Articles - Page 76

Brightspot Illuminates the Future of CMS with Human-Controlled, AI-Powered Storytelling 

matt-garrepy

<a href="https://www.pagecloud.com/?utm_source=pressrelease&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_campaign=seriesa" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">PageCloud®</a>, developer of the world’s most innovative website creation platform, closed its Series A financing round, bringing total funds raised to $11.5 million CAD (~$8.6M USD). Key investors include early-stage venture capital firm Accomplice and trade-finance agency Export Development Canada, as well as notable angel investors from SalesForce.com, LinkedIn, and Shopify. 
<blockquote>
“This funding lets us scale our team and continue to democratize the Web for everyone,” said Craig Fitzpatrick, founder and CEO, PageCloud. “We’re shattering the technical barriers to creating content on the world’s greatest medium: the Internet. For the last 20 years, the Web has been dominated by rigid cookie-cutter templates and labor-intensive manual coding. We’re making it as easy as using a pencil and paper, for everyone with an Internet connection. This new financing is a great vote of confidence from investors who share our vision.”
</blockquote>
PageCloud’s website creation technology, which debuted in the fall of 2015, marks a major change in the way content is created online. It puts control in the user’s hands with a powerful website creation and editing solution that enables anyone to create rich, unique user experiences without requiring any coding knowledge. PageCloud greatly simplifies the process of creating and editing websites, including the complex process of making web content mobile, with intuitive drag and drop functionality.
The $20.1 billion US website creation market hasn’t changed much in the past 15 years, with tools still too technical for most people to use:
<ul>
<li>
70% of website budget and effort still goes into manual coding, but only 1% of the population knows how to code
</li>
<li>
45% of businesses in developed countries still don’t have websites yet, and 2/3 of the planet still isn’t online
</li>
<li>
785 million websites exist today, with 16 million new ones created monthly (or 6 new sites per second)
</li>
</ul>
Since releasing its website creation platform to the public one year ago, PageCloud has acquired more than 15,000 customers in over 130 countries worldwide. This Series A funding will help the company continue to develop the platform and add more groundbreaking functionality, helping anyone create their dream website.
<blockquote>
“We love the PageCloud team’s product-first mentality and that we could find early-adopter users who validated the promise of the tech and the approach. It’s a very big market that hasn’t changed a lot since the advent of the Web, and it’s time for a new, more agile option,” said Jeff Fagnan, founder and general partner, Accomplice. “PageCloud frees people from the shackles of what website creation used to be. It gives non-technical people the ability to build beautiful websites.”
</blockquote>
PageCloud is available now for $24/month, which includes hosting, after a 14-day free trial at <a href="https://www.pagecloud.com/?utm_source=pressrelease&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_campaign=seriesa" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.pagecloud.com</a>.

PageCloud Funded to Change the Web Forever  by Bringing Website Creation to Everyone

mike-johnston

Magnolia, the enterprise content management system (CMS) vendor, has released Magnolia CORE 5.5 in addition to <a href="https://www.magnolia-cms.com/magnolia-now.html">Magnolia NOW</a>, a highly scalable cloud-based offering. The latest release allows businesses to build personalized experiences in simple, scalable and efficient ways. With Magnolia NOW, developers can deliver new features in just hours.
<h3>Magnolia NOW</h3>
Magnolia NOW provides an agile, enterprise-grade CMS delivered as a convenient cloud-based service. It enables businesses to build and launch new projects within days, without any IT support. It offers hosting, continuous delivery and enterprise-level deployment processes in a single package.
<h3>Magnolia CORE</h3>
With the 5.5 release, Magnolia’s on-premise product has a new name: Magnolia CORE, an enterprise CMS built for demanding multi-channel, multi-language and multi-site digital experience scenarios. It is the same flexible, robust and integration-ready system that many renowned brand names rely on today.
<blockquote>
“Magnolia helps enterprises manage their entire digital presence from one flexible platform, and they can now choose between Magnolia on premise or in the cloud,” said Pascal Mangold, Magnolia CEO and co-founder. “By introducing Magnolia NOW, we are building on our flagship CORE product, giving businesses an easy and hassle-free way to get results fast. This allows them to deploy faster, while reducing their total costs.”
</blockquote>
Magnolia CORE 5.5 makes it easier for marketers to create personalized web experiences. Additional component personalization features let them personalize parts of pages or entire pages. With small changes, they can make sure that they show relevant content to visitors in an extremely scalable way. This allows them to focus on producing campaigns driven by date, location and demographics.
<blockquote>
“Magnolia CORE 5.5 is our strongest release to date,” said Jan Haderka, Magnolia CTO. “We’ve tightened the nuts and bolts and packed a whole set of power tools into it. CORE 5.5 offers component personalization out of the box without requiring additional configuration or setup. Magnolia CORE 5.5 runs on Java 8 to benefit from the platform’s latest improvements and security features, but light modules mean that front-end developers do not even need to know Java. This makes implementations much faster to set up.”
</blockquote>
The new release allows developers to deliver new sites faster and at reduced costs. Magnolia CORE 5.5 lets them: set up new development environments and module stubs with a single command; reduce code duplication; gain more control with the new Definitions app and JCR Browser app, and more.
Content authors can look forward to a more efficient and convenient experience, including: the ability to easily move copy around; improved accessibility, user interface improvements and an app switcher that makes it faster to move through apps.

Magnolia extends product line with a cloud-based offering and releases a new version with increased power and personalization

If there's one thing that drives everyone nuts, it's spam, especially when it comes to running a website. One of the most common complaints new website owners have is the amount of spam comments, contact form submissions and signups that occur when your website goes live. Without some form of spam prevention, you are in for an administration nightmare. Fortunately, there are plenty of excellent options in existence and today, we're going to list out the ones we think are the best.
<h2>CleanTalk</h2>
Website: <a href="https://cleantalk.org/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://cleantalk.org/</a>
CleanTalk is a great service that offers spam protection for websites, forums, online stores and much more. The advantage is that it does not require captchas, questions or anything on the user end of things. The services checks for spam bots and spam in comments, orders, widgets, registrations, bookings, custom web forms, contact emails and much more. It works by sending the request to the cloud and using special algorithms to analyze the requests.
<h2>Akismet</h2>
Website: <a href="https://akismet.com/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://akismet.com/</a>
Akismet is the popular spam prevention plugin for WordPress by Automattic. While it's most often used on WordPress installations, a large percentage of web applications also have plugins for it. I'd recommend searching within their plugin directories to see if it's integrated with the software you are using (if you do not run WordPress).
<h2>Captcha</h2>
Website: <a href="http://www.captcha.net/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.captcha.net/</a>
While Captcha certainly isn't one of my favorite options, I have to admit that in a lot of cases, it works well. I prefer the one that simply asks you to check a box saying that you are not a robot as opposed to the sometimes difficult to read captcha's that come up on some websites. Having said that, it does work in a lot of cases otherwise it wouldn't be so widely used.
<h2>Mollom</h2>
Website: <a href="https://www.mollom.com/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.mollom.com/</a>
Mollom is a website spam filtering service similar to Cleantalk. It was originally created by Dries Buytaert (founder of Drupal) and his team and is now part of Acquia. Mollom is available for WordPress, Drupal, Radiant, SilverStripe, Java, PHP, Ruby, Python, Perl, .NET and more.
<h2>Sblam!</h2>
Website: <a href="http://sblam.com/en.html" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://sblam.com/en.html</a>
Sblam! is a web service that blocks spammy posts in blog comments, forums and guestbooks (blocks bots posting adverts for viagra, porn, credit, casinos, etc.). It detects spam server-side and doesn't bother users with any puzzles to retype.
<h2>The Honeypot Technique</h2>
Website: <a href="http://jennamolby.com/how-to-prevent-form-spam-by-using-the-honeypot-technique/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://jennamolby.com/how-to-prevent-form-spam-by-using-the-honeypot-technique/</a>
The honeypot technique involves creating a hidden field which only spam bots will see and when they fill it out, you block the submission as normal users wouldn't see it and therefore would not fill it out. Since it's more of a technique than a web service, I've linked to an excellent tutorial I came across that explains how to implement it. Most form plugins have this ability integrated and it should be very easy to find tons of tutorials on the web if the one above doesn't suit your needs.
Did we miss one? Please let us know in the comments below. Also, if you have another method that works for you, we'd love to hear about it!

