Articles - Page 90

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

matt-garrepy

<a href="https://www.drupal.org" target="_blank">Drupal 7</a> users can now make use of Ecwid on their Drupal sites, a popular and lightweight eCommerce solution.
Ecwid is shopping cart that seamlessly integrates with existing websites. It can also be added to your page on social media networks, such as Facebook or mySpace.
After securing itself as an <a href="/ecommerce-integration-arrives-for-wordpress.com-business/" target="_blank">integrated eCommerce option for WordPress.com Business users</a> as well as Joomla users, Ecwid has now entered the world of Drupal, too. The third most popular CMS around according to the statistics.
<h2>Ecwid for Drupal 7</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/drupal_storefront700x0.png" alt="Eciwd Drupal 7" />
There's already an Ecwid module for Drupal 6, which Ecwid admit is “outdated”. Mostly because it wasn't compatible with Drupal 7.
The new Ecwid module for Drupal 7 inherits the functionality from the Drupal 6 module and brings a lot of the new features and improvements. Among the new features for Ecwid on Drupal 7 are:
<ul>
<li>Nice and intuitive design for module settings pages. Completely revamped plugin backend make setting up a store a piece of cake.</li>
<li>The Drupal module supports Google AJAX Crawling technology to help Google find product and category pages in your store.</li>
<li>More SEO improvements ensure better store indexation in search engines. These include:
<ul>
<li>Auto-generated meta tags (title, description, canonical) on the product and category pages</li>
<li>Microdata-formatted product descriptions to make products appear as rich snippets in search engine results pages.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/drupal_backend700x0.png" alt="Eciwd Drupal 7" />
To download Ecwid for Drupal 7, <a href="https://www.drupal.org/project/ecwid_shopping_cart" target="_blank">check out the download page</a>.
For further information on Eciwd for Drupal 7, read their <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/new-ecwid-module-gives-drupal-users-a-new-way-to-sell-online/" target="_blank">official blog announcement</a>. Plus, you can explore more of Ecwid via our CMS Directory.

New Ecwid Module Gives Drupal Users a New Way to Sell Online

mike-johnston

There are plenty of different options when it comes to commenting systems. For those using a CMS, there are often integrated solutions that offer commenting capabilities (such as WordPress comments for instance) but if you are looking to find the right solution for your clients and your own website, should you be using one that showcases the full engagement experience.
Today, I'm going to offer up my reasoning behind what I think is the best commenting system for your website.
When it comes to engaging a community nowadays, there are many different ways that readers and fans will interact with you. People don't just use comment systems anymore. With Twitter and Facebook, very often sharing a post can be a starting points to all kinds of discussions about your content, so why are you not capturing these discussions and sharing them with your website visitors as well?
When I moved this website from WordPress to Processwire, I made one critical mistake, I installed Disqus as the default commenting system instead of Livefyre. It's not that Disqus is a bad platform but quite frankly, it just doesn't do enough. Livefyre on the other hand, offers the ability to pull in Facebook and Twitter discussions about your post automatically and present them all in a beautiful way. As a developer of websites, not installing this for your clients is, quite frankly, doing them a disservice. Why haven't I moved to Livefyre? Sadly, once you are on Disqus, there is no reliable way to switch without losing all of your existing comments and doing that would just be foolish. (Update: I just received an email from Livefyre stating that they can in fact import from Disqus, so watch for a switch to occur here soon). Disqus still works well for me, but I've lost the ability to bring in my social engagement, a mistake I sorely regret. Fortunately if you run WordPress, Disqus syncs with WordPress comments so you can easily make the switch to Livefyre and not lose anything but for those of us who don't use WordPress, that is not a possibility.
Take my wife's blog for example. She receives well over 350,000 unique visitors each month and has an incredibly active social community. Some of her posts are discussed more on Facebook and Twitter than anywhere else. For instance, her How to Make the Best Buttercream Icing recipe has almost 700 comments.
Here's a screenshot from a recent recipe she did for <a href="http://www.thekitchenmagpie.com/classic-beef-tomato-macaroni-soup">Classic Beef &amp; Tomato Macaroni Soup Recipe</a>. As you can see, there were no normal comments left but plenty of people had something to say on Facebook:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/snapshot1.png" alt="the best commenting system for your website" />
Now let's assume you are an advertiser or someone looking to partner with her, you come to her blog and see the engagement right on one of her posts and instantly, you can tell that she has a very active social following and want to work with her. This is an invaluable asset to anyone looking to showcase the strength of their community and who doesn't want to do that?
Disqus on the other hand, while offering a good all around commenting system does not have this ability and as such, simply is an inferior product. Furthermore, if you aren't installing this for your clients, you are in my opinion, failing to offer the best bang for their buck. Livefyre won't cost them a cent and lets them see and showcase their social engagement, something that everyone should be interested in doing. Nowadays, it's hard to get comments for people. Most of the time, people aren't interested in registering for yet another account or filling in a form just to make a quick comment but they are far more willing to reply to a tweet or post with a Facebook account they already have.
There will, of course, be those that argue there are issues with Livefyre but in the many years we've run it on Karlynn's blog (and given her numbers I think it's a fairly good test case) and others, we've seen nothing but benefits. In my opinion, it simply is the best commenting system for your website.
Check it out here: <a href="http://www.livefyre.com">http://www.livefyre.com</a>
Discuss your choice with our community.

