Articles - Page 71

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

matt-garrepy

<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

<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/03/sitecore-featured-image-1.jpg" alt="Sitecore Company Logo" />
Sitecore, the leading provider of .NET Web Content Management System (CMS) software, today announced the new release of its Sitecore Intranet Portal solution. Built on Sitecore’s Web CMS platform, Intranet Portal 3.1 helps organizations build an intranet that serves as the communications hub for the entire organization.
Corporate intranets can help build employee loyalty, and break down traditional organizational barriers. In addition, Sitecore Intranet Portal makes it easier and more efficient to manage and monitor compliance and standards processes with structured publishing and workflow that can adjust to any business logic, with security available at every level.
With a Wizard-driven starter kit, Sitecore Intranet Portal features a highly intuitive editing interface, which dramatically reduces the need to train content managers, including full integration with Microsoft Office® applications. Moreover, managers can easily customize their department’s intranet desktop to fit specific business needs.
“Our customers, across all industries, need to consistently communicate detailed information, in key areas that range from employee self service, rules and regulations to team building – often across multiple languages,” said Darren Guarnaccia, VP Product Marketing, Sitecore. “Sitecore Intranet Portal offers ease-of-use through prebuilt features that push corporate communications projects forward much more quickly and help facilitate employee engagement across an entire organization or department.”
With Sitecore Intranet Portal it’s easy to build corporate culture using Enterprise 2.0 techniques. For example, the employee directory can become a true social networking tool where each individual user can expand their profile, update their personal information, find experts, and share information with their colleagues. Sitecore can automatically map this data to a wide range of related functions, including the organization chart, the company phone book, the editor of a Web page, and much more. Furthermore, Sitecore Intranet Portal integrates to Microsoft Active Directory® accessing AD user profiles for easy login and user information.
Some of the key features of the new release include:
<ul>
<li>Ability to use Microsoft Word to create rich, compelling content. Leveraging all the power of Microsoft Word and other MS office applications to build pages.</li>
<li>Inline document management and drag and drop file attachment allows user to edit documents while the intranet automatically tracks and versions content.</li>
<li>Integrated draft mode workflow allows for staging and collaboration of pages without publishing them until content is ready.</li>
<li>RSS helps to organize and view the latest news and update on the intranet from a variety of sources.</li>
</ul>
Read more about Sitecore Intranet Portal 3.1 <a href="http://www.sitecore.net/Products/Sitecore-Intranet-Portal.aspx">http://www.sitecore.net/Products/Sitecore-Intranet-Portal.aspx</a>

Sitecore Intranet Portal 3.1 Includes Ready-to-Run Features and Fully Customizable Page Layouts

mike-johnston

Notre-DAM is an open-source Digital Asset Management platform targeted to the mid-market segment (digital libraries, micro-stock agencies, editorial teams, etc.).
The key features of Notre-DAM are:
<ul>
<li>multi-user, web-based application accessible from the most popular browsers</li>
<li>can manage images, video, audio and text</li>
<li>provides a customizable catalogue based on taxonomies and collections</li>
<li>full metadata support (EXIF, IPTC, XMP, Creative Commons, PLUS)</li>
<li>geo referencing and search, directly on a map</li>
<li>fully scalable, relies on a cluster of PCs for resource storage, processing, and delivery</li>
<li>provides a REST API for integration with other applications (e.g. CMSs)</li>
<li>distributed under the GPL v.3 licenseScreenshot: 
<img style="max-width:580px" title="notre-dam" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/notre-dam-580x306_zhohfp.png" /></li>
</ul>
More information (and an on-line demo) is available on the project's web site <a href="http://www.notre-dam.org">Notre-DAM.org</a>. A short <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMehvlhOPFY">video presentation is available too</a>.

Notre-DAM Beta released - an open source Digital Asset Management Platform

CC: Can you tell us a bit about yourself, your background and how you came to work for Sitecore?
MS: I was President of a successful multimillion dollar custom software development company and while there, I envisioned the need for a Microsoft-centric system for creating and managing websites that could take the online experience far beyond the then present technology. In 2002, with four fellow Internet zealots, I started Sitecore. We developed a product with functionality and appeal that was completely disruptive in the market at that time. All five of us continue to be key contributors to the company today.
CC: How would you define the term “Content Management System”?
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/024-michael1-150x150_pmrfv9.jpg" />
MS: I feel compelled to say that I sincerely dislike the term. CMS does a really good job of defocusing everyone on what is important, namely measurably driving your online success. Content doesn’t help you do that. Management of content doesn’t help you do that either. And system surely doesn’t.
 
