Articles - Page 69

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

matt-garrepy

At the very beginning of 2015, <a href="/cms-in-2015-what-we-want-to-see/" target="_blank">I made a few observations about the state of the CMS world</a>.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/year-988389_1280728x0-is.jpg" />
I touched on topics like; general accessibility, the lack of quality within the online community builder niche, product fanboyism, and much more.
I wanted to see big things happen in 2015. New things. Exciting things.
<h2>Things Happened</h2>
Thankfully, things happened.
In that <a href="/cms-in-2015-what-we-want-to-see/" target="_blank">same article</a>, I highlighted the lack of quality within the online community building niche. Startups looking to churn out a quality social network had severely limited options.
As we enter 2016, those options are still limited, but the existing options have started to flourish. I called for a hero to emerge from within the niche, and vendors like Social Engine, PHPFox and Boonex all took positive strides in 2015. It was great to see, and I hope to see more of it.
2015 also saw quite a few products change hands, and even shut down. <a href="/blogging-platform-roon.io-acquired-by-ghost/" target="_blank">Ghost acquired Roon.io</a>, <a href="/pligg-cms-goes-up-for-sale/" target="_blank">Pligg CMS was sold on Flippa for over $50,000</a>, and <a href="/900dpi-set-to-shut-its-doors/" target="_blank">900dpi shut its doors for good</a>
As for accessibility, <a href="/modx-makes-noble-move-towards-true-accessibility/" target="_blank">MODX launched a project</a> dedicated to making their platform more accessible for those who use assistive technology. They saw that no CMS on the market truly caters for such an audience, so they decided to be the first.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQlT5isC-2U
At the time of writing, their call to raise $50,000 has been harkened to, with over $41,000 already gathered. It's a touching idea, and I hope to see it completed some time in 2016.
Unfortunately though, as we leave 2015, fanboyism is still alive and well.
How do I know? Well, I recently published an article <a href="/how-wordpress-needs-to-improve-itself/" target="_blank">bemoaning some of the flaws of WordPress</a>.
It was received well by many, but the fanboys from within the WordPress community were not best pleased. Another popular blog even called me out about the article, <a href="/how-not-to-show-your-support-for-wordpress/" target="_blank">prompting a response from myself</a>. Talk about drama.
<h2>CMS Critic on (Constant) Tour</h2>
Throughout 2015, we didn't just bring you more news and reviews. We also continued visiting CMS vendors across the world.
I personally had another opportunity to <a href="/looking-back-on-jahia-one-2015/" target="_blank">travel to Paris alongside Mike Johnston for the Jahia One 2015 conference</a>. As usual, it was an awesome experience.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/11058762_854272848001031_5712146649284374933_n_614x0-is.jpg" /> But CMS Critic's travels didn't stop there. Mike was invited to the offices of several major players in the CMS industry, many of whom were the focal point of <a href="/featured-weeks-start-tomorrow/" target="_blank">featured weeks</a> here on the website.
Here's a list of all the CMS vendors that we personally visited this year alone:
<ul>
<li>1&amp;1 Internet</li>
<li>Jahia</li>
<li>Wix</li>
<li>Hippo CMS</li>
<li>LightCMS</li>
<li>Mura CMS</li>
<li>Progress (Sitefinity)</li>
<li>dotCMS</li>
<li>Agility CMS</li>
<li>Ecwid</li>
<li>Solodev</li>
</ul>
Further to that list of office visits, vendors like Contentful, elcomCMS and Ingeniux also got to experience a <a href="/featured-weeks-start-tomorrow/" target="_blank">featured week here on CMS Critic</a>, enjoying a week's worth of articles and promotion.
I'm a big fan of our featured weeks. Through them, our readers get to grips with a successful platform, and a successful platform gets to reach out and converse with our audience. It's a win-win.
<h2>2016 on the Horizon</h2>
All in all, 2015 wasn't too shabby for the world of CMS. But with it now behind us, it's time to look forward to another year of news, reviews, major software updates and exciting startups.
Stay tuned to read about some of my expectations, hopes, and dreams for 2016.

The World of CMS: Highlights From 2015

mike-johnston

Veolay is one of the most promising Light CMSs in the market today. Having released just 2 months ago Veolay is already loved by developers and mostly designers for its ease of use, simplicity and freedom to white label. Most importantly the fact that Veolay is powerful enough to bring any static website to an online content editable state within a few minutes stunned everybody.
What is new with Veolay 1.1?
 
• Supports Repeatable Regions: 
Yes, now any designer can use this tool to manage common content such as news, menus and much more by simply adding, thats it. No more code work.
• White Labeling Enhanced :
Veolay has a Branding section in admin to help any designer change admin interface colors, upload their clients company logo. Simply make the admin match your own branding within a few clicks and most importantly without any coding at all.
• Completely redesigned admin interface.
• Non JQuery solution for any user who has a JQuery conflict.
• Enhance Automated Backups System &amp; Version Controller
Screenshots:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/editmode-veolay-580x476.png" alt="editmode-veolay" />
<img title="veolay-admin1" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/veolay-admin1.jpg" alt="veolay-admin1" />
<img title="veolay-admin2" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/veolay-admin2.jpg" alt="veolay-admin2" />
<img title="veolay-admin3" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/veolay-admin3.jpg" alt="veolay-admin3" />
More information: <a href="http://www.veolay.com">http://www.veolay.com</a>

