Articles - Page 70

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

matt-garrepy

If you use WordPress, you may be interested in testing out the first beta of next months upcoming WordPress 4.0 release.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wordpress-logo-stacked-rgb.png" />
Beta 1 has been released today and the list of changes is rather impressive. Here's a breakdown of what you can expect from the upcoming release:
<ul>
<li>Previews of embedding via URLs in the visual editor and the “Insert from URL” tab in the media modal. Try pasting a URL (such as a WordPress.tv or YouTube video) onto its own line in the visual editor.</li>
<li>The Media Library now has a “grid” view in addition to the existing list view. Clicking on an item takes you into a modal where you can see a larger preview and edit information about that attachment, and you can navigate between items right from the modal without closing it.</li>
<li>We’re freshening up the plugin install experience. You’ll see some early visual changes as well as more information when searching for plugins and viewing details. (#28785, #27440)</li>
<li>Selecting a language when you run the installation process.</li>
<li>The editor intelligently resizes and its top and bottom bars pin when needed. Browsers don’t like to agree on where to put things like cursors, so if you find a bug here, please also let us know your browser and operating system.</li>
<li>We’ve made some improvements to how your keyboard and cursor interact with TinyMCE views such as the gallery preview. Much like the editor resizing and scrolling improvements, knowing about your setup is particularly important for bug reports here.</li>
<li>Widgets in the Customizer are now loaded in a separate panel.</li>
<li>We’ve also made some changes to some formatting functions, so if you see quotes curling in the wrong direction, please file a bug report.</li>
</ul>
To get more information on this release, read <a href="http://wordpress.org/news/2014/07/wordpress-4-0-beta-1/">this post</a> on WordPress.org

