Articles - Page 93

Not All Heroes Wear Capes. Here's Why CMS Is Your 'Unsung Hero' in 2025

janus-boye

It is with great pleasure that I announce the winner of the 2015 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Marketing Automation Software. We had some strong contenders this year with Mautic, Marketo and HubSpot in the running and the voting was fierce. In the end, the solution you chose as the best of the best came to the forefront.
The winner for this year, according to your votes is..
<a href="http://www.hubspot.com" target="_blank">HubSpot</a>!
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best-marketing-automation-software395x506-cropx104y147-is.gif" />
<blockquote>
From attracting visitors to closing customers, HubSpot brings your entire marketing funnel together. The result? Less hassle, more control, and an inbound marketing strategy that actually works.
</blockquote>
Congratulations to HubSpot on their well deserved win. Check out <a href="http://www.hubspot.com" target="_blank">their website</a> and give this amazing Marketing Automation Software a try today.

Announcing the 2015 Winner for Best Marketing Automation Software

mike-johnston

<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/out/bigcommerce" target="_blank">Bigcommerce</a> has set out its vision for 2016, revealing an eventful roadmap for all to see.
The popular eCommerce solution was chosen for two awards last year here on CMS Critic; The 2014 Critic's Choice Award for Best Enterprise eCommerce Solution and The 2014 Critic's Choice Award for Best eCommerce Solution for SMB.
Bigcommerce also welcomed <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/bigcommerce-appoints-brent-bellm-as-ceo/" target="_blank">a new CEO during 2015, in the form of Brent Bellm</a>.
Tim Schulz, the Bigcommerce Chief Product Officer <a href="http://blog.bigcommerce.com/bigcommerce-in-2016-positioning-retailers-for-success-and-innovation/" target="_blank">outlined their 2016 roadmap in a blog post</a>. Here's a summary.
<h2>Bigcommerce 2016: From Themes to Point of Sale</h2>
Here's a breakdown of the areas Bigcommerce is planning on improving throughout the course of 2016:
<ul>
<li>Storefront &amp; Themes</li>
<li>Product Management</li>
<li>Inventory Management</li>
<li>Marketing &amp; Conversion</li>
<li>Analytics &amp; Reporting</li>
<li>Checkout &amp; Payments</li>
<li>Shipping Solutions</li>
<li>Accounting</li>
<li>POS &amp; Offline Selling</li>
<li>Social Media &amp; Social Commerce</li>
<li>Marketplace Selling, i.e. Amazon, eBay, Rakuten</li>
<li>B2B Features</li>
</ul>
Thats a broad range of areas for Bigcommerce to focus on. I don't doubt their ability to cover each one, but it's certainly going to be interesting to see how they fit it all in.
<h2>Introducing Stencil</h2>
Along with their roadmap unveiling, Bigcommerce also made an interesting announcement in the form of <a href="https://stencil.bigcommerce.com/">Stencil</a>.
According to Bigcommerce, Stencil will be, “the world’s leading design framework for branded storefronts,” and it's due for release within the next few months.
An early partner making use of Stencil made the following comments about the tool:
<blockquote>
“To me, Stencil is what makes Bigcommerce unique compared to other ecommerce platforms. It gives theme developers the flexibility and freedom the industry is desperate for.”
</blockquote>
It certainly sounds like an interesting design tool, although there doesn't really seem to be much information on it as of yet. The finer details aren't being advertised right now, it seems.
However, you can sign up to become an <a href="https://stencil.bigcommerce.com/" target="_blank">early-access developer for Stencil</a>, to test drive it for yourself.
Overall, it looks like Bigcommerce will be busy in 2016, and that can only be a good thing for its growing user base.
Also, be sure to explore more of Bigcommerce through our CMS Directory.