Veolay releases 1.1

<a href="http://www.uplandsoftware.com/" target="_blank"> Upland Software</a> have announced that its web content management system, <a href="http://www.clickability.com/" target="_blank"> Clickability</a>, has been issued patent <a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&amp;Sect2=HITOFF&amp;p=1&amp;u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&amp;r=1&amp;f=G&amp;l=50&amp;co1=AND&amp;d=PTXT&amp;s1=Chourey.INNM.&amp;OS=IN/Chourey&amp;RS=IN/Chourey" target="_blank">8,626,913</a> by the US Patent Office.
Founded in 1999, Clickability is a leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) WCM that helps enterprises efficiently manage content globally for all web, mobile, and social initiatives.   
 The patent in question is for a feature set within Clickability’s website personalization and targeting solution, Website Marketing Acceleration (WMA). The feature allows marketers to configure and test web visitor segmentation and profiling rules, and then apply these rules in a test setting using pre-built target personas.
In other words – together with the broader features of WMA – the feature helps marketers to target the right content to the right person at the right time. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/click.png" alt="Clickability" />
<h2>Audience Segmentation &amp; Progressive Profiling</h2>
Here's an overview of what enhancements this new patented feature brings to WMA:
<ul>
<li>Audience Segmentation: Marketers can define any number of audience segments however they wish, including by geography, industry, job function, company size, etc. Users create segment rules so that only the correct, targeted questions are asked of a visitor in a specific segment. </li>
<li>Lead scoring: Marketers score leads based on visitor data and activity on the website.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Profile Level: Marketers establish profile levels defined by aspects such as a visitor’s lead score and how much information is known about a visitor. Visitor information can be gathered explicitly (gather data by requesting information as visitors download content) or implicitly.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Progressive Profiling: Marketers establish gates (questions via forms that visitors must complete) for accessing content based on profile level. For example, visitors in profile level one with a lead score of 10 will receive different gates, or questions, than visitors with a lead score of 30 in profile level two.</li>
<li>Marketers can create a Resource Portfolio where visitors can save content and where marketers can add additional content.</li>
<li>Marketers can import data into WMA from any source, and aggregate visitor information from WMA into marketing automation and CRM platforms.</li>
</ul>
Regarding the news, Noah Logan, General Manager of Clickability, made these comments:
<blockquote>
“Seventy percent of the B2B buyer’s journey is complete before even engaging with a vendor, and 87% of B2B buyers say that content has an impact on vendor selection.
 There’s no doubt that for B2B marketers, the most critical investment they’ll make is in providing an engaging, effective digital content experience. Leveraging Clickability’s powerful, flexible content management platform, our WMA solution provides marketers with the easiest, most effective way to target their website content and provide truly personalized experiences. 
As a result, they can accelerate the process of moving anonymous website visitors through the marketing funnel to become qualified sales leads.”
</blockquote>
To find out more about Clickability, check out their <a href="http://www.clickability.com/" target="_blank"> official website</a>.

Clickability Issued Fourth Patent for Website Personalization & Targeting Solution

