Articles - Page 63

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

matt-garrepy

Kentico 8.1 is due to be released on August 22nd 2014. But as of right now, Kentico users can get their hands on a beta version.
The popular ASP.NET enterprise Web Content Management System and Customer Experience Management solution got a major update when <a href="/kentico-8-introduces-slick-new-interface-and-improved-marketing-suite/" target="_blank">version 8.0 was released</a>. Now, Kentico 8.1 s about to add to what's already quite new and exciting.
When I covered <a href="/kentico-8.1-release-date-revealed/" target="_blank">Kentico's announcement of the release date of version 8.1</a>, I made mention of some of the new planned features. Now though, let's take a closer look at what the Kentico 8.1 is set to bring.
<h2>Dashboard &amp; Marketing Suite Enhancements</h2>
Below is a GIF of Kentico's newly tweaked dashboard, a feature users can make use of with the Kentico 8.1 beta. Simply click on the image below to view.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/dashboardcustomization700x0.gif" alt="Kentico 8.1" />
Here's the list Kentico released, outlining what the Kentico 8.1 beta contains:
<ul>
<li><a href="http://devnet.kentico.com/articles/sell-more-with-new-buy-x,-get-y-discounts" target="_blank"> Buy X, Get Y discounts</a>:  This update allows Kentico store managers to configure their cross-selling promotions in a more sophisticated way, e.g. Buy any 3 clothes, get the cheapest for free</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://devnet.kentico.com/articles/live-tiles-and-dashboard-customization" target="_blank"> Dashboard improvements</a>: This update allows Kentico users to easily personalize the dashboard with frequently used applications. Furthermore, some dashboard tiles display real-time data, e.g. Number of running order discounts.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>LinkedIn integration: This update allows marketers to manage the company profile directly from Kentico including the ability to use automated workflow for content publishing on LinkedIn</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>SharePoint integration improvements: This update brings support for the latest SharePoint versions including SharePoint Online and other improvements. e.g. the ability to set up the multiple SharePoint connections for the same Kentico site</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Online marketing performance improvements: The Kentico team have lowered the performance footprint of Kentico Online marketing modules such as Contact groups and Scoring. This means that your web site will respond more quickly and will be able to handle more traffic during peaks.</li>
</ul>
You can <a href="http://devnet.kentico.com/articles/try-kentico-8-1-beta-!?feed=Kentico" target="_blank">download the Kentico 8.1 beta right here</a>.
Also, be sure to explore more of <a href="/products/kentico/" target="_blank">Kentico via our CMS Directory</a>.

Kentico 8.1 Beta Now Available

mike-johnston

Today, we're pleased to announce the winner of the Best CMS for Publishers category in the 2015 CMS Awards. This new category aims to help give our readers an idea as to what solutions are good ones to consider in specific industries. Publishers are always struggling to find solid solutions and this year, we're happy to be able to provide a suggestion.
According to our readers, the Best CMS for Publishers is..
<a href="http://ez.no" target="_blank">eZ Publish</a>!
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best-cms-for-publishers.png" />
Congratulations to the team at eZ Systems on their win. eZ Publish is an excellent solution to consider if you want powerful publishing capabilities with insightful analytics. Check them out at <a href="http://ez.no" target="_blank">http://ez.no</a>

Announcing the 2015 Winner of Best CMS for Publishers

<a href="http://www.prestashop.com/" target="_blank">PrestaShop</a> have unveiled a (very) long list of enhancements, released under the name of PrestaShop v1.6.0.9.
The open-source eCommerce platform powers millions of online stores across the globe, boasting a range of useful features out of the box, along with a healthily populated app and theme store. I covered everything you need to know about them in my <a href="/prestashop-review/" target="_blank">PrestaShop Review</a>.
In keeping with PrestaShop's focus on community, they listed to 69 different users to help them compile a list of bugs that needed fixing, and a list of enhancements that needed introducing.
<img style="max-width:548px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/prestashop.png" alt="PrestaShop" /> 
Together with their community, here's some of what they came up with:
<ul>
<li>Smarty update to 3.1.19</li>
<li>Improvements for the Block Layered Navigation</li>
<li>Optimization of the database loading time for large catalogs and categories</li>
<li>Better implementation of HTML Purifier</li>
<li>Mobile detection has been updated for improved stability</li>
</ul>
The remaining bug fixes and improvements – which are well over a hundred in number – can be seen via the <a href="http://www.prestashop.com/en/developers-versions/changelog/1.6.0.9" target="_blank">changelog</a>. Or, you can simply <a href="http://www.prestashop.com/en/download" target="_blank">download PrestaShop 1.6.0.9</a>.
To find out more about PrestaShop, <a href="http://www.prestashop.com/" target="_blank">check out their website</a>.
Additionally, be sure to explore more of <a href="/products/prestashop/" target="_blank">PrestaShop via our CMS Directory</a>.