The Best Commenting System for your Website

eZPublish has long been known as a major player in the open source market, especially when it comes to the publishing world. In order to both improve their products' ease of use and to provide an all encompassing solution, they have created an all in one eZ Publish installer.
This installer packages a Mysql database, an Apache web server instance with PHP and of course <a href="http://ez.no/download">eZ Publish</a>.
Walkthrough
You can download the installer from the <a href="http://ez.no/company/news/new_installer_released_ez_publish_is_only_a_few_clicks_away">eZ Publish website</a>, it is available for Windows and Mac systems. Once downloaded, simply double click on the executable and you'll be presented with the following screen (we have only tested the windows version so screens may vary slightly on the Mac).
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ezpublish-installer1.jpg" alt="eZ Publish installer" />
Simply clicking next will take you to the component selection screen. This screen should really just be a confirmation screen as there really is no option to select anything being that it's all greyed out.. but it's a new installer so we'll go easy on them ?
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elie-auvray-100x100_eucy5e.jpg" alt="eZ Publish installer" />
Once you've chosen what options you can, proceeding you will be greeted with the screen below which identifies the versions to be installed and the necessary ports that will be used:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ezpublish-installer3.jpg" alt="eZ Publish installer" />
You are then provided with the opportunity to create your administrator account:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ezpublish-installer4.jpg" alt="eZ Publish installer" />
And now the installation process begins:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/knowledgetree-daniel-chalef-100x100_vvqzgp.png" alt="eZ Publish installer" />
Once the install is complete, your default browser will automatically launch the page below which provides some additional information. It is important to keep in mind that this installer does not fully install eZPublish for you but rather installs and prepares the included applications and the ezPublish installer. What this means is that clicking finish will then take you through the ezPublish installation that we're used to without prompting for database details, etc.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ezpublish-installer6-575x400.jpg" alt="eZ Publish installer" />
Once you've clicked on Finish installation, you will then be taken through a few ezPublish install screens:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ezpublish-installation1-575x399.png" alt="eZ Publish installer" />
Normally, the installer will download a remote site package list and present you with options, but since our test machine is behind a secured network, firewall and proxy, it was not permitted to do so. What we do at this point is open the remote repository URL provided, download the necessary packages and then upload them via this page below.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ezpublish-installation2-575x488.png" alt="eZ Publish installer" />
You then have the option of submitting site details to eZ Systems which they will use to track the type of installs and other basic information.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ezpublish-installation3-575x563.png" alt="eZ Publish installer" />
Now the installation is complete and you can proceed to your administrator panel or the default website.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ezpublish-installation4-575x395.png" alt="eZ Publish installer" />
And here is the default website (providing you selected the eZ Flow template set).
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ezpublish-installation5-575x503.png" alt="eZ Publish installer" />
We won't be covering the administrative interface in this article as it is quite involved but this gives you a good idea as to how the system and the installer works. It's obvious they've done a lot of work on improving the comfort zones of their customers and they have indeed come a long way in recent years. We can only hope for more improvements and enhancements down the road.
You can read more about or download eZ Publish from their <a href="http://ez.no">website</a>.

eZ Publish Installer Overview

<a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2014/11/wordpress-4-1-beta-1/" target="_blank">WordPress 4.1</a> is on the horizon. The first beta will give us a taste of the latest features soon to be added to the most popular CMS on earth (<a href="/wordpress-is-a-cms-whether-you-like-it-or-not/" target="_blank">Yes, WordPress is a CMS</a>). 
The most recent major release, <a href="/wordpress-4.0-benny-released-with-editing-interface-improvements/" target="_blank">WordPress 4.0 Benny</a>, introduced a number of handy features, including an improved media manager and an easier editing interface.
WordPress 4.1 looks to bring some equally exciting additions. For one, the brand new default theme called Twenty Fifteen actually looks pretty slick and usable, as opposed to previous WordPress default themes, which many (including myself) only ever saw as placeholders.
<h2>Sleek Theme &amp; Distraction-free Content Creation</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/tf8-1024x796700x0.jpg" alt="WordPress 4.1" />
Version 4.1 is only in early Beta of course, but here's what we know it has on offer so far:
<ul>
<li>A shiny new WordPress default theme, <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2014/09/09/twenty-fifteen/">Twenty Fifteen</a> that looks very clean. It's a mobile-first, blog-focused theme designed with simplicity in mind.</li>
<li>A new <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2014/11/11/focus-v2-demo-video/">distraction-free writing mode for the editor </a> . It’s enabled by default for the beta, so you can go in and test it right off the bat.</li>
<li>The ability to automatically install new language packs right from the General Settings screen (available as long as your site’s filesystem is writable).</li>
<li>A new inline formatting toolbar for images embedded into posts.</li>
</ul>
Plus, the WordPress developers will have plenty to chew on once WordPress 4.1 drops:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2014/10/20/update-on-query-improvements-in-4-1/"> Improvements to meta, date, comment, and taxonomy queries </a> , including complex queries; and querying comment types.</li>
<li>A single term shared across multiple taxonomies is now split into two when updated. </li>
<li>A new and better way for  <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2014/10/29/title-tags-in-4-1/"> themes to handle title tags </a> .</li>
<li>Several  <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2014/10/27/toward-a-complete-javascript-api-for-the-customizer/"> improvements to the Customizer API </a> , including contextual panels and sections, and JavaScript templates for controls.</li>
</ul>
If you want to get in on the Beta action, you can make use of the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/" target="_blank">official WordPress Beta Plugin</a>, or you can simply <a href="https://wordpress.org/wordpress-4.1-beta1.zip" target="_blank">download the beta from here</a>.
Naturally, the core aim of any beta is for the vendor to obtain feedback. So make sure you <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta" target="_blank">give WordPress a heads up on any bugs or issues you find</a>.

First Beta Released for WordPress 4.1

123-Reg has accidentally wiped out all of their VPS servers, along with all the customer websites that had the misfortune of running on them.
I hate to say “I told you so”, but I told you so; with my recent article on <a href="/avoid-123-reg/">why you should avoid 123-Reg at all costs</a>.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/158x106-123-reg-logo.png" alt="158x106-123-reg-logo" />
Unfortunately for some, sticking with 123-Reg has cost them their websites, and perhaps even their businesses.
<h2>That Wasn't In The Script</h2>
Some time on April 16th 2016, 123-Reg ran a script to show them the number of active machines against the master database. A routine event, I'm sure. But the result was anything but.
Here's what 123-Reg said happened next:
<blockquote>
“An error on the script showed ‘zero-records' response from the database for some live VPS. For those customers, this created a ‘failure' scenario – showing no VM's and effectively deleting what was on the host.
As a result of our team's investigations, we can conclude that the issues faced having resulted in some data loss for some customers.”
</blockquote>
That's an excerpt from an email they sent out to customers. Essentially, what they're getting at is; they deleted all the websites on their VPS servers. Pretty horrifying stuff.
<h2>Gone, And Maybe Forgotten</h2>
At this moment in time, nobody but 123-Reg knows how many websites were actually deleted. Their statement above seems to indicate that everybody using one of their VPS plans (Which start from $170 per year) can expect a total wipeout.
Although, the same email indicates that they may be able to restore some instances:
<blockquote>
“We have recovery running on the VPS servers and some are restoring to new disks. We have also begun copying recovered VPS images to new hosts and we expect some VPS to be back up and running throughout the night and in to tomorrow.”
</blockquote>
However, in what would appear to be a contradiction,123-Reg recently took to Twitter to urge customers with local backups to try and restore their own websites.
<blockquote>
Customers that have a local backup of their VPS are advised to rebuild their servers following these instructions <a href="https://t.co/e7y8s1q8l1">https://t.co/e7y8s1q8l1</a>
— 123-reg (@123reg) <a href="https://twitter.com/123reg/status/722005372026761216">April 18, 2016</a>
</blockquote>