Secondly, the term is ambiguous since it is used as a cover for both the area of ECM (Enterprise Content Management) and WCM (Web Content Management). From a business perspective nothing could be farther apart. ECM should help you be more efficient in your internal business processes. WCM should help you measurably driving your online success. A lot of businesses unfortunately still believe that it is a great strategy to centralize the management of all content in a CMS. There is a big difference between the processes of creating and managing a legal contract, to creating persona optimized content that will dynamically drive a personalized experience for the marketing department. The only thing in common here is that you can use a keyboard to author your text.
Even with this ambiguous term, Sitecore is selling CMS for a broad range of clients with great success. We will change the name when the customers, market and analysts are ready to suggest a new industry term.
CC: As the CEO, you have no doubt seen a shift in the way content management has advanced in the last few years, what do you feel can be expected in the near future and where will Sitecore fit into this picture?
MS: CMS, as a platform for driving your online success, is undergoing a radical change. Content is shifting to a measurable experience – crafted around personas. Delivery is no longer just Web pages but spanning all digital channels. Marketers need measurable results and ROI ,while sales departments and customer service departments need to tie together what is happening in the offline world with what is happening in the online world. Customer relationship management databases are becoming a focal point for realizing this. Real-time personalization is finally a manageable reality that doesn’t need to involve huge IT projects.
CC: If you were to compare Sitecore with similar CMS in the marketplace, what would you say distinguishes it?
MS: Sitecore is the iPhone of the Web content management industry. We are fusing many of the technologies that are integrations in other platforms. Our vision is to deliver a powerful, coherent, easy-to-use platform. A platform focused on measurably driving your online success through personalized experiences across all online marketing channels.
CC: How has Sitecore fared in the face of the current economic situation facing the global economy?
MS: Remarkably, Sitecore grew global revenue last year at over 40%. Our team and partners responded to the economic environment by working even more than the 40% reflects, so I think we are well positioned to have that same hard work reap even higher rewards as the economy recovers.
CC: What successes has Sitecore had this year? Any new, large customers? What do you attribute these successes to?
MS: Fueled by our 40%+ revenue growth, we have opened up a number of offices around the world, perhaps most notably in Japan. We have a very solid team in Japan with significant Microsoft enterprise experience.
We also opened up an office in Australia, expanded our presence across Canada with service and sales people, and our UK and European operations have really bubbled up new and exciting business.
We inaugurated two global in-person events called Dreamcore, with our customers and partners that include Interactive Agencies, Web Development firms and major Systems Integrators – literally filling these events to capacity.
This year has also been the year of the Enterprise customers for us. I wish I could mention all of the fantastic companies, but they include the likes of Costco in North America, Lloyds of London, and ISS in Europe. Our technology delivers answers for marketing automation, for eCommerce, social community – all the key business needs that now go through a website.
CC: You recently introduced a new product called the Sitecore Online Marketing Suite. What can you tell us about this product? What made you decide there was a need for this kind of solution in the marketplace?
MS: The Online Marketing Suite (OMS) has generated enormous excitement with prospects for us. When people see how it connects measurable campaign results, the personalized experience, and marketing across digital channels they discover immediate value. The OMS is essentially transforming the CMS into a next generation business platform.
CC: As you are aware, there have been a number of fairly high profile acquisitions in the last couple of years that have affected both the CMS community and the IT community as a whole.  Some of these acquisitions have caused nervousness and a sense of insecurity within the “acquired” client base about the future of their chosen platforms. What is Sitecore doing to ensure a stable and secure platform for it’s users?
MS: Sitecore is both financially and by license revenue one of the global top performing WCM vendors on the market today. And we love what we do and see a very bright future continuing ahead.
Sitecore’s clear focus, cutting edge technology, extensive partner channel and strong developer support community make us a vendor to count on.
CC: What plans does Sitecore have to ensure that new customers can choose the platform with a knowledge that it will continue to be supported for years to come?
MS: Sitecore is the only WCMS vendor where 95% of our revenues come from the sale of software licensing. That obviously means that Sitecore has a very large partner channel and development community. Sitecore customers aren’t dependant upon Sitecore to implement it – they have many choices. There are thousands of certified developers worldwide. And remember, we are built with Microsoft technology.
The fact that Sitecore’s business model is not based on revenues from Sitecore’s own services means our products are scalable and crafted to be best of breed, usable by anyone with familiarity with Microsoft technology.
CC: Can you provide a sneak peak of what we can expect from upcoming releases from the Sitecore product line?
MS: Full blown large scale personalized email marketing tightly integrated to the CRM, CMS and online marketing suite is up next. Providing site level measurable results and instant ROI out of the box.
CC: Do you have any parting comments?
MS: The Web industry as it exists today will undergo a dramatic change over the next decade. New online marketing platforms akin to business level CRM and ERP will arise.

Interview with Sitecore CEO, Michael Seifert

If you’re a church leader, you might be familiar with the classic, hair-pulling madness of trying to get a well functioning website working for your church.
There are so many factors to consider! How is it going to look? How will it be laid out?
What information should you even put up there once you have a site? Upcoming events? Audio of your sermons? Videos of your sermons? A live stream of your Sunday service? The possibilities are endless …but so is that headache, right?
If you feel like you just need a hand getting everything done so you can get back to your sermon prep, you’re not alone. There are literally thousands of pastors and church leaders out there looking for a quick and easy way to streamline the online part of their church …while still keeping it relevant.
After all, we practically live online these days, don’t we? After all you probably hopped onto Google and typed in a few search terms to find this post in the first place, right?
And if any potential future congregants are ever going to find your church, chances are higher than ever that they’re going to do so in a very similar way.
Fortunately, there are quite a few church website builders out there that are specifically devoted to supporting church websites with their specific needs.
<h3>Finding a good church website builder</h3>
When searching for a Faith-based CMS provider (that’s basically the shorthand for a website builder) for your church, you’re going to want to look for more than just the tools they offer.
For example, you’re also going to want a provider that can cater to the specific needs of your church with of course the most important need being easily-available support for non technical users.
With that in mind, we’ve gone ahead and organized a list of our top CMS providers that have met three criteria:
<ol>
<li>They’re popular <a href="https://ministrywebsitedesigns.com/">church website builders</a></li>
<li>They provide good service</li>
<li>They’ve demonstrated an understanding of the needs of the church</li>
</ol>
Here is the list, ranked in order of companies considered to provide the best <a href="https://ministrywebsitedesigns.com/">church websites</a>.
IMPORTANT NOTE: There’s one more bit of additional information that we want to include that can be helpful in the decision-making process. Currently, in the church technology space, the market of individual, stand-alone companies are being rapidly consolidated by a “big fish,” so to speak. We’ve gone ahead and included a handful of the companies that have been purchased by this larger “big fish” company in the list after the two independent ones at the top because some of these subsidiary companies still provide their own, unique website builders. However, be aware that often quick acquisitions and employee consolidation of companies with decent products can lead to a lack of technical support, (which is one of our three major criteria!).
Alright, on to the website builders!
<a href="https://ministrywebsitedesigns.com/" target="_blank">Ministry Designs</a>:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/06/best-church-website-builders-1_iipqzm.png" alt="Ministry Designs " />
The number one solution, head and shoulders above the rest, is Ministry Designs. Ministry Designs not only has the most intuitive and comprehensive <a href="https://ministrywebsitedesigns.com/" target="_blank">church website builder</a> (CMS) but they also have all of the features you need to make sure that your website stays up to date. One of the amazing things that they do, that is really outside of the norm for this industry, is roll out monthly updates. They do this to ensure that you’ll never have to buy another website. Additionally, when working with the folks at Ministry Designs, they assign you a customer success representative who will share their screen with you and teach you how to use their tools. When shopping for your new website for your church, you would be making a mistake not considering Ministry Designs first.
FaithConnector:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/06/best-church-website-builders-2_tshm3u.png" alt="Faith Connector" />
Our second choice is FaithConnector. Along with Ministry Designs, this is one of the few remaining website builders that is still standing on its own, and for that, we give them both a round of applause.
FaithConnector is another solid company with excellent support and another slew of features that usually means they can get you the site that you’re looking for. Their website builder is good, though their editor is a bit out of date, which is why they land second on our list.
With good support, a solid product, and a host of features, FaithConnector remains one of the few viable options if you’re looking for an independent company that provides good, focused support.
Nucleus:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/06/best-church-website-builders-3_nchkjn.png" alt="Nucleus" />
Nucleus is a relative newcomer to the conversation but has gained some popularity, in large part to some excellent marketing. After reviewing the website editor, I’ve found it bit limited next someone of the other companies on the list. Nucleus has positioned and priced itself as a church “hub,” but the facts are after reviewing it, it's missing some critical flexibility and options that the featured companies on this list offer. Plus, at $99 a month it’s pretty expensive.
Note: The remainder of the list is made up of companies that have been bought out in recent years. While they are now subsidiaries of a larger organization, these candidates have managed to retain at least a portion of their website building capabilities, though long-term technical support has become a concern.
Sharefaith:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/06/best-church-website-builders-4_e99uhx.png" alt="Sharefaith" />
toward helping churches build their websites. But — and this is a big but — they’ve built their tools to be an overlay of WordPress. 
While this might not be an issue for a tech-savvy website builder, if you’re from a church that lacks those “technical gurus,” this can present a whole bunch of problems. A system built on top of another system is always a bit nerve-racking, and with the potential to lose good customer support in the future, the ShareFaith website builder has become a bit suspect at this point.
Clover Site: 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/06/best-church-website-builders-5_rnhe09.png" alt="Clover Site" />
You’ve got to give credit where credit is due, and in this case, it’s honoring an industry pioneer.
Clover was at one point was the leader in the church-specific CMS industry.
Unfortunately, though, that day of prominence has come and gone. At this point, Clover lacks the flexibility needed to really personalize and customize your website. That, in addition to the whole selling out to a larger company bit, has landed them further down the list.
Ekklesia360: 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/06/best-church-website-builders-6_oyj7bk.png" alt="Ekklesia360" />
company’s willingness to make changes to their CMS, literally customizing the features they offered on a case by case basis for their customers.
This might sound good on the surface, but before you start jumping for joy, the problem in connection to this adaptability that we found quickly presents itself is affordability. Changes on the kind of scale we’re talking about aren’t minor, and that extra cost puts them out of reach for most church’s budgets.
In addition, we found that their website editor is sadly out of date, a bit clunky, and difficult to work with.
Thrive CMS:
If you're wondering what Thrive CMS is, you're not alone.
Thrive is the website editor solution that the a larger consolidation company created as their own website builder. It has been pushing most of its brands to use this new CMS, and Bridge Element, Site Organic, and Ezekiel are now all selling the Thrive CMS solution.
One question that we couldn’t manage to answer was why it was priced differently across those brands.
Pricing aside, from what we could tell, the solution is limited and a bit hard to work with; however, it does seem to be a bit better than what these established brands had before.
A final note:
Although this list of the best church website companies isn’t comprehensive, we felt like the options listed above were the best in the market that target churches.
While <a href="https://ministrywebsitedesigns.com/">Ministry Designs</a> clearly topped the list with their high-end website builder, impressive features, and excellent customer service, the truth is there really are still quite a few choices out there, so take your time and look into each option to find the one that works best for you.
Whatever you do end up choosing to go with, we always recommend not just researching, but actually demoing any of these CMS solutions before signing up in order to see which one meets the specific needs of your church the best.