PrestaShop 1.6.0.9 Brings About Long List of Tweaks & Enhancements

When it comes to choosing a CMS, developers have to balance the agility and power of the CMS with how easy it will be to create amazing websites. Fortunately, there are some great options out there that fit these requirements. Today, we're going to share the one our readers chose as the Best CMS for Developers.
This year, it was a battle between some great CMS' but there can only be one final winner and this year, the award goes to…
<a href="http://www.craftcms.com" target="_blank">Craft CMS</a>!
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best-cms-for-developers.png" />
Congratulations to the team at Pixel and Tonic on their win. There's no doubt that Craft CMS is a great solution to consider. I strongly advise you check them out today at <a href="http://www.craftcms.com" target="_blank">http://www.craftcms.com</a>

Announcing the 2015 Winner of Best CMS for Developers

We've decided to expand what we offer on CMS Critic and introduce some new forums that we can all use to better collaborate with one another.
I've added a new section which I think will be a lot of fun called “Ask Mike” where you can ask for help and suggestions as to which CMS (or related technology) to use for your projects.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/forums902x0.jpg" />
I'm hoping that by capturing all of this great content in one place, we'll be able to further help other visitors with similar questions so please, feel free to ask away. I promise to do my best to stay on top of things and answer as quickly as possible.
There's also a Critics Choice CMS Awards forum where we will post news and updates about the awards currently underway. It's also the place to ask questions pertaining to the awards.
We hope you find the forums helpful and we look forward to chatting!
~Mike

We now have forums!

<a href="https://www.socialengine.com/" target="_blank">SocialEngine</a> have released some enhancements and bug fixes in the form of <a href="http://blog.socialengine.com/2014/07/31/socialengine-4-8-6-released/" target="_blank">version 4.8.6</a>.
The popular community-building CMS boasts a range of features, apps and themes. Users can choose between a could-hosted version and a self-hosted version, with prices differing between the two.
With this update, SocialEngine have bolstered their anti-spam defenses and fixed numerous bugs around the software. SocialEngine's last update included the introduction of <a href="/socialengine-php-4.8.3-released-with-html5-video-compatibility/" target="_blank">HTML5 video compatibility</a>.
<a href="/products/social-engine/" target="_blank"><img style="max-width:295px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/socialengine-hosting.png" alt="SocialEngine" /></a> 
Here's a list of what SocialEngine 4.8.6 brings to the table:
<ul>
<li>Added some reliable anti-spamming techniques; you will be able to enable them from Admin &gt; Settings &gt; Spam &amp; Banning Tools.</li>
<li>Fixed bug with Re-Captcha when SSL is enabled</li>
<li>Corrected order of forum posts added by Ning Importer.</li>
<li>Fixed bug with adding link to a wall post where image selector was not being displayed.</li>
<li>Background Mailer Task will run better now and not hang.</li>
<li>Fixed bug where the respective profile field column in field search table was not getting deleted after the deletion of a profile field.</li>
<li>Fixed social network mapping issue when multiple social networks are chosen during signup.</li>
<li>Fixed bug with menu editor where any custom menu added to  Member Edit Profile Navigation  was redirecting to  Browse Members  page.</li>
<li>Fixed an error showing in the log that would be generated when changing the order of photos in an album</li>
<li>Fixed bug where bullets added via TinyMCE Editor were not being displayed in blogs.</li>
<li>Fixed a bug in discussions under Events and Groups where page UI was getting affected in certain cases because of HTML tags not closing after truncation.</li>
</ul>
Furthermore, the SocialEngine team has updated Photo Albums, Blogs, Events, and Groups plugins to 4.8.6.
To download SocialEngine 4.8.6, visit the client area.
For everybody else, either checkout the <a href="https://www.socialengine.com/" target="_blank">SocialEngine website</a>, or start exploring more of <a href="/products/social-engine/" target="_blank">SocialEngine via our CMS Directory</a>.

SocialEngine 4.8.6 Released

Power your CMS on AWS

Manage your websites & apps in the most trusted cloud.