Global social media <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19816709" target="_blank">finally hit the 1 Billion user mark</a> in 2012 – and there have been no signs of slowed growth since. As they compete, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many others are slowly but surely bringing social networking to every corner of the earth.
As a result of such exponential growth, the number of content management systems dedicated to building social networking websites has greatly increased over the years. Thanks to their ever-growing number, some good old fashioned competition has spurred many social networking CMS into providing professional platforms of the highest quality. Yet at the same time, scores of poor CMS have also flooded through, hoping to nibble on a slice of the gigantic social networking pie.
To help un-blur the lines between the two groups, we have compiled 8 of the very best social networking CMS which allow you to build a well structured, professional social networking website.
As a bonus, we've also got a new post we published called “<a href="/how-to-create-a-social-network/">How to Create a Social Network</a>” that gives you full step by step instructions on the process.
<h2>1. Pligg</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/pligg.jpg" alt="pligg" /> 
The Pligg content management system was designed from the ground up to manage a website with an unlimited number of authors and contributors. In essence, all participating users are in control of the website’s content. This is in contrast to the standard website structure, where only a set few managerial or administrative members control core content.
Pligg's open-source CMS is incredibly easy to use and manage, and can easily help power social networks and other interactive communites. There are plenty of templates to choose from, along with a plethora of plugins and extensions. The software encourages visitors to register on your website so that they can submit their content and connect with other users.
The unique user driven CMS relies on independent author contributions and participation. Originally, Pligg began as a simple CMS which allowed registered users to submit, comment and vote on news stories – which, to this day, remains a key feature. Amongst other social interactions, users can vote on articles and publications that interest them, and those with most votes eventually appear on the homepage of the Pligg powered website.
<blockquote><a href="http://pligg.com/" target="_blank">Try Pligg</a>.</blockquote>
<h2>2. BuddyPress</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/buddy.jpg" alt="buddypress" /> 
As <a href="/which-cms-make-up-the-wordpress-competition/" target="_blank">WordPress continues to cruise past its competition</a> year on year, the team behind the CMS giant have also released BuddyPress, a social networking equivalent to their mainstream powerhouse platform.
BuddyPress carries the same high quality structure and presentation which WordPress is famous for. It's free, open-source and allows you to customize your social networking website to no end. Features such as comprehensive personal profiles, friend connections, discussion boards, private messaging and so on, are all implemented into the foundations of BuddyPress' comprehensive CMS. Powerful extensions and plugins are on hand to help you tweak even further.
If you're aiming to add your social networking platform on to an existing WordPress website, BuddyPress is of course the natural choice. Seamless integration with WordPress is easy to achieve, making it the ultimate social extension.
<blockquote><a href="http://buddypress.org/" target="_blank">Try BuddyPress</a>.</blockquote>
<h2>3. Elgg</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elgg.jpg" alt="elgg" /> 
Elgg is a powerful social networking platform capable of building all kinds of social environments. The robust CMS is easy to use, comes packed with a multitude of features, and offers added functionality through various Elgg plugins.
Developing a powerful, yet simple social networking platform is easy with this CMS. Elgg uses and operates on LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) making it perfect for developers who know exactly what they're doing, and know exactly what they want. Definitely one for the web development experts to ponder over.
A strong, loyal fan base helps prop us Elgg's open-source CMS. It's not strictly for building social networking websites, as Elgg has other, less community based uses. The World Bank website for example, runs entirely on Elgg. <a href="/elgg-social-networking-cms-review-and-commentary/" target="_blank">Check out our comprehensive review of Elgg</a>.
<blockquote><a href="http://elgg.org" target="_blank">Try Elgg</a>.</blockquote>
<h2>4. Dolphin</h2>
<a href="http://www.boonex.com" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/unnamed_4.png" /></a> 
When it comes to comprehensiveness, Dolphin can't be faulted. With features like user video chat, membership, discussion forums, file sharing, user specific RSS feeds, and more, Dolphin is capable of building social networks with incredible depth.
Dolphin implements Durpal-esque “modules” which allow you to fully customize the way your social networking website will look, feel and function. Standard modules can be used, as well as the thousands of extra third-party variables found on the BoonEx market.
A wide variety of templates, paired with the ability to create your own, makes Dolphin extremely customizable. Facebook integration, built-in mass mailers and site statistics make Dolphin a pretty difficult social networking CMS to beat. <a href="/boonex-dolphin-review/" target="_blank">Check out our in-depth review of Dolphin</a>.
<blockquote><a href="https://www.boonex.com/features" target="_blank">Try Dolphin</a>.</blockquote>
<h2>5. Oxwall</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/oxwall.jpg" alt="oxwall" />
As the winner of our <a href="/peoples-choice-winner-for-best-social-networking-solution-is/" target="_blank">2012 Peoples Choice Award for Best Social Networking Solution</a>, Oxwall is a pretty impressive and appealing social networking CMS, and one that is difficult to ignore. It offers a clean, professional feel to both admins via the CMS, and to users via crisply presented templates.
Oxwall is an incredibly flexible and easy to use PHP/MySQL social networking software platform, capable of building fertile online communities. Various plugins available to Oxwall users help personalise and add social functionality to your website. The open-source CMS is great for both small-scale social networking, as well as larger, more executive style websites.
Photo and video sharing, user blogging, advertisement management and file sharing between friends, are just some of the features that make Oxwall a CMS which is to be seriously considered amongst its rivals.
<blockquote><a href="http://www.oxwall.org/" target="_blank">Try Oxwall</a>.</blockquote>
<h2>6. phpFox</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/phpfox.jpg" alt="phpfox" />
Much like Facebook and LinkedIn, phpFox is able to create an online community based on social profiles and content sharing. With built-in features such as pages and groups, discussion boards, Polls, Instant messaging and so, on, you can create your own, comprehensive social network with ease. It's no surprise then, that phpFox was the <a href="/critics-choice-for-best-social-network-software-is/" target="_blank">CMSCritic choice for best Social Networking Software for 2013</a>.
PhpFox offers a variety of themes, along with a WYSIWYG editor to make life simple when it comes to building and designing your social network. Monetization through advertisements is a prominent feature, along with the extensive branding and marketing options.
Numerous phpFox extensions allow you to fully personalise and refine your social networking site, meaning that achieving a unique, aesthetically appealing interface is never too difficult. <a href="/phpfox-review/" target="_blank">Check out our review of phpFox</a>.
<blockquote><a href="https://www.phpfox.com/" target="_blank">Try PHPFox</a>.</blockquote>
<h2>7. SocialEngine</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/socialengine.jpg" alt="socialengine" />
SocialEngine is the first choice for many people when it comes to constructing a professional social networking website. It integrates directly with major social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Your members can sign up to your site with their social accounts, bringing their friends along with them. Additionally, content from your website can be shared by users via their social networks, increasing your site's public visibility.
You may even customize the way your users vote, like, comment and discuss content within your website. Such deeply customizable features are hard to find elsewhere.
Run on Amazon Cloud servers, SocialEngine is a powerful social network platform with a huge array of extensions, add-ons and features. Unlike other social platforms, SocialEngine gives you complete HTML &amp; CSS access with a convenient layout editor, so your website can look totally unique. <a href="/socialengine-review/" target="_blank">Check out our review of SocialEngine</a>.
<blockquote><a href="/social-engine" target="_blank">Try SocialEngine</a>.</blockquote>
<h2>8. Ning</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ning.jpg" alt="ning" />
Using Ning, you will be able to engage and communicate with your users on a whole new level. Thanks to a built-in email broadcast functionality for HTML newsletters, paired with beautifully presented content and interfaces, Ning is all about building communities in style.
Ning’s Social Sign-In feature makes it easy for new members to sign-up to your social network using their accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Google, LinkedIn, and others. Naturally, such integration can only do good for the publicity of your website.
Your users can easily set up profiles and blogs of their own, engaging with others via comments and discussion boards. All the while, core content published by you is also presented in a way which is compelling.
<blockquote><a href="http://www.ning.com/" target="_blank">Try Ning</a>.</blockquote>
So there you have it. The 8 social networking CMS listed above each offer their own unique features, plugins and community building extras. Some of them are tailored for seasoned web development experts, whilst others cater for the less code-savvy from amongst us.
Don't forget that when you go to set up your own social network, you'll need a reliable web hosting company. We recommend Arvixe. They are currently offering great discounts to our readers, so be sure to take advantage of the offer before it expires. <a href="/bluehost">Click here to get cheap, reliable hosting from Arvixe</a>.
Yet, all of them offer sound, proven social networking structures which are capable of real growth. If you're looking to build a social networking website, you need not look any further than this list of social networking CMS.

