Articles - Page 56

ai12z Takes AI Visibility from Scoreboard to Playbook, Turning AI Search Insights into Action

matt-garrepy

<p>A new release of the WordPress app for iOS has been made available. Version 2.8 is the first in a while that does not solely focus on stability issues. In this new release, there are a number of key improvements and new features. For instance…</p>
<h2>Quick Photo</h2>
<p>A new “Quick Photo” button allows you to snap a picture of something and instantly blog about it. This is a huge step forward for the app and is a very cool addition. They are calling this app “action-centric” meaning that instead of selecting your blog and selecting what you want to do with the pic, you pick your action first. This should help speed up the process and get your blog posts up quicker.</p>
<p>Here's a quick look at how Quick Photo works:</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/oxwall_nvhcur.jpg" alt="quick-photo-walkthrough" /></p>
<p>How do you access it you might ask? As you launch the app, you’ll notice there’s now a button in the bottom of your blogs list. Tap it to launch the camera and take a picture, when you’re satisfied you can add a title or a description (if you want, both are optional), and boom — you’re done! The function remembers the last blog you posted a Quick Photo to and will use that for future posts as well. Note: iPhone only for now.</p>
<h2>Statistics</h2>
<p>If you run your blog/website on WordPress.com, you will be able to quickly check your stats automatically. Currently, you can view everything from Daily Views to Clicks and Search Terms. If you are on the self hosted platform (WordPress.org), you have to have the WordPress.com Stats plugin installed first.</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/socialengine_lglsax.jpg" alt="wordpress-ios-stats-screenshot" /></p>
<p>There are other changes as well such as localization improvements and bug fixes. You can read the entire release announcement here on <a href="http://ios.wordpress.org/2011/05/18/big-update-wordpress-for-ios-2-8-available-today/" target="_blank">ios.wordpress.org</a></p>


WordPress for iPhone and iPad sees big update with 2.8 release

mike-johnston

<p><i>cmsWhen it comes to email, it's a very personal thing. Some people want more features and others want less but overall, we all want three important things: reliability, solid spam filtering and an easy to use interface. In this article, I'm going to </i><a target="_blank" href="https://protonmail.com/"><i>t</i></a><i>ake you through my <strong>ProtonMail Review</strong> and explain why they are now my email provider of choice.</i></p><p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/protonmail-press-web-3.jpg" /></p><p>ProtonMail offers a great interface and encrypted / secure email for the web and mobile.</p><p>ProtonMail is an open source secure email provider based in Switzerland. They offer a very solid web based email client as well as apps for all major devices. I</p><p>Since discovering ProtonMail, I've switched all of my CMS Critic email over to it from Gmail and I won't be switching back. Not only do I prefer the client and it's layout to that offered by Google but I also love the full email encryption.</p><p>Furthering that, it's open source and as a fan of open source software and an avid user (all of my computers run open source operating systems) it was a natural fit.</p><p>You do not need to provide any personal information to create a secure email account with ProtonMail and they do not keep IP logs that can be linked to your anonymous email account.</p><p>Here's a breakdown of the security features included with ProtonMail:</p><ul><li><strong>End-to-End Encryption</strong><br />Messages are always encrypted and transmitted in encrypted format between their servers and your device. If you are emailing other ProtonMail users they are also fully encrypted within their secure server network.</li><li><strong>Zero Access to User Data</strong><br />The makers of ProtonMail have absolutely no access to your data. They use what they call a <i>zero access architecture </i>which means the data is encrypted in a way that makes it inaccessible to them.</li><li><strong>Open Source Cryptography</strong><br />ProtonMail uses open source cryptography which means they use well tested, trusted encryption algorithms.</li></ul><p>If you want to learn more, you can visit this page: <a target="_blank" href="https://protonmail.com/security-details">ProtonMail Security Features</a>.</p><h3><strong>Free or Paid? The Choice is Yours</strong></h3><p>It's easy to sign up for ProtonMail and they offer a quick and easy to set up free offering. With it you receive the following features:</p><ul><li>500MB Storage</li><li>150 Messages per day</li><li>Limited Support</li></ul><p>They also offer two paid plans; <strong>Plus</strong> and <strong>Visionary</strong> which offer more advanced features and range from $4 – 25 USD / month.</p><p>The <strong>Plus</strong> account includes:</p><ul><li>5 GB storage</li><li>Send up to 1000 messages per day</li><li>Labels, Custom Filters, and Folders</li><li>Send encrypted messages to external recipients</li><li>Use your own domain (ex: john@smith.com)</li><li>Up to 5 email aliases</li><li>Priority Customer Support</li></ul><p>The <strong>Visionary </strong>account includes:</p><ul><li>20GB storage</li><li>Up to 50 email aliases</li><li>Support for up to 10 domains</li><li>Multi-User Support (6 total)</li><li>No sending limits*</li><li>Labels, Custom Filters, and Folders</li><li>Send encrypted messages to external recipients</li><li>Early access to new features</li><li>Includes access to ProtonVPN</li></ul><h3><strong>Getting a Free Account</strong></h3><p>Getting a free account is easy, you can sign up with very little information. Literally, they just need you to select a username and password with an optional recovery email. For the purposes of this ProtonMail review, we'll set up a free account.</p><p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/protonmail-review-1.png" /></p><p>ProtonMail Review – Setting up an Account</p><p>Once signed up (and verified by either having a code emailed or sent to your via SMS) your account will be created and you'll be redirected to your new inbox.</p><p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/protonmail-review-3.png" /></p><p>ProtonMail Review – The Inbox</p><h3><strong>The Interface</strong></h3><p>The same features you'd expect from any web based email are present along with those specific to ProtonMail.</p><p>When sending a new message, for example, you have two new security based features available if you choose to use them; expiration time and encryption for non-ProtonMail users.</p><p>To enable an expiration time, from the <i>new message </i>window, select the small hourglass icon in the bottom left and you'll be presented with this screen:</p><p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/protonmail-review-5.png" /></p><p>ProtonMail Review – Setting an expiration time for an email.</p><p>To enable encryption for non-ProtonMail users, you can set a password which you would then provide to the recipient. To use this, you would click on the padlock icon in the bottom left of the new message window.</p><p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/protonmail-review-6.png" /></p><p>ProtonMail Review – Setting up Encryption</p><p>Along with these inbox features (and the typical ones you'd expect from any email client) there are a number of ways to migrate to ProtonMail from your existing email provider.</p><h3><strong>Migrating to ProtonMail</strong></h3><p>If you choose to migrate over to ProtonMail, there are a number of ways to do so. ProtonMail offers an easy way to import your contacts which you can access from the <i>contacts </i>tab.</p><p>Clicking <i>import </i>will present you with the following screen:</p><p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/protonmail-review-7.png" /></p><p>ProtonMail Review – Importing Contacts</p><p>ProtonMail supports importing CSV files from Outlook, Outlook Express, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, Eudora and some other apps. They also support importing vCard. (UTF-8 encoding).</p><p><strong>Importing Email</strong></p><p>To import email into ProtonMail, you'll need a paid account as their import/export tool is only available to paid users. Fortunately, however, the cost of a paid plan is incredibly reasonable and affordable for everyone. The Import/Export tool works for Windows and Mac users and allows you to import your email from another email account or from a local MBOX or EML file on your device.</p><p>You can learn more about the app and how it works on the <a target="_blank" href="https://protonmail.com/blog/import-export-beta/">Import/Export tool page.</a></p><h3><strong>Other Security Features</strong></h3><p>Along with your typical settings which you can find by clicking the <i>settings</i> tab, you can also find information via the Security tab. This tab shows you past logins and current and previous sessions, amongst other things.</p><p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/protonmail-review-8.png" /></p><p>ProtonMail Review – Security and Session Management</p><h3><strong>My Experience So Far</strong></h3><p>Overall, I've found that I thoroughly enjoy using ProtonMail. I prefer their platform and the simplicity offered by the interface. There are, however, a few things I'd like to see added / improved upon which I'll get into in my pros/cons list below.</p><p><strong>Pros</strong></p><ul><li>Simple Interface that is easy to use.</li><li>Encrypted email.</li><li>Price point is very reasonable for personal users and business users.</li><li>Highly secure.</li><li>Plenty of features.</li><li>Easy to migrate from other platforms.</li><li>Excellent help and documentation.</li><li>Available smartphone apps.</li></ul><p><strong>Cons</strong></p><ul><li>No scheduling option for emails to allow me to remind myself to reply to it at a later date.</li><li>In their mobile apps, there is no way to select multiple emails at once and mark as read or archive them in one go, things must be done individually.</li><li>No calendar with which to integrate.</li></ul><p>Overall, I think ProtonMail is an excellent option but I would love to be able to migrate my calendar over from Google and make the transition a complete one. For now, however, I'm stuck using it there until that time comes.</p><p>Have I convinced you to try it? <a target="_blank" href="https://protonmail.com/">Go ahead and sign up and see for yourself.</a></p>

