Articles - Page 99

Agentic AI for Agencies in 2026

bmckeiver

The exponential growth of ecommerce over the last few years in no secret to anybody.
As time goes on, more and more ecommerce new-comers enter the fray with fresh ideas and firm determination. They are of course joined by seasoned offline and online merchants reinventing their businesses on the web, where <a href="http://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/online-retail-sales-growth/" target="_blank">research shows</a> that the sales figures are only getting healthier.
In light of this, most people looking to get started in ecommerce are looking for two things – functionality and simplicity.
<a href="/shopify" target="_blank">Shopify</a> is a popular ecommerce platform which holds both of these attributes, plus much more, just as I mentioned in my <a href="/shopify-review-ecommerce-only-simpler/" target="_blank">Shopify review</a> some months back. Now however, I'm going to discuss just how Shopify manages to make ecommerce as simple as can be.
<h2>1. Simple Store Setup</h2>
<a href="/shopify" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-1700x0.png" alt="Shopify Simplifies Ecommerce" /></a>
If you need to get your store online in a hurry, using Shopify is a great way to do it without losing out on quality along the way.
The initial sign up process is over in a matter of seconds, which is swiftly followed by an easy-to-follow six step plan designed to help you lay the foundations of your store, including a professional domain name, design and products. If you know what you want, you can have a fully functioning store set up within just minutes of signing up.
<h2>2. No Technicalities</h2>
<a href="/shopify" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-3700x0.png" alt="Shopify Simplifies Ecommerce" /></a>
Shopify offers plenty in terms of detailed customization features and other built-in tools which seasoned merchants will find useful. Yet, ecommerce newcomers will also be just as happy with the platform's alternative, non-technical approach.
Frankly, you don't need to know anything about web design, coding, or anything else technical in order to successfully Shopify. Beautifully pre-designed themes can be activated with just a few clicks, whilst the admin panel oozes simplicity to help you add products and pages in no time at all.
<h2>3. Easy Platform Migration</h2>
<a href="/shopify" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-4700x0.png" alt="Shopify Simplifies Ecommerce" /></a>
Shopify also makes life easy for those with existing stores hosted on other platforms, such as WordPress, Ebay and Magento.
Within the <a href="http://apps.shopify.com/" target="_blank">Shopify App Store</a>, you can find a host of specialised importer tools which will help you to migrate your online store from a variety of different popular platforms like the ones mentioned above. Once you install the app on your Shopify store, all you have to do is follow the instructions within the app, which will import your products in no time at all.
<h2>4. Theme Freedom</h2>
<a href="/shopify" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-5700x0.png" alt="Shopify Simplifies Ecommerce" /></a>
With over 100 free and premium themes to choose from via the Shopify Theme Store, you shouldn't be too hard-pressed to find a theme which is suitable for your industry.
However, on top of simply selecting a pre-designed theme, you can tinker with the design via some user friendly options pertaining to how your website header looks, social media buttons, additional layouts, and more. More experienced web designers can delve into the code of the theme, or even create a new Shopify theme from scratch.
<h2>5. Flexible Payment Gateways</h2>
<a href="/shopify" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-6700x0.png" alt="Shopify Simplifies Ecommerce" /></a>
Being able to offer your customers a convenient payment gateway is vital when it comes to ecommerce, and Shopify does a great job of recognizing that.
As well as giving you the option to offer popular payment options such as PayPal, SagePay, and over 70 other gateways, Shopify also handles credit card payments for you – globally.
<h2>6. Smart Marketing</h2>
<a href="/shopify" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-7700x0.png" alt="Shopify Simplifies Ecommerce" /></a>
Marketing your online store correctly can be a hard task for anyone. Thankfully, Shopify offers some pretty useful tools built-in to the admin panel to make the whole process a little easier.
For example, a fully integrated blogging platform can be added to your store, alongside in-depth visitor, customer and order tracking analytics. For search engine optimization purposes, Shopify enables you to specify page titles, meta tags and more, for both pages and products. All of these marketing features are rounded off nicely by Shopify's discount &amp; coupon code engine.
<h2>7. Offline POS Solutions</h2>
<a href="/shopify" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-8700x0.png" alt="Shopify Simplifies Ecommerce" /></a>
For those of you who have physical stores, Shopify's POS (Point of Sale) solution is where it gets really interesting.
<a href="https://www.shopify.com/pos" target="_blank">Shopify POS</a> is essentially an iPad application which allows you to sync your product inventories between your offline and online store, allowing you to take orders from both customers visiting your physical retail setting, as well as those visiting your website. Once your iPad is set up within your store, customers can browse your catalogue, select products and swipe their credit card using the Shopify Card Reader. Customers can then print or email themselves a receipt.
<h2>8. Endless Support</h2>
<a href="/shopify" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-9.png" alt="Shopify Simplifies Ecommerce" /></a>
Last, but not least on Shopify's list of simplifications, is the terrific support systems they have in place.
Shopify have a comprehensive approach to customer support, made up of a <a href="http://docs.shopify.com/support" target="_blank">dedicated support page</a> which aims to answer the most common questions, a <a href="http://ecommerce.shopify.com/forums" target="_blank">discussion forum</a> where you can ask thousands of other Shopify users for assistance, along with an extensive <a href="http://docs.shopify.com/" target="_blank">Shopify Manual</a>. If all of those options fail you, Shopify's support team can be contacted directly via live chat, email or phone.
So there you have it, 8 very good reasons for why you should try Shopify if you're looking for a simple, yet functional ecommerce solution. A great way to join the 60,000 people already using Shopify, would be to <a href="/shopify">check out their 14-day free trial</a>.
Additionally, you can learn more about <a href="/products/shopify/" target="_blank">Shopify via our CMS Directory</a>.

