery for the customer.
Our engineers worked hard in those early years to build a single unified platform that separated the presentation layer for users on the front-end from all the infrastructure we managed for them on the back-end. That’s something we all take for granted today. From the beginning CrownPeak has been “true SaaS”, and we still offer the market’s only multi-tenant architecture. We’re also the first and only “low-code” development platform in the sector.
<h3>Have those aims changed at all?</h3>
Or, perhaps more appropriately, what additional aims have you adopted since co-founding CrownPeak, perhaps in response to evolutions within the industry?
We have evolved our capabilities a great deal over time, becoming a fully cloud-based solution that manages the entire digital customer experience across web, mobile, social. The platform now provides data-driven personalization, testing and targeting, digital asset management, search, behavioral analytics, and more than 60 out-of-the-box integrations with best of breed data and content sources.
We think we’re the most open and interoperable enterprise WCM on the planet! We have also evolved the company's focus. In 2010 we made a major shift to focus on the large enterprise customer because our platform offers scale and performance advantages to global companies with very complex web portfolios. One of the great advantages of our platform is the ability for many different project teams to implement projects simultaneously, sharing standard workflows, templates, designs, assets, integrations, content and data.
This ability to centralize the architecture but decentralize creation of great digital experiences is game changing for large distributed enterprises – particularly in highly regulated industries like healthcare and insurance where security and compliance are paramount.
<h3>Recently, you guys released a new Digital Asset Management Solution. Tell us a little bit about that.</h3>
We dedicate about a third of our product roadmap to feedback from customers, and back in 2013 they ranked Digital Asset Management as their top request. Because we are a cloud solution, when we roll out a new capability it’s available to every customer immediately. The DAM offering has met with huge success: we've seen almost 100% adoption.
This is a big deal because many DAM products go unused for web and mobile content management because they are “bolt-on” additions that don’t fully integrate.
This requires extra steps for designers and content authors when manipulating, deploying and managing digital media files. CrownPeak DAM is an integral part of our platform which means that assets can be curated, standardized and policed to design and launch consistently branded experiences on a global basis. We created a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlzLAmRXehg" target="_blank">3-minute video</a> recently that describes how it works.
<h3>CrownPeak boasts a heavy focus on making digital marketing easier for enterprises. Of course, the marketing vs IT balancing act has been the subject of debate for a long, long while now. How does CrownPeak respond to this very real issue?</h3>
I'm really glad you asked this because I think that debate is missing the point. Over the last decade, IT has faced their hardest challenge ever: to provide a direct web and mobile interface to every system they support for every line-of-business… and to do it securely. During this same period of incredible change, IT has also had to enable digital marketing, a relative newcomer to the world of technology automation.
There is no debate that IT must support marketing, and that it's been a challenge. We like to think that the CrownPeak brand is about giving greater freedomto both sides. For enterprise marketers, they become more self-reliant and free to launch great digital experiences faster. Their agencies receive greater creative freedom, flexibility and agility when designing those experiences. And technical folks, they are freed from complex integration problems and a flood of marketing support tickets!
However, there are two much more interesting debates that I end up writing a lot about <a href="http://www.crownpeak.com/Blog/Index.aspx" target="_blank">on my blog</a>. First, what is the role of marketing today? Second, how is IT tackling the challenge of developing a unified approach to customer experience management? In regard to these more relevant questions, we are focused on enabling digital marketing teams and other teams managing customer experiences to be highly successful and freed from the chores of software development.
We are also focused on enabling IT with a platform to deliver on their much broader customer experience management mandate. CrownPeak allows the entire organization to take advantage of the content, designs and integrations created by marketing across every other digital customer touchpoint. This means customer service and support – the sum total of digital experiences that inform greater customer loyalty and lifetime value.
<h3>2014 was a good year for CrownPeak, recognition wise. As many of our readers will know, you were named the winner of the 2014 Critics’ Choice Award for Best Cloud CMS For Enterprise.</h3>
<h3>Plus, Gartner recognized CrownPeak as a “Visionary” on its 2014 Magic Quadrant for Web Content Management, lauding the platform’s commitment to cloud delivery. Two impressive achievements.</h3>
Why do you think CrownPeak was so successful in these two instances?
We have gained customers and thus recognition because we have a much better solution to two key business problems. We allow global companies to standardize on a web and mobile platform without creating a bottleneck.
Second, we empower large enterprises to take advantage of the great content, design and integration work they have done with marketing and sales experiences and easily extend that work across all other lines-of-business. CrownPeak easily integrates with whatever marketing technology our customer is already using. Our platform has proven the scale and performance that enterprises expect. Here in the middle of our second decade, I’m very optimistic about what we’ve built and where we are headed.
<h3>With that being said, can you tell us anything about what 2015 has in store for CrownPeak clients?</h3>
CrownPeak is the enterprise’s only open cloud platform for managing web experiences, and remains a fiercely independent one at that! Looking out across other software sectors, cloud services have largely won the day because they are open, agile, more architecturally flexible, and provide significant economic advantages.
In 2015, CrownPeak customers will see more interoperability via a whole range of native content and data integrations with other cloud service providers. Our customers will gain added agility via a big push to make the platform even faster and simpler to implement. And our customers will gain further flexibility as we help them to manage the “front-end” of web applications built on the major stack providers like IBM and Force.com.
<h3>And finally, if you had just three short sentences to sum up why an enterprising company should choose CrownPeak over any other solution, what would they be?</h3>
CrownPeak is not for every customer out there.  We have built this platform for large, global organizations managing many web/mobile sites and looking to offer a unified digital customer experience.  So with that as the starting point:
First, CrownPeak provides the best solution ever built for global mult-site management because our open cloud platform eliminates the production bottleneck.
Second, due to our low-code development approach combined with our elastic computing architecture,  it's possible to centrally control the platform but decentralize creation of solutions.  In other words, every brand, market or functional group around the world can develop their solution on the central platform – taking advantage of all content, assets, designs, models and integrations – without risking compliance, security or performance.
Third, the platform can be used as a universal customer experience platform, where solutions created on the platform can be “front-ends” for portals, e-commerce, line-of-business applications, mobile app management, or secure document management repositories. Was that three sentences or four? Well anyway, you get the point! Thanks for asking.
<h3>Thank you for your time, Mr. Howard!</h3>
For more information on CrownPeak, <a href="http://www.crownpeak.com/" target="_blank">visit their website</a>.
Also, be sure to explore more of <a href="/products/crownpeak/" target="_blank">CrownPeak via our CMS Directory</a>.

Interview With Jim Howard, CEO of CrownPeak

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

Microweber: A CMS Stripped of Complexity

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