A worrying sign indeed.
So if you're currently asking yourself if 123-Reg will be able to restore your lost website, I'm afraid it's looking like nobody knows the answer just yet. Not even 123-Reg themselves.
<h2>Twitter Turmoil</h2>
Following this hosting horror show, 123-Reg customers vented their frustration through Twitter. Here are some highlights.
<blockquote>
Oh. <a href="https://twitter.com/123reg">@123reg</a> appear to have managed to wipe every VPS they host, and are telling customers to do their own rebuilds: <a href="https://t.co/jPKz0gwEwE">https://t.co/jPKz0gwEwE</a>
— Jamie Hoyle (@mightyshakerjnr) <a href="https://twitter.com/mightyshakerjnr/status/722010721266110464">April 18, 2016</a>
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
Spoke with <a href="https://twitter.com/123reg">@123reg</a> earlier today regarding VPS issues. Was told a week minimum for email update and more than likely all data lost. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/123reg?src=hash">#123reg</a>
— Outlines Design (@Outlines_Design) <a href="https://twitter.com/Outlines_Design/status/721799835607789568">April 17, 2016</a>
</blockquote>


<blockquote>
Surprise the <a href="https://twitter.com/123reg">@123reg</a> story isn't bigger – hundreds of websites offline, some businesses ruined because of hosting error <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/123reg?src=hash">#123reg</a>
— Mr Don Brown (@DonBrownEsq) <a href="https://twitter.com/DonBrownEsq/status/722017038844235776">April 18, 2016</a>
</blockquote>
 Some attempted to introduce humour into the digital disaster:
<blockquote>
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/123reg?src=hash">#123reg</a> Twitter cover photo – satire is a living, breathing entity <a href="https://t.co/QyBfiSYeqA">pic.twitter.com/QyBfiSYeqA</a>
— Forever Aloe Vera (@aloeveragelshop) <a href="https://twitter.com/aloeveragelshop/status/721797011654238209">April 17, 2016</a>
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
<a href="https://twitter.com/123reg">@123reg</a> With all my t-shirt selling websites offline all I can do is try to amuse myself. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/keepthefaith?src=hash">#keepthefaith</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/123reg?src=hash">#123reg</a> <a href="https://t.co/SH8nQuIsig">pic.twitter.com/SH8nQuIsig</a>
— Ryan Montgomery (@nearlyanartist) <a href="https://twitter.com/nearlyanartist/status/721737624633942016">April 17, 2016</a>
</blockquote>

Personally, I'm not sure what else can be said about 123-Reg. They have a long history of being unreliable, the Internet is filled with angry ex-customers, and now they have deleted customer data out of existence.
I didn't trust 123-Ref before today, and I doubt many people will by tomorrow.
<h2>Have You Been Affected?</h2>
At this moment in time, thousands of business and website owners are wondering about how they can move on from this fiasco.
Many have left their stories on my previous article on 123-Reg, but I'd love to hear more about what's going through the mind of 123-Reg users right now.
Are you websites gone? Has it affected business? Will you be leaving 123-Reg? Let's talk in the comments below.

123-Reg Accidentally Deletes Thousands of Customer Websites

On November 7th 2013, Liferay held their first ever UK Portal Solutions Forum. The event promised an overview of the <a href="/liferay-portal-6.2-announced-at-liferay-s-north-america-event/#.UnwZhPkvlyU" target="_blank">newly released Liferay Portal 6.2</a> along with a full day of presentations, workshops, and much more.
<a href="http://www.liferay.com/" target="_blank"> Liferay</a> are a world-renowned provider of a leading enterprise-class portal solution, which is used as a digital platform by a number of Fortune 500 companies. With a respectable past, a bright future and a brand new version of their flagship product released just a few days ago, there was plenty for Liferay executives to talk about.
Naturally then, Liferay's Solutions Forum itself – held in the heart of London, was thoroughly enjoyable and full of content. So, let's delve into exactly how it went down.
<h2>Liferay Executives Kick Off the Event</h2>
After making my way down to the Solutions Forum on a chilly London morning, I was welcomed warmly by Liferay staff, and introduced to some of the event's organisers. I then swiftly made my way over to the breakfast area, where I filled up on Tea before the main event began.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/liferay_flag2.png" alt="Liferay Portal Solutions Forum" /> 
I was going to be live-tweeting the entire event via the <a href="https://twitter.com/cmscritic" target="_blank">CMS Critic Twitter account</a>, so I made myself comfortable in the main conference room – with my Tweeting finger poised.
Eddy Dueck – Liferay's marketing associate in charge of leading the event, started the proceedings, and was followed up by an impressive presentation given by company CEO, Bryan Cheung. He spoke extensively on the importance of understanding the evolution of customer relations, as well as how information should be presented to users and customers in general.
<blockquote>“The future of Portal Technology is to provide access to the right information, within the right context.” ~ Bryan Cheung <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23LPSF2013UK&amp;src=hash"> #LPSF2013UK </a>
— CMS Critic (@cmscritic) <a href="https://twitter.com/cmscritic/statuses/398398080015687680"> November 7, 2013 </a></blockquote>
Bryan Cheung delved deep into the history of company-customer relationships, discussing how time has helped evolve and shape today's customer interaction. The example of a Suit Tailor was initially given, focusing on the personal relationship a Suit Tailor would have with his or her customer.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bryan_cheung.png" alt="Liferay Portal Solutions Forum" />
As technology advanced, Bryan Cheung said, that personal, close relationship shared between a service provider and his or her customer was lost, simply due to companies focusing on a wider reach, rather than a personal one. However, the Internet, especially in its current form, helps combine both a personal touch and a wide reach.
<h2>Networking, Consulting &amp; Expert Exchanges</h2>
Along with the continued talks from various Liferay executives and other professionals, the Liferay Portal Solutions Forum also had something to offer outide of the conference room.
On top of the Breakfast before the main event, attendees enjoyed two networking Coffee breaks, where they could grab a hot drink, a slice of cake and converse with both their colleagues, and other professionals.
<blockquote>The networking Coffee break in full motion. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23LPSF2013UK&amp;src=hash"> #LPSF2013UK </a> <a href="http://t.co/PNdqY3ZOox"> pic.twitter.com/PNdqY3ZOox </a>
— CMS Critic (@cmscritic) <a href="https://twitter.com/cmscritic/statuses/398410366256185344"> November 7, 2013 </a></blockquote>
Additionally, Liferay laid out a deliciously looking – and tasting lunch. Once again, the atmosphere was social, with attendees networking and exchanging details as they enjoyed their lunch.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/lunch.png" alt="Liferay Portal Solutions Forum" />
Following the lunch break, time was set aside for “Expert Exchange Discussions”. The idea was that each table had twenty minutes to discuss a pre-defined question, generally relating to internal company policy and approach to customer engagement.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/expert_exchange.png" alt="Liferay Portal Solutions Forum" />
Each discussion was moderated by a Liferay professional, and the event was topped off with session summary, which compiled the different opinions and ideas gathered at each table.
<h2>An Overview of Liferay 6.2</h2>
Towards the end of the Solutions Forum, Liferay made time to talk about their latest release, Liferay Portal 6.2.
Product Manager Juan Fernandez took to the stage, and began speaking about the new features boasted by their latest upgrade, made just days ago. He touched briefly on the new user interface, which he believed would help users get the most out of Liferay.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/liferay_6_2.png" alt="Liferay Portal Solutions Forum" />
He then moved on to the responsive nature of the templates supported by Liferay Portal 6.2, and how simple it now is for users to quickly and easily review and customize their responsive website via the Liferay mobile preview option.
<blockquote>“The new App Manager is now even easier to use when managing, activating and deactivating applications.” ~ Juan Fernandez <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23LPSF2013UK&amp;src=hash">#LPSF2013UK</a>
— CMS Critic (@cmscritic) <a href="https://twitter.com/cmscritic/statuses/398492725659852800">November 7, 2013</a></blockquote>
After touching on the subject of Liferay's new App Manager, Juan Fernandez mentioned the enhanced multi-language options, and the ability for users to localise their URLS.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/liferay_6_22.png" alt="Liferay Portal Solutions Forum" />
Eventually, after some detailed presentations and interesting questions posed by the audience, Liferay's first ever UK Solutions Forum came to a close. A round of applause was given, and as the room emptied, you certainly got the feeling that every attendee was leaving satisfied with what they had seen, and heard.
For more information on Liferay's platform, <a href="http://www.liferay.com/" target="_blank">check out their website</a>. Additionally, you can explore more of <a href="/products/liferay/" target="_blank">Liferay via our CMS Directory</a>.
Also, if you'd like a better idea of how the events went down at the 2013 UK Liferay Portal Solutions Forum, <a href="https://twitter.com/cmscritic" target="_blank"> check out our Twitter feed</a>, where I live-tweeted all of the events directly from the Solutions Forum.

