Articles - Page 53

The Top 10 AI Tools for Small Business: From Automation to a Coordinated Team of AI Agents

matt-garrepy

Talk about welcome news.
Earlier in December, <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/" target="_blank">Optimizely</a> – a leading digital experience platform (DXP) – announced a definitive agreement to purchase <a href="https://welcomesoftware.com/" target="_blank">Welcome</a>, a content marketing (CMP), marketing resource management (MRM), and digital asset management (DAM) platform.
Yes, that's a lot of three-lettered acronyms for one sentence...
While the DXP juggernaut is no stranger to acquisitions (they were, in fact, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/episerver-rebrands-as-optimizely-following-acquisition/">purchased by Episerver in 2020</a> but rebranded under the Optimizely name), this one provides a glimpse of the company's ambition to win the minds and hearts of internal marketers.
According to Welcome's press release, the combination will empower marketing teams at brands across the globe to drive real business value through better customer experiences.
“We believe a world-class customer experience starts with an outstanding marketer experience,” said Alex Atzberger, CEO of Optimizely. “By combining Welcome’s campaign planning, content production, and asset management capabilities with Optimizely’s existing breadth of digital experience solutions, we empower marketers to rapidly launch campaigns and control the optimization of every digital touchpoint which results in growth for the business.”
As the deal is set to close before the New Year, it's clear that Optimizely is making a 2022 resolution to focus more on the discrete needs of marketers, who are chiefly responsible for driving customer experience. With the rise of digital tools and hybrid work environments, marketers are becoming the "engines" of business growth by shaping consumer engagement. At the same time, they are being forced to adapt and respond to a fluid digital landscape, where a fragmented stack is arresting their ability to deliver personalized, relevant content and experiences at scale.
Bottom line: Optimizely aims to improve the marketer experience by adding Welcome's CMP, MRM, and DAM capabilities to their expanding ecosystem.
<h2>Combining marketing, content management, digital commerce, and personalization</h2>
As a four-time <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210325005585/en/Welcome-a-NewsCred-Brand-Named-a-Leader-Now-4-Years-Running-in-the-2021-Gartner-Magic-Quadrant-for-Content-Marketing-Platforms" target="_blank">Leader on the Gartner Magic Quadrant</a>, Welcome has carved a strong niche in the small but growing cadre of Content Marketing Platforms (CMP).
As Gartner noted in their most recent report, "Welcome’s vision as a marketing orchestration software, combining the capabilities of a CMP, MWM, DAM, offers promise." This positioning certainly made the platform a more attractive target for Optimizely.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/12/gartner_mq_cmp-971x1024.png" alt="Gartner Magic Quadrant, 2021 for CMP" />
By combining Welcome's capabilities with Optimizely's suite of content management and digital commerce solutions, marketers will now have enhanced tools for a wide range of applications – all in a unified platform. This includes the "Holy Grail" of experimentation, personalization, and recommendations that have often remained elusive for marketing professionals and teams.
Under the Optimizely banner, marketers will be able to leverage Welcome's features on an evolutionary scale, allowing them to accelerate the end-to-end marketing lifecycle from concept to execution. This will allow users and teams to plan, create, and collaborate on campaigns and publish across multiple channels to reach the right audiences. They will also have unprecedented control and transparency to manage content delivery without relying on the support of IT or development.
The combined set of capabilities should be a force multiplier for Optimizely, enabling marketers to grow revenue by scaling best-in-class data-driven tools such as A/B testing and content recommendations, augmented by Welcome's content marketing processes. Marketers will also be able to easily share results across their organization, providing greater insight into the impact of their marketing investment.
“We could not be more excited to be joining the Optimizely family,” said Shafqat Islam, CEO and co-founder of Welcome. “We’ve made it our mission to transform the way marketers work, by delivering a purpose-built solution to orchestrate all of marketing. Now, together with Optimizely, we believe we are unifying two category-leading solutions to see that mission through.”
<h2>A string of strategic acquisitions</h2>
As the DXP category becomes more crowded, enterprise vendors are clawing their way to the top of the mountain. In Gartner's <a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3995917/magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms" target="_blank">2021 Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms</a>, Optimizely found itself chasing the heels of both <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-upgrades-open-dxp-capabilities-to-expand-composable-enterprise-features/">Acquia</a> and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/adobe-acquires-video-collaboration-platform-frame-io/">Adobe</a> in pursuit of the crown.
To enhance their DXP completeness of vision and gain competitive ground, all three platforms have been scooping up strategic technologies – including Optimizely's 2021 <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/optimizely-acquires-customer-data-platform-zaius/">purchase of Zauis</a>, a leading customer data platform (CDP).
Adding this all-important data layer gave Optimizely a needed edge, but the purchase of Welcome is key. Not only does it signal a renewed focus on the role of the marketer, but it repositions the power of the platform on the marketer's experience. Providing an integrated, end-to-end lifecycle solution for managing content, assets, and resources – and amplifying it with the commerce and optimization features of a proven DXP – could be a real gamechanger for Optimizely. We'll be watching as the next steps unfold.
<h2>About Optimizely</h2>
Optimizely is a leading digital experience platform (DXP), equipping teams with the tools and insights they need to create and optimize in new and novel ways. Now, companies can operate with data-driven confidence to create hyper-personalized experiences. Building sophisticated solutions has never been simpler. Optimizely’s 900+ partners and 1100+ employees in offices around the globe are proud to help more than 9,000 brands, including Toyota, Santander, eBay, KLM and Mazda, enrich their customer lifetime value, increase revenue and grow their brands.
<h2>About Welcome</h2>
Welcome transforms how marketers run marketing. It is the leading marketing orchestration platform used by the world’s most successful brands to strategically align teams, take the friction out of execution, and demonstrate meaningful results. Only Welcome offers a platform purpose-built for the complexities of modern marketing that can scale to support the largest teams in the world. It is a new layer of the marketing technology stack where marketers can work better together, connect other martech tools, and measure performance. Welcome unleashes the potential of marketing.

