Articles - Page 76

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

matt-garrepy

<img style="max-width:150px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/typo3-150x150_bfwyyo.png" />
Heads up for Typo3 users: A critical security issue has been found in Typo3. All versions of TYPO3 4.3.x are affected by the flaw. According to the Typo3 website, they will release TYPO3 4.3.3 and publish mitigation advice together with a security bulletin on <a href="http://typo3.org/teams/security/security-bulletins/" target="_blank">http://typo3.org</a> on Friday, April 9 at 11:00 am CEST (9:00 am GMT).
Since this is a very important security fix, please be prepared to update your TYPO3 installations on Friday.
No further information is available at this time.

The TYPO3 security team has identified a critical security issue in the TYPO3 core

mike-johnston

With the release of Joomla 1.6, we decided now would be a good time to do a followup to our <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/joomla-1-5-review/">previous review</a>.
Installation hasn't changed and is the same number of steps so we won't cover this during our review. One thing that would be nice to see in future versions and that we would have liked to see in this release would be the automatic removal of the /installation directory at the end of the install. Right now, the installer expects the user to delete this when removing it automatically would make things slightly more convenient.  This isn't a major issue at all, just a simple nice to have that would be good to see in future releases.
The default theme that has been present for years in Joomla releases has been changed to a much plainer one:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/phpfox-580x421_f7kerk.png" />
I couldn't find any mention as to why this was changed in the release notes but it has been. I personally welcome the change, it's nice to see something different for a change. Whether you think it's actually better or not is up to you.
The administration interface has a slightly newer feel to it and some minor changes visually:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/percussion_wykes-199x300_xisnoq.jpg" alt="joomla 1.6 - 2" />
When compared to 1.5, you can see there have been some changes to the default icons such as the addition of the extension manager and a new Edit Profile icon. For comparison purposes, here's a screenshot of the 1.5 admin interface:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/joomla-1_5-1-580x258.png" alt="joomla 1.5 - 1" />
Once of the most touted new features to this release is the addition of much needed ACL functionality. As you add new articles, you'll notice the new section below the editor:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/f772689190b08068bff2c0c6dd8db184_wix_mp_fiuz2g.png" alt="joomla 1.6 - 3" />
It's great to see this level of customization has been added and it puts Joomla in a much better position to contend with some of the other options (both commercial and open source) that are on the market today.
The settings are very straight forward and easy to configure and most users should find their comfort level fairly quickly with regards to setting them up.
Users do not have to configure these individually, however. In the Article Manager, when clicking on the Options button at the top of the screen, you can set defaults for all articles as well:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/cmsc2i-300x145_qgqd2r.jpg" alt="joomla 1.6 - 4" />
There is also a new button that allows editors to save their article and immediately start a new one. A simple addition but a welcome, time saving one.
ACL can also be managed on a per category level, per module and also on individual media itself so there's definitely a solid level of granularity to the controls users now have.
Thankfully, the development team has seen fit to get rid of the Sections altogether. This is a very welcome change and has been a major annoyance (in my opinion) for a number of years. No longer is this an issue.
Moving on to the menu management module, another new addition has been made available. Users can now see which modules are linked to each specific menu. This is a very useful addition and seems to be on mark with the development teams goals for this release which include improving usability and making the system easier to use:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/joomla-1_6-5.png" alt="joomla 1.6 - 5" />
User management also shows a few new additions. Namely, the ACL functionality is present (obviously) and there is also a new function to set a default backend template style. This is a handy addition and allows the designer/developer the additional ability to further customize the experience on a per user basis.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/joomla-1_6-6-580x402.png" alt="joomla 1.6 - 6" />
Access levels and groups are a new addition as well and can be found under the new user menu:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/joomla-1_6-8.png" alt="joomla 1.6 - 8" />
As you can see, there is also the ability to mass mail users from within the backend. This is especially handy and works like a charm:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/joomla-1_6-9-580x272.png" alt="joomla 1.6 - 9" />
Under the components menu, there is a new Redirect option which allows administrators to configure 404 redirects on a per item basis or in bulk. No more 404 pages for users who follow an old link that has changed.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/cmsc3i-580x262_hixvgn.jpg" />
Moving to the management of extensions, there is now the ability to update extensions and find updates.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/joomla-1_6-7-580x93.png" alt="Joomla 1.6 -7" />
For more info on this functionality, here's a video showcasing the new capability:
Developers are also available to distribute multiple modules in a single zip file to easy installation. This is a great time saver for the administrator of the system.
From a template point of view, all core output files are written in XHTML 1.0 Strict. HTML 5 is also supported in Joomla! 1.6 which brings Joomla up to date with current standards. Furthering that, you can easily create minor template variations, which can then be assigned to specific pages on the website.
Overall, I have to say that the Joomla! development team has done an outstanding job improving the system with this release. Joomla 1.6 is a significant improvement and brings with it functionality that lifts it to a new level of competitiveness with commercial competitors.
There is no doubt that the developers were focused on improving usability and ease of use. Their commitment to doing so is very evident and I strongly recommend Joomla! as a viable alternative to those looking for a powerful content management solution.
The Joomla! development team should pat themselves on the back for a job well done.
I've no doubt there are additional changes that I didn't catch. Share your experiences in the comments.
Grab your copy from <a href="http://www.joomla.org">http://www.joomla.org</a>

Joomla 1.6 Review

<img style="max-width:710px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/cmsswitch.jpg" alt="switching CMSs" />
Your CMS is not going to last forever. Just face it. At some point, you may need to switch your CMS. Hopefully, you've made the right CMS choice from the start and won't have to go through the dreaded task of a data migration. Nonetheless, you may be experience the vague, stomach-churning misgiving that your CMS is failing you. Here's how to know for sure.