8 Great Social Networking CMS

Do you have an irresistible passion for photography? Do you want to show the whole world your incredible pictures and promote yourself as a professional? If so, you definitely need your personal website to achieve this goal!
Today we will talk about a website you can create even if you know nothing about coding or web development. Or more specifically, about the website template that is believed to save you lots of time and money. This website template is called <a href="http://www.motocms.com/website-templates/motocms-3-template/59595.html" target="_blank">Defrozo</a> from <a href="https://www.motocms.com/website-templates/" target="_blank">MotoCMS</a>. Its developers claim that Defrozo is a unique all-in-one solution for a photographer of any kind. Out task will be to analyze what benefits, if any, this photography portfolio theme has in store for us. 
DEFROZO is Easy to Use
This template contains Drag and Drop Block Editor with the help of which you may compile your online portfolio yourself. No special skills whatsoever. You do not need any coding experience. Neither the assistance of well-paid web designers or programmers is required. This Creator gives you an opportunity to design your portfolio just playing with the ready-to-use blocks. What I like most about Defrozo is that there are content blocks for every single layout element you can think of. Just move these blocks around till you find the layout you need.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/1.jpg" />
One more irresistible feature of this wonderful photography portfolio theme is 100% responsive design. It does not matter what device your online visitors use. They may have access to your portfolio from any device and it does not influence the quality of your storytelling. The layout and design remain as attractive as they really are.
There is one more characteristic that makes your work of compiling the portfolio much more enjoyable. You can create an original photography website design with 4 made-up templates for every single page. They can help you make your portfolio more vivid and enlarge your clientele.
Being secured is not less important feature for any person. This is especially true for the professionals, like photographers, who promote their services by offering different content to their customers. That is why Defrozo can be proud of its Under Construction Mode (it allows to notify your visitors that you are editing your website) and its activation of Password Protected Pages (it is responsible for keeping your artworks safe using the system of password control). You can enable both options in the very approachable Settings – General tab. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2.jpg" />
DEFROZO is Fun to Design
Let's start with Color Picker in the Design tab. This is the tool that can help you choose the appropriate color palette for your portfolio design. It literally takes seconds to pick five dominant colors and see how they fit to your portfolio concept. Color Picker gets even more important if you want to redesign your portfolio. You change one color in the color palette and the whole portfolio looks fresh and inviting again. So, there is no need to click through pages and change every single one of them.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/3.jpg" />
What Defrozo also offers is three fabulous galleries for your photos. All of them you can find in Design – Widgets tab (which, by the way, contains quite a number of useful tools to make your website even more attractive). Exquisite Slider, Grid and Carousel are all at your disposal to showcase your talent and professionalism. Choose the one that you like and your visitors are sure to appreciate it.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/4.jpg" />
Besides all the mentioned characteristics, there are some more features that are worth presenting. You will definitely appreciate Google Fonts which belongs to the most fascinating developments in web typography so far. Providing you with the rich collection of text styles, this plug-in enables you to add high quality fonts to your website, to make it more appealing.
DEFROZO is Multifunctional
To begin with, Defrozo contains integrated Aviary Photo Editor. You may crop, frame, and add different effects to make your photos more amazing – and you do not need to pay monthly fees for upgrades. What is more, there is no need to install this editor on your computer. Aviary Photo Editor is always at hand, right there in your online portfolio.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/5.jpg" />
It is also important that Defrozo offers you an excellent opportunity to start your personal professional blog. Your online guests would be glad not just to admire the amazing photos from your portfolio but also to read your informative articles on photography. You can use this blog as a means of promotion, publishing different content for your audience. And again you can do everything yourself, without anyone's help just using the tools that are offered to you.
With Defrozo, you may add interactivity to your portfolio thanks to the smart use of different widgets. For example, it is as easy as it can be to manage media files using Video Widget and Audio Player.
Defrozo can also function as your personalized SEO tool. Do you want to make your photography portfolio noticeable for search engines? Defrozo photography portfolio theme is characterized by SEO integration. Do not miss the chance to use this feature! Add keywords that describe basic information on a web page, the meta description for your website pages, ALT tags and titles for images. You can be sure that search engines will spot your portfolio on the web in no time.
Moreover, it is possible to let your visitors write comments if you are interested in their feedback. And do not forget that they may help you become more well-known just by sharing the articles via different social media. What is more, you can use such option as subscription form to get new subscribers and build your own online audience.
DEFROZO is Attractive Both for Web Developers and Beginners
Defrozo has an appealing offer for cooperation for web developers. Called White Label, it is all about providing developers with an opportunity to create best portfolio websites for photographers with Defrozo under their own brand. 
The last but in any case not the least significant feature of Defrozo is its 24/7 Tech Support that is provided by an experienced team of professionals. The newcomers to the web world will definitely appreciate this feature. If you have any problems you need to tackle, you are never left alone with your issues. You can send a message via contact form and your manager will help you fix everything you need.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/6.jpg" />
So Defrozo has proved to be a reliable and user-friendly website template from MotoCMS. No doubts, it can help the whole world know that you are the master of the photography craft. If you became interested with Defrozo, use an exclusive promo code cmscritic30 to get <a href="https://www.motocms.com/website-templates/motocms-3-template/59595.html" target="_blank">Defrozo online portfolio by MotoCMS with 30% OFF</a>.

