Articles - Page 96

Agentic AI for Agencies in 2026

bmckeiver

A few weeks ago, over 2 billion WhatsApp users had a rude awakening.
The popular instant messaging service – which was <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2014/10/06/facebook-closes-19-billion-whatsapp-deal/?sh=29c286f55c66">acquired by Facebook</a> in 2014 for a whopping $19 billion – pushed out a change to its privacy terms.
If you read the message on the app’s home screen, it doesn’t say much:
<img style="max-width:400px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/02/whatsapp-privacy-policy-572x1024.png" alt="Screenshot of WhatsApp privacy policy" />
<figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"></figure>
But dig a little deeper and you’ll find a daunting 4000-word <a href="https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/updates/privacy-policy/?lang=en">privacy policy</a> that essentially gives WhatsApp the right to share user data with Facebook and Facebook-owned platforms like Instagram. This includes phone numbers, IP addresses, and other personal identifiers outlined within the terms.
The update was initially scheduled to go into effect on February 8th, after which users must agree to the new terms – or be cut off from the app. After receiving a preponderance of media coverage and consumer pushback, WhatsApp decided to delay the cutoff to May 15th.
"We’re now moving back the date on which people will be asked to review and accept the terms," said WhatsApp on a <a href="https://blog.whatsapp.com/giving-more-time-for-our-recent-update">blog post</a>. "No one will have their account suspended or deleted on February 8th. We're also going to do a lot more to clear up the misinformation around how privacy and security works on WhatsApp. We’ll then go to people gradually to review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15th."
To suggest that these changes are controversial would be an understatement. And yet, this is par for the course for Facebook, which has struggled to win back trust after its <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/mar/17/the-cambridge-analytica-scandal-changed-the-world-but-it-didnt-change-facebook">widely publicized scandal with Cambridge Analytica</a>. Despite a tarnished reputation, it continues to be the largest social media platform in the world with over 2.5 billion monthly users. Still, the awareness around Facebook’s mishandling of personal data has drawn the ire and scorn of many users.
<h3>From WhatsApp to… where?</h3>
When news spread about WhatsApp and their proposed policy changes, users started jumping ship in droves.
While the social messaging market is relatively mature, only a handful of platforms have elevated their brand awareness to the level of WhatsApp. More importantly, just a few have touted their emphasis on securing personal data while remaining open and accessible.
One popular destination for the WhatsApp exodus was <a href="https://telegram.org/">Telegram</a> – a cloud-based mobile and desktop messaging app with a focus on security and speed. Their CEO reported <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/telegram-chief-reports-25-million-new-users-in-three-days-938314.html">25 million new users in three days</a>, which was a groundswell of activations for the company. It's worth noting that Telegram has refused to hand over encryption keys in several countries to protect user data, demonstrating their commitment to data privacy.
While Telegram and other niche platforms like Discord and Tox were beneficiaries, the real gold rush came after tech mogul <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-bytes/another-signal-gains-after-elon-musks-tweet/articleshow/80234425.cms?from=mdr">Elon Musk tweeted only two words</a>:
“Use Signal.”
By the end of the day, <a href="https://www.howtogeek.com/708916/what-is-signal-and-why-is-everyone-using-it/">Signal</a> – a free privacy-focused messaging and voice app – experienced a massive surge of more than 42 million new users.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/02/elon-musk-use-signal-tweet.jpg" alt="Screenshot of Elon Musk's Tweet about Signal" />
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<h3>A strong Signal for messaging</h3>
Once a lesser-known contender in the messaging market, Signal became the hottest app on the planet – and the preferred alternative to WhatsApp.
First tweeted about in 2015 by Edward Snowden, Signal is a secure platform with rich features like one-to-one messaging, groups, stickers, photos, file transfers, voice calls, and even video calls. Millions of people use Signal every day to instantaneously send and receive high-fidelity messages for a wide variety of personal and business needs – and as stated, it’s free.
Like WhatsApp, communications on Signal are end-to-end encrypted – meaning only the people in a direct conversation can see the content of their messages. Like Telegram, Signal is so committed to securing user messages that some countries have <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_(software)#:~:text=As%20of%20October%202017%2C%20Signal's,Signal%20was%20blocked%20in%20Iran.">banned it</a>.
<h3>Tapping Twilio for phone numbers</h3>
While Signal offers an alternative to the WhatsApp privacy conundrum, users can further secure their transactions on any messaging platform with some simple strategies.
Like WhatsApp, registering for Signal requires a phone number. But it doesn’t have to be your own phone number – it simply needs to be an active number for receiving a verification code via text message during the account registration process.
<a href="https://www.twilio.com/">Twilio</a>, a cloud-based communications platform, allows you to receive phone calls and SMS messages using their dynamic <a href="https://www.twilio.com/phone-numbers">phone number service</a>. In fact, Twilio powers the new-user verifications for Signal and manages new-user authentication and password resets for WhatsApp – making it an incredibly useful solution for messaging apps and services.
You can purchase a <a href="https://www.twilio.com/phone-numbers">phone number</a> from Twilio to use for Signal for as little as $1/month by creating a Twilio account <a href="https://www.twilio.com/try-twilio">here</a>.
<h3>What’s next for WhatsApp?</h3>
While Facebook still rules the social kingdom, it has clearly plateaued – and continues to bleed existing users. WhatsApp may struggle to find its footing in a fragmented landscape of multi-channel messaging options, especially as remote platforms like <a href="https://www.voxer.com/">Voxer</a> blur the lines between personal and business communications.
Still, it’s too early to tell, and Facebook has billions of dollars – and billions of users – to support more innovation. In a post-Zuckerberg regime, it may very well adapt and evolve, and bring WhatsApp along for the ride.
Twilio has been on a roll lately with multiple <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/twilio-acquires-segment-for-3-2b-adds-market-leading-cdp-for-building-data-driven-apps/">acquisitions</a>. While it may see lower user activity on WhatsApp, the spike in Signal downloads might offset that lost usage revenue. Regardless, they appear to have positioned themselves as an indispensable part of the social messaging landscape and the foundation for digital communications in 2021 and beyond.
<h3>About Signal</h3>
Privacy is possible. Signal Messenger makes it easy. At <a href="https://signal.org/">Signal</a>, the goal is to develop open-source privacy technology that protects privacy rights, promotes free expression, and enables secure global communication. Signal believes that private messaging should be simple and ubiquitous, combining state-of-the-art security and end-to-end encryption with the features that users expect in a modern messaging application. Millions of people use Signal every day to speak freely, and a growing list of organizations have integrated the open-source Signal Protocol into messaging platforms that support billions of users.
<h3>About Twilio</h3>
<a href="https://www.twilio.com/">Twilio</a> is a cloud communication company that powers the future of business communications, enabling phones, VoIP, and messaging to be embedded into web, desktop, and mobile software. They take care of the messy telecom hardware and expose a globally available cloud API that developers can interact with to build intelligent &amp; complex communications systems. As your app’s usage scales up or down, Twilio automatically scales with you. You only pay for what you use - no contracts, no shenanigans.