The Best Church Website Builders

Ghost, the popular WordPress alternative, has some interesting news this week. They've announced a new $45,000 developer program to help build and develop new exciting publications. As part of this new initiative, here's what they are offering:
<blockquote>
We’re looking for 3 passionate teams to work with for the next year, and help them create the web’s next important destinations for great journalism. As well as significant financial support, we’re offering up our full engineering team to help build and release the technology which they need.
</blockquote>
Here's how it works and why I think it's going to be a very smart move for Ghost. Rather than attempt to fill their CMS with features based on what they think publishers need, they are going to build and fund 3 great publications of the future, and build their technology around their needs.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/journalism914x0-is.jpg" />This, in my opinion, is one of the most intelligent intitiatives I've seen in quite some time from a CMS development group. Just like with a customer, this will enable them to find those small, niggling things that can end up making their product invaluable for future consumers. It's a brilliant way to target your product towards a specific niche; in this case journalistic endeavours; and really focus in on excelling in one niche area.
I've always found Ghost an interesting alternative platform to traditional blogging software and now I think they are on the right track to become one of the best for publishing. I'll be paying close attention to their successes.
To learn more about this new endeavour, check out <a href="https://blog.ghost.org/journalism/" target="_blank">https://blog.ghost.org/journalism/</a>

