Articles - Page 46

Brightspot Illuminates the Future of CMS with Human-Controlled, AI-Powered Storytelling 

matt-garrepy

Notepin (Notepin.co) is a note taking and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/minimalist-blogging-platforms/">blogging platform</a> that launched in 2017, and has been growing in popularity. The web-based system has a minimalist approach, which provides for a distraction free platform for users to enjoy. For such a simple service, it is really able to offer a lot to its users. Whether you are looking for an easy place to take notes that you can access from anywhere, or you want to launch your own blog, this is a good option to consider.The founder of Notepin, Osman Ahmed, said this about his platform, “it is a note-taking platform which comes with the optional ability to transform your notebook into a public blog.” Quite an interesting concept, and one that many people have been taking advantage of.<h3>Getting Started with Notepin</h3>One of the biggest perks of using Notepin is that you don’t need to make an account to use the service. When you browse to the site, you simply click the ‘or write anonymously’ to begin taking notes, writing a blog post, or just having fun. It will generate a random notepin.co URL that you can then access from anywhere.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/notepin-get-started.png" />If you want something more memorable, you can create your own notepin.co URL using any available word or phrase. Even taking this route does not require you to create an account, verify an email, or take any other action. If you want to make sure that you’re the only one who can read or edit your page, you simply add a password (which still doesn’t require an account). To put it simply, this is the fastest and easiest way to start typing up notes or blogging you’ll find.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/notepin-create-url.png" /><h3>Extremely Minimalist Approach</h3>As soon as you access the Notepin site you’ll see that it is a distraction-free environment, and that continues on to the writing &amp; editing pages as well. There are virtually no menus, very few editing features, and nothing to get in the way of your focusing on the writing. This is ideal for people who want to create quick posts, take notes for themselves, or quickly publish content to their site.When browsing a page as a viewer there won’t be much besides the text that was posted by the author. There can also be basic images but most pages don’t even have that. The full focus of this platform is on the content and making it as easy as possible to access.<h3>Free Features</h3>Anyone can use the Notepin system free of charge. The free plan comes with just one theme. Free users will also be restricted to posting text only with no images or video. All users, including those on the free plan, will have the option for visitors to share the posts on Twitter and like the posts on the site itself. These options can be disabled by the author if they don’t want this type of social interaction.Free users can create a unique custom URL where their content will be posted. The URL to access content will be formatted like this: <a target="_blank" href="http://notepin.co/ExampleNotes">http://notepin.co/ExampleNotes</a>. Users can choose whatever they want (as long as it is unused) to replace the ‘ExampleNotes’ portion of the URL. This not only makes it very easy to remember, but also allows authors to have some level of branding. Authors who want to have their content published to their own domain will have to upgrade to one of the two premium plans.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/notepin-create-unique-url.png" /><h3>Premium Features</h3>If you want to take your page to the next level, you can sign up for one of the two premium feature packs. The ‘Pro’ plan is just $11 per year, and the blogging plan is $19 per year. Both of these plans add multiple different themes to help improve the look of your page. The themes are still relatively basic, which goes well with the overall minimalist approach to the service. The premium services also allow higher quality images to be used, ambient sounds to be added to the site, text to speech options, and more.The benefit of using the blogging plan is that you can have email subscriptions, a custom domain, Google Analytics information, custom SEO options, private posts, and the branding from Notepin is removed. Given the fact that both of these premium packages are quite inexpensive, it is a great deal for those who want to start their own blog.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/notepin-premium-features.png" /><h3>Is Notepin a Good Platform?</h3>While Notepin is certainly not for everyone, it has some unique features that make it a really interesting platform that many people love. If you’re looking for a fast and easy way to get started with publishing your content, or you just need a convenient place to take notes, this is clearly an excellent choice. For those who want to run a minimalist blog, <a target="_blank" href="https://notepin.co/">Notepin </a>may be the ideal solution. It really is extremely fast and extremely easy not just to get started, but to continue publishing long into the future.

Notepin Review

michael-levanduski

eZ Systems, the digital experience company, announced today it has  acquired an e-commerce software from silver.solutions, the e-commerce  solution provider specializing in delivering B2B e-commerce  solutions. This deal strengthens eZ Systems’ offering, covering the  full spectrum of modern digital experiences, enabling it to accelerate  the development of new e-commerce capabilities.
“From the outset, silver.solutions developed its commerce technology  on top of eZ Platform and Symfony so it was a natural choice for us to  make this acquisition,” says Bertrand Maugain, co-CEO and CCO at eZ  Systems. “Unlike some of our  competitors, we are not adding a new disjointed technology to our  portfolio but building upon the solid and compact foundation that eZ  Platform offers.” He adds, “As we have evolved from being a pure CMS  provider to become a true DXP vendor – where content,  commerce, personalization, interoperability and extensibility are key  elements – so has the need for us to be able to respond to changing  market conditions in a fast and agile manner.”
A long-time partner of eZ, silver.solutions originally developed its  commerce technology as an extra layer on top of eZ’s earlier technology.  Since 2017, silver.solutions developed an e-commerce solution embracing  eZ Platform v2 and in  2018 partnered with eZ Systems to engineer and offer its e-commerce  capability as part of the eZ solution under the eZ Commerce name. As of  today numerous customers have benefited from the synergies of having  both technologies work seamlessly and flawlessly  together.
“We at silver.solutions are delighted about the acquisition as eZ  Systems has the engineering resource and vision to develop the core  product further. This enables us to concentrate on developing B2B  e-commerce add-ons and adapt the software  to meet specific customer requests. silver.solutions will continue  offering its existing e-commerce solution silver.eShop. Thus we can  offer two solutions to our customers depending on their requirements and  strategy,” says Ania Hentz, CEO, silver.solutions.
Roland Benedetti Chief Product Officer at eZ Systems added:  “Increasingly, Enterprises need to enable their customers to transact  online in a smooth, secure and easy way, e-commerce has become a core  part of what Digital Experience Platforms  need to offer. Integrating an e-commerce solution as a core part of our  platform, we can extend the set of capabilities our platform offers. In  particular, we can now provide strong integration capabilities with  business back-ends such as ERP and CRM systems  like MS Dynamics, SAP or others.”
silver.solutions’ team will support eZ during the transition period  and eZ will ramp-up resources dedicated to the development of more  e-commerce capabilities and will accelerate investment in the  development of the software.  As a strong  partner and experienced e-commerce experts, silver.solutions will  continue to develop innovative B2B e-commerce solutions and their  successful business as a full-service provider.