8 Ways Shopify Simplifies Ecommerce

mike-johnston

There's nothing quite as sweet as ice cream on a hot summer's day. And speaking of hot, the last month has been a blaze of activity in the CMS and DXP markets. Grab something cold and we'll break it all down for you.
The heatwave started with <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/what-contentfuls-175m-investment-round-means-for-the-future-of-cms/" target="_blank">Contentful's $175 million investment round</a>, making the headless unicorn the latest platform to broadcast a big money moment over the past 18 months. But they weren't alone: <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/umbraco-cms-acquired-by-software-investor-monterro-interview-with-ceo-kim-sneum-madsen/" target="_blank">Umbraco</a> CMS also announced their acquisition by software investment firm Monterro, signaling a bold new chapter for the platform player. 
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/wix-launches-new-branded-app-builder-for-creating-code-free-native-mobile-apps/" target="_blank">Wix</a> also made waves with the release of a new code-free app builder, making it easier for users to add a native iOS or Android app to their digital strategy. It's another innovative move for the website builder, and we'll be following up with a closer look in the coming months. 
We also blew out the candles for <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/joomla-cms-turns-16-celebrates-with-long-awaited-release-of-version-4-0/" target="_blank">Joomla!'s 16th birthday</a>. Still want a slice of their open source layer cake? Check out <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/joomla-cms-turns-16-celebrates-with-long-awaited-release-of-version-4-0/" target="_blank">Joomla!'s Version 4.0</a>, which was released just prior to the festivities. Nine years in the making, the new upgrade offers a host of features that are worth sampling. 
Despite the glut of negative news, we also had a chance to hear from <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/solodev-selected-as-cloud-consulting-partner-of-the-2022-special-olympics-usa-games/" target="_blank">Solodev</a> about their partnership with the <a href="https://www.solodev.com/news/solodev-selected-as-cloud-consulting-partner-of-the-2022-special-olympics-usa-games.stml" target="_blank">Special Olympics 2022 USA Games</a>. The CMS-turned-cloud-app-ecosystem has built the first-ever serverless infrastructure for the non-profit, which will power a fan engagement experience for athletes and spectators. It's a feel-good story, and a great one to end your week on.
No plain vanilla in this stack. Keep reading for a few more scoops. 
 