ProtonMail Review - Secure Email on All Platforms

<p></p>
<p>You might have heard of Ghost — an open-source blogging platform that launched in 2013. Ghost was founded by John O’Nolan, a former WordPress employee who grew frustrated with the complexities of the traditional blogging platform and decided to do something about it.</p>
<p>Today, more than a million people and businesses use Ghost, including Apple, Tinder, and Mozilla. This number is likely to increase now that the company has rolled out Ghost 3.0 — its biggest release since the first version of Ghost. Here is a comprehensive look at Ghost’s latest update, Ghost 3.0.</p>
<h2>New and Improved Features</h2>
<p>The core idea behind this latest release is to help publishers build and maintain engaged audiences. The new and exciting features introduced as part of Ghost 3.0 reflect this thinking.</p>
<h3>Members &amp; Subscriptions</h3>
<p>The most significant feature introduced by Ghost 3.0 is support for memberships and subscriptions. The feature is still in beta but is fully functioning.</p>
<p>A simple member signup system turns anonymous visitors into registered members, helping you grow a community of like-minded individuals. Ghost 3.0 allows you to set three different access levels:</p>
<ul>
<li>Public content</li>
<li>Members-only content</li>
<li>Paid members-only content.</li>
</ul>
<p>This is what a post with members-only access looks like on Nolan’s own blog:</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screenshot1-1_josxry.png" alt="Ghost 3.0 - 1" /></p>
<p>You can have a combination of all three access levels, as long as your theme supports it. If you already have an audience elsewhere, you can give it access to your new site via Ghost’s imports and integrations function.</p>
<p>Ghost 3.0 has a Stripe integration, so taking payments for premium-membership benefits is effortless. Members can pay for your content via credit card or Apple Pay. You can create your own pricing structure. For example, these are the pricing tiers that Nolan chose for his blog:</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screenshot2-1_ka9xit.png" alt="Ghost 3.0 - 2" /></p>
<p>The billing features are integrated with Stripe Billing API, not Stripe Connect. That means that if Ghost the company were to fold, your site and billing would still work as usual.</p>
<h3>Full-Featured Headless CMS</h3>
<p>Ghost worked tirelessly on improving its APIs (application program interface, a set of protocols for building software applications) and Webhooks (HTTP callbacks that let you create or set up integrations). The company’s efforts have paid off — you can run Ghost 3.0 as a decoupled headless CMS.</p>
<h3>Images</h3>
<p>Working with images on Ghost 3.0 is much easier than before. When you insert an image into a post, it automatically resizes and optimizes it for your theme. This new feature saves you a ton of time and ensures that pages with a lot of images load faster.</p>
<p>You can also add an image gallery with up to nine images at a time. Ghost 3.0 automatically organizes the photos to look their best.</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screenshot3-1_vkx3cg.png" alt="Ghost 3.0 Image Galleries" /></p>
<h3>Drag and Drop Capabilities</h3>
<p>Changing the layout of a post with Ghost 3.0 is a breeze. You can drag and drop any card, whether it’s text-based or image-based, within a post. The editor auto-scrolls as you move the cards up and down.</p>
<h3>Bookmark Cards</h3>
<p>Ghost 3.0 lets you add a bookmark card into your post, which simplifies the process of sharing links from sites with no automatic embeds.</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screenshot4-1_xra7k5.png" alt="Ghost 3.0 - Cards" /></p>
<p>As long as you use a URL with the correct meta information, the bookmark card will show:</p>
<ul>
<li>Page title</li>
<li>Preview image</li>
<li>Excerpt</li>
<li>Author</li>
<li>Publisher.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Admin Dashboard Updates</h3>
<p>Ghost 3.0 also updated the admin dashboard. There’s a new site preview feature as well as an option to filter drafts and published posts depending on:</p>
<ul>
<li>Author</li>
<li>Status</li>
<li>Date</li>
<li>Tag.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Themes</h3>
<p>The default Ghost theme has been improved, with added support for dark mode. Also, Ghost added three open-source magazine-style themes and a new starter theme for developers to its marketplace.</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screenshot_5_ppuumt.png" alt="Ghost 3.0 - themes" /></p>
<h3>WordPress Importer</h3>
<p>Ghost 3.0 has a migration plugin for WordPress, which allows you to export posts, pages, tags, and images into a set of files. Importing these files into Ghost 3.0 is a quick and painless process.</p>
<p>Ghost 3.0 doesn’t have built-in comments, but it integrates with many popular comment platforms so that you can migrate your WordPress comments easily.</p>
<h3>New Integrations</h3>
<p>Ghost makes it easy to set up integrations with multiple apps and tools. New integrations include Ulysses, iA Writer, and <a href="https://write.as/" target="_blank">Write.as</a>, whereas <a href="https://zapier.com" target="_blank">Zapier</a> integration has seen an update.</p>
<h3>That’s Not All!</h3>
<p>On top of the features mentioned above, Ghost 3.0 comes with new developer documentation. The company also launched a weekly newsletter that focuses on important stories, ideas, and publishing resources. If you want to see the full list of updates, take a look at <a href="https://gist.github.com/allouis/aae9e45748da87a6928ac814a04413bb" target="_blank">Ghost 3.0 changelog</a>.</p>
<p></p>