Ghost Announces Ghost for Journalism

This week we covered a <a href="/exploring-the-solodev-web-experience-platform/" target="_blank">high level overview of Solodev</a> as well as the <a href="/the-genesis-of-the-personalized-web-experience/" target="_blank">Solodev Web Experience Platform</a>, Solodev's state of the art <a href="/deploy-scalable-cost-effective-websites-in-minutes-using-solodev/" target="_blank">cloud infrastructure in Amazon Web Services</a> as well as <a href="/ensuring-customer-success-every-step-of-the-way/" target="_blank">Solodev's new enterprise support offerings</a>. Today we will showcase a few websites built using Solodev.
<h3><a href="https://www.solodev.com/resources/case-studies/oneblood-website-case-study.stml" target="_blank">OneBlood</a></h3>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/oneblood-mockup-bg2.jpg" />
The Solodev Platform empowered OneBlood to drive the customer journey from homepage visit to appointment scheduling and all the way to an actual blood donation. When OneBlood’s technological infrastructure was put to the test with a 2700% increase in traffic overnight, Solodev leveraged the power of Amazon Web Services to auto-scale resources accordingly until the traffic leveled out and resources were auto-scaled down to normally required levels.
<a href="https://www.oneblood.org/" target="_blank">Visit Website</a>
<hr />
<h3><a href="https://www.solodev.com/resources/case-studies/cnl-financial-website-case-study.stml" target="_blank">CNL Financial</a></h3>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/cnl-mockup-bg.jpg" />
CNL Financial harnessed the power of Solodev and Amazon Web Services to better inform financial advisors and promote investments on a scalable and secure platform. Built in Solodev on the AWS Infrastructure, CNL’s websites, including its Solodev-powered Mobile App, feature robust and scalable document sharing platforms for portfolio offerings with granular permissions, features and functionality that allow for quick updates to time sensitive information, as well as the publication of new content after FINRA approval. CNL’s multiple websites and mobile app also enjoys the benefits of unparalleled security and structural integrity provided by Solodev’s partnership with Amazon Web Services.
<a href="http://www.cnlsecurities.com/" target="_blank">Visit Website</a>
<hr />
<h3><a href="https://www.solodev.com/resources/case-studies/springstone-inc.-website-case-study.stml" target="_blank">Springstone Hospitals</a></h3>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sycamore-website.jpg" />
With the power of Solodev and Amazon Web Services, Springstone, Inc. was able to rapidly deploy location-specific content to their user-facing hospital websites – all on a scalable, secure platform. Springstone’s multiple websites feature comprehensive functionality that allow each hospital to utilize the Solodev platform to rapidly deploy location-specific content to their user-facing websites. With granular permissions, features and functionality that allow for quick updates to their user-facing websites, Springstone also enjoys the benefits of unparalleled security and structural integrity provided by Solodev’s partnership with Amazon Web Services.
<a href="http://www.sycamorespringshealth.com/" target="_blank">Visit Website</a>
<hr />
<h3><a href="https://www.solodev.com/resources/case-studies/decide-dekalb-economic-development-website-case-study.stml" target="_blank">Decide DeKalb</a></h3>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/dd-image-lg.jpg" />Decide DeKalb was empowered to attract companies and entrepreneurs to DeKalb County through its user-facing website using the power of the Solodev Web Experience Platform. The Solodev Platform provides the team at Decide DeKalb with the ability to quickly add new site content, making it possible for Decide DeKalb to quickly customize content that targets businesses and industries in the recruitment process. The Website is securely hosted within Amazon Web Services, which offers full disaster recovery, and easy scalability to 100,000 concurrent users by leveraging the Amazon Content Delivery Network (CDN).
<a href="http://www.decidedekalb.com/" target="_blank">Visit Website</a>
<hr />
<h3><a href="https://www.solodev.com/resources/case-studies/seminole-county-public-schools-case-study.stml" target="_blank">Seminole County Public Schools</a></h3>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/scps-mockup-1.jpg" />
Seminole County Public Schools (SCPS) is the 12th largest school district in Florida and is 60th nationally with more than 67,000 students and 10,000 employees. Beautifully designed and easy to manage, the SCPS Website is fully responsive and scalable on-demand. Empowered by Solodev’s comprehensive software training and 24×7 support, the SCPS staff can now leverage the power of the Solodev Web Experience Platform to manage their website and deliver engaging web experiences.
<a href="https://www.scps.k12.fl.us/" target="_blank">Visit Website</a>
<hr />
<h3><a href="https://www.solodev.com/resources/case-studies/florida-dairy-farmers-website-case-study.stml" target="_blank">Florida Dairy Farmers Association</a></h3>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/fdf-header.jpg" />
Solodev empowered FDF to more effectively deliver its message and meets its online objectives. The ability of site administrators to easily keep it fresh with interactive content has resulted in big improvements in three key areas of engagement targeted by FDF leadership in the redesign. Site traffic compared to the identical period year over year shows the bounce rate down by almost 40 percent. At the same time, the pages per session more than doubled to 3.93 and the average time spent on the site doubled as well to 3:13. The highly customizable Solodev Web Experience Platform allows even the most non-technical of users to keep the site updated with new content. With a hosting infrastructure supported by Amazon Web Services, the site is secure, faster, and significantly less prone to experience downtime.
<a href="http://www.floridamilk.com/" target="_blank">Visit Website</a>
<hr />
<h3><a href="https://www.solodev.com/resources/case-studies/dr.-phillips-performing-arts-center-website-case-study.stml" target="_blank">Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center</a></h3>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/drphillips-website-1.jpg" />
The power of the Solodev platform made it possible for the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center (DPAC) to drive the customer experience from homepage visit to seat selection and all the way to opening night. DPAC benefits from their website being built in Solodev’s cloud infrastructure. This includes automation to scale the performing arts center’s applications based on time or load as well as dynamic configuration to orchestrate changes as traffic surges occur. This allows DPAC to schedule the allocation of their applications by adding servers prior to the sale of tickets for upcoming show releases.
<a href="https://www.drphillipscenter.org/" target="_blank">Visit Website</a>
<hr />
<h3><a href="https://www.solodev.com/resources/case-studies/florida-department-of-education-website-case-study.stml" target="_blank">Florida Department of Education</a></h3>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/fldoe-header.jpg" />
Solodev empowered the staff at FLDOE to manage the user experience after building their award-winning website in the Solodev Platform. After the site was initially developed, FLDOE staff quickly learned how to use Solodev and took full ownership by adding new sections, pages and content in preparation for launch. Solodev configured and provides ongoing management of the site’s robust hosting environment. Currently averaging nearly 30,000 users per day, the site was developed to scale in response to peak demand periods and has more than enough capacity to accommodate 100,000 concurrent users when necessary.
<a href="http://www.fldoe.org/" target="_blank">Visit Website</a>
<hr />
*Solodev is currently offering a 14 Day Free Trial of the Solodev Web Experience Platform. This includes an instance of Solodev on an Amazon EC2 server as well as 50GB of storage, 2GB of memory, as well as email and chat support. You can also purchase <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/seller-profile?id=8e11c912-6253-41b8-b065-bf32bd27911b" target="_blank">Solodev on the AWS Marketplace</a> with plans starting at $99/month.