Signal Gains 42 Million Users Fleeing WhatsApp, Facebook Over Privacy Policy

cms-critic-staff

Image of the Signal app interface on a mobile phone

Fresh off the acquisition of Optimizely last September, Episerver – a leading content management and digital experience platform – has announced that it will rebrand its entire organization under the Optimizely name.
Episerver’s move follows a string of jaw-dropping news from the top of the CMS and DXP industry. In the last two weeks alone, Sitecore <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-embarks-on-1-2b-investment-plan-to-accelerate-growth/">announced</a> that it had secured $1.2 billion in capital investment aimed at accelerating their growth and innovation. Just a few days later, Acquia introduced its <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-digital-commerce-unifies-data-content-commerce-and-digital-merchandising/">Acquia Digital Commerce</a> platform, the latest in a line of new products and partnerships that are driving their market expansion.
As a leader on the <a href="https://www.episerver.com/reports/gartner-magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms">Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms</a>, Episerver is already well-positioned within the DXP landscape. However, the acquisition of Optimizely has launched a new direction for the company, elevating “Optimization as a Service” to the forefront of their product and service stack.
While it’s not uncommon for companies to change their name after a merger or acquisition, this is a bold move for Episerver. By adopting the Optimizely brand, they are changing the narrative and focusing on web targeting, testing, and recommendations to help power – and optimize – the customer experience.
<h3>The reason behind Episerver’s decision</h3>
Episerver’s roots date back to 1994. What began as web-based electronic mail system has evolved into a connected, multi-faceted platform that includes CMS, Commerce, and DXP. Over the years, they have acquired multiple technologies in an effort to expand their ecosystem and enhance the value of their offerings. This includes <a href="https://www.episerver.com/company/press-room/episerver-acquires-omnichannel-personalization-vendor-peerius">Peerius</a> in 2016, a UK-based commerce personalization company, and most recently Optimizely.
Episerver has certainly established its brand on a global stage, competing with the likes of <a href="https://www.adobe.com/marketing/experience-manager.html">Adobe</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-launches-new-open-digital-experience-platform/">Acquia</a>, and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-updates-experience-platform-and-experience-commerce-releases-new-sitecore-content-hub/">Sitecore</a>. But with such a long and storied rise to market leadership, why change their name?
In a statement from the company, Episerver says that it conducted thorough research with customers, partners, and industry leaders to gauge their overall brand perception. This led to the decision to adopt the Optimizely brand, which aligned more intently with their vision.
<img style="max-width:600px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/01/gartner-magic-quadrant-for-digital-experience-platforms-2021.png" alt="Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms-2021" />
<h3></h3>
<h3>Positioning for greater competition</h3>
While Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for DXPs remains relatively trim, the crowd has thickened in 2020. With players like Salesforce and SAP entering the fray by offering more complete solutions, traditional CMS platforms are struggling to find footing and compete at the enterprise level.
While the move away from monolithic services to custom stacks is still the general trend, leading brands and organizations are in pursuit of personalization – and hungry for real solutions. As CRM platforms like Salesforce and Hubspot bring CMS into their portfolios, stalwarts like Episerver are facing increased pressure to expand their capabilities in new directions.
The Optimizely acquisition gives Episerver an edge in the personalization category, allowing them to deliver on the promise of a truly complete digital experience platform for testing and optimization. This is reinforced by their concept of <a href="https://www.episerver.com/products/capabilities/optimization-as-a-service">Optimization-as-a-Service</a>, which combines the best attributes of targeting, testing, and recommendations from both <a href="https://www.optimizely.com/platform/experimentation/">Optimizely Web</a> and <a href="https://www.episerver.com/products/capabilities/web-content-recommendations">Episerver Content Recommendations</a>.
“We believe that every experience can and should be optimized,” says Alex Atzberger, CEO of Episerver. “We all know the real work only starts when the site or digital experience goes live. Optimizely’s name captures this ambition.”
<h3>What does the change mean for Episerver?</h3>
The new Optimizely aims to deliver the most modern digital experience platform with headless CMS and commerce, experimentation, AI-driven recommendations, and many other market-leading digital experience components. As part of their mission, they endeavor to remove the “guesswork” and “gut decisions” from optimization, replacing it with data-driven insights.
“Digital experience is a journey without a finish line,” says Atzberger. “Ultimately, our customers want to innovate and use data to confidentially create and optimize every customer experience based on actual outcomes. The Optimizely brand very much galvanizes this vision and uniquely positions us to define the future of the DXP market.”
Bringing together robust capabilities for data, content, commerce, and optimization, Optimizely empowers brands to unlock behavior-based decision-making, confident creation, and outsized outcomes. Optimizely now offers an even more robust combination of user and site-level data, tied with omnichannel experimentation insights – giving marketers, merchandisers, and developers the advanced analytics they need to understand what is happening in each experience as well as how to continually optimize it.
“We’re pleased to see Episerver make the shift to become known as Optimizely, elevating an already well-known brand with a benefit to create, connect and optimize the customer experience across a growing number of digital channels. This move represents a differentiator for the company in the digital experience market,” said Marci Maddox, Research Director, Digital Experience Strategies, IDC. “The value optimization brings to the digital experience is often underestimated, and the new Optimizely brand gives the company an opportunity to marry creative personalization with data-driven optimization techniques. The digital experience services market is evolving quickly, and there is a significant opportunity for Optimizely to be a leader in the space with its data-driven approach to optimizing every experience along the customer journey.”
In 2020, Episerver and Optimizely recorded double-digit revenue growth, supporting go-lives for more than 250 customer including Microsoft, Atlassian, KLM, and the Wall Street Journal. The fourth quarter marked accelerated growth for both companies and their DXP offerings in particular, with Optimizely B2B Commerce Cloud and Content Cloud seeing more than 20% growth. The new Optimizely plans to hire 40+ new employees per month through the first half of 2021 to fuel their continued growth.
<h3>What’s next for Optimizely and the DXP Industry</h3>
There’s no question about it: change and consolidation are rampant in the upper echelon of the CMS and DXP marketplace. In an increasingly digital world that’s been forced to transform throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, opportunities are abundant – but competition is fierce. The winners will be able to offer more completeness of vision, not just single products or solutions. This is where Episerver and Optimizely have excelled and will continue to do so as a combined force.
While Episerver has strong awareness and a solid heritage, adopting the Optimizely name might be one of their smartest moves yet. It’s still a slick, up-and-coming brand that’s certain to give the aging CMS a shot in the arm – and allow them to shape the future of the digital customer experience.
<h3>About Optimizely (Episerver)</h3>
<a href="http://www.optimizely.com/">Optimizely</a> (Episerver) is on a mission to help people unlock their digital potential. With their leading digital experience platform (DXP), they equip teams with the tools and insights they need to create and optimize in new and novel ways. Now, companies can operate with data-driven confidence to create hyper-personalized experiences. Building sophisticated solutions has never been simpler. Optimizely’s 900+ partners and 1100+ employees in offices around the globe are proud to help more than 9,000 brands, including Toyota, Santander, eBay, KLM, and Mazda, enrich their customer lifetime value, increase revenue and grow their brands.