Ghost 3.0 Brings Subscriptions, Memberships and More

laura-martisiute

<p></p>
<p>To a cheering audience at Sitecore's North American Symposium (#SYMNA), Coveo announced they will now be offering a free edition of their popular search solution for Sitecore.</p>
<p>Coveo for Sitecore – Free Edition helps marketers harness the power of search to drive visitor engagement, by enabling them to build and manage compelling search experiences using their familiar Sitecore management console &amp; tools. Dynamic search pages and search-driven content can be quickly configured, delivering an engaging, consistent visitor experience across all browsers and mobile devices.</p>
<p>The Coveo solution ships with a rich JavaScript user interface, enabling Sitecore developers to build custom search experiences using Coveo’s framework and components. Coveo technology can also be applied to existing CRM and knowledge management platforms for a more effective search experience. To ensure each site visitor is always exposed to the site’s most relevant content, messaging and product offers, Coveo for Sitecore – Free Edition provides administrators with an actionable analytics dashboard and tools to easily tune the solution’s relevance engine.</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sitecore-coveo.png" /></p>
<p>I asked Coveo’s Chairman and CEO, Louis Têtu to explain why they chose Sitecore as their platform partner of choice and this was his reply:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Sitecore to us has been a great bet, they are well positioned in the space with their offering and have a great platform for web content management and from a technology fit perspective they fit well with us. Coveo is both competent in the cloud but also in the .NET environment and Sitecore architecture worked well with our product from the get go.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>For additional details on Sitecore for Coveo, check out the video below:</p>
<p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yPTLKR2jvTc?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>Check out <a href="http://www.coveo.com/en/sitecore-search">Coveo for Sitecore</a> today.</p>
<p></p>


Coveo Announces Free Edition of Coveo Search for Sitecore #SYMNA

<p>We just launched a new job database for employers and those looking for work, to post and apply for jobs. With the amount of traffic we get, we consider this a valuable addition to the site. If you are looking for work or are looking to hire someone, apply or get your job listed today on our Job Database.</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/jobs.png" /></p>
<p>We have tons of categories and you get a two month listing with each submission. Check it out and let us know if you have any feedback!</p>