The Liferay Portal Solutions Forum UK, 2013 - #LPSF2013UK

Power your CMS on AWS

Manage your websites & apps in the most trusted cloud.

#ffffff

One of my biggest pet peeves in the marketing world are inexperienced marketers that use out of date tools for website information. Rather than ask for proper analytics screenshots or reports directly from the source, they rely on third party websites with inaccurate information as their basis for whether they partner with the website or not. Let me make one thing very clear and I will pull no punches with this comment: Marketers that use tools like Alexa and similar tools as their one source of information should reassess their marketing strategies.
<h3>Alexa is obsolete</h3>
I don't believe in beating around the bush about products that produce misleading information. The simple fact of the matter is that Alexa is obsolete. Not only does it inaccurately report data, it does so in a way that can be detrimental to your ambition and drive as a website owner. I've watched many people beat themselves up because they've seen sites with far less traffic and far less presence on the web achieve Alexa rankings far lower than theirs. This has driven these people to the point of breakdowns trying to figure out “why they are failing.”
The problem with this is that this ranking system is absolutely obsolete. For years, Alexa has assigned randomly ridiculous rankings to all kinds of sites with absolutely no reasoning behind it and with no logic whatsoever. The result: websites with significantly more traffic end up with worse rankings and marketers who use Alexa as a measurement of a websites success, choose to go with less popular sites with far less reach. This means marketing money is being wasted and used inefficiently. All of this occurs thanks to misrepresentation of data.
A smart marketer is aware of these facts, they don't try to use tools like Alexa, Compete and similar because they know the data they are going to get is simply inaccurate. Those are the marketers that are on the up and up. The old school crowd that still thinks Alexa is an important source for information are the ones you want to be wary of because they are also the people that are more likely to undervalue your work and offer you far less than you are worth for projects they have in their laps.
<h3>Determining your worth</h3>
So how then do you determine your true worth? Well, it's tough to do but fortunately, companies like <a href="http://www.tapinfluence.com/">Tapfluence</a> have their own system of determining this. They pull your Google Analytics, your social profiles (including follower counts) and use it to not only determine what they feel you SHOULD be charging for your work (posts, tweets, instagram shares, etc) but they also encourage you to negotiate offers that come in through their service.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/tapinfluence_software-1024x636.png" alt="tapinfluence_software" />
I'm a big fan of the way Tapfluence encourages influencers to get more for their effort rather than accepting less. This is the type of encouragement people who own their own websites need. Tapfluence isn't the only service like this out there, they just happen to be one of the ones I'm familiar with.
<h3>How about Klout?</h3>
I'm not a big fan of services like Klout either for similar reasons. Klout uses only social media to determine value and this is a misnomer given that blogs are far more important than social media contacts. Twitter has gone downhill as far as impact goes and has turned into a jumbled mess more than something that adds a lot of value and measuring tweet performance just isn't really all that useful.
When it comes to the power of marketing, content on blogs and similar places is still king and still offers more lasting impact than a quick tweet ever will. For this reason, services like Klout that exclude things like website analytics really don't feel like the right way to go as far as I'm concerned.
<h3>Ok, what about Compete?</h3>
Compete is similar to Alexa. They take random guesses at your traffic and attempt to establish reports on how well your website is performing. The issue is that these reports are also usually very inaccurate. This, again, leads marketers who don't know any better (sadly, there are quite a few of them) to assume the data is correct and take their business elsewhere. I've seen many instances where comparisons of websites that have traffic stats I'm familiar with produce very different data through Compete.
<h3>So what's your solution Mike?</h3>
The solution is simple, if you are a marketer and are looking to determine how much traffic a website is getting and other detailed information like bounce rate, page views and the like.. approach the source. Do not attempt to use third party services to “guesstimate” how a website is performing, get screenshots from the source themselves.
A good website owner will not only be excited to provide you with this data, but they will also be eager to provide you with more information, rather than less, giving you a much better look at whether they make a good partner for your campaign. Stop using tools like Alexa, Compete and Klout to figure out things that you can find out quickly and easily just by asking the person behind the scenes. That is where the true information resides and you will find that switching to this method of acquiring business partners will not only increase campaign performance but also help you build excellent relationships you can build on in the future.