The Platform for Award-Winning Websites

<img style="max-width:150px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/day_software_logo-150x100_p3zcpr.png" alt="Day Software logo" />
Day Software Holding AG (SIX: DAYN, OTCQX: DYIHY), an enterprise software provider of Web 2.0 content management and content infrastructure software, today announced the release of CRX 2.1, Day’s open, standards-based Enterprise Content Management (ECM) platform. Day’s new CRX 2.1 release promotes rapid development, deployment and scalable hosting of composite content applications in either a public or private Cloud. Based on an open source core comprised of the Apache Jackrabbit, Felix and Sling projects, CRX 2.1 provides a core Java Content Repository (JCR) with OSGI-based application integration and RESTful web application development.
With a modern, open, standards-based architecture, CRX 2.1 enables IT to virtualize disparate content repositories and application services and consolidate development and hosting of mission-critical Web applications on a single unified platform for increased productivity and compliance. Purpose-built for Cloud-based deployments, CRX 2.1 also enables IT to leverage Cloud service providers like an Amazon Web Services (AWS) to dramatically reduce costs and accelerate new initiatives.
“As an ECM platform for composite content applications, CRX 2.1 is targeted to meet the needs of both CIOs and IT developers,” said David Nuescheler, Chief Technology Officer, Day Software. “For CIOs, we provide an open, standards-based infrastructure to consolidate development of new composite content applications and deliver radically low development and hosting costs through our native support of the Cloud. For IT developers, we add support for the latest content management standards, including both JSR-283 and CMIS. With a focus on promoting IT agility, we’ve also added an entire new suite of productivity tools for the IT developer, and support for sharing and leveraging community contributions to accelerate project timelines.”
Highlights of Day’s new CRX 2.1 release include:
Open Standards
CRX 2.1 adds support for both the JSR-283 and CMIS standards. JSR-283 support follows the December ratification of this successor standard to JSR-170, capping a multi-year effort led by CTO David Nuescheler in the Java Community Process (JCP) and Apache Jackrabbit project. Along with support for JCR 2.0, CRX 2.1 also adds support for the upcoming CMIS standard, which is scheduled for final voting and ratification 30 April 2010. CRX’s support for CMIS follows nearly one year after Day’s announcement of the Apache Chemistry project to provide a common, vendor-neutral reference implementation of the CMIS standard to promote development and adoption of the new standard. With major vendors like SAP and OpenText part of the Apache Chemistry project, CRX 2.1 provides standardized support for CMIS in addition to support for JCR.
Virtualization and IT Consolidation
Day extends CRX’s virtual repository to extend a JSR-283 and CMIS interface to leading enterprise content management repositories, including Microsoft SharePoint. Leveraging CRX 2.1, organizations can now federate any number of Microsoft SharePoint servers to provide a consolidated platform for composite content application development leveraging industry-standards.
Rapid Composite Content Application Development
CRX 2.1 introduces new tools for developer productivity. For web developers, CRX 2.1 introduces a new browser-based development environment, CRXDE Lite, that offers code-editing, packaging and deployment support for composite content applications, along with integration with leading source code management (SCM) systems like Subversion. For developers building and testing new CRX-based content applications in the Cloud, CRXDE Lite’s browser-based experience simplifies the development process and provides a fun-to-use developer experience.
On-Demand Scalability with the Cloud
CRX 2.1 adds new support for elastic storage capability with native support for Amazon Web Services (AWS) S3. Leveraging S3, enterprise customers can scale their Amazon-hosted content repositories on-demand. CRX 2.1 also now pioneers a new hybrid Cloud deployment model, enabling enterprise customers deploying on-premises software to rapidly add new CRX servers in the Cloud on-demand to accommodate increased site or application loads. With CRX 2.1, these new instances can be “hot-joined” to a running on-premises cluster with zero downtime, enabling organizations to build virtual clusters across both on-premises and off-premises servers to best leverage elastic scalability through the Cloud.
Cloud-hosted PackageShare Service
In addition to its native Cloud support, Day also introduces with CRX 2.1 its first Cloud-hosted service, PackageShare. PackageShare is Day’s online service for enabling CRX developers worldwide to package and share composite content applications, providing a global catalog of pre-built solutions and components. CRX developers can browse PackageShare directly from their CRX development environment, download, install and subscribe to updates for packages shared by other developers in the CRX community. CRX developers can easily post new packages to PackageShare, view community feedback and ratings on posted packages, and easily find new, useful packages leveraging integrated search and pre-set filters.
Chief Marketing Officer Kevin Cochrane commented on the new release, “CRX 2.1 is an exciting new release because it provides the IT department with greater agility. Our new capabilities are designed for rapid development of new composite content applications, native support of the Cloud and expanded standards support with JSR-283 and CMIS, including for the Microsoft Sharepoint platform. We are looking forward to engaging with the community of JCR developers on our free developer edition of CRX 2.1 and growing our online catalog of ECM solutions through our PackageShare service.”
Day Software’s CRX 2.1 Developer Edition is immediately available from Day’s website at http://www.day.com/downloadcrx. Online documentation for CRX 2.1, including for CRX 2.1’s new SharePoint Connector, can also be found on Day’s website at http://docs.day.com.
About Day 
 
Day Software is the ECM pioneer that leading global enterprises rely on for their Web 2.0 content application and content infrastructure needs. Day’s Content Repository Extreme (CRX) is the industry’s leading Java Content Repository (JCR) that provides unique virtualization services to consolidate legacy repositories and unique cloud computing services to lower IT operational costs. Day’s CQ5 platform provides industry-leading Web Content Management, Digital Asset Management and Social Collaboration in a single, unified suite and won the 2009 InfoWorld Technology of the Year Award for “Best Web CMS”.
Day is an international company with headquarters in Basel, Switzerland and Boston, Massachusetts, traded since April 2000 on the SIX Swiss Exchange, and “Over the Counter” (OTC) as American Depositary Receipts (OTCQX:DYIHY). Day’s customers are worldwide leading global enterprises, including: Adobe, Audi, Volkswagen, Daimler, General Motors, Nissan, Newsweek, MTV Networks, Virgin Media, University of Phoenix, InterContinental Hotels Group and McDonald’s.
Day Software's website is <a href="http://www.day.com">http://www.day.com</a>

Day Software Advances Standards Support with New CMIS and JSR-283-compliant ECM Platform

Shopify - The global commerce platform

Build your business with Shopify to sell online, offline, and everywhere in between.

The global commerce platform

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With a new look and tons of interface improvements,  the release of Contegro Version 4, comes a Window’s style desktop that will make even first-time Website CMS users feel like experts.
Contegro 4 continues the goal of completely removing the developer from the website life-cycle, and empowering designers with the sole power to create and manage functionally rich websites. “Contegro Version 4’s interface brings simplicity and usability in Web CMS to a whole new level,” says Contegro founder Vaughan Reed. “The Window’s Desktop interface is already familiar, so for users every action is intuitive.”
Contegro Version 4’s new Interface and multi-tasking workspace concept is set to revolutionize Web CMS. Take a look at the following key feature releases.
A completely transformed CMS interface
Contegro v4 removes the need to open up multiple browser tabs to manage many different areas of a website or even independent sites; everything can be managed from the new interface. “It makes multi-tasking so simple,” says Reed. “The increase in productivity that can be achieved when setting up and managing sites by using the new interface is really exciting.”
<img style="max-width:427px" title="Contegro 4 - 1" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/04/browserstack-live-pricing.jpg" alt="Contegro 4 - 1" />
More specific interface features include the following:
Smart Desktop Shortcuts.
A quick click on a desktop shortcut enables you to access/manage files, categories, website members, and edit content. Or simply go to the Contegro Start Menu.
<img style="max-width:346px" title="Contegro 4 Context" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/02/wordpress-homepage-featured-image.jpg" alt="Contegro 4 Context" />
Streamlined Task Bar.
Just like the Windows Desktop environment, if a new application is opened it appears as a button on the Task Bar. You can quickly and simultaneously switch between tabbed windows keeping them open. A right-click minimizes the window and can it be relocated onscreen to suit your requirements.
Informative Notification Window.
The Notification Window keeps you in the loop. See your latest edited pages; pages within your workflow approval queue, product updates, feature releases and training videos. Pages can be open from within the notification window directly from the desktop.
<img style="max-width:391px" title="Contegro 4 - 2" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/02/wordpress-logo-homepage-featured-image.jpg" alt="Contegro 4 - 2" />
Further Developments in Contegro Version 4 include:
An Advanced Workflow.
The Contegro Workflow provides a flexible three-step workflow process with Submit, Approve and Publish steps to make life easy. The workflow can be configured to a one-or-two-step process if required. To keep uniformity, one single workflow can be established as a global site-wide process. Conversely, multiple workflow scenarios can be established within sections of a website.
Site Tree Enhancements.
Drag ‘n’ Drop and right-click functionality makes it easy and efficient to manage the site structure, create pages, copy pages and assign permissions and workflow.
Updates to the Site Tree include the clever automatic creation of 301 redirects when moving pages from one section to another. This eliminates broken links within search engines and external linking to moved pages.
<img style="max-width:173px" title="Contegro 4 - 3" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/03/sitecore-featured-image-2.jpg" alt="Contegro 4 - 3" />
An Intuitive Editing Workspace.
With a streamlined workspace that takes advantage of the new Window’s look, the Site Tree, Page Attributes and Content Editing Sections have been combined within a single workspace. Key features include:
<ul>
<li>Ability to open and edit multiple pages simultaneously and copy and paste content between pages.</li>
<li>Drag and drop modules – add, remove or drag modules around the page to add functionality.</li>
<li>View all page attributes – plus listing details, publishing and revisions at the same time.</li>
<li>Workflow steps – ensure pages are edited, approved and published by the correct staff.</li>
<li>Maximize your workspace – Editor and Attributes and Site Tree panels all individually minimize.</li>
</ul>
Superior Administrator Control.
The Administrator Control has also been modified to include
Unlimited Administrative Groups and greater control around the management of the Administrator group permissions. The level of access that each account has can be completely customized to your staff requirements and ability.
Control Administrator access to sections of the website via the site tree. Lower levels will inherit both member and administrator permissions set in the parent page.
<img style="max-width:314px" title="Contegro 4 - 4" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/image010.gif" alt="Contegro 4 - 4" />
Contegro Version 4 is available now. With the simple usability of the new interface and new key features, the potential for greater productivity and creativity is almost endless. Discover the new face of Contegro today.
<h3>For More Information</h3>
Please visit <a href="http://www.contegro.com">http://www.contegro.com</a>