Episerver Rebrands as Optimizely Following Acquisition

paris-tuzun

Image showing Episerver turning to Optimizely

You may have noticed that things look a little different around here.I'm pleased to announce that CMS Critic has completed its migration from ProcessWire to WordPress, the world-renowned platform that CMS Critic originally launched with back in 2008.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/vgufaw4n.png" alt="VgUfaW4N" /><h2>What's New?</h2>Well, everything really.Our homepage is now far easier to navigate. A slider and the categories below make it simple for you to find new and interesting content without having to dig too deeply into the website.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-21.png" alt="sshot-21" />Also, our growing <a href="/products/">CMS Directory</a> looks fancier than ever, and it has been joined by a few new friends:<ul><li>CRM Directory</li><li>Ecommerce Directory</li><li>Marketing System Directory</li><li>Analytics Directory</li><li>Hosting Directory</li><li>Themes Directory</li></ul>And with those new directories, come new product hubs – and they're better than ever before.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-17.png" alt="sshot-17" />From a product hub, you can quickly view; a product's site rating and average user rating, an overview of the product, the product's latest review, and the latest news from CMS Critic, and the vendor's very own blog.The overview section gives you a synopsis of the product, along with; the business sizes we think suit it best, featured videos, screenshots, and more.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-16.png" alt="sshot-16" /> We even provide relevant content to help get new users started, like recommended hosting solutions for open source products.And perhaps most interestingly, you can go straight to any product hub and rate it out of ten stars, making an impact on the “Average User Rating” displayed in all hub headers. Furthermore, you can submit your very own reviews of products by clicking “Write a Review”.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-18.png" alt="sshot-18" />As you can see, our new directories cover all the essentials of business software. You won't ever need to look elsewhere to plan the next digital move for your brand.But wait, there's more.<h2>A Better Experience For Our Readers</h2>This new design brings about numerous benefits for our readers.First of all, you can now sign up to CMS Critic using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and a whole bunch of other social platforms by clicking “Register” at the top of the page.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-22.png" alt="sshot-22" />After signing up, you can “Follow” product hubs from within any directory.Once you follow a hub, like the WordPress hub for example, you'll be notified (within the confines of your account here at CMS Critic) of any new WordPress-related articles that we publish.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-23.png" alt="sshot-23" />We also have a new and improved commenting system, powered by Spot.im.Each visitor is given a unique username to partake in conversations below articles, even if that visitor is not logged in.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-24.png" alt="sshot-24" />Plus, there's a newsfeed that you can access from the bottom right corner of the page, which highlights conversations from around the website.<h2>A Stronger Presence for Vendors</h2>Vendors will also benefit from this new-look CMS Critic.The product hubs that make up all of our directories are now far better equipped than ever before. They're ripe for content publication, lead generation and building customer-vendor relationships.Over the new few days, we will be notifying vendors personally about the new opportunities that our product hubs have to offer.<h2>More (Relevant) Topics</h2>After my appointment as Editor back in 2015, Mike and I got to steering CMS Critic towards covering more topics, but we were adamant that we would not stray into industries that don't complement web content management.Why? Because the world of CMS has been meshing with other industries for years now.Content management systems, CRMs, marketing automation systems, and analytics platforms have all become essential tools for the toolbox of every ambitious brand.To put it simply, a CMS isn't enough to propel your business online anymore.And that's why our new directories are accompanied by new industry hubs, where we will cover the new topics alongside our usual CMS news and editorials.These new industry hubs are:<ul><li>CRM Hub</li><li>Ecommerce Hub</li><li>Marketing Hub</li><li>Analytics Hub</li><li>Hosting Hub</li><li>Themes Hub</li></ul>So, we're talking about improvements for visitors, more opportunities for vendors, and broader industry coverage. I don't know about you, but I'm liking this all-new CMS Critic already!Found an issue? Want to work with us? <a href="/contact/">Get in touch</a>.