6 Best Anti-Spam Plugins for your Website

It is with great pleasure that I announce the winner of the 2016 CMS Critic Award for Best Blogging Software. This year, we had over 20k votes cast in the awards and the winner that rose to the surface was none other than <a href="https://bolt.cm/" target="_blank">Bolt CMS</a>.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best-blogging-platform-1_300x0.png" />
Bolt is an open source Content Management Tool, which strives to be as simple and straightforward as possible. Congrats to the Bolt team on their win. Click on their logo below to check them out:
<a href="https://bolt.cm/" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bolt_cms_logo400x0-is.png" /></a>

The Winner of the Best Blogging Software for 2016 is Bolt CMS

It is with great pleasure that I announce the winner of the 2016 CMS Critic Award for Best Open Source CMS. This year, we had over 20k votes cast in the awards and the winner that rose to the surface was none other than <a href="https://getgrav.org/" target="_blank">Grav CMS</a>.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best_open_source_cms.png" />
Grav is a modern flat file CMS that has rocketed to popularity over the last few years. Congratulations to the team at Grav, we wish them all the best and hope this win helps garner them some extra visibility and new users to their platform. Click their logo below to check them out:
<a href="https://getgrav.org/" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/grav-logo.jpg" /></a>

The Winner of Best Open Source CMS for 2016 is Grav

<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/workplace-1245776_1280-11211x0-is.jpg" alt="magentrix social intranet" />
Employee disengagement is a problem. A <a href="http://www.skilledup.com/insights/signs-employee-disengagement">2014 poll</a> revealed that only 31% of employees in the United States were engaged in their job, 51% were still “not engaged”, and 17.5% were “actively disengaged”. When employees are disengaged at work, this refers to a lack of enthusiasm and commitment to their work or workplace. Ultimately, they are less involved and more likely to leave their role, resulting in higher employee turnover rates for the company.
Engaging employees isn’t an easy task, but many leaders are recognizing that there is a relationship between how engaged employees are in their jobs and the financial success of their organization. In fact, <a href="https://hbr.org/resources/pdfs/comm/achievers/hbr_achievers_report_sep13.pdf">Harvard Business Review</a> found that 71% of executives see employee engagement as a critical factor for business growth. Employees are the foundation to a business’ success, and therefore, should be treated as an important part of the company to invest in. But if they are disengaged in their work, the foundation will crumble.
A collaboration solution, such as a <a href="https://www.magentrix.com/products/socialintranet">social intranet</a>, can help in increasing employee engagement. An intranet is a closed and secure network within a company which can only be accessed by employees. It’s a place where knowledge and information is stored, shared, accessed, and retrieved, but this process needs to be made simpler so that users can build their own connects within the company. An intranet addresses a multitude of problems:
<ul>
<li>Communication: opens up communication lines</li>
<li>Synchronization: ensures that employees are on the same page</li>
<li>Accessibility: important data can be accessed from anywhere</li>
</ul>
There are many factors that drive employee engagement ranging from the “coolness” of the office environment to the meaningfulness of the corporate mission. The central purpose for an intranet is to strengthen internal communications and increase employee engagement. Here are some ways that an intranet can help increase your employee engagement.
<h2>Increase Collaboration</h2>
Although we’re all individuals, <a href="https://www.magentrix.com/articles/blog/Redefining-Collaboration-in-a-Digital-27-6-16">collaboration is trending in today’s workplace</a> because it leads to better results and increased productivity. Collaboration comes in many forms, from working with other employees on projects, to collaborating on business data – no matter where your employees are in the world. The reality is that within this fast-paced society, many people find themselves working remotely as opposed to an office setting. Because <a href="https://www.magentrix.com/articles/blog/The-Secret-to-Working-Remotely-Is-21-9-2016">remote work</a> is on the rise, it is harder for everyone to stay in touch and collaborate effectively. Social intranets provide a one-stop shop collaboration solution for your employees to communicate with everyone in your company about resources, documents, and more!
<h2>Empowerment</h2>
The amount of resources that are becoming available to us is growing at such a rapid pace that it is easy to become disorganized. But why not organize all these resources to your employee’s advantage? You can empower your employees to find the answers to their questions without having to go through several people or disorganized files, which can be exhausting and frustrating. A social intranet is a space that can be used by teams to communicate with each other and effectively collaborate on business data that is most important to them. In today’s digital society, people expect instant answers – not ones that take several business days to find or answer. Within your intranet, you are able to create an <a href="https://www.magentrix.com/products/features/blog">FAQ or rich knowledge base</a> to equip your employees with the answers to all their questions. If that still doesn’t fully answer their question, your intranet can also act as a support portal for them to easily contact someone for help.
<h2>Educate through eLearning</h2>
Communicating with your employees about a new product, update, or even onboarding new employees is a very time-consuming task. Engagement can be lost in these processes if they are not communicated properly to your employees. To make these processes more effective and more efficient, take a look at eLearning. <a href="https://www.magentrix.com/products/features/sociallearning">Learning Management Systems (LMS)</a> are great for providing online courses and further training for employees in order to keep them assimilated into the company. Using web-based training and eLearning reduces frustration when being educated about updates and products in an easily digestible way.
A social intranet is the perfect tool for increasing employee engagement and establishing effective internal communications. Its ultimate justification and success is that it can accomplish some of the core needs of every company’s communication strategy including organization-wide communication, social engagement, and knowledge management. Want to learn more about how to implement a social intranet for your business? Check out Magentrix Social Intranet <a href="https://www.magentrix.com/products/socialintranet">here!</a>