Optimizely's Acquisition of Welcome Signals Expanded Focus on Marketers

cms-critic-staff

Enonic XP Review

mike-johnston

<a href="http://www.pikock.com/" target="_blank">Pikock</a>, a website builder which makes user of a <a href="/the-first-of-its-kind-pikock-launch-layout-slider-to-simplify-website-building/" target="_blank">rather interesting “Layout Slider”</a>, has released a new update.
Pikock was founded in Paris in 2012. The user friendly drag-and-drop website building platform, is designed to make website creation as easy as possible.  
Here's what's new with Pikock.
<h2>Smart Blocks, Beautiful Backgrounds &amp; More</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/size_3_new-system-blocs700x0.jpg" />
<ul>
<li>Smart Blocks Editor: Build your page in minutes thanks to our 100 pre-designed with structured content blocks based on your essential needs. </li>
<li>New image uploader: Import your images twice faster and sublime them when you want with our in house Photo editor.</li>
<li>Beautiful background images: Create beautiful pages with our designer selection of background images.</li>
</ul>
Furthermore, Pikock's new update brings about a cleaner interface, favicons, archived versions, Google and Pinterest site verification, and more.
You can find out more about the latest version of Pikock <a href="http://www.pikock.com/30/new-pikock-a-radical-new-way-to-build-websites" target="_blank">right here</a>.

Pikock Releases New Smart Blocks Editor

To cap off what many would call a highly successful 2014, <a href="http://www.jahia.com/products/digital-factory" target="_blank">Jahia</a> has released its eagerly anticipated <a href="http://www.jahia.com/products/form-factory#ff-video" target="_blank">Forms Factory</a>.
With Forms Factory, marketers can create forms at will without depending on development teams. Plus, marketers can monitor the effectiveness of their forms thanks to the Form Center: a finely tuned engagement tool based on real performance.
Jahia is a popular and rapidly developing enterprise-level Java CMS. Recently, Jahia were crowned the <a href="/2014-critics-choice-award-winner-best-enterprise-java-cms/" target="_blank">2014 Critics' Choice Award Winner for Best Enterprise Java CMS</a>.
<h2>Powerful Forms Management Simplified</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/jahia-form-factory-builder1700x0.png" alt="Jahia Forms Factory" />
According to Jahia's <a href="http://www.jahia.com/company/news/form-factory-launch" target="_blank">original press release</a>, “Forms management is the single most essential tool for digital marketing engagement With Form Factory, Jahia gives it back to whom it belongs: the marketing team.”
Here's an overview of the benefits Form Factory brings:
<ul>
<li>Create multi-step, multi-language, multi-conditions and validation-ruled forms super easily through drag-and-drops</li>
<li>Manage all forms created from a central interface (the Form Center)</li>
<li>Monitor collected data, measure engagement (by form, field completion, period, etc.), export data etc.</li>
<li>Connect each/all/selected forms to external business app such as CRM, marketing automation tools, etc.</li>
<li>Unmatched extensibility and versatility: developers can extend the Form Factory with their own fields, groups of fields, validation, logic and custom consequences.</li>
</ul>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/jahia-form-factory-builder2700x0.png" alt="Jahia Forms Factory" />
Jahia's CEO, Elie Auvray, made these comments:
<blockquote>“This new addition to our content and user experience platform and suite of products is another expression of our Digital Industrialization vision. Our goal is to allow each digital team within companies to produce what they know best in full autonomy, thanks to the most powerful and easy-to-use data collection tools without putting any of the architecture and IT security processes at risk.”</blockquote>
To find out more about Jahia Form Factory, <a href="http://www.jahia.com/company/news/form-factory-launch" target="_blank">check out their official announcement</a>.
Also, be sure to explore more of <a href="/products/jahia/" target="_blank">Jahia via our CMS Directory</a>.