Contegro v4 Released - Introduces whole new interface and usability improvements

<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/cms-265127_1920_b1emzl.jpg" /><figcaption>Image source: <a href="https://pixabay.com/en/cms-wordpress-265127/">Pixabay</a></figcaption></figure>
Content marketing is one of the most discussed topics among marketers and for a good reason. People have noticed that blog content is more than just a bunch of words on the screen. <a href="/why-a-good-cms-is-the-backbone-of-content-marketing/">High-quality content</a> is a combination of talented writing and psychology and those who are able to produce such content have the key to success in any business.
Considering that blogs are used as a means of communication with readers in almost all industries, the question of how to write an engaging blog content is what troubles many. If you are an inspiring WordPress blog owner, the following tips will give you some direction and show you how to bring your content to perfection.
<h2>Apply Headings and Subheadings</h2>
There is no need to mention the importance of an eye-catching headline, you probably already have that figured out. What is not prioritized enough is the use of headings and subheadings.
By clearly organizing your thoughts with their use, the readers will find your content easier to grasp.
Christopher K. Mercer, digital marketer and founder of <a href="http://citatior.com/">Citatior</a> explains this in the following manner:
“People usually skim the text before they start reading. If you offer them a long continuous text without any sectioning or highlights, the content will seem too tiring and they will give up right away. To sum up, never underestimate the importance of headings and subheadings.”
You need to present a readable content and a clear structure if you want to keep the readers’ attention.
Believe it or not, but this is one of the key parts of a <a href="/formulating-content-marketing-strategy/">successful content marketing strategy</a>.
<h2>Use Short Paragraphs</h2>
There is a simple rule that all the best content writers know and that is that short paragraphs make for a readable text.
It will be easier to keep the readers engaged if you organize your thoughts into short sections. That means that you can use 3 sentences max within one paragraph.
Not to mention that having this constraint in mind will help you to be consistent throughout the text.
Syed Balkhi in his article on <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/306076">Entrepreneur</a> claims that “Most of your website visitors spend less than 15 seconds on your website, meaning people quickly skim through the content instead of reading word for word. If your content is hard to scan, meaning it contains long sentences and paragraphs, it's likely that your visitors won’t stick around.” He also adds, “Breaking down your content into short paragraphs makes it more digestible for your readers.”
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/blackberry-2690107_1280_m0adwg.jpg" />
Remember that you’re not writing a novel and mobile web browsing has overtaken desktop
Image source: <a href="https://pixabay.com/en/blackberry-priv-mobile-phone-qwerty-2690107/">Pixabay</a>
<h2>Aim for the Quality, not Quantity</h2>
Don’t focus on the length of the article that much, focus on what you are writing. 
James Daily, the Head of the content department at <a href="https://flashessay.com/">FlashEssay</a> explains, “Throwing a bunch of facts and information at your reader just to fill out the norm will only get them confused.”
Aside to that, your point will be easily lost.
You need to ensure that your title fulfills the promise, so use it as a guideline and keep it in the back of your mind during the whole writing process.
If you get stuck, don’t hesitate to use some online tools and here is the list of services that can work into your advantage:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://readable.io/">Readable</a> – This is one of the most useful tools to make your text clear and easy-to-read. It uses readability algorithms to assess content and make a copywriter’s job simple. </li>
<li><a href="https://www.essaysupply.com/">Essay Supply</a> – In case you’ll need a little writing assistance, this online website can provide you with customized and original content. Just send them the general idea of the section you have trouble with and the experts will take on from then.</li>
<li><a href="https://alconost.com/en/services/professional-online-translation?source=google&amp;medium=cpc&amp;campaign=Nitro_EN_new&amp;adgroupid=translation_service&amp;keyword=translation%20services&amp;matchtype=e&amp;adposition=1t3&amp;gclid=EAIaIQobChMInNSz5dz93QIVz7ztCh2wQgqaEAAYAyAAEgImoPD_BwE">Alconost</a> – If you found an amazing text with relevant facts you would like to cite but it is in a foreign language and you are not proficient enough to provide a valid translation, don’t give up on that. You can use this service and get any type of text translated professionally. </li>
<li><a href="https://www.marstranslation.com/promotion/professional-translation-agency?utm_medium=cpc&amp;network=google&amp;adgroup=50766652785&amp;utm_campaign=1045008447&amp;search_keyword=translation%20service&amp;matchtype=e&amp;adposition=1t1&amp;gclid=EAIaIQobChMIiMb0st793QIV4ZXtCh3hFwpZEAAYASAAEgK0TvD_BwE">Mars Translation</a> – Here is another great translation service that can be of great help. They work with native translators who guarantee to deliver quality translation.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Proofread</h2>
You can’t achieve high-quality content without <a href="https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2017/10/proofing-editing-content/">proofreading</a>. It is like a safety net for all the mistakes you possibly made.
“The content you post must be brought to perfection if you don’t want to jeopardize your professional credibility,” says Christine Jordan, a content editor at <a href="https://resumescentre.com/resume-writing-service">Resumescentre.com</a>.
Editing and proofreading will help you to spot all the errors that may have occurred during the writing.
Try not to proofread the content as soon as you finish it. Leaving some time in between will make you look at it more objectively and realize the problematic areas much faster.
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
The issue of how to improve blog content and its performance is what <a href="/15-myths-about-content-marketing/">concerns most blog owners</a>. You won’t have to be one of them if you apply these tips.
Instead of just thinking about will this help you or not, simply apply all the methods and wait for the results. There is no better proof then experiencing it for yourself. So, make a cup of coffee, get seated, and start writing.
Author’s bio: Jessica Fender is a professional freelance writer and independent blogger. She is passionate about content marketing and leading other marketers to success in this new age of digital marketing. You can find her articles on Freelancer.com and Addicted2Success, and follow her on Twitter @fender_jess.