Extreme Makeover: CMS Critic Edition

mike-johnston

There's no doubt that there are plenty of excellent email marketing platforms out there but one of the most common issues I've come across when using them is deliverability of emails. As such, I've been on the lookout for a solid platform that gave me a good drag and drop builder alongside the power of Amazon's email servers. I believe I've found that with MailGet so allow me to show you how it works in this MailGet Review.
For the longest time, I've used a standalone email marketing software called Sendy (see my <a href="/sendy-review-cheap-inexpensive-email-marketing-for-the-masses/" target="_blank">Sendy review</a>), that has worked reasonably well for me up until recently. Lately, I've been on the lookout for something with more automation (such as automatic unsubscribe, bounce handling, etc). However, I'm also very much committed to using Amazon SES for my email delivery as I feel it is more reliable than other architectures. I recently stumbled across MailGet and I believe I've found that solution.
<h2>Getting Things Configured</h2>
With Amazon SES services, my emails always get through properly and now, thanks to MailGet, I can use both an intuitive email marketing platform alongside Amazon for the best of both worlds.
Here's a quick video showing the basics of how MailGet works:
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Tybd0QNL4aU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Connecting Amazon is incredibly simple and the MailGet folks have full, detailed instructions with screenshots to help you get it done quickly and easily. I found it super simple to configure.
You aren't just stuck with Amazon though. If you prefer, you can use other third party providers such as Gmail, Mailgun, Postmark, SendGrid, Mailjet, Mandrill and others.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/mailget_review_-3855x0-is.png" alt="mailget review" />
Furthermore, MailGet also offers MailGet Bolt which is the same service but with their own built-in SMTP saving you from using a third party SMTP server entirely!
Need Bounce and Spam Handling? This one is a lifesaver. MailGet provides you with full instructions including the URL's to use to configure automatic bounce and spam handling for any of the supported SMTP providers. This one for me, is huge.
Add on Google Analytics integration, <a href="https://zapier.com/" target="_blank">Zapier</a> integration (super useful) and even Wufoo (although frankly I'd probably just use <a href="https://www.formget.com/">FormGet</a>, since it's made by the MailGet folks) and you have a very well put together email marketing platform.
<h2>List Cleaning Tools Too!</h2>
Ok, how many of you DON'T have subscriber lists that have spam subscribers or rogue emails in your list that are no longer valid. Raise your hands.
I don't see any hands. That's what I thought.
MailGet includes some super useful list cleaning tools that I absolutely love. MailGet uses several methods to clean your lists:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/mailget_review_-4.png" alt="mailget review" />It's as easy as clicking a button and letting MailGet go to work. Tell me you don't love this.
<h2>Designing your Emails</h2>
Aside from the configuration being easy to use, the next most important aspect is the email design end of things.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/mailget_review_-_11087x0-is.png" alt="mailget review" />
From your MailGet dashboard, click on Create Email. You now have several options.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/mailget_review_-51147x0-is.png" alt="mailget review" />
For those of you who like to do things the easy way, click on Drag and Drop Email Builder. For those who like to do things the geek way, click on Custom Code Editor and for those of you who just want to type something basic, click on Basic Text Editor. The Email Templates option shows numerous examples but frankly, I didn't find it super helpful as there's no easy way to apply it to your email other than through copy/paste. For me, the drag and drop builder was better.
The Drag and Drop Email Builder works like a charm and is super simple to use.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/mailget_review_-6859x0-is.png" alt="mailget review" />
Once you've finished your email, simply click next and you will be given the opportunity to select which list you want to send to, whether you want to schedule it or send it all in one shot and that's it!
Back on your dashboard, you'll see a handy little widget showing your email and giving you a quick view on how it's performing.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/mailget_review_-7.png" alt="mailget review" />
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
That's all there is to it. It's a simple, easy-to-use email marketing platform that works like a charm. MailGet has excellent help and the tutorials will get you through any issues that might arise quickly and easily. Most importantly, however, is their support.
Should you ever come across any issues.. the MailGet folks are close by to help. Simply click on the live chat box in the bottom right and you'll get a rep almost instantly. I was actually surprised how quickly I was connected to someone and during my test, they solved the problem quickly. Well done guys!
Overall, I'm content with it and using MailGet now for all of our email handling for CMS Critic. It's that good. I recommend trying it yourself, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
<a href="https://www.formget.com/mailget-app/">Try MailGet Now.</a>

MailGet Review - Beautifully Easy Email Marketing with Amazon SES

<a href="http://www.webs.com/" target="_blank">Webs</a>, a widely popular website builder, has announced the launch of “Local Search” – a new online local listings tool for small businesses.
Part of a suite of marketing products including Pagemodo and ContactME, Webs is an easy-to-use drag-and-drop website builder designed for small businesses.
This newly introduced local listings tool enables businesses to quickly get listed in more than 100 local listings sites and major search engines, exposing it to prospective customers. The listings include the top local search directories such as Google, Bing, AOL, Yahoo, Yelp, YP.com and more.
<h2>Mass Local Listings Made Simple</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/local_listings_blog_header700x0.png" alt="Webs Local Search" />
Local Search works for small businesses with and without physical presence. All users need to do is produce basic company details, taking less than five minutes to get submitted to more than 100 online directories. Once submitted, businesses can easily monitor and update their listings using their own online dashboard.
Local Search also includes a free check on whether a business is already included in top local directories. In addition to small business owners, marketing agencies can use Local Search to improve their clients’ local search results (local SEO).
Scott Bowen, Webs' General Manager, made these comments about the new release:
<blockquote>“We’ve found that most of our customers build a website to attract new customers to their business and provide a platform to sell their products online. If a company’s website or online profile isn’t easily found on local listings sites and search engines, customers will never know about that company and its offerings. Local Search isn’t just for businesses with a physical presence – it’s a tool any business looking to grow its sales can benefit from.”</blockquote>
To find out more about Webs' Local Search feature, <a href="http://www.webs.com/blog/2014/10/21/introducing-webs-local-search-get-business-listed-today/" target="_blank">check out their official blog announcement</a>.
Plus, be sure to explore more of <a href="/products/webs/" target="_blank">Webs via our CMS Directory.</a>