eZ Extends the Capabilities of itsDigital Experience Platform (DXP) with Advanced and B2B Commerce Capabilities for Digital Experiences

cms-critic-staff

With  revolutionary technologies such as virtual reality and augmented  reality becoming more widely adopted by the education and business  communities across the world, the need for dedicated content management  systems to facilitate content creation for AR and VR is more urgent than  ever. And while many have introduced systems for either AR or  VR devices, the experienced team behind Fectar has become one of the  first in the world to launch a full, cross platform solution along with  accompanying app.
Trialled  in the Netherlands throughout 2019, the innovative no-coding cross  platform publishing solution has been readily adopted by schools,  universities and business users, with hundreds signing up in just three  months.. Now available to educational institutions and other  organisations worldwide, the cloud-based Fectar Studio platform enables  content creators to publish interactive AR and VR presentations to  Android and iOS smart phones and tablets, as well as to VR devices  including Oculus GO and Oculus Quest. There are plans to introduce  compatibility with more devices such as the HTC Vive within the coming  months.
Fectar  Studio also differentiates itself from other content management systems  through improved features and functionality. While the recent trend has  been for CMS tools to offer content only, Fectar Studio provides users  with more options, such as the addition of buttons, hyperlinks,  questions, navigation, audio, and more to create engaging interactive 3D  AR/VR content.It also allows users to track how their creations are  being used with easy to access statistical data.
<blockquote>Eugène  Kuipers, CEO and Founder of Fectar says, “AR and VR just got easy.  Within just a few weeks of our initial launch in 2019, the level of  interest and adoption was astounding. Schools and business users alike  have been quick to embrace the incredible potential of augmented and  virtual reality and deploy Fectar Studio and our app to create and view  beautiful and engaging presentations using AR and VR.</blockquote>
<blockquote>“We’ve  already witnessed fantastic results, especially in the education field.  A number of our users reported double-digit increases in revenue and  reductions in training costs while simultaneously reaching a whole new  level of customer and student engagement. We really are at the start of a  new era of content creation, and we’re confident this is a true game  changer for the industry.”</blockquote>
While  virtual reality — a fully simulated experience — and augmented reality —  the art of overlaying simulation onto a real world environment — are  becoming increasingly utilized within the business and school setting,  these technologies are still very much in their early days, and many  apps that are being developed are designed exclusively for a single  platform or a single usage. This introduces a problem for businesses and  schools who want to engage with audiences who are using the  ever-growing selection of AR and VR devices available on the market.
A  further obstacle that has shown to be standing in the way of AR and VR  content success is the need for businesses and educational content  creators/publishers to utilise an in-house or outsourced development  team to change their content. Fectar directly addresses this concern  with a CMS, Fectar Studio, which can be managed without any technical  skills. Designed by a team of multiple award-winning developers,  creatives, and serial entrepreneurs, the simple system can be used  easily by anyone.
Fectar  Studio is already being widely adopted within the education, media and  design, manufacturing, retail, and real estate sectors, with many other  industries showing interest in the unique CMS and app. The Fectar team  is currently offering free weekly online courses for content creators  across all industries, providing them with the knowledge they need to  get started with the CMS.
Businesses  can now apply for a free 14 day trial of Fectar Studio through the  website. You can download the free Fectar app to view more than 100  different free use cases created by partners. Content creators can  register interest for becoming part of the global partner network.
To find out more about Fectar and Fectar Studio, visit <a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/wf/click?upn=84Em28S1K9SvtzcUtu04EtgdLxQNvmAf9sBzq7iGlMU-3D_BJkGAKsGgbHh2-2BIfs195dXmFVeDYX-2FZKM9gkPeb7NkTBYdnfNsOBRhdLBhqDWMdaBX0NwYmdr73k2k6eieHVauB8oV3XC3u4omN-2BIaLS5xF-2FyfD9a-2FZzrDjkq9TfLB7S5z2HT43TqvpJjVUrjIESShPPQNwHlEB7pYK76FWcUwLn4E-2Bv30BI4lLfdYZzKckSpJfJZt4w6zr6qiQeqVG1olixpJuvjIYjohoJ-2BOY-2BRiKN5YKH-2BAtU-2FL-2B4eRxRVgcN225UBF2NaZ1Vu2MIVVgebbutMCJG4EVnNnSQtXQr5b-2BCU5bPGzUQ1aLaa4MsqVA4XZvCqiuraIWzHaA-2F5BwZGwbNEwAjR-2Bte0xYHgS2iDXU-3D" rel="noreferrer nofollow noopener">www.Fectar.com</a>

Cross Platform CMS for AR and VR ‘Game Changer’ for Future of Content

<a href="https://buttercms.com/">ButterCMS</a> is an API-based or “headless” CMS enabling developers to query the Butter API to pull content into the app, using any tech stack of choice such as <a href="https://buttercms.com/angular-cms/">Angular</a> or <a href="https://buttercms.com/react-cms/">React</a>.
ButterCMS eliminates the need for setup and configuration and has a pre-defined data structure optimized to handle a variety of content. Developers can use their preferred tools and frameworks to build interfaces for marketing teams. Creating different content delivery channels is achieved with minimal effort.  Marketers and non technical users can easily create and edit content without concern for different channels, administration issues and technical aspects.
Users experience a faster and more responsive application while consuming high quality content on any delivery channel. In continuing to simplify content management and provide high performance, here are some product updates since our last post.
<h2>New Knowledge Base</h2>
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/buttercms_knowledgebase.png" alt="Butter CMS Knowledge Base" /><figcaption>Butter CMS Knowledge Base</figcaption></figure>
ButterCMS launched a brand new knowledge base, a repository for How to’s, FAQ’s, different uses cases and examples on Write API.  The objective is to gain the most value from Butter by 
investigating all the different features, capabilities and discovering new Butter use cases. This knowledge base highlights other ideas for  maximum value with Butter beyond blogging.
<h3>New RegEx Validation Field Validations</h3>
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/specific-patterns_v1.png" alt="Butter CMS RegEx Validation Field" /><figcaption>Butter CMS RegEx Validation Field Validations</figcaption></figure>
With our recent additions to set the minimum/maximum length for a short text field in a long text field, we have now enhanced the fields to use specific patterns (technically regular expressions). This means the content editor can set the format for how the specific short text should be formulated.  So for example, if an email address is needed in the short field, you can specify that pattern to be the pattern of an email address.  Users are required to put in the correct text answer of the needed information.
In addition to the default patterns to choose from (E-mail, URL, US Phone number, US Zip Code), users can also select, ‘Custom’ and designate your own pattern. This is a very powerful feature as one can customize and require the answers to be the exact data needed while reducing time and error.
<h3>Previewing Blog Posts</h3>
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/blog_post_preview_v1-1.png" alt="Butter CMS Blog Post Preview URL" /><figcaption>Butter CMS Blog Post Preview URL</figcaption></figure>
ButterCMS has improved the blog post tool by adding the preview draft post functionality.  Content editors can easily view draft blog posts, after pressing the preview button and make changes before the post goes live.
Butter CMS is an API-driven CMS enabling developers to use modern technologies to build websites and applications. The goal is to launch the CMS capability faster so users can focus more on the business.
<h3>Wrap up</h3>
A headless CMS presents itself as a developer friendly alternative to traditional CMS's like WordPress.  ButterCMS has a pre-defined data structure optimized to handle a variety of content while also eliminating the need for set up and configurations. Providing localization, multi-site support and search engine optimization, developers can use their preferred tech stacks to build interfaces. Marketers can easily create and edit content without having technical skills. If you’re wondering if a headless CMS is a right fit for your project, ButterCMS offers a 30-day free trial for you to try out and provide content migration support if you’re moving from an existing CMS.