New job database launched

<p></p>
<p>It’s one thing to have a database full of customers, but it’s another thing to have a database full of customers who actually like you.</p>
<p>Successful customer relationship management is all about getting to know your customers and creating a personal relationship with them that goes beyond a few Twitter promotions.</p>
<p style="text-align:center"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigstock-successful-business-meeting-wi-75274462538x0-is.jpg" /></p>
<p>The idea is to make your customers want your product because <em>you</em> sell it, and not simply because they need it. This kind of brand loyalty goes a long way and it’s definitely something that you have to invest sufficient time and resources into building. Once you’ve built that kind of community around your business, you’ll reap the rewards in the long run.</p>
<p>If you’re still in the ‘dating’ phase of your customer relationship development, that’s perfectly fine – as long as you’re on the right track.</p>
<p>Here are 10 ways to know that you’re doing it right.</p>
<h2>1. You Know How To K.I.S.S</h2>
<p><em>‘Keep It Simple, Stupid’</em>. If you know how to do this, then you’re well on the road to CRM success. Many smaller companies get carried away with their first CRM system and end up choosing a tool with a ton of unnecessary features. Talk to your team first and figure out what you actually need from your CRM, before choosing one based on what you think you need instead.</p>
<p>Once your CRM is up and running with the least possible hassle, you’ll have much more time to dedicate to your customers. I recently wrote a post that will help you to avoid the 10 most common pitfalls when choosing a CRM, check it out <a href="/10-pitfalls-to-avoid-when-choosing-a-crm/">here.</a></p>
<h2>2. You Understand The Importance Of Birthdays</h2>
<p>It doesn’t matter how old you are, it’s always nice to get an unexpected ‘happy birthday’ on the big day. This is a tiny piece of information that you can easily obtain from your customers when they sign up, but it’ll have a huge impact on the status of your relationship. A quick ‘happy birthday’ email or birthday discount will really add a personal touch to your communications.</p>
<h2>3. You Provide Your Customers With Quality Content</h2>
<p>If you want your customers to trust you then you have to provide them with knowledgeable and credible information. It’s important to show that you have an in-depth understanding of your industry and all of your content (blog/social media) should be created to meet the specific needs of your target audience.</p>
<h2>4. You’re Psychic</h2>
<p>Well, not exactly, but you do know what your customers want before they contact you directly. How? You simply gaze into your crystal ball/computer screen and do some social media monitoring with a handy tool like <a href="http://www.socialmention.com/">Social Mention</a> or <a href="https://hootsuite.com/">Hootsuite</a>.</p>
<p>This is the best way to find out what your customers are saying in real-time; to collect valuable insights into market trends; and to get involved in online conversations about your business.</p>
<p>Also, if an issue does present itself (i.e. an unhappy customer on Twitter), you can nip it in the bud before it escalates <em>and</em> use that info to improve your offering overall.</p>
<h2>5. You Care About Your Customers</h2>
<p>If you want your customer relationship management to work, then you have to work at it – and this means listening to what your customers needs and fulfilling those needs. What it <em>doesn’t </em>mean, is bombarding them with irrelevant sales pitches and promotions every day of the week.</p>
<p>As great as you think your product/service is, it’s useless if it’s not useful to your customers.</p>
<p>Interact with your target audience, listen to them, and make them feel valued. What are their pain points? What challenges are they facing? What do they need from you in order to overcome those challenges?</p>
<p>If you work on really understanding your customers, it will make all of the difference when it comes to selling your product – because you’ll be armed with the information to ensure that it meets their expectations from the outset.</p>
<h2>6. You Never Compete On Price</h2>
<p>A sale achieved by competing on price is always a short term win. Your customer won’t see the true value in your product/service and will jump straight to the next lowest bidder.</p>
<p>If you really feel that your pricing is alienating some of your customers, then you can think about providing another version of your product/service with less features. This is the only advisable method to reduce your pricing. Never compete on price – it just doesn’t work.</p>
<h2>7. You’re Different</h2>
<p>You need to be able to vocalize the benefits of your product or service to your customers. It’s not just about what your product/service does, it’s about what it will do for <em>them</em>. This is the part where you really need to blow them away and set yourself apart from your competitors.</p>
<h2>8. You Say Thank You</h2>
<p>Sure, it’s the polite thing to do – but it’s also the profitable thing to do. Customer loyalty programs are a proven way to retain and grow your business; in fact, <a href="http://blog.accessdevelopment.com/customer-loyalty-statistics-2015-edition">62% of Millennials</a> say they’re essential.</p>
<p>By rewarding your customers for their support, you’ll also improve and solidify your relationship with them in the long run.</p>
<h2>9. You’re Consistent</h2>
<p>Consistency is key when it comes to managing customer relationships; your customers need to know what to expect from you and it’s your job to set those parameters.</p>
<p>For example, if you’re firing out 3 newsletters one week and none the next – then you’re not being consistent. It’s important not to spam your customers but it’s also important to communicate with them on a regular basis.</p>
<h2>10. You Keep Your Promises</h2>
<p>If you say you’re going to resolve a situation within a certain time period, then do it. If you say you’re going to call a customer back within a certain time period, then do that also. It’s crucial to follow through on any commitments you make to your customers if you want to gain their loyalty, trust, and business for the long haul.</p>
<h2>Treat Your Customers The Way You’d Like To Be Treated</h2>
<p>The most important thing to remember is that your customers are real people and they have specific wants and needs that they expect you to fulfil. If you can do this, then you’ll build customer relationships that last a lifetime – or at least until you retire and move to Barbados.</p>
<p>Do you have anything you’d like to add to the CRM tips above? Why not share them with us in the comments section below.</p>
<p></p>


Customer Relationship Management: 10 Ways to Know You're Doing It Right

grainne-logue

<p></p>
<p>You've probably never used a CMS that had the word “bling” in it, let alone one that uses an icon of a rapper with a <em>bling</em> logo on a gold chain. Prepare to meet Bling Blocks, the latest comer to the CMS world.</p>
<p>Bling Blocks definitely walks to a different beat, and that's not just because their logo is cooler than WordPress's.</p>
<p>Here's what the new CMS has to offer.</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/blingblocks400x0.png" /></p>
<h2>The Big Idea:  No More Backend</h2>
<p>The devs at <a href="http://www.beligum.com/">Beligum</a> wanted a CMS that was like no other. Like no other means that Bling Blocks has no backend (sort of). Some people will love that. Some people will, er, not love it.</p>
<h2>Built on the Play! Framework</h2>
<p>The CMS is Java, meaning you get a slick interface. It uses the lightweight <a href="http://www.playframework.com/">Play framework</a>, so it's also pretty quick as CMSs go.  </p>
<h2>For Developers</h2>
<p>Rappers, be warned:  This is a rocking CMS, but it's actually built for developers, not rappers. That means, hopefully for Beligum, the CMS will take on a life of its own as developers work, tweak, play, and use the system. </p>
<h2>Blocks</h2>
<p>The CMS uses something called “blocks.” Basically, this means you can add portions of content, i.e., blocks, on your website. After adding a block of content, you can go in and edit it. Because they are “blocks,” you can pick them up, move them, drag them around, and place them where you want. It's WISIWYG plus blocks.</p>
<h2>Responsive Heaven</h2>
<p>One does not simply make a CMS in 2013 and not have responsive design. Behold, Bling Blocks is fully responsive. </p>
<h2>What's Next?</h2>
<p>To jump on stage and give it a try, you can download Bling Blocks and let loose with your thing. Be warned, though. You'll probably hit bugs along the way. Beligum themselves confess: “We totally know there's still a ton of bugs in this 0.1 release, but hey, we release early and release often.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.blingblocks.org/en/">Read more about it.</a></p>
<p>Download it yourself.</p>
<p>Watch a video:</p>
<p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pAUF9HqYCzQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>What are your thoughts on this Java-driven, backend-less, developer-oriented, block-heavy CMS? Does it have enough “bling”?</p>
<p></p>


Introducing the new Bling Blocks CMS

daniel-threlfall

CMS Summit 26

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

What's ahead for Open Source CMS?