#ffffff

With over 15 million websites built and hosted on its cloud servers, it's safe to say that <a href="https://www.weebly.com/">Weebly</a> has built itself an impressively solid user base since its release in 2007. <a href="https://www.weebly.com/">Weebly</a> is an AJAX-based drag-and-drop web page creator, capable of producing truly beautiful and professional websites with a variety of functionalities. The websites themselves are hosted for free on the Weebly servers, with each user choosing between a Weebly sub-domain, or their own personal domain name.
The simple drag-and-drop system is brilliantly implemented by Weebly, giving its users direct, detailed control over the content of their websites. The process requires no knowledge of coding or web design, as elements can be quickly dragged, dropped, modified and deleted via easy to grasp interfaces.
On May 2 nd 2013, Weebly made a number of changes to its admin panel, calling the updated version the  <a href="https://www.weebly.com/"> All New Weebly </a> . The changes included a revamped user interface, a mobile editor and other useful improvements. Here is our Weebly Review.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z6iqVxaALas?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
<h2> The All New Weebly </h2>
The release of the All New Weebly has brought about a host of changes. Most noticeably, the drag-and-drop admin panel was moved from the top of the browser window, to the left-hand side.
Although the new positioning of the admin panel was received with mixed reviews, the improved, sleek new design was certainly welcomed across Weebly's user base. Options concerning design, functionality and widgets are now elegantly laid out using a more modern, tiled display. Despite the beauty of the new interface, it would have been nice to see Weebly offer users the option to move the admin panel back to the top of the browser screen.
The All New Weebly also brings about a new mobile editor, allowing you to preview and modify the mobile version of your website. Changes made to your website in either browser or mobile view will be automatically synced between both, maintaining a steady appearance to all of your visitors.
Additionally, Weebly now has a built-in Site Planner, which takes users through a step-by-step guide of their powerful new admin panel, setting goals, learning new skills and understanding the basic principals of website growth and success along the way.
Setting user interface updates aside, the All New Weebly update also brings a re-worked pricing plan. A totally free Weebly is still available to users, whilst both a Starter and Pro plan are offered at $4 and $8 per month respectively.
<h2> Initial Thoughts </h2>
Upon entering the Weebly website, you get the immediate impression that you're in for a powerfully simple ride.
It's important for any CMS to ensure its main website is professionally presented, and well polished, and Weebly does just that. A selection of themes, features and website examples are on show, accompanied by a simple sign up form, which includes a Facebook sign up option for extra convenience.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/1.jpg" alt="weebly review" />
Equally, it's essential that the sleek nature of the main website is not compromised or lost completely during the sign up process, leaving you with a dire looking control panel. Thankfully, this is certainly not the case with Weebly, as each menu, page and panel looks modern, clean and easy to understand.
<h2> Getting Started </h2>
Whether you decide to use your email address, or your Facebook account, creating your Weebly account is a quick process. As soon as you enter your details, Weebly presents you with an array of over 200 free, pre-designed themes for you to choose from.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2700x0.jpg" alt="weebly review" />
For me, the option to choose your theme as your very first step is a statement of intent by Weebly. They would prefer their users to take pride in the appearance of their websites, and would surely hope to avoid a user base who are keen on creating websites full of content, but devoid of aesthetically pleasing pages.
Weebly's elegantly designed templates are inspiring to look over, and selecting your favourite one definitely gets the ball rolling in the right direction.
<h3> The Site Planner </h3>
After selecting your websites theme, it's time to take a glance at Weebly's Site Planner. The planner is divided into three main sections, which are Plan, Build and Grow.
Each section includes an informative, instructional video, which walks you through various useful processes. For example, the first step in the Build section contains a video demonstrating the page creation and organization process.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/18700x0.jpg" alt="weebly review" />
As well as teaching you the basic of Weebly, the planner helps you to set personal goals for your website, and enables you to check out completed websites for inspiration.
Following the Site Planer from start to finish will eventually result in a fully functioning website, complete with images, pages and even a domain name to boot.
The Site Planner is an optional extra for first-time website builders, and can be completely disregarded if you so wish. Essentially, it's a great feature for the large group of Weebly users who need a degree of guidance when it comes to web design, content creation and marketing.
<h3> Your Home Page </h3>
Moving away from the Site Planner, Weebly allows you to dive right into the customization process, by offering up your unpopulated homepage for you to fiddle with.
Your website will be displayed in preview mode on the right, whilst the recently revamped admin panel takes up the left-hand side of the screen.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/5700x0.jpg" alt="weebly review" /> 
To begin adding to your website, you can simply start dragging and dropping different elements from your side bar. These include titles, images, videos, buttons, dividers and more.
Areas such as the website logo can be edited by hovering and clicking on the available options. For example, I chose to import an image to act as the logo, whereas other options allowed by to type in standard text, or remove the logo entirely.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/6.jpg" alt="weebly review" />
The same hovering rule applies to all other elements on the website, so long as you are in preview mode. Images, blocks of text and so forth can be hovered over, resulting in some options being displayed. Modifying or deleting the element is then a piece of cake.
Generally, the drag-and-drop system adopted by Weebly works a charm. Anybody can understand the process, and adding your own layout and design touches is incredibly easy.
<h3> Themes &amp; Design 
</h3>
Across the top of the preview page, tabs are displayed. One of which is entitled “Design”. Within this page, you can select a different theme, or modify your existing one.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/11.jpg" alt="weebly review" />
Options such as the base colour of your theme can be changed, along with font styles, social icons and phone number location. Despite a healthy range of options, it would have been nice to see a full colour palette being made available, instead of just the pre-set colours currently on offer.
As well as being able to select a different theme altogether, Weebly also gives you full access to the HTML and CSS coding behind all of its themes, allowing you to tinker with the design and functionality.
<h3> Adding Pages </h3>
A web page doesn't make a website, so it's good news that Weebly allows you to quickly and easily add as many different pages as you want.
Heading over to the “Pages” tab at the top of the preview page, you will be presented with the option to create a new page, and alter the order and settings of your existing pages.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/12700x0.jpg" alt="weebly review" />
Adding a page is simple. You enter the title, followed by the layout you wish to utilise, which largely depends on the theme you are currently using.
Weebly allows you to easily copy and re-order your pages, as well as create sub-pages, which will be displayed as drop down menus.
<h2> Functional Flexibility 
</h2>
One of Weebly's key strengths is its sheer flexibility. It does a superb job with the basics, allowing elements such as maps, contact forms and slide shows to be seamlessly incorporated. But on top of that, Weebly offers a wide range of other functionalities.
Uploading images for example can be done in a variety of ways. They can be uploaded from your computer, via a URL or even via Weebly's built in image search function.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/9700x0.jpg" alt="weebly review" />
However, you can also create a variety of different website types, by simply dragging and dropping elements.  Adding a product to sell or even an entire discussion board is just as easy as inserting an image. What's more is, you can run such elements side by side, on the very same page.
<h3> Ecommerce </h3>
Selling products on Weebly can be done with relative ease. Dragging and dropping the “product” element from the admin panel will allow you to modify your product image, set a price and add a description.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/13.jpg" alt="weebly review" /> 
However, it must be said that Weebly does have some limitations in the ecommerce department. Payments can only be taken via PayPal and Google checkout, and it doesn't offer an integrated order management system.
<h3> Forums </h3>
Weebly also offers a fairly comprehensive discussion forum solution, which can be dragged and dropped on to any page. You may then go ahead and customize your forum, adding log in buttons for Facebook, Twitter, Google and other services.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/15-1700x0.jpg" alt="weebly review" /> 
You can create a total of 5 forums, with a limitation of 200 replies per discussion. Weebly requires you to upgrade your account in order to bypass these limitations.
<h2>Social Features</h2>
Implementing social buttons into your website is absolutely vital for both marketing and engagement purposes. Thankfully, Weebly has yet again made life easy in this regard. Social icons such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn buttons are often built in to certain Weebly themes, with the option to remove them, or add your personal social profile links to them.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/7-1.jpg" alt="weebly review" />
Weebly offers a range of social buttons, including Flickr, Google+, Yahoo and more. Much like other elements, they can be dragged and dropped almost anywhere on your web pages.
<h2>Mobile View</h2>
One of the brand new features that the All New Weebly update introduced, was the ability to view your Weebly website in mobile view, further customizing it to fit the purposes and requirements needed.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/33700x0.jpg" alt="weebly review" /> 
Using the mobile view, you can customize the colour, header images and social icons, and even select a brand new theme specifically for mobiles. Extra elements can be added from the admin panel, which will automatically sync with the desktop version of your website.
Additionally, Weebly allows you to preview your website via an on-screen iOS and Android device, giving you a realistic impression of what your mobile site will really look like.
<h2> Getting Help </h2>
As with any CMS, being able to find useful help pages and contact details is vital, and Weebly helps you do just that. Across the top of the preview page lies a question mark icon, which leads you to the Weebly Support Centre.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/20700x0.jpg" alt="weebly review" /> 
The Support Centre is a comprehensive tool to help you get ove rany issues you may be facing. Help concerning images, text, widgets, forums, ecommerce and so on can all be easily accessed. Additionally, Weebly allow users to submit their own questions using the “Ask Us a Question” button. 
 