Webs Launches Local Listings Tool

<a href="http://www.prestashop.com/" target="_blank"> PrestaShop</a> took a big step forward when version 1.6 was released earlier this year.
They gave the PrestaShop back and front end a serious face lift and introduced some brilliant features to help merchants sell. It made the platform almost unrecognizable – but in a good way.
In fact, one could argue that PrestaShop 1.6 is the platform's most important release to date.
Yet, PrestaShop haven't been resting on their laurels. Quite recently, a brand new PrestaShop project has come to light. One which could make genuinely powerful eCommerce features more accessible than ever before.
<h2>PrestaShop Cloud</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-7700x0.png" alt="PrestaShop OnDemand" />
First announced via the PrestaShop blog, PrestaShop’s Cloud – which is currently in beta – is a cloud-hosted version of PrestaShop, offered to the general public for precisely nothing.
Yes, you read that correctly.
PrestaShop is on the brink of serving up a completely free cloud-hosted version of itself. Now, free cloud-hosting for any product is something to be excited about, but to be offered free cloud-hosting for a product as powerful as PrestaShop? It’s unheard of.
So, since it’s such an impressive step forward for PrestaShop (once again), I’ve decided to give you a peek at what PrestaShop Cloud platform is like.
<h2>A Home of Its Own</h2>
Right now, you can <a href="http://www.prestashop.com/" target="_blank">sign up for the beta via the PrestaShop website</a>. However, since PrestaShop’s Cloud version and self-hosted PrestaShop will be offered as two separate eCommerce solutions, It’s only right that PrestaShop’s Cloud has its own home. And it does.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-1700x0.png" alt="PrestaShop OnDemand" />
Those who have signed up and been accepted to participate in the beta will have been greeted by the brand new PrestaShop Cloud website. A sleek, modern and inviting digital door mat.
It’s a pleasant way for any merchant to start his or her eCommerce journey, with the easy signup form on the homepage, along with features and functions boasted about around the site in a way which is easy to understand.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-2700x0.png" alt="PrestaShop OnDemand" />
As it stands, the PrestaShop’s Cloud website will eventually function alongside the current PrestaShop website.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-3700x0.png" />
In other words, PrestaShop will soon come in two distinct flavours, enabling the platform to tap into a new market – a market of merchants who want their online stores ready-made, well-done and served up on a big, free cloud.
<h2>Getting Started</h2>
To get started with PrestaShop’s Cloud version, new users only need to provide their names, emails and store name. This is followed by a short store configuration process, where you select your store URL, where you are based, and so forth.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-5.png" alt="PrestaShop OnDemand" />
After that signing up, you’ll be presented with a new admin dashboard unique to PrestaShop Cloud.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-6700x0.png" alt="PrestaShop OnDemand" />
Using this dashboard – which acts as a buffer zone between you and the traditional PrestaShop back office dashboard – you can configure account settings, create a new store, add a new domain to an existing store, create FTP users, and so forth.
Other than that, PrestaShop Cloud platform is identical to self-hosted PrestaShop. The only difference is the speedy store creation and a further Cloud admin panel with a few, manageable settings.
It’s lightweight, and that’s a good thing.
<h2>A Free Cloud (That Won’t Rain On Parades)</h2>
PrestaShop’s beta cloud platform looks promising. I didn’t come across any faults or bugs, and because it mimics exactly what “original PrestaShop” has to offer, it would seem that – as far as functionality goes – PrestaShop’s beta cloud shouldn’t run into any problems.
The only issue I can foresee is the cloud-hosting itself. It is free after all, so one can be forgiven for assuming that speed and uptime might be compromised.
However, <a href="http://www.prestashop.com/blog/en/prestashop-beta-program-questions-answers/" target="_blank">PrestaShop have already set aside some time</a> to address this very question assumption:
<blockquote> How can we make our cloud solution totally free? 
The same way PrestaShop is completely free, through our trusted partnerships with industry leaders and the thousands of Addons extra features. These partnerships and Addons give you access to an arsenal of tools aimed at making your online store successful. It also allows PrestaShop to always remain free forever.
 The hosting is free… but is it efficient? 
We know that site speed and performance is key to maintaining a successful online store. That’s why we’ve teamed up with a powerhouse in quality hosting, OVH. You’re in good hands, OVH has over 700,000 customers worldwide, and their servers are equipped with the latest Intel processors and high performance SSD hard drives to ensure your store will be quick to take orders and make sales.</blockquote>
In short, PrestaShop are confident that the Cloud platform will run smoothly, despite being completely free. Time will tell, of course, but if PrestaShop can pull this off, it will be one of the most impressive moves the eCommerce industry has seen in some time.
To sign up for the free PrestaShop Cloud beta, <a href="http://www.prestashop.com/en/beta" target="_blank">click here</a>.
Plus, be sure to explore more of <a href="/products/prestashop/" target="_blank">PrestaShop via our CMS Directory</a>, and my full <a href="/prestashop-review/" target="_blank">PrestaShop Review</a>.

Hands-On with PrestaShop’s new Beta Cloud Platform

The XOOPS Project is proud to present XOOPS 2.5.4.
<a href="http://xoops.org">XOOPS</a> is one of the most successful Open Source CMS solutions, constantly winning top places in various competitions, and receiving various awards.
In addition to updating its internal libraries to their latest versions: phpMailer (5.1), TinyMCE (3.4.6), jQuery (1.6.4), and jQueryUI (1.8.16), the major focus of this release is on converting all Core modules (PM, Profile, Protector) to a new ModuleAdmin GUI, so all of them have a consistent “look &amp; feel”.

<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/xoops_gui_2_5_01-450x368.jpg" /> <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/mg842_moheaderlogo_corp_fa_scfpg9.png" /> The new Module GUI will be the official GUI for all modules supported by XOOPS, and will drive:
<ul>
<li>Increased productivity</li>
<li>Decreased training and support costs</li>
<li>Reduced development time and costs</li>
<li>Reduced maintenance costs</li>
<li>Increased customer satisfaction</li>
</ul>
As next, the XOOPS Project will be working on a “Basic Module Pack”, which will contain the most popular XOOPS module in one user-friendly package, all with the new Module GUI.
XOOPS has not only a very loyal base, as the number of downloads suggests, but is also highly respected in the industry. In 2008 it was a finalist in SourceForge Community Awards and in the 2008 and 2009 CMS Awards by Packt Publishing. It also won the prestigious 2008 China Open Source Software Contest Award, the 2009 Grand Prize in OSS Challenge in Korea, and the 2010 “Best Technology Award” from Northeast Asia OSS Forum.
The main features of XOOPS are full modularization where modules can be installed/uninstalled/activated/deactivated with a mouse click, its versatile Group Permissions System, and a theme-based skinnable interface, where both webmasters and users can change the look of the entire website with just a click of a mouse. There are over thousand of themes and modules available for free download. With the most popular modules like News, Discussion Forums, Photo Galleries, Calendars, Jobs and Classifieds, Polls, and Video presentations, it's very easy for anyone to set up a “Community Website”. And since XOOPS is Open Source, the users can also contribute back to the development.
In the current economic downturn, Open Source software has become increasingly attractive to users and companies, as it helps them to save a lot of money. XOOPS is definitely one of these Open Source projects that can provide major financial savings.
System requirements
<ul>
<li>Any PHP version &gt;= 5.2</li>
<li>MySQL server 5.0+ is strongly recommended</li>
<li>Web server: Any server supporting the required PHP version (Apache highly recommended)</li>
</ul>