Bigcommerce Unveils 2016 Roadmap & Announces Stencil Launch

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

Announcing the 2015 Winner for Best Enterprise CMS

Finding the right CRM for your business can take a lot of time and effort, so it’s important to ensure that you get a return on your investment.
Thankfully, there are a range of CRM add-ons and integrations on the market which are designed to help you to get the most out of your CRM. And it’s definitely worth checking these out, rather than launching ‘straight out of the box’.
<img alt="Screen Shot 2016-01-02 at 03.39.22.png" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/HCSVNFV0_-jw7s5vc71lc9AD3u_yaUaiMbh2oaWilgEGechSQdVIJF5-57crPUCHay4w29mDanMEPeSf6KlrKWe2oXyQqPFS4eHY8QjfvXsWU6GFP6QAb2EK_uEBJtkKUitl_DZk" />
Whether you’re a small business owner or running a large scale enterprise, there’s a CRM integration out there that was made for you. To give you a headstart, I’ve put together 8 of the most popular CRM tools around at the moment.
<h2>1. Woopra (Analytics)</h2>
Woopra is a web analytics tool that is designed to help businesses to better understand their customers.
Using Woopra, your sales and support teams can monitor real-time user activity from directly within your CRM. Within seconds, you can find out how a user reached your site, where they went when they got there, what pages they viewed, what browser they used, what device they used, and what country/city they live in. Your team can even initiate a live chat with potential customers as they navigate your site.
Woopra creates unique profiles for each customer based on their behaviours and site activities, which are then used to produce a number of key reports such as funnel analytics, custom analytics, and more.
Find out more about Woopra <a href="https://www.woopra.com/">here.</a>
<h2>2. MailChimp (Email Marketing)</h2>
MailChimp is extremely easy to set-up and use and it’s one of the more well-known email marketing tools on the market.
MailChimp’s comprehensive free plan makes it perfect for small-medium businesses and newcomers to email marketing. The ‘free forever’ plan allows for up to 12,000 emails and 2,000 subscribers on a monthly basis, which is great for startups or businesses with a limited budget.
Premium and Pay-As-You-Go plans are also available for larger businesses who need more advanced features.
Find out more about MailChimp <a href="http://mailchimp.com/">here.</a>
<h2>3. Pardot (Email Marketing)</h2>
Whilst MailChimp is a great choice for SMEs, a larger business may need a more feature-rich marketing automation tool – and that’s where Pardot comes in. This email marketing tool is really best suited to businesses with a large email marketing list and it’s not ideal for smaller startups.
Pricing starts at $1000 per month for the standard package, and features include:
<ul>
<li>
Prospect tracking
</li>
<li>
Lead nurturing and email marketing
</li>
<li>
Lead Scoring
</li>
<li>
ROI Reports
</li>
<li>
Real-time Alerts
</li>
<li>
Standard CRM Integration
</li>
</ul>
Pardot is a subsidiary of Salesforce but also integrates with other CRMs such as Microsoft CRM, SugarCRM, and Netsuite.
Find out more about Pardot <a href="http://www.pardot.com/">here</a>.
<h2>4. Hootsuite (Social Media Management)</h2>
Hootsuite is a popular social media management tool that allows users to manage all of their social media accounts from one easy to use interface.
Hootsuite makes social media management much more efficient by allowing users to auto-schedule social media updates to share on multiple networks. It also offers some impressive reporting features but you may need to upgrade to a paid package to really get the most out of these. Hootsuite operates a freemium pricing structure, with paid plans starting at $10 per month.
Find out more about Hootsuite <a href="https://hootsuite.com/">here.</a>
<h2>5. Marketo (Engagement Marketing)</h2>
Marketo is a cloud based engagement marketing platform which offers tools such as email marketing, lead generation, and inbound marketing to help businesses to acquire new customers.
Marketo integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, NetSuite, Oracle and SugarCrm and Salesforce. The Salesforce integration is its best partnership though – with a real-time sync that refreshes every 5 minutes, making it even easier for users to build and automate their campaigns.
Marketo is best suited to medium companies and it’s strictly for B2B businesses only. There are 3 marketing automation packages available and pricing starts at $895.
Find out more about Marketo <a href="http://www.marketo.com/">here</a>.
<h2>6. Stripe (Payment Processing)</h2>
Stripe is an online payment processing system that allows merchants to take payments via their ecommerce sites.
It’s free to set up an account and you won’t have to jump through hoops to do it either. The fees are also pretty straight-forward with a flat fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.
Find out more about Stripe <a href="https://stripe.com/">here.</a>
<h2>7. PandaDoc (Document Sharing/Management)</h2>
PandaDoc is a nifty document sharing and management tool that allows users to send, track, negotiate, and sign documents online.
Using your CRM data, your team can quickly create and send documents to seal the deal on their latest sales within minutes. This freemium model allows 3 initial free documents for each user, which is topped up by a further 3 every time they refer a friend to the app.
Find out more about PandaDoc <a href="https://www.pandadoc.com/">here.</a>
<h2>8. Slack (Online Messaging App)</h2>
Slack is a popular online collaboration tool that’s become especially popular with the rise of remote-based employees. This online messaging app allows teams to communicate in real-time and makes it simple to upload and share files in one central place.
Other key features include public and private channels, third party integrations, and an indexed search.
Slack is a freemium service and it has more advanced features which can be accessed if you upgrade to a paid package, but to be honest – the free version has everything you need.
Find out more about Slack <a href="https://slack.com/">here.</a>
<h2>What’s Your Go-To CRM Tool?</h2>
What tools do you use to get more out of your CRM system? Let us know what your go-to tools are in the comments below.

8 Tools to Supplement Your CRM

grainne-logue

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.phpfox.com/">PHPFox</a>, the popular social network builder, has released some information regarding its next release, PHPFox 4.2.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/phpfox-emblem.png" /> The details came from PHPFox's charming “Phil Fox”, a nosy so-and-so who got a sneak peek at the latest PHPFox project. <a target="_blank" href="http://blog.phpfox.com/2016/01/02/fox-insider-news-neutron-4-2-update/">He reported back on the details via the PHPFox blog</a>. Very sly indeed.<h2>What Did the Fox Find?</h2>First up, we now know that PHPFox 4.2 will be dropping on January 18th, 2016. Roughly.As for new features, Instatnt Messaging Chat seems to be near completion, whereas video support has been broadly improved.Also, the PHPFox App system seems to have been upgraded, making it easier for third party developers to make Apps and even Modules. Hopefully, that will translate into expanded functionality for the platform in months to come.It's worth noting that this isn't the first time in recent months that PHPFox is aiding developers. Back in November 2015, <a href="/phpfox-appoints-sales-community-manager-scraps-developer-fee/">PHPFox scrapped developer fees totally</a>, to encourage, well, development.Phil Fox also seemed happy about the new PHPFox default theme that is ready to ship with version 4.2. It's a shame there aren't any pictures to go with this update, but I'm hoping more will be revealed before the big release some time later this month.To find out more about this impending release, <a target="_blank" href="http://blog.phpfox.com/2016/01/02/fox-insider-news-neutron-4-2-update/">check out the PHPFox blog</a>.