ButterCMS launches New Knowledge base with enhancements

Drupal has recently released their version 8.8.0, which is a relatively minor update to their popular CMS. This update does not include any important security patches, which makes upgrading to this level more of a personal preference than a strict requirement for site owners. Their upcoming upgrade schedule includes both version 8.9.0 and 9.0.0 on June 3, 2020. The 8.9.0 will be their long-term support version (meaning no additional feature upgrades) for Drupal 8.x. Drupal 9.0.0 will obviously be a significant release, and we’ll have details on that as they come out.
Changes in Drupal 8.8.0
While this is a relatively minor upgrade, there are some nice changes that many webmasters will appreciate. The major updates are as follows:
<ul>
<li>Stable Media Library – This will allow you to easily access and use images, videos, documents, and other media throughout your site with just one upload. This can be accessed right from the library, making it easier than ever to manage your site’s media. Other CMSs have had similar features for some time, so it is good to see it added to Drupal.</li>
<li>Claro Administration Theme – A new administration theme, called ‘Claro’ has been added to Drupal core. It is still considered ‘beta experimental stability’ but appears to work quite nicely. The theme is more touch-friendly, and has an attractive overall layout. The other admin themes are still available, so give this one a try and see if it is something you like.</li>
<li>Improvements to Workspaces – Hierarchical workspaces can now be defined, and they can now work with Content Moderation. In addition, path alias changes can be staged on the system, which is convenient.</li>
<li>Support for Composer now Native – Composer has long been a popular with Drupal users, but has required third-party projects to set up. With this version there is native support for Composer.</li>
<li>Experimental Help Topics Module – Task-based help topics beta has been added to the Drupal system, which will allow the help system to operate better using modules rather than tasks.</li>
<li>Improvements to Migration – Updates to the migration system have been made that will allow handling of vocabulary language settings, term language information, localization, and more.</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="how-to-upgrade-to-drupal-8-8-x">How to Upgrade to Drupal 8.8.X</h3>
Anyone running a lower version of Drupal can easily upgrade to version 8.8.X by running the update.php just as with previous updates. Those running version 8.7 need to be aware that security fixes will only be offered for that version until June 3rd, 2020 after which point they must upgrade (either to 8.8, 8.9 or 9.0). Long term support for Drupal 8.X will be provided only for 8.9.X, so those who don’t want to move to 9.0.0 when it is released will need to keep this support schedule in mind to avoid experiencing security issues.
Those who are still on Drupal 7 can also upgrade to version 8 using the normal process, which will bring them to the latest available version. Support for version 7 is going to end on November 2021, so webmasters still have some time to remain on that platform. From November 2021 to November 2024, there will be a vendor extended support program available for those who want to remain on the older system as long as possible.
For additional information, please click <a href="https://www.drupal.org/blog/drupal-8-8-0">HERE</a> to view the full release notes.

Drupal 8.8.0 Released

Anyone who runs a website knows the importance of search engine optimization (SEO). In fact, most site owners spend quite a large portion of their time and budget on SEO. While there is no doubt that SEO is important, there is another type of search that really shouldn’t be neglected. That is on-page search. Just about all sites today will have an on-site search function that allows users to quickly search for something that they know is on the page, but they aren’t sure where (and any sites that don’t have this functionality should really implement it right away).
On-page search is a key tool that allows visitors to remain on the site longer, which can build brand awareness, drive more sales, get more sign-ups, and even help to improve search rankings on Google. It also leads to a greater overall visitor experience since they won’t get frustrated looking for something they need. There are additional proven benefits of high-quality search functions, including <a href="https://www.invespcro.com/blog/six-tips-to-optimize-your-websites-internal-search-function/">these</a>:
<ul>
<li>About 50% of eCommerce Visitors Say they Prefer Using On-Page Search to Find Products</li>
<li>Total Order Value Rises when Visitors Use On-Page Search</li>
<li>Visitors who Leave a Site to Search for Information they Need Often Never Return</li>
<li>Customers Convert 4 Times More Often when they Use Native Search Functions</li>
</ul>
There is really no doubt that having an on-page search function is critical for the success of any website. Finding and installing a simple on-page search function is an important first step, but there are additional things that webmasters can do to improve the effectiveness of this tool.
<h3>Make it Easy to Find</h3>
When choosing the location on your page where the search bar should appear, you will have several basic options. The first option is to put it in the upper right corner, which has become the standard for websites today. This is familiar for visitors, so they aren’t likely to have to spend much time looking for it. The other option is to make it a much larger and more conspicuous search bar that is more toward the middle of the page. This will really help it to stand out and encourage it to be used by visitors. The second option is more popular on eCommerce sites such as Amazon.
With either option, you want to make sure the search function is extremely easy to see. It should not be in the upper right, but buried in a menu, for example. If you don’t have a search box that is always available, it should be quickly accessible by clicking on a magnifying glass such as you will find here on CMSCritic:
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/image-10.png" alt="CMS Critic Magnifying glass icon" /></figure>
<h3>Implement Auto-Complete Functionality</h3>
Auto-complete is great feature for traditional search, and it can be just as effective on your page. As visitors are typing in their search query, this function will actively attempt to figure out what it is they are going to search for. Since normal websites don’t have the millions of results that you’ll find on Google, auto-complete can often recommend exactly what people are searching for after just a few letters.
Another great perk of the auto-complete feature is that it can help to put additional ideas into the minds of visitors. They may see something in the search recommendations that they weren’t looking for previously, but now their interest has been peaked. These types of experiences are great for visitors, and will keep them on your site even longer. You can see an example of the auto-complete feature from CMS Critic here:
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/image-7.png" alt="CMS Critic Auto Complete Features" /></figure>
<h3>Bring Customers to the Page They Want</h3>
Traditional search engines (and most on-page search engines) bring people to a results page after each search. With Google, this page will have millions of results to choose from. For on-page search options, there will be far fewer. When a customer searches for something that will return just one result (such as a model number, part number, or article title) have the search function bring them directly to that page rather than a results page. This will eliminate one click for the visitor, which slightly improves their experience. It is this type of small, but often noticeable, customer experience improvements that can really help to build brand loyalty.
<h3>Finding the Right On-Page Search</h3>
It is clear that a good on-page search tool will bring any site a lot of great benefits. Whether you are running a blog, a news site, an eCommerce platform, or any other type of website, you should consider adding this feature. Finding the right on-page search tool for your site will take some research and will be based largely on what type of CMS you are using. Once installed and configured, however, you’ll enjoy the benefits for years to come.