 Marketing &amp; Monetizing 
Being able to market and monetize your website is hugely important. Simply publishing content on your homepage willl not help bring in visitors. Instead, Weebly offers a helping hand by being SEO friendly, allowing title, meta and description tags to be customized at page level, along with image ALT tags.
<h3>Blogging</h3>
Maintaining a blog relevant to your website is an extremely efficient way of driving traffic to your website. Good quality blog posts will eventually rank in the search engines, and will also do well on social media networks.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/21700x0.jpg" alt="weebly review" />
Weebly offers a pretty solid blogging solution, allowing you to quick and easily add blog posts. Elements from the admin panel can be dragged and dropped into posts, which means that maps, slide shows, videos and galleries can all be added very quickly, which is something many other blogging applications lack.
<h3> Google Adsense </h3>
Monetizing your website or blog is a great way of earning revenue. Weebly allows you to insert your own Google Adsense codes, and then drag-and-drop the banners anywhere you wish.
However, users who are using the free version of Weebly will be giving up 50% of their Google Adsense revenue until they upgrade their accounts. On top of a handful of other restrictions impose on free Weebly users, some users may find such a large percentage unfair.
<h3> Site Stats </h3>
Along with the traditional option of Google Analytics, Weebly also offers its users a free, in-house Site Stats page, which keeps track of visitors, search terms, referring websites and so forth.
Monitoring your audience is vital when it comes to understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your website, and Weebly's inclusion of a built-in Site Stats page is therefore extremely useful.
<h2>Price Plans</h2>
Along with the release of the All New Weebly, a new price structure was unveiled. Before the update, Weebly offered their Starter plan at $3.29 per month, along with their Pro plan from $6.63 per month. In comparison to their competitors, Wix and Webs, these fees were very reasonable.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/17700x0.jpg" alt="weebly review" />
However, since the update, Weebly have raised their fees slightly, offering the same Starter and Pro plans for $4 and $8 respectively. The price hike is minimal, and can be justifed by the recent classy updates made to the site builder. More importantly, the price rise still keeps Weebly competitive in the face of its rivals.
Webs offer three paid plans, priced from $3.75, to $7.50, up to $16.67 per month. Wix on the other hand, charge $5.73 for their lowest package, climbing up to highs of $19.18 per month for their highest plan.
<h2> Verdict </h2>
Overall, Weebly is a simple, yet powerful site builder which helps you to easily incorporate a wide range of features and widgets. The uncluttered user interface, paired with the extremely easy to use drag-and-drop system, makes Weebly a brilliant choice for a novice web site builders, and for those who know exactly what they're doing.
Weebly's speedy service and cloud-based servers allow you to get your website up and running in minutes, without compromising on the sleek, professional presentation which is manages to capture in all of its themes and widgets.
<h2> Pros </h2>
<ul>
<li>Weebly's drag-and-drop system works wonderfully, enabling almost anybody to try their hand at web design.</li>
<li>The sheer speed and simplicity of Weebly is enough to make you fall in love with the site builder.</li>
<li>Hundreds of free, modifiable themes ensure that your website will be truly unique in terms of design.</li>
<li>The revamped admin panel is a joy to use, and is very easy on the eyes.</li>
<li>The new Site Planner is a welcome addition, which does a great job of walking newcomers through the building and publishing process.</li>
<li>Being able to view and edit your site through Mobile View is an excellent, useful feature.</li>
<li>Ecommerce and Forum options are great examples of the impressive flexibility of Weebly.</li>
<li>Built-in Site Stats and a Blogging feature are a tremendous help in terms of marketing and visitor engagement.</li>
<li>Prices are agreeable in comparison to Weebly's competitors.</li>
</ul>
<h4> Cons </h4>
<ul>
<li>Weebly's ecommerce solution is under-developed, offering just two payment options and no order managing functionality.</li>
<li>Along with a long list of restrictions, including Weebly's logo on their website's footer, users of the free Weebly service are only entitled to half of their Google Adsense earnings, which will understandably disgruntle some users.</li>
</ul>
<h2> Final Remarks </h2>
As mentioned in <a href="/weebly-review/"> our last Weebly review </a> , the quirky web site builder has always been packed full of features, offering an easy, unintimidating solution to those with no coding experience, and perhaps even for those with no web experience at all.
Additionally, to put it simply – which is the Weebly way, the recently introduced updates have injected a new spirit into the service, making it leaner and more flexible than ever before. The core features have remained, but they have now been expertly polished and presented within the elegance of the new admin panel.
Weebly's drag-and-drop site creation system has served it well in the past, and will surely continue to do so, especially now that it works in tandem with a brand new mobile editor, a user-friendly site planner, and a modern user interface. After the All New Weebly release, it would seem that both Wix, Webs and the rest of Weebly's competition have some catching up to do.
<blockquote><a href="https://www.weebly.com/"> Try Weebly  </a></blockquote>