<h2>“It won't let us do that.”</h2>
This is the mother of all CMS complaints:  “It won't let us do that.” There are a couple of reasons why “it won't let us do that,” so be sure to inspect the potential causes:
<ul>
<li>Is the developer not capable? Is it a really a CMS limitation, or is it a skills limitation on the part of the CMS operator? With a bit of coding magic, much that was thought “impossible” suddenly because realistic. When you confront this complaint, try to investigate all the possible causes. There may indeed be a way forward.</li>
<li>Is the CMS incapable? Some CMSs do have legitimate limitations. If your CMS does not allow you to do something, it could be time for an upgrade.</li>
</ul>
Still, it pays to ask a few more questions. Don't get too switcheroo-happy, because changing CMSs is a gargantuan undertaking. Here's what you should find out before deciding to switch.
<ul>
<li>Is there a way around? If you want to complete a certain action with your content or site, first find out if there are fixes. Is there a plugin or extension that will let you do that? Have you searched forums to see if anyone else has encountered (or solved) the problem? What about contacting support and just asking them if they will add this functionality?</li>
<li>Is this action really necessary to your core operation? If all you wanted to do was make a miniscule aesthetic tweak, it's probably not worth switching CMSs over. If, however, you're wanting to, say, accept payments or something — yeah, you probably want to switch to a system that makes it possible.</li>
</ul>
You don't ever want to be held back by your CMS. This is 2013. Defy limitations.
<h2>“That's going to cost us extra.”</h2>
The extra-cost barrier is usually levied by proprietary CMSs. The problem arises when you want to expand operations or capability, but keep bumping into price jumps. To be sure, some price increases are legitimate, but some may actually hold you back.
It's like this. When a restaurant waiter asks you, “Do you want bacon with that?” you automatically answer “Yes.” Of course you want bacon. Bacon goes with anything, even creme brûlée. (Bacon in creme brûlée is legit.) Then you ask, “How much is it going to cost?”
That's the scenario that some businesses experience when they want an extra bell or whistle on their CMS. Of course you want the bigger more powerful widget, but the cost of upgrading comes as a coffee-spurting shock.
Herein is the danger of a proprietary CMS. These people are in the business for the money (duh). The more you want, the more you have to pay. There is nothing wrong with a solid, reputable, and robust proprietary CMS. There's no problem with paying for it. The problem, however, comes when your budget says “can't do it,” while operations say “gotta have it”
If you are getting nickel-and-dimed for every color change, added user, uploads, new page, or whatnot, it's time to start thinking:  Do I really want to keep paying for every minor tweak?
You may need to call an IT meeting this afternoon to talk about switching your CMS. Your tech budget may be draining like a sieve due to a money-grubbing proprietary CMS.
<h2>“It hasn't really had an overhaul in a few years.”</h2>
&lt;Gulp.&gt;
“A few years” in this earthly sojourn is like “a few centuries” in CMS-speak. A CMS is a living, breathing, sweating, working, pulsating living being. (Enough organism gerunds?) A CMS must evolve with the rest of the tech world, keeping pace as new technology rolls out and transforms the entire landscape of content, data, web, search, and design.
A CMS without regular upgrades is doomed to failure. It will drown every one of its users the vortex of its demise.
You cannot survive long on a CMS that fails to adapt. In “a few years,” it's going to die. Start preparing your eulogy now. A CMS that isn't updated in a few years is a CMS that's probably never going to get updated again. You have been warned.
Time for the ol' CMS switcheroo.
<h2>“We can't switch our CMS.”</h2>
If you want to switch your CMS, but “can't,” then do it anyway. If you've read any of my <a href="/" target="_blank">CMS Critic</a> articles, you've probably discovered that I lack fondness for most proprietary CMSs. It's nothing personal. One of my biggest pet peeves about the proprietary CMS industry is the fact that they want to “trap” — yes, I've heard that very term — clients for life.
You don't want to be trapped.
If you suspect or know that your CMS is holding you hostage, get out while you can. The earlier, the better. You're only going to get bigger and more complicated from this point onward. Try to extricate yourself from the clutches when you have an opportunity to do so. It's only going to get harder the longer you wait.
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
The best way to avoid nightmares, migration all-nighters, and nervous tremors not induced by caffeine intake is to get the best CMS as early as possible. The answer to “the best CMS” just depends on who you are, what you need, and how you're going to go about it. It pays to read CMS reviews. It also pays to think long and hard before making a final decision.