<h2>Zoho launches Canvas, a design studio that rethinks the CRM Experience for enterprises</h2>
<h2><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/08/zoho-canvas.png" alt="Zoho Canvas user interface" /></h2>
Zoho recently <a href="https://www.zoho.com/news/zoho-launches-canvas-design-studio-to-re-envision-crm-experience.html" target="_blank">announced</a> Canvas for Zoho CRM, a design studio for CRM personalization. Canvas brings simplicity to the CRM user experience through a no-code design studio that helps customers craft their own personalized experiences. Businesses can now create their own CRM interfaces that are better suited to the role of each employee without IT or developer involvement.
Canvas looks and works just like a CMS but with drag-and-drop functionality. You simply click on an element in a list of fields, i.e., Full Name, email, and drag it onto the canvas. Once you drag the data on the canvas, you can customize the look of it however you prefer. You can adjust the shapes of elements, spacing, colors, and font styles; basically every visual detail you can think of. If creating a style from scratch is overwhelming for you, Canvas also comes with a library of templates crafted by their in-house designers.
"A lot of CRM software already offers an abundance of personalization for customer experiences, but the same is not true for employee experiences. As a result, everyone's using the same system and paying the productivity tax for no reason." said Mani Vembu, COO of Zoho, "Imagine a reality where the system is tailor-made for each employee's role. That is true all-around for personalization, and that's what we're bringing to market with Canvas. We believe it's a more natural solution to the challenge of software adoption. Our ultimate aim is for businesses to create enterprise-wide software experiences with consumer-grade simplicity."
Canvas Capabilities Include:
<ul>
<li>Drag-and-drop editor: facilitate designing without the need to write a single line of code.</li>
<li>Template gallery: customers can pick a preset template that speaks to them and their industry and dive right in.</li>
<li>Industry-relevant views: companies can create views that are relevant to their industry, their work culture, their sales process, and more.</li>
<li>Self-service portals: customers can share Canvas creations over portals to create a better experience for vendors, stakeholders, and more.</li>
<li>Role-based assignment: admins can assign different Canvas views based on roles, responsibilities, and teams in their company.</li>
<li>Extensive formatting: Canvas houses a wide range of formatting options to edit the finer details of a view and loads styles dynamically based on conditions.</li>
</ul>
Canvas will be available across all editions of Zoho CRM at no additional cost.
 You can find more information on Canvas at <a href="https://www.zoho.com/canvas/" target="_blank">https://www.zoho.com/canvas/</a>.
<h2></h2>
<h2>Acquia renews Drupal Steward Program support, brings critical security fixes to enterprises first</h2>
<img style="max-width:640px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/08/drupal-steward-logo-1024x839.png" alt="drupal steward logo" />
Digital experience platform Acquia <a href="https://www.acquia.com/newsroom/press-releases/acquia-renews-drupal-steward-program-support-brings-critical-security-fixes" target="_blank">announced</a> that it is renewing its founding partnership support of the <a href="https://drupalsteward.org/" target="_blank">Drupal Steward Program</a>, a web application firewall introduced by the Drupal Association and operated jointly with the Drupal Security team. Acquia implemented Drupal Steward protection across its entire <a href="https://www.acquia.com/products/drupal-cloud" target="_blank">Drupal Cloud</a> platform, protecting thousands of the world's largest sites with the most up-to-date security and vulnerability fixes.
Acquia's participation in this program affords seamless, immediate protection to customers by routing their website domains to Drupal Steward, which automatically filters requests through the firewall. Malicious requests are blocked, giving IT teams the time they need to test and implement security updates on their own timelines. 
For example, in November 2020, Drupal Steward implemented protection against a critical remote code execution vulnerability, immediately protecting Acquia's customers. 
<h2></h2>
<h2>HubSpot partners with Envato to launch hundreds of high-quality CMS hub templates</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/08/themeforest-hubspot-collection.jpg" alt="ThemeForest HubSpot Collection" />
HubSpot – an integrated CRM, CMS, and digital marketing platform – has partnered with <a href="https://envato.com/" target="_blank">Envato</a>, the world-leading online community for creative assets like website themes and templates. The result is something HubSpot CMS and website users will be thrilled about. 
This month, the companies <a href="https://www.hubspot.com/company-news/hubspot-partners-with-envato" target="_blank">announced</a> the launch of more than 250 diverse, high-quality website themes on the <a href="https://themeforest.net/lp/hubspot-cms-hub-themes" target="_blank">Envato Market</a>, all made specifically for the <a href="https://www.hubspot.com/products/cms?_ga=2.234685790.1384499146.1628085564-1129582407.1628085564" target="_blank">HubSpot CMS Hub</a>. As part of their partnership, Envato has added a specific HubSpot category to their marketplace, allowing developers to sell themes they have created specifically for CMS Hub. These new options will now be featured alongside other popular content management systems, including WordPress, Webflow, and Drupal. 
Built for marketers and developers, CMS Hub is designed to help customers create seamless digital experiences with drag-and-drop page editing, mobile optimization, premium hosting, and more.
"The Envato Market ecosystem and ThemeForest, in particular, is a well-respected website design marketplace, with millions of customers supported by a hugely talented group of largely exclusive theme authors," said Envato's Chief Content Officer, Cameron Gough.
You can check out the HubSpot CMS Hub themes collection on ThemeForest here: <a href="https://themeforest.net/lp/hubspot-cms-hub-themes/" target="_blank">https://themeforest.net/lp/hubspot-cms-hub-themes/</a>
<h2>WordPress releases Gutenberg 11.2</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/08/gutenberg-search-styles.jpeg" alt="gutenberg search styles" />
Let's consult Johannes before we stop the presses, but just two weeks after releasing Gutenberg 11.1, WordPress pushed <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/08/05/whats-new-in-gutenberg-11-2-0-4-august/" target="_blank">Gutenberg 11.2.0</a>. 
As you might expect, this rapid-fire release focuses primarily on bug fixes and tooling rather than major updates. But there are a few new features worth noting:
<ul>
<li>Search block button and border colors: the range of options for customizing blocks continues to improve. The search block now has<a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/32416" target="_blank"> additional options for customizing button and border colors.</a> </li>
<li>Group block flex layout: an <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33359" target="_blank">experimental flex layout option</a> is being beta tested on the group block. This is an early glimpse at a feature that would give parent blocks the capability of defining the layout of their inner blocks.</li>
<li>New button for creating posts as part of the publishing flow: if you're creating more than one consecutive post, you can now <a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/33276" target="_blank">create a new post from the editor</a> as part of the publishing flow.</li>
</ul>