PHPFox 4.2 on the Horizon

At the very beginning of 2015, <a href="/cms-in-2015-what-we-want-to-see/" target="_blank">I made a few observations about the state of the CMS world</a>.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/year-988389_1280728x0-is.jpg" />
I touched on topics like; general accessibility, the lack of quality within the online community builder niche, product fanboyism, and much more.
I wanted to see big things happen in 2015. New things. Exciting things.
<h2>Things Happened</h2>
Thankfully, things happened.
In that <a href="/cms-in-2015-what-we-want-to-see/" target="_blank">same article</a>, I highlighted the lack of quality within the online community building niche. Startups looking to churn out a quality social network had severely limited options.
As we enter 2016, those options are still limited, but the existing options have started to flourish. I called for a hero to emerge from within the niche, and vendors like Social Engine, PHPFox and Boonex all took positive strides in 2015. It was great to see, and I hope to see more of it.
2015 also saw quite a few products change hands, and even shut down. <a href="/blogging-platform-roon.io-acquired-by-ghost/" target="_blank">Ghost acquired Roon.io</a>, <a href="/pligg-cms-goes-up-for-sale/" target="_blank">Pligg CMS was sold on Flippa for over $50,000</a>, and <a href="/900dpi-set-to-shut-its-doors/" target="_blank">900dpi shut its doors for good</a>
As for accessibility, <a href="/modx-makes-noble-move-towards-true-accessibility/" target="_blank">MODX launched a project</a> dedicated to making their platform more accessible for those who use assistive technology. They saw that no CMS on the market truly caters for such an audience, so they decided to be the first.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQlT5isC-2U
At the time of writing, their call to raise $50,000 has been harkened to, with over $41,000 already gathered. It's a touching idea, and I hope to see it completed some time in 2016.
Unfortunately though, as we leave 2015, fanboyism is still alive and well.
How do I know? Well, I recently published an article <a href="/how-wordpress-needs-to-improve-itself/" target="_blank">bemoaning some of the flaws of WordPress</a>.
It was received well by many, but the fanboys from within the WordPress community were not best pleased. Another popular blog even called me out about the article, <a href="/how-not-to-show-your-support-for-wordpress/" target="_blank">prompting a response from myself</a>. Talk about drama.
<h2>CMS Critic on (Constant) Tour</h2>
Throughout 2015, we didn't just bring you more news and reviews. We also continued visiting CMS vendors across the world.
I personally had another opportunity to <a href="/looking-back-on-jahia-one-2015/" target="_blank">travel to Paris alongside Mike Johnston for the Jahia One 2015 conference</a>. As usual, it was an awesome experience.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/11058762_854272848001031_5712146649284374933_n_614x0-is.jpg" /> But CMS Critic's travels didn't stop there. Mike was invited to the offices of several major players in the CMS industry, many of whom were the focal point of <a href="/featured-weeks-start-tomorrow/" target="_blank">featured weeks</a> here on the website.
Here's a list of all the CMS vendors that we personally visited this year alone:
<ul>
<li>1&amp;1 Internet</li>
<li>Jahia</li>
<li>Wix</li>
<li>Hippo CMS</li>
<li>LightCMS</li>
<li>Mura CMS</li>
<li>Progress (Sitefinity)</li>
<li>dotCMS</li>
<li>Agility CMS</li>
<li>Ecwid</li>
<li>Solodev</li>
</ul>
Further to that list of office visits, vendors like Contentful, elcomCMS and Ingeniux also got to experience a <a href="/featured-weeks-start-tomorrow/" target="_blank">featured week here on CMS Critic</a>, enjoying a week's worth of articles and promotion.
I'm a big fan of our featured weeks. Through them, our readers get to grips with a successful platform, and a successful platform gets to reach out and converse with our audience. It's a win-win.
<h2>2016 on the Horizon</h2>
All in all, 2015 wasn't too shabby for the world of CMS. But with it now behind us, it's time to look forward to another year of news, reviews, major software updates and exciting startups.
Stay tuned to read about some of my expectations, hopes, and dreams for 2016.

The World of CMS: Highlights From 2015

<a href="https://www.blackmonk.com/" target="_blank">BlackMonk</a>, the CMS for online newspapers, magazine sites, business directories and community portals, has unveiled their “biggest release yet.”
<a href="https://www.blackmonk.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bm-1.png" /></a> 
A range of modules and features have been improved, including publishing processes, galleries, stock images, and more. Let's take a closer look.
<h2>Editor's Pick &amp; Improved Galleries</h2>
Authors now get their own profile pages with links to their posts, making it easier for readers to access more of their written content.
On top of article favoriting and author subscribing, an “Editor’s Pick” page has also been introduced, enabling readers to browse through a select few featured posts.