Four Signs It's Time to Change Your CMS

daniel-threlfall

Open source is the future
In 2016, any person who is well-informed about tech space will no longer engage in open source vs. proprietary arguments. While he or she can still take the side of proprietary software the trend is clearly seen: open source becomes mainstream, such IT giants as Google, Facebook, Apple use open source infrastructure; companies trust their content management to open source systems; at the same time its quality outpaces the one of proprietary code.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/opensourcelogo.png" />As of 2016 the following companies are investing deeply in open source: IBM, Cisco, VMware, Intel, Huawei, NEC, HPE, Ericsson, Qualcomm, Red Hat, Citrix, Oracle, EMC, AT&amp;T, Google, Facebook, China Unicom, China Mobile and Telefonica. (Source networkworld.com) 
Open source software advantages are numerous: the product is being constantly improved by thousands of developers all across the world, a business owner can clearly see “what’s in the trunk” and adapt the product to his or her eCommerce store needs anytime.
Nevertheless, for those who consider eCommerce systems to be just a tool for selling their goods or services, open source products can be still suspicious. Read on to see how we dispel doubts about open source by examining concerns related to it.
Open source doesn't mean free
Open source does not always mean free. There are paid open source solutions and so-called “freemium” products. “Freemium” models are used as a bait: they act as gateways to paid versions.
Some platforms come for free but have growing hidden fees like payment percentage, paid bandwidth, and cancellation fees. Moreover, the chosen plans tend to grow when the number of orders or revenue of your web-store increases, so expect something unexpected in your bills at the end of the month.
But be sure: nopCommerce is both free and open source. The only fee we accept is for removing “powered by nopCommerce” notice from the footer. And even this is a pure aesthetical decision not affecting the performance of the webstore in case of either presence or absence.
What should I look at in open source platforms
The head of CMS Critic, Mike Johnston, wrote a great article <a href="/how-to-select-the-best-open-source-cms/">“How to select best open source CMS</a>”, highlighting five points:
<ul>
<li>Stability: Is the CMS stable? Will it last for the long-term?</li>
<li>Support: Can I get the help I need?</li>
<li>Cost: What’s it going to cost me?</li>
<li>Flexibility: Can I move it, change it, or tweak it?</li>
<li>Security: Will my sensitive material be safe?</li>
</ul>
We think that the same points are equally fair for open source eCommerce platforms, so we will examine how nopCommerce fulfills these requirements.
Stability
nopCommerce is around since 2008 and is not going to leave the eCommerce scene. At the moment the system powers more than 27.000 sites all over the world and aims for more exposure. nopCommerce is being steadily developed and has a new version released every half a year. The system is developed in ASP.NET stack and closely follows Microsoft trends. Yet the nopCommerce team is well-aware that new technologies must be compatible with all old components, as well as secure and mature. That’s why nopCommerce is using latest technologies only when they become well-tested, connected and reliable, always keeping end users in mind.
Support
nopCommerce has two means of support, paid premium support in two languages, and free support from the product team and community on the forum. The premium support can be purchased separately and is also included in a Gold Solution partnership. As for the free support on the forums, it is also quite active with 1,700 new forum posts and 400 new topics per month.
nopCommerce also runs its own developer certification program, so there is a warranty of hiring a qualified person even for small projects. The nopCommerce team hosts an annual conference called nopCommerce Days since 2015 gathering partners and store owners from all over the world in order to exchange new ideas and support each other. The platform is far more than stable, it is rapidly developing and conquering new grounds.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EDji0uDBcQY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Security
We believe that an eCommerce platform must be secure both from external attacks as well as guarantee internal confidentiality, i.e. it must not store or collect shop-owners’ data.
Concerning the first point, nopCommerce immediately reacts with a free security patch for the community in case of any threat. Concerning the second one , nopCommerce, being a hosted solution, technically does not have access to platform’s merchants’ sensitive data like revenue and personal information.
Flexibility 
nopCommerce is a very flexible out of the box solution. It suits small businesses, yet store owners can have an access to the whole functionality close to enterprise shopping cart for free. That means they can manage the advanced catalog with no limits on a number of products and their attributes, apply different inventory methods, use a great variety of promotional tools like cross-marketing and tier prices, adjust local tax settings and much more. To switch between the advanced functionality and a simplified mode, it only requires to flick the “basic” and “advanced” switch. So no matter whether you are just a beginner in eCommerce or already managing a million-a-day visitors store, you can adapt all nopCommerce features according to your store needs.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZN5uZAW8K48?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
We also see no limits for custom work that can be done in nopCommerce. Just check out our <a href="http://www.nopcommerce.com/showcaseliveshops.aspx?utm_source=how-to-stop-worrying&amp;utm_medium=showcase-link&amp;utm_campaign=cmscritic">showcase</a> to find the deeply-customized corporate sites and sophisticated governmental portals, or watch the videos from nopCommerce Days 2016, where our solution partners present complex cases they solved with nopCommerce.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bXIK4tN4vJ0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
nopCommerce supports a lot of country-specific features out of the box, like RTL-support or local EU taxation or specific country requirements like PanGv. If some extras seem to be missing in nopCommerce, they can always be found in our <a href="http://www.nopcommerce.com/marketplace.aspx?utm_source=how-to-stop-worrying&amp;utm_medium=marketplace-link-1&amp;utm_campaign=cmscritic">marketplace</a> with more than 1400 plugins and themes being supplemented daily.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PwsmWVaCgI0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Price
Okay, let us give you a full picture. nopCommerce is free itself, but the price of running a store is also comprised of platform implementation prices and the price of plugins and themes you want to use. Yet, if one checks <a href="http://www.nopcommerce.com/marketplace.aspx?utm_source=how-to-stop-worrying&amp;utm_medium=marketplace-link-2&amp;utm_campaign=cmscritic" target="_blank">nopCommerce marketplace</a> and compares the prices with those of other popular eCommerce platforms, he/she would notice that nopCommerce can boast of generally lower prices on plugins and same prices for graphic themes. And we don’t even take into account enterprise carts with their far higher prices. nopCommerce paid services are also not that costly compared to competitors – premium support price, for instance, varies from $66 to $99 per month.
Conclusion
So, after this short journey into the world of open source software, we hope that it is well-seen that switching to or starting with nopCommerce is a wise choice, a well-made bet on the global open source trend. It is time for all business people to shrug off the prejudice that open source is done by “scruffy guys coding in their basements” and everything that is free is amateur-made. Running a business costs, but we can ease you from the burden of eCommerce platform fees and make you forget about what does “vendor lock-up” mean.
Explore the features of nopCommerce yourself on our <a href="http://www.nopcommerce.com/?utm_source=how-to-stop-worrying&amp;utm_medium=bottom-link&amp;utm_campaign=cmscritic" target="_blank">official website</a>.

