Articles - Page 62

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

matt-garrepy

Every day, countless people are searching the web for all different types of information. In response to this, google is constantly adding new features and adapting their search strategy so that people can get access to the most relevant information for their search queries.
If you run a website, it is important to always keep an eye on what is happening with Google in order to stay current and to take advantage of new opportunities. In the past little while, one very noticeable addition that Google has added is the featured Snippets.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/picture1722x0-is.png" />
<h2>What is a Featured Snippet?</h2>
A featured snippet is basically a summary of someone’s search query. In order to help bring the most contextual information to a person’s query, Google has started placing a search result at the very top of the page with information that they think is the most relevant to the search. The information is extracted from a website, and goes directly to the section of the site that features a result that most directly addresses the search parameters. The snippet is literally an open snap shot of the content they want from inside of a site.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/picture2722x0-is.png" />
<h2>How to Get Featured?</h2>
If you want to try and rank for a featured snippet, first try and decide what your target query is. You should focus on something that is relevant to your website, and that will likely draw higher numbers of search.
Generally, the “how to” category is one of the simpler ways to rank for a snippet. If you try to target a simple question, it is easier to ensure that your site will feature a straightforward answer. For instance, if you write about how to embed a video on a blog post and list step by step instructions, it will be easier for Google to recognize your step by step instructions as the most relevant answer for a search query about “how to embed video”.
Remember, it Is also critical that your post is using the correct markup. You need to ensure that Googles bots will scan your page and what could be the most relevant for a snippet. If you want to learn more about which elements are important to include, you can check out Wix’s SEO Hero article about optimizing snippets.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/picture3722x0-is.png" />
<h2>Can anyone be Featured?</h2>
Majority of the time, Google will choose snippets from sites that are ranking between 1-3 on the search results page. However, about 30% of the time the snippets are drawn from websites that are ranking lower on the page – to help create a bit of balance. So, don’t lose hope if your site isn’t ranking 1-3 on the search results page, you may still get chosen for a featured snippet. However, it is a good strategy to try and get your site ranking a little bit higher before you start focusing on snippets in order to prove your relevancy to Google.
Snippets are a powerful tool for bringing information that is relevant, easy to understand and concise for the person preforming the search query. Featured snippets also prove very trust worthy for the person preforming the search, leading in them spending additional time reading your site. So take some time to invest in snippets – it can add a distinctive edge!

Google is Changing the Game with  Featured Snippets

mike-johnston

<a href="http://www.sitesupra.com/" target="_blank"> SiteSupra</a> has released some new updates, in the form of three new themes and a new page deactivation feature.
Although technically still in beta, SiteSupra is a hosted website builder and CMS which gives you the tools to create good-looking, responsive websites.
SiteSupra's headquarters lie in Latvia, and users can choose between free and premium plans to build their websites. To learn more about what the platform can do, check out my recent <a href="/sitesupra-review/" target="_blank"> SiteSupra Review</a>.
<h2>Steady Improvement</h2>
Publicly launched at the beginning of 2014, SiteSupra is still a growing platform.
Despite my overall enjoyment of using SiteSupra during my review, there were some issues I pointed out. A slight lack of templates was amongst those issues, and SiteSupra team has clearly been working on this.
Three new templates have been released; Drava, Taillia, and Aira.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ssupra700x0.png" /> 
All three look great and work well, much like the previous seven SiteSupra templates.
Furthermore, SiteSupra users can now deactivate pages quickly in the SiteMap. This feature was brought in to make it easier to remove demo pages quickly, without having to preview them first.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen_shot_2014-07-15_at_18_10_13.png" /> 
For a more detailed look at SiteSupra, <a href="/sitesupra-review/" target="_blank"> check out my review</a>.
Also, be sure to check out the <a href="https://www.sitesupra.com/" target="_blank"> SiteSupre website</a>.

SiteSupra Introduces New Templates & Features

JotForm today announced <a href="https://www.jotform.com/products/mobile-forms/">JotForm Mobile Forms</a>, a version of its popular form service that works on all mobile device types.
The new app is designed to remove limitations on where and how you can collect data, with advanced features like offline capabilities, kiosk mode, and the ability to quickly access and share forms. It works well for users who want to fill out their own forms from remote locations as well as users who want to request that others fill out their forms.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/asset11_nnlgnx.png" /> <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/asset1-scaled_b5rlnx.png" /> <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2019-06-13-at-175122_zp7zz9.png" />
Photographers and marketers especially will benefit from JotForm Mobile Forms, since it improves remote access to much-needed forms. 
Photographers can quickly and seamlessly collect signatures on the go, which makes getting model releases and session agreements incredibly simple. Marketers can leverage kiosk mode, which automatically resets their form after someone fills it out on a public device — great for collecting feedback or emails on a signup form at a booth.  
Key features:
<ul>
<li>Collect data offline.</li>
<li>Create and edit forms. </li>
<li>Assign and share forms. </li>
<li>Record your voice as a form submission.</li>
<li>Use geolocation to pinpoint exact locations.</li>
<li>Turn your phone into a public kiosk station.</li>
<li>Customize notifications.</li>
</ul>
JotForm has always worked well on mobile devices; however, JotForm Mobile Forms substantially improves access to users’ forms.
The new product also makes JotForm an attractive data-collection option for industries that haven’t typically been JotForm users, including safety inspectors, oil and gas workers, repair professionals, and construction workers. In use cases that have traditionally involved collecting information using paper and pen, JotForm Mobile Forms is designed to improve speed and accuracy, while reducing expensive and wasteful paper.
JotForm Mobile Forms is available for free on the Google Play store and the App Store. Learn more about its capabilities by visiting <a href="https://www.jotform.com/products/mobile-forms/">https://www.jotform.com/products/mobile-forms/</a>.