Why Alexa Can't Be Trusted

With the enormous number of open source .NET based content management systems on the market, it can be difficult at best to weed through the various projects in search of the best one for your needs.
Today, we can hopefully make that task a little bit easier as we announce the winner of the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Open Source .NET CMS.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best_net_open_source_cms-1200x0.png" alt="best_net_open_source_cms" />
Contenders this year were DNN Platform, Sageframe and Umbraco.
The winner this year was none other than <a href="http://sageframe.com/">Sageframe</a>!
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sageframe-logo.png" />
Sagefame is a powerful .NET CMS that offers the ability to quickly build beautiful websites using it's easy to use interface.
Congratulations to the team at Sageframe on their win. Go check them out: <a href="http://sageframe.com/">http://www.sageframe.com/</a>

The Winner of the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Open Source .NET CMS

Strapi, a leading open-source headless CMS, has announced the release of Strapi v3.6, which includes a highly anticipated content internationalization (i18n) feature as part of their Community Edition. Now, Strapi users will have the ability to create and manage content in multiple languages and locales for free and without limitations – and personalize messages delivered to target audiences based on language and geographic data.
Leveraging integrations with Strapi's draft and publish system and role-based access control, users will be able to manage their editing and publishing permissions based on specific locales. Updates to their API will also enable managers to fetch content based on location parameters.
In our exclusive discussion with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/victorcoisne/">Victor Coisne</a>, Strapi's Vice President of Marketing, it's clear that internationalization was a big part of the CMS vendor's roadmap, and of significant importance to their growing base of global users. According to Coisne, there was deep internal discussion about whether Strapi would monetize this feature as other CMS platforms do. Offering free usage is a bold move, and illustrates a strong commitment to their community. 
Recently at <a href="https://conf.strapi.io/">StrapiConf</a>, the company also shared a preview of their upcoming Strapi v4 that is currently under development, and according to Coisne should be released around August. This new version will include an updated design system and core APIs that allow the broader ecosystem to easily create and maintain new plugins.
<h2>Evolving headless CMS capabilities</h2>
With more than 35,000 stars on GitHub, 600 contributors, and 3.5 million+ downloads, Strapi is the fastest-growing <a href="https://nodejs.org/en/">Node.js</a> CMS. Only nine months after the release of its <a href="https://strapi.io/enterprise">Enterprise Edition</a>, the company is seeing significant revenue growth, tripling customer count in Q1 2021 with Global 2000 companies including Rakuten, AECOM, Toyota, and eBay.
As a headless CMS, Strapi powers experiences across websites, mobile applications, and IoT devices – making it an ideal fit for the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-jamstack-static-site-generators-for-2021/">JAMstack</a> (JavaScript, API and Markup). Strapi is designed to work with popular front-end frameworks including React, Gatsby, Vue.js , Next.js and other static site generators, and supports multiple databases as well as both REST and GraphQL APIs.
By adding internationalization to their v3.6, Strapi is expanding its global position as a headless CMS of choice. As the market continues to embrace digital transformation across industries, Strapi is investing in its open source community to stoke innovation, and has ambitious plans for growth.
“With Strapi v3.6, we are renewing our commitment to open-source innovation and giving the Global Strapi Community the power to easily create and manage content in multiple languages, so they can localize and personalize their content to deliver the right messages to each of their target audiences,” said Pierre Burgy, co-founder and CEO of Strapi. “With such strong growth of the Strapi platform, we expect to be doubling our team by this time next year, driving even more innovation.”
You can read more about the internationalization feature below.
<img style="max-width:1480px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/04/i18n-2.png" alt="content internalization" />
<h2>Create multilingual websites or apps</h2>
As noted, Strapi's internationalization will enable users to create and manage content in multiple languages and for multiple locales. A locale may represent not only a language, but also a country to which the exact version of content is related (for example, "en-GB" for English language and Great Britain, or "fr-CA" for French and Canada). This added nuance can hyper-focus the content accuracy of a website or app, allowing organizations to better engage with the right audiences.  
<h2>Personalize and localize content</h2>
Content internationalization is more than just translating text. It’s about customizing messages to target audiences, taking into account their language and geographic location. With Strapi's internationalization, content is displayed for each locale based on content types. For example, if a company has an e-commerce website, they can select which product pages are displayed in French, Portuguese, or Mandarin. This level of localization is what enables a global digital strategy to work across borders and languages. 
<h2>Set up efficient publishing workflows</h2>
Managing multiple languages in one admin panel may sound like a challenging task, but Strapi has addressed it head-on. Below are some of the key attributes that make Strapi's internationalization ideal for content operations teams:
<ul>
<li>Browse content by locales: In the list view, users can see all the content of one locale and easily switch between locales to see all related entries. For example, when opening a list of articles on a website, a user will only see the entries in English and can switch between locales to see the entries in other languages.</li>
</ul>
<img style="max-width:1480px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/04/image1-copy.png" alt="content locales view" />
When editing content (for example, a particular article on a website or a product page), users can also switch between different locales and automatically copy and paste content from one locale to another without opening multiple tabs.
<img style="max-width:1480px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/04/image3.png" alt="edit content screen" />
<ul>
<li>Choose what locale should be displayed first: With Strapi, users can set up a default locale, which will be displayed whenever they add content to a new content type or open the list of entries. Having a default locale makes it more comfortable to create and edit content. </li>
</ul>
<img style="max-width:1480px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/04/image4.png" alt="choose locales screen" />
<ul>
<li>Keep specific content the same for all locales: If some of the content on a website or app needs to be the same – regardless of language – users can disable localization for any field or content type. This way, when creating a new version, the non-localized fields will already contain content. When editing the entries of non-localized fields, they will automatically be updated in all locales. This can save a lot of time when making updates or adding new versions. </li>
<li>Collaborate effectively with granular permissions: Users can also add granular CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) permissions for each locale to different roles and users, including translators, content editors, marketers, or country managers. Since internationalization is integrated with Strapi's <a href="https://strapi.io/blog/announcing-a-new-draft-and-publish-feature">Draft &amp; Publish system</a>, administrators will have full control of who can access, modify, and publish entries in different locales – making the whole process secure and efficient. </li>
</ul>
<img style="max-width:1480px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/04/image2.png" alt="user access control panel" />
<h2>API updates</h2>
As mentioned, Strapi has updated its API to fetch content by locale. A localizations field is added to every content type when the internationalization feature is activated, so if a developer creates an entry from the API, it’s now possible to specify the locale for which an entry should be created – or create new locales from an existing entry. 
<h2>Try Strapi's Content Internationalization </h2>
Since Strapi's content internationalization is a plugin, users will need to enable it in settings after updating to v3.6. Once activated, all existing content will be associated with the default locale that a user sets (which starts as English but can easily be modified). You can also learn more about content internationalization in their latest <a href="https://strapi.io/blog/announcing-content-internationalization-v3-6">blog post</a> or check out their <a href="https://strapi.io/demo" target="_blank">hosted Strapi CMS demo</a> which features sample data for a complete experience.
<h2>What else is in the latest Strapi release?</h2>
Here are a few recent updates and resources:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://strapi.io/blog/announcing-the-strapi-starter-cli" target="_blank">Starters CLI release</a></li>
<li><a href="https://strapi.io/blog/introducing-sentry-plugin" target="_blank">Sentry plugin for Strapi</a></li>
<li><a href="https://strapi.io/blog/v3-5-sentry-plugin-sso-authentication" target="_blank">SSO Authentication for admin panel</a></li>
</ul>
Check out their <a href="http://strapi.io/changelog" target="_blank">changelog</a> for more information about updates and fixes. 
<h2>About Strapi</h2>
<a href="http://strapi.io" target="_blank">Strapi</a> is the leading open-source headless CMS, giving developers the freedom to use their favorite tools and frameworks while helping editors easily manage their content and distribute it to any devices or channels. The remote-first company has offices in Paris and San Francisco, scaling its team globally. Strapi, Inc. is venture-backed by Index Ventures, Accel and Stride.VC as well as notable angel investors and open-source experts.