How to Stop Worrying and Start Using Open Source Software

What does open source software mean to you?
For some, the term open source simply means the difference between publicly accessible, shareable and customizable software, and legally protected property. To many, it's a technical term more than anything else.
But open source software means so much more. It has the power to transform institutions, change public perception and even save lives.
Don’t believe me? Then you haven’t heard the story behind <a href="http://www.politie.nl/" target="_blank"> Netherlands’ national police force</a>.
<h2>Disbanded Beginnings</h2>
In 2012, the Dutch police force – which consists of over 63,000 workers – came to the realization that their disunity was directly impacting their role in Dutch society.
Instead of one, central police presence, 26 separate branches of the police were responsible for their own sections of the country. Digitally, this segmentation was even worse, as citizens had to go through one of 300 localized police websites in order to find the help they needed in particular locations. Talk about confusing.
Reporting crime and contacting authorities was a constant struggle, whilst keeping tabs on the police force as a whole was almost impossible.
So, despite their motto of, “Openness, Transparency and Citizen Involvement.”, the Dutch police force's, lack of unity only served to alienate the people it was trying to serve.
That is, until they were introduced to some stellar open source software. <a href="http://www.onehippo.org/" target="_blank"> Hippo CMS</a> to be precise.
<h2>Digitally United</h2>
Using Hippo CMS, the Dutch national police force were able to consolidate their 300 local websites, into one single <a href="http://www.politie.nl/" target="_blank">Dutch Police website</a>. In addition, it enabled them to offer a unified experience across web, mobile and social channels. 
 Their new mobile site utilizes the GPS functionality of mobile phones to serve locally relevant content to the mobile citizen, giving them local news and showing them their nearest police station.
Officers have also been able to bond with their local communities organically through social media, as citizens are now even able to tweet local officers asking for help, or simply to report something suspicious.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/hippopolice700x0.png" alt="Hippo CMS" /> Using the desktop or mobile site, citizens can identify their local officers, their phone numbers, and their working hours. There is even a feature which allows them to quickly send specific officers a message through the website.  
 Further features like crime maps have been implemented, showing citizens the latest crime reports by location. 
 <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/hippopolice2700x0.png" alt="Hippo CMS" />
What's more is, the Dutch police introduced a revolutionary mobile app for their press officers who work on the ground, usually around high-profile incidents. Equipped with a secure device, they can each create news via a micro-version of Hippo CMS.
They can create news items and photos directly on the street before publishing them to the police website and sharing them automatically through RSS Feeds. In fact, this new method of news publishing was so useful, the police force have since got rid of email and printed press releases altogether. So, their news is now faster and greener.  
 As Ruud Paulusse from the Dutch police is quoted to have said, it's thanks to Hippo's open source contribution that citizens across the Netherlands can; access local information, quickly find crime reports, and even contact on-duty police officers in their vicinity:
<blockquote>
“With Hippo, we rolled out the mobile site together with the desktop site. That’s the advantage of having a central Content Management System that serve content to all channels.”
</blockquote>
<h2>The Power of Open Source</h2>
Without a shadow of a doubt, Hippo CMS – under the banner of open source software – has carried out a tremendous service to the Dutch people. Never before have the public of Netherlands been so well aquainted with their police force.
 The transformation of the Dutch police force has also led to them being ranked <a href="http://www.mt.nl/494/mt500-van-2013" target="_blank">#70 in the MT500</a> – which compiles the 500 most admired institutions in the Netherlands. Tellingly, in previous years, the Dutch police had not been ranked at all.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/hippo1-1700x0.png" alt="Hippo CMS" /> Ron de Milde, Program Director of Media Policy and Digital Media for the Police, had this to say about the Dutch police's new, friendlier stance:
<blockquote>
“I am convinced that our innovations in how we inform citizens via www.politie.nl and internally via our new country-wide intranet, also thanks to using Hippo CMS, have contributed to our entering the list of the 500 “most admired” companies” 
</blockquote>
Hippo's open source platform helped the Netherlands' police to evolve. Their services were once scattered and and ineffective, yet they are now concentrated and inclusive. 
Since taking their open source plunge, the Dutch police haven't just served their people, they have integrated with them, creating a crime-fighting community. And that's a real victory – not just for any police force, but also for any open source software user. 
 After all, community is what makes open source software so great.   
 To find out more about open source software as a whole, visit the <a href="http://opensource.org/" target="_blank">Open Source Initiative</a>, where you can discover open source standards, licenses, implementations and much more.  
 And of course, be sure to check out <a href="http://www.onehippo.com/" target="_blank"> Hippo CMS</a> to explore just how they managed to transform an entire nation's police force. You can also access Hippo's blog post and case study on their police force project <a href="http://www.onehippo.com/en/resources/blogs/2014/04/can-the-police-use-software-to-deliver-better-customer-experience.html" target="_blank"> right here</a>.

How Open Source Software Transformed a Nation's Police Force

<a href="/strikingly-websitebuilder">Strikingly</a>, the website builder that specializes in responsive one-pagers, has introduced a number of noteworthy updates.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/strikingly-1.png" /> Chosen as one of the few website builders to be covered by Website Builders Critic, <a href="/strikingly-websitebuilder">Strikingly</a> has grown into a very effective website builder, taking charge of the need for one-pager business and portfolio websites.
Here's what's new with Strinkingly.
<h2>Perspective, MailChimp &amp; RSS</h2>
Firstly, there's a new template for Strikingly users to personalize. Perspective is a masonry-style theme, perfect for those with high quality images to show off.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/unnamed.gif" />
Strikingly Pro users now get MailChimp support. The update means that users can collect emails from their Strikingly website, which links directly with a configurable MailChimp email list.
Furthermore, Strikingly have added an RSS feed for all Strikingly blogs, allowing readers to subscribe far more easily.
To find out more about Strikingly, <a href="http://www.websitebuilderscritic.com/out/strikingly" target="_blank">check out their website</a>.
You can also check out our <a href="https://www.websitebuilderscritic.com/search/?q=strikingly" target="_blank">Strikingly video tutorials on Website Builders Critic</a>.