How a Social Intranet Drives Employee Engagement

When it comes to selecting a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.dnnsoftware.com/cms-features?utm_medium=onsite&amp;utm_source=CMSwire&amp;utm_campaign=productpage&amp;utm_cid=70134000001AwxI">Web CMS</a>. (Web Content Management System) for your organization, there is no one right choice – but there is a lot that you need to consider.As a leader responsible for driving technical decisions, my advice is to focus on engaging your line-of-business managers and help clarify their business objectives, requirements, processes, and activities. Then, you can start thinking about your CMS.Recognize that how you manage content through all your channels is essential to determining how your organization functions. Continuously iterate between investments in content technologies on the one hand and efforts to improve operational activities that create competitive advantage on the other.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/select-cms_instagram-1080x1080435x0-is.png" />A Web CMS should make it easy for non-technical staffers to manage content on their own, without requiring IT support for day-to-day activities. But the underlying business problems and the nature of day-to-day activities are steadily changing. Here below are few tips to guide you in the selection of the right Web CMS solution that will suit to your needs.For more information about this topic you can also download the following <a target="_blank" href="http://www.dnnsoftware.com/resources/whitepapers/a-buyers-guide-to-web-cms/view/whitepaper?utm_medium=onsite&amp;utm_source=CMSwire&amp;utm_campaign=productpage&amp;utm_cid=70134000001AwxI">eBook: A Buyer's Guide To Web CMS</a>.<h2>A Good CMS is Good For Business</h2>A Web CMS makes it easier for you to create, manage and maintain your website content. Let’s consider important reasons to manage your website using a Web CMS:<ul><li>Enable business users to manage and update site content.: A Web CMS helps you build and manage your website efficiently. With a user interface that’s simple for non-technical users, website updates are a cinch.</li><li>Protect your site against unauthorized or unintentional changes: A Web CMS includes security features that make your website less vulnerable to password compromises and security attacks. In addition, you can assign roles across the organization to segment who can update particular sections of your site. This prevents unauthorized or unintentional content updates.</li><li>Make your site run faster: A Web CMS can improve the performance of your website by optimizing</li><li>the way pages load and by using web farms to distribute requests to a pool of web servers.</li><li>Drive more organic traffic to your site: By providing tools for automated re-directs and advanced URL management, a Web CMS can drive more traffic to your website from search engines. Now that we’ve covered some of the benefits of a CMS, let’s consider how you can choose one that’s best suited to your organization’s needs.</li></ul><h2>How to Choose a CMS</h2>Choosing a Web CMS is a big decision. It’s critical to look for and understand the essential features that will address your business needs now and in the future.These essential features just below provide you with details of what to expect from a (good) content management system, beginning with baseline features and progressing to advanced features. But, if you need a closer look at each feature, download <a target="_blank" href="http://www.dnnsoftware.com/resources/whitepapers/a-buyers-guide-to-web-cms/view/whitepaper?utm_medium=onsite&amp;utm_source=CMSwire&amp;utm_campaign=productpage&amp;utm_cid=70134000001AwxI">this guide</a>.<h2>The Essential Features of a CMS (From Basic to Advanced)</h2>Whether you need a brand new content management system, a more scalable system for your growing business, or are replacing a solution that no longer meets your needs, be on the lookout for these essential features:<ol><li>Ease of use: A Web CMS should offer design flexibility and allow content contributors to manage and customize the look and feel of pages, without specialized programming or design expertise.</li><li>Mobile readiness: It’s a fact of life, visitors are viewing your website from a mobile device. Select a Web CMS that provides tools and capabilities to create valuable experiences for mobile users.</li><li>Granular permissions and workflow: Creating, managing, editing, and auditing content is a continual process, so any Web CMS should provide several, easy-to-use content management capabilities, such as creating work ows for content staging and approvals.</li><li>Easy-to-use templates: A CMS should offer “templating” capabilities so you can create and easily duplicate content, as well as structural details such as page layouts.</li><li>Scalability and performance: Your Web CMS needs to load pages quickly and maintain high performance as the site grows.</li><li>Strong SEO and on-site search: Look for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tools, so that your pages rank well in search engines, and a good site search feature to help visitors nd what they’re looking for.</li><li>Flexible delivery options: Select a Web CMS that can be deployed on on-premises or in the cloud.</li><li>Extensive service and support: Carefully evaluate the vendor’s service and support options to ensure that they meet your needs.</li></ol><h2>Make An Informed Choice</h2>When selecting the right Web CMS for your organization, there is no getting away from your history. Rarely are you going to be starting with a blank slate.You need to determine what’s working, what’s not working, and what needs to be fixed. Take stock of your existing IT investments and leverage what you already have in place.Remember you are on a journey. As a leader, be strategic in your recommendations and decision-making by optimizing for the best long-term fit. And, here is another eBook, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.dnnsoftware.com/resources/whitepapers/web-cms-selection-how-to-go-from-shortlist-to-final-selection/view/whitepaper?utm_medium=onsite&amp;utm_source=CMSwire&amp;utm_campaign=productpage&amp;utm_cid=70134000001AwxI">Web CMS Selection: How To Go From Short List To Final Selection</a>,that breaks down the selection process for both IT and business users and show you how to make the decision as a team.At DNN we provide a suite of solutions for creating rich, rewarding online experiences for customers, partners, and employees. DNN products and technology are the foundation for 750,000+ websites worldwide. In addition to our commercial CMS and social community solutions, DNN is the steward of the DNN Platform Open Source Project.To learn more about EVOQ Web CMS solution <a href="/contact">contact us</a> and we will help you achieve your business goal.

How To Choose a CMS: A Simple Guide

In addition to revealing which document management system features simplify <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/document-management-system-simplifies-compliance/">compliance</a>, this guide will be helpful in revealing which features make DMS users more efficient while at work.
<h2>Templates</h2>
A template is a document management system’s means of emulating what one has created for either a digital cabinet or folder within a document management platform, and further applying it across other webs of information, reducing the need to manually re-create an existing file structure.
The more intuitive and simple the template, the better its capacity to summon information valuable to employees, and the more readily these employees will be able to find and collaborate through the workflows templates create.
Essentially, templates take the concept of a shared drive, as one would see it on a Windows Desktop, and regenerate it to yield the benefit of automated but user-specified information structuring, resulting in fewer clicks to information structuring.
Document management system vendors should have “erase template” features as well, which erase the template created in a specific area. Templates’ functionality will vary from DMS vendor to DMS vendor, but these functionalities are frequently overlooked, for many DMS users are satisfied with the product despite not having used templates or the benefits they can bring to an organization.
<h2>Enhanced Searching</h2>
When it comes to retrieving information, responses to searches should be limited to match users’ preferred server settings. When perused by the software, default search settings will rest between 1,000 and 1,250 unless specified otherwise by document management system users.
<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2015/06/25/the-future-of-algorithmic-personalization/">Searching algorithm</a> options should include quasi Boolean specifiers with search functions containing “begin with,” “end with,” and “equal to.” Sophisticated search features should also include having simple search and more advanced search options.
<h2>Zonal Optical Character Recognition and Metadata Taxonomy</h2>
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and metadata are highly interrelated components of all document management system products. In defining their interrelatedness, the following tidbits are useful:
OCR is a scanner’s encoding of handwritten or typed text, and an enterprise-grade document management system should have what is sometimes referred to as <a href="http://www.efilecabinet.com/what-is-zonal-ocr/">“zonal” OCR</a>; this form of Optical Character Recognition allows users to scan, view and digitize specific portions of documents, lending two benefits to users:
<ol>
<li>More storage space for documents and</li>
<li>faster search times for document retrieval, particularly due to how a document management system can simplify and utilize metadata. Based on the OCR of a scanner integrating with a DMS solution, OCR retrieves metadata from scanned documents, helping DMS users store and classify documents as specified by users.</li>
</ol>
Metadata also describes information about digital files, making these digital files easier to retrieve, manage, and audit. Common types of metadata in digital files include but are not limited to specifiers such as author, date created, date modified, users who partake in transactional documents, and file size.
Metadata also opens searches to Boolean search terms like “And” and “Or.” This separates certain documents from others by whether they abide by classification terms. This allows users to find documents they may not otherwise remember the names of.
The benefit of metadata, as it pertains to organization, is keeping employees from storing information in a scattered, inconsistent, and manual fashion. Most information is stored, named, and retrieved through arbitrary means in most organizations not relying on a document management system.
<h2>Full-text Search</h2>
Although zonal OCR enables full-text searches to users’ advantage, whole-text searches are slower, on average, if not used in moderation. For example, to find preselected words in the documents employees are looking for, it not only takes longer to find information, but the information surmised within the DMS solution is more likely to be irrelevant, arbitrary, or impertinent to the searcher’s intentions.
This is because when software scans more text, it increases the probability for confounding phrases and words, even under Boolean search guidelines. For instance, if an employee is searching for a client with the first name “April,” full-text searches may summon calendar events in the month of April instead.
Although metadata is a seemingly complex term, those unfamiliar with it are usually well versed in creating it; for instance, any time one saves a document, he or she is creating or reinforcing metadata, for metadata is simply data describing information about digital files, or “data about data,” making these digital files easier to retrieve, manage, and audit. A DMS solution’s ability to index metadata allows DMS users to specify file components independent of an operating system’s binary, modal, and computerized logic.
<h2>Drag and Drop Functionality</h2>
Arguably the most intuitive way to overthrow the inefficiency of manual processes without sacrificing the intuitiveness of said processes is the drag and drop feature. This feature, although functionally different across document management system products, is common to the internal workings of most DMS. The best document management system vendors will have an <a href="http://www.efilecabinet.com/efilecabinet-sidekick/">instant access icon</a> that readily facilitates this efficiency.
<h2>Automated Workflows</h2>
Workflow is among the most underutilized features of DMS. In fact, many DMS users who are satisfied with the product are often unaware of the benefits automated workflow offers.
Through DMS workflow, managers can specify who collaborates on what documents and projects, automating a desirable process to project and document completion; essentially, workflow visualizes, diagrams, and specifies the order of tasks in a project, making employee accountability, deadlines, and optimal workflow processes easier to gauge, manage, and actualize. The best DMS vendors for small to mid-sized organizations also have email notification features tied to workflow, alerting project members and leaders to when actions or analysis are needed on their end, or when a workflow process has been completed.
Furthermore, a document management system can streamline, diagram, and automate the most complex workflow processes, allowing information cycles to go through multiple rounds between two, three, and even four workers before summoning action from the person responsible in the next phase of the workflow cycle. In other words, workflow is not limited to linear task management, and can accommodate the workflow design standards of any user.
Additionally, one of the most important components of managing workflow within a DMS system are profile-routing features, which allow administrators to predetermine the workflow for each document based on a matching set of values.
When fully implemented and actualized within an organization, the features of workflow can automate in-house processes, an extremely valuable function for knowledge workers in any industry.
<h2>Electronic and Digital Signatures</h2>
For any organization in need of means to send advanced security files, as displayed above with the client-sharing portal feature, an electronic or digital file signature process is also often required, especially with contractual agreements, and use of a digital signature software prevents the need to fax documents back and forth to get signatures.
In general, it should be noted that an electronic signature is the idea of a legally binding signature as upheld by precepts of law, whereas a digital signature is the actual copy of document signed electronically. Please reference the ESIGN Act to learn more about the differences between electronic and digital signatures.
<h2>Structured Query Language (SQL)</h2>
The best document management system vendors will meet SQL standards put forth by the American National Standards Institute. Essentially, a structured query language is used in DMS to communicate with a database. A DMS with a sufficient SQL function will help organizations of all sizes (not just small to mid-sized organizations) better manage very large amounts of files, folders, content, or users, as well as superior performance improvements in searching, template and permission applications, drawer imports from CSV formats, and workflow processing features of DMS solutions.
Many up-to-date document management system vendors have revamped the SQL functions of their solutions in the past two years to create better communication with computer databases, and depending on how much an organization wants to manage its systems, irrespective of its size, selecting the DMS option with the most recent SQL upgrade is beneficial. The optimal grade SQL option for organizations can improve the speed of software functions up to 1,000x—putting the efficiency advantage of <a href="http://www.efilecabinet.com/how-sql-structured-query-language-helps-organizations-better-manage-large-amounts-of-information-within-dms/">enterprise-grade SQLs</a> in perspective.