#ffffff

<p>Love is in the air, but there are no poems or love notes being exchanged. Instead, the numbers are doing all the talking.</p>
<p>Ever since the release of version 1.6, <a href="http://www.prestashop.com/" target="_blank">PrestaShop</a> has been head over heels in love with statistics. As a result, PrestaShop users have been enjoying some unique stat-based benefits, all from the comfort of their PrestaShop back office (otherwise known as the admin panel).</p>
<p>So far this year, PrestaShop – an eCommerce platform with a <a href="/a-closer-look-at-prestashops-global-community/">buzzing global community</a> – has taken a number of big steps to improve itself, achieving <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/cms-critic-awards/">nomination in two categories for the 2014 CMS Awards</a> in the process.</p>
<p>One of those steps was to make statistics an integral part of the PrestaShop experience. Let's explore how.</p>
<h2>Real-time Margins</h2>
<p>Perhaps the most interesting feature of PrestaShop's statistical relationship, is the real-time profit margin reporting.</p>
<p>The PrestaShop back office dashboard sports a number of useful graphs, including the “Net Profit” graph, which allows you to keep track of your takings in real time.</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/profit.png" alt="PrestaShop" /></p>
<p>Merchants with busy online stores will naturally find this feature extremely useful. In fact, since the profit margins change minute by minute, it could even become an addictive graph to stare at.</p>
<p>Not only is this an immensely powerful feature, it's also completely exclusive to PrestaShop.</p>
<p>And yet, the stats love-in doesn't end there.</p>
<h2>Intelligent Merchant KPIs Here, There &amp; Everywhere</h2>
<p>Following the release of PrestaShop 1.6 back in July 2014, PrestaShop users have had the pleasure of seeing Intelligent Merchant KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) on numerous pages within their back office.</p>
<p>These indicators are handy, non-obtrusive metrics which appear on pages such as “Orders” and “Customers”, giving relevant stats where-ever they appear.</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kpi700x0.png" alt="PrestaShop" /></p>
<p>For example, the Intelligent Merchant KPIs found on the “Orders” page display conversion rates, average order values and net profit per visit over the last 30 days, along with abandoned carts per day.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the “Customers” page offers up gender and age demographics, as well as average orders per customer and newsletter registrations. All highly relevant information, presented in a simple way.</p>
<p>But still, the numeric romance continues.</p>
<h2>Forecasting &amp; Yet More Integrated Stats</h2>
<p>Forecasting is another notable PrestaShop reporting feature.</p>
<p>Located on the back office dashboard, the forecasting graph shows merchants their predicted metrics for traffic, conversions, average cart values, and sales. The forecast for each value is based off of current and previously recorded stats.</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/forecast.png" alt="PrestaShop" /></p>
<p>Further to these powerhouse features, PrestaShop also offers statistics via a dedicated “Stats” page, where merchants can study their best-selling products, most valuable customers, newsletter registrations, and much, much more.</p>
<p>The back office dashboard, home to the real-time profit margin graph and forecasting feature, also hosts a wide range of metrics, including online visitors, active shopping carts, and more. You can even integrate Google Analytics to take things a step further.</p>
<p>So, I think it's safe to say that PrestaShop's relationship with statistics is a strong one.</p>
<p>With real-time features and relevant KPIs scattered around the back office, PrestaShop offers merchants a unique statistical experience that is not only pleasing to look at, but also genuinely helpful in terms of increasing revenue and understanding customers.</p>
<p></p>