Jahia Launches Forms Factory

Up until the oculus Go came onto the market, I've never felt the need to get into the VR scene. I always felt like the cost was too prohibitive and the technology was too new.With the introduction of entry level headsets such as the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.oculus.com/go/">oculus Go</a>, this barrier to entry is now gone and I'm now diving in head first so expect to see new VR related content in addition to the usual stuff. Today, I'm going to offer up my oculus Go review and share my thoughts on this inexpensive VR solution.The price point on the oculus Go is just shy of $300 at the time of this review (around $270 Canadian) and is a reasonable price point in my mind. It's a good spot to be in and is reasonably affordable by the average person looking to get into VR.It certainly is far less expensive than any other option out there (aside from those junky VR sets you see floating around). There are plenty of poor vr headsets out there from tons of brands that I've never heard of and most of them end up donated to thrift stores. I know because I've seen tons of them there.<h2>The Headset</h2>The headset that comes with the oculus Go is comfortable and fits nicely. It has two side velcro adjustments and one top one so that you can modify it to fit comfortable.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/oculus-go-review-the-headset-e1562534092694_lbsqch.jpg" />oculus Go Review – The Headset<h3>Eyeglass Spacer</h3>It also has an eye glass spacer that pushes the lenses out a bit further so that you can comfortable fit it on with eyeglasses.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/oculus-go-eyeglass-spacer.jpg" />oculus Go eyeglass spacerHere's a look at the three pieces separately; the headset, the eyeglass spacer and the foam shield.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/oculus-go-headset-components.jpg" />oculus Go – Headset components<h3>Comfort</h3>While it was a bit uncomfortable and awkward at first to put on.. once I adjusted the straps and figured out an easier way to put it on (put the lenses on first and then pull the straps over my head) I was good to go.The one thing I did notice is that I was able to see light through the nose area as it doesn't seal fully over the bridge of the nose. I've read other reviews that state this as well so just be prepared for it. I didn't find that it took away from the experience but it may be annoying to some.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/oculus-go-review-the-headset-lenses.jpg" />oculus Go review – The Headset Lenses<h3>The Components</h3><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/oculus-go-review-the-headset-e1562534092694_lbsqch.jpg" />The power button is the center top button shown in the picture above and is (obviously) used to turn the power on and off. The volume rocker is located to the left of the power button and is easy to reach when wearing the headset.Along with the typical VR component of the goggles, the headset has an integrated microphone which allows you to voice chat with friends and other players in multiplayer games (of which there are quite a few).The headset, in my testing, lasted about 1 1/2 – 2 hours per charge and it took on average about the same amount of time to charge. Typically, it was good to go in about 1 1/2 hours.<h2>The Controller</h2>The system also comes with a single controller used to navigate within your virtual world.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/oculus-go-the-controller.jpg" />oculus Go – The ControllerThe Controller has three buttons and a circular touch surface which can be used to navigate the menus and games.The bottom button is emblazoned with the oculus logo and is the equivalent of a home button. It will bring you back to the home menu and reorient yourself within a game. Above this, there is a back button and above that, the circular touch surface.You'll also note the trigger button which is used to make selections, fire weapons in game and more.It's light and easy to hold and comes with a wrist strap. It's a motion controller so moving your hand back and forth will translate similar to how a Wii remote would work on the Nintendo Wii (if you are familiar with it). The controller uses a single battery (included) to power it.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/oculus-go-controller-battery-compartment.jpg" />oculus Go – Controller Battery Compartment<h2>The oculus Interface</h2>The interface once you put on the headset is easy to navigate and use. There's a settings panel at the bottom of the screen and a selection of icons and thumbnails on the screen above.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/oculus-go-the-interface.jpg" />oculus Go – The InterfaceTo navigate, you simply use the handheld controller to point and click on the individual items within the interface. to scroll up and down, you slide your finger on the touchpad of the controller.Under Sharing, you have the option (as you can see above) to share content to Facebook (obviously, since they own oculus) as well as to Cast your screen to a phone or TV so that others can watch you play. You can even record videos and Go Live from the sharing menu.Under People, you can add friends, remove friends and similar activities. Within the main tab, Navigate, you can browse the store, your library, your gallery and more.Battery life is depicted in the top right of your panel for both the controller and the headset.<h2>oculus Go Review – My Conclusion</h2>In my day or two owning this, I've enjoyed it thoroughly. The library of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.oculus.com/experiences/go">oculus Go Games and Apps</a> that are available is quite extensive. There's everything from apps like Netflix and YouTube to Games such as Drop Dead (super fun zombie shooter) and Deer Hunter VR make it a great budget VR console. I highly recommend picking one up and if you do, let me know.

