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

matt-garrepy

The more your business grows, the more tools you rely on to get things done. This little guide will give a list of the ten more important online tools for small business owners.
Let’s get started.

<img alt="access, close-up, computer" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/pexels-photo-306198.jpeg" />

<h2>1: Google Docs / Google Drive </h2>
What It Is: 
<a href="https://www.google.com/docs/about/">Google Docs</a> is an online word processor that makes it easy to create a variety of different types of documents. These documents can be shared with your team through a shareable link or directly through email, with options to allow them to either just view it or to edit it. This makes collaboration simple and immediate, as everything is done in real-time. All changes are also saved immediately, and the documents are stored directly.
<a href="https://www.google.com/drive/">Google Drive</a> is a lot like <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/">Dropbox</a> in that it stores all of your Google documents (and any other files you wish to share) in one place. It also syncs all of your devices with the cloud for easy access, no matter where you are.
Considering how easy it is for systems to crash, or for files to accidentally be deleted from a computer, these tools are absolute must-haves for any business owner.
Pricing: 
Google Docs is free, and Google Drive offers its users 15 GB of storage space for free.
<h2>2: Slack </h2>
What It Is: 
<a href="https://slack.com/">Slack</a> is a cloud-based collaboration tool that makes it possible to share messages, documents / files, and images with your team. It works on any device, so users are not restricted to just their phone or just their PC.
Rather than having to gather in a meeting room, spend hours playing “phone tag”, or waiting for important emails to arrive, business owners can collaborate with their team in real-time.
Pricing: 
Small teams can use it for an unlimited amount of time for free. There are two upgrade packages available for $6.67 and $12.50.
<h2><img alt="Grayscale Photo of Computer Laptop Near White Notebook and Ceramic Mug on Table" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/pexels-photo-169573.jpeg" /></h2>
<h2>3: Website Builders </h2>
What It Is: 
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/key-website-builders/">Website builders</a> are key online tools for small business owners, allowing them to create stunning websites without having to be a designer. Most of them are easy to use and affordable, with numerous design templates and options available. Whether you need a static page or are looking to build your eCommerce store, there are plenty of website builders available for every need, purpose, and industry.
Pricing: 
Pricing varies considerably, as it depends on the company and the pricing package you choose. The link provided within this section will take you to an overview of some of the best website builders available, and each description includes pricing information.
<h2> </h2>
<h2>4: Canva </h2>
What It Is: 
<a href="https://www.canva.com/">Canva</a> is an incredibly versatile online tool that makes it possible for users to create eye-catching images for their website, blog posts, social media posts, business cards, and any other type of marketing collateral.
Pricing: 
The very basic plan is completely free for an unlimited amount of time. If you don’t need to create anything super fancy, this will work just fine. The next plan up allows users to collaborate on designs with their team, and this plan costs $12.95 per month. Finally, the most expensive package offers far more than the others do, but the prices are not listed on the website. Instead, users must contact Canva to get their quote. This is the best option for large businesses with large marketing teams.
<h2>5: Hootsuite </h2>
What It Is: 
<a href="https://hootsuite.com/">Hootsuite </a>is one of the best social media management tools available, letting users manage all of their profiles from just one dashboard. Users can easily find and schedule content for their profiles, as well as use the built-in analytics to measure their ROI and other metrics. As a business owner, time is incredibly valuable. Hootsuite saves time.
Pricing: 
The very basic plan is limited, but free. The others range from $19 per month to $99 per month, to $499 per month. There is also an Enterprise package but, like Canva, users must contact the company to receive a quote.
<h2><img alt="coaching, coders, coding" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/startup-photos.jpg" /></h2>
<h2>6: Google Analytics </h2>
What It Is: 
If you’re serious about driving traffic to your business’ website, and want to know where your traffic is coming from, then <a href="https://analytics.google.com/">Google Analytics </a>is a must-have tool. It can be a bit overwhelming when you first use it, but it gets easier as you spend some time navigating around it. Through Google Analytics, you can see how many sessions your website has, where your traffic is coming from, and what your most popular content is. Additionally, you can set up milestones/goals and eCommerce tracking. This helps you focus on the channels or platforms that produce the best results.
Pricing: 
Users who have fewer than 5 million impressions per month can use Google Analytics free of charge. This is typically not a problem for most small business owners, or for those who use it for a personal website. That monthly limit is removed if you have a current AdWords campaign running, assuming your AdWords account is neither suspended nor disabled.
<h2>7: Pardot </h2>
What It Is: 
<a href="http://www.pardot.com">Pardot</a> is a B2B marketing automation tool that strengthens the marketing efforts of small business owners and their marketing team. It offers a wide array of tools that help businesses establish meaningful and lasting connections with their customers and other companies within their industry, generate more pipeline, and helps the sales team to close more deals. Business owners can generate and nurture more leads, getting them through the pipeline quickly and efficiently.
Pricing: 
Pardot has pricing plans that range from $50 per month/ per user to $300 per month / per 5 users, on up to $3,000 per month. No matter what your needs are, there is a pricing plan that fits your budget and brand.
<h2>8: Mailchimp </h2>
What It Is: 
<a href="https://mailchimp.com">Mailchimp</a> is one of the most trusted and widely used email marketing tools, used for sending out e-newsletters and promotions. It makes it possible to expand your business by sending out stunning emails, advertising, building your brand, and connecting with an eCommerce store.
Pricing 
The most basic plan, intended for completely new users, is free. The upgrade starts at $10 per month, and the other plan is an additional $199 per month.
<h2>9: Intuit Quickbooks </h2>
What It Is: 
<a href="https://quickbooks.intuit.com/online/">Quickbooks by Intuit</a> is an online accounting tool that organizes all of your finances in one place. It’s easy to navigate, makes the basic accounting tasks easier to complete, and offers advanced tools for when you need them. With this tool, business owners can send invoices that accept cards, take payments with free bank transfers, and set up invoices with payment notifications. Users can also record what they spend and what they earn, as well as separate earnings and expenses by categories for better records.
Pricing: 
The most basic plan is $10 per month, the next one up is $24 per month, and the most expensive package is $35 per month.
<h2>10: Buzzsumo </h2>
What It Is: 
A strong content marketing strategy is one of the most salient aspects of any small business, and <a href="http://buzzsumo.com/">Buzzsumo</a> helps users create that. This tool helps you find trending content within your industry, as well as influencers who are most likely to share your content and increase its reach. It has analytics built in that shows how well your content is received and where it is being shared.
Pricing: 
There is a free trial available, and then it costs $99 per month after that. It’s not cheap, but it’s definitely a must-have tool for strong content marketing.
<h3>What are your favorite online tools? Share in the comments below! </h3>