PrestaShop's Love Affair with Statistics

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<p></p>
<p>If you’re running a tour, activity or accommodations business, or have web development clients in these verticals, you’ll notice that most of the booking is still being done over the phone.  Customers call or email in to check on availability and pricing, then likely make their booking or reservation via credit card over the phone.</p>
<p>Obviously if this process could properly move online, the customer gets a better experience and the business operator gets to spend more time with their customers and less time on the phone answering the same questions over and over.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.checkfront.com/tour"> Checkfront is a cloud-based booking system </a> with plugins for the larger CMS platforms as well as the a completely hosted option for non-CMS sites.  Checkfront’s customizability makes it flexible enough for most ‘new site’ client projects or upgrades to the end user functionality of existing sites.</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/customer-view.jpg" alt="Checkfront Review - Enabling Online Booking on Your Existing Site" /></p>
<h2><strong>Features</strong></h2>
<ul>
<li>Self-serve online customer booking pages</li>
<li>Real-time booking availability display</li>
<li>Built-in multi-currency, SSL payment processing using your existing credit card merchant account</li>
<li>Branded invoicing and receipts</li>
<li>Plugins for most CMS platforms including WordPress, Joomla,  and Drupal</li>
<li>Online booking directly inside Facebook pages</li>
<li>Mobile apps for managing bookings and customer check-in</li>
<li>Integration with email marketing and accounting platforms</li>
<li>Support for short codes, or custom theme pages in WordPress</li>
<li>In-depth booking and sales reporting</li>
<li>Developer API</li>
</ul>
<h2><strong>Installation &amp; Setup</strong></h2>
<p>Installing Checkfront requires setting up the backend first by creating a Checkfront trial account and adding some items, activities or rooms you want visitors to be able to book from your site.</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen_shot_2013-07-16_at_12_03_21_pm959x0.png" alt="Checkfront Review - Enabling Online Booking on Your Existing Site" /></p>
<p>You can embed photos and videos into the description areas for each item or activity as well as stipulating the quantity or items or slots available.  Individual items can be temporarily disabled if they’re not available for booking for any given time.</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen_shot_2013-07-16_at_12_02_59_pm959x0.png" alt="Checkfront Review - Enabling Online Booking on Your Existing Site" /></p>
<p>After setting up your basic backend account, grab the WordPress, Joomla, Drupal or Facebook plugins to snap the Checkfront pages into your site.  For HTML-only sites, there’s customizable, cloud-hosted page code available to copy-and-paste in.</p>
<h2><strong>Setting Up Pricing</strong></h2>
<p>Pricing can be configured on a ‘per-booking’ basis or ‘per-day.  Sales tax configuration is flexible enough to meet the needs of most global locales.  Pricing can also be adjusted based on the number of slots booked, or by date (for instance for high/low season pricing adjustments).  Packaging options include the ability to create custom bundles or upsell other items to increase overall order values.  Maximum quantities for items along with maximum lengths and weights can be added as well.  If you don’t want to process online payments for a particular item, it can be limited to ‘reserve-only’ whereby reservations are booked, but payment is made offline.</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen_shot_2013-07-16_at_12_03_56_pm959x0.png" alt="Checkfront Review - Enabling Online Booking on Your Existing Site" /></p>
<p>Items can be grouped into categories, so for instance if you’re booking rooms at a small hotel, you have separate categories of offerings such as rooms, activities, equipment rentals and the like.  Special event bookings are also supported with dynamic price adjustments so you can increase pricing as space becomes more limited closer to the event.</p>
<h2><strong>Discount, Daily Deal &amp; Voucher Support</strong></h2>
<p>Discounts and coupon codes can be configured with custom coupon names, specific expiry dates, recurring or non-recurring, and on a percentage or fixed dollar amount discount.  Checkfront also supports batch uploading of voucher or coupon codes to draw down against as part of limited-quantity promotions.</p>
<p>In the case of daily deal offers like Groupons, when the customer has completed payment on Groupon’s site, they receive a  voucher to redeem their service with you.  Groupon gives you (as the merchant) the voucher code list so you simply upload them into your system via .csv and when the customer comes to you to book, they can then just enter the Groupon voucher code they’ve received and skip the credit card payment step.  This results in a pretty smooth experience for the customer and keeps you Checkfront booking system in sync with what’s been sold via Groupon or other daily deal sites.</p>
<h2><strong>Dashboard &amp; Reporting</strong></h2>
<p>Once the plugin is up and running on your site and populated with offerings available to book, data starts to appear on the dashboard.  Checkfront’s dashboard shows a feed of the upcoming bookings, broken down ‘new’, just purchased bookings, ‘today’s booking lineup as well as what’s upcoming.  Reservation and payment status is also available at a glance.  A bar chart gives you an idea of what booking volume looks like for the current month vs. the preceding twelve months to let you know if you’re over/under volume from a relative perspective.</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen_shot_2012-11-29_at_4_47_17_pm959x0.png" alt="Checkfront Review - Enabling Online Booking on Your Existing Site" /></p>
<p>Booking volume is also shown relative to website visitors to give you an idea of how well you’re converting site visitors to paid reservations as well as how many bookings are being made by your in-house staff vs. customers doing self-serve bookings.  A “bookings by category” chart is also available to show you what type of bookings are making the biggest impact on sales, be that rentals, rooms, tours and the like.  An activity log shows actions being logged by staff and customers along with links to the details of each of those bookings when you drill down. The dashboard is drag-and-drop sortable as well to enable a better view of the metrics that you use most.</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen_shot_2012-11-29_at_4_48_08_pm959x0.png" alt="Checkfront Review - Enabling Online Booking on Your Existing Site" /></p>
<p>A pair of full-page calendar views offer a high-level overview of what’s happening bookings-wise on a day-by-day basis as well as over blocks of days in the event there are major events going on or periods where bookings are closed and the like.</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen_shot_2012-11-29_at_4_50_36_pm959x0.png" alt="Checkfront Review - Enabling Online Booking on Your Existing Site" /></p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen_shot_2012-11-29_at_4_52_40_pm-1959x0.png" alt="Checkfront Review - Enabling Online Booking on Your Existing Site" /></p>
<h2> <strong>After-Booking Edits, Updates, Payments &amp; Invoices</strong></h2>
<p>Once a booking was initiated (either via a customer self-serve or via a staff member logging in and entering a booking manually) staff can update any of the booking details on-the-fly, including entering credit card information to push payments through if the customer preferred to only provide their credit card over the phone or in person:</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen_shot_2012-11-29_at_5_02_01_pm959x0.png" alt="Checkfront Review - Enabling Online Booking on Your Existing Site" /></p>
<p>Booking details are fully editable by staff with changes logged in the system-wide activity log. Checkfront has a built-in customizable ACL or permissions system, staff can each have a unique login of their own with specific set of access permissions, appropriate to their role.  A nice touch that allows your business’s full financials to be hidden from lower-level staff access.</p>
<h2><strong>Branded Customer Invoices</strong></h2>