Weebly Review: Hands On With the All New Weebly

<a href="http://www.dudamobile.com/" target="_blank"> Duda</a>, a do-it-yourself website builder for web professionals and small businesses, has launched <a href="http://www.dudaone.com/insite/press" target="_blank"> inSite </a> , an easy to use new tool within its DudaOne platform. 
 Formerly known as DudaMobile, <a href="/duda-website-builder">Duda</a> is quickly taking hold of a slice of the website builder market, having partnered with companies like Google, Yahoo and AT&amp;T. 
 I recently <a href="/interview-with-itai-sadan-co-founder-ceo-of-duda/" target="_blank"> interviewed Itai Sadan, Duda's Co-founder &amp; CEO</a>. We discussed <a href="/duda-website-builder">Duda</a>'s begginings, its offerings and its future as a website builder in a competitive market. Itai Sadan certainly sounded positive about Duda's future in that interview, and now that inSite is launching, I can see why.   
 inSite makes it easy for business owners to create dynamic web content based on customer behavior. It comes out-of-the-box with Duda's <a href="http://www.dudamobile.com/dudaone" target="_blank"> DudaOne</a> website builder. The kicker is that such technology is often reserved for large enterprises with huge IT budgets and dedicated IT departments.   
<h2>Democratizing Personalized User Experiences</h2>
Using inSite, businesses can preset what content different types of customers will see based on variables such as time of day or week, device type, number of visits, location and more; without requiring any development work. 
 A website visitor using a mobile device in the morning hours for example, can be shown content different to that shown to a visitor at night via a desktop. 
 <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/duda-logo90x190.png" /> Duda have also shared some research undertaken by one of their customers, Raydiance for Women, a custom hair replacement company in West Bloomfield, Michigan. 
 By implementing an inSite campaign on their website, Raydiance for Women recorded a 65 percent increase in conversions from potential customers. In this specific campaign, customers visiting after office hours were presented with a contact form, and first-time visitors during office hours were presented with a video and prominent call-to-action. 
Mike Madigan, Vice President of M-1 Studios, the agency responsible for creating the Raydiance website, made these comments:
<blockquote>
“inSite has been incredible, mind-blowing really. Before inSite, we simply would not have had access to the technology needed to present website visitors with such a personalized experience. The huge increase in engagement we’ve already seen is just astonishing. We can’t wait to offer it to our other customers.”
</blockquote>
Furthermore, Itai Sadan, Duda's Co-founder and CEO, had this to say upon the public launch of inSite:
<blockquote>
“The bigger companies have always had the budgets and resources to create elaborate personalized user experiences, creating an unfair situation for smaller businesses and web professionals. 
Today, with inSite, we’re leveling the playing field by democratizing this technology and making it possible for anyone to easily build enterprise-grade websites without the need for massive budgets or a large development team. 
 Duda is the only DIY website builder to bring DWP features to our customers, and we’ve made it as simple as a few clicks. Based on results from our early inSite users, we know businesses will be more successful by personalizing their websites.”
</blockquote>
inSite comes as part of <a href="http://www.dudamobile.com/dudaone" target="_blank"> DudaOne</a>, Duda's DIY website builder.  
 To get started on your website, <a href="http://www.dudamobile.com/dudaone" target="_blank"> visit Duda</a>.