Document Management System Efficiency Facilitators: An eFileCabinet Guidebook

Power your CMS on AWS

Manage your websites & apps in the most trusted cloud.

#ffffff

<a href="https://www.weebly.com/" target="_blank">Weebly</a>, the website builder, has released some features that befit a marketing automation system.
The website builder recently ran into trouble with some hackers who reportedly <a href="/weebly-hacked-43m-customer-records-stolen/" target="_blank">stole 43 million Weebly customer credentials</a>. Weebly acknowledged the breach and urged their customers to change their passwords.
But that fiasco hasn't stopped them from working on new features in the meantime. Here's what's new with Weebly.
<address>
<h2>Automated Emails</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/emails_orig653x0-is.png" />
First up, Weebly users can now schedule and automate emails that get sent when a user interacts with your website in a specific way.
Here are some examples of how that can help:
<ul>
<li>Send a thank you when someone buys something from your store.</li>
<li>Send a happy birthday message (and discount) on a user's birthday.</li>
<li>Say hello to a customer who hasn't visited your store in a while.</li>
<li>Welcome new customers who sign up for your email list.</li>
<li>Send a survey to ask shoppers about their online experience.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Pop-up Lead Capture Forms</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/lead-capture_orig.jpg" />
Next, Weebly have rolled out lead capture forms to help you collect emails and contact information from your website's visitors. Once again, we're very much in marketing automation territory here.
According to Weebly, this new feature syncs with the platform's ‘Promote' list to capture emails and make it easy for visitors to join your mailng list. You can control the design, layout and timing of the promotion that pops up over pages or from the bottom corner when new users visit your website.
<h2>Abandoned Shopping Cart Tracking</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/cart_orig598x0-is.jpg" />
Weebly also unveiled a feature that lets you track the number of abandoned shopping carts on your website. That means every time a visitor leaves your site during the checkout process – but before handing over their cash – you'll know about it.
Also, this new Abandoned Cart feature saves the cart for every registered user and creates a link for you to email them a reminder to complete their purchase. Plus, the email can be automatically sent (thanks, automated emails!).
In fact, after a customer has made it to your checkout flow and entered an email, you can configure the amount of time that elapses before sending the customer an abandoned cart email.
<h2>Weebly: Blurred Lines?</h2>
Just a year ago, I would have been quite shocked to find a website builder like Weebly – which prides itself on simplicity – releasing features like the ones detailed above. .
Lead capture forms and abandoned shopping cart tracking? Those are relatively advanced webmaster tools that are typically reserved for enterprise-grade platforms. Or at least, they used to be.
Perhaps now we're looking at the new face of website building, where marketing automation comes as part of even the most basic package.
For me, it's exciting, but I'm not sure how well this all suits the newbie who just wants to make a simple website for a new business. It feels like the lines are getting blurred over at Weebly.
What's your take on the situation? Let me know in the comments below.
</address>