Check out the upcoming WordPress 4.0

mike-johnston

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

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

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

<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

On July 21, the long awaited release of MODx Revolution was let loose on the public. For those who are unaware, Revolution is a ground up rebuild of the CMS based on the paradigms and principles of MODx but eliminating most of Evolution's limitations. Here is our MODx Review.
We were eager to test out this new system so we grabbed a copy and began the installation:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/modx-screen1-580x345_wptvki.png" alt="MODx Review" />
The process of installing MODx is quite quick and easy, with most of the work performed by the system and minimal interaction required by the user.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/modx-screen2-580x514_hbg06o.png" alt="MODx Review" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/modx-screen3-580x491_jzegxk.png" alt="MODx Review" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/modx-screen4-580x597_kebrpu.png" alt="MODx Review" />
Once installation has been completed, you get to log in to the manager (the back-end of the CMS):
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/modx-screen5_chkapq.png" alt="MODx Review" />
After logging in, you'll be greeted with a slick welcome screen that provides you with some suggestions on next steps to take.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/modx-screen6-580x349_tsc25t.png" alt="MODx Review" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/modx-screen-7-580x503_mfqs0g.png" alt="MODx Review" />
As you can see from the above screenshot, the manager now sports a slick and responsive new GUI with nice descriptive drop down menus and and excellent use of screen real estate. Just from our first few times messing around with the system and exploring, we found it to be extremely responsive and snappy. We have been told that there may be issues with Firebug and Firefox causing the manager back end to slow down but from our tests, we didn't experience any of these issues.
Right click menus are abound in this release and can be used almost everywhere within the manager back end:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/modx-screen11_oed2mf-1.png" alt="MODx Review" />
Before we start exploring some of the new features of the system, here's a quick breakdown of the key ones (pulled from the MODx release announcement):
<ul>
<li>MODx Revolution 2.0 can be used on much larger and expansive sites as it boasts  better site performance from an all new caching system with fine grained options to cache any Element (or not if you need it that way). In addition you can override the default caching and use large-scale caching methods like Memcached.</li>
<li>Extend or override any part of the MODx core including System Settings, Users, Language, Sessions and much more. This enables you to safely extend core features and integrate with other applications and maintain a clean upgrade path.</li>
<li>Developers can create redistributable add-ons, or an entire MODx Distributions using Transport Packages.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Assign different views of your site based on almost any criteria using Contexts.  Contexts provides a simple way to have native multi-sites, subdomains or even securely running the MODx core outside of webroot.</li>
<li>Developers now have access to better error tracking and debugging capabilities through Core Logging. It provides various error levels and output targets including ECHO, HTML, and FILE. You can also use it in add-ons for audit logs, error logs, debugging, or other logging needs.</li>
<li>Unified, simpler MODx Tags now support multi-line tag calls for better readability in development, calling of cached tags within other cached tags, and allows native and custom modifiers to be attached to any Element (Snippet, Chunk, TV, Etc.) similar to PHx did in Evolution but far more efficiently.</li>
<li>The Manager is MODx. The new Manager for MODx is built using the MODx API, ExtJS from Sencha, and Smarty templates, as a demonstration of the new core and API.</li>
<li>Web users and Manager users are now Users that can be grouped and assigned fine grained access and permissions. The User system can be extended to provide external authentication and handle additional user record information via the API. Completely new user system – all permissions are now handled via a robust, Attribute Based Access Control (ABAC) security model.</li>
<li>Property Sets allow you to change all your the properties for Snippet calls in various locations across your entire site from a single location in the manager. Create a Property Set, assign it, and then manage all the calls in one  location.</li>