CMS Monthly Recap: Zoho Launches Canvas, HubSpot Partners With Envato, WordPress Releases Gutenberg 11.2, and More

paris-tuzun

Image of CMS Critic Monthly Recap with ice cream cone superimposed

Squarespace, the popular website builder, has announced the release of Squarespace 7 to the public.
Squarespace 7 features a number of significant changes including a completely redesigned interface, integration with Getty Images making over 40 million images available for just $10 each, an integration with Google Apps allowing for easy email setup under your domain, and more.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9IDeKXQuiik?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<h2>Squarespace 7 – The Interface</h2>
What's new with the interface in Squarespace 7? Quite a bit actually. The team has worked hard to make the interface cleaner and more intuitive.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/squarespace_7_interface_screenshot_11086x0.png" alt="squarespace_7_interface_screenshot_1" />
As you can see, there is a new sidebar to the left that contains quick access to all of your menus. The process of getting around on your site is much easier as a result. The bulk of the editing tools are now more easily accessible, something that makes Squarespace more competitive against other website builders such as <a href="https://www.weebly.com/">Weebly</a> and Wix for instance.
Furthermore, they've added front end editing capabilities. Simply hover over an editable area and the interface reveals itself. A quick click lets you make the necessary changes quickly and easily.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/squarespace_7_interface_screenshot_21086x0.png" alt="squarespace_7_interface_screenshot_2" />
<h2>Squarespace 7 – Getty Images Integration</h2>
For those looking for high quality images to use within your website or blog, Squarespace has also struck a deal with Getty Images giving you the ability to quickly purchase and use an image from their massive repository at a very reasonable $10 per image.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/gettyimages.jpg" alt="getting images" />
This is a great way to get beautiful imagery for your site at a fraction of the cost of typical photography websites. Sure, there are less expensive ones but having the option is always nice.
<h2>Squarespace 7 – Cover Pages</h2>
Bad news for website builders like <a href="http://www.websitebuilderscritic.com/website_builders/reviews/strikingly/" target="_blank">Strikingly</a> (which specializes in single page websites) is the new introduction of Cover Pages. Cover pages let you quickly make single page websites or simply create powerful landing pages to grab a readers attention.
Here's a great example of one:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/squarespace_7_-_cover_pages1042x0.jpg" alt="squarespace_7_-_cover_pages" />
<h2>Google Apps Integration</h2>
For businesses like ours that integrate with Google Apps for email, documents and more, this is exciting news. Squarespace 7 can link your domain to branded email accounts, office productivity tools, cloud storage, and more via Google Apps.
<h2>Wait, there's more! </h2>
These are only some of the new features that Squarespace 7 brings to the table. To learn more and sign up for a free trial of Squarespace to try them out, <a href="http://www.squarespace.com">visit Squarespace today</a>.

Squarespace releases Squarespace 7

This year, for the Critic's Choice portion of our annual CMS Awards, we've decided to make the selections using a panel of three judges. The judges we've selected are well respected throughout the community and are valued for their opinions.
To start the process of introduction, we'd like to introduce judge number one, John Coonen!
If you don't know who John is, you are either not on Twitter (he's almost impossible to avoid and his tweets are very entertaining) or you've never attended his CMS Expo (which in itself is a total shame).
<img style="max-width:100px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/john-coonen-gp-bw100x0.jpg" alt="John Coonen" />
John Coonen is the President of the CMS Association. Its mission: “Shine the spotlight on the world's leading CMSs and the people who use them.”  He is the founder and co-host of the <a href="http://www.cmsexpo.net/">CMS Expo Learning &amp; Business Conference</a>, and publisher of The CMS Connection.
John's background is in campaign management and creative direction for major brands, non-profits political campaigns, and causes, where he made extensive use (and custom development of) CMSs since the 1990s. You can find him on <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/coonen">Linkedin</a>.
John was quick to accept the judging position for this year's awards and we're very excited to have him on board. Watch for future collaborations between CMS Critic and CMS Expo in 2014 and be sure to check back throughout this month to hear the winners of the Peoples Choice awards. For a full schedule of the awards, visit the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/cms-critic-awards/">CMS Awards</a> page.