Strapi Headless CMS Announces v3.6 with Free Content Internationalization

cms-critic-staff

<a href="http://www.opentext.com/">OpenText</a>, the Canada-based business software giant, just acquired a suite of customer experience management products from HP.
<a href="http://www.opentext.com/"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/download-1.jpe" alt="download" /></a>
They already offer enterprise-grade content management solutions, big data analytics, digital asset management, and plenty more.
<h2>HP TeamSite &amp; Co</h2>
OpenText spent $170 million on a number of products from HP.
These include; HP TeamSite, a web content management tool left over from the purchase of Interwoven, HP MediaBin, a digital asset management solution, HP Qfiniti, a workforce optimization solution for enterprise contact center management, as well as HP Explore, HP Aurasma, and HP Optimost.
The products all come from the HP Engage line, which has been up-in-the-air, so to speak, <a href="http://fortune.com/2015/10/30/bye-bye-hp/">ever since HP split into two companies in 2015</a>.
Although there are plenty of side dishes, it's fair to say that TeamSite is the main course. It's a highly functional CMS and CEM hybrid, and it will be interesting to see how OpenText handle it going forward.
<h2>A Bit of a Bargain?</h2>
Since these products were never really given a home after HP's split in 2015, it's pretty clear that they always intended to sell.
It also seems that, perhaps because of HP's eagerness to sell, OpenText has bagged themselves a bargain. This becomes apparent when you consider that SiteCore recently accepted over $1bn for a majority stake in its software from <a href="https://www.eqt.se">EQT</a>, a private investment firm.
According to <a href="http://www.opentext.com/who-we-are/press-releases?id=DFE27860219443C99EFEA452B6442C20">OpenText's press release</a>, the financials work out quite nicely for them indeed:
<blockquote>
“The Customer Experience software business being acquired is expected to generate between $85m and $95m of annualized revenues, be immediately accretive and be on the OpenText operating model within the first 12 months after closing.”
</blockquote>
In terms of how they will implement their newly acquired products, OpenText will likely use them to complement their existing software portfolio, particularly its Customer Experience Management and Cloud offerings.
But as I mentioned earlier, it will be interesting to see exactly how that happens.
Visit our <a href="/opentext">OpenText hub on our CMS Directory</a> for more information.

OpenText Spends $170 Million on Suite of HP Customer Experience Products

Content Management Systems (CMS) are some of the most common targets of hacking on the Internet today.
In fact, a <a href="http://www.wpwhitesecurity.com/wordpress-news/statistics-70-percent-wordpress-installations-vulnerable/">study conducted by WP White Security </a>found that 73% of all WordPress installations contained known vulnerabilities that would have quickly and easily been found through the utilization of automated tools.
It’s these types of security holes that have resulted in cyber criminals hacking into over 170,000 back in 2012 alone – a number that is probably even higher by now.

<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/how-to-secure-your-cms688x0-is.jpeg" />
<h2>What makes CMS platforms vulnerable to hacking?</h2>
<a href="/key-website-builders/">CMS platforms</a> are appealing targets to hackers for a wide variety of reasons, mainly the number of weak entry points – such as the numerous plugins available for CMS like WordPress. 
Many people assume that, because CMS like WordPress and Drupal are highly popular and recognized names, there must be some form of protection. They can’t just leave all of their users vulnerable, right?
Think again.
CMS are inherently open to attack because of the fact their foundation is an open source framework. These types of shared development environments have myriad benefits, but they also come with just as many issues.
Because of the popularity of the top CMS available out there, the security holes within these systems are actively being identified and targeted, both by the good guys (security research teams) and the bad guys (cyber criminals).
Once these holes have been found, they turn that particular CMS into treasure troves of data for cyber criminals, even to the point of creating an entry point for automated attacks on a massive scale.
To add salt to the wound, there are users who use the same passwords for all of their accounts, or even just use weak passwords. These leave their admin accounts open to attacks, even if they aren’t aware of it. This can result in their websites being injected with all sorts of malware and escalating the issue beyond the point of control.
These issues can even result in the websites becoming blacklisted by Google and other search engines, which adversely affects their business or brand as a whole.
<h2>How users can secure their CMS in 5 steps</h2>
There are numerous things users can do to protect their CMS against vulnerabilities and fortify their systems from attack.
These include:
<h3>1 . Use a strong password</h3>
A vast amount of people know how to access CMS administrator backend, especially when it comes to popular sites like <a href="https://web3.com.au/logging-in-to-wordpress/">WordPress</a>.
Make sure yours is secure with a strong password to make this process harder for hackers and other cyber criminals. Additionally, you’re going to want to hash the password(s) you use by implementing a slow hashing algorithm.
BONUS: Block the IP for at least one minute after x amount of password authentication failures. Three is the recommended amount of attempts before IP blocking.
<h3>2 . Have a firewall in place</h3>
Setting up a firewall will not only further secure your CMS, but it will also help you keep an eye on suspicious activity and track them by providing a related IP address for the source of that activity.
Once you’ve detected and found suspicious activity, you can then blacklist the IP the firewall provided.
<h3>3 . ALWAYS backup your CMS</h3>
This is one of the most essential aspects of CMS security, and is actually just an overall good habit to have.
Have a backup system in place that will make it possible to recover your website in the event something happens. Always make sure your backups are updated as much as possible to avoid any security vulnerabilities or further problems down the road.
BONUS: Make sure your CMS and any extensions it may have are updated. These upgrades should be double-checked to ensure they are fully compatible with your system before you allow or make them. Of course, you’re always going to want to backup your CMS before conducting these updates.
<h3>4 . Protect against SQL-injections</h3>
An SQL-injection is a cyber attack that embeds malicious code within your CMS and its backend database. Once it’s in there, that malicious code then creates database query results and / or actions that you definitely do not want executed.
There are several types of SQL-injections, and they enable the cyber criminal to do a whole variety of things. These include:
<ul>
<li>
Editing, deleting, reading, or adding to the content of your CMS
</li>
<li>
Accessing and reading source code from the files on the CMS server
</li>
<li>
Write files to the server
</li>
</ul>
While it is true that any one of those things relies heavily upon the capabilities of the cyber criminal, any SQL-injection can still lead to you losing control of your database and web server.
In order to prevent this from happening, <a href="https://www.netsparker.com/blog/web-security/understanding-sql-injection-protection/">use prepared statements</a>, as these separate the structure and data. This allows the SQL server to interpret them without being open and vulnerable to a hacker that is trying to alter the structure of the SQL query for their own malicious purposes.
<h3>5 . Get an SSL Certificate</h3>
An SSL certificate (secure sockets layer) is the standard security technology that is used to produce an encrypted link that goes between the web server and the browser. It is this link that will ensure that the data that goes between the server and the browser will stay private and secure.
<a href="https://www.godaddy.com/help/adding-an-ssl-certificate-to-a-domain-in-simple-control-panel-2325">Adding an SSL certificate to your domain</a> will not only add an additional layer of security to your CMS, but will also help with SEO because it tends to get your website ranked higher in search engines.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/how-to-secure-your-cms-1547x0-is.jpeg" />
<h2>Final Thoughts</h2>
Website security is one of those things that can truly be considered a “Catch-22” type of situation.
The more cyber criminals are out there trying to gain access into people’s CMS, the more security researchers crack down on it and come with new methods of protection. The greater the security becomes, the harder the cyber criminals will work to gain access – and they do like challenges.
It’s really an ongoing battle that is seemingly without end.
But, where does that leave you and your CMS?
It’s hard to say for sure where your CMS lies within the cyber criminal-infested waters, but there are things you can do to ensure your CMS is as secure as you can possibly make it. These five methods of security will help reduce threats to your CMS and help keep your data out of jeopardy.