XOOPS Project releases XOOPS 2.5.4

Best Video Experience

Give your audience the best video experience

#000000

<a href="http://kentico.com" target="_blank">Kentico</a> recently released version 4 of their ASP .NET CMS which comes with three different example sites to choose from: eCommerce, Personal and Community. We will be evaluating Kentico using their virtual lab which, if you'd like to try their product yourself, is accessible at<a href="http://www.kentico.com/Demo/VirtualLab.aspx"> http://www.kentico.com/Demo/VirtualLab.aspx</a>
Kentico is an advanced system that offers extreme usability and point and click editing, but can they hold up in a market where so many other systems exist? Let's find out.
Version 4.0 cites such improvements as the integration of Social Networking and other improvements which you can read about <a href="/kentico-cms-4-0-brings-social-networking-features/" target="_blank">here</a> or at the following locations:
<a href="http://devnet.kentico.com/Blogs/Petr-Palas/February-2009/Kentico-CMS-4-0-Released.aspx" target="_blank">http://devnet.kentico.com/Blogs/Petr-Palas/February-2009/Kentico-CMS-4-0-Released.aspx</a>
<a href="http://www.kentico.com/Company/News/Kentico-CMS-4-0-Brings-Social-Networking-Features.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.kentico.com/Company/News/Kentico-CMS-4-0-Brings-Social-Networking-Features.aspx</a>
<a href="http://www.kentico.com/getdoc/e6b7c83a-c06c-4bc1-b818-3e96b7ce9a1f/Version_history.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.kentico.com/Download/Version_history.aspx</a>
Today, we are going to examine this system and see what features it brings to the table.
Now, First off.. this is the Personal site template/theme:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kentico-personal.png" alt="kentico-personal" />
Nice isn't it? Pretty good considering this is a sample of what it can look like.
Here is the Corporate starter site:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kentico-corporate.png" alt="kentico-corporate" />
These are all very beautiful themes so far. Two more to go. eCommerce:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kentico-ecommerce.png" alt="kentico-ecommerce" />
We can't say this enough times.. for starter templates, these are better than some professionaly designed ones we've seen. Finally, here's the one we've been waiting for…
The Community starter site:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kentico-community.png" alt="kentico-community" />
For the purposes of this review, we're going to test it out using the above Community starter site. It seems fitting since the latest 
release focused largely on social and community enhancements.
When you first log in to the Community starter site, you'll notice some new menus appear in place of the Sign in box:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kentico-5.png" alt="kentico-5" />
Let's explore these a bit. Click on My profile takes us to a pretty good looking profile page with options to view our blogs, leave us a 
message, see what groups we're a member of, etc.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kentico-6.png" alt="kentico-6" />
Clicking on the Edit my profile link lets us modify our avatar from a pretty decent selection. It also lets us upload our own if we choose to do so:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kentico-7.png" alt="kentico-7" />
There are groups and blogs as well.. which look very nice:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kentico-8.png" alt="kentico-8" />
The abilities that Kentico has for developing a really nice social networking site go above and beyond what we've seen in similar 
products. They've done an amazing job of integrating an attractive interface, ease of use and group membership functionality into one simple platform.
There are so many changes in this release that we can't even begin to cover all of them and this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Let's examine the administrative interfaces next.
Kentico has two different Admin panels so to speak. One, which is called CMS Desk allows multiple options such as the ability to 
interactively design the site and the other is called CMS Site Manager, which we'll get to in a moment.
First the CMS Desk:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kentico-9.png" alt="kentico-9" />
From here you are able to edit, preview and manage your site content from an easy to use and nicely laid out interface. By switching to design mode, you can edit and modify any of the elements on any of the pages with ease:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kentico-10.png" alt="kentico-10" />
There are 3 other sections of the CMS Desk. You can switch the My Desk which allows you to manage your content, approve content that has entered the workflow process, etc. There is also the Tools section which allows you to managed Media, Create forms and much, much more:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kentico-11.png" alt="kentico-11" />
The Administration menu allows you to managed users, review your banned IP addresses , etc.
Ok. We're impressed. Let's see what their other control panel looks like shall we?
Switching to Site Manager you are immediately presented with all running sites in a simple list with quick management buttons:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kentico-12.png" alt="kentico-12" />
Then there is the Administration Tab, which provides you with the following management menus:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kentico-13.png" alt="kentico-13" />
Followed by the Settings Tab:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kentico-14.png" alt="kentico-14" />
Just when you thought it couldn't get better… they added the option to allow you to manage payments with Paypal and Authorize.net.
It gets better. Are you ready for this? Check out the Development tab:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kentico-15.png" alt="kentico-15" />
We think that's enough screenshots to get across the point.
In summary:
Wow. Kentico has done an outstanding job on this release. We're fairly comfortable saying that we don't think there's anything we can 
think of that they missed. In fact, in our opinion, they've gone above and beyond. If you are looking for a CMS for any need, Kentico 
definitely fits the bill. This is an amazing product at an amazing price.
You can find out more on the pricing at their website here: <a href="http://www.kentico.com/Buy.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.kentico.com/Buy.aspx</a>
This was a great product to play with and has the potential of creating some incredible sites, we can only hope that someone takes 
advantage of it and puts it to use creating the next big thing on the web.
Ratings wise, it's uncomparable. There literally is nothing on the market that comes close to touching this software as far as Social 
Networking integration goes that we've tested to date. (If you know of something, definitely let us know.)
With the options it presents, we're very very excited to see what they could possibly improve in their next release.
The only thing that prevents Kentico from getting a 10 is that the help system built into the admin pages is lacking and needs to 
be improved upon.
Our final score:
<h2>9/10</h2>