<li>Properties are available to all Element types including Chunks, TVs, Templates and Plugins.</li>
<li>Manage and customize your MODx Lexicons — the language records for things like labels, event notices and more for local, industrial or regional terminology, all from within the Lexicon Manager.</li>
<li>Install Add-ons and custom Transport Packages from MODx using the Package Manager. Open the Package Manager and search for available addons or your own private addon repository.</li>
<li>Manage files on the filesystem (even outside of webroot) within the Manager using Static Resources.</li>
<li>Create exact clones of other resources in your site tree in as many places as you'd like with Symlink Resources.</li>
</ul>
Pretty expansive list isn't it?  Let's take a look through the system at some of these new features.. starting with the caching system. Caching capabilities are controlled by a number of settings found under System -&gt; System Settings in the manager.
The Area: Caching settings can be found on the first page near the bottom and look like this:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/modx-caching-1-580x457_t5qmw2.png" alt="MODx Review" />
Clicking on the plus signs beside any of the settings will present a description of that settings functionality. As you can see, there are plenty of options that you can play with to improve performance of your CMS.
Clearing the cache is as simple as selecting Site-&gt; Clear Cache from the manager menu.
The next area we're going to show you is the Contexts. Contexts allow MODx configuration settings to be overridden, extended, isolated, or shared across domains, sub-domains, sub-sites, multi-sites, cultural-specific sections, specific web applications, etc.
To access the contexts, navigate to System-&gt; Contexts in the manager.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/modx-contexts-1-580x200_jtbigh.png" alt="MODx Review" />
To modify a context, simply right-click on the one you wish to modify and select Update Context.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/modx-contexts-2-580x194_wefd70.png" alt="MODx Review" />
This will present you with the context editing screen where you can modify the settings:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/modx-contexts-3-580x289_b3iwfs.png" alt="MODx Review" />
What I particularly found handy was the Help button in the top right that provides information and assistance for the various areas should you need it:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/modx-contexts-4-580x338_lcdxjc.png" alt="MODx Review" />
For a system with such power and expandability, it's good to see the developers didn't lose sight of the help functions and provides some great built in assistance. This is a great addition.
The last addition we are going to show you is the new package management that was built into the CMS.
You can access the package management component from the System-&gt;Package Management dropdown:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/modx-screen8-580x277_fbi7py.png" alt="MODx Review" />
Navigating the package browser is very easy and consists of simple dropdowns. Say for instance you wish to install a sample site, you can do so with a couple of clicks and be ready to go. Simply use the dropdowns to find the appropriate package, click the Details button for more info and click Download to add the package to your installation:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/modx-screen9-580x326_t3pcfp-1.png" alt="MODx Review" />
Once the package is downloaded, you are given the option to install.. which is as simple as clicking the button:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/modx-screen10-580x231_nrxlyn-1.png" alt="MODx Review" />
And that's all there is to it.
There are obviously many more additions we can fit into this review as this new release comes chock full of goodies as you can see from the bullet list above.. but from what we've managed to ascertain so far, this is one incredible release.
The MODx team should pat themselves on the back for creating what we think is one of the most functional and slick looking content management systems on the market today.
From their responsive back end to the myriad of right click context menus and help functions, they've outdone themselves with this release.
Everything feels fast, fun to use and powerful as you navigate through the system. It really is astonishing that a product of this caliber is free and for that, we have to say a big thanks to the MODx team for bolstering the open source community with yet another quality product. Great work guys!
We know we are just touching the brink of what comes with this new release, what are your most/least favorite new features and additions? Join in the discussion in our comments below!
Interested in getting your hands on this excellent release? You can do so at <a href="http://modxcms.com" target="_blank">http://modxcms.com</a>