<p>Checkfront automatically emails self-serve and staff-assisted assisted customers a fully-branded invoice that can be downloaded or quickly resent if misplaced.  All sales or tourism taxes are configured when the item for booking was previously loaded into the system and transfers directly onto the invoice.    Invoices can be generated for full payments or deposits only.  Emailed invoices are mobile-friendly with embedded QR codes for quick on-site check in.  Customers also have the option to have iCal notifications sent along with their booking receipts to automatically add their appointments to their calendars.</p>
<p><strong> <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen_shot_2012-12-13_at_11_38_07_am959x0.png" alt="Checkfront Review - Enabling Online Booking on Your Existing Site" /></strong></p>
<h2><strong>Customer Data, ongoing marketing.</strong></h2>
<p>To help with generating repeat clientele, most businesses want to tie in previous customers to their future promotions and marketing efforts.  Checkfront’s API communicates directly with most of the major email marketing platform providers to import and sync customer data via SSL.  Integrations with email marketing platforms include Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Salesforce, Zoho CRM, among others.  This works well for adding customers to existing newsletter or special promotion lists.</p>
<h2><strong>Payment Gateways</strong></h2>
<p>Businesses that want to take payment for bookings directly on their site will likely already have a credit card processing merchant account with a payment gateway service attached (or should be able to quickly upgrade to one).  Checkfront supports the major global payment gateways including Paypal Pro, Authorize.net, Quickbooks Merchant Services, 2Checkout, Worldpay, Stripe, Sagepay and others – you enter the merchant ID number and select your payment gateway and Checkfront does the rest.</p>
<h2><strong>Localization &amp; Multicurrency Acceptance</strong></h2>
<p>Checkfront is fairly well localized with support for other languages via alternate translation packs including French, Hebrew, Japanse, Polish, Russian, Swedish, Thai, Finnish, Dutch, Chinese, Danish, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog and others.</p>
<p>Currency-wise, provided your payment gateway provider supports the currency as well, Checkfront allows you to charge for your items in 38 currencies including the staples AUD, CAD, GBP, EUR, NZD, and USD.</p>
<h2><strong>Mobile Apps</strong></h2>
<p>Checkfront has iPhone, iPad and Android apps for managing and updating bookings,  checking in/out customers, and calling customers directly from the app (iPhone only).  Check in/out scans can be done using the mobile app itself via the built in camera.</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/phone1.png" alt="Checkfront Review - Enabling Online Booking on Your Existing Site" /></p>
<h2><strong>Add-ons and integration</strong></h2>
<p>Checkfront has some interesting integrations going on that are somewhat unique:</p>
<p><strong>Twilio SMS:</strong> Checkfront recently added support for Twilio SMS notifications so you can send short text messages customers and staff. You can remind customers about a booking date, follow up with a quick post-booking thank-you, and update staff regarding a booking status.</p>
<p><strong>Apple Passbook:</strong> When a customer adds a Checkfront booking to their Passbook app, it stores the reservation on their iPhone. As a customer nears your location on the day of their booking (based on your longitude and latitude), the electronic ticket automatically pops up on their phone. Upon arrival, you can scan, validate and check-in the customer using the built-in bar-code scanner in the Checkfront mobile apps, which all gets communicated back to the Checkfront system automatically updating the booking in real-time.  As an added bonus, if the booking is changed, the details are updated automatically in the customers’ phone.</p>
<p><strong>Google Analytics &amp; Adwords:</strong>  Checkfront has a Google Analytics add-on, enabling support for Google’s e-commerce tracking which allows you to track the incoming revenue sources, ad campaigns, website visitor-to-buyer conversion rates and the like.  Support for Google Adwords conversion tracking is also included to track the keyword-level performance of Google ad and retargeting campaigns.</p>
<h2><strong>API &amp; Developer Support</strong></h2>
<p>The Checkfront API lets developers expand and build on the Checkfront Booking Platform to fully customize the look and feel. The API makes it easy to create web, desktop &amp; mobile applications that integrate and with your Checkfront account.  The REST API extends a fair bit of functionality allowing devs to query inventory availability, get date based rate and pricing information, create a new booking, update an existing booking and retrieve customer information.</p>
<p>If you’re developing sites for multiple clients, Checkfront offers a free unrestricted developer account that lets you to build, demo and migrate data to a new system across multiple client sites.</p>
<p>If you’re doing things from scratch, they also have a Checkfront PHP widget class. The widget class builds the code to render the booking portal, change the look and feel, include additional tracking, and takes care of sizing and caching.</p>
<h2><strong>Pricing Model &amp; Plans</strong></h2>
<p>Online booking software providers typically operate on one of two billing models: 1) taking a commission or cut of each booking transaction,  or 2) a flat rate monthly fee for pre-set booking volumes.</p>
<p>Checkfront’s model is the latter, with monthly flat-rate pricing varying from $49 a month to $499 a month depending on the number of annual bookings your site does or is estimated to do.  The $49 plan provides 1,200 bookings a year, $99 a month supports 3,000 a year, $199 for 6,000 a year, and up from there.  There are also different support levels provided for each tier as well, from basic support up to a dedicated phone support rep, and a differing number of included staff logins allowed depending on the tier.</p>
<p>One important thing to note is that the base plan at $49 is crippled with support for Paypal and Google Wallet only, meaning if you want to accept credit cards on your site you’re going to need the $99 plan and up.</p>
<p>Checkfront free trial includes full functionality for 21 days.</p>
<h2><strong>Summary</strong></h2>
<p>Overall, Checkfront can be configured to meet the needs of most businesses that book items or services on a daily or hourly basis.  Where it falls short is when the booking increments are sub-one hour, for instance if you need to book half-hour or 15-min time slots.  The system just doesn’t handle those smaller booking slots well, it seems to be better suited to one-hour plus.  That means doctor’s offices, salons, spas and other businesses won’t fit it to be a good fit.</p>
<p>On the other hand, tour operators, small accommodations providers, activity bookers, and rental suppliers will find Checkfront works quite well with their booking model and presents a highly streamlined staff or self-serve online booking process.  The combination of all of the mobile/SMS and real-time availability features can make a small company look much larger online.  Checkfront trial accounts are <a href="https://www.checkfront.com/start">available here.</a></p>
<p><strong>Pros:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Excellent compatibility across multiple CMS platforms</li>
<li>Highly customizable look and feel for a blended integration with existing sites</li>
<li>Support for a wide variety of credit card payment gateways, currencies and languages</li>
<li>Strong integration with mobile apps, SMS and email reminders, Apple Passbook</li>
<li>Ability to take bookings directly inside Facebook pages</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Cons:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Generic-default styling of booking front-end will require some CSS customization look seamless with newer site designs</li>
<li>Lack of support for sub-one hour booking slots makes it unworkable for businesses that provide short services or appointments</li>
<li>Monthly price tiers could be expensive for businesses with limited or sporadic annual booking volume</li>
</ul>
<p>What do you think? Does this look like a good option for adding online booking to your website?</p>
<p></p>