Kentico, the CMS for the .Net Generation

This year has been an incredibly successful one for the CMS Awards and as our third consecutive year, we've had more nominations and voters than ever before!Competition this year was very tight between contenders LightCMS, Surreal CMS and Acquia Cloud but in the end, there can be only one winner.It is with great pleasure that I announce the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Cloud CMS For SMB (Small to Midsize Business) goes to:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/lightcms-1.jpg" alt="Best Cloud CMS for SMB" />LightCMS fought hard this year and it was incredibly close between them and runner up, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.surrealcms.com/">Surreal CMS </a>but in the end, LightCMS prevailed.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best-hosted-cloud-cms.png" alt="Best Cloud CMS for SMB" />Congratulations to everyone at LightCMS (and mother company, Netsuite) on their win!If you aren't familiar with LightCMS and would like to learn more, read our in-depth  LightCMS review on our new site, Website Builders Critic where you can find LightCMS Tutorials and more.Share this using <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/bestcloudcms">http://bit.ly/bestcloudcms</a>

The Winner of the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Cloud CMS for SMB

<a href="http://www.websitebox.com/" target="_blank">WebsiteBox</a>, a Toronto-based startup that provides real estate professionals with a professional website for a one-time fee of $99, has announced a print-marketing tool called Prints App. 
Focusing on providing a powerful online presence for real estate agents, WebsiteBox serves up a hundreds of responsive templates, customization options, and options between different types of real estate websites. 
Prints App is WebsiteBox's way of giving realtors the ability to print real-estate marketing materials quickly and easily. Here's an introductory video:
http://vimeo.com/108529744
<h2>Branding Made Easy  </h2>
WebsiteBox CEO Peyman Aleagha sees Prints App as a way for Realtors to stramline their branding and marketing efforts:
<blockquote>
“Real estate agents rely on print marketing for branding, to connect with former clients, and to attract new client. While much of the real estate world is moving online, a creative and consistent print marketing campaign is still essential to increasing a Realtor’s visibility within the community.  What’s more, quick, clean messages on brochures, flyers, and other literature can ultimately drive traffic to a real estate website.
Prints App provides Realtors with a straightforward and inexpensive way to share news, tell a success story, or invite buyers to a new listing – all from one simple platform.”
</blockquote>
The best part of Prints App, is that it automatically integrates with existing WebsiteBox websites, enabling it to pull information from listings for use in print materials.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/logowebsitebox_light_background700x0.jpg" alt="WebsiteBox" />
Agents can use the app to create vibrant business cards, newsletters, flyers, postcards, letterheads, property sheets, and other materials in three simple steps:
<ol>
<li>Agents select the type of print piece and layout they want to create. The prints wizard helps users customize the piece with intuitive drag-and-drop editing tools.</li>
<li>Next, the app automatically loads data from the multiple listing service. No manual data entry is needed.</li>
<li>In the final step, the app turns the marketing collateral into a high-resolution PDF file that agents can print immediately. Or, for jobs that require expertise, users can email the file to <a href="http://www.printchomp.com/" target="_blank">PrintChomp</a>, a WebsiteBox partner that will help users choose a local printer who’ll complete the job for the required budget, quality and deadline.</li>
</ol>
The Prints App is avaialble via the <a href="http://www.websitebox.com/realtors/apps-extras.php" target="_blank">WebsiteBox Apps &amp; Extras market</a>, for $99.
To find out more about WebsiteBox, <a href="http://www.websitebox.com" target="_blank">check out their website</a>.

WebsiteBox Unveils Print-Marketing Tool for Realtors

DreamHost® has announced that its popular website builder, Remixer, has introduced a new tiered pricing structure that gets small businesses and individuals online quickly with engaging, professional-grade websites for just a few dollars per month. DreamHost is also debuting Remixer’s newly available support for multi-page website creation – a highly requested feature among Remixer users – as well as a set of key new upgrades to the platform’s capabilities.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/remixer_multi-page_feature791x0-is.png" /> DreamHost users are now able to quickly and easily build multi-page websites for as little as $4.95 per month with Remixer. The new “Remixer All Access” plan, starting at $7.95/month, delivers Remixer’s intuitive platform and also includes a full DreamHost managed web hosting account, domain email accounts, mail forwarding, and the ability to use other applications like WordPress. When billed annually, both plans include a free domain registration.
“It doesn’t stop there,” said Ralph Castro, DreamHost’s VP of Product for Remixer. “We’ve added a host (no pun intended) of other improvements based on direct customer feedback. These include everything from the ability to conveniently select a website’s domain from within the page manager, to one-click access for creating a new page that’s pre-set with an established theme, to drag-and-drop page layout, to a streamlined navigation menu, to…well, plenty more. Nowhere else can you create a website this easily that looks as sharp as those made with Remixer.”
Both Remixer plans come loaded with additional features designed to make website personalization and creation as straightforward as possible for small businesses, bloggers, and anyone else with something to say or sell online:
— Easy publishing to custom domains (no matter where the site is hosted) — 70+ pre-designed themes and layouts to match your website’s content — Website hosting — Seamlessly import images from an existing website or direct from social media — A pre-populated, high-quality royalty-free image gallery — Google Analytics integration to monitor website performance — Video embedding from YouTube and Vimeo — Audio embedding from SoundCloud — No storage or bandwidth limits — No ads, ever — 24/7 email support — Live chat support
“After ten minutes playing with Remixer, I created a brand new website for a hunting and fishing resort,” said Mike Judge, <a href="http://troutntrack.com/" target="_blank">troutntrack.com</a>. “From start to (beautiful) finish, the build and publish process took less than half an hour. Remixer is as powerful as it is simple to use.”
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/remixer_themes_page791x0-is.png" /> “Remixer’s platform helped me quickly create a new, professional-grade website in just a few clicks,” said Martha Lenio, <a href="http://marsgreen.ca/" target="_blank">marsgreen.ca</a>. “Uploading my own content and photos was intuitive, and customer support was fast and helpful when I had questions. Using DreamHost’s Remixer has given me one less thing to worry about running my small business.”
To learn more or to begin building your website with Remixer, visit <a href="http://dreamhost.com/website-builder/" target="_blank">dreamhost.com/website-builder/</a>.