MODx Review: Revolution 2.0

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

Weglot - The easiest way to translate a website

The easiest way to translate a website

#18164c

It is with great pleasure that I announce the winner of the 2015 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Enterprise CMS. We had some strong contenders this year with Cascade Server, Sitefinity and CrownPeak in the running and the voting was very, very close. In the end, it came to a very close battle between Sitefinity and Cascade Server but only one winner came out ahead.
The winner for this year, according to your votes is..
<a href="https://www.hannonhill.com/index.html" target="_blank">Cascade Server</a> by Hannon Hill!
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2015-best-enterprise-cms446x503-cropx83y146-is.gif" />
With Cascade Server, you can go beyond just managing your content to amplify your content with SEO scoring, stale content reporting, social media analytics, easy form builders, RSS feeds and other tools to help you improve the quality and reach of your web content. Cascade Server is a Java-based “push” CMS that can either be installed locally or hosted in the cloud by Hannon Hill. End user features include in-context editing, drag and drop file upload and move, WYSIWYG editing, HTML editing, auto-saving of drafts, and spelling and link-checking. Cascade Server offers straightforward pricing with unlimited users, unlimited sites, unlimited pages, and publishing to an unlimited number of web servers.
<a href="https://www.hannonhill.com" target="_blank">Learn more about Cascade Server.</a>
This year was an amazing year for the People's Choice CMS Awards. With thousands of votes cast, we were absolutely blown away by the amount of participation this year and we're pleased to say it grows leaps and bounds year over year. Thanks to all who voted and congratulations to our first winner!