Weebly Unveils Marketing Automation Features

The primary goal of a B2B marketer is to drive qualified leads to sales.Success is measured by the pipeline (i.e. new business opportunity count and opportunity dollar amount) generated by marketing and advertising programs. No matter the campaign or technique (e.g. SEO, paid, earn and shared media, email nurturing), content sits at the center of the B2B marketer’s world. It is content that determines which brands and products are discovered by potential customers.<h2>Content is the Heart of Marketing</h2>Content is at the heart of the B2B marketer’s journey.A recent report from Forrester Research sums it up well:<blockquote>“Content is the soul of digital experiences. One billion websites blanket the world and the soul of every one of them is made manifest by content.”</blockquote>As a result, creating, managing and publishing content requires a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.dnnsoftware.com/cms-features?utm_medium=onsite&amp;utm_source=CMSwire&amp;utm_campaign=productpage&amp;utm_cid=70134000001AwxI">Web CMS</a>. And, the Web Content Management System is an essential tool for B2B marketers.<h2>A Web CMS Supports B2B Marketing Success</h2>An effective Web CMS is at the center of the inbound marketing strategy, and the elements of this framework are:<ol><li>CONNECT the CMS to the necessary marketing CRM systems</li><li>PUBLISH content in the right formats to the right channels</li><li>OPTIMIZE content for maximum effectiveness</li><li>ENGAGE potential buyers to help answer their questions</li><li>MEASURE &amp; REFINE the effectiveness of your content</li></ol><h4>Connect</h4>Best-in-class marketing teams position their Web CMS at the center of their strategy, then connect it with the essential elements of their marketing technology (“martech”) stack.By doing so, content instrumented via the CMS can be measured and optimized. By integrating the CMS with key business systems (e.g. Customer Relationship Management system), marketers can connect content to revenue. Many Web CMS systems provide built-in integrations to martech systems.But, it may be more efficient sometimes for marketers to integrate external solutions to perform marketing activities (e.g. Infer tech solution provides marketers with a powerfull scoring model tool). This <a target="_blank" href="http://www.dnnsoftware.com/resources/whitepapers/how-a-cms-enables-b2b-marketing-success/view/whitepaper?utm_medium=onsite&amp;utm_source=CMSwire&amp;utm_campaign=productpage&amp;utm_cid=70134000001AwxI">eBook for B2B Marketers</a>. will show you how the CMS serves as the foundation for B2B marketing success. has<h4>Publish</h4>If content is at the heart of the B2B buyer’s journey, then publishing content is the heartbeat. It’s harder than ever to gain the attention of a B2B buyer: they install ad blockers in their browsers, opt out of emails and no longer answer the phone. When you interrupt their flow via outbound marketing campaigns, they’re less likely to respond.The solution? Inbound marketing, which involves the consistent publishing of valuable content to your site, by way of your Web CMS. With inbound marketing, you publish content that addresses the challenges faced by your target audience. While researching a solution to their needs, they’ll visit search engines and find your content in search results.Web CMS should facilitates the implementation of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.dnnsoftware.com/resources/webinars/seo-and-social-media-tips-101/view/webinar?utm_medium=onsite&amp;utm_source=CMSwire&amp;utm_campaign=productpage&amp;utm_cid=70134000001AwxI">Search Engine Optimization (SEO) best practices</a>., attracting more qualified visitors who are actively searching for your content.<h4>Optimize</h4>Beyond managing and publishing content, Web CMS systems can optimize content to drive meaningful results.Here are two examples of optimization: Search Engine Optimization and mobile friendly content. Increasing traffic via SEO is critical. Each month, internet users make 10.3 billion Google searches.This is why your CMS should be adept at handling Search engine optimization (SEO), because organic search is one of the most crucial components of generating leads. Your CMS must provide key SEO capabilities such as Tags management (title and description), facilitate links to internal pages on your site, and use a permalink structure that includes keywords…<h4>Engage</h4>To complement your inbound marketing strategy, a Web CMS provides capabilities to enhance visitor engagement.Let’s consider how a CMS can personalize the visitor experience, and encourage interaction with other visitors via user-generated content (UGC). Increasing visitor engagement via personalization is critical.A study from Janrain found that 74% of online customers were frustrated when websites offered up content that had nothing to do with their interests. Thus, a good <a target="_blank" href="http://www.dnnsoftware.com/cms-features?utm_medium=onsite&amp;utm_source=CMSwire&amp;utm_campaign=productpage&amp;utm_cid=70134000001AwxI">Web CMS</a> can leverage known data about visitors to create a personalized experience. Personalization can provide visitors with more relevant content, and give them the feeling that “this site knows just what I want.”<h4>Measure &amp; Refine</h4>As we covered earlier, B2B marketers are well served by connecting elements of their marketing technology stack to their Web CMS:<ul><li>Web Analytics</li><li>Customer Relationship Management</li><li>Marketing Automation Platform</li><li>Predictive Lead Scoring</li><li>Multi-channels Attribution</li></ul>There are a number of dimensions from which marketers can measure results and optimize their marketing acytivities.As a starting point, we recommend the the implementation of multi-channels attribution model to perform marketing acquisition and identify programs that generate the best leads. With multi-channel acquisition attribution model, you can assess, in real-time, the programs (i.e. channel) and content driving metrics such as leads, opportunities and revenue.<a target="_blank" href="http://www.bizible.com/">Bizible</a>, for instance, offers an interesting solution that helps B2B marketers measure marketing impact on revenue. They propose advanced multi-touch channels attribution so you can give credit where it's due. You can optimize everything from keywords to conferences based on revenue, and understand ROI from paid search, content, events, and more…<h4>The Evoq CMS From DNN</h4>EVOQ CMS from DNN helps you achieve B2B marketing success. Our Web CMS solution helps B2B marketers deliver engaging, customer-centric web experiences, and use our content management products to create a personalized experience for every customer. Our industry-leading .NET CMS provides a fantastic page and content editing experience. In addition, it includes built-in integrations to the systems you're already using. With EVOQ you:<ul><li>Connect the essential elements of your marketing technology stack</li><li>Publish content that’s discovered and consumed by your target audience</li><li>Optimize your content for maximum effectiveness on every channel</li><li>Engage with your audience via personalization and user-generated content</li><li>Measure and refine your content and campaigns to drive higher results at a lower cost</li></ul>DNN provide a suite of solutions for creating rich, rewarding online experiences for customers, partners, and employees. DNN products and technology are the foundation for 750,000+ websites worldwide. In addition to our commercial CMS and social community solutions, DNN is the steward of the DNN Platform Open Source Project.To learn more about B2B Marketing or/and EVOQ Web CMS solution <a target="_blank" href="http://www.dnnsoftware.com/about/contact-dnn?utm_medium=onsite&amp;utm_source=CMSwire&amp;utm_campaign=productpage&amp;utm_cid=70134000001AwxI">Contact Us</a> at DNN and we will help you achieve your business goal.

The Goal of B2B Marketer

So WordPress and Wix are fighting one another – and I'm not talking about them competing for customers. Instead, the two website building heavyweights are having a brawl via the blogosphere.
Here's everything you need to know:
<h2>Matt Mullenweg Calls Out Wix</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wordpress_wix.png" />
A few days ago, WordPress' Founder Matt Mullenweg took to his blog to <a href="https://ma.tt/2016/10/wix-and-the-gpl/" target="_blank">directly attack Wix</a>. Here's why.
Mullenweg wrote that he downloaded <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wixcom-launches-wix-app-providing-a-powerful-mobile-operating-system-for-small-business-owners-store-owners-hoteliers-and-bloggers-around-the-world-300339448.html" target="_blank">Wix's new mobile app</a>, which boasts a blog post editor. To cut a long story short, he first claimed to feel a sense of déjà vu before outright accusing Wix of stealing WordPress' code. Yeah, it escalated quickly.
To be more specific, he accused Wix of stealing open source code that WordPress and the WordPress community had crafted for WordPress' own mobile editor.
How can you steal open source code, you ask? Well, Matt Mullenweg pointed out that although open source code is free to take and modify, the borrower must then release the finished product under the GPL license, making it (you guessed it!) open source.
But Wix didn't do that.
They took the code and integrated it into their proprietary mobile app, sealing the open source code behind closed doors. Obviously, that grinded the gears of WordPress' Founder.
In fact, it even led him to take digs at Wix for their WordPress-inspired beginnings (they used to be called WixPress). It was a tad brutal at times, actually:
<blockquote>
“If I were being charitable, I’d say, “The app’s editor is based on the WordPress mobile app’s editor.” If I were being honest, I’d say that Wix copied WordPress without attribution, credit, or following the license.”
</blockquote>
<h2>Avishai Abrahami Responds</h2>
Wix's Co-Founder and CEO Avishai Abrahami read Matt Mullenweg's rant, <a href="http://www.wix.com/blog/2016/10/dear-matt-mullenweg-an-open-letter-from-wix-coms-ceo-avishai-abrahami/" target="_blank">and responded</a>.
He retorted by saying that Wix has a <a href="https://github.com/wix" target="_blank">GitHub page</a> full of open source projects, and also by admitting that they did indeed delve into some of WordPress' open source code in order to build their app (which there's nothing wrong with).
He also had some nice things to say about WordPress' contribution to the internet, alluding to the point that Wix and WordPress should be on the same page, rather than at odds with one another.
Abrahami also indicated that the source code for Wix's new app will be released, although he didn't explicityly say that:
<blockquote>
“We always shared and admired your commitment to give back, which is exactly why we have those 224 open source projects, and thousands more bugs/improvements available to the open source community and we will release the app you saw as well.”
</blockquote>
At the same time, Abrahami defended his company. He made it clear that Wix had always been about website building, and that WordPress (in its original form) was about blogging alone:
<blockquote>
“…your business model changed to almost exactly the one we had for years. Can it be that you guys are borrowing from us? If so, again, you are welcome to it.”
</blockquote>
<h2>Matt Mullenweg Hits Back</h2>
In response to Abrahami, Matt Mullenweg updated his original blog post. Suffice it to say, he wasn't exactly satisfied with what Wix's CEO had to say.
There were some niceties in play, but you can sense the passive aggressive tone seeping between every line of Mullenweg's second swipe at Wix. He jibed at Mr Abrahami's lack of comments on his post, reiterated his points about GPL license violations, and
<blockquote>
“I said the app includes stolen code. It doesn’t matter if it’s 30 lines or 30 million lines: because it includes GPL code and you distributed the app, the entire thing needs to be GPL. If you release the entire app’s code, as I think you said you would, then that resolves the license violation.”
</blockquote>
<h2>What's Next?</h2>
Well, Mr Abrahami did offer to take Matt Mullenweg out for a coffee. I hope that happens, although I won't be holding my breath.
Mullenweg seems adamant that cordial relations will only resume once Wix release their app under the GPL license, freeing up all the code to to be accessed by everyone and anyone. Until that happens, I think we can expect these strained relations to remain as they are.
What's your take on the beef between WordPress and Wix?