Keep Customers on Your Site with Effective On-Page Search

Elastic Path, the leading provider of headless commerce solutions, today announced it has acquired fellow commerce technology leader Moltin to create the industry’s only commerce platform that enables every business leader to quickly and easily leverage microservices to gain a competitive advantage in the market.
This acquisition comes as global demand grows for extensible, flexible, and scalable enterprise commerce solutions and bolsters Elastic Path’s mission to empower businesses to transform every customer interaction, across B2C, B2B, B2B2C, and B2B2B use cases, into unique and engaging digital commerce experiences. Through easy-to-use business user tools, a comprehensive library of ready-to-use commerce experiences, and the ability to extend commerce functionality with ease, Elastic Path can now help brands, manufacturers, and retailers deliver digital customer journeys that are fully tailored to their businesses.
<blockquote>“Our customers want secure, battle-tested solutions that provide the flexibility to cover every commerce experience possible, ranging from websites and retail stores to mobile apps, chatbots, VR and IoT,” said Harry Chemko, co-founder and CEO at Elastic Path. “We have been committed to leading the charge in commerce innovation since our founding, and with the talent and technology Moltin brings to the table, Elastic Path enables every business to deploy revolutionary commerce experiences faster, easier and at greater scale than any other solution in the market.”</blockquote>
Elastic Path pioneered the “headless” approach to digital commerce nearly a decade ago as a way for companies to gain more flexibility as compared to legacy commerce platforms. As businesses strive to differentiate themselves in increasingly crowded markets by delivering unique commerce experiences, a microservices-based architecture has proven to be unmatched in terms of the flexibility it offers.
In a commerce environment, a microservices-based architecture leverages decoupled services that are easy to update or replace based on the needs of a particular touchpoint, such as a complex B2B website, mobile app, or physical kiosk, allowing a business to be more agile in its approach. To date, however, microservices have been out of reach for most businesses given the technical sophistication required. By acquiring Moltin, Elastic Path has created the only solution that makes it fast and easy for every business leader to unleash the power of microservices.
Elastic Path has redefined its new and improved Elastic Path Commerce Cloud platform around five key tenets:
<ul>
<li>Easy-to-use business user tooling: Maximize the monetization of digital initiatives with intuitive and robust business user tooling, which provides all the necessary commerce capabilities to launch and iterate on personalized and contextually relevant experiences in real-time.  </li>
<li>Comprehensive library of pre-built and ready-to-use commerce experiences: Launch new revenue channels on demand using the most comprehensive library of ready-to-use commerce experiences including multiple website experiences, a progressive web application (PWA), Alexa Voice Assistant, Facebook chatbot, social login, self-checkout for retail stores, Zendesk customer service, magic mirror, augmented reality, self-checkout for pop-up events, IoT, embeddable cart and checkout buy button, and more.  </li>
<li>Future-proof extensibility: Set up and update integrations with any third-party solution quickly and easily. There is no tangled web of customized plugins that locks businesses in and stifles innovation.  </li>
<li>Choreographed microservices: Deliver digital experiences that are fully tailored to business requirements with the most flexible headless microservices architecture that can be consumed modularly. Combined with Elastic Path’s Cortex API Orchestration layer, Elastic Path provides businesses with the agility and control needed to deliver fitfor-purpose experiences across any digital channel. </li>
<li>Enterprise-grade scalability: Grow confidently by leveraging the expertise Elastic Path has gained from supporting unmatched scale and mission-critical digital commerce for more than 300 of the world’s leading brands, manufacturers, and retailers, including Intuit and T-Mobile.</li>
</ul>
Elastic Path is now the only commerce platform to provide secure, enterprise-grade deployment options across multi-tenant SaaS, single-tenant SaaS, private cloud, and on premise. The advantages of the new unified platform are available to customers immediately.
All of Moltin’s global employees have joined Elastic Path, including engineering, customer support, sales, marketing, and operations. Elastic Path has also maintained Moltin’s U.S. and U.K. offices in Boston and Newcastle. With complementary development and customer support operations locations, Elastic Path has expanded its time zone coverage for current and future customers operating globally.
To learn more about how Elastic Path can empower your business to accelerate digital innovation, visit Elastic Path booth #1453 at NRF or go to <a href="https://www.elasticpath.com/">ElasticPath.com</a>.