Strikingly Introduces New Template, Mailchimp & RSS Support

The company has been around for four years, and what started as a university project by the founders Gustav Degerman and Hamid Abouei today has nearly half a million users in 150 countries. The founders are now hoping to reach students around the world, with a new campaign which means that schools can register with Portfoliobox and offer their students the Portfoliobox pro account for free.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/portfoliobox_11542x0-is.jpg" />
<ul>
<li>We know that a large part of our users today are students. This way we are hoping to reach even more of them, and hopefully give them a way to start establishing themselves online before they graduate. Portfoliobox is a great tool for marketing yourself as a creative professional, said Hamid Abouei.</li>
<li>We have also noticed that there is a great demand for a student solution. Even before we officially launched the project we had interest from both schools and students. We were contacted by someone at an Art School in the US the day after we held a seminar at a school in Stockholm – he had already heard that we were launching the campaign and wanted in, which is amazing, says Gustav Degerman.</li>
</ul>
Schools participate free of charge in the campaign, which will offer all students at registered schools the Portfoliobox pro account. Alumni are also able to use the service at a discounted price for the first year, it is all part of helping students establish themselves on the competitive creative market.
Read more at: <a href="http://www.portfoliobox.net" target="_blank">www.portfoliobox.net</a> or <a href="http://www.portfoliobox.net/students" target="_blank">http://www.portfoliobox.net/students</a>

Portfoliobox website builder will now be free for students

MODX Cloud users can now enjoy enhanced workflows, a more pleasant user experience thanks to bug fixes, and a more future-proof platform.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/modx-color.png" />The cloud platform now serves sites via PHP 5.6.x and nginx 1.8.x. Most sites should perform faster thanks to improved opcache and code efficiency.Other highlights include:<ul><li>Improved documentation for SSL, nginx rewrites and overall organization.</li><li>Improved reliability and behavior of robots.txt when the same domain was accidentally added to multiple times or to multiple Clouds.</li><li>Fixed a bug with next invoice display for some users.</li><li>Solved a bug where some users had blank pages requiring a refresh when Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) was enabled.</li><li>Updated the billing system to accommodate the upcoming launch of Private Servers.</li><li>And finally, don’t forget anyone can test sites running under SSL for free when building new projects on the internal c000X.paas… MODX Cloud URLs.</li></ul><h2>More Data Centers Coming</h2><a target="_blank" href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1RXnsH9Xtsq-l1JM6NFHqLiEqLRakVlF9FgoT9ozbKrI/viewform">MODX also sureyed users recently</a>, asking where in the world they would like to see the next data centre.Frankfurt was apparently the winner by a large margin, and so MODX have identified it as their next server location. They also plan on setting up in London, Austrailia and Canada.For more information on this release, <a target="_blank" href="http://modx.com/blog/2015/07/23/modx-cloud-update-july-23-2015/">check out the official announcement</a>

MODX Cloud Updated, More Servers On The Way

Call Tracking + AI 

Call Tracking + AI that Turns Calls into Leads

#ffffff

In December of 2009, Kentico released version 5 of their flagship content management system for Microsoft .NET. Kentico has long been heralded as an innovator in the CMS market and since our preview review (<a href="/kentico-the-cms-for-the-net-generation/">read it here</a>) we wanted to see what has changed.
<h3>So what's new in Kentico 5?</h3>
Optimizations
Optimizations to the way Kentico handles records in the database and preparations to make the CMS more enterprise-ready have been put in place. What does this mean? Well, to start with.. the CMS has already been optimized to work with 1,000,000 users and 100,000 documents in the database.
Batch Functions
One of the frustrations of previous versions was the inability to perform batch functions. Well, the developers listened, and now you can now easily copy, move, delete and publish multiple documents including all child documents.
SQL Server Replication
Kentico CMS can now use SQL Server Replication, meaning you are no longer limited to a single database but can copy your database over multiple SQL Servers to get higher performance and reliability from the system.
Improved UI Customization
With version 5.0, the administrator can enable/disable menu items or parts of dialogs to simplify the user experience and only show the features that the user really needs. It also allows you to personalize the WYSIWYG editor toolbar on an individual user basis.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/uipersonalization-580x445_eg2ekp.jpg" alt=" width=" /> Kentico UI Personalization – Click to enlarge
Widgets (Web Parts)
Kentico 5 introduces widgets (or web parts) to the interface, allowing end users to add dynamic features, such as forms, polls, newsletter subscription and others to the widget zones defined by developer. Widgets can also be used on a personalized home page, similar to iGoogle.com which is useful if you build an intranet or community portal.
Improved Visual Design
The new release also brings with it a new design, which allows users to easily change the look of the system by simply replacing graphics with their own.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/kentico-5-review-2-580x316_rcmf5j.jpg" alt="Kentico 5 New Design" /> Kentico 5 New Design – Click to enlarge
Active Directory Synchronization and Importing
A huge new feature for Kentico 5 is the introduction of the Active Directory import utility. This allows you to periodically synchronize users from Active Directory into Kentico CMS and is a very welcome change. With such a large number of corporations using AD, it's great to see this new utility make it's way into this latest release.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/adimport-580x440_wxqvms.jpg" alt="Kentico 5 Active Directory Import Utility" /> Kentico 5 Active Directory Import Utility – Click to enlarge
Kentico, as always, comes loaded with pretty much everything one can think of. It's fast, it's attractive and the learning curve is not as steep as some of it's competitors.
In a market where ease of use is almost always the number one priority for those considering implementing a new system, Kentico is poised in the top tier of systems.
Interested in trying this amazing CMS? You can <a href="http://www.kentico.com/Download.aspx">download</a> your copy today or try the online <a href="http://www.kentico.com/Demo.aspx">Virtual Lab</a>.
Learn more at <a href="http://www.kentico.com">http://www.kentico.com</a>