WordPress and Wix Are Fighting About Open Source Software

<a href="https://www.coastercms.org/">Coaster CMS</a> is a free, open source, and beacon-compatible CMS developed by <a href="https://www.web-feet.co.uk/">Web Feet Ltd</a> – a certified Google partner with over 16 years of experience.
Built upon Laravel PHP, Coaster CMS is aimed at independent developers and development agencies that handle large scale projects.
According to its website, Coaster CMS is, “the next generation of Content Management Systems” – which is a bold claim indeed.<img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/booW2EgadoaASwQrts-3FJz6alqt3tJgPD-2o2GyhsojKxHGaeC-VmZQN-2YdlHEgjXwK8TSbjrrXFBF5jsVAwwWBbF_PbVWnCeXmp-hTjdV1EkzPjMvk23FmVMUJb42uFwohuaz" />
But as I explored the features of the platform, I began to see where the Coaster CMS team was coming from. Kind of.
I’ll tell you exactly what I mean by that throughout the course of this review. Let’s get started.
<h2>First Impressions</h2>
As always, I began my journey – as any user would – through the vendor’s website.
I found the Coaster CMS site to be bold, professional, and informative. All positive signs.
<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/JWaKEsqF9OY33vZfjTdbCjZKrtudRW06Unv0ahi4kWFs1z2iVLcnsPedo537h64obj_tqljQ9755cELFb_5IskXz_VwR4f_G-mno_SLt2j06P6ihyU4skIteLqtNJdjbHwljNHDN" />
It also boasts an interesting chart pitting Coaster against WordPress and Joomla. To be fair to the Coaster CMS team, the results show no bias, and they aren’t attempting to preach that Coaster renders WordPress or Joomla useless.
Instead, it’s more about highlighting the areas that Coaster excels in, where the other two fall short.
<img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/sedV7bNOHpIflt2--hWjkvcBGsaiWNzt7CwNCEQLo5ZWmzxu-w8NUzAOgQ7dYMg4YmKAyappoRESybdQl0VRSx7djbkaPbN_5joBmdpr188qDkpWO_UuXH8V9W-0sLr-p7o02VQL" />
As you can see, the chart happily presents prominent areas where Coaster CMS isn’t so well-rounded. This level of honesty right there on the homepage is endearing, and I think it does a sound job of contextualizing Coaster CMS for those who aren’t familiar with it.
To get started, the platform is – as previously mentioned – free and open source, so you can <a href="https://www.coastercms.org/download">download Coaster CMS</a> directly from their website. Or, you can make use of their <a href="https://www.coastercms.org/demo">free online demo</a> which demonstrates most, if not all, of the platform’s functionalities.
<h2>Getting Started</h2>
I like a platform to wow me when I first arrive at the dashboard, but to be frank, Coaster CMS didn’t do that.
<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/LXGY3EzUy4XCUYbbM5ElKTEBW58T3dEurqmLOrGqIOL-H3nV91eDcKEqzT2DNaFniGEQ223hkUmJEP5NHCzKfphWb9NkAUIFNmSCCO5cMeijsDa7dh3o3-n0FnlcImc5jrT10Jpk" />
The only piece of information displayed is the site’s recent administrative updates, which is handy if you work as part of a team that regularly makes website changes. Other than that though, the Coaster CMS dashboard is quite bare indeed.
As for the default theme, I really liked it. It wasn’t your stereotypical white-washed plain Jane attempt at a template – Coaster CMS had given it some personality.
<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/KqmvbKLx-nzhLHY9uz4Wr2p8bCOfM8EkU5zQTM-bmgyjcXbhUoajjvVW0y2BttKNbR8_rnwXpQVEgu3vC11A1jf8ZGL_uuENP3jzJoaFCqvoWGDOJbk66lU8UslkSljZ8vYpI-Rk" />
However, I didn’t come across any design customization features, which is a shame. Although, do bear in mind that Coaster CMS isn’t geared towards small businesses in need of a website builder, it’s very much designed to be tinkered with via code.
<h2>Page Management</h2>
To manage a website’s pages, Coaster CMS has drafted in a tree page view system that has been adopted by a growing number of content management systems as of late.
<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/bC3DfXA_ZiUMQOXkdyyXEBIUwUdWF7uMrnkWOCpsLa_XsU2yHj5kIrZjRg44EyaT2KpscwGPMTBa-qCzMAZjZjcZ2qqFllCWLOOx0gfJqxMB7TTzlYbqNvTLO5Y1M0MgUTkaq_FF" />
It’s easy on the eyes, and gives you a clear overview of your site’s structure via a relatively small amount of screen space.
You can drag-and-drop pages around to adjust their positions, and you can also drag them into sub-page positions. An edit and preview button are both visible on the right-hand side.
You can also open and collapse sub-pages quickly and easily. Just as with the rest of the platform, it’s all very fast and responsive.
I also noticed that on the contact page – a page type which comes out of the box with Coaster CMS as opposed to having to install a plugin – you can quickly view submitted forms by clicking a button on the tree page interface.
<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/k8MtzwRaYvJlUTumMmSmkVYG6L4M02aktC7Fj3-cMPd6NyEC_-xVa--fbB5A5VSON0zaz_JNNtqYPmmnl0vIcIaGpi_6RF-fxqb4Ki-3WWju9hjXN92JBxd_EUGCEYyCSQFOMoJS" />
When it comes to editing pages, Coaster CMS takes a very detailed approach. Content can be configured for the main area of the page, sidebars, and footers. SEO options are also available.
<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/MsaiySLoVZhVCfTgCAGZQSOCI9ReH1QQBBFReApUBLLGi0CvRn_TAEhmcJMrTbkrlUjQ0rUgu1esLIlsyQmI6Lw5lcNvDa5RMfebG8Z3_aFiWbZRy5BoNCRWbCocEsERyMVnFVJY" />
The WYSIWYG editor was made up of all the standard stuff, as it should be. That includes image insertion, linking, aligning, font formatting, and so forth.
<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/DDanA1LF2aGHNUkMSNZJh3BtOd3yAByUl_jU7yUQ3BiQHz7-qBK5S5A5mLHHkyz2kIDOQC7GF27JG5DwztUqEWk9kYCrNiA1hI2mVzsob6LermcE2F-J6n_BlrxayQomQ_wWtGHw" />
There was also an option to insert files from Coaster CMS’ file manager, and a video insertion tool that lets you find and embed YouTube videos without having to leave the Coaster CMS interface. It even uses YouTube’s search function to suggest similar videos to you – which is pretty cool.
<img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/R5vzxysu_LIoom6HOmIBoV3BuiXcHyTvUoUSNNQ2Ah_rumH99D2rr2WWZdrHhgJP3acCs0v5OKWTIgdumv3-ZfwBHkSCDGa09UepNe6m3xtPTbsv_hHbMXxNHKOy076Yh7syUnoM" />
<h3>Time Specific Pages</h3>
Here’s another feature I found interesting.
With Coaster CMS, you can make pages visible to the public during specific time periods only.
There are also repeat options available if you wish for pages to appear annually, weekly, monthly, and so on.
For example, you might want to specify one day of the year to offer a 50% off sale on all your products. With Coaster CMS, you can create a page to promote that sale in advance, and then configure it to automatically be accessible for just 24 hours on any chosen day of the year.
This can all be set when creating or editing a page, under the Page Info tab. (or using the versions tab for more complex rules with versioning turned on.)
<img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/n8MEUR1A8PkXhCQEnxZS1TueghVtb9oKiYR9M17AnUF7wbAJmH0E-1WDYddLK5TxtqmulpyWouZPWfmooLB-N4uqZISM_ykOxtRpbI-MKc4xBpYC4VRGP-2DcNAxIBQuFfiNdkmZ" />
<h3>Site-Wide Content</h3>
Coaster CMS also lets you configure site-wide content, including:
<ul>
<li>
Header HTML
</li>
<li>
Logo uploading
</li>
<li>
Banners
</li>
<li>
Scroll to the top text
</li>
<li>
Footer HTML, links, and other footer content
</li>
<li>
Meta title, description, and keywords
</li>
</ul>
This is all done via the Site-Wide Content page, which segments all of the above (and more) into five different tabs.
<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/EztFDRqWdry2X1XY0uqx7qCOPHb26oc85ZpXkfGErMR7RAAGgtcDraUrcim6F7lx6vLuazPh8vIIFG8PKQF3X0WpaTKxGQJdj4E-8xju12PvAEEganjRtJLn47hqFDl3GUn6awyW" />
NB: some of these features may depend on the template you are using meaning that themes in Coaster can use a wide range of features as required by each website.
<h3>Menus</h3>
Coaster adopts a similar tree page view system to handle menus, which works nicely.