Top 10 Online Tools for Small Business Owners

mike-johnston

.NET and Java based CMS typically rule the roost when it comes to the enterprise but that doesn't mean there aren't powerful PHP based content management systems out there that can do just as good a job.
Today, we're going to announce the winner of the 2014 People's Choice CMS award for Best Enterprise PHP CMS.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best_enterprise_php_cms-1200x0.png" />
This year the contenders were Drupal, Typo3 and eZ Publish.
The winner this year was none other than <a href="http://www.drupal.org">Drupal</a>.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/drupal_logo-blue200x0.png" />
The runner up this year was <a href="http://www.typo3.org">Typo3</a>.
Drupal has been used in thousands (if not millions) of websites around the world for all kinds of implementations and most certainly in enterprises as well. As one of the most powerful content management frameworks on the market, it's not a surprise they took this award.
Congratulations to the Drupal community and everyone at Drupal on their win.

The Winner of the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for  Best Enterprise PHP CMS

The popular website building platform <a href="http://motocms.com/">MotoCMS</a> is just weeks away from becoming <a href="http://beta.motocms.com/" target="_blank">MotoCMS 3.0</a>. For now though, a select bunch of users can gain access to the beta.
MotoCMS aims to make website building easy via a very wide range of templates, a drag-and-drop interface, widgets, a built-in mobile editor and more. It currently powers over 375,000 websites the world over.
Let's take a look at what's new with MotoCMS 3.0.
<h2>Knocked Down &amp; Rebuilt</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-1700x0.jpg" alt="MotoCMS 3.0" />
The team behind MotoCMS 3.0 have completely rebuilt the platform, enhancing it in a number of different ways.
All templates are now responsive out of the box (but can still be modified with the mobile editor), a revamped admin panel makes it more functional and user-friendly, while speed also seems to have been given a special focus in the update.
Head over to the <a href="http://beta.motocms.com/" target="_blank">MotoCMS 3.0 beta website</a> for your chance to test it all out. All you need to do is leave your email address, and also your phone number if you wish to receive a 50% discount on your next MotoCMs purchase. 
All beta users will also be able to leave a feedback on the system, contributing to any last-minute improvements and fixes. 
Hurry though, because at the time of writing, only 128 more beta “copies” are up for grabs!