Elastic Path Acquires Moltin

Best Video Experience

Give your audience the best video experience

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The Factor CMS framework is starting to get quite a bit of attention. While it doesn’t launch until March of this year, there is already a lot of information available (thanks to early dev releases) to go along with the hype. For those who don’t already know, Factor is designed specifically for front-end developers who want an easy, yet powerful, option for creating websites, web apps, and more. The system is build using Javascript VENM Stack, and is coded in Typescript, which offers developers many exciting benefits. Let’s take some time to summarize what we already know of this system to prepare for its upcoming launch.
<h3>A Look Under the Hood</h3>
Factor is powered by Javascript VENM Stack, which is made up of the following:
<ul>
<li>VueJs – VueJS allows you to extend HTML with attributes (directives), expand functionality, and take advantage of built-in directives as well as user defined directives.</li>
<li>Express – Express is known as a ‘minimalist’ framework that is set up to support NodeJS.</li>
<li>NodeJS – NodeJS is an open source server environment that is platform independent. It is among the most popular options for web servers because it eliminates the need for waiting while tasks are completed.</li>
<li>MangoDB – This is a very popular database that has been proven to be very reliable. It functions well even on very large databases, which makes it a great option for this CMS.</li>
</ul>
The fact that it is a universal Typescript platform will allow you to make changes dynamically, so your live website is updated in real time.
<h3>No Need to Reinvent the Wheel</h3>
One of the biggest advantages of Factor is that just about everything can be done using plugins. While plugins are certainly nothing new in the CMS world, Factor is looking to make them easier and more powerful than ever. The big claim is that with Factor, plugins ‘Just Work.’ There is no mandatory customization or need to code things in yourself. Instead, if one piece of your website or web app puzzle has been done in the past, it can be incorporated using a plugin. This will help to minimize the amount of coding (especially repeat coding) needed for a given project, which is obviously something that developers will absolutely love.
There are already quite a few plugins available to download from their site, and many more are undoubtedly being developed. This is on top of any custom plugins that developers create for their own libraries.
<h3>Getting Started with Factor</h3>
Anyone who has worked with Javascript apps in the past will have no trouble getting this system set up right away. They claim that it can be up and running within three minutes, and that actually seems quite realistic. Once installed, Factor will allow you to create and publish apps quickly and easily thanks to the ability to use both Javascript and Typescript natively.
<h3>Factor Dashboard</h3>
Once everything is installed, the Factor Dashboard is where most developers will spend their time. This is a very simple layout that appears to be extremely intuitive. As you add in additional plugins and features, the layout will evolve, but at its core it remains one of the easiest CMS dashboards we’ve seen to date.
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/image-1.png" alt="Factor.dev admin dashboard" /><figcaption>Factor CMS Dashboard</figcaption></figure>
While there is undoubtedly still a lot to learn about the<a href="https://factor.dev/"> Factor CMS</a> between now and when it is launched, we are already quite excited about it. Baring any major changes or problems between now and launch date, we expect this to quickly become one of the more popular options for web-app developers in 2020.

Factor CMS Sneak Preview

Check  the product out at the store. Buy it online. Have it delivered at the  doorstep of your home or office. The omni-channel retail experience is  becoming increasingly ubiquitous, and businesses are going all out to  develop smarter, more seamless engagement strategies for the  ‘post-digital’ world.
More  and more retailers are beginning to understand that merely having a  presence on multiple channels is no longer enough to woo new markets.  Brands are boosting omni-channel engagement by creating personalized,  on-demand content that enriches the customer journey across channels by  offering contextually relevant information and experiences.
In  fact, a powerful omni-channel strategy that delivers a unified brand  experience can unlock new markets and increase your customer base - and  that’s why it’s important to have a strong foundation in place from the  start. Here are 5 essentials that go into building a modern omni-channel  strategy.
<h3 id="data-management-for-consistency-and-convenience">Data Management: For Consistency and Convenience</h3>
Having  a single source of truth or a “golden record” of product information,  i.e., a consolidated, well-defined version of all data entities present  in an organizational ecosystem, is at the heart of effective data  management. This helps you create richer brand experiences by ensuring  that every customer touchpoint offers relevant and consistent  information for every product, thereby letting customers seamlessly move  from one channel to another in their buying journey.
<h3 id="unified-connected-systems-power-omnichannel">Unified, Connected Systems Power Omnichannel</h3>
Siloed  systems and disparate workflows are anathemas to any omni-channel  strategy. To create a seamless customer experience (CX), you’ll need to  deploy APIs to accelerate data transfers and smoothly integrate  mission-critical applications needed to improve your technology  landscape. This way real-time inventory can be synchronized between  physical/online stores with integrated customer data and dynamic  workflow engines. It further makes sure optimum omni-channel enablement  on customer touchpoints like IoT devices, point-of-sale, kiosks, and the  likes.
<h3 id="shared-workflows-help-everyone">Shared Workflows Help Everyone</h3>
It’s  hard to execute omnichannel retail if you don’t have shared workflows  between your stakeholders. Shared workflows make it easier for employees  and third parties to access product information that’s most relevant to their  role. For example, a digital marketer may not need to know the product’s  expiry date or it’s temperature threshold for spoilage, but a logistics  operator could very well find this information essential. Over the  years, several Product Information Management (PIM) solutions have made  it easier to accurately distribute relevant information throughout the  retail landscape. By storing this information in a master file, and  enabling access via API calls, PIM platforms act as a key enabler of any  omni-channel strategy and helps your stakeholders to effectively  contribute to enriching the customer experience.
<h3 id="product-attributes-and-rich-media-integration">Product Attributes and Rich Media Integration</h3>
The  importance of having product attributes assigned to each inventory unit  within your database simply cannot be understated. Not only do product  attributes offer your customers a richer, more relevant view of their  prospective purchases, they can also help nudge them along their buying  journey. Through videos, images and accurate product descriptions, it  can be made easier for warehousing and in-store staff to acquire better  product visibility, which helps them in creating a more compelling  retail experience for the buyer.
<h3 id="segmentation-and-targeting-are-essential">Segmentation and Targeting Are Essential</h3>
If  you aren’t using your customer data to create personalized and relevant  experiences for your customers, you’re not taking full advantage of  your analytics. According to a study by MarketingSherpa, <a href="https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Please-Dont-Unsubscribe-Why-Consumers-Email-Fatigue/1015219" rel="noreferrer">more than 20% of customers</a> opt-out of brand communications due to receiving irrelevant content.  This demonstrates how important it is to segment your target markets and  tailor unique content that is relevant to each section of customers  that engages with your brand. For example, millennials may like  receiving vibrant and contemporary content on their smartphones, while  specific, offer-based emails may appeal to an older audience.
<h2 id="to-summarize">To Summarize</h2>
A  good omni-channel strategy has the potential to exponentially grow your  customer base and revenues. The Harvard Business Review recently  conducted a study showing that <a href="https://hbr.org/2017/01/a-study-of-46000-shoppers-shows-that-omnichannel-retailing-works" rel="noreferrer">73% of shoppers used multiple retail channels.</a> This statistic supports a study by the Aberdeen Group, stating that retailers with a powerful omnichannel game retained <a href="https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2013/12/31/why-omnichannel-strategy-matters/" rel="noreferrer">over 89% of their customers</a> – which is staggering, to say the least.
To  truly master the omni-channel ecosystem, you’ll need to engage in active  experimentation. It’s not enough to just hit fire-and-forget on your  automation workflows - you’ll need to constantly tweak and re-engineer  product experiences on different channels to see what works best for  each of your target audiences.   
Based  on this article, consider how well your enterprise has executed  omni-channel and whether there are any glaring gaps that need to be  filled. Also, consider investing in a solid product information  management (PIM) and master data management (MDM) strategy that can help  you address all of the above without breaking a sweat. And remember, at  the end of the day, CX is what makes or breaks any omni-channel  strategy. That’s why it’s important to continually deliver new customer  experiences that aren’t confined to a single platform but can instead be  uniquely experienced across a plethora of touchpoints.