Defrozo Photography Website Solution from MotoCMS

Despite being just a little over half-way through, 2014 has already been an eventful year for CMS Critic.
Mike and I have had the pleasure of visiting Paris, Amsterdam and Basel in recent months, courtesy of <a href="http://www.jahia.com/home" target="_blank"> Jahia</a>, <a href="http://www.onehippo.org/" target="_blank"> Hippo</a> and <a href="http://www.magnolia-cms.com/" target="_blank"> Magnolia</a> respectively. Each were friendly, hospitable hosts.
Not only did we get to meet some awesome attendees and executives on our travels, but we also got to cover three exciting conferences. As always, we kept everybody updated through the blog, along with <a href="https://twitter.com/cmscritic" target="_blank">live-tweeting</a> and even <a href="https://vine.co/u/1093595208270131200" target="_blank">live-vining</a>.
Here's a recap of everything that went down.
<h2>Jahia One – Paris, France</h2>
In February 2014, Mike, his wife <a href="http://www.thekitchenmagpie.com/" target="_blank">Karlynn</a> and myself all made our way to Paris for Jahia's first ever international conference – <a href="http://www.jahiaone.com/home" target="_blank"> Jahia One</a>.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/louvre700x0.png" alt="Paris" /> 
Paris is steeped in history, so we has a great time touring the Louvre Museum as well as climbing the Eiffel Tower. Our main attraction though, was Jahia's two-day event.
Perhaps the most exciting part of the conference was hearing about what Jahia has planned for <a href="/jahia-announce-the-release-of-jahia-7/" target="_blank">Jahia 7</a>, along with their announcement of <a href="/jahia-reveal-portal-factory-release-date/" target="_blank">Portal Factory</a>. Mike also got a chance to discuss the latest happenings with <a href="/interview-with-emmanuel-garcin-of-jahia/" target="_blank">Jahia's Emmanuel Garcin</a>.
We live-tweeted the Jahia One conference using the <a href="https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&amp;q=%23JahiaOne&amp;src=typd" target="_blank">#JahiaOne</a> hashtag, and you can also find our full blog coverage of the two-day event below:
<ul>
<li><a href="/jahiaone-paris-jahia-shines-in-the-city-of-light/" target="_blank">JahiaOne Paris – Jahia Shines in the City of Light </a></li>
<li><a href="/jahia-one-day-one-jahia-7-glowing-feedback-and-more/" target="_blank">Jahia One, Day One: Jahia 7, Glowing Feedback, and More </a></li>
<li><a href="/jahia-one-day-two-jahia-7-release-date-demos-surprises/" target="_blank">Jahia One, Day Two: Jahia 7 Release Date, Demos &amp; Surprises </a></li>
<li><a href="/jahiaone-day-two-the-opening-keynote/" target="_blank">JahiaOne Day Two – The Opening Keynote </a></li>
<li><a href="/jahia-one-observations-of-an-attendee/" target="_blank">Jahia One: Observations of an Attendee </a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Hippo Get Together – Amsterdam, Netherlands</h2>
In May 2014, Mike and I made our way to a beautiful, sunny Amsterdam for <a href="http://www.onehippo.com/en/about/events/hippo-gettogether-2014.html" target="_blank">The Hippo Get Together 2014</a>.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/img_6470700x0.jpg" alt="Amsterdam" /> 
Amsterdam took us by surprise. The city was clean as a whistle, the people were friendly, and getting around seemed so easy thanks to the compact nature of the canal-filled city.
Hippo's annual Get Together was a one-day event, with news regarding <a href="http://www.onehippo.org/library/essentials/hippo-developer-essentials.html" target="_blank">Hippo Essentials</a> taking centre stage.
We also got to meet with some of Hippo's executives, who filled us in on the impressive work Hippo had been doing with the Netherlands' police force. Their story of open-source-based community service was inspiring. I covered it as a <a href="/how-open-source-software-transformed-a-nations-police-force/" target="_blank">victory for open-source software</a>.
Along with my article on Hippo's contribution to the Netherlands' police force, we live-tweeted the event using the <a href="https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&amp;q=%23hgt14&amp;src=typd" target="_blank">#HGT14</a> hashtag, and covered the day through the blog post below:
<ul>
<li><a href="/looking-back-on-the-hippo-get-together-2014/" target="_blank">Looking Back on The Hippo Get Together 2014 </a></li>
<li><a href="/how-open-source-software-transformed-a-nations-police-force/" target="_blank">How Open Source Software Transformed a Nation's Police Force </a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Magnolia Conference – Basel, Switzerland</h2>
For our third trip, Mike and I made our way to Basel, Switzerland, for <a href="http://www.magnolia-cms.com/conference.html" target="_blank">Magnolia's fifth annual conference</a>.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/img_6917700x0.jpg" alt="Basel" />
Surprised by the hot and humid Basel weather, we enjoyed our stay along the Rhine River, taking in some scenic views.
We were invited to Magnolia's headquarters prior to the two-day event, where we caught up with <a href="/interview-with-boris-kraft-cto-of-magnolia/" target="_blank">Boris Kraft</a> and discussed the days ahead. <a href="/magnolia-conference-2014-reflections-of-an-attendee/" target="_blank">Magnolia 5.3</a> had just been released, so there was plenty to talk about. The event itself was bubbly and inclusive – especially due to the unconference activities.
On top of live-tweeting (and <a href="https://vine.co/u/1093595208270131200" target="_blank">live-vining</a>) from the event via the <a href="https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&amp;q=%23mconf14&amp;src=typd" target="_blank">#MConf14</a> hashtag, we also covered the conference in detail below:
<ul>
<li><a href="/magnolia-conference-2014-reflections-of-an-attendee/" target="_blank">Magnolia 5.3 Blends CXM with CMS to Deliver Best of Breed Software </a></li>
<li><a href="/day-one-of-magnolia-conference-2014-personalization-apps-a-roundtable/" target="_blank">Day One of Magnolia Conference 2014: Personalization, Apps &amp; A Roundtable </a></li>
<li><a href="/day-two-of-magnolia-conference-2014-the-unconference/" target="_blank">Day Two of Magnolia Conference 2014: The Unconference </a></li>
</ul>
So, our 2014 has been pretty eventful so far, and there's no denying that Mike and I have enjoyed every minute of it. Naturally, we're grateful for the hospitality of Jahia, Hippo and Magnolia, and we hope to see their friendly faces at each of their next buzzing conferences.
However, CMS Critic isn't quite done with 2014.
There's room for a few more hefty chapters, and with the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/cms-critic-awards/" target="_blank">2014 CMS Awards opening its doors to nominations</a>, there's plenty to look forward to.