MotoCMS 3.0 Beta Now Available

Redaxscript, which initially started as a fork of sNews CMS in 2008, has now reached version 2.0.0 of their simple, yet powerful CMS. Let's take a look at some of the new features in this release.
<h2>PHP 5.0 Now Required</h2>
Given that some of the functions in Redaxscript have been rewritten into OOP classes, PHP 5.0 is now a requirement in order for the system to run correctly.
<h2>Redesigned and Responsive Admin</h2>
Redaxscript's admin interface has been redesigned to work on any device without compromising functionality and usability. Want to use it on your tablet or smartphone? No problem!
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/redaxscript_fully_responsive_admin795x0.jpg" alt="redaxscript_fully_responsive_admin" />
<h2>Templates got a facelift!</h2>
Lead designer for Redaxscript, Jörg Steinhauer, has replaced most of the graphics within the templates with modern SVG, icon fonts, and improved typography giving them a better overall look and feel.
<h2>Bye Bye IE8</h2>
Sorry IE8 lovers (if there are any of you) but given how far web browsers have come, maintaining support for something this old just isn't in the cards. IE8 support has been dropped to focus on CSS3 and HTML5.
<h2>Includes jQuery and Zepto</h2>
Redaxscript now includes the latest versions of jQuery and Zepto. For those who like getting their hands dirty, try out the new experimental <a href="http://redaxscript.com/download/templates/zepto-template">Zepto template</a> to see what it's made of. Not all JavaScript-powered plugins and modules are working due to a limited API, 
so you'll need to extend Zepto using some of their modules as well.
<h2>Feature detection</h2>
They've added HTML5 elements support for old browsers and feature detection available inside the r.support object.
<h2>Plugins and Modules</h2>
<ul>
<li>Tab character for textareas plugin</li>
<li>HTML validator module using validator.nu</li>
<li>Live reload module for CSS</li>
<li>Google maps module</li>
<li>Lazy load module for images</li>
</ul>
<div>Want additional information? <a href="http://redaxscript.com/develop/changelog/changes-for-2-0-0">Read the changelog</a> or visit <a href="/products/redaxscript/">Redaxscript</a> in our CMS Directory.</div>

Redaxscript 2.0.0 Released

This year, as you may know, we decided to bring in a panel of two additional judges to add some diversity to the selection process for our Critics Choice Awards. Namely, <a href="/introduction-to-the-judges-john-coonen/">John Coonen</a> and <a href="/introduction-to-the-judges-adriaan-bloem/">Adriaan Bloem</a>, two well respected voices within the industry. Today, I'm going to announce which Website Builder was selected by the judges to win the Critics Choice award Best Website Builder for 2013.
To begin, a little about the selection process. To make things fair, we sent a list of the various categories to each judge with no individual products listed anywhere within the document and asked them to list their top three choices for each category. They were not restricted in any way with their selections and were free to choose from any of the products on the market. We agreed that if any judges came back with the same answers in the same categories, we would automatically select that answer as the winner. This keeps the awards unbiased and makes the selection of the winner fun and fresh each year as we never know what options might be brought to the table.
Selecting a winner is never an easy task but part of the process involves analyzing the following key areas of the various website builders to assess which one we feel best represents a well rounded and solid solution for you. Those areas may include:
<ul>
<li>User interface – How easy is it to use, how visually appealing.</li>
<li>Value – Is the cost reasonable for what you receive in return.</li>
<li>Functionality – What type of functionality is built into the system.</li>
</ul>
This year, the website builder that we feel is most deserving of the Critic's Choice Award for Best Website Builder for 2013 is…
<h2>Squarespace</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best-website-builder150x0.png" alt="Best Website Builder 2013" />Why Squarespace?
Without a doubt, Squarespace has been one of the most innovative website builders to come along in a long time. This year, they added an amazing eCommerce component to their platform which made Squarespace an even more powerful contender in the Website Builder market. (Check out our <a href="/squarespace-review-the-long-awaited-commerce-solution">Squarespace Review</a> to learn more about that release.)
With a clean, minimalist interface one of a kind interface that offers both power and simplicity, it's hard to beat. Squarespace offers incredible value of what it brings to the table with pricing ranging between $8 – $24 / month (within the U.S). With a host of features including beautiful integrated analytics, a solid eCommerce platform for those wanting to build up a shop and a full array of beautiful templates, you can't go wrong with this website builder.
The Interface:
<a href="http://www.squarespace.com"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/squarespace_-_best_website_builder_for_20131102x0.png" alt="squarespace_-_best_website_builder_for_2013" /></a>
A Couple of their templates:
<a href="http://www.squarespace.com"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/squarespace_-_best_website_builder_for_2013_-_31104x0.png" alt="squarespace_-_best_website_builder_for_2013_-_3" /></a>
<a href="http://www.squarespace.com"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/squarespace_-_best_website_builder_for_2013_-_21104x0.png" alt="squarespace_-_best_website_builder_for_2013_-_2" /></a>
What I personally find is a good sign is when they are so confident that you'll love their product that they are willing to offer a free trial of the product with no credit card. That means, you can test it out and if you love it like we do, you can stick with it and pay monthly but if you decide it's not right for you, you can walk away without having spent a cent. I think it's great when companies offer this to potential clients (and a lot of them do).
If you haven't tried Squarespace yet, we encourage you to do so. You can do so here: <a href="http://www.squarespace.com">Squarespace</a>.
Congratulations to Squarespace on their win. We look forward to much more amazing things in the years to come.