5 Key Factors That Go Into Building Unified Omni-Channel Experiences

dietmar-rietsch

<a target="_blank" href="https://zorinos.com/">Zorin OS</a> has been gaining in popularity as of late as a good alternative for Windows users making the migration to Linux but is it a worthy option? Read on to find out in this Zorin OS Review.There are several ways you can get started with Zorin OS; the first is to download <a target="_blank" href="https://zorinos.com/download/#core">Zorin OS Core</a> which is the free edition of the distro. If you prefer the XFCE desktop environment, you can try their <a target="_blank" href="https://zorinos.com/download/#lite">lite edition</a>  which includes this as a default instead of Gnome.There is also a paid version which is called <a target="_blank" href="https://zorinos.com/download/#ultimate">Zorin OS Ultimate</a> and includes some additional layouts for the desktop as well as over 20 different games for $39. This is a great way to help the developers cover some of their costs. (Side note: Zorin OS Ultimate is also available in Lite and 32 bit editions)For the purposes of this review, I'll be focusing on the Gnome editions (Ultimate and Core) but if you are interested in seeing what the lite editions is like with XFCE, I've covered that here: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/zorin-os-lite-review-15-1-version/">Zorin OS Lite Review.</a>The installation process is pretty much identical to every other Ubuntu based distro out there so I'm going to skip screenshots for it and just tell you that it went off without a hitch and within a few minutes, I was greeted with the desktop.<h2>Zorin OS Ultimate</h2>As I mentioned earlier, Zorin OS Ultimate is available for $39 and includes a number of games as well as some additional layouts. Here is what the default Gnome desktop looks like.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-review-1.png" />Zorin OS Review - Default Desktop (Gnome)As you can see, it's a clean and easy on the eyes look and feel they are going for.  This is the default layout that you start off with but as you'll see shortly, there are several others you can try if you prefer something else.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-review-2.png" />Zorin OS Review - The MenuThe menu is pretty self explanatory and contains a number of great default applications for pretty much every purpose. The styling and theming should be pretty easy to adapt to for transitioning Windows users and help make them feel at home.As you can see, the Ultimate release includes a number of games to get you started. Of course, you can always download more within the repositories, from <a target="_blank" href="https://store.steampowered.com/">Steam</a> or the ever popular <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gog.com/games?page=1&amp;sort=popularity&amp;system=lin_ubuntu,lin_mint,lin_ubuntu_18">GOG</a> which includes tons of great Linux game options.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-review-14.png" />Zorin OS Review - Ultimate Edition - Included Games<h2>Desktop Layouts</h2>There are numerous desktop layouts included with the Ultimate edition which let you basically alter the look of your desktop. With Zorin OS Core you get three options but with Ultimate, there are a total of six.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-review-15.png" />Below, I've included a gallery of the additional layouts you get. I'm not going to bother with layout #2 as it's basically just changing the task bar from showing icons to showing window names so it's not much of a change.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-review-19.png" /><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-review-16-1.png" /><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-review-17-1.png" /><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-review-18.png" />Zorin OS Review - Additional Layouts<h2>Zorin Appearance</h2>Zorin OS also includes a few interesting theme options within their exclusive theme app, Zorin Appearance. From here you can select between light and dark modes as well as a transitioning theme which will switch between light and dark automatically at whichever times you set. The logic here is that it should make it easier on your eyes in the evenings.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-review-4.png" /><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-review-5.png" /><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-review-6.png" />Zorin OS Review - Theming OptionsYou can also adjust accent colors and fonts, etc from within the Zorin Appearance app as well.<h2>Zorin Connect</h2>Zorin Connect is another application included with the distro, the purpose of which is to allow you to connect your smartphone to the desktop in order to review alerts and notifications. If you are familiar with <a target="_blank" href="https://community.kde.org/KDEConnect">KDE Connect</a>, this is a similar concept.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-review-7.png" /><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-review-8.png" />Zorin OS review - Zorin Connect<h2>Software</h2>Installing software is as easy as using the terminal or going through the included Software app which is organized by category and includes a search option.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-review-9.png" />Zorin OS Review - Software<h2>Settings</h2>Settings for your system can be modified within the Settings app, which is a control center similar to the control panel within Windows. This and the software app above are not exclusive to Zorin but rather are part of the <a target="_blank" href="http://gnome.org/">Gnome desktop environment</a> that Zorin OS uses by default.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-review-10.png" />Zorin OS Review - Settings<h2>Web Browsing</h2>When it comes to web browsing, the included Firefox web browser, which is generally the default browser on the majority of Linux desktops is included. There's even a custom search page for Zorin OS.I don't quite get why the search font has to be so massive but hey, to each their own.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-review-12.png" />Zorin OS Review - Web Browsing<h2>Performance</h2>During my testing, Zorin OS Core and Ultimate running the Gnome desktop environment, a terminal, the file manager and Firefox with two tabs clocks clocked in at about 1.3-1.5 gigs of ram on average.It definitely feels like a better performing Zorin OS than prior versions. It seems to have lost the sluggishness I used to experience with Zorin. I'd love to hear your personal experiences, so please do leave a comment below and share.<h2>Conclusion</h2>Zorin OS Ultimate and Core are very elegant interpretations of the Gnome desktop and with the performance improvements, it feels pretty snappy compared to previous releases. I didn't experience any hiccups or issues during my testing and it seemed to handle whatever I threw at it without issue.If you are looking for a slick Gnome based distro, I'd recommend giving it a try and seeing if it suits your needs. Not sure? Check out our <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/zorin-os-lite-review-15-1-version/">Zorin OS Lite Review</a> (XFCE based) and see if it suits your needs.You can download Zorin OS here: <a target="_blank" href="https://zorinos.com/">https://zorinos.com/</a>