Oculus Go Review - Small Package, Great Experience

Oculus Go Review - The oculus Go headset and controller

Throughout this month, we're giving away tons of awesome prizes to our lucky readers, You! We're calling it The Great #CMS Giveaway.
To participate, simply follow the instructions below and get in on the action. Free is awesome and so are the awesome companies that are participating this year.
To kick off the Great #CMS Giveaway, we're starting with an awesome giveaway from <a href="http://www.setseed.com">SetSeed CMS</a>.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/setseed8logo.jpg" />
Our first prize includes the following:
<ul>
<li>1 SetSeed Website License worth $120 USD (approximately)</li>
<li>1 Month of their ‘pro seller’ plan worth $160 USD (approximately). This includes (for the duration of the month):</li>
<ul>
<li>44% discount on any further license fees. (Per site cost of £42.00 ($65 Approx.))</li>
<li>HTML/CSS/jQuery theme building advice</li>
<li>30 Day Demo Licenses</li>
<li>Licensing API access</li>
<li>Pre-Sale advice (help to win new jobs by consulting on SetSeed's suitability for a project)</li>
</ul>
</ul>
Total value would be £175 ($280 USD Approx.)
Check out this great video showcasing SetSeed:
https://vimeo.com/81022582
<h2>Enter to Win!</h2>
[[cmsgiveaway1]]

The Great #CMS Giveaway - Prize #1

In advance the upcoming winter release of ImpressPages 4.0, the ImpressPages team have asked us to share with you some of the new features and changes about the upcoming release. And here you go!
 So what's new in ImpressPages 4.0? 
 New MVC engine 
ImpressPages CMS 4.0 has a lightweight and clean MVC Framework under the hood. If you are familiar with MVC, you can start coding on ImpressPages CMS straight away by just having a quick look at the file structure. You’ll have access to Request object and your answer will be a Response object or View as it is with most of the frameworks. 
Other MVC implementation details:
<ul>
<li>
Views are plain PHP files. No templating engine;
</li>
<li>
It is an HMVC, so you can do subrequests;
</li>
<li>
Use a tiny helper to execute operations on the database or take a PDO connection.
</li>
</ul>
 PSR standards-compliant class naming and autoloader 
Forget “require” and “include” functions. ImpressPages CMS now loads all classes automatically. And it is extremely simple as filenames identically correspond to the class names.
 IDE autosuggestions always work 
We care a great deal about the coding experience. For this reason, beautiful class structure and methods as well as a clean workflow in your IDE are all present at ImpressPages CMS 4.0. We took care to make IDE autosuggestions always work seamlessly. Whatever method you use, you will always get autosuggested methods by IDE. You will never want to go back once you try this feature.
 Bootstrap styles 
Nice and clean admin panel based on Bootstrap styles is available in the 4.0 release of ImpressPages CMS. This means you can code your own plugins without worrying about CSS. Want to change the default HTML? All view files can be overridden in your theme or plugin.
 Key-Value storage 
ImpressPages CMS 4.0 provides Key-Value storage for all plugins by default. It is implemented in MySQL and can work on any shared hosting. But if you have a real Key-Value engine on your server, you can switch to use it and to improve the performance. The code on the plugin side doesn’t change because of that. As a plugin developer, you no longer need to care about the engine you’re using. Use the same easy set / get functions and create your superfast plugin.
 Options service 
Add different type options to your plugin and theme using json configuration file or setOption / getOption methods. For language specific options, just use appropriate option type and you will have an option for each separate language on your website.
 Easy plugin development 
In ImpressPages CMS 4.0, everything can be achieved by writing a plugin. Each plugin is a single folder in the “Plugin” directory. Your controllers, models, views and assets will now go there. And so your whole business domain can be in a single place. This is unheard of not only in the CMS world, but also among the frameworks! And still, you can move all your PHP code outside of the public directory.
 New translations engine 
Translate any string in your code with a simple function. It works the same as on most frameworks and CMSs.
 PSR compliant logger 
It is always too late when customers start complaining about broken features on website you have just developed. Yet now you can use the ImpressPages CMS logger to log important situations and exceptions of your plugin by simple functions. PSR standard compliance makes it easy to understand the code, adopt third-party log aggregators and notifiers.
 Grid 
Add create / read / update / delete interface providing simple json config file. Add your custom layout and functions as you go.
 Ecommerce architecture 
Ecommerce support by CMSs is always poor or simply nonexistent. Each shopping cart plugin has its own way to add payment methods and products. Two separate plugins never “talk” to each other. Luckily, ImpressPages CMS 4.0 features an e-commerce interface that makes communication between the plugins easy.
<ul>
<li>
 Payment method interface . Write plugin which implements payment method interface and your payment method will be available on all shopping cart plugins;
</li>
<li>
 Products can be shared. Create your own catalog with products by extending default Product interface. This way your products can be added to any shopping cart implementation;
</li>
<li>
 Checkout methods are also separated from the shopping cart. You can have a shopping cart from one provider and checkout method from another, or even your own;
</li>
<li>
 Format prices and currencies in the way you like even when you use third party currency converter.
</li>
</ul>
 Uploaded assets repository 
It is always a pain to control user-uploaded assets. We solved it in ImpressPages CMS 4.0. Use simple JavaScript method to invoke repository browser and get list of files selected by the user. ImpressPages CMS 4.0 stores all the originals and tracks which plugin uses which files. So you know what resources can be deleted. ImpressPages CMS provides you with methods to get resized / cropped versions of originals on the fly and removes unused files when the original file is removed. Creating thumbnails has never been easier!
<h2>Content management improvements</h2>
<ul>
<li>
 Text can be edited fully inline . We had inline editing previously, yet now it’s made much friendlier to the user;
</li>
</ul>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/impresspages-edit-content_02715x0.jpg" />
<ul>
<li>
 Better user interface across all menus. Now ImpressPages CMS has more functionality with twice as little menu buttons. Pages are easier to manage, to create and to delete. Language management has also been significantly improved. Flat design makes everything crisper and clearer;
</li>
</ul>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/impresspages-meniu_02715x0.jpg" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/impresspages-pages_02715x0.jpg" />
<ul>
<li>
 No need to leave the CMS when downloading translations and installing plugins from our Plugin Marketplace.
</li>
</ul>
<h2>ImpressPages CMS 4.0 in a nutshell:</h2>
<ul>
<li>new MVC engine</li>
<li>
PSR standard-compliant class naming and autoloader
</li>
<li>
IDE autosuggestions always work
</li>
<li>
bootstrap styles
</li>
<li>
Key-Value storage
</li>
<li>
Options service
</li>
<li>
easy plugin development
</li>
<li>
new translations engine
</li>
<li>
PSR compliant logger
</li>
<li>
Grid
</li>
<li>
Ecommerce architecture
</li>
<li>
Uploaded assets repository
</li>
</ul>
Visit them online at <a href="http://www.impresspages.org">www.impresspages.org</a>