2013 Critic's Choice Winner for Best Website Builder

Evidently, Squarespace has noticed a trend within its customer base. Namely, that lots of Squarespace users are running three or more Squarespace websites at once.
<img alt="sshot-33" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-33.png" />
Why else would they put together <a href="http://circle.squarespace.com/">Squarespace Circle</a>, an exclusive club for those users who run at least three Squarespace instances.
Aimed at the developer community, Squarespace Circle members will get some perks that make building websites for clients more manageable.
<h2>The Inner Circle</h2>
Here's a look at some of those perks, that only those with multiple Squarespace websites can access (<a href="http://Squarespace Circle">by signing in at the Squarespace Circle website</a>).
<h4>Six-month trial periods</h4>
Firstly, and perhaps most interestingly, Squarespace Circle members will have extended trial periods of up to six-months for all new projects.
That's a massive step up from the two week trial extended to everyone else using Squarespace.
<h4>Optimized Customer Care</h4>
Squarespace is offering Circle members “optimized customer care”. They haven't divulged the details of this supposed optimization, though.
<h4>Exclusive content</h4>
Squarespace is developing exclusive advanced guides, marketing materials and product release notes to help Circle members produce better websites and grow their business.
<h2>More Than Just Circle Time</h2>
Squarespace has already announced that they're working to make Squarespace Circle a serious resource and information hub for developers.
<blockquote>
“Squarespace Circle is growing. We’ll be listening closely and looking for new ways to improve your workflow, help you sell your services, and connect you with each other.”
</blockquote>
I can't help but feel a little bit excited about this whole development.
I've always seen Squarespace as one of the best website builders around, but I've always wondered about how tough it would be to run a web design agency that deals solely with Squarespace.
Before Squarespace Circle, you essentially had two weeks to build and present your client his website before payment was due for the first month. Now that is one epic time constraint.
But now I can definitely see how more developers and professional web designers will be attracted to Squarespace as along term solution for their existing and future clientèle.
Also, it's nice to see that Squarespace aren't charging a fee here. It feels more like a reward for being a serial Squarespacer, rather than just a paid privilege.
In any case, I'm eager to see how this all pans out.
The official announcement of Squarespace Circle can be found on the <a href="http://blog.squarespace.com/blog/introducing-squarespace-circle">Squarespace blog</a>.