How to Secure Your CMS in 5 Steps

For nearly as long as the Internet has been around, there have been website builders of all types. The earliest versions of these were decidedly far more limited than they are today, but even back then developers understood there is a huge market for DIY website builders.
As one would expect, the website builder market is a busy one with around 35 main vendorsand numerous more that aren’t as popular. This is a steadily evolving and quickly growing market and, with all of these <a href="/key-website-builders/">website builders</a> to choose from, it can be difficult for business owners to decide on the right one for them and their brand.
This particular review is going to take a close look at one of the more popular website builders, <a href="https://www.squarespace.com/">Squarespace</a>, which has been around since 2004. We’ll take a look at the pros and cons of this tool, as well as offer some insight into who would be most ideal for.
<h2>An Overview of Squarespace</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/squarespace_review_1934x0-is.png" />
Squarespace was developed as a website publishing platform that makes it possible for users to have attractive, professional-looking websites without having to know how to code or having to hire an expert. Additionally, Squarespace is designed with a highly user-friendly CMS that makes it easy to update and edit your website.
<h3>Customizable Templates</h3>
There are numerous different types of templates to choose from, divided up by category.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/squarespace_review_2947x0-is.png" />
The vast majority of these templates are eye-catching, attractive, and have a very modern feel to them. This is one thing that puts Squarespace ahead of the other popular website builders, and is a big reason why it has around 50,000 active users.
As a paying customer, you have access to all of these templates – around 80. They are all responsive, so customers don’t have to worry about them not working on mobile devices. Squarespace automatically generates a mobile-optimized version of your site, without the user having to do anything extra.
To go with these customizable templates, there is a wide array of different web fonts that can be used to make your website look and feel exactly the way you want.
<h4>Editing the Templates</h4>
While virtually all of the templates are customizable, the degree to which you can edit them mostly depends on which one you’ve chosen.
Some templates allow you to change pretty much all of the design elements, from font spacing to the page backgrounds. Others, however, are more “as-is” and are incredibly difficult to change without adding your own custom CSS to your website.
This is one of the main issues with this website builder. One of the main attractions of this platform is that it’s a code-free builder. Users having to resort to adding their own CSS defeats the purpose.
On a similar note, some templates let users add sidebars and others do not. Depending on the user and what they intend to do with their website, this can most definitely be an issue. However, there are still plenty of other templates to choose from.
<h2>Ease of Use</h2>
Squarespace is very easy to use, and does not require the user to have extensive technical knowledge in order to create a professional-looking website.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/squarespace_review_3578x0-is.png" />
The page editor makes things very simple.
Simply click on the part of the page you want to edit, and the above menu will pop up. You can add everything from text to video, with numerous other options available.
<h3>Importing and Exporting Content</h3>
If you’re leaving another site, such as WordPress or Blogger, there is an import tool available to help you switch all your existing content over to your Squarespace site.
Content can also be exported to a WordPress format XML file. However, this only exports text and images, but does not export not products (for those who are using it as an online store). This could be a problem for many users.
<h3>Drag-and-Drop Content Blocks</h3>
When it comes to getting the layout the way you want it, Squarespace offers a lot of versatility within its drag-and-drop “layout engine”.
Simply click on the block of content you want, and then drag it to where you want it to go. This measure of flexibility is a definite pro when it comes to using Squarespace.
The types of content blocks that users can add to their pages include:
<ul>
<li>
Text
</li>
<li>
Images &amp; image galleries
</li>
<li>
Markdowns
</li>
<li>
Audio
</li>
<li>
Video
</li>
<li>
Content summaries
</li>
<li>
Code
</li>
<li>
Maps
</li>
<li>
Calendars
</li>
<li>
Charts
</li>
</ul>
As an additional bonus when it comes to content blocks, users can choose from a whole host of pre-defined page layouts. This includes contact pages, team pages, and about pages. This can make it a lot easier – and faster – to get your website designed, ready, and live.
<h3>Images</h3>
Squarespace makes it very easy to add and edit images. Users can resize, rotate, crop, and edit their images as much as they want. They can also be added to galleries, with multiple presentation options that include slideshows, grids, and carousels.
This makes Squarespace an excellent option for photographers and other creative professionals.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/squarespace_review_4315x0-is.png" />
If you do not have enough images of your own, or having trouble finding available stock images, you can browse through and purchase Getty images directly through Squarespace. Once you’ve purchased them, you can insert them directly onto the page in the exact spot you want them.
<h3>Blogging Platform</h3>
Squarespace really stands out when it comes to its blogging platform. Unlike many other website builders, Squarespace allows its users to have as many blogs as they want on their website. Users can even add a drop-down menu (depending on the template) to their navigational bar, so as to not have things looking cluttered and chaotic.
Overall, the blogging aspect of Squarespace is a good one. However, there are some things that pose an issue.
<ul>
<li>
There is no autosave, which is a BIG issue and a fairly huge thing to have omitted when designing this website builder. If you’re not careful, you will have to start all over again when adding a new blog post.
</li>
<li>
Blog excerpts are the meta descriptions for your blog posts, and this is unable to be changed.
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Squarespace Pricing</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/squarespace_review_5930x0-is.png" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/squarespace_review_6927x0-is.png" />
The plans and pricing are easy to follow, with four monthly pricing options available. These pricing plans are divided up into two groups: Websites and Online Stores.
Any of the pricing plans allow you to sell products through your website, which makes this division a tad confusing.
The two Website pricing plans are:
<ul>
<li>
Personal – $12 per month, billed annually, or $16 month-to-month ($144 or $192)
</li>
<li>
Business – $18 per month, billed annually, or $26 month-to-month ($216 or $312)
</li>
</ul>
The two Online Store pricing plans are:
<ul>
<li>
Basic – $26 per month, billed annually, or $30 month-to-month ($312 or $360)
</li>
<li>
Advanced – $40 per month, billed annually, or $46 month-to-month ($480 or $552)
</li>
</ul>
Paying upfront for the full year would be cheaper, but the mont-to-month plan is a good choice for those who don’t have a few hundred to drop right away.
The key differences between the plans are in the features, all of which are listed under each pricing plan.
The pricing is more expensive than other website builders, and Squarespace does not offer a free plan. There is a 14-day free trial, but that’s it.
Squarespace is geared more toward professional websites, rather than personal ones, and it seems as though this is factored into the pricing. There are numerous features that would be unneccessary for someone who just wants a personal site.
<h2>Pros and Cons of Squarespace</h2>
Just as with any other type of website builder, Squarespace has both positive and negative aspects. These should be carefully weighed when deciding whether or not Squarespace is the right choice for you and your brand.
<h3>Squarespace Pros</h3>
<ul>
<li>
Templates: Squarespace offers a large amount of professional, attractive templates. Most of these can be customized, but the degree to which they can be altered depends almost entirely on the design. Most of the differences between the templates depend on which images are being used for the website.
</li>
<li>
SEO: Squarespace users don’t have to worry as much about the technical side of this. Squarespace helps you to get found on search engines, offering features such as custom page titles, custom URLs, meta descriptions, and 301 redirects.
</li>
<li>
Blogging: Users can have as many blogs as they want, and there is a wide variety of available content types. Users can even host podcasts through Squarespace.
</li>
<li>
Cover Pages: Visually-stunning, one-page websites. These act as great entry points for your website, or as landing pages for digital marketing.
</li>
<li>
Domain Hosting: Domains can be purchased through Squarespace, which will host your website.
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Squarespace Cons</h3>
<ul>
<li>
No Autosave: The lack of autosaving when it comes to blog content is a huge drawback. One wrong click, and you have just lost hours worth of work.
</li>
<li>
Pricing: Squarespace is considerably more expensive than the other popular website builders out there. Even with its targeted audience of professionals and business owners, this is still an expensive builder.
</li>
<li>
Page Speed: Many of the templates load very slowly, which may adversely affect search engine rankings and user / customer experience.
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Final Thoughts</h2>
<a href="http://www.squarespace.com" target="_blank">Squarespace</a> is one of the most popular website builders out there on the market, and it’s easy to see why. This one is best for professionals and business owners, but those looking for something to host a personal website would probably do better going elsewhere.
<h4>Have you tried Squarespace? Share your thoughts in the comments below!</h4>