Duda Launches inSite: a Personalized User Experience Tool

<div>
The Plone 4.0 Framework Team and release manager Eric Steele are pleased to announce the first release candidate for Plone 4.0.
Plone 4.0 brings massive performance and scalability improvements, a brand new default theme, and a revamped user interface.
<img title="plone theme" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/image-300x219_n8maky.png" />
Other new features include:
<ul>
<li>An improved first-run experience, particularly creating a new Plone site</li>
<li>Streamlined user account creation and extensible member profiles</li>
<li>Upgraded infrastructure: Plone now runs on Python 2.6 and Zope 2.12 making for easier deployment and a smaller memory footprint</li>
<li>Built-in file-system storage for Image and File content types makes databases with large binaries easier to manage</li>
<li>Pop-up forms for login and many management functions</li>
<li>TinyMCE visual editor improves formatted text editing</li>
<li>Full-text indexing of East Asian languages</li>
<li>Group dashboards</li>
<li>The new standard theme utilizes a flexible, grid-based layout that provides a better base for clean, modern theming</li>
<li>Hundreds of bug fixes and tweaks</li>
<li>A well-tested upgrader that makes upgrading from Plone 3 fast and easy</li>
<li>Performance increases that nearly double pages per second in typical situations.</li>
</ul>
How you can help
Release candidates serve as proposed final releases for the project.  While Plone 4.0 has been tested by many members of the Plone developer community, and is already running in production on a number of sites, it needs wider testing to flush out any remaining critical bugs before we can stamp it as a “final release.”  And that's where we need you.
Here's what you can do to help:
<ol>
<li>Test our installer packages by downloading and installing Plone 4.0 RC1 from the <a href="http://plone.org/products/plone/releases/4.0">Plone 4.0 downloads page</a>.</li>
<li>Help us test the upgrade scripts by migrating a copy of your site's data.</li>
<li>Report any errors to the Plone bug tracker.</li>
</ol>

</div>

Plone 4 Reaches Release Candidate Status

DesignModo, the company behind <a href="http://designmodo.com/startup/?u=1182" target="_blank">Startup Framework</a>, has released the latest version of <a href="http://designmodo.com/qards/" target="_blank">Qards</a>, their WordPress plugin that provides similar one-page website building.
<a href="http://designmodo.com/qards/" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/qards.png" /></a> With it, you can mix and match a variety of pre-designed cards (or Qards) in order to form a one-pager style website. All within WordPress, of course.
Let's take a look at what's new.
<h2>Integrated Media Library &amp; A New Button Configurator</h2>
Qards 1.4 brings about integration with WordPress' media library. So, it's more easy to import and work with images and photos.
Buttons are a big part of any website, and now, Qards users can customize them quite extensively. Thanks to the new Button Configurator feature, you can change button shapes, sizes and colors using sliders.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/unnamed619x0-is.png" /> I'm a big fan of Qards, just like I'm a big fan of DesignModo's other product, Startup Framework (which you can read about in my <a href="/startup-framework-review/" target="_blank">Startup Framework Review</a>). It's sleek, simple, able to produce highly professional one-pagers. Plus, it works within WordPress.
It's a tad pricey at $99 per site, although developers might be more tempted by the package that allows for five sites for just $199.
<a href="http://designmodo.com/qards/" target="_blank">Learn more about Qards</a>.