ImpressPages CMS 4.0 - Better Interface, New MVC Engine and ECommerce Support!

The <a href="http://www.intelliants.com/">Intelliants development team</a>, who are responsible for the highly successful Subrion CMS platform, have recently launched the latest version of their flagship product – Subrion CMS 3.1.1.
Not too long ago, we also covered the launch of Subrion CMS 3, the last major release for the platform. There were a long list of updates which accompanied Subrion CMS 3, but now, Subrion users can enjoy the benefits of even more improvements, thanks to version 3.1.1.
So, let's take a little look at the basics of Subrion's popular content management system, along with some of its recently introduced features.
<h2>An Overview of Subrion CMS</h2>
<a href="http://www.subrion.com/">Subrion CMS</a> is an open-source PHP content management system with comprehensive functionality, active development, and a reputation for reacting quickly to the wants and needs of their users.
One of the most useful features of Subrion's content management system is the responsive admin dashboard, which can be viewed via tablets and smartphones, allowing you can manage your content wherever you may be.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/subrion1.png" alt="Subrion CMS" />
As well as being responsive, Subrion's admin panel is sleek, modern and uncomplicated, so you can publish, manage and modify your content quickly, and in style.
Yet, the true strength of Subrion lies within its detailed field management system, where you can easily manage any field for almost any item you may have – without leaving the admin panel.
Speaking of managing content, Subrion CMS makes that supremely simple. Pages, widgets, menus and more are all easy to create and place within your website, thanks to the drag-and-drop visual mode.
Subrion CMS doesn't hold back on functionality either. It successfully combines the functionality of articles script, auto classifieds script, realty classifieds script, web directory script, and yellow pages script all in one, manageable package.
Plus, with a healthy range of plugins and templates, Subrion CMS can also help your and your website exercise some flexibility.
<h2>Remote Template Installations, Colour Schemes &amp; More</h2>
So, what's new with Subrion CMS 3.1.1?
First and foremost is the user-friendly remote template installation system. All users now have to do in order to install a new template, is navigate over to the “Extensions / Templates” tab within the admin panel, and choose from a host of free, professional templates for your website.
Subrion have a range of templates readily available, all of which can be inspected and tested via the <a href="http://demos.subrion.com/templates/" target="_blank">Subrion Template Demo page</a>– which is updated on a weekly basis.
Another notable update brought about by Subrion CMS 3.1.1, is the brand new admin dashboard colour scheme – Radiant Orchid.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/subrion2.png" alt="Subrion CMS" /> 
The new Radiant Orchid colour scheme joins a host of other colour schemes already available to Subrion users. It's the small personalization features like these which sets Subrion CMS apart from its competitors.
For a full list of updates and improvements brought about Subrion CMS 3.1.1, check out the <a href="http://dev.subrion.com/versions/86" target="_blank">official release notes</a>.
If you want to know more about Subrion CMS, take a moment to visit their <a href="http://www.subrion.com/" target="_blank">official website</a>. Additionally, you can find out more about <a href="/products/subrion-cms/">Subrion via our CMS Directory</a>.