Squarespace Circle: The Club For Serial Squarespace Users

Best Video Experience

Give your audience the best video experience

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<a href="https://www.hyland.com/en">Hyland</a>, an enterprise content management (ECM) and process management provider, has <a href="https://news.hyland.com/hyland-enters-into-agreement-for-the-acquisition-of-nuxeo">signed an agreement</a> providing for exclusive negotiations to acquire <a href="https://www.nuxeo.com/">Nuxeo</a> – a content services and digital asset management (DAM) platform.
A leading ECM provider, Hyland is best known for its <a href="https://www.onbase.com/en">Onbase</a> and <a href="https://www.hyland.com/en/perceptive">Perceptive</a> content management products, which securely centralize enterprise content and deliver relevant information to users across a wide variety of industries – including healthcare, finance, insurance, higher education, and manufacturing.
Nuxeo offers a cloud-native, open-source, low-code platform with content services and DAM capabilities, among others.
“We’ve innovated an entirely modern platform that provides both enterprise-class content services and digital asset management capabilities," said Eric Barroca, CEO of Nuxeo. "And we look forward to bringing these capabilities to the Hyland portfolio as well as leveraging Hyland’s considerable global resources to deliver even greater success to our customers and partners."
<h3>A Leader on the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms</h3>
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/03/figure_1_magic_quadrant_for_content_services_platforms.png" alt="Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms" style="max-width:570px" /></figure>
Hyland has been a consistent force in the ECM and content services landscape, commanding the second-place position in the Leader Quadrant of <a href="https://www.hyland.com/en/explore/gartner-magic-quadrant-for-content-services-platforms">Gartner’s 2020 Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms</a>.
While Hyland has been trailing right behind <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2020/12/08/over-200-million-users-rely-on-sharepoint-as-microsoft-is-again-recognized-as-a-leader-in-the-2020-gartner-content-services-platforms-magic-quadrant-report/#:~:text=Leading%20in%20the%20Gartner%20Content,Platforms%20Magic%20Quadrant%20for%202020.">Microsoft’s 365 platform</a> (fueled primarily by <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/sharepoint/collaboration">Sharepoint</a>), they were also being followed closely by <a href="https://www.alfresco.com/">Alfresco</a>, a fast-growing open-source content services platform that was gaining ground in the market but still viewed as a somewhat niche solution by large enterprises.
Following suit with many other CMS and DXP platforms in the last year, Hyland <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/hyland-acquires-alfresco-focuses-on-cloud-and-global-expansion-of-enterprise-cms/">acquired Alfresco</a> in 2020, eliminating their next closest competitor and changing the game in the leadership grid.
While buying a competitor is far from novel, Alfresco’s low-code tools – combined with its ability to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) services from <a href="https://www.alfresco.com/ecm-software/aws">cloud providers like AWS</a> – were likely key factors in Hyland's decision, enabling them to accelerate their modernization efforts.
<h3>Adding Nuxeo's low-code AI service and DAM capabilities</h3>
With the Nuxeo acquisition, Hyland is consuming another competitor – this time from the Visionary quadrant of Gartner's MQ for Content Services Platforms.
Nuxeo brings some unique assets to Hyland that may translate into significant advantages against Microsoft and Sharepoint. First, it gains <a href="https://www.nuxeo.com/content-services-platform/ai/">Nuxeo Insight</a> – an AI offering that enables customers to use their own data and content to train custom ML models for a variety of business applications. This includes enriching content with metadata, classifying people, products and records, automating forms processing, and more.
The critical advantage with Nuxeo Insight is that it generates ML models that are trained with a customer’s own data – rendering them far more accurate and insightful than typical AI services offered through public clouds (like AWS).
Nuxeo is also known for its strong enterprise <a href="https://www.nuxeo.com/solutions/dam-digital-asset-management/">DAM capabilities</a>, which provide out-of-the-box solutions for enterprises. Additionally, its large-scale repository – which includes NoSQL and distributed file system options – provides storage and scalability support for organizations with a large number of documents.
In fact, last year, Nuxeo proved its scalability performance with an <a href="https://benchmarks.nuxeo.com/11-billion-benchmark-story/">11-billion-object benchmark test</a> on AWS.
<h3>What does the Nuxeo acquisition mean for Hyland?</h3>
Considering some of Hyland’s core industry verticals – specifically finance – Nuxeo may be well worth the investment. Along with its cloud-native, low-code solutions, Nuxeo's open source community and AI-driven capabilities address key gaps in Hyland's modernization strategy, and will likely be a source of continued product innovation.
The transaction is expected to close in April 2021. Until that time, both companies will continue to operate as two companies. Upon transaction close, Nuxeo's business will be integrated into Hyland.
<h3>About Nuxeo</h3>
<a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3043355-1&amp;h=141805745&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nuxeo.com%2F%3Futm_source%3DPRNewswire%26utm_medium%3Dpress%2520release%26utm_campaign%3Dhitrust&amp;a=Nuxeo">Nuxeo</a>, the developer of the leading Content Services Platform, is reinventing <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3043355-1&amp;h=1356444015&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nuxeo.com%2Fproducts%2Fenterprise-content-management%2F%3Futm_source%3DPRNewswire%26utm_medium%3Dpress%2520release%26utm_campaign%3Dhitrust&amp;a=enterprise+content+management">enterprise content management</a> (ECM) and <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3043355-1&amp;h=3747046695&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nuxeo.com%2Fproducts%2Fdigital-asset-management%2F%3Futm_source%3DPRNewswire%26utm_medium%3Dpress%2520release%26utm_campaign%3Dhitrust&amp;a=digital+asset+management">digital asset management</a> (DAM). Nuxeo makes it easy to build smart content applications that enhance customer experiences, improve decision making, and accelerate products to market. Its cloud-native, low-code platform has been deployed by large enterprises worldwide. Customers like Electronic Arts, TBWA, ABN AMRO, and CVS have used Nuxeo's technology to transform the way they do business. Founded in 2000, the company is based in New York with offices across the United States, Europe, and Asia. Learn more at <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3043355-1&amp;h=1092214406&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nuxeo.com%2F%3Futm_source%3DPRNewswire%26utm_medium%3Dpress%2520release%26utm_campaign%3Dhitrust&amp;a=www.nuxeo.com">www.nuxeo.com</a>.
<h3>About Hyland</h3>
<a href="https://www.hyland.com/">Hyland</a> is an enterprise content management (ECM) software platform, combining integrated document management, business process management, and records management in a single application. Hyland software allows organizations to manage, control, and share digital content with employees, business partners, customers, and other constituencies. Learn more at <a href="https://www.hyland.com/en">www.hyland.com</a>