Introduction to the Judges - John Coonen

This year, the battle to win Best Small to Midsize Business CMS was a hard-fought one with a ton of amazing contenders vying for the top spot. Today, we're going to announce who came out on top in this year's awards.
A CMS that is geared towards Small to Midsize Businesses must be able to cover a wide range of functionality and, ideally, integrate more than one component. Why? It's simple. Businesses already have a ton of overhead on average and any product that can integrate multiple layers of functionality while reducing the reliance on additional products is going to get a leg up on the competition. Businesses don't want to have to manage licensing and fees for Marketing Suites, CRM platforms, Ecommerce Solutions, Hosting, etc, etc. They want a solution that can offer as much functionality as possible with as little a learning curve as possible.
This year, more than last, we can see this choice reflected in the nominees that were part of the award run.
The nominees, as a refresher, were:
<ul>
<li><a href="/products/adobe-business-catalyst/">Adobe Business Catalyst</a></li>
<li><a href="/products/ingeniux/"> Ingeniux </a></li>
<li><a href="/products/dnn-evoq-content/"> DNN Evoq Content </a></li>
<li><a href="/products/percussion/"> Percussion </a></li>
<li><a href="/products/sitefinity/"> Sitefinity </a></li>
</ul>
While it certainly was a hard fought battle but only one can be named the winner and the People's Choice for Best Small to Midsize Business CMS this year is…
<h3><img style="max-width:150px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best-small-to-midsize-business-cms150x0.png" /></h3>
<h3>DNN Evoq Content!</h3>
DNN Evoq™ Content, formerly known as DotNetNuke® Professional Edition, is a business solution that helps bring your website to life with captivating content and engaging interactions. Users can add and edit content through a standard browser with no IT support.
Whether you’re in Marketing, Editorial or the C-Suite, Evoq™ Content provides a simple CMS and workflow tools suited to non-technical users.
Learn more about <a href="/products/dnn-evoq-content/">DNN Evoq Content</a>
Congratulations to the DNN Evoq Content team on their win! Stay tuned to find out who walks away with the Critics Choice Award (selected by our panel of judges) coming soon.

2013 People's Choice Winner for Best Small to Midsize Business CMS

<a href="https://www.weebly.com/" target="_blank">Weebly</a>, the world-famous website builder, has just made their iPad users' lives a whole lot easier.
Powering millions of websites worldwide, Weebly has built its reputation by enabling users to build good-looking websites via a drag-and-drop system, for free.
Weebly for iPad was the Weebly community's, “second most requested feature”, and it's not difficult to see why. Weebly's interface is ideal for touchscreens. This also means that Weebly is the first website builder to be completely functional on an iPad. Let's look at what it can do.
<h2>Weebly for iPad</h2>
According to the Weebly announcement:
<blockquote>“[We have brought] the drag and drop experience to life in a way you’ve never seen before with the ability to both create and edit a website on the iPad. It’s been a huge technical challenge to make every site ever created with Weebly editable on iPad.”</blockquote>
That's right. If you have a Weebly website, you can now edit it on an iPad, just as you can on a desktop, for free.
Here's a video demonstrating what Weebly for iPad is capable of.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cAuKRyuHQcc?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Below are some of the Weebly for iPad features:
<ul>
<li>New interface and design language built specifically for touchscreen. Site Selector, Element Sidebar and Image Editing flows completely overhauled for tablet experience.</li>
<li>Any website created with Weebly is editable from the iPad (stores and blogs coming soon!)</li>
<li>Element Sidebar naturally collapses and expands while you work or with a swipe, maximizing screen real estate.</li>
<li>Powerful new editing capabilities optimized for the iPad, you can now edit images and customize font color with intuitive touchscreen motions.</li>
<li>Save and sync work across devices so you can pick up where you left off on desktop or mobile.</li>
<li>Offline mode captures updates made without an internet connection. Work anywhere!</li>
<li>Manage your website’s SEO right from your iPad</li>
<li>One of the first apps built uniquely for iOS 8, leverages the new operating system to create an experience unlike anything you’ve seen before on the iPad.</li>
</ul>
On top of these features, Weebly have announced that they will also release these functions, in due time:
<ul>
<li>Create and edit blogs and stores</li>
<li>Analytics and stats</li>
<li>Android tablet app</li>
</ul>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/8107663_orig700x0.png" />
To download the Weebly for iPad app for free, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/weebly/id511158309" target="_blank">visit the iTune store</a>. For more information, check out the <a href="http://blog.weebly.com/post/weebly-for-ipad" target="_blank">official blog announcement</a>.
Plus, explore more of <a href="/products/weebly/" target="_blank">Weebly via our CMS Directory</a>.

Weebly for iPad Goes Live

Semrush - Be an SEO hero

Be an SEO hero with Semrush

#ffffff

A website builder is primarily designed for the aspiring webmaster who possess limited knowledge of web design and development.But that hasn’t stopped <a href="/products/motocms">MotoCMS</a> from catering to the developer community.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/untitled-3.jpg" />So far during this featured week, <a href="/getting-to-grips-with-motocms-3-0/">I’ve given an overview of the platform</a>, touched on <a href="/a-look-at-motocms-as-an-ecommerce-solution/">MotoCMS as eCommerce solution</a>, and <a href="/an-interview-with-motocms-ceo-demetrio-fortman/">interviewed MotoCMS CEO Demetrio Fortman</a>.Let’s now delve into how developers can make the most of this website builder.<h2>Developer Discounts</h2>The MotoCMS for Developers system puts those who want to purchase templates in bulk at an advantage.The idea is, you purchase a discount code, which can be used at any time to purchase either; 10, 15, 20, 30 or 50 templates. Every pack of Templates at the Exclusive price comes with 1, 2, 3, 4 or 6 months of Paid support for free.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-10746x0-is.png" />To give you an example regarding the kind of savings a developer could make, a Guru Pack buyer would save up to $3,500 after buying all 50 of his or her discounted MotoCMS 3 templates.Furthermore, it’s also worth noting that those expenditures (and those savings) come as and when they’re needed. Since you only purchase the discount code, you’re free to buy your set of templates whenever you like.So, you don’t need to invest until your next client rolls in. Not too shabby.On another note, MotoCMS also has an affiliate program, where developers and marketers alike can earn a commission by referring people to MotoCMS.