JotForm Mobile Forms launches to improve remote data collection

With digital technology advancements – websites and web applications have evolved from static to rich and interactive customer experiences. User perception is most critical – so the poor, rushed design does not cut it anymore. User experience goes beyond on-screen design. It requires well defined web content management, product information management, digital asset management, omni-channel e-commerce and enterprise customer relationship management.
Pimcore helps their customers to create this balance and make things simple – they fit all the pieces together in one place.
They help their customers to build a seamless tomorrow by building rich user experiences and effective integrated enterprise applications.
Pimcore puts the pieces together
Pimcore has a unique platform where everything a software integrator, digital agency, professional or enterprise needs is all together in one place. A total digital transformation can take place with just the use of Pimcore’s own product suite which includes – CMS, DAM, PIM/MDM, and e-commerce.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/pimcore1.png" />With Pimcore CMS, users can create, manage and easily maintain a digital experiences and its data all in a single source. It can then be published to all output channels: web, mobile, apps, social platforms, print and digital signage.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/pimcore2.png" />
Managing a collection of digital assets can be tricky – but with Pimcore it is made much easier. Pimcore’s enterprise DAM platform enables users to easily consolidate, manage and share all digital assets by assigning meta-data, making them searchable, and delivering assets in the right format to any output channel.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/pimcore3.png" />
For any organization with a large product base, storing and managing the enormous amount of product information is challenging. Pimcore’s PIM platform enables easy organization, aggregation, classification, and translation of product information – all in a single location. Because of the consolidated product suite, the data can be easily delivered to all output channels.
Almost all retailers today have online B2B and B2C e-commerce platforms. The Pimcore e-commerce framework creates flexible and responsive online shopping platforms for multi-channel and omni-channel retail. Their methodology is both efficient and effective, creating an outstanding user experience, across all channels – web, mobile, social, and POS.
Pimcore Success Stories
Pimcore has over 80,000 users around the world with success stories to prove it. Major well-known companies have used Pimcore to enrich and enhance their digital world.
Take for example, <a href="https://www.pimcore.org/en/ikea_c1349_233#content">IKEA</a>, an internationally known home furnishing retailer. They wanted to offer in-store shoppers a mobile touchpoint to view sales and promotions. Using Pimcore’s CMS, IKEA could build customized landing pages for each store that could be easily updated as needed. Shoppers were automatically directed to landing pages when connected to WIFI.
<a href="https://www.pimcore.org/en/GANT_c1464_233#content">GANT</a>, an international clothing company used various Pimcore products to achieve their digital goals. They needed a way to manage and distribute their product information. Using Pimcore’s MDM/PIM products they could easily and instantly send all product information to their stores and partners globally. They also used Pimcore’s E-commerce product to enhance their customer’s online shopping experience.
There is, of course, many more examples, all of which can be found on <a href="https://www.pimcore.org/en/resources/casestudies" target="_blank">Pimcore’s case study webpage</a>.

Open-Source Pimcore Digital Platform: Consolidating PIM/MDM, DAM, CMS & E-Commerce

<a href="https://ghost.org/" target="_blank"> Ghost</a>, the newest and most exciting blogging platform, has just released version 0.5.
Launched in late 2013, Ghost has taken the blogging world by storm, offering users a hosted and self-hosted option with a remarkably straightforward, yet progressive user interface. In fact, questions have even been raised in relation to <a href="/wordpress-vs-ghost/" target="_blank"> WordPress vs Ghost</a>. But that's a discussion for another day.
In any case, this new Ghost release, Codenamed MSR1, brings about a huge host of changes. Labelled as, “a massive technical progression”, Ghost 0.5 represents a total of 616 commits across 471 issues from 61 contributors across the globe. Let's take a look at the highlights.
<h2>Tweaks and Changes, Big and Small</h2>
First up, Ghost now has multi-user support. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/05-3-1700x0.jpg" alt="Ghost 0.5" />
This means that multiple Authors, Editors, and Administrators can work together on the same blog, making life a lot easier for companies, communities and all kinds of collaborative projects.
Furthermore, Ghost has become the first and only open-source publishing platform to build a public JSON API. What does this mean? Well, Just like Twitter and Pinterest have an API which developers can build apps on top of, Ghost now has the same power. Now, iOS, Android, Desktop and even Web Apps can all be built on top of any Ghost blog.
The Ghost default theme has also enjoyed massive update with beautiful new user profile pages, full-bleed homepage cover images, restructured navigation, improved mobile styles, and a massive improvement to typography.
Also, thanks to a Ember.js conversion and a re-writing of the admin area, the Ghost team is now able to start building user-interface components which look and feel like what you might expect from a desktop (or mobile) operating system.
Here's some more of what Ghost 0.5 brings to the table:
<ul>
<li> Privacy.md  – Ghost has a new Open Source initiative called <a href="https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost/blob/master/PRIVACY.md">Privacy.md</a>. They now ship a text file with a plain English description of every feature within the software which might affect user Privacy.</li>
<li> New Install Screen  – A refined UI when installing a new Ghost blog.</li>
<li> OAuth Support  – for extensible, secure authentication with less hassle.</li>
<li> Theme API improvements  – New helpers, functionality, and tools for theme developers.  <a href="http://dev.ghost.org/themes-multi-user-ready/"> 
</a></li>
<li> Auto-GZip  – Theme assets are now automatically GZipped in production environments. This makes Ghost blogs load faster.</li>
<li> Improved Keyboard Shortcuts  – New navigational shortcuts and international (non-English) keyboard support.</li>
<li> Mobile Improvements  – Better support on touch based devices.</li>
<li> HTML Emails  – All system emails now sent in a beautiful HTML email template (with plaintext fallback).</li>
</ul>
And that's not all, either. For a full list of changes, check out the <a href="https://gist.github.com/ErisDS/b7aa1a6e954f415cbb5b" target="_blank"> Ghost 0.5 changelog </a> .
<h2>New, Faster Release Cycle Announced</h2>
Ghost has that, “Screw it, I'll do it my way” swagger to it, and this bit of side-news is a prime example of it.
Instead of following the normal route of releasing 2-3 major updates a year, Ghost have decided to do things differently.
From here on out, Ghost users can expect to see new features, improvements and bug-fixes every 2-3 weeks. Not only is that different, but it's also majorly impressive.
Ghost Pro users will get these updates automatically, without needing to lift a finger. However, users running Ghost on their own server might feel tentative about this announcement. Although they can update whenever they like, new updating each month to gain the latest features might get a little time consuming.
Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing Ghost become more organic with it's new plan of constant self-improvement. It will certainly be interesting to see how well it works out, and f other follow suit.
For more information on Ghost 0.5, or to download it, check out the <a href="http://blog.ghost.org/ghost-0-5/" target="_blank">official announcement</a>.
To get started with your very own hosted or self-hosted Ghost blog, visit the <a href="https://ghost.org/" target="_blank"> Ghost website</a>.