Feature Roundup: A Look at Subrion CMS 3.1.1

Best Video Experience

Give your audience the best video experience

#000000

Within the CMS industry, we are very fortunate. Every year, thousands of developers work their fingers to the bone to deliver highly capable free CMS to the market. When it comes to selection, the CMS industry is definitely not hurting for choices. For this reason, selecting a winner for the Best Free CMS award has been a tough decision. What it has come down to, however, is the flexibility and capability of the platform.
In the end, when it comes to being flexible, it would be foolish to select any other CMS on the market. For a free content management system to be as capable and widely used in such an incredible amount of environments is nothing short of amazing and without further adieu, we're pleased to announce the winner of the 2013 Critic's Choice Award for Best Free CMS goes to…
<h3><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best-free-cms150x0.png" alt="best Free cms" />Drupal</h3>
One of the most flexible content management systems available for free today, Drupal is a powerhouse that can be used to power all kinds of different platforms. It's so flexible that it is often discounted as a CMS and referred to strictly as a Content Management Framework.
In our eyes, both monickers fit the bill nicely. Drupal has been used to power all kinds of web applications including some incredibly high visibility websites worldwide. With a massive developer network and a huge fan base, Drupal is without a doubt one of the biggest and most successful CMS the industry has seen. With thousands of modules and a vast number of distributions, Drupal is a very capable system.
Congratulations to all Drupal Developers worldwide, you are the reason Drupal is so successful today.
<a href="/products/drupal/">Learn more about Drupal</a> or visit the <a href="http://drupal.org">Drupal website</a>.

2013 Critic's Choice Award for Best Free CMS

Well, 2021 is almost at an end. The holidays are upon us, and merrymaking is in full swing (at least as far as Omicron will let us swing). Before we wrap things up and officially start the festivities, there's one last piece of business to attend to...
NOMINATIONS!
That's right: it's time to kick off our annual CMS Critic Awards – and it all starts with our 2021 People's Choice Nominations! Starting today, you can submit your favorite platform in a variety of categories such as Best DXP, Best Headless CMS, and more. Based on your input, we choose the top three contenders in each category – and let you vote for the best of the best. 
The 2021 People's Choice Nominations will be open until January 15th, 2022. Once we've tallied your submissions, we'll open voting on the top three platforms in each category.
Here's some exciting news: this year, we've added Best Composable System and Best Headless Commerce Platform to the nomination list. We covered the rise of both categories throughout the year – now you can tell us which platforms are doing it best!
To learn more about the CMS Critic Awards, keep reading. Ready to submit your nominations? <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/2021-cms-critic-awards-nominations/">Click here!</a>
<h2>What are the CMS Critic Awards?</h2>
OK... so maybe our program is a little less visible than the Oscars, but it fills an important gap in our industry by celebrating the contributions of CMS, DXP, and the related ecosystem of vendors.
Since 2012, the CMS Critic Awards have been something of an institution. Not only do they give our panel of thought leaders an opportunity to "chime in" on the general direction of the industry, but they also give individuals a chance to vote for their favorite platform. It's a fun way to engage with our communities and create more visibility around the importance of this technology sector.
To provide a fair shot to all vendors, we offer two unique programs:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/12/criticschoice_logo-1024x173.jpg" alt="CMS Critic's Choice Awards Logo" />
Critic's Choice Awards
Hand-selected by our CMS Critic editorial staff, vendors receive the coveted Critic's Choice Award for each category based on our internal research and criteria.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/12/peoplechoice_logo-1024x173.jpg" alt="CMS People's Choice Awards Logo" />
People’s Choice Awards 
As previously mentioned, these community-based awards are designed to engage with readers through an open forum. The top three vendors with the most nominations will be featured on our website for voting, and the platform with the most votes in each category is declared the winner. The rules are simple, and focus on fairness and integrity: participants may nominate or vote only once, and companies that offer incentives of any kind will be disqualified.
<h2>2021 People's Choice categories for nominations</h2>
This year's categories include:
<ul>
<li>Best Enterprise CMS</li>
<li>Best DXP</li>
<li>Best Free CMS</li>
<li>Best Flat File CMS</li>
<li>Best Open Source CMS</li>
<li>Best ECM (Enterprise Content Management)</li>
<li>Best E-Commerce Solution</li>
<li>Best Headless CMS</li>
<li>Best Headless Commerce Platform</li>
<li>Best Website Builder</li>
<li>Best Static Site Generator</li>
<li>Best Composable System</li>
</ul>
Both the Critic's Choice and People's Choice Award results will be announced at the same time in mid to late February of 2022.
<h2>Submit your nominations!</h2>
Go on... tell us what platforms you love! Fill out the form below and submit your nominations. You can only vote once and a valid email address is required with each entry. Companies that offer incentives of any kind will be disqualified.
We can't wait to see your nominations. Cheers – and happy holidays!