How Web Designers Save Money With The MotoCMS Developer Program

<a target="_blank" href="https://kinsta.com/?kaid=QQMMZOGRMCQE">Kinsta</a> is a popular hosting provider that provides managed WordPress hosting to the public. Today, I'm going to review their system and hosting setup to see whether it's a good option for those of you looking for a solid, trustworthy provider with a good set of tools for your WordPress website.What makes Kinsta a unique beast is that their entire infrastructure uses <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Cloud_Platform">Google Cloud Platform</a> which differs from the traditional shared, VPS, or dedicated infrastructures you see with most providers.Kinsta was kind enough to provide me with a test account for the purposes of this review so I'll be using that for the screenshots and to take a look through everything.<h2>The Dashboard</h2>Once you've <a target="_blank" href="https://kinsta.com/?kaid=QQMMZOGRMCQE">signed up for an account with Kinsta</a>, you'll be given access to your Kinsta Dashboard which is where you'll manage your sites, migrations and a whole lot more.Your dashboard, once you get access and sign-up, will look like this:<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kinsta-wordpress-hosting-review-1_ws7yhd.png" />Kinsta Managed WordPress Hosting DashboardThere are numerous graphs on the Dashboard for you to review such as Resource Usage, Data Transfer and Unique Visits. You can also see a full list of your sites from one location (if you have multiple).<h2>Sites</h2>To add new sites and manage existing ones, you'll use the Sites tab. When you move a site over to Kinsta, you are given the option to choose from one of their <a target="_blank" href="https://kinsta.com/knowledgebase/google-cloud-data-center-locations/?kaid=QQMMZOGRMCQE">18 data centers</a> for your site. Each of your sites can have a different data center as Kinsta uses multi-regional deployments.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kinsta-wordpress-hosting-review-2_qmmhyx.png" />The Sites TabIn the Info section, you can see everything you need to know about your site from your IP information to your Data Center location, sFTP and SSH details and more.Most of the other sections are pretty self explanatory and I won't go through all of them because that would likely bore you to tears but what I will tell you is that there is plenty of information and functionality here. One of the sections I especially found useful is the Tools section. Here you can clear site cache, restart PHP and do a database Search and Replace quickly and easily.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kinsta-wordpress-hosting-review-9_v1tcl7.png" />The Tools Section<h2>Migrations</h2>The Migrations tab is where you'll initiate any migrations from your previous hosting provider to Kinsta. As you can see in the screenshot below, I've got 1 free migration that I haven't used yet so to kick off a site move, I'd do so here.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kinsta-wordpress-hosting-review-4_lspgkw.png" />The Migration Tab<h2>Kinsta DNS</h2>Kinsta also offers a service called Kinsta DNS which allows you to manage your own zone records and use Amazon Route 53 to speed up DNS resolution for faster domain name resolving.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kinsta-wordpress-hosting-review-5_fz2pm7.png" />Kinsta DNS<h2>Analytics</h2>The  tab is exactly what it claims to be, analytics for your site. While it does offer you a quick peek into how your site is performing, most of you should make sure you also have Google Analytics as that's what everyone uses and it provides far more in-depth detail. Having said that, this doesn't mean this section is useless as it does provide quick insight without having to leave the dashboard so I can appreciate that.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kinsta-wordpress-hosting-review-6_ecfwrv.png" />Analytics<h2>Activity</h2>Skipping now to the Activity tab now, this is where you'll find a log of all activity that has happened within your Dashboard such as adding new sites, making changes and more.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kinsta-wordpress-hosting-review-7_vbeols.png" />ActivityThat about does it for the Dashboard tour but does all of this mean Kinsta is the right managed WordPress hosting provider for you?<h2>My Thoughts</h2>Kinsta provides some pretty amazing features / services that go along with each and every plan so they are definitely good bang for your buck. One of the most interesting ones is the Free hack fix meaning that if your website gets hacked (which is always a fear for every website owner) they will fix it with immediate priority.Additional features include:<ul><li>Free CDN, free Letsencrypt SSL, staging environments, automatic daily backups and the option to create manual backup points anytime.</li><li>Full page caching at the server-level to deliver content almost instantaneously to visitors. We also pair that with our Kinsta MU plugin, developed in-house, to provide even more granular control over caching.</li><li>PHP 7, 7.1, 7.2, and 7.3.</li><li>Server-level rules and optimizations for WooCommerce and Easy Digital Download sites to ensure a smoother checkout experience for customers.</li><li>Multi-user access with fine-grained permissions. Add any number of users to your team. Give them access to all your sites, just billing or add them as developers or administrators to a subset of your sites.</li><li>SSH access, Git, and WP-CLI.</li><li>At least one free migration, completed by our expert support team. There are a certain number of migrations included depending on which plan you choose.</li></ul>There's another good reason I'd consider Kinsta that most people aren't aware of. AdThrive, one of the largest ad networks in the world for bloggers, recently recommended Kinsta in an email sent out to their publishers (I know this because my wife's site is with them). This nod from a company that takes things into deep consideration before making recommendations is a good sign for those thinking of choosing Kinsta for their own websites.<a target="_blank" href="https://kinsta.com?kaid=QQMMZOGRMCQE">You can learn more or sign up with Kinsta here.</a>