Kentico Review: .NET at it's finest

LightCMS have announced yet more enhancements related to blogging, giving users greater control of when blog posts are published, customization ability, and additional search engine optimization related enhancements.
The popular platform allows you to have a website ready in just a few clicks, along with a suite of tools and features including eCommerce, blogging, stats, and more.
Team members over at LightCMS have certainly been busy recently. This is the third notable update in just over a month, with <a href="/lightcms-announce-new-social-features-interface-changes/" target="_blank">interface changes</a> and <a href="/lightcms-improve-website-security-through-ftps/" target="_blank">security improvements</a> being recently unveiled.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/lightcms.jpg" alt="LightCMS" /> 
For today's news though, let's take a look at what's new for LightCMS bloggers.
<h2>Publish Time, Meta Tags Description &amp; More</h2>
LightCMS have introduced four new blogging features with this update, and here they are below:
<ul>
<li>Publish Time: Makes it possible to write posts in advance and schedule them for publication at a future date and time.</li>
<li>Meta Tag Description: Each blog post now automatically uses the post summary for the Meta tag description by default.</li>
<li>HTML Head Fields: You can now you to enter custom header content such as JavaScript, CSS, or additional meta tags for each blog post. This functionality was previously available for pages only.</li>
<li>“Read More” Links: This user-customizable text displays at the end of the blog summary. Clicking the link displays the full blog post.</li>
</ul>
Also, LightCMS have thrown in some extra fixes and enhancements to go with these new blogging features. For example, files with SVG extensions are now supported by the file uploader, whilst copying a website now automatically creates it as a trial.
You can read about each of these new features and fixes in greater detail over at LightCMS' blog announcement.
Interestingly, LightCMS have also seized this opportunity to begin displaying their release notes. Release notes for this update, as well as all future LightCMS updates, can be found here.
To find out more about LightCMS, check out their website.
Also, be sure to explore more of  LightCMS via our CMS Directory.