Announcing the 2015 Winner for Best Enterprise CMS

<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/writingtools.png" alt="improve your writing" />
You've heard it ad nauseum — content is king. Yes, it's still king. Every Internet factotum must also be a connoisseur of content. If you're not exactly feeling all Stephen King about your writing prowess, there's still hope. It comes in the form of seven outstanding web tools that can kick your writing up to the next notch. You may not be publishing a bestselling novel anytime soon, but, hey, Internet content trumps action thrillers any day.
<h2><a href="http://www.keybr.com/"> 1. Improve your typing speed with keybr.com </a></h2>
Hunt-and-peck techniques will slow your writing way down. The only way to focus on improving your typing speed is to concentrate on it. Keybr.com is the tool that allows you to monitor speed and progress. You will probably notice an improvement in your typing speed in just a few weeks of using the tool.
<h2><a href="http://onelook.com/"> 2. OneLook gives you that perfect word. </a></h2>
There are times when you're looking for just the right word for a particular instance. Not just any word will do. OneLook can probably guess what you're looking for. Just type in a wildcard search, and you'll come up with a list of possibilities. They claim to have indexed 19,500,236 words. I didn't even know that many words existed.
<h2><a href="http://docs.google.com/%E2%80%8E"> 3.  Google Docs for easy, fast, and solid content storage. </a></h2>
Chances are, you already using this king-of-all-cloud-based word processors. If nothing else, Google Drive and its integrated products provide a great online storage and collaboration site. Good Docs is extremely handy as word processors go. One of the best features? It's always saving your work as you go. No more letting loose with cries of anguish when your software goes poof, taking your literary genius to a cyber grave. Google Docs has your back.
<h2><a href="http://wordcounter.net/"> 4.  Count every word with WordCounter.net </a></h2>
Don't scoff at the simple. Several times during the course of a work day, I hop over to WordCounter.net. Since I am often creating meta tags and meta descriptions for SEO clients, I need to keep track of those 160-character limits. Also, most online writers are confined to word limits for article length. WordCounter gives you an instant word count, character count, sentence count, paragraph count, sentence length average, and keyword density. Brilliantly simple.
<h2><a href="http://www.articleformatter.com/"> 5.  Strip away anger-inducing formatting using Article Formatter. </a></h2>
This close cousin of WordCounter is also very handy. If you receive content from a variety of sources and want to paste it into your website or CMS, you've probably faced the frustration of carry-over formatting junk. More often than not, you can't simply copy/paste a Word doc into a WordPress editor template without putting some messy in your code. Article Formatter is in the business of stripping away those pesky bits and presenting you with copy/paste ready text. CTRL-V with confidence.
<h2><a href="http://evernote.com/"> 6.  Evernote – a digital brain for remembering everything. </a></h2>
Evernote's remarkable capabilities as a note-taking device need to be sung louder. I use this app on my Mac, iPhone, and iPad all the time. When I'm away from my own devices, I can just log onto Evernote's web server and access all the files that I've stored there — pictures, audio, text, Word docs, Excel spreadsheets, tables, video clips, and web pages. Its power for writers is that it can instantly tuck away those aha-moment article ideas, turns of phrase, or web pages that apply to an article you're researching. I seriously don't know how I did it before Evernote.
<h2><a href="http://bywordapp.com/"> 7. Focus better and become more creative with Byword. </a></h2>
Byword is quick and beautiful. Several notable writers, all Mac-users I must say, use this writing tool as their favored mode of creating content. Maybe it's something about the sleek design and delightful UI that serves as a catalyst for inspiration. Who knows?
Just reviewing these tools gets the writing juices flowing. Maybe the real solution to writer's block is to use one of these tools. Give it a try, and you'll probably find that content flows faster, swifter, and better than ever before.