New visual tags like “Breaking news” and “Top ten stories” have also been unveiled, so editors can grab more attention.
Furthermore, videos, audio clips, Tweets, Instagram photos and Vine videos can now be embedded anywhere.

Readers can interact with embedded media right from your web portal, too. For instance, readers can like, favorite and retweet Tweets without leaving your website.
<h2>Galleries &amp; Stock Images:</h2>
Getty Images and Shutterstock now come integrated with BlackMonk, letting you browse through thousands of stock images for your articles and galleries.

You only need to configure your Shutterstock, Getty Images and Flickr API keys in the BlackMonk settings, and you are good to use millions of professionally snapped images on your web portal, without having to leave the BlackMonk dashboard.
<h2>Social Q&amp;A &amp; Design</h2>
BlackMonk's Q&amp;A feature is now more social.
BlackMonk has enabled sharing of Q&amp;A’s on social media, which will amplify the reach of the questions. In addition, admins can prune out the questions and answers just don’t cut the mustard.
Also, BlackMonk users can now configure custom themes, by swapping out fonts and colors.

<h2>Time to Talk Price?</h2>
This is indeed a massive update from BlackMonk CMS. It's great to see the platform progressing like this.
<a href="/blackmonk-cms-review/" target="_blank">I personally reviewed BlackMonk CMS</a>, and I know it's a capable platform. However, I always like to make a point about pricing when I can, especially when a CMS is <a href="/blackmonk-small-business-edition-released/" target="_blank">aiming to dabble with startups and small businesses</a>.
<a href="https://www.blackmonk.com/saas/plans/" target="_blank">BlackMonk's lowest plan</a> comes in at $80 per month. I can't help but feel the disgruntlement of those startups and small businesses that have to look elsewhere after deciding that $80 is simply too expensive for their project.
Perhaps a cheaper and further stripped-down plan can be offered, to give such potential users an access route into the platform. With features now flourishing, now might be a good time to explore such a move.
To find out more about this new BlackMonk release, <a href="https://www.blackmonk.com/blog/2015/12/announcing-blackmonk-version-40-_-theres-something-in-it-for-everyone" target="_blank">check out their blog announcement</a>.

BlackMonk 4.0 Released

Choosing the right CRM for your business is an investment. And like most investments, it can get a little tricky.
Your CRM should be a valuable asset for your business, rather than a drain on resources. To make that a reality, it’s important to look at the pros and cons of each system and assess which one is the right fit for you.
<img alt="Screen Shot 2015-12-22 at 22.22.05.png" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/K5hDEi9UJ2q1R_4JyI18cmHggKOZp4XUU3J-Jf7KcJBsKW2tttuBcBK-Vq1K_uhkcNJulcRfxGDQezTEgRiVHItkeBRfF06qlAjj8RFq4zn3wGn6DRofTWamZd4nSIKigF-7Ddto" />
However, many business owners seem to jump right in and choose a CRM without thinking twice. Most don't really know what to expect from a CRM, nor do they know how important it is to manage the implementation process properly.
This means that small startups end up with enterprise scale CRM systems they don’t need, and multi-national companies end up with complex systems that nobody has been trained to use.
In this post, I’m going to point out the top ten most common pitfalls to avoid when choosing or using your CRM.
<h2>1. Not Focusing On The End User</h2>
A lot of businesses will leave CRM implementation in the hands of the IT department, rather than the actual employees who will be using it in the long term – and this is one of the biggest pitfalls around.
The end users need to get involved in the process of choosing your CRM before you’ve even started looking for one. You need to be transparent with your employees and explain why you’ve decided to opt for a new CRM and how it will benefit them.
Your employees are a key part of the CRM implementation, so you have to ask for their opinions and make them feel valued if you want their full commitment. And don’t just ask for their opinions – actually take them into consideration. After all, what good is the latest CRM if none of your staff are willing to use it?
<h2>2. Choosing The Wrong CRM</h2>