Ghost 0.5 Released with Re-written Admin UI, Multi-user Support & More

<a href="https://www.squarespace.com/" target="_blank"> Squarespace</a> has answered the call of its Android using fan base. Squarespace has released <a href="http://blog.squarespace.com/blog/squarespace-for-android-now-in-beta" target="_blank">two new apps for public beta testing</a>; Squarespace Blog and Squarespace Note.
As one of the most popular website builders on the market, Squarespace allows users to build blogs, online stores, portfolio websites and more, using a sleek, user-friendly interface.
iOS users have been enjoying Squarespace apps for a while, with Squarespace Metrics for iPad being the most recent addition. Now, Android users can get in on the action.
However, it should be noted that this beta program is optimized for devices running Android Jellybean (v4.2+) or higher. The full release of these apps will cover a broad range of Android versions.
<a href="/products/squarespace/" target="_blank"><img style="max-width:200px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/imagescauzpt5i-1.jpg" /></a>
<h2>Feedback Requested</h2>
Both apps have a separate Google+ Community page, linked below. To begin experimenting with the apps, join the Community by clicking on the red “Ask to Join” button on the Community page for each app you'd like to test:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://plus.google.com/communities/117227036436156156932" target="_blank"> Squarespace Blog Community Page</a></li>
<li><a href="https://plus.google.com/communities/101820883333197891401" target="_blank"> Squarespace Note Community Page </a></li>
</ul>
The community pages each offer detailed instructions on how to install the beta releases.
Squarespace have (obviously) requested feedback from beta testers. To do this, you can use the “Leave Feedback” option within the apps.  Alternatively, you can visit the feedback form for the app located here.  If you have a comment to make, or would like to upload screenshots, you can use the relevant Google+ Community pages above.
You can also get started with your Squarespace website today, thanks to the <a href="https://www.squarespace.com/">Squarespace 14-day free trial</a>.

Squarespace for Android Public Beta Begins

Today marks the first day of <a href="http://www.liferay.com/wcs">Liferay's West Coast Symposium</a> and CMS Critic was in attendance to cover this event.
There was definitely a large turnout with a crowd of approximately 250 or so in attendance. The attendees ranged from Liferay staff and community members to partners and customers and there was a lot of buzz in the air about the new release.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/eden11_yqorou.jpg" alt="The Crowd @ Liferay's WCS" />
At 9:00 am, Liferay's Chief Marketing Officer, Paul Hinz took to the stage to begin the introduction of Liferay 6EE.
<img title="Paul Hinz, CMO - Liferay" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/dsc_6190-580x385_rj0sve.jpg" alt="Paul Hinz, CMO - Liferay" />
Some of the highlights from his talk:
<ul>
<li>Back in 1995, we were building web applications, web content. Most of it was centered around Apache but they were very simple applications and content. Then came Tomcat was more focused on application development and building apps on the web. This in turn, led into the idea that we can't just build with random tools and have developers assemble things on their own, we actually need application stacks.  In 2000, some of the major companies began providing these stacks: application layer, portal layers, collaboration layer, etc. These layers became more and more complex. Then jBoss came around and this was important because there was now a lower cost and it was lighter weight and easier to use. So now there was this open source aspect that had a lower cost and felt simpler and people liked it.</li>
<li>We started to see more and more trending toward open source projects and applications. Then in 2005, this trend towards simplicity led to LAMP becoming very popular.  A lot of the external properties were being built using LAMP and the focus from developers started to gear towards these open source stacks. Then a few more trends happened and rich apps came into play such as Wikipedia, Twitter, Facebook and similar properties and the social aspect of the web and of our content started to become a focus.</li>
<li>Every five years, there is a major focus change and now in 2010 there is a change that is about to happen. A single enterprise has a large number of different applications that they have to build.  The current trend seems to be towards what he called, Strategic Open Source.</li>
<li>Strategic Open Source is where the CIO now focuses their attention not only on the mission critical layer of apps but actually starts looking at these lower level open source applications and wants to get them supported and integrated into the existing infrastructure.</li>
<li>There is now a need to have a development platform that allows you to build your presentation layer, that gives you the content management and workflow capabilities and also gives you that rich developer aspect.</li>
<li>Collaboration has changed how we are building applications. If you look at the enterprise, we started with email then calendars began being added. Over time, blogs, wikis and other platforms have been integrated. There is now a strong need to build social applications.</li>
<li>There are a large number of companies that have portal based platforms but the platforms themselves are not progressing forward. This leaves their customers facing an end of feature life. The product may not be end of life but there will be no enhancements and with the new requirements we just discussed, this leaves these customers in a bad position.</li>
<li>Liferay, however, continues to add features. They support 11 different operating systems, 12 different databases and 11 different containers.</li>
<li>The customers who are facing end of feature life on their existing solutions are now going to be looking for a way out. Paul mentioned that a conservative number is 10,000 different customers who are facing end of feature life.</li>
</ul>
One of the most interesting announcements was the new First year Free offer that Liferay is extending to these customers who are facing end of feature life and are stuck on an aging platform. What they are offering is these customers can get Liferay for free for one year to help them migrate their existing infrastructure from these stagnant solutions to Liferay without having to pay licensing fees for both their existing solution and for Liferay.
This is a very interesting and, in my opinion, brilliant strategy that Liferay has taken on. Existing customers who are in this position are going to be very hard pressed to find any other solution that is providing this kind of offer.
To hear more of Paul's talk, you can download the audio recording which we've made available at the bottom of this article.
After Paul came Liferay CEO, Bryan Cheung to discuss the improvements that the new release brings to the table.
<img title="Bryan Cheung, CEO - Liferay" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/dsc_6198-580x385_wnzafg.jpg" alt="Bryan Cheung, CEO - Liferay" />
Some of Bryan's key points included:
<ul>
<li>How do you get the benefits of tomcat without being at the mercy of open source volunteers and how do you get the benefit of enterprise software without the cumbersome overhead? He firmly believes that Liferay is about giving you all of the best options and allowing you to “be greedy”.</li>
<li>Liferay 6 as a solution is complete. It provides a portal, WCM, workflow, collaboration in a single package which eliminates the need to get other products.</li>
<li>What if you have existing products that you are tied to and are unwilling to migrate away from such as SAP or Salesforce? Liferay allows integration with these products as well. Not only that, but if for some reason you find Liferay is not the solution for your needs, migration away from the product is just as easy.</li>
<li>Liferay is 90% more affordable than comparable solutions.</li>
<li>There are 35,000 community members in addition to the existing employees which provides Liferay with a very large pool of developers that are continually enhancing and advancing their product.</li>
<li>Liferay is also only 215mb in size. This includes tomcat, a database, web content management, blog server, wiki, portal, identity management and role management. It is everything you need without the software bloat.</li>
</ul>
Want to learn more? We have made our entire recording available for your enjoyment here: <a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/551052/SoundNote/453E111A-D1ED-477F-8CD7-6E02D12BB91C.soundnote/Liferay%20Introduction%20Speeches">Liferay Announcement</a>.
You can also visit Liferay on the web at <a href="http://www.liferay.com">http://www.liferay.com</a>