Submit Your Nominations for the CMS Critic 2021 People's Choice Awards

CMS Critic 2021 People's Choice Award logo

<a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.marketo.com%2F&amp;esheet=50894625&amp;newsitemid=20140625006457&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Marketo&amp;index=2&amp;md5=a1b3eed4ef364000f06d7a3f9f625a23">Marketo</a>, the world renowned engagement marketing software vendor, has partnered with <a href="http://www.vibes.com/">Vibes</a>, a mobile marketing solution.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/marketo-vibes.png" alt="marketo vibes" />
The partnership will enable marketers to seamlessly integrate text messaging (SMS/MMS) and mobile wallet marketing (Apple Wallet &amp; Android Pay) into their Marketo campaigns.
<h2>Tapping into Mobile Moments</h2>
According to recent Forrester Research, there are over <a href="http://www.vibes.com/resources/mobileautomation/">30 billion mobile moments</a> each day in the United States alone. 
To tap into those moments in a profitable way, Marketers need automated solutions that deliver both speed and personalization in order to meet consumer demands in real time. That's what this partnership is all about.
Mike Stocker, Marketo's Senior Director of Product Solutions &amp; Innovation, agrees:
<blockquote>
“Marketo clients are hungry to amplify their mobile marketing in order to build stronger relationships with their customers.
By integrating Marketo’s best-in-class marketing automation platform with Vibes’ best-in-class mobile marketing, we’ve created a solution that empowers marketers to reach consumers on their device of choice with both speed and personalization.”
</blockquote>
With this integration, marketers can work with existing marketing channels to make the following happen:
<ul>
<li>Incorporate <a href="http://www.vibes.com/technology/text-messaging/">text messaging</a> (SMS/MMS) into Marketo-driven marketing campaigns.</li>
<li>Add <a href="http://www.vibes.com/technology/mobile-wallet/">mobile wallet</a> content to their email marketing campaigns to enable customers to instantly save offers and loyalty cards to Apple Wallet or Android Pay.</li>
<li>Utilize mobile wallet as the post-click destination for digital advertising campaigns in Marketo, powered by Vibes’ <a href="http://www.vibes.com/technology/mobile-wallet-advertising/">WalletAds</a> solution. </li>
</ul>
Additionally, thanks to the power of marketing automation technology from both parties, marketers can also now offer consumers the ability to determine how they would like to receive personalized messages. 
If a consumer prefers receiving sale notifications via text, marketers can send these messages via mobile, instead of relying on email.
Vibes' Co-founder and CEO, Jack Philbin, also chimed in about the importance of this new alliance.
<blockquote>
“In many ways, communication on mobile devices is all about speed, convenience and ease of use, so it’s only natural that mobile is coming to marketing automation.
The most effective marketing is tailored to meet the needs of the end recipient, and more and more frequently we’re seeing that consumers prefer mobile. Combining the power of mobile with the automation technology of Marketo will unlock a solution that benefits both consumers and marketers alike.”
</blockquote>
<h2>Marketo &amp; Vibes: Marketing Mates</h2>
To help kick-start this partnership, Vibes will be on-site at <a href="https://events.marketo.com/summit/2016/">Marketo’s Marketing Nation® Summit</a> in Las Vegas between the 9th and 12th of May 2016. The event is expected to draw around 6,000 marketers from around the globe. 
This isn't the first time these two marketing heavyweights have teamed up. Vibes was already part of Marketo’s LaunchPoint ecosystem, and I'd be interested to see if they have any plans to team up again soon on a new project. 
Time will tell, but until then, you can check out
And as always, you can explore more through our <a href="/marketo/">Marketo Hub on our Marketing Directory</a>.