DesignModo Qards 1.4 Released

Penzu is a private, 100% customizable online journal that is used by millions of people across the world. In this Penzu Review we're going to take you through the various features and functionality of the product to provide you with an overall idea of the strengths and weakness of the offering.<h2>Penzu Pricing</h2>There are three tiers of pricing for Penzu – each offering a different set of features but for the majority of people, the free offering is going to be more than enough. Here's a breakdown of the current pricing from their website.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/penzu-pricing-table_kpyp6y.png" />Penzu Pricing TableIn the grand scheme of things, if you do decide you want the full selection of features, $50 / year is pretty darn cheap so it's definitely NOT out of reach for the average person which is nice.<h2>Penzu Features</h2>Each pricing tier offers a different selection of features and while I feel that for the average user, the free option is quite extensive in it's feature set.. the Pro and Pro+ both have quite an impressive set of features as well.Here's a screenshot of the feature breakdown in each tier:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/penzu-feature-chart_rrnfsn.png" />Penzu Feature Chart<h2>Getting Started with Penzu</h2>Getting started is easy, just click the Get Started button and fill in the information required and an account will be instantly created for you.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/penzu-getting-started_zaysi3.png" />Penzu – Getting StartedOnce you've filled in the info above, you'll be taken to a wizard that has been designed to help you begin your writing experience with Penzu.The first item the wizard prompts you for is your first entry, which suggests that you write about why you are starting a journal in the first place. You can skip this if you choose using the Skip this Step link underneath the entry box.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/penzu-getting-started-wizard_zwz4mr.png" />Penzu Getting Started WizardOnce you've filled in your first entry (or clicked Skip) you'll be taken to the next screen where you can customize the font (or other options if you've purchased Pro or Pro+).<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/penzu-customizing-your-entries_q6foix.png" />Penzu Customizing your EntriesNext up, you are asked if you want to change the Journal cover color and if you wish to password protect your journal.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/customizing-your-journal_tibpe7.png" />Customizing your JournalFinally, once you've finished all of your customizations (which are pretty basic in the free version) the wizard will complete and you'll be taken to the main screen of your journal.<h2>Your Penzu Journal</h2>This will be the main screen where you write all of your entries and manage your journal.There are limited options here but that's OK because Penzu was not designed to waste your time with themes, plugins and such that other tools like WordPress offer. It was designed first and foremost as a writing tool to help you gather and share your thoughts.<h2>Settings</h2>You can access basic settings (such as the few that you saw in the wizard) by clicking on the gear icon on the left.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/penzu-settings_kzu2yx.png" />Penzu Settings<h2>Using the Penzu Editor</h2>The editor is very nice and easy to use with a few interesting options. You can click on the paintbrush icon to open up a background selection tool which allows you to choose a background (if so desired).<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/penzu-background-selection_cwe8i5.png" />Penzu Background SelectionYou can also choose pad styles which will change how your journal entries themselves look. For example:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/penzu-pad-styles_z98c7l.png" />Penzu Pad Styles<h2>Journal Prompts</h2>You may notice within the editor there are a number of icons you can choose from. The light bulb icon within the editor inserts a <a target="_blank" href="https://penzu.com/journal-prompts">Journal Prompt</a> which is described in the help section as:<blockquote>a simple statement designed to inspire you or offer you an idea of what to write about.</blockquote>This is an example of what a prompt looks like:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/penzu-journal-prompts_bczpw6.png" />Penzu Journal PromptsYou can switch prompts by clicking on the refresh icon (two arrows in a circle) or, if you are a Pro user, you can click Select and browse the prompts to find some inspiration. For Pro users, there are over 1,000 hand picked prompts to choose from – which is a pretty impressive amount!<h2>Penzu Time Capsule</h2>The next icon you'll see is an hour glass and activates a feature called Time Capsule. This cool feature allows you to email an entry to your future self and is a pretty neat option to have if, for instance, you set goals for yourself in your journal and want to send yourself a note 3 months down the road to see if you achieved them (for example).<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/penzu-time-capsule_xvdwto.png" />Penzu Time CapsuleThere are lots of things this can be used for. You can use Penzu as a way to set reminders and notify yourself on a certain day to do something or perhaps you want to send yourself motivational content down the road. Either way, it's an interesting and handy feature.<h2>Other Editor Icons</h2>The remaining icons allow you to tag your content (pro users only), upload images, format text, view entry versions or activate Zen Mode (distraction free writing – for pro users only).<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/penzu-editor-icons_dwgqnq.png" />Penzu Editor Icons<h2>Support / Help Options</h2>There are plenty of support options available which can be located by clicking on your name in the top right of the screen. Their FAQs are quite extension as is their help section and given the simplicity of the tool, there shouldn't be much support needed to use it. It is, however, nice to know it's there.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/penzu-support-help-options_u7zpvh.png" />Penzu Support &amp; Help Options<h2>Conclusion</h2>Penzu is an impressive and interesting journaling platform. I found myself drawn to the simplicity of the tool and how it removes the user from the sometimes overwhelming feature overload found in some modern tools. I like the pricing of the tool and think it's more than reasonable for the features offered and the integrated features such as Time Shift, Journal Prompts and more really add to the uniqueness of the platform.I'm giving it a 5/5 on the basis that it not only serves it's purpose as an excellent journaling platform but also because it goes one step further with thoughtful features and options that you might not even realize you need.You can learn more about Penzu or sign up for an account here: <a target="_blank" href="https://penzu.com/">Penzu Website</a>If you found this review helpful, check out our other reviews such as this: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/ghost-pro-review/">Ghost Pro review.</a>

Penzu Review

elcomCMS 8.2 was released on June 12th, 2013 and with it come a number of enhancements, specifically in the areas of collaboration and social. Let's run through what you can expect from this latest release.
<h2>Meeting Manager</h2>
A new meeting manager module has been added to elcomCMS. This tool allows users to scheduled meetings, upload agendas, create meeting packs, invite participants and more. If you are an attendee, its gives you a portal to view calendars, meeting info and documentation in preparation for upcoming meetings. What's especially cool, however, is that is also lets the person running the meeting record minutes against agenda items in real time and keep track of the time taken. We can see this capability being useful for boards, project teams and for a myriad of others uses.
<h2>Single Social Sign-on</h2>
Also in place with this new release is the introduction of Social Sign-on to the CMS, allowing users to authenticated via OAuth with elcomCMS. Supported networks include: Facebook, Windows Live, Twitter and Google.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/oauth.jpg" />
Other capabilities introduced include the ability to track the number of page ‘shares’ and ‘likes’ individual members have made; and the ability to push and promote events managed through the elcomCMS into Facebook Events.
<h2>Responsive Images</h2>
elcomCMS now creates several sizes of the images you upload to best present them for the varying screen sizes in use nowadays. These new responsive images help ensure better quality and the serving of the appropriately sized image to the devices visiting your site.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/responsive_images.jpg" />
This prevents “squashing” of images (or scaling) and delivers a better visual experience to the end user.
<h2>Dropbox, SkyDrive &amp; Google Drive Connector</h2>
With so much data being stored in the cloud nowadays, it's nice to see that elcomCMS has added connectors for the most popular cloud storage services; Dropbox, Skydrive, Google Drive &amp; Box. You can now list, navigate and search your cloud storage from a dedicated page inside the CMS.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/dropboxintegration1.jpg" />
<h2>Additional Features</h2>
In addition to the features highlighted above, you will also find Responsive Image management, PayPal Connector, SCORM management, built-in Image editing and geo-location template switching. within the new CMS.
To read more about elcomCMS 8.2, review screenshots or to arrange a 1-on-1 demo, <a href="http://www.elcomcms.com/Latest-Release-8-2">http://www.elcomcms.com/Latest-Release-8-2</a>