CMS Critic on Tour: Paris, Amsterdam & Basel

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.phpfox.com/">PHPFox</a>, the popular social network builder, has released some information regarding its next release, PHPFox 4.2.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/phpfox-emblem.png" /> The details came from PHPFox's charming “Phil Fox”, a nosy so-and-so who got a sneak peek at the latest PHPFox project. <a target="_blank" href="http://blog.phpfox.com/2016/01/02/fox-insider-news-neutron-4-2-update/">He reported back on the details via the PHPFox blog</a>. Very sly indeed.<h2>What Did the Fox Find?</h2>First up, we now know that PHPFox 4.2 will be dropping on January 18th, 2016. Roughly.As for new features, Instatnt Messaging Chat seems to be near completion, whereas video support has been broadly improved.Also, the PHPFox App system seems to have been upgraded, making it easier for third party developers to make Apps and even Modules. Hopefully, that will translate into expanded functionality for the platform in months to come.It's worth noting that this isn't the first time in recent months that PHPFox is aiding developers. Back in November 2015, <a href="/phpfox-appoints-sales-community-manager-scraps-developer-fee/">PHPFox scrapped developer fees totally</a>, to encourage, well, development.Phil Fox also seemed happy about the new PHPFox default theme that is ready to ship with version 4.2. It's a shame there aren't any pictures to go with this update, but I'm hoping more will be revealed before the big release some time later this month.To find out more about this impending release, <a target="_blank" href="http://blog.phpfox.com/2016/01/02/fox-insider-news-neutron-4-2-update/">check out the PHPFox blog</a>.

PHPFox 4.2 on the Horizon

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<a href="https://www.blackmonk.com/" target="_blank">BlackMonk</a>, the CMS for online newspapers, magazine sites, business directories and community portals, has unveiled their “biggest release yet.”
<a href="https://www.blackmonk.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bm-1.png" /></a> 
A range of modules and features have been improved, including publishing processes, galleries, stock images, and more. Let's take a closer look.
<h2>Editor's Pick &amp; Improved Galleries</h2>
Authors now get their own profile pages with links to their posts, making it easier for readers to access more of their written content.
On top of article favoriting and author subscribing, an “Editor’s Pick” page has also been introduced, enabling readers to browse through a select few featured posts.

New visual tags like “Breaking news” and “Top ten stories” have also been unveiled, so editors can grab more attention.
Furthermore, videos, audio clips, Tweets, Instagram photos and Vine videos can now be embedded anywhere.

Readers can interact with embedded media right from your web portal, too. For instance, readers can like, favorite and retweet Tweets without leaving your website.
<h2>Galleries &amp; Stock Images:</h2>
Getty Images and Shutterstock now come integrated with BlackMonk, letting you browse through thousands of stock images for your articles and galleries.

You only need to configure your Shutterstock, Getty Images and Flickr API keys in the BlackMonk settings, and you are good to use millions of professionally snapped images on your web portal, without having to leave the BlackMonk dashboard.
<h2>Social Q&amp;A &amp; Design</h2>
BlackMonk's Q&amp;A feature is now more social.
BlackMonk has enabled sharing of Q&amp;A’s on social media, which will amplify the reach of the questions. In addition, admins can prune out the questions and answers just don’t cut the mustard.
Also, BlackMonk users can now configure custom themes, by swapping out fonts and colors.

<h2>Time to Talk Price?</h2>
This is indeed a massive update from BlackMonk CMS. It's great to see the platform progressing like this.
<a href="/blackmonk-cms-review/" target="_blank">I personally reviewed BlackMonk CMS</a>, and I know it's a capable platform. However, I always like to make a point about pricing when I can, especially when a CMS is <a href="/blackmonk-small-business-edition-released/" target="_blank">aiming to dabble with startups and small businesses</a>.
<a href="https://www.blackmonk.com/saas/plans/" target="_blank">BlackMonk's lowest plan</a> comes in at $80 per month. I can't help but feel the disgruntlement of those startups and small businesses that have to look elsewhere after deciding that $80 is simply too expensive for their project.
Perhaps a cheaper and further stripped-down plan can be offered, to give such potential users an access route into the platform. With features now flourishing, now might be a good time to explore such a move.
To find out more about this new BlackMonk release, <a href="https://www.blackmonk.com/blog/2015/12/announcing-blackmonk-version-40-_-theres-something-in-it-for-everyone" target="_blank">check out their blog announcement</a>.