Liferay release ushers in major improvements

<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigstock-database-server-management-sys-76883147830x0-is.jpg" />
Information security has become key for any business in the current technological climate. The need for experienced personnel to secure company assets and analyse potential risks to data is increasing daily. Public security breaches are becoming a regular news feature to the embarrassment of large companies responsible for losing vital customer information and security vulnerabilities are being exploited more than ever in the ever-increasing connectivity of our world.
<h2>CIA model</h2>
The ‘CIA model’ is used by security professionals as a guide for policies to ensure the securing of information within an organisation. Confidentiality represents the set of rules that limits access to information, integrity the assurance that the information is trustworthy and accurate, and availability is the guarantee of reliable access to the information by authorised personnel. 
To keep in line with the CIA model, it is important for companies to consider the extent to which information is spread across different applications and members of the enterprise. Content management systems represent a large chunk of internal and external information for a lot of companies, therefore it is important for those responsible to take the security of these systems seriously to prevent the loss or manipulation of important data.
The wide integration of CMS’s is understandable given the sheer amount of data companies have to handle on a day-to-day basis . A one-stop-shop to create and manage digital content is highly desirable for organising and distributing information. These systems are heavily relied upon to store a lot of data, some of which is of extreme importance and if compromised could affect a business’s productivity in a huge way. 
<h2>Security of Open Source Vs. Proprietary</h2>
One of the major questions people ask when deciding about the security of an application is whether it’s open-source or proprietary. Open source projects rely heavily on the community for evolving and maintaining software, whereas propriety projects are built and maintained by a single company and typically do not allow access to the source code.
Some conclude that due to past security breaches of open source projects, which were made public, the open model is inherently insecure. Those who come to such a conclusion believe that because the source code is made publicly available it makes it vulnerable to hackers reviewing the code and finding possible entries for exploitation. On the other hand, supporters of the open model believe that the transparent nature of the source code means that the community behind the project can spot bugs and security holes that are likely to go unnoticed by a smaller team of people. 
The reality is that both proprietary and open source projects have vulnerabilities and are susceptible to security breaches. It would be incorrect to say that open-source is more, or less, susceptible to attacks. The fact that proprietary projects are implemented by employed professionals and are distributed for profit can easily lull a buyer into a false sense of security, but it is important to note that this doesn’t make them wholly immune to security attacks.
<h2>Use Plug-ins sparingly</h2>
CMS’s generically have a wide variety of plug-ins and add-ons available for their platforms, and the benefits that derive from the wide variety of extensions give the user means to customise and utilise features that aren’t included in the original package. The disadvantages of using plug-ins however, is that there is far more vulnerabilities found in the source code of plug-ins than in the CMS itself, and integrating additional application gives hackers more scope for points of entry. Therefore, it is worthwhile finding out the exact requirements that suit the business’s needs to prevent the need for any unnecessary external plug-ins. It is also worth paying attention to reviews and recommendations from those in the CMS community, and not to be too quick to download brand new plug-ins which may have serious security flaws.
<h2>CMS maintenance</h2>
Regular maintenance of any CMS is mandatory to keep security at a high level. If there’s an update, it is worth taking some time to implement the newest version of the chosen CMS. This may sound simple, but the importance of updating can’t be stressed enough, as this is where developers will create patches for discovered bugs and release the most stable version of the system. With large amounts of confidential data, log monitoring should also be implemented to keep tabs on system events. So if anything were to happen, a detailed footprint will prove useful for analysis and in order to prevent a similar event happening again in the future. Log monitoring can be implemented by an experienced admin or utilising plug-ins for various CMS, but as stated in the previous point users should wary of the reliability of any plug-in and take appropriate steps to ensure the plug in is reliable.
<h2>Risk Assessment and Treatment</h2>
When it comes to information security it is a game of hide and seek. Hackers will find a hole in some software and developers will catch up to patch it up as soon as possible, until another hole is found and so forth. For that reason, risk assessment is used by info security professionals to assess the incidents that could potentially occur and what damage could be caused to the company’s assets. Once a detailed report of the potential risks has been developed, this allows for the best possible safeguarding against potential attacks. Using tools such as vulnerability scanners (some free tools aimed at CMS available online) allows admins to determine the weakest aspects of the systems being used and find methods to strengthen up the security. With this information, risk treatment guidelines can be created that will minimise the damage done in the event of a breach and should be implemented as part of an overall disaster recovery plan.
<h2>URL rewrites</h2>
One of the most common attacks experienced using popular CMS’s is through the generic URL’s provided when setting up the system (www.domain.com/wp-admin for WordPress for example). By targeting these generic URL’s, hackers can use sophisticated attacks that undermine the standard log-in procedure and gain unauthorised access to company data. After locating the log-in page, an attacker can use a brute force or dictionary attack to undermine weak passwords to gain access. By re-writing the URL and adopting secure passwords, sites are much less vulnerable to such attacks. Experienced developers can perform a URL re-write themselves and there are also plug-ins out there that will carry out the process automatically. Changing the default ‘Admin’ name from the URL and administrator account will also help prevent hackers stumbling across easy entry points. 
With the growing anxiety surrounding the security of information, provisions will continue to grow to safeguard the data our personal, and working lives have come to depend on. IT administrators should take at least 15 minutes per day maintaining all aspects of company systems, make adequate backups and patch installations if required. It is also worth noting that the weakest part of any security implementation is the human aspect. The most robust security in system on the planet won’t provide protection against staff who are easily manipulated into handing out credentials over the phone. Enlightening staff members to the importance of securing company data is the first step in the right direction in protecting the systems at the heart of any business.