A Look at the New Features in elcomCMS 8.2

How do you figure out whether a CMS is good or bad? More to the point, how do you know whether the CMS you're using at this selfsame moment is hurting your business or harming it? Selecting the right CMS is a really, really big decision. It's no overstatement to say that your CMS choice can either propel your business to success or drive it to the ground in abysmal failure. Rather than scare you with doomsday tails of people who made bad decisions, I want you to provide a measuring stick by which you can determine whether your CMS is tall enough for your needs.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/shutterstock_88875994600x0.jpg" />
<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-88875994/stock-photo-final-exam-marked-with-isolated-on-white.html"> Exam picture </a> by Shutterstock
Here are five questions that you can ask yourself right now to figure out if your CMS is good enough.
<h2>1. How does the user interface make you feel?</h2>
Okay, this is a subjective question, but CMS choices aren't always cut-and-dried. When it comes to the UI, it's an intuitive thing. You can get a sense pretty quickly — I'm talking seconds, not days — if the interface is helping you out or slowing you down. Here are a few sample questions you can ask.
<ul>
<li>Do you have trouble figuring out how to complete a simple operation?</li>
<li>Is there something that should be easy to do, but you have to click 14 times and open 5 menus just to get to it?</li>
<li>Do you avoid certain CMS tasks because they take too long, or “it's just a hassle.”</li>
</ul>
Are you getting a sense of things? If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, then your CMS may have a user interface problem. I've asked this question first, because without a clear and clean user interface, you're going to have a really rough time with your CMS going forward. Simplicity, clarity, and functionality are important here.
<h2>2. Does the CMS have a healthy and responsive support network?</h2>
One day, you're going to face a problem you can't fix on your own, unless you're the Chuck Norris of CMSes. In this case, you need help. There are some CMSes out there (I've used them) where zero help exists. Whether the CMS developer was running a solo operation from his parent's basement, had retired, or had passed away, I know not. All I know is that a CMS without a help network is like a hot air balloon without a gondola.
Check to make sure that the CMS of your choice has the following. One or more will suffice. You don't need all four.
<ul>
<li>You can pick up the phone and talk to a live human being.</li>
<li>You can hop on a forum and get an answer within 24 hours.</li>
<li>You can email a problem ticket, and receive a response within 48 hours.</li>
<li>You can attend a class to gain additional information.</li>
</ul>
Don't simply rely on a fat documentation PDF to help you through your struggles. You'll need more.
<h2>3.  Is the hosting customizable and/or rock-solid?</h2>
One of the biggest oversights in selecting a CMS is the hosting issue. Often, users and testers tend to gaze at the CMS itself without remembering that everything needs to be hosted somewhere, somehow. To complicate issues, when you test a CMS, you're often doing so in a web-based environment, meaning that hosting is going to look a lot different once you've paid up and get all situated with the shiny new CMS in its hosting environment.
Many businesses use Windows VPS hosting. If this is your choice, make sure the CMS supports it. Otherwise, ensure that the CMS offers a hosting solution that guarantees uptime, can maintain traffic surges, and gives you control and flexibility as needed, such as <a href="https://www.inmotionhosting.com/">InMotion Hosting</a> or <a href="https://www.servint.net/">Servint.net</a>.
<h2>4. Does the CMS have active developers?</h2>
When I look at a CMS, I try to notice something really simple — the version number. When a CMS has a name like “Sitesuper v. 6.1.5, ” I consider that a good thing, based on the string of numbers alone. Why?
<ul>
<li>It's been around for a while, and will probably be around for a little while longer.</li>
<li>It's changing, most likely for the better.</li>
<li>It has people who are actively developing it.</li>
</ul>
That last point is clutch. If a CMS is left to survive on its own merits apart from the constant work of team of developers, it will die within a matter of months. The turbulent and ever-changing nature of the web demands that a CMS be constantly changing in order to adapt.
Let me get specific here about what kind of developmental changes should be present and/or available in your CMS:
<ul>
<li>Responsive design adaptations. If they don't already have one, most businesses will need a responsive or mobile site within the next 12 months.</li>
<li>Social capability. This is a must-have.</li>
</ul>
A team of developers is the lifeblood of a CMS.
<h2>5. Does the CMS offer extensive customizations?</h2>
Finally, you're going to need a CMS that meets your needs. In other words, you want your CMS to give you options — design options, user options, plugin options, color options, video upload options, analytics options, ecommerce options, etc., etc. Some CMSs attempt to place every user within a box, usually a very small box, that dictates how the site looks, feels, and works. This may work for some people, but if you want a scalable and robust online presence for years to come, look for something that offers a bounty of options.
If you answered “no” to any of the above questions, it may be time for you to go shopping for a new CMS. By way of disclaimer, the fewer CMS needs you have, the less important these qualifications are. If, for example, you're a photographer who's happy with a nice-looking site, you probably won't need a big enterprise CMS. For most businesses who depend on publishing, ecommerce, web traffic, or web solutions, each one of these points above is imperative for long-term success.
So, what about those qualifications of your CMS that didn't quite measure up? The good news is that here on CMS Critic, the Internet's best source of CMS critiques, you're in the right place.

Is Your CMS Good Enough?

daniel-threlfall

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