You can rename menu items, and specify the amount of sublevels you want to display to users all from the same interface.
<img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/zsByO0BPOdGV9ddbxDhNDa4kNvmoJm3k11YwpIDbbcixaTSS5YRRfJItgTwIyNJ6bJiX_dxdSlNNMLXGP10TbVT6NzXqkKV5QtlmgNuZ2A5sbJjwUU2XHOxVXz_O87sqIOTuldiH" />
<h2>Beacon Management</h2>
A beacon is a small Bluetooth transmitter that transmits a single signal that other Bluetooth-enabled devices can see.
By using beacons, brands can transmit marketing materials to people passing close by, alerting them to sales and information directly to their smartphones or other devices.
When it comes to beacons, Coaster CMS teams up with <a href="https://kontakt.io/">Kontakt.io</a> to produce the neccessary functionality.
Kontakt provides the hardware and software required to manage beacons, and Coaster CMS makes it easy to integrate it all with your website.
You’ll need to purchase beacons from Kontakt, and sign up for a free account to access their web panel, too. At the time of writing, that will set you back $60.00, which gets you three beacons.
Would it be even better if Coaster could offer all of this by itself? Yes, but that’s not really the point. Coaster CMS is the software that helps you align your beacon marketing efforts with your digital strategies. As such, I don’t expect it to be a hardware vendor too – although it would be pretty awesome if it was.
The Coaster CMS team are meeting this requirement through a separate solution called proximateapp.co.uk which will allow beacon purchases and pre-defined templates for users to quickly and easlily deploy beacons and make use of the unique Coaster features as an off the shelf solution.
Of course more complex solutions can be handled in a more bespoke manner using Coaster.
<h2>Extras</h2>
There aren’t many bells and whistles, but Coaster CMS does have a built in page redirection tool that’s simple yet effective.
<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ynMJa_V_xs869LcjePkgTTl8dSmOTKbUpqLeRm9dWCGT9Ho5GqBzMLmgHC8QrYk3RL3qKiRDVwn-MTWprGQlArEDVvfgrxbo5tFP_syf35skh0sAEduJ4R4LNyrh_UUqWK3TcGB6" />
Furthermore, I noticed that the file manager was fairly feature rich, with folders, a variety of viewing options, detailed filtering, and a range of search options.
<img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/HAy2G4cYIEZta_saBOGGKefIopByBT4vCy-HaL7h_hlhBO5U3hH4dyN7Rh_WeV4NBfJZDxK1DbUepDG5Kn_1vvJ3eXb_1Ed447n6JgENw4Jet7gs50OHvLEvRgdVBtCz1-7k9Xp5" />
I also found additional options under System Settings. There, I could specify an administrator email, page limits, and a URL for a WordPress powered blog, which would be redirected to whenever users access the /blog/ page on my Coaster CMS site.
<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/BgDJ5VXtNvSfK_c5Yqm823aXg-nyeLmITXZ-vMnMGN45sq2D9ODD8gN2-UFca7ffFczgyKFOvmygzJvY0WEumbj8rh_UibOaT53XwVWj_7Z-IX8NkXH4s0MHljZtszRwMRa3HvYJ" />
Unfortunately though, there is no native blogging functionality, which is something that a modern CMS should have, in my opinion.
This was originally done intentionally as the Coaster CMS team felt WordPress was so widely known as a blogging platform and could be used to supplement Coaster. However, version 5.3 of Coaster (line with the next release of Laravel) will address this with blogging in the default theme. This makes use of Coaster’s standard feature of multiple templates (depending on design) for varied blog post (page) designs.
There also seems to be no officially endorsed plugins or themes, which is an area I think the Coaster CMS team should focus on, given the platform’s open source nature of the platform.
After all, part of the greatness of being open source is all the useful extras that the community can come up with.
NB: Coaster CMS will be creating additional “Coaster CMS wrappers” for specific purposes, such as ecommerce and marketing. We will begin to encourage others to develop these “wrappers (or plugins) keeping the main framework code at their heart and adding features specific to a purpose to avoid bloat.
<h2>Getting Help</h2>
As far as <a href="https://www.coastercms.org/support">support</a> options go, Coaster CMS offers up some decent documentation for general user and developers.
<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/bNDJurMVz8ntpLAl2B7jhCAyOcuU44RhVCk4XBg7unqoTVBl4P_pGFQ4q8hoCGJpDb9VS7Mvl-hXFeUW9F9Q367pFhorFiyD1u17tcxpzMAofqIXRoxZFUrdatNpi5gwSIIcn47w" />
Coaster CMS also boasts a <a href="https://github.com/Web-Feet/coastercms">GitHub</a> and <a href="http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/coastercms">StackOverflow</a> pages.
Other than that though, you’ll be hard pressed to find help if you run into any issues.
It would be nice to see a community forum set up, where the Coaster CMS team and community can come together to aid each other, share project, and cultivate a community feeling that – in my opinion – fuels the growth of any platform.
Coaster CMS have addded a forum to coastercms atcoastercms.org/forum.
<h2>The Verdict</h2>
Coaster CMS offers features that align with the next generation of marketing. Beacons have been around for a while in primitive forms, but as location-based marketing evolves, they’re set to be used <a href="http://www.mycustomer.com/community/blogs/az-ahmed/the-future-of-beacons-in-retail-marketing">more intelligently by brands such as Nestle and Mercedes</a>.
I also like Coaster’s time-specific page publications, a feature which will give marketers an idea or two.
The platform also deploys a tree page view, a trend which has well and truly caught on amongst modern content management systems – and for good reason.
However, would I describe Coaster CMS “the next generation of content management systems”?
No, not really.
There is no blogging feature, for starters, but by decision to hold back on such a statement is less of a reflection on the platform itself, and more of a call for the Coaster CMS team to re-think their homepage copy. After all, there are very few platforms out there that I would refer to as “next generation”.
It seems to me though, that Coaster CMS is primed to be a content management system suited to modern brands with big marketing plans. Beacon technology is indeed a growing trend among larger brands, and if the Coaster team can supplement this compatibility with some more marketing features, I can see them carving out a real niche for themselves.
All in all though, I enjoyed using Coaster CMS, and if you’re looking for a platform that’s free, open source, and beacon compatible, I can’t think of a simpler solution.
The features that are in the latest version of Coaster, released on 31st August 2016) are detailed on their blog.
<h3>Pros</h3>
<ul>
<li>
Coaster CMS is free and open source – which is always a positive.
</li>
<li>
Beacon compatibility is an increasingly relevant feature as far as marketing is concerned.
</li>
<li>
Time-specific pages further bolster the marketing capabilities of Coaster CMS.
</li>
<li>
Tree page view interfaces for page and menu management.
</li>
<li>
Makes it easy to integrate a WordPress powered blog.
</li>
<li>
The file manager is of a good standard, with plenty of search and filtration options.
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Cons</h3>
<ul>
<li>
Support options and the community feeling you expect with an open source platform is lacking somewhat.
</li>
<li>
No built-in blogging functionality – although it is coming in version 5.3.
</li>
<li>
The user interface isn’t the most beautiful I’ve come across, and sometimes looks a little cramped. However, the Coaster team has assured me that they’re focusing on improving this with the release of version 5.3.
</li>
</ul>
Have you had any experience with <a href="https://www.coastercms.org/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Coaster CMS</a>? Let us know how you feel about it in the comments section below!