7 Online Tools to Improve Your Writing

daniel-threlfall

Design agencies are in high demand, as just about everyone needs to maximize their digital footprints these days. But not everyone possesses the technical skills or composition know-how to create a visually stunning, intuitive, and search-visible site. This is where agencies come into play.
Fortunately for agencies and their clients, there are several web design platforms that make the task straightforward, efficient, and even (gasp) a good time.
The right site builder must also give agencies the flexibility to build and scale over time as well. So that limits the playing field.
WordPress is often the first tool that comes to mind. However, this platform can be unnecessarily complex, buggy and expensive. 
What most agencies need is a feature-rich, easy-to-use, powerful yet intuitive platform to work with. Choose one with too few features, and you’ll soon hit growth limitations; too many, and you’ll get dragged down by undue chaos and confusion. So let’s stick to the middle of the road.
To help you separate wheat from chaff, we are going to analyze three of today’s best website creation platforms. Hopefully, this will help you identify the one best suited for your growing agency’s needs.
<h2>Duda</h2>
Like many site creation suites, <a href="https://www.duda.co/">Duda</a> is a platform for creating fully optimized multi-screen websites. <a href="/duda-website-builder">Duda</a> is well-suited for small and medium-sized businesses, as this is their primary audience.
<a href="/duda-website-builder">Duda</a> offers a myriad of beautifully-designed templates, a drag-and-drop interface, eCommerce options, and a plethora of elements for design agencies to work with for budding brands. And using Duda helps streamline site development. As the site puts it, “digital publishers on Duda average more than a 50% drop in website build times.”
This is a bold claim for agencies looking to optimize production and site turnaround times. And Duda has a lot to offer in this realm.
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/286281912?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Firstly, Duda’s white label options enable agencies to create a fully immersive, customized experience that screams of professionalism. This includes compelling options for custom login screens, custom color and logo implementation features, and other branding options. Duda also offers user migration and “content injection” options to help migrate existing sites over to its platform. It also features one-of-a-kind templates that can be automatically pre-populated with clients’ business information.
On the communications front, Duda’s white label features provide automatic email generation components that present clients with site stats, analytics, and onboarding instructions for their accounts. Additionally, the content collection form makes it easy to send clients data sheets that include instructions on how they can send exactly what is required to build a stunning website.
What helps makes Duda a premier option for agencies is its rich team collaboration and client management options. Through this builder, users can generate unique dashboards for clients, enabling varying roles and permission levels based on their technical prowess; this includes potential access to publishing and editing permissions, eCommerce enablement, developer access, and more.
<a name="_GoBack"></a> What is particularly outstanding is that Duda supplies agencies with a custom widget builder. This enables brands to not only integrate third-party services, but to build unique, native widgets for clients. This feature can help agencies provide massive customization value to client builds.
And of course, Duda has developer capabilities for HTML/CSS/JavaScript integration, automatic SSL certification (for white label dashboards), and gives a remarkable amount freedom of freedom for SEO optimization.
<h2>Squarespace</h2>
<a href="https://www.squarespace.com/">Squarespace</a> is one of the more popular website builders on the market today, and with good reason.
Like Duda, Squarespace features stunning, mobile-responsive templates that are eye-catching and polished. 
This platform gives users various styling options to help customize websites and give them a more branded look. Like the previous platform, Squarespace enables users to tailor their site’s appearance without having to dive into coding languages; this greatly simplifies the processes for designers. Though, if a client requires it, coding can be applied for a more customized destination.
When compared to Duda, however, Squarespace is less intuitive; this can slow things down and cause frustration. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/squarespace_zlovtc.png" />
Squarespace is lacking in scalability, and SEO is minimal too. Furthermore, integration features for Google Analytics and Search Console, Facebook retargeting, and other necessary marketing elements are hidden within the platform’s Advanced Settings and need to be added using the Code Injector tool. This isn’t exactly client or novice coder-friendly, but at least these features do exist.
When a brand expands their offerings, clients are likely to request the implementation a variety of third-party apps or extensions to enhance functionality. This is where the platform falls epically short of the mark as new features must be rolled out by Squarespace.
Another drawback for Squarespace is its responsiveness. While the site claims to tout fully responsive designs, the site’s contents can often shift when viewed on mobile devices. This means that users are likely to not have complete control over their sites’ appearance, which can certainly be problematic for agencies, as clients demand certain levels of uniformity and professionalism.
But Squarespace has a solid audience for many legitimate reasons. Functional, beautiful sites can be built in a small fraction of time, and updates, articles, images, videos and blogs are a synch to create and publish. 
The tool makes integration with other platforms like MailChimp, Gmail, Facebook, and oodles more marketing and social interfaces a snap – they know how to play well with others. It’s a very, very good option if ease and speed are your agency’s priorities.
<h2>Wix</h2>
<a href="https://www.wix.com/">Wix</a> is another popular option, but it has its own set of pros and cons too.
This platform boasts over 500 templates done by professional designers, making custom designs a breeze. These come pre-populated with content, meaning that designers merely need to replace the existing assets with their own materials. 
The platform’s drag-and-drop builder makes site assembly a snap. Wix also features a new AI-based system that will automatically create the first draft of a site for its users. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wix-1024x610.png" />
On the downside, Wix makes switching site designs a significant effort. If you opt for another design later down the road, you will need to re-insert your content all over again. It’s essential to feel certain about a template before diving in. This can be quite problematic for agencies seeking to optimize their efficiency as clients may want to apply a different template later in the process, ultimately creating a massive slow-down in production.
This also doesn’t lend to simplicity when a brand scales and needs to re-format a customer’s offerings. 
Wix is also not all that SEO friendly. This is the single most prevalent issue brought up by Wix users; there are many observations that SEO is not a strong suit, so it requires you have your own SEO expertise to ensure you are not forgotten by Google’s algorithms. Again, this can create significant problems for less technically-inclined clients. 
If you have your own SEO expertise, however, Wix can be a stellar option for newly-minted businesses and those who need a stunning site with intuitive versatility. 
The Verdict
You know what your agency really needs to get a sophisticated and impressive site up and running. Narrow your focus to these three excellent offerings and find the one that fulfills most of your business’s needs. 
Choose the one that will enable your company to turn professional websites around the fastest, and that will allow you to scale with minimal issues.