BlackMonk 4.0 Released

Melody is an open source content management and publishing system derived from the popular blogging tool Movable Type.  Recently they announced their first release candidate has been made available.
From the announcement:
<blockquote>
We are excited to announce that Melody 1.0's first release candidate it ready for download and use by the general community and outside world. A number of us have been using Melody for quite sometime with nary a hiccup, and this latest build is without a doubt the most stable build of Melody, and arguably Movable Type 4 to date. It has lots of bug fixes and even some minor features here and there, all of which are well documented in <a href="https://github.com/openmelody/melody/wiki/release-v1.0.0_rc1">our release notes</a>.
</blockquote>
Screenshot:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bash6-450x300_dly6md.jpg" alt="melody cms -1" />For more info or to download the release candidate, visit <a href="http://openmelody.org/">Melody CMS</a>.

First Melody CMS release candidate available

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.phpfox.com/">Moxi9</a> – which <a href="/phpfox-rebrands-to-moxi9-reveals-pricing-changes/">recently re-branded from PHPFox</a> – has announced enterprise services for clients with large scale projects.This enterprise solution is now being offered alongside the classic PHPFox solution, which received a <a target="_blank" href="http://moxi9.com/phpfox/pricing">sizeable price cut</a> along with the re-branding.Moxi9 have revealed that their goal with this new enterprise service is to facilitate a close relationship between them and their enterprise clients, bringing their ideas to life in the process.The enterprise solution is aimed at those looking for custom modules, unique themes, migrating servers or to even manage an array of load balanced servers to keep sites running smoothly.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/moxi9700x0.png" /> Here's what the Moxi9 Enterprise solution can bring enterprise clients:<ul><li>Brand integration</li><li>Dedicated 24/7 support</li><li>Data migration</li><li>Custom development</li><li>Load balancing</li><li>Product upgrades</li><li>Creative design</li><li>Product installation</li></ul>For the full details, on Moxi9's new enterprise solution, check out their <a target="_blank" href="http://moxi9.com/announcement/introducing-enterprise-services">announcement</a>, and their new <a target="_blank" href="http://moxi9.com/enterprise">enterprise page</a>.To build your very own social network, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.phpfox.com/">sign up with PHPFox today</a>.

Moxi9 Introduces Enterprise Services

<a href="https://www.agilitycms.com/" target="_blank">Agility CMS</a> has rolled out an update along with several bug fixes to polish off 2015.
The cloud-based, enterprise-grade platform was the focus of a <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/search/?q=agility+cms&amp;sort=-date" target="_blank">featured week here on CMS Critic earlier this year</a>. I personally got to explore the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/fun-fitness-community-outreach-why-working-at-agility-cms-looks-truly-awesome/" target="_blank">community feeling within the Agility camp</a>, as well as the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/why-agility-cms-doesnt-partake-in-feature-bloating/" target="_blank">platform's aversion to “feature bloating”</a>.
Here's a look at what's new.
<h2>Media, Documents, Reports &amp; More</h2>
Notably, Agility's “Choose Files” fly-out has been updated with a “New Folder” button.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/media-and-docs-flyout-new-folder.jpg" />
This fly-out appears when a user chooses to upload and insert a new image within a Rich Text Editor, for example, or chooses to upload/insert an image within any module.
According to Agility, this update gives users the option to create a Media folder for easy organization without having to navigate to the Media &amp; Documents Section. Much simpler.
Also, Reports within the Legacy content manager are now available in Beta. These reports include; Recent Changes, Ready to Publish, Domain Status and Configuration Status.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/new-reports1.png" />
The Save Validation pop-up has been updated too. It now includes an itemized list of all fields that have been edited but not saved. So, when a user navigates away from a page, module and other Agility CMS elements, they will be made aware of exactly where their unsaved changes are.
Furthermore, Agility CMS has unveiled a fair few bug fixes that come bundled with this update. Those bug fixes revolve around URL validation, page re-ordering, multi-language copying, and more.
To find out more about Agility CMS, <a href="https://www.agilitycms.com/" target="_blank">visit their website</a>, or check them out through our <a href="/products/agility-cms/" target="_blank">CMS Directory</a>.