Content Writing Tips to Improve Your WordPress Blog

You have been thinking about launching a website for your business for ages. But you do not know where to start. 
You have been scheduling meetings with programmers and web designers for quite some time already. But somehow they still can not grasp the concept of your website. 
You would like to have a full control over your website once it is online. But coding, programming, and web development lie far beyond your area of expertise. 
But, but, but – what an annoying word, isn’t it? Have you recognized yourself in any of these sad situations? Then we have great news for you! All the situations mentioned have an excellent solution called <a href="http://www.motocms.com/website-templates/motocms-3-template/59995.html" target="_blank">Evolution Universal Business Website Theme</a>. Let’s examine this multipurpose template from MotoCMS.
With Evolution, Creating Your Website Turns Into a Game
Is there any chance you played with constructors as a child? Remember those interlocking plastic bricks you put together to built pyramids and such? If yes, then congratulations – now you understand the basic principle of Evolution. Simply by moving around the ready-made blocks, you can create the layout for any web page you want in a few seconds. This is achieved thanks to the build-in page editor that MotoCMS is so proud of. No coding skills whatsoever. No tedious hours trying to figure out how to change that one button you do not like. Seems too good to be true, doesn’t it?
Evolution contains one more fascinating feature that can interest both doctors and designers. Do you belong to one of these groups of professionals? Then you will definitely find two child themes of Evolution extremely helpful. These child themes are developed to completely minimize the time you need for the successful completion of your first website. The child page for medical establishments looks positive and refreshing. It helps your clients relax while filling in the contact form, subscribing to your newsletter, or reading about the services you provide. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/evolution-medical-child-page.jpg" />
The child page for designers boasts clear layout and user-friendly navigation. Its primary aim is to focus all the attention of your visitors on the visual representation of your completed projects. So, take the page you need and create a website just by moving blocks around. Why not becoming a programmer for one day to create the website you need (or have always wanted)?
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/evolution-web-design-child-page.jpg" />
Another important feature that makes Evolution one of a kind is its 16 ready-to-use pages. This set of pages is developed to facilitate the process of creating your website to its full extent. All the pages you would need to create a multi-page website are right there at hand. “Home”, “Contact us”, “Services” etc. – your job is just to pick the pages that fit your business project and put them together. Yes, this easy. Just like playing a game.
Evolution Guarantees : Your Website Looks Professional
Now you know how to build a website in a blink of an eye. But this may bring up one crucial question, namely – will this website look professional? And here is another great piece of news. Evolution is developed by the top professionals in the programming world. Thus it boasts amazing functionality and outstanding design. No one will ever tell a difference between your website and an expensive website done by a dozen of programmers. 
For starters, Evolution is 100% responsive. Why is responsivity this important? Well, visitors of your website may use different devices to view the content you offer. And all the visitors expect to enjoy the full functionality of your website. Thanks to the 100% responsivity of Evolution, your website looks the way it should on any existing device. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/evolution-responsive-design.jpg" />
SEO-integration is another professional feature of Evolution. When you opt for Evolution, you choose a full range of instruments to make your content SEO-friendly. And SEO-friendly content, as we all know, leads to high rankings on Google. And the rankings correlate with the size of your client base. With Evolution, enlarging your clientele does not seem as hard as it used to be, does it?
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/evolution-seo.jpg" />
Evolution also allows you to start a blog. It can be of special importance for businesses that are relatively young. But businesses that want to attract clientele as fast as possible can also use blogs intensively. Blog functionality gives you a chance to publish original content on a regular basis. And as you probably already know, this is one of the most effective ways to improve your SEO ranking.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/evolution-blog.jpg" />
With Evolution, You Have Full Control Over Your Website
Let’s imagine that your website is ready and successfully running online. Would you like to have full access to its functionality any time you want? Wouldn’t it be nice to update certain information when you feel like it, e.g. services list?
With Evolution, you can enjoy the full control of what is happening to your business website. It is up to you to decide when your online business needs a slight rebranding or an intensive marketing campaign. Only you decide when to add certain content blocks to your online project. For example, this can be a description of a remarkable event, like opening a branch office, to your “About us” page. To cut the long story short, with Evolution you need no outsourcing to adjust your web project to your current needs.
And in case you have a question or two about Evolution, you can always rely on the 24/7 MotoCMS Technical Support Team. This team consists of top consultants. They all would be more than happy to offer an optimum solution to your issue in the twinkling of an eye.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/evolution-support.jpg" />
So, enjoy the carte blanche that MotoCMS gives you with Evolution! 
To help you with launching of your online business even more, MotoCMS prepared a special gift for the readers of this article – an exclusive 30% OFF promo code: cmscritic30. Use it on the checkout to <a href="http://www.motocms.com/website-templates/motocms-3-template/59995.html" target="_blank">get your Evolution with a personal discount just right now</a>.