Kinsta Managed WordPress Hosting Review

As you know, this year we are using a panel of judges to help select the winners of the Critics Choice portion of the CMS Awards. We're already announced our first judge, <a href="/introduction-to-the-judges-john-coonen/">John Coonen</a> and now it's time to tell you who the second one is.Our second judge for the Critics Choice CMS Awards is none other than Adriaan Bloem. Adriaan is very active on social media and can be found answering questions on site such as Quora and many others.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/adriaan-bloem-shirt-ed-sm100x0.jpg" alt="Adriaan Bloem" />What specifically made us think of him was his knack for honesty in his answers and we think it ties in well to the way we try to be here at CMS Critic, open, unbiased and honest.For those of you who don't know him, Adriaan is Senior Manager at MBC Group, responsible for online platform and infrastructure coherence, ranging from web content management, mobile, social, forums, to video.Adriaan has 18 years of experience in online, and was previously Analyst at the Real Story Group, and Consultant to large enterprises on their internet, social enterprise, and search endeavours. Adriaan likes penguins.You can find him on Twitter <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/adriaanbloem‎">@adriaanbloem‎</a>For a full schedule of the awards, visit the <a href="/cms-critic-awards">CMS Awards</a> page.

Introduction to the Judges - Adriaan Bloem

WordPress is the most vulnerable CMS to cyber attacks, according to a report by Imperva, a data security firm. 
The Imperva Web Application Attack Report (WAAR) – an annual report now published for the fifth time – <a href="http://blog.imperva.com/2014/10/imperva-web-application-attack-report-waar-5.html" target="_blank">was recently released via the Imperva blog</a>. Amongst a long list of findings, it turns out that websites running on WordPress are attacked 24% more than those running on all other content management systems combined.
Here's a closer look at the report.
<h2>WordPress In Hacker Crosshairs</h2>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wplogoblue-stacked-rgb.png" />
In section 2.2.2 of the Imperva report, WordPress was identified as having suffered 60% more Cross Site Scripting incidents than all other CMS-running websites combined.
Other key findings include an increase of 10% in SQL Injection attacks, while retail websites were targeted by 48.1% of all attack campaigns. 
The most alarming find though, that WordPress is attacked 24% more than all other CMS combined, comes in the form of a graph within the report. The graph pits WordPress against, “the other popular CMS systems”.
Notably however, the other popular CMS were not named. 
Why WordPress in particular though? Imperva weigh in with this insight:
<blockquote>
“When an application or a platform becomes popular, hackers realize that the ROI from hacking into these platforms or applications will be fruitful, so they spend more time researching and exploiting these applications, either to steal data from them, or to use the hacked systems as zombies in a botnet.”
</blockquote>
A question I personally have about the report, is wether the sheer amount of live WordPress websites compared to any other CMS had any impact on the findings. Is WordPress hacked more often simply because it exists more abundantly, or because it is the most vulnerable CMS on the market? 
I'd be inclined to the former conclusion.
To read the blog announcement of this report, <a href="http://blog.imperva.com/2014/10/imperva-web-application-attack-report-waar-5.html" target="_blank">click here</a>. Otherwise, you can <a href="http://www.imperva.com/docs/HII_Web_Application_Attack_Report_Ed5.pdf" target="_blank">download the report for yourself</a>.