Agility CMS Caps Off 2015 With an Update

Nibbleblog is a blog platform that uses XML databases as opposed to MySQL and others. It is small, weighing in at less than half a megabyte and easy to install with a simple 1 step installer. Today, I bring you my Nibbleblog Review.
Some of the main features of this blog engine include:
<ul>
<li>Video posting (for video blogs)</li>
<li>Multilanguage support</li>
<li>XML database, no MySQL or similar DBMS needed</li>
<li>Plug-in support</li>
<li>Template and themes support</li>
<li>WYSIWYG Editor ( elRTE http://elrte.org )</li>
<li>Simple file manager ( elFinder http://elrte.org/elfinder )</li>
<li>SEO Optimized</li>
<li>Open Source. Free under the GPL license</li>
</ul>
Not bad for less than a meg is it? Is it worth checking out? Read on to find out more.
The default look of the blog once installed is pretty good. You get a decent looking template with a single right sidebar ready to be customized for your needs. Heck, for the most part, you could probably get away with just using the template as is if you just wanted a quick and easy blog that's ready to go.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2011-02-26-at-11_18_37-am-580x372.png" alt="Nibbleblog Review" />
There aren't many options for available templates / themes available ( 3 total ) but for those who are willing to put a little bit of work into customizing (or just using one of the 3) this is not a major detractor.
The dashboard is very well put together and is snappy and responsive:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2011-02-26-at-11_18_56-am-580x313.png" alt="Nibbleblog Review" /> It's clean and easy to navigate with all of the options on one page.  Working from the top down, you get your content editing functions first.
Adding a post is easy to do with a resizable Wysiwyg editor:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2011-02-26-at-11_19_52-am-580x376.png" alt="Nibbleblog Review" />
All of the typical options are available and work as expected. Overall, it was a pleasant experience to use this editor.
What I especially liked is the next option available.. Video blogging.
Adding a video post is very, very easy. Simply add the URL and the system goes out and grabs the description automatically.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2011-02-26-at-11_21_04-am-580x394.png" alt="Nibbleblog Review" />
You can of course modify these should you wish to do so. You can also add tags.
Here is what a published video post looks like with no modifications, just plug in the URL and publish:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2011-02-26-at-11_21_40-am-580x525.png" alt="Nibbleblog Review" />You also have the ability to modify your user profiles within the system as well, including adding your social network links:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2011-02-26-at-11_22_39-am-580x454.png" alt="Nibbleblog Review" />
Last but not least, the settings page allows for a good set of configuration options. In the top section, you will find the basic blog configuration.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2011-02-26-at-11_22_56-am-580x344.png" alt="Nibbleblog Review" />
The next are your more technical settings:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2011-02-26-at-11_23_05-am-580x306.png" alt="Nibbleblog Review" />
Next come permalink settings (including suggested htaccess rules, which is a handy option), comment options and theme selection.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2011-02-26-at-11_23_15-am-580x359.png" alt="Nibbleblog Review" />
Plugin management is well done with an easy drag and drop interface:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2011-02-26-at-11_23_37-am-580x439.png" alt="Nibbleblog Review" />
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
After testing our their demo, I was impressed with the amount of functionality that is present in this tiny software package. Not only does it feel snappy and user friendly but it just works as one would expect.
I think this product is a great option for those looking for a quick and easy to setup blog. It would be nice to see more themes and plug ins but this only comes with the community expanding more.
If you are a developer, a curious user or just someone who wants a quick and easy to set up free blog alternative to traditional platforms, check out <a href="http://nibbleblog.com/">Nibbleblog</a>. I think you just might like it.

Nibbleblog Review

The latest beta of the upcoming WordPress 5.0 release is now available for testing.
The upcoming 5.0 release brings with it the terrible Gutenberg editor that Automattic feels they need to try to cram down the throats of WordPress users everywhere.
<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/gutenberg-3_nn5asp.png" /><figcaption>Fear the Gutenberg!</figcaption></figure>
This editor basically takes normal tasks that were / have been easy to perform and adds unnecessary extra steps in an attempt to make WordPress' editor look more like that of Squarespace (not that theirs is terrible but it's definitely not as easy as the existing WP one.
If you want to hear real world experiences with Gutenberg, just look at how many bad reviews are coming in daily over at the WordPress plugin database: <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/gutenberg/#reviews" target="_blank">https://wordpress.org/plugins/gutenberg/#reviews</a>
In a nutshell, it's full of bugs and really ticking off users:
<blockquote>If you type, you have to wait for ages just to see it appear on screen. 
If you delete, you have to wait at least 2 seconds for it to go away. 
If you highlight, you have to hold your mouse button down for like 5 seconds at the place you want to highlight to until the highlight actually appears so you can release.</blockquote>
The response from the Gutenberg team to this review was “it's a known bug” however this is just ONE of a huge number of complaints about the editor.
To perform a simple task such as using bold, what was once a single click process has been turned into a two to three click one, reducing productivity of users by a large margin for what should be a simple task.
To give you an idea, here's how the editor looks when editing a post:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/screenshot_20181128_092915_mgn8wq.png" />
In the above example, I wanted to show you the process to get to bold. It shows up like this with a bunch of expandable categories and a search. Want to bold your text? Well to make that intuitive, we've made it harder for you to find the bold button! Now you get to search for it in a menu instead of just clicking on it.
Sense my annoyance in this post? That's the intention. I don't understand how a company so focused on ease of use and intuitiveness can stray so far from them.
<h2>Can you keep the classic editor?</h2>
Yes, you can. Thankfully the WP team is smart enough to include it as an installable plugin so that you don't have to be forced to use Gutenberg and for those who are currently on WordPress, I'd recommend installing and activating it now to prevent Gutenberg from taking over when WordPress 5.0 comes along.
For those who want to try this beast out, you can actually install the Gutenberg editor on your blog now (as a plugin) but I'm not sure why you'd want to do that. The best bet, test it in a dev environment  first and make your decision. Fortunately, you can still use the classic editor even when this 5.0 release hits so you won't be stranded in a desert full of frustration.
Wanna learn more? Go here: https://wordpress.org/news/2018/11/wordpress-5-0-release-candidate/
For those who are tired of this and want to just be able to write a blog post without the mess, try one of these great WordPress alternatives instead:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://write.as/">https://write.as/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://withknown.com/">https://withknown.com/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://ghost.org/">https://ghost.org/</a></li>
<li></li>
</ul>
Good luck out there!
~Mike

The first release candidate for WordPress 5.0 is now available (and sadly it brings Gutenberg with it).

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