Checkfront Review - Enabling Online Booking on Your Existing Site

<p></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Update: It has come to my attention that this software was actually forked from a free product called Offiria and is almost a complete copy (aside from a logo change). Offiria is free and available from <a href="https://offiria.com/">https://offiria.com/</a> for those interested in getting the software from the original source and for free!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There are plenty of products out there that add social networking functionality on top of Joomla via plugins but to date, there haven't been any that have used Joomla as a framework to develop something uniquely different. Today, this changes. We recently were contacted by developers of a new social networking platform built upon Joomla called <em> Undiscuss It </em>  who have done just that.</p>
<p>While the name of the product might be a bit odd and confusing, the product itself looks quite promising.</p>
<p>Here are some screenshots of the system in action:</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/undiscuss-it1010x0.jpg" /></p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/undiscuss-it-21010x0.jpg" /></p>
<p>As you can see, the system is quite the departure from what we normally see from Joomla and we think there's definitely potential (with enough interest and support from users) for this system to evolve nicely.</p>
<p>Interested? Check it out at <a href="http://www.undiscuss.it">http://www.undiscuss.it</a> and let us know what you think in the comments! </p>
<p></p>


Social Networking with Joomla just got better

<p><a href="https://www.ecwid.com/" target="_blank">Ecwid</a> has taken steps to improve their order status listings, making them more descriptive.</p>
<p>Powering over 500,000 online stores across 175 countries, Ecwid is a popular eCommerce platform with a growing user base.</p>
<p>The new order status system will help existing and new Ecwid merchants by making order management easier for them and their customers. Let's take a look at how Ecwid hope to achieve that.</p>
<h2>Five Order Status Improvements</h2>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/statuses_header_1700x0.png" alt="Ecwid" /></p>
<p>Ecwid have implemented five changes to their order status system, covering more bases and making situations easier to understand for both merchant and customer. Here they all are:</p>
<h3>1. Two New Statuses</h3>
<ul>
<li><strong>Refunded</strong> in the Payment statuses list</li>
<li><strong>Returned</strong> in the Fulfillment statuses list</li>
</ul>
<p>Ecwid have decided that ‘refunded’ and ‘returned’ each deserve their own status to allow merchants to better track their sales and react to any possible issues.</p>
<h3>2. “<strong>Queued”</strong> &amp; “Accepted” Statuses Renamed to “<strong>Awaiting Payment”</strong> &amp; “<strong>Paid”</strong></h3>
<p>These two new names better describe whether the money has been received from customer or not. This update is sure to clarify each status for both the merchant and the customer.</p>
<h3>3. “<strong>Declined”</strong> has merged with “<strong>Canceled”</strong></h3>
<p>Although an order becomes Declined or Canceled under different conditions (declined is set by the payment gateway while Canceled is set manually by store administrator), the store owner sees both as a canceled order. Now, the formerly independent Declined status appears as Canceled.</p>
<h3>4. “<strong>Chargeable”</strong> Replaced with “<strong>Awaiting Payment”</strong></h3>
<p>Ecwid have claimed that the Chargeable status became redundant because it is either Queued or Awaiting Payment. To eliminate unnecessary complexity, Chargeable no longer exists as a separate status.</p>
<h3>5. “<strong>New”</strong> Renamed to “<strong>Awaiting Processing”</strong></h3>
<p>Similar to Awaiting Payment in the payment status list, Awaiting Processing will say much more to merchants and customers about state of the order rather than New.</p>
<p>And that's it. Subtle changes for some, but they will come in very handy for merchants – especially for those with large amounts of orders.</p>
<p>To learn more about these Ecwid changes, check out the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/ecwid-introduces-improved-order-statuses/" target="_blank">official blog announcement</a>.</p>
<p></p>


Ecwid Introduces Improved Order Statuses

<p>Drupal has long been known for it's incredible extensibility and today we're focusing on two projects that make the best use of this strength. What follows are two of the best Drupal based projects we've seen so far.  Let's get started.</p>
<h2>OpenPublish</h2>
<p>First up comes an incredibly good project for those looking to use Drupal as a publishing platform and is called OpenPublish. OpenPublish is a project created by <a href="http://www.phase2technology.com/">Phase2 Technology</a> and is geared towards publishers looking to take advantage of Drupal's flexibility to create a unique and powerful publishing site.</p>
<p>OpenPublish works with:</p>
<ul>
<li>Apache Solr (faceted search index)</li>
<li>Pressflow (Drupal performance enhancement)</li>
<li>Open source cache technologies for performance (e.g. Memecached and Varnish)</li>
<li>Content Delivery Networks like Akamai</li>
</ul>
<p>Some key features include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Semantic Tools like: Content autotagging, geotagging and map integration, topic hubs and content suggestions.</li>
<li>Monetization with: In-stream advertising and gated content,</li>
<li>Engagement options such as: Facebook integration, topic hubs, comments and talkback, multimedia and contextual highlights with apture.</li>
<li>Syndication and Promotion with: Featured Content, Social Bookmarking and Email forwarding and RSS Feeds.</li>
<li>Asset Management using: Source Documents and Image Management.</li>
</ul>
<p>What does it look like?</p>
<p><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/imcreatorxx_bh2psk.jpg" alt="OpenPublish" /></p>
<p>More info: <a href="http://openpublishapp.com/" target="_blank">OpenPublish</a></p>
<p> </p>
<h2>MediaMosa</h2>
<p>Next in line comes MediaMosa. This projects is best described as software to build a Full Featured, Webservice Oriented Media Management and Distribution platform.</p>
<p>The main features of a MediaMosa platform are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Delivery platform for audio, video (and in fact any other content)</li>
<li>Streaming of any format (e.g. Flash, H.264 MPEG-4 and WindowsMedia)</li>
<li>Transcoding based on FFmpeg</li>
<li>Flexible Metadata Element Sets</li>
<li>Access management functions on Media</li>
<li>Enhanced Still functions</li>
<li>Open Source under GPLv2 license</li>
</ul>
<p>For more information, visit <a href="http://mediamosa.org/" target="_blank">MediaMosa</a></p>
<p>Do you have a project that you think should be listed here? Let us know in the comments.</p>
<p>Keep checking back for the latest updates or join our newsletter to win prizes and stay up to speed once a month.</p>


Best Drupal based Projects

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