Creating a Business Website Easy: Evolution from MotoCMS

After getting off to a great start on <a href="/day-one-of-magnolia-conference-2014-personalization-apps-a-roundtable/" target="_blank">day one of the Magnolia Conference 2014</a>, which was a day full of technical, business and digital marketing tracks, day two of Magnolia's fifth annual event had something refreshing to offer.
Mike and I got ourselves back down to the Pathé Theatre venue in the heart of a hot and humid Basel, just in time to witness the start of an interesting and engaging conference activity.
It was the Magnolia “Unconference” 2014, and everybody was getting involved.
<h2>Engaging with the Ecosystem</h2>
Magnolia’s Unconference – which dominated day two – was all about attendee engagement and collaboration.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/14496228536_de86accf9e_b700x0.jpg" alt="Magnolia Conference 2014" />
An unconference is a style of conference where the attendees propose, schedule and present their own sessions. Magnolia state that:
<blockquote>
“The Magnolia Conference attracts some of the most engaged, skilled and innovative people from the Magnolia ecosystem and broader CMS industry. The unconference helps harness this potential, giving each attendee the opportunity to discuss what matters most to them in this rich environment.”
</blockquote>
So, if the purpose of day one was to allow Magnolia to talk to their audience face-to-face, day two was simply a chance for that same audience to respond.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/14333613217_ef936085e9_b700x0.jpg" alt="Magnolia Conferece 2014" />
Although the concept of an unconference is nothing new, they aren’t always incorporated into a company’s largest annual event. It was an invigorating activity, and I have no doubt that the attendees were glad Magnolia chose to offer it.
<h2>How it Worked</h2>
To ensure the unconference ran smoothly, Magnolia handed out some (very slick) conference folios throughout day one, which contained suggestion cards, amongst other things.
Attendees were encouraged to fill out these suggestion cards in preparation for day two, when their suggestions would be compiled and eventually discussed.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/14332728609_fbce0a7ede_b700x0.jpg" alt="Magnolia Conference 2014" />
The day began with the audience getting to briefly introduce their session ideas, in what was a very bubbly and relaxed theatre room. 
All kinds of ideas were flowing through the room, from Magnolia migration best practises to more comical activities. 
<blockquote>
.<a href="https://twitter.com/topherzee">@topherzee</a> suggests an Unconference session to compose a rap song on Magnolia CMS essentials. Looking forward to the result! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mconf14?src=hash">#mconf14</a>
— Magnolia CMS (@magnolia_cms) <a href="https://twitter.com/magnolia_cms/statuses/482064869207056384">June 26, 2014</a>
</blockquote>
In the end, a full day of attendee-suggested sessions were planned out. The sessions spanned from discussions about eCommerce platform integration to brainstorms regarding the top 20 most needed apps &amp; modules.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/14332667100_81490a1f20_b700x0.jpg" alt="Magnolia Conference 2014" />
The finished unconference wall for Magnolia Conference 2014 can be seen in more detail <a href="http://wall.magnolia-cms.com/unconf/" target="_blank">right here</a>. 
<h2>Technicalities Continued</h2>
Running side-by-side with the unconference, was a technical track similar to that found during day one.
<blockquote>
There we go! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mconf14?src=hash"> #mconf14 </a> <a href="https://twitter.com/edbananeman"> @edbananeman </a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Jelastic"> @Jelastic </a> <a href="https://twitter.com/lazarenkod"> @lazarenkod </a> <a href="http://t.co/SXy5Kydbrc"> pic.twitter.com/SXy5Kydbrc </a>
— Info.nl (@infonl) <a href="https://twitter.com/infonl/statuses/482130249707446272"> June 26, 2014 </a>
</blockquote>
Magnolia’s attending clients and partners were running the show, with Tricode, Tinext,Aperto, Jelastic, Lemonize and Agido all dishing out technical presentations.
They spoke on topics such as vanity URLs, utilities portal building and there was even mention of some tips for when it comes to developing a Magnolia website with speed in mind.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/14496225166_c58327f020_b700x0.jpg" alt="Magnolia Conference 2014" />
Overall, day two had everything it needed to close out the Magnolia Conference 2014. The technical tracks were there for those who wished to hear from industry experts, but the casual nature of the unconference was the icing on the cake. It was fun, engaging and genuinely informative for those who attended. 
To get a sense of how Magnolia Conference 2014 went down on the ground, be sure to check out the event’s <a href="http://eventifier.com/event/mconf14/popular?utm_content=buffer3fe0d&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer"> social media wall</a> revolving around the #MConf14 hashtag. CMS Critic was even ranked as the top contributor!
For a recap on day one of Magnolia conference 2014, <a href="/day-one-of-magnolia-conference-2014-personalization-apps-a-roundtable/" target="_blank">check out my coverage of the opening day</a>.
Images: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/magnolia-cms/" target="_blank">Magnolia</a>

Day Two of Magnolia Conference 2014: The Unconference

<img title="joomla_logo" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/03/joomla-product-logo.jpg" style="max-width:150px" />Open Source Matters, Inc. (OSM), the not-for-profit organization that supports the Joomla! Project, today announced that Microsoft ® has signed the Joomla! Contributor Agreement (JCA), the project’s new general public license (GPL). As a result, Joomla! users will experience improved Internet Information Services (IIS) compatibility and support in Joomla! 1.5.16. In addition, key Microsoft code contributions will be included in the trunk of the upcoming Joomla! 1.6, allowing the system to benefit from increased speed and efficiency by leveraging the Windows® Cache Extension for PHP.
“Microsoft signing the JCA is big news for the Joomla! community. Not only is this the largest organization to ever contribute code and to agree to the terms of our contributor agreement, but this means Joomla! users will get improved performance and usability of Joomla! on Microsoft’s IIS,” said Ryan Ozimek, President of Open Source Matters. “We’ve always had a portion of our community that has been IIS-based, yet we haven’t been able to offer the ideal level of IIS support and integration. With the new agreement in place, Joomla! will not only offer tighter ties with IIS, but our community can better work with Microsoft to make improvements or address future engineering issues. We're very happy to have Microsoft as part of our GPL development community.”
Joomla! community members have been working closely with the Microsoft team and have integrated the Joomla! package with Web Platform Installer. In addition, by utilizing Microsoft test environments, the team has been optimizing Joomla! to run better on IIS. With the release of Joomla! 1.5.16, the community has solved some long-standing compatibility issues that will allow the system to be supported on the same level as Apache. Furthermore, Joomla! 1.6 will include code for Windows Cache integration, further improving speed and code efficiency.
For those interested in trying Windows Cache integration now, you can get more information on how to run it with Joomla! 1.5 at <a href="http://blogs.iis.net/donraman/archive/2010/03/05/performance-improvement-in-joomla-using-wincache-user-cache.aspx" target="_blank">http://blogs.iis.net/donraman/archive/2010/03/05/performance-improvement-in-joomla-using-wincache-user-cache.aspx</a>
About Open Source Matters, Inc. and the Joomla! Project 
Open Source Matters, Inc. (OSM) is a not-for-profit organization that helps to manage and support the Joomla! Project. Joomla! is the industry’s leading open source content management system (CMS). For more information visit <a href="http://www.opensourcematters.org/" target="_blank">www.OpenSourceMatters.org</a> or <a href="http://www.joomla.org/" target="_blank">www.joomla.org</a>.

Microsoft and Joomla! working together

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