Zorin OS Review - 15.1 Ultimate and Core Editions

techcto2

Zorin OS Lite is a new XFCE edition of the popular Linux distribution. The main desktop environment we're accustomed to seeing with Zorin OS is Gnome but recently, they decided to start offering a Lite edition as well - a smart move that is sure to expand their install base.For this review, I'll take you through Zorin OS Lite and show you around. If you want to see what the Gnome edition, read my <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/zorin-os-review/">Zorin OS Review</a>, which I just just updated for 15.1 Ultimate and Core.Installation of Zorin OS hasn't changed with the Lite edition and there's not much to see other than the standard stuff so I won't focus on that aspect, just know that it went off without a hitch.<h2>The Desktop</h2>Zorin OS Lite uses the <a target="_blank" href="https://xfce.org/">XFCE desktop environment</a> and the developers have definitely done a great job of keeping the look and feel of Zorin OS pretty consistent. It's almost hard to tell it's not Gnome.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-review-1.png" />Zorin OS Lite Review - The XFCE DesktopJust like Zorin OS Core and Ultimate, there are also a number of desktop layout options included, which we'll take a look at in a moment.The menu, which you'll find in the bottom left, is well laid out and shows the default applications. The third party apps installed are the same ones you'd find in any other edition of Zorin OS. The only difference here are the DE specific ones (ie: Gnome desktop comes with it's own set of default apps as does XFCE).  In other word's, you'll find differences in the terminal, file manager and settings but apps like Firefox, etc are all standard in each edition.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-lite-review-1.png" />Zorin OS Lite Review - The Menu<h2>Zorin Appearance</h2>Just like the Ultimate and Core editions, Zorin OS Lite includes the Zorin Appearance app which allows you to modify the theme, fonts and desktop layouts.<h3>Desktop Layouts</h3>Let's take a look at the different desktop layouts offered in the Lite edition now. I've put together a gallery below for you showing them all off.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-lite-review-3-1.png" /><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-lite-review-4-1.png" /><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-lite-review-5-1.png" /><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-lite-review-6-1.png" />Zorin OS Lite Review - Desktop Layouts<h3>Theme Options</h3>In addition to the desktop layouts, you can also select between light and dark themes as well as a new option which allows your desktop to automatically switch between light and dark modes depending on the time of day (which you can set). This is intended to be easy on the eyes and reduce eye strain.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-lite-review-7.png" />Zorin OS Lite Review - Zorin Appearance<h2>File Management</h2>The included file manager is Thunar which is the default for XFCE. It's themed nicely (I particularly like it in dark mode) and is a fantastic file manager.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-lite-review-8.png" />Zorin OS Lite - File Management<h2>Settings</h2>Settings for your system can be found within the Settings tool. Here's you'll find everything from display and bluetooth options to wifi and more.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-lite-review-9.png" />Zorin OS Lite Review - SettingsThere are also a number of nice included backgrounds for your desktop should you wish to change it to something other than the default. You can find these by right clicking on the desktop and choosing desktop settings.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-lite-review-12.png" />Zorin OS Lite Review - Backgrounds<h2>Oops, found a mistake!</h2>I did find one mistake but chance while I was exploring Zorin OS Lite. When I went to click on the XFCE Terminal within the menu, it launched the XFCE terminal preferences instead.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-lite-review-10.png" />Zorin OS Lite Review - XFCE Terminal PreferencesThis is due to a misplaced --preferences flag that has been added by mistake within the menu as you can see below. It's a minor mistake but one to be aware of and it's easy to change. Just remove --prefern<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/zorin-os-lite-review-11.png" />Zorin OS Lite Review - XFCE Terminal - Minor Bug<h2>Conclusion</h2>Overall, this new Lite edition is very slick and well put together. It's definitely one of the better looking XFCE desktops I've seen and I'm impressed with how the devs managed to match it up with the other edition's look and feel.Performance wise, I found everything fast, even when running multiple apps at a time with numerous tabs open in Firefox. It just works well and I highly suggest giving it a try if you love XFCE.You can download your own copy of Zorin OS Lite here: <a target="_blank" href="https://zorinos.com/">https://zorinos.com/</a>Don't forget to check out our <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/zorin-os-review/">Zorin OS Review</a> to see what the Gnome edition looks like.