Hyland Enters Agreement to Acquire Nuxeo

paris-tuzun

I took Publii, one of the newest up and coming free website builders for a spin to see how it worked and what it brings to the table compared to what’s available today.
<h2>What is Publii?</h2>
Publii is an open source website builder that runs off of your desktop instead of over the internet. It’s creator, Bob Mitro, has been in the web business for over 10 years. Bob started TidyCustoms prior to creating Publii. TidyCustoms is an online service for website optimization, and that was one of his key goals coming into the Publii project. Speed.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/publii-app1005x0-is.png" />
The popularity of website builders like Shopify and WordPress has led to a ton of developers cranking out themes that are bloated, and they risk adding page load time unnecessarily. This isn’t always the case of course, but there’s no way to test the thousands of themes individual effects on page-load times. Additionally, using several plugins to add site features or security adds to the issue. These two factors, in turn, slow your page-load speed and hurt your SEO rankings. There are steps you can take to speed up these sites, but you can only get so far. Finding a well-developed theme and keeping plugin use to the minimum are important factors in reducing page-load time.
Publii set out to change the game by acting as a CMS for static blogs. Other website builders use a database, which is good for more complicated websites but is a bit overkill for blogs. By giving the user just what they need, the page load time can be increased significantly.
<h2>Publii’s Key Features</h2>
Work Offline: This feature earns big points from me. It’s one of the only website building platforms that lets you work offline and sync your updates when you have internet access again. This is a big benefit for travel and outdoor bloggers who may not always have a reliable internet connection (if any). Instead, you can work offline and create posts directly on the platform rather than re-create the posts from a Word document when you have a connection.
Another great benefit to offline page building is site previews even without an internet connection. Publii has a built in page preview that can show you the mobile layout with the simple switch of a toggle button. It also has a built in inspector element to display HTML
Speed: Since most of the bloat was cut out from what other website builders offer, page load times are significantly shorter than the same post built on a different platform. There are, of course, other variables that affect page load speed that need to be taken into account. Publii also took care to not remove too much from the modern-day CMS platform and kept things like themes and automatic responsive design available.
Easy to Manage SEO Tools: It has built in search engine optimization tools that let you control things like the page title, slug and meta information. You can also tag posts to be indexed or not for each individual page or post.
Turn Key Functionality: Many times when I’m building a client’s WordPress page, there are a handful of plugins that I would consider “Must Installs” and a few more on top of that which will likely need to used to fulfill client requests. These plugins do add to the page bloat I mentioned earlier, but I would consider essential. Publii, however, has many of these tools already built into each vanilla install. For example, you can choose to show or hide publishing date and time, show post author, include social sharing icons or even show related posts based on your assigned tags. These can be controlled as a default for your entire blog, but can also be enabled or disabled on individual posts. It’s always better to have more control than less in these types of situations.
Separate Custom CSS &amp; HTML: With any theme provided by a blogging platform, you typically need to edit or add some extra CSS to match your brand vision. Publii has a separate container for custom CSS, so you don’t have to scroll through an entire CSS document to edit yours in. This also helps prevent removing an important piece of CSS that could break how your site displays.
In addition to the separate CSS Location, there is also a separate HTML location for adding things like Google Analytics tracking, Pinterest page verification and more to the head, footer and body areas of your website.
You would need at least four or five plugins on other website builders to get the functionality of a vanilla Publii install. Plugins are a great tool for developers, but if their creators stop updating, it could leave you with a broken website in extreme cases.
What to Consider Before Choosing Publii as Your Website Builder
Like all website builders, each has their own drawbacks. Publii is not an exception, so it’s important to understand the things you’ll need to do before pulling the trigger on a CMS.
You Will Need Some Very Basic Website Setup Knowledge: Since Publii syncs your file structure to an FTP site, you’ll need to know how to link your FTP site to it. Another good thing to understand is how an FTP site syncs with the folders in your file path so you don’t inadvertently break your site paths the next time you sync to your site.
Additionally, you’ll want a good grasp of FTP file structure so that a year down the road your site’s backend isn’t an unorganized mess.
Have Your Website Organization Planned Out: If you’ve previously had experience with website builders like WordPress, you should be able to figure out where everything is relatively quickly and get going. Those newer to user-friendly website builders will have a bit of a steeper learning curve, but there are explanations for most of the features in Publii. 
Either way, you will want to have a site structure organized prior to firing up Publii to begin creating content. Publii uses a few core themes which will provide the layout, look and functionality to your blog. However having a plan for the types of categories, posts and menu items you will have will go a long way to getting everything set up smoothly when you start publishing content. Without one, you might be a little more lost than you otherwise would be in WordPress or Shopify.
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
Publii hasn’t been around for too long respectively, but I see it growing in the future as more bloggers become aware of it. The lightweight platform that is built for speed will surely scratch an itch that some of the more cumbersome website builders would be overkill for. Why not <a href="https://getpublii.com/" target="_blank">try it for yourself</a>?

Publii Review - The Light Weight Open Source CMS

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SocialEngine has been around for a few and we've enjoyed trying it out and seeing it develop into a more and more powerful system as the years go by. We decided to share the experience with our readers and show you the true power this system possesses. If you are looking for a system that's affordable and works well as a social networking product.. then this is definitely a very solid choice and one of the better options on the market today. It's also very reasonably priced at about $250 for a license. Let's examine it in today's SocialEngine Review
Here's how the install process looks for those interested:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/socialengine1.png" alt="SocialEngine Review" />
Now that you have your login information, you can proceed to the control panel and get started by playing around with it.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/socialengine4.png" alt="SocialEngine Review" />
Above you can see the default look of the system before you do any modifications. Let's create an account and play a bit shall we?
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/socialengine6.png" alt="SocialEngine Review" />
SocialEngine also has a number of plugins which can be installed and configured for use. Plugins are available for between $30 to $50  depending on the plugin. In this case, we have all of the plugins that are not third party.
<dl>
<dt><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/socialengine8.png" alt="SocialEngine Review" /></dt>
</dl>
There is some pretty amazing functionality built into SocialEngine. Let's install some of the plugins and see how they work/look.
Here is the compose screen from the blog editor. once installed, it's fully functional and works very well. Looks like it uses TinyMCE by default.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/socialengine-blog.png" alt="SocialEngine Review" />
Here is a screenshot of the classifieds section (once the module has been installed). This particular module is a great way to monetize your site as well should you choose.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/socialengine-classified.png" alt="SocialEngine Review" />
This plugin is for music uploads. One comment on it would be that it lacks an effective admin entry and there doesn't appear to be an easy way to modify the number of files or file sizes (that I could find).
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/socialengine-music.png" alt="SocialEngine Review" />
And finally, the last plugin we tested was the videos plugin. It works beautifully with Youtube and uploads.
<div class="mceTemp">
<dl>
<dt><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/socialengine-video.png" alt="SocialEngine Review" /></dt>
<dd></dd>
</dl>
Overall, We'd say this is one heck of a great collection of modules and software that can be used to put together one heck of a killer social network.
It's easy to theme and easy to customize as well so you can create your own unique look without much effort. For the cost they are charging for this, you could put together an amazingly well equipped social network with very minimal effort.
The admin panel is incredibly straight forward and simple as well.
The SocialEngine team has done an outstanding job on this great product. It's no wonder it has such a large number of users.
<a href="/social-engine" target="_blank">Check out SocialEngine</a>