Remixer – the Powerful Website Builder from DreamHost – Makes Creating Customized Websites Very, Very Inexpensive

Five years of continuously evolves, InsiteCreation CMS reach the new high in CMS world. The latest version takes the website building into the new level of ease and simplicity yet retaining rich and robust functionality and flexibility.
<a href="http://www.insitecreation.com/Video/Insite2012.html"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wp_200x0_kpnp7i.png" /></a>
InsiteCreation is entry to medium level CMS that is designed to cater for a wide range of usage scenarios, e.g. corporate website &amp; document management, clients' area, portfolio site, article portal, club website, personal home page, blog, etc.
<a href="http://www.insitecreation.com/"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/visitbutton.png" /></a>
<h2>Realtime Designer</h2>
Realtime Designer is key feature and also the unique point of InsiteCreation CMS. It makes InsiteCreation more than just a CMS, it is also a designer tool to create multiple and dynamic designs faster!
Traditional CMS requires user to use FTP to download specific formatting file or template, make changes and then upload to server to see the changes. InsiteCreation’s Realtime Designer intelligently discard all this hassles and allows user to enter into design mode and change the appearance of page’s elements such as page body, menu, footer, banner, logo etc. online. User will see the changes realtime while they are modifying the design aspects.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best_smb_net_cms-1_paarka.png" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/250px-orchard_logo_1_svg_jd2vbu.png" />
 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/dropdown-450x319.jpg" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best_smb_java_cms_zdrbno.png" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/percussion-logo_onvdlr.jpg" />
 
<h2>Content Management and Listing</h2>
In InsiteCreation, content is not html page only, they can be document (file, pdf, doc) and media(image, video or link). Content are organized into Channel which could have designated level of protection. Any page in InsiteCreation can be easily converted into a document, media or a link and presented in various listing/gallery templates. Here are just some of the ways you can use listings:
<ul>
<li>Media Wall. With a Multimedia Wall, you can post rich content on your wall – not just Photos or YouTube videos, but downloadable documents, music or video playlists, etc – content support you may not find on common online wall or blog applications.</li>
<li>Blog. By selecting the Blog listing template you can immediately convert any page into a powerful blog. Start posting your blog entries or edit the template to customize the look &amp; feel of your blog.</li>
<li>Music Playlist. Create a playlist of your audio files and let your users play them using the built-in MP3 player. With InsiteCreation, you can even sell downloadable music (as well as any other file type).</li>
<li>Video Playlist. Creating an interactive video playlist has never been easier. Just select the Video Playlist listing template and start uploading your collection of videos (FLV) which can be viewed on your site with the provided player.</li>
<li>Document Explorer. Give your users secure access to the documents they need. Convert any page into a document sharing area and start uploading any type of files, for example MS Office files, PDF documents, etc.</li>
<li>Custom Catalog. Create a book library, product list, hotel &amp; property database or inventory: custom fields give you the flexibility to shape a listing to your needs.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Powerful Authoring Tools</h2>
The simple user interface and logical approach make content management accessible to businesses without dedicated IT staff. InsiteCreation CMS incorporates high performance authoring tools to enhance user’s authoring experience.
<ul>
<li>Advanced WYSIWYG Editor. Create stylish content, design your own typography, create beautiful tables, apply colors, and much more… all in a convenient editing environment.</li>
</ul>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best_smb_java_cms-1_hgos2y.png" />
<ul>
<li>Quick In-Context Editor. If you need quick editing, just enable the in-context editor. It's quick to load and allows you to edit content directly on page. The in-context editor provides basic editing features. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/small02.jpg" /> </li>
<li>Insert Photos with Lightbox &amp; Reflection Effect. Easily select a photo, choose thumbnail size, and make it clickable to open the actual image in a smooth lightbox. Thumbnails are generated on the fly without maintaining separate images. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best_smb_other_cms-1_yztnzr.png" /></li>
<li>Music and Video player. Upload video files (FLV) or MP3 files that can be embedded in your content. You can also attach YouTube URLs and a small thumbnail will be displayed automatically. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/561px-django_cms_logo_svg_bgxxnf.png" /></li>
<li>SEO Friendly. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best_smb_other_cms_hmnbj0.png" /></li>
</ul>
Built in and Custom Modules
InsiteCreation CMS provides long list of built in modules in standard package including some important modules: Shopping Cart, Pooling System, Discussion (Forum), Newsletter, Event Calendar, and Content Block. Modules can be embedded on any page. Also InsiteCreation's highly extensible framework allows you to develop custom modules and extend InsiteCreation with custom functions.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/modules-450x441.jpg" />
<h2>And more…</h2>
There are still many features in InsiteCreation CMS that worth mentioning such as Mini Sites, Comment System, Statistics, Content Approval and Dashboard, it will be too much to cover in this article. Find out more information about InsiteCreation CMS at <a href="http://www.insitecreation.com/" target="_blank">www.insitecreation.com</a>

InsiteCreation CMS Takes Website Building to the Next Level

This year, we had a huge amount of competition for Best Free CMS and lots of communities were vying to get their favorites to the top.
The list of free content management systems is a huge one and with the number of products in the market, the list to filter during the nominations stage was very lengthy but it came down to 5 very impressive CMS platforms.
Let's review who was nominated for this year's People's Choice award for Best Free CMS.
Here are the nominees for those who were unaware:
<ol>
<li><a href="/products/processwire/">Processwire</a></li>
<li><a href="/products/tiki-wiki-cms-groupware/">Tiki</a></li>
<li><a href="/products/concrete5/">Concrete5</a></li>
<li><a href="/products/wordpress/">WordPress</a></li>
<li><a href="/products/umbraco/">Umbraco</a></li>
</ol>
And the winner is…
WordPress!
<img style="max-width:150px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best-free-cms150x0.png" />
As you can see, this year, WordPress was nominated and as such, it didn't take long for the community to rally behind it. We all know how huge the WordPress community is and once they chose to back their platform of choice, it was pretty clear that WordPress would end up the winner of the 2013 People's Choice Award for Best Free CMS.
Congratulations to the WordPress development team and to all those CMS that were nominated this year.
<a href="/products/wordpress/">Learn more about WordPress</a> or visit them <a href="https://wordpress.org/">on the web</a>.
Don't forget, we have the Critic's Choice portion underway now, where a panel of judges select the winner of the Critics Choice awards so check back to see who gets picked as the cream of the crop by the Critics.

2013 People's Choice Winner for Best Free CMS

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