Before choosing your CRM, you really need to have a clear view of where your business it at and where it’s going in the next few years – and you need to take all of that into consideration.
What functionality do you require? Can you add functionality when needed?
Something like Spreadsheet CRM might be fine for now, but will you need to switch to a more comprehensive CRM in just 2 months time? If so, then it might be worth looking at a CRM you can scale with your business as it grows.
<h2>3. Focusing On Price</h2>
Price is an important factor when choosing your CRM, but it shouldn’t be the primary factor.
What’s most important is whether the CRM system is a good fit for your business.
<h2>4. Not Customizing Your CRM</h2>
Your CRM system should not be used straight out of the box – as tempting as that might be. It should be customized to reflect your specific business processes – and you must have a clear sales and marketing process in place if you want to see any benefit from your CRM at all.
Also, don’t do this backwards. Establishing your business processes comes first, and then your CRM.
<h2>5. Confusing Your CRM With Yoda</h2>
Customer Relationship Management is about people, not software, and it’s important to remember that. Your CRM system is an important tool for supporting your business strategy, but it doesn’t work on its own – it needs a human touch.
The people who are utilizing the CRM software are just as important as the system itself, and you need to support them in their training and development if you want to get the most out of your investment.
<h2>6. Underestimating The Training Involved</h2>
Many businesses think that once they’ve got a CRM in place, it’ll only take 30 minutes of training to get it set up. This simply isn’t true. Implementing a CRM can be a lengthy process and it’s important that you allow for ‘teething problems’ in the first few weeks.
If you don’t set aside time for staff to properly get on board with the new CRM, they will be reluctant to deviate from their regular routines to do so. Remember, the CRM is designed to make their working life easier – not more difficult.
<h2>7. Not Tracking Things Properly</h2>
Save the trees.
No, seriously. If you’re printing out 20 different reports to bring to a meeting, when they’re already visible on your laptop – that’s bad enough. But if 15 of those reports are completely irrelevant, then you need to rethink the situation.
Here’s the thing – not everything matters, at least not to an equivalent degree.
It’s important to sit down and think about what you’re tracking, and why. For example, in a telesales business where reps are sending out 50 proposals a day – do you really think those proposals should be used as indicators of future success? Figure out what key reports you need and use those, it’ll save you time, money, and your conscience (the trees, remember?).
<h2>8. Forgetting About Social</h2>
You simply can’t ignore social media integration when it comes to your CRM system. It’s essential to have access to social information on your customers so that you can engage with them and monitor their activity.
This kind of customer insight can help you to improve your customer experience and also make a positive impact on your bottom line.
<h2>9. Failure To Adapt</h2>
Your business will change and grow (hopefully), and it’s important that your CRM grows with it. Remember to keep tabs on your CRM processes, regularly evaluate how well it aligns with your overall vision, and make adaptations where necessary.
You may even need to upgrade to a new CRM system as your business develops.
<h2>10. No Success Metrics</h2>
How will you know whether your CRM system is working if you don’t put metrics in place to measure it?
Trying to implement a CRM without clear objectives in mind is a bad call and you must have these in place from Day 1. Think about each business area where the CRM will be utilized and create metrics which you can measure on a regular basis.
<h2>Make Your CRM Work For You, Not Against You</h2>
Your CRM system should cut down on your workload, provide insights to improve customer experience, and increase your business profitability. If it doesn’t, you’re doing something wrong.
The main thing is to involve everyone, ensure that the CRM benefits everyone, and listen to their concerns. Once you do that, and avoid these 10 pitfalls, you’ll be on the right track.
What issues have you encountered with your own CRM system? Let us know in the comments below.