</div>

SocialEngine Review - Is it Good Enough for your Social Network?

Not everyone uses JAVA or .NET as their platform of choice and for this reason, we included some additional categories this year to account for all of the other CMS built with programming languages that don't get as much attention.
Today, we're going to announce the winner of the People's Choice CMS Award for Best Enterprise CMS (Other Langs).
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best_enterprise_cms_other_languages200x0.jpg" />
This year the contenders were Mura CMS, Plone CMS and Paperthin Commonspot.
The win this year, however, goes to <a href="http://www.getmura.com/">Mura CMS</a>!
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/mura_cms200x0.png" />
The runner up this year was Plone.
Congratulations to the team at <a href="http://www.getmura.com/">Mura</a> on their win. It's clear that when it comes down to excellence in the world of CFML based CMS, Mura CMS is the top dog and they should be proud of their win. This clearly shows that not only do their customers love them, so do our readers. Congratulations to all contenders this year as well.

The Winner of the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Enterprise CMS (Other Langs)

It's time to update WordPress again.
WordPress 4.5 has just landed, and it brings about some useful updates that make content editing easier, and customization a little smoother.
<img style="max-width:400px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wordpress-logo-stacked-rgb_400x0_1-1.png" alt="wordpress-logo-stacked-rgb_400x0_1" />
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/wordpress-4-5-customizer-experience/">I praised WordPress 4.5 back in March 2016</a>, when features were still being tested in the beta stage.
That was in contrast to my <a href="/wordpress-4.4-beta-bare-bones/" target="_blank">coverage of WordPress 4.4, where I labelled the update as a bare bones excuse for a semi-major update</a>, and also through my article entitled; “<a href="/how-wordpress-needs-to-improve-itself/" target="_blank">How WordPress Needs to Improve Itself (In 6 Ways)</a>“.
WordPress has continued its tradition of naming its major releases after Jazz musicians, with this version getting the title of “Coleman”, after Coleman Hawkins.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DKWO3pamtbQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
<h2>Inline Links &amp; New Customizer Features</h2>
Adding links to text is something that happens two or three times throughout most articles before you hit the Publish button.
Before today, you would highlight the desired text, then click the “insert/edit link” button on the toolbar. This would bring up a window, allowing you to paste your URL in.
Now, there is no window. Instead, a small inline popup appears, allowing you to paste a link in, or type in the title of existing posts on your website.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/illustration-short-inlinelinks.png" alt="illustration-short-inlinelinks" />
So, internal linking is a little easier, and linking in general is much improved thanks to this subtle interface change.
As for Customizer, you can now use it to preview your website via different screen sizes. You can test how your website looks on desktop, tablet and mobile devices.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/illustration-short-responsive-preview.png" alt="illustration-short-responsive-preview" />
Furthermore, you can now insert your logo into your theme (if the theme supports it) directly through Customizer.
By my estimation, that's two very welcome, and very overdue Customizer features.
<h2>Formatting Shortcuts, Smart Image Resizing &amp; More</h2>
WordPress 4.5 also brings about some nice formatting shortcuts. For example, typing “—” on a new line inserts a horizontal line, as shown in the GIF below.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/editing-shortcuts-big.gif" alt="editing-shortcuts-big" />
Also, resized images (WordPress automatically resizes images when you upload them) now load up to 50% faster with “no noticeable quality loss”. That sounds pretty sweet to me.
The other features of WordPress 4.5, which are mostly “under the hood”, bacn be found on WordPress's <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2016/04/coleman/">official blog announcement</a>.