Security tips for CMS

Semrush - Be an SEO hero

Be found everywhere search happens

#ffffff

<a href="http://www.sitecore.net/" target="_blank"> Sitecore</a> have announced an early access program for <a href="http://www.sitecore.net/Platform/Channels/Commerce-Experience.aspx" target="_blank">Sitecore Commerce, powered by Commerce Server </a> , the first enterprise-grade .NET customer experience management (CXM) solution with fully integrated commerce functionality.
The new offering will enable marketers and merchandisers to deliver personalized and relevant digital shopping experiences from initial customer acquisition through online transaction using a single, connected platform.
Let's take a deeper look at what SiteCore's latest technological addition brings to the table.
<h2>Keeping it Personalized</h2>
Sitecore Commerce is the latest puzzle piece added to  <a href="http://www.sitecore.net/Products/Sitecore-Experience-Platform.aspx" target="_blank"> The Sitecore® Experience Platform™</a>. It gives marketers access to actionable insights, collaborative abilities and a holistic view of their customers.
<img style="max-width:400px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sitecore_logo_400x0.gif" />
Sitecore Commerce empowers brands to drive e-commerce innovation and growth opportunities, leading to reduced implementation costs, quicker time-to-market and increased conversion rates.
Regarding the announcement of Sitecore Commerce, Michael Seifert, co-founder, and CEO of Sitecore, made these comments:
<blockquote>“We view e-commerce a key piece of the customer experience platform puzzle. I’m proud of the addition of Sitecore Commerce to our leading platform, and excited to bring such a robust yet easy to use solution to the market.
As the only complete end-to-end .NET solution, Sitecore Commerce enables brands to go to market within rapidly reduced timeframes, more quickly increasing their revenue and accelerating growth.”</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.sitecore.net/Products/Sitecore-Experience-Platform.aspx" target="_blank">The Sitecore® Experience Platform™ </a>   includes integrated digital marketing, e-commerce, multichannel customer experience and big data-analysis applications. Sitecore Commerce works natively within Sitecore Experience Platform’s easy-to-use user interface, allowing merchandisers and marketers to quickly and easily implement the service into current campaigns.
Other key benefits include:
<ul>
<li> Single, connected administration:  All product catalog information is available within Sitecore, with no data duplication or synchronization hassles.</li>
<li> Unified content and campaigns:  Marketers and merchandisers can easily search and edit all assets, view end-to-end campaigns and access customer insights across all touch-points, and measure conversions and customer value.</li>
<li> Enterprise-grade:  Sitecore Commerce is built to meet the most demanding enterprise commerce needs, with performance throughput and robust systems to meet seasonal shopping peaks head-on.</li>
<li> Highly flexible:  Developers can build customized environments to meet specific brand needs and create unique shopping experiences, instead of relying on templates.</li>
</ul>
As far as availability is concerned, Sitecore Commerce will be broadly available from September 2014.
Furthermore, Sitecore Commerce, powered by Commerce Server, will be demonstrated at Sitecore Symposium 2014 in Las Vegas on September 8-10.
To learn more, visit the <a href="http://www.sitecore.net/Platform/Channels/Commerce-Experience.aspx" target="_blank"> Sitecore website</a>.
Also, don't forget to explore more of <a href="/products/sitecore/" target="_blank"> Sitecore via our CMS Directory</a>.

Sitecore Commerce Unveiled: the First Enterprise-grade eCommerce Integrated .NET CXM

There are a number of great hosted CMS solutions on the market, we've highlighted a number of them in one of our recent issues of CMS Critic Recommends (<a href="/cms-critic-recommends-july-edition/">read</a>) and LightCMS is definitely a contender.LightCMS is packed with features at what we think is a reasonable price compared to other options on the market. For a full list, visit the LightCMS tour after you read our review.What makes it unique? What are it's strengths and weaknesses?Let's take a look.First off, for the average user, you may be able to make do with their free package which allows you a decent starting point to begin seeing what the system can do for you. It's a great way to try out LightCMS and decide whether you want to give it a go long-term or not.Once you've chosen your subdomain you'd like to use from their website, you are ready to get started. We chose http://cmscritic.publishpath.com (for obvious reasons).On your first visit, you are greeted with a basic website waiting for your input. You can access the main administrative interface by adding /admin to the end of your URL (ie: http://cmscritic.publishpath.com/admin) which would then prompt you to log on for access to the “dashboard”.Upon logging in, you'll be greeted with a screen similar to the following (dependent upon the theme you chose):<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sitefinity_tedkqt.jpg" alt="Initial Screen - LightCMS" /> Initial Screen – LightCMSAs you can see, a number of areas of the website became activated once you logged in. You are now able to add/remove elements and edit the various areas of the cms simply my clicking no any of these buttons.As an example, clicking on pencil icon to the left of the “Welcome to the new site” text area would present you with the following easy to use content editor, complete with WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editing area, tags and more:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/26-08-2010-12-18-36-pm-580x674_pmt38y.jpg" alt="Content Editor - LightCMS" />Content Editor – LightCMSVisually, the content editor is attractive and akin to something we'd expect to find in a typical CMS.  It's intuitive, familiar and easy to use. Good start.What happens if you click on one of the “Add an element” boxes?Doing so would provide you with a dialog and a drop down box from which you can select a number of elements to add to the page:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/26-08-2010-12-24-10-pm_gljf9q.jpg" alt="Add an Element - LightCMS" />Add an Element – LightCMSThere are plenty of options that can be added and using each of these, we found them all to be very intuitive and well designed.One of the more common of the choices that we can see being used here are forms. Let's take a quick look at what the interface to a form element looks like.Here's where LightCMS outdoes it's competitors. Once you have added the element for a form, you simply click on “edit form” in a drop down box within the element which will take you to the form edit screen.From within this screen, there are two tabs. One for the various form fields you can add to the form (note: all that is required to add a field is to click on it):<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/26-08-2010-12-31-24-pm-580x428_wktzlr.jpg" alt="Add Fields - LightCMS" />Add Fields – LightCMSThe second tab provides various settings for the form. There are the usual suspects such as form name, description, email notification, captcha, etc.  but where it really shines is the option for payment settings.Clicking on this option allows you to embed payment functions right into your form complete with integration into Google Checkout, Paypal and Authorize.net. Now that my friends, is very simple and very slick. It's the little things that make the difference and this is definitely one of the best and easiest to implement functions we've seen so far in a form module.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/26-08-2010-12-34-57-pm_dz9kpg.jpg" alt="Payment Options in Forms - LightCMS" />Payment Options in Forms – LightCMSNow that we've looked at the various elements and content functions of the system, let's dig a bit deeper into the administrative interface shall we?LightCMS includes the ability to manage settings on a page by page basis or on a site basis (or both).  If you wanted to set individual meta data, css, user access permissions or SSL encryption for instance, this can all be done by clicking on the Page Settings button right from the Page you are currently on. You are also able to define custom templates (themes) to the individual pages as you see fit.Here's a quick screenshot of what this page looks like:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/billrogers-150x150_wkzay1.jpg" alt="Page Settings - LightCMS" /> Page Settings – LightCMSYou can see in the screenshot above, there is another menu bar in black that offers links to Designs, Users, Settings, Pages and Stats as well.Under the Designs menu, you are given the ability to perform the following options:<ul><li>Upload your own design (this page also has indepth documentation on how to create your own templates as well as how to alter existing ones).</li><li>Choose from a library of provided designs.</li><li>Order your own custom designs created for you by the developers of LightCMS.</li></ul>The Settings button at the top allows you to setup redirects, modify your robots.txt files and add/remove domain names as needed.Clicking on the Stats button (an option available to paid and not free accounts) gives you access to a simple but effective statistics screen highlighting activity on your site.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/campsite_zycpew.jpg" alt="Statistics - LightCMS" />Statistics – LightCMSAnother very unique function that LightCMS provides is the ability to set up and bill your clients (if you are a developer) for each site you create and host with LightCMS.You can dictate your own pricing structure (separate from what you pay LightCMS for use of their service) complete with your own plans, pricing structures and automated billing. It's like running your own business but all of the work is done for you.We won't get into great detail about how this works (it's better to just visit the site yourself then for us to attempt to paraphrase it. What we will say is this: It's incredibly easy to use, convenient and a huge time saver.Final ConclusionsPro's:<ul><li>Everything but the kitchen sink is included.</li><li>Incredibly easy to use, might just be the easiest solution we've found to date.</li><li>Fast, intuitive, loaded with configuration options.</li><li>Pricing is very reasonable.</li><li>Fantastic form builder with integrated payments.</li></ul>Con's:<ul><li>To get all of the cool features such as stats and payment integration, you have to pay. Although if we weren't paying, we'd feel kind of guilty considering the amount of work put into this system.</li></ul>Overall, LightCMS is one astoundingly agile platform. It's fast, intuitive, easy, packed full of options and VERY reasonably priced.  We highly recommend it.