10 Pitfalls to Avoid When Choosing a CRM

Shopify - The global commerce platform

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

The global commerce platform

#ffffff

<a href="http://format.com/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Format</a> CEO, Lukas Drya, describes the tool as a portfolio builder designed for creative minds.
Format started off as ‘4ormat’ back in 2008 and launched under the same name in 2010. At this stage, it was one of few portfolio builders designed specifically for creatives – but the market has since become much more competitive.<a href="http://format.com/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><img alt="Screen Shot 2015-12-24 at 00.07.06.png" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/Zl5-UmbNPxQrOwFDF6j6PQUZ7FUbrYxT1FryjHc6jp9FVWcrgZGYCk9XjM-_RwvWnXGjKySUPkdC7tLdY4Rr-RQNID1vBlSHYhMEvPMBj8e7KeNGljnf1ukvPsAGlnUJt1tz7OjN" /></a>
In 2014, the company relaunched as ‘Format’ and unveiled a number of upgraded features. But has it done enough to stay ahead of the pack, in a market that’s become increasingly saturated over the past few years?
A busy schedule doesn’t always allow for ‘trial and error’; especially not when it comes to choosing a platform to showcase your work. So, I decided to take a look at what Format has to offer and do the groundwork for you.
Once you’ve read through this review, you should have a good idea of whether or not Format is the best platform to present your talents.
<h2>Getting Started</h2>
The first thing you’ll do is create your account. You will then see 4 more steps pop up on the screen which you will work through until completion.
It goes like this:
<ul>
<li>
Create your account
</li>
<li>
Upload images
</li>
<li>
Choose and customize your theme
</li>
<li>
View your site
</li>
<li>
Create your custom domain
</li>
</ul>
And it looks like this:
<img alt="Screen Shot 2015-12-23 at 22.25.42.png" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/IHf1pDko7wDNgCTNfkgxH_LG1NMXqpCUBe3qiudmOTOl05lG1GO9yTfLBu0Ap8fc0yQAVSk-E3JDNb22kTxJVMc2dhCbqJLAdz_JTjb5aHvNKaqX0n5m_hQ5_rJiEeq8vYHK6sFV" />
You definitely won’t get lost when you’re navigating through Format, that’s for sure. Right from the start, the ‘tour’ video pops up and gives you a demonstration of how to use the site. You’ll come across these tours every time you go back into Editor mode also – which can be pretty useful.
<h2>Usability</h2>
As you can see from the set-up stage, Format seems to take user friendliness pretty seriously. The interface is very intuitive, everything is where you expect it to be, and the step-by-step approach makes the whole process very easy.
Once you’re finished with one section, you’re swiftly directed towards the next building block – and the tour is always on hand if you need a recap.
<img alt="Screen Shot 2015-12-23 at 22.40.09.png" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/PmbEg2kzUZXHwmv8TeUUBLzQsA3w-Zv5aXtDhztTZtoyWd8gsCxWAiHlAt3ozr1f0STH2Mlb71RjTMT7YZa5d7ygROtHCyUcIxBeZ5gg2JA-5W9KCFaZVTthCH0yuikl0GDun6nQ" />
<h2>Adding Content</h2>
Content is managed in the Pages section of the site editor – and it’s not all about visuals either.
Format differs from other creative themed portfolio builders I’ve come across, by allowing users to upload text items to their portfolio also (automatic brownie points from this writer).
<img alt="Screen Shot 2015-12-23 at 22.48.01.png" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/BrQ3cs4-gx9z9YRD2rVXUzYyEjVJX791j82xeOYqhr6exS1JOIMbXnAozlf8UkRUccI05jfscn-yO5OPbqFdzSaP6val-SrO7nqy6wPr2-ZHX85jtlBmD93EWTpTGiipgZHpouLL" />
In addition to Pages, you can also add content to the in-built blog.
The blog is fairly minimalistic, so you might not be impressed if you’re used to a more comprehensive system. It offers the key features that you need and nothing more, but I actually like that about it. So it all depends on what you’re looking for.
<h2>Themes &amp; Customization</h2>
Format’s themes are grouped by gallery display type and there are a decent selection to choose from.
You’ll also find multiple presets available on each theme, which will allow you to view the theme with different fonts and colors before making your selection.
<img alt="Screen Shot 2015-12-23 at 21.08.49.png" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/h4iww8DToHRLiJ__VOrCOkoKDMY2l4XY8E7gAGnQHoaUkc0HpBUuuQS7WbziAHxTHTn54NEHB_LYFo7k5KE0FR3LoRr87Lwxt3JCN3zPFZkmU3kxQZ9Jycy5c8lNXl1JT58ahW9q" />
Once you’ve chosen a theme, you can head over to the Design Page which offers some a few surprise customization options that aren’t always available on these platforms – such as letter-spacing and line-spacing.
On the Design Page, you’ll also see 3 tabs for Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile. All themes are responsive and you can customize the site for each platform by clicking on the individual tab.
<h2>Customer Support</h2>
The Help section is very comprehensive, so it’s unlikely you’ll need to contact these guys very often. But if you do, they promise to get back to you within 1 working day.
<img alt="Screen Shot 2015-12-23 at 23.45.27.png" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/0uASiYyR_19WNID2pJf44nVww_b9nqolM3k3vcn5QC1JqS5yhOSsswRWDG4ADvYghMTVQcgSlMkc4d1jloqEGn9kICiBhg1QolQarH3Z0S5MyPcLY3-nahNc_1yb9ytSuCIxDSOe" />
<h2>Pricing</h2>
After your free 14 day trial, you can choose from 3 packages on Format: Basic, Pro, and Agency. Prices start at $5.75 for the Basic package, with $10.75 p/m for the Pro package, and $20.75 for Agency.
There’s a pretty big gap between the Basic package and the Pro package in terms of content allowance (e.g. 100 Images Vs 1,000 Images), so I’d say it’s worth forking out the extra fiver a month to upgrade.
<img alt="Screen Shot 2015-12-23 at 21.14.53.png" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/aEsYPJ7sKPlo4an2axxulxYprcetXB47OvMCObO7xXPfRikkjVAqeSk4J4k0yiRuunb42El1Z1kXKP7QLlsNBFKlKjQkQDVF0e4a1zrjHyA7jfKRujGv8vLQl-JcMu8LIWfYPTr_" />
<h2>Final Verdict</h2>
I’m definitely a fan of Format. It offers everything that I’d expect from a decent portfolio builder and it offers some nifty extras too. Format makes it simple for anyone to create a beautiful, clean, and professional website that has just enough ‘pzazz’ to stand out amongst its competitors.
If you’re looking to branch out into ecommerce in the near future, then it’s not the website builder for you. And it won’t be a hit for anyone who needs a comprehensive Content Management System either. But that's fine, because it wasn’t built to do any of those things.
<a href="http://format.com/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Format</a> is what it is. And that's a feature-rich, simplistic, and easy to use website portfolio builder. So if that’s what you’re on the market for, I highly recommend checking it out.
What’s your portfolio builder of choice? Let us know in the comments below.