Zorin OS Lite Review - 15.1 Lite Edition

Elementary OS is a Linux distribution based on Ubuntu that features the custom developed Pantheon desktop environment. One of the key aspects, aside from the  unique look and feel, are the custom coded apps and paid app store that are available with Elementary.  Today, we're going to take a look at the  whole picture in this Elementary OS Review.I'm not going to get into the Installation process here as it's  pretty much identical with every other Linux distro out there and there's not much to see. It worked without issue in all of my testing on multiple devices so I'm going to call it stable and solid.<h2>Elementary OS Review – The Desktop</h2>On  boot-up, we're greeted with the Elementary OS Pantheon desktop, which you can tell took inspiration from Mac OS. That's not a bad thing  however as many people are fond of the look and feel and it just works.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elementary-os-review-1.png" />Elementary OS Review - The Desktop (Elementary OS 5.1)<h2>Welcome Screen</h2>There is now a new welcome screen with the recent 5.1 release. It walks you through some basic options such as enabling location reporting, setting up Night Light which reduces eye strain at specific times and more.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elementary-os-review-01.png" />Elementary OS Review - New Welcome ScreenAlong the top we have the Applications menu on the left, the date centered in the top panel and the system tray on the right side. At the bottom, the dock where you can launch and pin apps that you use most frequently.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elementary-os-review-2.png" />Elementary OS Review - The Menu and Dock<h2>The Applications</h2>When it comes to the default apps, the developers tend to go with  those ones that are geared towards simplicity and minimalism. For  example, the default web browser that is installed is Epiphany.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elementary-os-review-8.png" />Elementary OS Review - The Web Browser (Epiphany)The issue here, however, is that this web browser simply isn't good enough by today's standards. It froze up on numerous websites I tried it on causing the whole system to lock up.While it's not a terrible web browser, it's certainly not something that's commonly used or up to par when compared to the standard Firefox  and Chrome/Chromium browsers. Sure, you can install different ones from  the app store but I think it's a waste to install something most new users are going to find less than adequate. Epiphany is not in the same league as the big boys and is likely going to not be able to correctly be able to display complex sites as well.<h2>Email</h2>Originally forked from Geary, Mail is now developed under the  Elementary banner and is slowly being rewritten to allow for more robust capabilities (<a target="_blank" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/elementaryos/comments/8a7nc0/pantheon_mailgeary/">source</a>) but it's suitable for most users.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/mail.png" />Elementary OS Review - MailOther included apps are Video, Music, Files, Calendar, Terminal and  Photos to name a few. All of these are custom to Elementary OS.<h2>System Settings</h2>Taking a look at the system settings, we see there are numerous icons to help you configure your new environment:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elementary-os-review-3.png" />Elementary OS Review - System Settings<h2>Limited Options?</h2>While system settings do exist, the one thing that I personally dislike is the limited flexibility of the environment. The entire distro focuses too much on restricting flexibility with the pretense that it's helping users. The issue, however, is that it's not allowing new users to experience one of the best benefits to using Linux - variety and customization.An example of this is the fact that you simply cannot theme Elementary with any of the default tools without installing a third party (and unsupported) app such as <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/elementary-tweaks/elementary-tweaks">Elementary Tweaks</a>.For example; take a look at the limited selections available when you click on Desktop within System Settings.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elementary-os-review---10.png" /><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elementary-os-review---11.png" />Elementary OS Review - Desktop SettingsAs you can see above, you can change two toggles and the text size and that's it for appearance options.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elementary-os-review---9.png" />Elementary OS Review - Changing the BackgroundYou can also change the background, but that's about it.Some may disagree on this but I feel like Elementary is trying too hard to be like Apple - limiting people to very few choices because they feel that it's for the greater good of the user and that the user shouldn't have flexibility because they might break something.Part of Linux is about breaking something. In fact, breaking something is one of the only ways people learn how to do things. Look at Windows, it's breaking all the time and most of what I learned came from fixing things. Believe me, Mac OS has just as many issues so let's not assume that because things are limited, breaking won't occur but one shouldn't hold people back from discovering what their OS can do, otherwise we're just encouraging sheep to join the flock.Now that I've got that off my chest, let's continue.<h2>Additional System Settings</h2>There are a few key items here that I feel need to be pointed out, notably Parental Controls and Online Accounts.Online Accounts only provides operating system integration for FastMail, Last.fm and Email which is pretty limiting.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elementary-os-review---12.png" />Elementary OS Review - Online AccountsParental controls are also available within Elementary OS and it's a great addition.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/parental-controls.png" />Elementary OS Review - Parental Controls<h2>AppCenter</h2>AppCenter is Elementary OS' answer to a software store. It's one of  the only one's I've seen that functions on a Pay-What-You-Want model.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/appcenter.png" />Elementary OS Review - App CenterThis has actually worked out quite well for the Elementary OS team  and there are now plenty of developers offering paid apps through the  store. You can, of course, also download free ones, not everything is  paid (just to be clear).Here's what the team had to say about the AppCenter:<blockquote>AppCenter is our built-in app store where users can download free and  paid apps that are purpose-built for elementary OS. With AppCenter we’re  doing things a bit differently from our competitors.</blockquote><blockquote>First, every  single app in AppCenter is open source because we firmly believe in the  world-changing power of freely-licensed code and open source software.  Second, all paid apps are offered with a developer-provided suggested  price, but are ultimately pay-what-you-want. Users choose what to  pay — if anything at all — when they download paid apps.</blockquote><h2>Issues I've Encountered</h2>For some reason, the recent 5.1 update seems to have caused more issues than previous releases for me. I found the system freezing up more often than prior releases.I also noticed that when I went to mirror my display to my TV via HDMI, everything scaled to twice the size and wouldn't display correctly no wonder what I tried. Furthermore, I couldn't get sound to output properly either, and finally I just gave up trying.<h2>Elementary OS Review – My Conclusions</h2>First let me state that the intent of these reviews is to cover the quick and dirty basics that a new user will experience on first use. They are not power user reviews or benchmarked ones. My goal is to give those new to the OS a general overview and some points to consider.There's not much that a new user to Linux can actually customize in Elementary OS. While they do offer easy-to-use apps and an interface that is simple and easy to use, as I mentioned,  I found it quite limiting in capabilities without replacing major apps with better and more mainstream options from the AppCenter. Epiphany seemed to do an OK job but it doesn't support extensions. It does, however, offer Firefox Sync capabilities but it's just not good enough in my opinion.I feel like the Elementary team went a bit too far in being  restrictive with the OS but at the same time, limiting things is something Apple has turned into a successful experience and given that Elementary seems to take inspiration from Apple; perhaps it's not a bad thing. I wouldn't recommend trying to use Elementary if you are like me and love customizing things because you won't be satisfied. If you want a “just works” OS and aren't concerned about this, it's a decent option.I'm giving it a 3/5 on the basis that it's a bit too limiting for new users and with the recent 5.1 update, I experienced more freeze-ups and annoyances than before. I'm basing this on what it comes with by default. Is it a great choice for the minimalist? Absolutely.I'd rather recommend something like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/ubuntu-mate-review/">Ubuntu Mate</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/mx-linux-review/">MX Linux</a>, or <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/reviews/solus-review/">Solus</a>.Interested in trying it out for yourself? <a target="_blank" href="https://elementary.io/">Grab it from here</a>. What do you like about Elementary OS?

Elementary OS Review

mike-johnston

<a href="https://www.magnolia-cms.com/" rel="noreferrer nofollow noopener">Magnolia</a> today announces the opening of a new office in Shanghai,  confirming its long-standing commitment to China and Asia.
The  new office adds to Magnolia’s already well-established presence in  Asia, with two offices having previously opened in Singapore and  Vietnam. The company also has certified  partners serving customers in North Asia and India.
Through  the new Shanghai office, Magnolia looks to expand its offering of  content management and digital experience technologies to the rapidly  growing APAC market.
To coincide with the office opening, Magnolia has also launched its first <a href="https://www.magnolia-cms.com/zh_CN/" rel="noreferrer nofollow noopener">Chinese website</a> to meet the growing demands for best of breed enterprise  CMS platforms in the region.
<blockquote>Commenting  on the office opening, Don Lee, Managing Director, APAC at Magnolia  said, “Having recognised a need for intensive personalisation to provide  unparalleled,  unique experiences to customers, Chinese brands are now investing in  marketing technology designed to improve digital experiences.</blockquote>
<blockquote>“This  evolving market opens up major opportunities for Magnolia, with growing  demand for platforms and tools that can help businesses manage their  expanding marketing  ecosystems.”</blockquote>
<blockquote>He  added: “Our global business is growing rapidly, and we see huge  potential to drive further growth through this expansion into Shanghai.  And with an extremely attractive  talent pool in Shanghai, we’re looking forward to extending our  offering to the Greater Chinese markets.”</blockquote>
To find out more about Magnolia’s global offering, visit <a href="https://www.magnolia-cms.com/" rel="noreferrer nofollow noopener">https://www.magnolia-cms.com/</a>

Magnolia expands in China with new Shanghai office

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