LightCMS Review

<a href="http://www.hannonhill.com/products/index.html" target="_blank"> Cascade Server</a> version 7.12 is now <a href="http://www3.hannonhill.com/c/1921/172220/55376" target="_blank">available for download</a>.
Cascade Server is a Java-based “push” CMS that can either be installed locally or hosted in the cloud by Hannon Hill – the company behind Cascade Server.
Version 7.12 of Cascade Server is another step taken by Hannon Hill to, “improve the user experience”. They have focused on content reporting and content authoring by adding improvements to the draft and editing interfaces. Let's take a deeper look at what's new.
<a href="http://www.hannonhill.com/products/index.html" target="_blank"><img style="max-width:224px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/cascade_server.jpg" /></a>
<h2>UI Tweaks, Link Checkers &amp; More</h2>
Cascade Server 7.12 features a brand new site-wide broken link report. We all know that keeping up with the quality of your site’s internal and external links is no easy undertaking, but it's an essential part of maintaining a high caliber website. This feature will regularly scan your site for both internal and external links, allowing users to find and fix these links before they ever go live.
This new feature will check all publishable Pages and Files in the system for broken links on a daily schedule. Any broken links encountered are stored in the database as a report which can be viewed on the Link Checker dashboard. Accompanying the Broken Link Report is the new Link Checker Summary dashboard widget, which provides a summary of the status of broken links on the current site.
Below are some more notable features from version 7.12:
<ul>
<li>Improvements to the Editing and Drafting UI. We’ve revamped the drafting experience to be more seamless and less obtrusive.</li>
<li>Stale Content Filtering. You can filter down your Stale Content Dashboard and see only what you want to see.</li>
<li>Improved support for inserting and link-checking scheme-relative links. This will allow you to keep up with the trend towards more HTTPS-enabled sites and a secure web.</li>
</ul>
The Hannon Hill team will be releasing a series of informative blog posts to give users more details about the major improvements in 7.12, but you can also learn about the new features in the  <a href="http://www3.hannonhill.com/c/1921/172220/55375" target="_blank"> 7.12 Release Notes</a> and by checking out the  <a href="http://www3.hannonhill.com/c/1921/172220/55374" target="_blank"> 7.12 Press Release</a>.
You can <a href="http://www3.hannonhill.com/c/1921/172220/55376" target="_blank"> download Cascade Server 7.12 right here</a>.
To find out more about Cascade Server, <a href="http://www3.hannonhill.com/c/1921/172220/55376" target="_blank"> visit their website</a>.
Also, be sure to check out <a href="/products/cascade-cms/" target="_blank"> Cascade Server via our CMS Directory</a>.