Format Review

Back in 2014, I published my <a href="/plushforums-review/">PlushForums Review</a>. The hosted forum solution was brand spanking new at the time, and yet it thoroughly impressed me.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/vopggzde_200x0.png" />The startup project has evolved over the last year or so, with new features, capabilities, and styles emerging along the way.I recently sat down with Adrian Flitcroft, the Founder of PlushForums, at a popular London coffee spot. We spoke of Football (I refuse to call it “Soccer”), content management systems, startup culture, and of course, PlushForums.<h2>A Year of Expansion Ahead</h2>As we sipped our coffees, Adrian told me about how 2015 was all about fine-tuning the feature set of PlushForums.Back in April, <a href="/plushforums-undergoes-heavy-improvement/">automated rich links, CloudFlare support, and a variety of media embedding features were all introduced</a>. More recently, features like <a href="/plushforums-celebrates-one-year-on-the-market-with-slew-of-updates/">Mailchimp integration, localisation, Q&amp;A Mode, Akismet spam protection, and more, were all brought in</a>.With the year drawing to a close, Adrian seemed to be content with where his forum solution stood in terms of functionality.2016, he explained, was going to be a year of expansion.With localization now a part of the PlushForums project, Adrian is looking to get the entire platform translated into other languages, with German being top of the list. He also talked me through some of the demands coming from customers in areas such as Germany and France, who wish to have their servers located within their respective nations. A demand which PlushForums, he boasted, can now cater for.<h2>In Good Hands</h2>Essentially, I got the feeling that PlushForums was now well-rounded enough in terms of functionality to begin pushing its boundaries. Adrian certainly implied a broader focus on marketing and branding throughout 2016, and I'm quite excited to see how that turns out.I'm always eager to see startups evolve, and I'm happy to report that fourteen months after PlushForums first came to my attention, it's looking more promising than ever. Adrian Flitcroft himself is enthusiastic and driven when it comes to his project, and that's undoubtedly good news for PlushForums users.To find out more about PlushForums, <a target="_blank" href="https://plushforums.com/">check out their website</a>.

A Meeting With PlushForums Founder Adrian Flitcroft

We’ve written a lot about CMS, CRM, and Marketing Automation platforms here at CMS Critic, but are all of them essential?
For a big brand chasing global or even regional dominance, I think the answer is a resounding yes.
<img alt="Screen Shot 2015-12-20 at 22.01.07.png" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/B2fW-HQK5xiQzeif91KFPqfJswNMn0GI_hC-rKU1gw5rv9MpcBZfxCL6pZxmWGfDpmI3KPgY1ttnqoVC49Yl-R8Is1a_fi4H_bXyWO0_sN12b5kII8_i6G-eNhQPkg3NXzFEHDr1" />
<h2>Combining CMS, CRM &amp; Marketing Automation Software</h2>
Here are a few key benefits of combining these platforms:
<ul>
<li>
Improved forecasting and reporting
</li>
<li>
Combined customer information and insights
</li>
<li>
Increase in qualified leads
</li>
<li>
Real-time personalization
</li>
<li>
Increased efficiency
</li>
</ul>
Without the seamless integration of your CMS, CRM, and Marketing Automation platforms, you’ll end up wading through mounds of useless reports and inaccurate data – and no-one has time for that.
By thinking of your marketing system as a whole, rather than dividing these three components, you can ensure that you gain the best possible results from your sales and marketing.
Let’s break it down and talk about what each component in this integrated marketing system should look like.
<h2>1. CMS</h2>
Most businesses understand that your content management system should make it easier for you to edit and post content. But that’s not all it should be doing.
A good CMS should:
<ul>
<li>
provide useful audience insights
</li>
<li>
allow you to influence the prospects buying process with CTA’s and relevant content
</li>
<li>
assess what types of content are most popular with your audience
</li>
<li>
provide both macro and micro analytics – i.e. data on your website and your audience
</li>
</ul>
<h2>2. CRM</h2>
Your CRM is your business intelligence hub. At the moment, CRM systems are seriously misunderstood. There is no uniform process in place and many businesses are unsure of how to actually get the most out of their CRM system.
Because of this, CRM systems aren’t being utilized to their full potential and these advanced customer management tools are simply becoming ‘organizers’ for salespeople.
A good CRM should:
<ul>
<li>
assign your leads and opportunities into separate databases – e.g. cold/warm/qualified
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>
document what stage of the buying process each prospect is in
</li>
<li>
show how each lead arrived on your site
</li>
<li>
provide relevant background info on each prospect – such as previous contact and their activities on your site
</li>
</ul>
You can view our Top 10 CRM Systems <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-10-crm-systems/">here.</a>
<h2>3. Marketing Automation/Email Marketing</h2>
Marketing Automation and Email Marketing are very closely aligned, so I’m going to combine them for the purpose of this post.
A good marketing automation or email marketing system should:
<ul>
<li>
track which users receive, open, read, and click on your marketing emails
</li>
<li>
allow you to create custom fields to search, segment, and organize your email lists
</li>
<li>
have the technology to bypass spam folders and ensure your marketing messages are received
</li>
<li>
analyze site visitor behavior and activity and use lead scoring to determine their value.
</li>
<li>
assist you with moving prospects along the sales funnel by delivering tailored marketing messages based on their stage in the buying process
</li>
</ul>
When these three components are combined, you’ll have a seamless process in place to manage all of your sales and marketing activities.
<h2>Content Publishing and Distribution</h2>
<ul>
<li>
With your CMS, optimize your content for SEO and post it to your site
</li>
<li>
Assign a custom CTA to invite users to signup to receive more content
</li>
<li>
Create a draft marketing email and share this content via your marketing automation/email marketing system
</li>
<li>
Share this draft with your sales team via your CRM (because it’s so awesomely integrated)
</li>
<li>
Share the content via social media
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Lead Capturing and Closing The Sale</h2>
Once your CMS captures a conversion – e.g. an email sign up, your marketing automation will identify them as a ‘hot’ lead.
This information will be delivered to your CRM for the attention of your sales team, who will then follow up with the lead, thank them for signing up to the newsletter, and have a chat with them about their specific business needs.
This should lead to a sale – if your sales team are up to scratch (hey, technology can’t do everything).
<h2>The Bigger Picture</h2>
By integrating these three marketing platforms, you can give yourself an even clearer overview of your customer journey from start to finish and put efficient actions in place to increase conversions.
The insights you’ll receive into the customer lifecycle will allow you to identify customers who would have previously flown under the radar, and enable you to present them with right offer at the right time. Having this level of business intelligence is crucial for today’s marketer and it’s something that you really can’t afford to ignore.
Is your brand benefitting from an integrated marketing system? Let us know how it’s working for you in the comment below.