How to Choose the Best Website Building Platform for Your Agency

<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

Whether you’ve already been running your virtual store for some time, or are just getting started, your business efficiency is likely to be a constant top priority for you. There are many details in operational and sales management that can make it or break it. In this article, we cover some free and out of the box features of <a href="http://www.nopcommerce.com?utm_source=online-store-increased&amp;utm_medium=mainpage-link1&amp;utm_campaign=cmscritic">nopCommerce</a>, an open source ecommerce platform, that support both of the functional areas, and help increase your store efficiency with no investment required.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/nopcommerce-1.png" />
<h2>Inventory management functionality</h2>
Inventory management is one of the most important store efficiency factors. Too much stock locks your capital. Too little might cause missed opportunities for sales. Either way affects the customer experience.
nopCommerce inventory management tools helps in different ways: first, you can define whether or not to display stock availability and stock quantity on a product page, as well as to not show products at all if they are out of stock; this prevents customers from disappointment of buying items that are not available.
Second, you can set up notifications that will be sent to your customers when a product is back to stock; this ensures you don’t lose your potential shoppers.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/nopcommerce-2.png" />
Next, <a href="http://www.nopcommerce.com?utm_source=online-store-increased&amp;utm_medium=mainpage-link2&amp;utm_campaign=cmscritic">nopCommerce</a> allows merchants to track inventory in real time, which also prevents from oversells of sold out goods.
Some business owners prefer to use drop shipping, they don’t keep inventory on hand, instead, their suppliers hold and manage the inventory, pack and ship items. The nopCommerce platform supports such business model and provides opportunities for vendor management, including separate vendor admin panel where your partners can view and manage their orders, sales reports and more.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/nopcommerce3.png" />Besides the above mentioned features, the platform allows to track different product variants and stocks distributed across several locations.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/nopcommerce-4.png" /><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/nopcommerce-5.png" />
Inventory management helps to track and forecast sales, which means you avoid to keep too much or too little and can significantly enhance your store efficiency.
Various payment options
According to PAY.ON, the right mix of different payment methods can boost merchants’ sales by up to 40%, due to maximized conversions and reduced drop-outs. This is especially important for those who sell internationally, as payment options vary greatly country to country, and customers from all over the world have their own preferred payment systems.
nopCommerce supports several payment methods out of the box, such as, PayPal Standard and Direct, or Purchase Orders, as well as partners with the industry leading payment providers and supports leading payment gateways that can be found in nopCommerce <a href="http://www.nopcommerce.com/marketplace.aspx?utm_source=online-store-increased&amp;utm_medium=marketplace-link&amp;utm_campaign=cmscritic">marketplace</a>.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/nopcommerce-6.png" />
Note that for better customer experience, it is also recommended to display icons of the payment systems that you use on your page (for example, at the footer).
Shopping carts tracking and management
Current Shopping Carts list enables store owners to view all existing shopping carts of all customers and from all stores on one page. The list contains all products that were placed in carts, but not purchased. Information about these abandoned carts and their management can give additionally as much as 20% of a monthly revenue. There are can be different strategies to stimulate the customers that didn’t complete their purchases, such as gentle disincentivizing email reminders, or more pushy messages with time-limited special offers. nopCommerce platform allows to set up different message templates as well as discounts.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/nopcommerce-7.png" />
Marketing and sales tools
Online merchants have a broad toolkit at their disposal to increase shop efficiency by increasing sales and order values.
One of the effective practices is publishing special deals, bestsellers and new arrivals on your home page. Many online surfers don’t know what exactly they want or are not aware of new product models. Your goal as an online seller is to reach out to that segment and show the customers what they are missing out on.
Another good tactic for growing sales is cross-selling: suggest your customers something that compliments the product they are already interested in. This practice is not only beneficial for store owners, but may also significantly increase shopping experience. When a primary product requires complementary items, such as batteries, getting them in one go makes a customer free from hassle of looking for them once the product lacking them is delivered.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/nopcommerce-8.png" />Store owners can also boost customers loyalty and guarantee their repeated purchases by setting up a reward points program. A Reward points program allows customers to earn points for certain actions they take on a site. In nopCommerce, reward points can be used as one of the payment methods. This option is displayed in the Payment Method area of the checkout. Exchangeable reward points can be used together with other payment methods such as credit cards, gift cards and more.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/nopcommerce-9.png" />Most of the shoppers prefer to read product reviews before they make a decision whether to put their money into it. Reviews can make your potential customers more confident, so the more reviews you have, the more convinced a shopper will be in taking the final step. Reviews built trust in your store and your products, as well as increase a store’s online presence. Product reviews functionality in nopCommerce allows customers to leave ratings and comments, while store administrators may approve and delete the entries.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/nopcommerce-10945x0-is.png" />Conversion rates, hence a store efficiency, might also be improved by using different checkout page strategies. One of them is adding a gift wrap/message options. This might seem a “little thing”, however, it does not only add a personal touch and helps the shopper save time, but also adds to the order value. nopCommerce checkout attributes support a variety of checkout opportunities to complete purchase process in the best way.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/nopcommerce-11912x0-is.png" /><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/nopcommerce-12.png" />Don’t forget about SEO to drive more traffic to your site. Check that your URLs have actual product and/or category names that are easily understood by your target audience, try to avoid including item numbers or category IDs in the URLs. Optimize your product description properly, it is not recommended to optimize your products for secondary details such as SKUs, colors or sizes, rather include brand names and model numbers in your title tags, meta descriptions, image alt tags and header tags.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/nopcommerce-13.png" />
Last, but definitely not the least important way to increase the efficiency is optimization of your marketing efforts by segmentation of your customers. Segmentation helps to aim your marketing at each particular group, which means saving you time and money, moreover you can focus your efforts on the most profitable customers. You can segment your audience based on location, personal profiles (e.g. age, gender, income, occupation, etc.), lifestyles, buying behaviour. Create different customer segments using customer roles functionality and set up tailored messages and campaigns for your groups.
—
<a href="http://www.nopcommerce.com?utm_source=online-store-increased&amp;utm_medium=mainpage-link3&amp;utm_campaign=cmscritic">nopCommerce</a> platform has many features to support a store operational and marketing efforts. When used properly, it can bring significant revenue hike and slashed operating costs. So if you’re looking to increase your online business efficiency, start by exploring all the possible ways to leverage the ecommerce platform’s in-built functionality.

Online store increased efficiency: nopCommerce features for smarter operations and marketing

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).

Power your CMS on AWS

Manage your websites & apps in the most trusted cloud.

#ffffff

Explore a wide range of informative articles, insights, and industry updates. Stay informed and ahead of the curve with our diverse collection of news and posts covering the latest trends and developments in the industry. Page - 70

News

The easiest way to translate a website

Power your CMS on AWS