Cascade Server 7.12 Released

Purple Parrot is a proprietary CMS with plenty of out-of-the-box features for a variety of website needs. Purple Parrot caters to small business, e-commerce, and online education sites. The CMS is cloud-based and multi-user.
<h2>Overview</h2>
<a href="http://www.purpleparrot.com/about/" target="_blank">Purple Parrot</a> is a full-fledged CMS, including a web design and software solution firm. Purple Parrot has been in business since the early days of widespread Internet usage (over 20 years). Part of their sell is the ability to take an existing website and place it into their own CMS, giving you the ability to take full control of a website. In spite of having plenty of features, Purple Parrot has some features that users may find limiting, including difficult site design process, lack of access to code, and some unwieldy operations in the CMS.
<h2>Creating a Site</h2>
I'll walk through the process of creating a site on Purple Parrot.
When I log in for the first time, the Admin Dashboard is a bit bewildering. Here's what I see.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple1-620x463.jpeg" alt="purple1" />
SiteBuilder
The most prominent category is “SiteBuilder Features.” Within this category are the following features, including a brief onscreen description.
<ul>
<li>External Widgets – External widgets are portable chunks of code supplied by third-party sources that can be installed and executed on any of your site's pages.</li>
<li>General Information – Provide general information about your company.</li>
<li>Menu Designer – Design the menus that will help your visitors navigate through your site.</li>
<li>Page Manager – Create the custom or module pages you have selected for your site.</li>
<li>Select Your Color Theme – Select or create your own color theme for the site.</li>
<li>Select Your Font – Choose the font to be used throughout your site.</li>
<li>Template Manager – Design the templates that contain the header, footer, and/or sidebar for the pages of your website.</li>
</ul>
I found the descriptions of each feature to be helpful, but was nonplussed as to which I should choose to start my site.
The dashboard links are replicated in the menu bar. So, instead of clicking one of these dashboard links, I chose the “SiteBuilder” menu link, and chose “General Information.”
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple2.jpeg" alt="purple2" />
General Information
On this screen, I edit my site's general information, including the company name, a description, and a login option.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple3-620x463.jpeg" alt="purple3" />
The customization options at the bottom are denoted with green checkmarks. When I attempt to “select site width,” I receive the following information:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple4.jpeg" alt="purple4" />
To “check the page out,” I go to the top of the page, where I see the following:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple5.jpeg" alt="purple5" />
Clicking the lock image then “checks out” the page, where I can complete further operations.
Site Width
There are two options for site width:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple6-620x393.jpeg" alt="purple6" />
These two options are standard. I do notice, however, there is little flexibility to change these options, nor is there a responsive design option. The customization is limited, which is acceptable for someone with limited web experience.
Metadata
There is an area to edit the metadata, which is helpful for SEO purposes.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple7.jpeg" alt="purple7" />
The logo upload process is fairly straightforward, if not a wee bit clunky.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple8.jpeg" alt="purple8" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple9.jpeg" alt="purple9" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple10-620x359.jpeg" alt="purple10" />
Font Selection
Finally, I go to select my font. I find it a bit unusual that selecting a font takes me to a new edit page. Here's a look at it.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple11-620x463.jpeg" alt="purple11" />
After choosing “Century Gothic, 14px,” I move on to “Go to Color Selection.”
Color Selection
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple12-620x463.jpeg" alt="purple12" />
The color selection page allows me to choose color themes, which “will affect elements such as text boxes and the search button on your visitor pages.” Customization is available to “edit this theme.”
I choose the “Neutral Green” theme.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple13-620x463.jpeg" alt="purple13" />
A word about navigation so far. The navigation does not immediately strike me as intuitive. However, as I have been creating the site, I realize that I am following the order of the menu elements under “Site Builder.” (See menu screenshot above). At this point, I've come to the “Menu Designer” element on the site.
Menu Designer
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple14-620x463.jpeg" alt="purple14" />
In order to edit an element of the menu, I first must click the lock icon. Then I click the pencil icon to edit the menu element. This brings up a new screen:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple15-620x463.jpeg" alt="purple15" />
The right area of the screen displays a preview of what the menu looks like. Changes are instant.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple16-620x74.jpeg" alt="purple16" />
The menus are prepopulated with the demo elements. I had to remove these one-by-one in order to create my own menu items.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple17.jpeg" alt="purple17" />
Renaming menu elements required a multiple-click process. Each time I create a new one, I am redirected to the beginning of the process.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple18.jpeg" alt="purple18" />
Overall, the menu customization is somewhat cumbersome and confusing. When I finish editing my menu elements, I click “Save,” and am prompted to click a lock again,  click “Save &amp; Close.” I arrive at the main menu designer page.
External Widgets
The next element to customize is “External Widgets.”
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple19-620x463.jpeg" alt="purple19" />
The widget option is helpful in that it allows a variety of codes to be added to the site. Purple Parrot allows an unlimited number of widgets. When a widget is added from this main External Widgets page, it can be added to any page on the site, or added to the sitewide template.
Adding a new widget prompts a popup to paste the code.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple20-620x511.jpeg" alt="purple20" />
Template Manager
The next element for me to modify is Template Manager.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple21-620x463.jpeg" alt="purple21" />
I am prompted to design a new template for the header, footer, and sidebar. The first step is to “Add New Template.”
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple22.jpeg" alt="purple22" />
Once I add the new template, I can edit it after selecting it from the template list.
This is the template editing page.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple23-620x463.jpeg" alt="purple23" />
The persistent WYSIWYG preview pane is a helpful at-a-glance perspective of how the template customization is going. The downside of the large preview pane is that it allows limited space for customization.
Under template properties, I can select a background style, layout, and title style.
Under the Standard Toolkit Menu options, I am provided with the following toolkit items:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple27.jpeg" alt="purple27" />
To add an element, I simply drag it to the live editing pane. Once I do, a setup box appears that allows me to customize that specific element.
Advanced Toolkit
Beyond these basics, I am provided with a variety of advanced elements.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple35.jpeg" alt="purple35" />
Each of these advanced toolkit options has its own unique set of customization options, similar to those in the basic toolkit.
Having finished my template design, I click “Save &amp; Close.” I see a notification that my template was saved successfully, and return to the template manager page.
This process of template creation can be continued to create as many templates are desired.
Page Manager
The page manager menu furnishes me with a list of the pages on my site. The list seen in the screenshot below are the pages already created in the demo site that I have been editing. Each of these pages can be edited.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple36-620x463.jpeg" alt="purple36" />
To edit the page, I first click on the lock button to “check out” the page. Then, I click on the pencil edit icon.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple37-620x463.jpeg" alt="purple37" />
The page editor replicates many of the elements seen in the template editor. The options and editing options are simpler. One addition that is not part of the template editor is the “Search Information” for SEO purposes.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple38.jpeg" alt="purple38" />
The standard toolkit and advanced toolkit elements are all available for adding to these custom pages.
Beyond the pages created for the site, it is possible to create special module pages.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple39-620x463.jpeg" alt="purple39" />
This completes the site creation phase. Depending on the extent of the site being created, this process can take a few hours or up to several days. There are a surprising number of options available. The level of customization is also impressive.
Publish
Having completed my site to my level of satisfaction, I click “Go to Publish.”
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple40-620x463.jpeg" alt="purple40" />
After receiving the publish confirmation, I can also view the custom pages and modules that were created or modified.
Modules
So far, I've only created the general site pages and structure. Purple Parrot has created an extensive list of modules that enhance a site's usability and versatility. Available modules are listed below.
<ul>
<li>Checkout Settings </li>
<li>Classes </li>
<li>Contact Information </li>
<li>Event Calendar </li>
<li>FAQ </li>
<li>Forms Manager </li>
<li>Google Analytics </li>
<li>Inventory </li>
<li>Jobs</li>
<li>Library </li>
<li>News </li>
<li>Release Notes </li>
<li>RSS Feeds</li>
<li>Showcase</li>
<li>Social Networking</li>
<li>Testimonials</li>
<li>Video Catalog</li>
<li>Media</li>
<li>User Management</li>
</ul>
Back to the Dashboard
When I return to the dashboard after exploring every element of Purple Parrot, the dashboard makes more sense. It provides a way to easily access all of the <a href="http://www.purpleparrot.com/features/" target="_blank">features</a> that are also included in the menu above.
<h2>Getting Help</h2>
The persistent top menu in the Purple Parrot admin provides two help menus — Help and Help Desk. (In addition there is a <a href="http://www.purpleparrot.com/m/faqs" target="_blank">FAQ</a> menu.)
Main Help Menu
The help menu provides a readme style help document. It is navigable and readable, if not a bit Web 1.0-looking.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple61-620x610.jpeg" alt="purple61" />
Help Desk
Help Desk is for registered users.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/purple62.jpeg" alt="purple62" />
I was unable to test the response of the help desk.
Overview of Help Availability
One of the most helpful features of Purple Parrot was the way it guided users through each element of site creation and editing. Throughout the editing process explanations are included that describe what an element is, how it works, and what to do to make changes. Purple Parrot provides a good setup for users who have little web design or development knowledge to create an entire site with lots of features and considerable power. In addition to these consistent explanations, there are also question mark and information buttons situated at main junctions for further information.
Sample Sites Built with Purple Parrot
Listed on the Purple Parrot site are several organizations that have used their CMS.
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.severnriverglobal.com/">http://www.severnriverglobal.com/</a></li>
<li><a href="http://itsmalliancellc.com/">http://itsmalliancellc.com/</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.clayhealth.com/">http://www.clayhealth.com/</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.mcecloans.com/">http://www.mcecloans.com/</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
Pros
<ul>
<li>WYSIWYG editing. Seeing changes as I make them is a helpful feature. Although viewing the actual sample site requires a few extra clicks, there are some editing areas in which WYSIWYG performance is available.</li>
<li>Extensive module menu. I was impressed with the number of modules and the extent of power that they provided. This was, perhaps, the greatest advantage of the CMS. Purple Parrot is primed for power.</li>
</ul>
Cons
<ul>
<li>Clunky. The advantages of Purple Parrot as a firm with 20+ years of experience is evident. There are, however, some areas in which this advantage could be a downside. Site navigation is confusing at times. Features of the editor are not at all fluid or easy. Some actions take multiple clicks, creating confusion and delays.</li>
<li>No source code access. Although it is possible to edit a site to a detailed extent, it is not possible to dig into the source code. As a solution designed for the non-developer, it's fine. For those who desire more power, this may be viewed as a limitation.</li>
<li>Lack of ready-made templates. One advantage of Purple Parrot is that they can convert an existing site to their CMS. For the user who doesn't have an existing site, they will need to either contract with Purple Parrot to create one, or try to make their own. There are no ready-made templates that I found except for a duplicate of Purple Parrot's own site in the demo version. This can create a hurdle. First, creating a site from scratch is time consuming and out-of-reach for those who have limited design experience. Second, having Purple Parrot create a site may not meet the user's wishes, due to the somewhat dated design style that is evidently used by Purple Parrot.</li>
</ul>
Overall, Purple Parrot provides a comprehensive and workable CMS. Pricing is provided in a <a href="http://www.purpleparrot.com/solutions/" target="_blank">three-tier model</a>, depending on the user's needs. Purple Parrot may not be the first choice for those who want a polished look with quick-and-easy startup. Although Purple Parrot has a nice array of modules, it is lacking in design beauty and ease of use. I was disappointed and sometimes confused about how to perform a simple function. Furthermore, because of its design limitations and inability to create a responsive site, Purple Parrot will not satisfy customers who desire to adapt to mobile visitors. Unless this CMS make some significant revisions to adapt to updated design trends and mobile access, Purple Parrot will remain in a bygone era of web design.
You can visit <a href="http://www.purpleparrot.com/" target="_blank">Purple Parrot</a> to find out more. To request a demo, you can fill out the <a href="http://www.purpleparrot.com/demo/" target="_blank">demo request form</a>.