CMS, CRM & Marketing Automation: Why Your Brand Needs All Three

<a href="http://www.adobe.com/" target="_blank">Adobe</a> has enhanced its marketing offering by releasing a totally free iOS app aimed at streamlining the creation of social graphics. They've called it, “<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/app/id1051937863" target="_blank">Adobe Post</a>“.
The app provides images and templates for marketers to “remix” and modify. That includes applying filters, adding text and experimenting with color combinations. It's ideal for designing promotional images for Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/tumblr_nzh2i3wqys1uks4puo1_1280.png" /> Although this isn't a direct addition to <a href="http://www.adobe.com/uk/marketing-cloud.html" target="_blank">Adobe's Marketing Cloud</a>. it will be a substantial enhancement to any marketing team looking to bolster their efforts on social media.
Here's a video to help you get to grips with Adobe Post.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O9bH91A5YJY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<h2>Streamlining Social Graphic Creation</h2>
The Adobe Post home screen presents a range of templates made for social sharing, all of which are ready to be re-purposed. Adobe has promised to update existing designs, to keep things fresh.
Design Filters are a core feature of the app, acting as a combination of photo filter, typography, layout and colors; all of which come together to transform your current design into a new one in a single tap.
Furthermore, Adobe Post automatically suggests optimized color combinations. It extracts colors from your chosen background image and suggests variations that will look complimentary.
Adobe underlined the market which they're targeting with the release of this app <a href="http://blog.post.adobe.com/" target="_blank">via their blog announcement</a>:
<blockquote>
“This past year, we’ve been talking to many small businesses, non-profit organizations and entrepreneurs and the message is clear: consumers need a simple app to create professional looking graphics so they can better engage with their social media followers.
…We crafted and tailored Adobe Post so that anyone can stand out and communicate with impact.”
</blockquote>
I've already downloaded Adobe Post, and after some tinkering, I can confirm that it's pretty awesome. It allows even a one-man-band project to push out a professionally designed and totally customized social graphic within seconds.
It's going to help close the gap between the smallest and largest brands on social media platforms like Instagram, that's for sure.
For now, it seems only iOS users can reap the benefits of Adobe Post, although I doubt it will be too long before Android users get the same treatment.
The free app is available now <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/app/id1051937863">in the Apple store</a>. To find out more, check out the <a href="http://blog.post.adobe.com/" target="_blank">Adobe blog</a>.

Adobe Post: Adobe Empowers Marketers With Free Social Graphic App

<a href="https://www.agilitycms.com/" target="_blank">Agility CMS</a> has rolled out an update along with several bug fixes to polish off 2015.
The cloud-based, enterprise-grade platform was the focus of a <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/search/?q=agility+cms&amp;sort=-date" target="_blank">featured week here on CMS Critic earlier this year</a>. I personally got to explore the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/fun-fitness-community-outreach-why-working-at-agility-cms-looks-truly-awesome/" target="_blank">community feeling within the Agility camp</a>, as well as the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/why-agility-cms-doesnt-partake-in-feature-bloating/" target="_blank">platform's aversion to “feature bloating”</a>.
Here's a look at what's new.
<h2>Media, Documents, Reports &amp; More</h2>
Notably, Agility's “Choose Files” fly-out has been updated with a “New Folder” button.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/media-and-docs-flyout-new-folder.jpg" />
This fly-out appears when a user chooses to upload and insert a new image within a Rich Text Editor, for example, or chooses to upload/insert an image within any module.
According to Agility, this update gives users the option to create a Media folder for easy organization without having to navigate to the Media &amp; Documents Section. Much simpler.
Also, Reports within the Legacy content manager are now available in Beta. These reports include; Recent Changes, Ready to Publish, Domain Status and Configuration Status.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/new-reports1.png" />
The Save Validation pop-up has been updated too. It now includes an itemized list of all fields that have been edited but not saved. So, when a user navigates away from a page, module and other Agility CMS elements, they will be made aware of exactly where their unsaved changes are.
Furthermore, Agility CMS has unveiled a fair few bug fixes that come bundled with this update. Those bug fixes revolve around URL validation, page re-ordering, multi-language copying, and more.
To find out more about Agility CMS, <a href="https://www.agilitycms.com/" target="_blank">visit their website</a>, or check them out through our <a href="/products/agility-cms/" target="_blank">CMS Directory</a>.

Agility CMS Caps Off 2015 With an Update

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