Coaster CMS Review

In 2007, PrestaShop burst onto the scene as a free, open source, and on-premise eCommerce solution.
Within just a year, PrestaShop had been translated into 15 different languages by users in France, the US, Italy, the UK, Brazil, and Indonesia. All through <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/an-interview-with-sabrina-marechal-director-of-product-marketing-at-prestashop/">word of mouth alone</a>.
Today, PrestaShop powers over 250,000 active online stores, and <a href="https://www.prestashop.com/forums">their online community</a> boasts over one million registered members.
When I visited PrestaShop’s Paris headquarters, I got to see for myself that PrestaShop is no longer just a popular eCommerce solution – it’s a software project with deep and meaningful roots that spread to the four corners of the earth.
<h2>A Timeline of PrestaShop’s Global Growth</h2>
<h4>2007</h4>
<ul>
<li>PrestaShop Founded</li>
</ul>
<h4>2008</h4>
<ul>
<li>Raised $220k in funding</li>
<li>PrestaShop 1.0 released</li>
<li>In the first month, there were 100 stores running in 10 countries</li>
</ul>
<h4>2009</h4>
<ul>
<li>PrestaShop holds the first Community Barcamp with 250 attendees</li>
<li>PrestaShop 1.1 and 1.2 are released</li>
</ul>
<h4>2010</h4>
<ul>
<li>Raised $700k in funding</li>
<li>PrestaShop 1.3 is launched</li>
<li>The 2010 Barcamp has 450 attendees</li>
</ul>
<h4>2011</h4>
<ul>
<li>Raised $3M in funding</li>
<li>100,000 active stores</li>
<li>200,000 community members</li>
<li>The 2011 Barcamp has 1000 attendees</li>
<li>PrestaShop version 1.4 is launched</li>
</ul>
<h4>2012</h4>
<ul>
<li>PrestaShop software reaches 2 million downloads</li>
<li>The Barcamp goes international to NYC and Barcelona</li>
<li>PrestaShop version 1.5 is launched</li>
<li>PrestaShop development goes on Github for the first time</li>
</ul>
<h4>2013</h4>
<ul>
<li>PrestaShop software reaches 3 million downloads</li>
<li>The Barcamp has 1500 attendees from 15 countries</li>
</ul>
<h4>2014</h4>
<ul>
<li>Raised $9.4M in funding</li>
<li>PrestaShop version 1.6 is launched with 23k downloads in the first day</li>
</ul>
<h4>2015</h4>
<ul>
<li>PrestaShop hosts the largest community day ever with 2000 attendees</li>
<li>New offices opened in Miami and Paris</li>
<li>PrestaShop launches a global Ambassador Program</li>
<li>PrestaShop launches PrestaShop Cloud</li>
<li><a href="https://www.prestashop.com/blog/en/prestashop-launches-1000000-integration-fund-community/">PrestaShop announces $1M fund for developer</a></li>
</ul>
<h4>2016</h4>
<ul>
<li>The PrestaShop community surpasses 1M members</li>
<li>PrestaShop Days in Madrid, Paris and Milan have over 3000 attendees</li>
<li>PrestaShop 1.7 is announced</li>
</ul>
Looking for more detail? Check out <a href="http://weare1million.prestashop.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">PrestaShop's timeline</a>.
As you can see from the timeline above, PrestaShop’s eye for innovation was recognized by investors almost immediately. The core features of PrestaShop itself were always impressive, and that led the way for community members to help grow the platform in the first few years of its life.
Today, PrestaShop uses that solid foundation and rich history to welcome third-party plugin and theme development (as well as the sale thereof via the <a href="http://addons.prestashop.com/en/8057-advanced-marketplace.html">PrestaShop Marketplace</a>), roll out innovative projects like PrestaShop Cloud, and expand into new regions of the world.
Speaking of which…
<h2>Big Movements In Europe &amp; South America</h2>
Europe has always been the major hotspot for PrestaShop. It was born in France, and so neighbouring nations were the first to accept it in its early stages. Today, PrestaShop is considered to be the most popular eCommerce solution in a range of european countries.
But during my tour of PrestaShop’s headquarters, I was told about the platform’s recent growth across South America.
Here’s what Leah Anathan, PrestaShop’s CMO, has to say about that growth:
<blockquote>“We are very bullish about Latin America. Today we have over 15,000 active stores in the region and the growth rates are extremely positive. To give an example, we had a meetup recently in Buenos Aires, led by one of our Ambassadors, and several hundred people showed up. The interest in PrestaShop and market opportunity in Latin America is very exciting.”</blockquote>
<h2>A Localized Foundation, A Future In The Cloud?</h2>
PrestaShop has worked hard over the years to hone their core product and bolster their theme and module library – which is today their biggest driver of revenue. The impressive features of their downloadable product, plus the option for users to localize it through translations and adaptations, has led to its phenomenal growth across the globe over the last nine years.
I expect that growth to continue, with Latin America being the latest in a long line of regions that has accepted PrestaShop, along with all its flexibility, with open arms.
In terms of the future, the release of PrestaShop Cloud – a totally free and cloud-hosted eCommerce solution – was the moment that PrestaShop entered a new market, gave their platform a new dimension, and carved out a new route forwards.
Now that PrestaShop has an on-premise and cloud-hosted offering, the potential for its growth is nothing short of exciting.
To find out more about PrestaShop, and the upcoming PrestaShop 1.7 release, check out the <a href="https://www.prestashop.com/en/1.7">PrestaShop website</a>.
Also, be sure to stick around for more coverage of PrestaShop during this PrestaShop Featured Week.

A Timeline of The Global Growth of PrestaShop

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