LightCMS Rolls Out Blogging Enhancements

Founded in 2008, <a href="http://www.dudamobile.com/" target="_blank"> Duda</a> is a platform which enables you to build optimized multi-screen websites. 
 Initially, <a href="/duda-website-builder">Duda</a> was a white label product, but in 2011 the company made its services publicly available on its website, swiftly moving to launch DudaMobile – a user-friendly and mobile-friendly website builder. <a href="/duda-website-builder">Duda</a> has partnered with some of the world's leading companies, including Google, Yahoo and AT&amp;T. 
 I recently had the pleasure of asking Duda's Co-founder and CEO Itai Sadan a few questions about the history of Duda, what the platform is capable of, and where he sees the website building industry heading. 
<h2>Itai Sadan</h2>
Itai Sadan founded Duda to help small businesses connect with potential customers anywhere, anytime and anyplace. Itai started the company from his garage in Mountain View, CA, with his high school friend, Amir Glatt, who is now CTO. In 2008 they both noticed how the Internet was shifting towards mobile and the need for small businesses to create mobile optimized sites to attract customers on the go.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/itai-headshot200x0.jpg" alt="Itai Sadan" />
Itai's mobile web expertise has been cited by USA Today, Website Magazine, The Huffington Post, Mobile Entertainment and more. 
He speaks regularly on the local, mobile and social space, at industry events hosted by such organizations as BIA Kelsey, Constant Contact, Local Search Association and the Israeli Conference. 
Prior to founding Duda, Itai was a director at SAP where he managed the SAP Discovery System program and was in charge of relationships with IBM, HP and Fujitsu. At age 21, he also founded InterSight, a start-up for data storage. Itai has a BSc in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of Ben Gurion in Israel.
<h2>The Interview</h2>
<h3>Can you tell us about yourself, your background, and how you came to be a part of Duda?</h3>
My name is Itai Sadan, I'm the CEO and Co-Founder of Duda. Duda helps small business get online. We have over 5 million customers that have built mobile sites and full responsive websites on our platform. 
I was originally born in Israel, moved to the US nine years ago, live in Mountain View CA and have a wife and two kids. I have had the entrepreneurial disease since I can remember myself. I started my first company at the age of 21 selling software to small businesses. 
Today, eighteen years later, I'm still building and selling software to small businesses. I love the space, I love being able to connect directly with the customer, being able to see how what you do helps them grow their business and better connect with customers. Prior to Duda, I worked for SAP for six years. I left SAP to start Duda together with my long time high school friend Amir who is the other co-founder and CTO.
<h3> When did Duda come about, and what was the original objective of the Duda team? </h3>
I started Duda in late 2008. With the proliferation of mobile devices and the growing amount of web traffic originating from mobile phones, I wanted to find a way to help small businesses take advantage of this growing opportunity. To help them better connect and engage with their mobile customers by optimizing their websites to be more mobile-friendly. 
I was still working at SAP at the time and Duda was a side project I worked on during nights and weekends for quite a while. Then in the beginning of 2010 as a deal with AT&amp;T started becoming more imminent, I left SAP and started focusing on Duda full time.
<h3> Duda is a leader within the website builder industry, particularly when it comes to mobile websites. At this moment in time, where do you see the industry heading? </h3>
I see everything moving towards multi-screen. We can no longer look at mobile as only phones. There's tablets, the GPS's in our cars are getting connected to the Internet like in the Tesla, there's wearables like Google Glass that have a browser built-in. When developing websites, we need to consider all these different screen sizes. 
It is becoming a daunting task to build a website for each of these devices, hence Duda has created a truly unique site builder which we just launched earlier this year called DudaOne. DudaOne was built from the ground up to enable small businesses and web professional to simply create a responsive site that works on all screens, currently focused on desktop, tablet and mobile.
<h3> What would you say Duda's greatest achievement is? </h3>
Our biggest milestone is recently crossing the mark of five million sites hosted on our platform. Yet, we don't really focus much on that metric, our focus is on making the product simple to use for the average user and powerful enough for the more advanced user. 
We think that if we can get that formula right, all the other metrics will take care of themselves including getting to the the next five million customers.
<h3> What is the biggest advantage to using Duda over its rival products? Which features stand out the most? </h3>
Duda has a few extremely unique capabilities that no other website builder has:
1. Auto Creation – Duda has developed unique algorithms that scour the web for relevant content a business
already has on the Internet, be it on an existing website, Facebook, Yelp, Twitter, Google Places, etc. We are able to collect all this content (images, text, videos, etc.), make sense of it, and automatically place it into our beautiful templates – and just with a click of a button.
This means our users not only get an amazing head start, as we do all the heavy lifting for them, but also save a lot of time, effort and money. Our competitors require their users to start from scratch. All their users begin from the exact same starting point, a blank template. They expect a plumber or a dentist to put on the hat of a marketing guy and build a site with great content that converts well. We on the other hand, do it all for them.
2. Multi Screen – Duda was built from the ground up as a multi-screen platform. All sites built on Duda are
optimized for desktop, tablet and mobile. We go beyond responsive design by allowing users to modify the content per each device. This means you can hide content, add content, change navigation and more per device. As a long time mobile player, we understand that visitors coming to your site from different devices have different needs.
Our competitors think desktop first and all the other devices are treated as an afterthought. They do not allow you to customize the content per device.
3. Duda Sites Work for You – The content on Duda sites, from our effective template designs to business-driving widgets, were all built to help small businesses grow. Through features like click-to-call,
click-to-map, coupons and reservations widget, we prove to our customers that we can help them convert their visitors into customers.
Last month we generated over 1,000,000 calls to businesses via our click-to-call widget, over 400,000 people clicked on our maps widget looking for directions to a business, and over 170,000 clicked on the open table reservation widget. We are constantly thinking of how we can make the perfect site for our customer's customer.
<h3> Duda offers an interesting partner program. Can you tell us a little more about that? </h3>
Our Duda Partner program is a key focus of the company. It is targeted at web professionals, agencies, marketers and web designers. It enables them to build websites or mobile sites in a very quick and easy way. 
In addition, the program provides discounted pricing on a per site basis, it gives partners access to specific features that they need. For example, white label access to their clients, branded preview tools, priority support, training material and more.
<h3> What is Duda's next goal? What can we expect to see coming down the road in future releases? </h3>
There is something very exciting that we are working on and is currently in beta. It's called Duda inSite and it provides the ability to automatically personalize a website based on different aspects like time of day, location of the user, device type etc. 
It's pretty exciting and I think it will be a very big hit. No other company has brought these type of capabilities to small businesses before.
<h3> Beyond tablets and smartphones, is Duda keeping tabs on emerging technology, such as wearable technology? In the future, what new areas could we see the website builder industry as a whole move into? </h3>
We had a Hackathon at Duda earlier in the year and one of the teams built a prototype of how a website would look like on Google Glass. It was pretty cool to develop that functionality as navigating a website on Google Glass is not very intuitive and with some modifications that can be done via the Duda platform, the experience could be much improved. We did things like making call to actions much bigger and more prominent on the page, so it is easier for a Google Glass user to click on them. 
I can't commit at this point as to if and when this functionality will be available publicly, but we are all the time thinking about the future of web design and wearables are definitely part of it.
 Thank you for your time Mr. Sadan. 
 Are you interested in what Duda are offering? <a href="http://www.dudamobile.com/" target="_blank"> Check out their website builder</a>.

Interview with Itai Sadan, Co-founder & CEO of Duda

Today we're continuing our three-part <a target="_blank" href="http://www.prestashop.com/">PrestaShop</a> interview series with Sabrina Marechal, the company's Director of Product Marketing.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/gi_149548_vertical-logo-2015.png" />PrestaShop has experienced rapid growth in recent months, holding more influence in the eCommerce industry than ever before.Part one of this interview series saw Sarah Marechal and I discuss PrestaShop's user experience. Now, we move on to part two, shifting our focus to the platform's statistical approach to eCommerce.<h2>Introducing Sabrina Marechal</h2><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sabrina2250x0.jpg" alt="Sabrina Marechal" />Sabrina Marechal joined the PrestaShop team back in November 2007 as a Communications specialist.As PrestaShop expanded, she built a Marketing and Communications department within the company gathering 20+ team members. By early 2011, Sabrina has moved to PrestaShop's US office in order to create a Marketing Department responsible for PrestaShop's expansion in the Americas.Today, with a fully cross-border Marketing team, Sabrina now focuses on expanding the platform's area of Product Marketing.<h2>The Interview</h2>KI: It's no secret that PrestaShop has increased its focus on statistics since the release of version 1.6. What benefits do PrestaShop users get from their stat-filled admin panel?SM: Well, statistics are really important to know where you stand in terms of business success.For example, just because you sell a lot of products, it doesn’t mean you’re making a lot of money. You need to look at your net margin to be sure, and factor in your ad expenses and other costs.It’s also important to know your conversion rate, to make sure everything runs smoothly in your order process. You can also have lots of traffic but no conversion, which lets you know what and where your website needs to improve.We placed the statistics in many key areas, so our merchants always know how their business is doing.KI: In your view, how is PrestaShop better at providing statistics when compared with competitors?SM: We’re the only solution that offers a real-time calculation of a store’s net margin (which is free!) We also have the strongest open source ecommerce community in the world, with developers creating new addons focusing on more complex aspects of statistics depending on the merchant's needs.The possibilities are just… endless ?KI: PrestaShop's profit forecasting feature is an extremely interesting one. Can you tell us a little more about it?SM: This feature lets you set the objectives you want to reach every month, and then, it tells you if you’re on tracks or not to reach them, as well as estimating how much you’ll make based on your current volumes and trends.KI: Is there currently a way for users to create reports or export their statistical data? (If not:) Is this a feature that PrestaShop has on its to-do list? (If so:) Can you tell us exactly how a user can do that?SM: We don’t offer yet this feature natively in the software, but our Community has already developed many new modules and plugins for the Dashboard with additional statistics and calculations.<h3>Part Three Pending</h3>Be sure to check back with us for the third and final part of this interview series, where Sarah Marechal and I will discuss what the future holds for PrestaShop and its global user base.Find out more about <a href="/products/prestashop">PrestaShop through our CMS Directory</a>.