WordPress 4.5 Streamlines Editing, Enhances Customizer

If compare rookies with no coding experience and web developers whose job is creating websites in a professional manner, you will come to a reasonable conclusion. Though both groups of users employ different methods to go online, they tend to achieve maximum results with minimum efforts. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/1200kh630_31097x0-is.jpg" />
For this reason, MotoCMS released Skyline – a <a href="https://www.motocms.com/website-templates/motocms-3-template/63777.html" target="_blank">new website template</a> that provides its owner with limitless functionality possibilities, requires minor expenses of resources and fits any possible business. 
<h2>Drag &amp; Drop Block Editor</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/skyline-business-website-design-blocks.gif" />
The primary feature that reflects the ease of a website customization process with Skyline is the drag &amp; drop Block Editor in the <a href="https://www.motocms.com/" target="_blank">website builder</a> from MotoCMS. It will do good for an amateur who needs facility for creating a professional website, as well as for an expert who requires a simple tool to churn out several websites at the same time. Just pick any block in the list and drop it on a page to start customizing the layout.
<h2>100+ Content Blocks</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/skyline-business-website-design-100-blocks.jpg" />
Skyline combined more than one hundred blocks with ready-made content, so you could have dozens of possible layout variations to choose from. All blocks are divided into categories according their purpose. 
<h2>20 Ready-to-Use Pages</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/skyline-business-website-design-twenty-pages.jpg" />
Skyline is a perfect website template for highlighting each part of your business because it is really hard not to find a particular page for a particular goal. Introduce your company to the full with the enormous number of pages: 
<ul>
<li>Home</li>
<li>About Us,</li>
<li>Contact Us</li>
<li>Careers</li>
<li>Team</li>
<li>Profile</li>
<li>Services</li>
<li>Single Service</li>
<li>Gallery</li>
<li>Projects</li>
<li>Customers</li>
<li>Privacy Policy</li>
<li>Events</li>
<li>Single Event</li>
<li>Testimonials</li>
<li>Prices</li>
<li>503</li>
<li>FAQ</li>
<li>Blog</li>
<li>Contacts</li>
</ul>
<h2>4 Additional Home Pages</h2>
Another feature for both expert website creators and first-timers to benefit from Skyline is the set of extra home pages: Skyline Black, Dentist, House Construction and Travel. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/skyline-business-website-design-home-pages1024x0-is.jpg" />
If you are related to one of the niches, do not be shy to set one of Skyline’s additional home pages and, thus, create your website faster in many times. As for web developers, if you are among them, take advantage of these extra mockups to make websites for various businesses and save a tremendous amount of time you spend on completing the project.
<h2>Professional Blog</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/skyline-business-website-design-blog-functionality922x0-is.jpg" />
A blog is still a must-have for any website owner, taking the own job seriously. Skyline includes the ready-made functionality for creating a professional blog that have all the odds to bring the lion’s share of traffic to your web resource. Add new posts, publish and edit them easily with an intuitive interface of the MotoCMS admin panel in your copy of Skyline.
<h2>SEO Settings</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/skyline-business-website-design-seo-settings992x0-is.jpg" />
Get tools to optimize your website page by page. Enter necessary keywords, titles, descriptions and ALTs for images, add 301 redirects of any URL registered under your site domain, hide or reveal pages for search engines to index them, set Hide Canonical and No-follow attributes and more.
<h2>Responsive Design</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/skyline-business-website-design-responsive.jpg" />
To provide the audience of your website with a positive user experience, it should be available on each platform and web browser. Skyline is a responsive website template that automatically fits any smartphone and tablet. So you don’t have to develop an extra version for mobile devices because you already got one that can guarantee the users of your web portal a high usability level.
<h2>24/7 Customer Support</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/skyline-business-website-design-support.jpg" />
Whether you need an expert advice, you are new to the website creation process or just want to get more details that concern your website and the admin panel from MotoCMS, contact the MotoCMS support center that is available 24/7 and free of charge during one year. 
<h2>Skyline Free Test</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/skyline-business-website-template-home-page.jpg" />
Became interested in Skyline? Go ahead and <a href="https://www.motocms.com/website-templates/motocms-3-template/63777.html" target="_blank">test Skyline free of charge</a>. Log in to the MotoCMS admin panel with Skyline right now with your email or social media account. Test the CMS and the template before launching your website and if you like the final result, the specialists will transfer all demo progress for you to get a ready-made website.

Push The Limits of Developing a Website with Skyline From MotoCMS

When it comes to free content management systems, there are many many options to choose from.
Java based content management systems are powerful, can be used across multiple architectures with ease and offer great stability and security.
Today, we're going to announce the winner of the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Free Java CMS.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best_free_java_cms200x0.png" />
The contenders this year were Magnolia, Liferay and DotCMS.
The winner this year was none other than <a href="http://www.magnolia-cms.com/">Magnolia</a>!
<a href="http://www.magnolia-cms.com/"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/485666_10151221953181318_1237781665_n200x0.png" /></a>
Magnolia offers enterprise level functionality built into their powerful content management system for free. For those looking for an agile, stable and customizable solution that is easy to use across all types of devices, Magnolia is an excellent choice.
Congratulations to the team at Magnolia, this win is well deserved.

The Winner of the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for  Best Free Java CMS

Hotjar - Spot what confuses

Spot what confuses your users with Hotjar & AI

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