Marketo & Vibes Team Up to Power Mobile Marketing Automation Solution

Emails are a pain. Printed media is old news. To engage and communicate with your team, it’s time to migrate company-wide communications to a CMS intranet. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/business-communications.jpg" />
It goes without saying that when you take the time to create content for your employees to read… You want them to read it! Regardless of your organization’s size, people respond to emotions. To get your message across, to even have your article clicked on, it’s absolutely crucial to keep your team’s emotional response in mind. After all, how many of you simply clicked on this blog because of the interesting picture? 
Truly great communication comes when emotional triggers are combined with robust content. Write something worth reading, and your people will read it. Whether you’re trying to communicate a complex organizational change, or simply sharing a fun story, we’ve created a few pointers below to get you on the right path.
<h2>Make Your CMS Intranet The Happening Place</h2>
First things first: stop bugging your staff.
Constant email updates interrupt your <a href="https://www.myhubintranet.com/forms-workflow-office-intranet/">team’s workflow</a> and clog inboxes. Solve this, by turning your CMS intranet into the place where all news is shared. Celebrations, wins, warnings, learnings—these should all be regularly posted on your intranet, creating a hub of activity. Enable the option for staff to save content and refer back to it later, maximizing the chance your update will be read. It won’t be long before your intranet becomes the cultural Bible of your organization, capturing all of the story-telling and history that epitomizes your company ethos.
Creating such a hub for company news and culture is especially helpful for new employees. During their first few days, they’ll be able to immerse themselves in recent history, as well as tune in to upcoming events around the office. It works both ways as well—when an existing team member returns from time off, they can quickly get back up to speed with what happened while they were hiking around South America. 
Make sure to stay organized. Updates should be easily searchable and well categorized. Although it’s fantastic having regular updates and engagement from staff, this can mean that those really important updates—you know, the ones from the CEO—can accidentally fall through the cracks. Choosing a CMS intranet that has the ability to publish different updates under different categories and pages is recommended, as long as there’s a straight forward navigation tool to keep these all visible. If you find your intranet is becoming swamped with content, it also might be worth restricting everyone’s ability to publish.
<h2>Add Value, And Have Fun At The Same Time!</h2>
Sometimes, we have to talk about boring things. Policy changes, <a href="https://www.myhubintranet.com/employee-intranet/">employee inductions</a> and tax updates aren’t exactly the most riveting of topics. 
Thankfully, there are ways around this to get those important, boring updates read. Besides catchy headlines, try pulling on the competitive strings of your staff, and turn engagement into a competition. ‘First one to spot the mistake gets their boss’s car for the day!’ ‘Comment your thoughts below, and go into the draw to win a paid day off!’ The possibilities are endless.
Be sure to use an engaging image up-front. It’s surprising how far images can go to boost readership. Other forms of media can be fantastic as a break from the usual as well—video introductions, interactive explanations, infographics, visual aids. Remember: half of the battle is grabbing initial attention.
Capturing initial engagement is all well and good, but it’s important to treat your employees’ time with respect. The kindest thing you can do as a writer is make your writing skim-able. Create content that can be easily digested, free from jargon, clunky paragraphs and technical language. Surprisingly, only 21% of communication professionals are intentional about this practise in average-performing organizations, compared to 50% in high-performing organizations. Improvements in the clarity and simplicity of your writing are low-hanging fruit—avoid clichés, cut out the acronyms, use subheadings and bullet points, write concisely.
<h2>Make Sure To Measure</h2>
All of our tips above could be leading you astray.
There’s only one way to know—measure the success of your updates. Unfortunately <a href="https://blogs.iis.net/">60% of organizations</a> have no measures in place for the effectiveness of their internal communication. Management 101 mandates that in order to manage or influence any aspect of your business, there needs to be a measure. You’re reading this article now because you want to improve your internal communication, so get measuring!
There are a few easy ways to dive into measuring the habits of your readers. Measure participation by looking at unique user logins per day. Peak times of day when readership is at its highest will be revealed by tracking when posts are opened. This kind of insight will allow you to publish important updates at the best time possible, ensuring they receive the attention they deserve. To understand which content is engaging your team the most, you can measure how long readers stay on a certain page, or which articles are shared the most.
Here’s a quick look at the most common types of measurement:
<ul>
<li>Engagement: Has your update created conversations? What level of activity is there in the comments section?</li>
<li>Relevancy: What were you trying to achieve with your article? Were you trying to spread a message wide, or get answers to a specific question—and did this occur? </li>
<li>Readership: How far did the article reach? What percentage of staff read it?</li>
<li>Readability: Use readability tests to measure the ease with which your message is digested.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Let’s Get Social!</h2>
There’s no need for your company-wide updates to be purely one-sided. Crowd-source your news to your team as a whole, and allow any important updates to be communicated in real-time by any employee. 
The days of static news are gone—today, social networks have empowered everyone to participate and interact with the news. Research has shown that as many as <a href="http://www.niemanlab.org/2015/07/new-pew-data-more-americans-are-getting-news-on-facebook-and-twitter/">63% of Facebook and Twitter users</a> get their news from social networks. Over half of millennials view social networks as the most important source of news in their lives. Engage your employees by harnessing this trend.
Rather than news being a one-way transaction, create a dynamic conversation. The principles of social media still apply in a business context. Allow employees to create, comment, share and interact, and they will feel included and engaged, viewing your business as more transparent, and feeling a sense of ownership.
One way of catering for social media is to embed your company social feeds (Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn) as a single page on your intranet. This not only drives higher engagement in the respective social platforms, but also saves time for your users, as they have just the one place to go for company updates.
<h2>So What Does All Of This Mean?</h2>
We’d be remiss to assume employees read every single piece of company-wide communication.
The onus lies with us, the content creators, to truly engage our readers. Create concise, enjoyable, informative information, on a platform the is visible and easily accessible, then measure the success.
We think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the results.
Ready to create your own intranet news hub with intuitive navigation and embedded social media feeds? <a href="https://www.myhubintranet.com/">MyHub Intranet</a> can help! We provide a cloud-based, CMS intranet platform that will help ensure your news is read. Contact us to for a free demonstration.

Communication Made Easy With CMS Intranet

When it comes to the inner workings of most medium and large sized businesses across the world, intranets play an integral role. Their purpose is to simplify communication, promote collaboration and streamline work flows. 
Products like Liferay, Bittrix24, Entando and ocPortal are the front runners in this category. <a href="/2014-best-cms-for-corporate-intranets/" target="_blank">Liferay was selected by the people</a>, but now it's time to see who the judges selected.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bestcmsforcorporateintranets-1.png" />
And the winner is…
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/4sup_0yw.png" alt="Bitrix24" />
<a href="http://www.bitrix24.com/" target="_blank">Bitrix24</a> by <a href="http://www.bitrixsoft.com/" target="_blank">Bitrix Inc</a> is a high-end enterprise social network, mobile intranet portal, CRM and collaboration suite. With a wide range of features and over 300,000 organizations making use of the platform, Bitrix24 is a highly respected intranet solution. What's more is, on top of a totally free plan, Bitrix24's higher plans are far more reasonable than some of its competitors. 
Congratulations to everybody at Bitrix24!

2014 Critics' Choice Award Winner - Best CMS for Corporate Intranets

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