PrestaShop & Statistics: An Interview With Sabrina Marechal

In a market that sometimes seems to be over-saturated with vendors vying for your dollar, it's always interesting to see how the various vendors are changing to stay competitive.  cmScribe has been around for a number of years but has recently “pulled the current software apart and rebuilt it on the latest versions of .NET and Ajax to specifically address web developers' workflow and UI expectations.”
I was offered an opportunity recently to take a look at the new product and here are my thoughts.
cmScribe is a SaaS-based content management system with what I would consider a very reasonable price point. Currently, their product is not available for commercial purchase but the tentative numbers are as follows:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/03/criticschoice_emblem-150x150.png" />
There are quite a few options in the SaaS arena but not very many of them are priced as competitively as this one, in my opinion. I'm eager to see how widely adopted the system becomes once it's officially released.
Please keep in mind that this review is based on an existing beta and, as such, there may be bugs or glitches that I identify. These may not necessarily still be present in the final product.
I was given a demo site to use for this review that was pre-populated with data. Once I logged in with the designer role, I was presented with the following screen:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/03/criticschoice_logo-1024x173.jpg" />
You can see in the picture above that in the top left beside the logo for cmScribe there are three icons that look like this:
<img style="max-width:99px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2011-06-26-at-8_07_16-am-580x272_hy6y9u.png" />
These are used to enter the various modes of page display. For instance, the left being edit mode, then manage mode, and finally, live mode. The screenshot above shows edit mode. Clicking on any of the available green edit buttons brings up a simple ckEditor window for quick editing of content:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/03/cmscritic_logos-1024x372.jpg" />
Editing the content is pretty straight forward and I experienced no issues using the editor. cmScribe uses Ajax to load the various options and I found load time to be very quick. There is also the ability to create a new page which is equally as quick.
The next mode, manage mode.
Once active, the toolbar at the top becomes active with the following functions.
It also presents a screen that looks like this:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/03/cmscritic_logos_2.jpg" />
In this mode, you have the ability to add panels to the various active areas, edit the ones that have something to change, manage the styles and edit the template. One of the things that might potentially confuse new users are the icons on the various areas. For instance, the move icon on the left (pictured below) led me to believe I had the ability to drag and drop the basic content within the various active regions.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/03/display_banners.jpg" />
This isn't the case, however. You have to actually click on the icon to get the option to move it. This obviously isn't a major issue but could certainly lead to confusion for new users. Hovering over this icon should probably present an info pop-up advising users how to use it, currently, it states that you use it to move the panel but it doesn't make it obvious that you need to click on it.
Clicking on Page Settings on the top bar gives a variety of options to configure on a per page basis:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/03/cmscritic_marketing.jpg" />You can also navigate to the various CMS settings using the drop down menu in the top right:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/03/cmsexpert_page.jpg" />
The majority of the options and their respective pages are pretty straightforward to I won't focus too much on the obvious ones other than to say they load fast, work as intended and are easy to understand.
One of the options I found the most interesting is the Content Prototypes option. Clicking this one presents a page such as this:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/cmscribe-8-580x431.png" />
This is a very easy to use way to build content templates which I found exceptionally well put together. Adding the various elements works with drag and drop and clicking on the names (when in blue) presents individual settings for said option. Example:
<img style="max-width:579px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/cmscribe-11.png" />
I have to say, this is one of the best setups I've seen for constructing content templates and it was pleasing and easy to use. I think cmScribe took one of the greatest frustrations new users have and made it simple.  I'm duly impressed.
That's it for Manage mode.
Live mode is simply a preview of how the site looks once you've completed your edits.
For those unsure how to use the system or who require additional assistance, cmScribe has also provided a number of videos that demonstrate how to go from  html/css/javascript and graphical assets to a completed cmScribe website: <a href="http://www.cmscribe.com/support/Developer-Videos/97/" target="_blank">http://www.cmscribe.com/support/Developer-Videos/97/</a>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
cmScribe has put together an excellently valued SaaS based CMS here. They've taken the most difficult portions of web development and made them as easy as possible and they have done so successfully.
We'll have to wait to see how the final product looks but I have no problem recommending this system to anyone looking for an easy-to-use .NET system that is SaaS based (hosted).
Check them out at <a href="http://www.cmscribe.com">http://www.cmscribe.com</a>

cmScribe Review - a slick combination of .NET and Ajax

Weglot - The easiest way to translate a website

The easiest way to translate a website

#18164c

Explore a wide range of informative articles, insights, and industry updates. Stay informed and ahead of the curve with our diverse collection of news and posts covering the latest trends and developments in the industry. Page - 76

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Call Tracking + AI that Turns Calls into Leads

The easiest way to translate a website