Review of Purple Parrot CMS

daniel-threlfall

The latest version of <a href="https://www.phpfox.com/" target="_blank"> PHPFox </a>  has been announced, making the social networking platform sleeker and sexier than ever before.
<a href="/phpfox-rebrands-to-moxi9-reveals-pricing-changes/" target="_blank">Freshly re-branded as Moxi9</a>, PHPFox has enjoyed its status as a popular community-building CMS, giving users the ability to offer features found on Facebook, MySpace, and other networks.
With PHPFox V4 – which is due for release during Fall 2014 – brings about a new look and feel. It also pairs with Moxi9 Unity, allowing developers to create powerful apps. Let's take a closer look.
<h2>PHPFox Streamlined</h2>
Reading through the improvements that PHPFox V4 is soon to bring, one word sprung to my mind. Streamlining.
The team behind Moxi9 are pushing PHPFox into modernity with a host of needed features, bells and whistles. And it looks pretty damn good.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-1700x0.png" alt="PHPFox V4" /> 
In fact, users can look forward to a revamped user interface, including cleaner activity feeds, side panels, user profiles an pages in general.
Additionally, Moxi9 have stated that they will include a responsive theme with V4 by default, which all future themes can extend with ease.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-2700x0.png" alt="PHPFox V4" /> 
Perhaps one of the most notable changes though – particularly for developers – is the Moxi9 Unity pairing.
Moxi9 Unity opens the doors to developers to create powerful apps without needing access any server. Plus, they won't be bound to a specific programing language. That means secure, one-click installs for clients and easy updates for developers.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-3700x0.png" alt="PHPFox V4" />
For all the details of PHPFox V4, FAQs about the new software, plus some more screenshots, check out Moxi9's recent blog announcement.
Also, be sure to explore more of  <a href="/products/phpfox/" target="_blank"> PHPFox via our CMS Directory</a>.

PHPFox V4 Announced: Improved UI, Responsive Themes & More

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