Website Builder Review: Squarespace

There aren't normally a large number of sites providing premium Drupal themes, but we felt that we should help showcase some on a monthly basis in hopes that the number of participating sites increases. We personally feel there is a strong market for them and we'd love to see more advanced themes than the normal ones released on Drupal.org daily.
Here are the three new theme releases for April that we know of. Let us know if you are aware of others.
#1 – Stingray by Themeshark
Description:
<blockquote>
It's a magazine theme similar to the customer favorite Galapagos and it's got everything you've come to expect from us and more: there's 11 custom regions, including two Feature blocks that are controlled by the Views module.   There's six different, vibrant color styles to choose from, and we've included support for CSS3 rounded corners that can be switched on and off in the theme settings (supported by Firefox and Safari).
And, of course, most noticably we've incorporated a shiny new Dynamic Display Block.
</blockquote>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/stingray.png" alt="stingray" />
Website: <a href="http://www.themeshark.com/" target="_blank">http://www.themeshark.com/</a>
#2 – Corporate Business by Jimmyme (Available at Themeforest)
Corporate Business is a nice slick Corporate theme (and one of the few available on Themeforest)
Features: – Valid XHTML and CSS – Tableless layout – Fluid Content Boxes – Works in all major browsers – PNG fixes for IE – Includes special styles to improve Drupal backend interface
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/corporatebusiness.png" alt="corporatebusiness" />
Website: <a href="https://www.cmscritic.comhttps://www.cmscritic.com/themeforestitem/corporate-business-drupal-theme/38601" target="_blank">https://www.cmscritic.comhttps://www.cmscritic.com/themeforestitem/corporate-business-drupal-theme/38601</a>
#3 – Platino by forDrupal
Nice theme from forDrupal. Unfortunately, we think it's incredibly overpriced but some people might be willing to pay for it.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/platino.png" alt="platino" /> 
<ul>
<li>25 Regions</li>
<li>jQuery Menu (works without JS enabled)</li>
<li>Block Highlights</li>
<li>Drupal 6.x and Acquia</li>
<li>Workable as Administration theme</li>
<li>Professional Typography</li>
<li>Form Tooltips</li>
<li>Customize using Theme Settings</li>
<li>Tested in IE6/7/8, FF, Safari, Chrome, Opera</li>
<li>Fixed Layout</li>
<li>PSD file and Demo Site included</li>
</ul>
Website: <a href="http://fordrupal.com/premium/platino-drupal-theme" target="_blank">http://fordrupal.com/premium/platino-drupal-theme</a>

Premium Drupal Theme Releases for April 2009

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