Imperva Report: WordPress Is The "Most Attacked" CMS

SimpleCMS is a product developed by Redmode Ltd that is available for those developers / designers who are looking to add a simple, easy to use and brandable CMS to their existing HTML based websites. It can also be used and easily set up by the average user without the need of a designer/developer. Today, we're going to take you through our SimpleCMS Review.
SimpleCMS is available for free or you can purchase an upgraded edition which provides additional functionality for around $80/year.
Adding a site to the system is very straight forward and is done through the following interface:
<img style="max-width:450px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2021/07/simplecms-1-450x250_n25kbd.png" alt="SimpleCMS Review" />
Once added, the site is instantly accessible from the CMS and you can begin to define which areas you wish to be editable.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/avatar_yagcxy.jpg" alt="SimpleCMS Review" />
Doing so is painless and requires you simply hovering over the area and clicking to instantly define it as an editable area. Once done, content can be edited, pictures changed, etc.  SimpleCMS makes heavy use of Ajax and load times are quick and the system feels responsive.
Once you've defined each of your areas, you click on the Edit Content tab to move to edit mode.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/simplecms-3-450x308.png" alt="SimpleCMS Review" />
You are now able to simple select one of the icons and instantly edit your content in place.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/simplecms-4-450x308.png" alt="SimpleCMS Review" />
The rich text editor, shown above, works wonderfully and can also be modified to include additional buttons and functionality (we'll show that in a moment).
Adding and modifying users is very simple. There are a few permissions you can modify along with the accessible buttons for the rich text editor.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/gutensite_logo-1_crv13k.png" alt="SimpleCMS Review" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/simplecms-7-450x308.png" alt="SimpleCMS Review" />
Last but not least, branding. It's as easy as adding your logo and making a few small changes.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/visagc_ug2ef5.png" alt="SimpleCMS Review" />
Conclusion
I found the system to be, as the name suggests, simple. It has everything the average user needs to maintain their site in an easy and effective manner. Performance wise, there was very little load time involved when moving between functions in the system. I found the editor and the ability to modify it to be refreshing and handy. I enjoyed using the product and the interface is visually appealing.
What would I change? Perhaps toss in some statistics functionality for the upgraded price and you've pretty much got the perfect setup for the average joe. Good job guys!
Interested? Check out <a href="http://simplecms.com">SimpleCMS</a>.

SimpleCMS Review

Peppermint OS 8 is a lightweight Linux distribution based on Lubuntu and with the latest release, it now includes a host of changes from the previous release. As such, I thought I'd tackle a Peppermint OS 8 Review and see what's new with the distro.
Installation, as with most Ubuntu based distros, is standard fare and works pretty much the same across the board. Unique to Peppermint OS 8 however, is a new OEM Install option, allowing computers to be shipped with Peppermint pre-installed.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/peppermint_os_8_review_-_oem.png" />
This is a very smart inclusion by the developers and means that when computers are shipped out with Peppermint preinstalled, the user will be prompted for their own language, location, keyboard layout, and account details on first boot, allowing the system configuration to be unique to the new owner.
Upon boot-up, you'll be greeted with the standard Peppermint OS 8 desktop.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/peppermint_os_8_review_-_11047x0-is.png" />
Peppermint OS 8 includes the latest improvements including Mesa 17.0.2 for improved gaming and many others which you can read about in their <a href="https://peppermintos.com/2017/05/peppermint-8-released/" target="_blank">release notes</a>.
I've always been impressed with this distribution. It presents a very visually clean and collected installation absent of some of the bloat found in a lot of other similar distributions. The apps that come preinstalled are good choices (VLC, Chromium, Pixlr, Xed and others) and performance has always been impressive. The developers seem to really be focusing on helping users run a well organized and stable system with each release.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/peppermint_os_8_review_-_21047x0-is.png" />
They also want to make sure that you have everything you need to properly customize and manage it as well, as can be seen in the newly updated Peppermint control center, which is chock full of goodies. For those who are fans of Numix, the Customize Numix Folder Icons entry allows you to change the type and colour of the folder icons when using one of the Numix icon themes.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/peppermint_os_8_review_-_31047x0-is.png" />
There's also a handy new addition to the control center in the form of a Tweaks category, with a number of additions you'll find useful for customizing your desktop experience.
Chromium makes a re-appearance in this release and the pepperflash PPAPI flashplayer is included as well allowing users who prefer this browser to display flash content with ease.
A small selection of quality games are included as well including the popular “Entanglement” and the quirky “First Person Tetris” – both of which make quick work of any free time you might find yourself having.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/peppermint_os_8_review_-_51047x0-is.png" />
Lots of theming options are present as well, including quite a few panel and window manager specific themes from which you can choose.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/peppermint_os_8_review_-_41047x0-is.png" />
Performance wise, the system is very snappy, even when running Chromium and a few other apps such as Pixlr (which comes preinstalled).
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/peppermint_os_8_review_-_71256x0-is.png" />
For lightweight purposes, I'd recommend taking a look at Peppermint OS 8. It's loaded with tons of excellent apps, performance is very impressive and they have a great user community which is evidenced in their <a href="https://forum.peppermintos.com/" target="_blank">active forums.</a>
If I was to give them one piece of advice moving forward, it would be to implement a welcome screen for new users that points out some of the excellent functionality and capabilities of the new distro. Without this, users are left exploring on their own. While that might work for those of us who've been using Linux for many years, new users need a bit of hand holding and I think this would be a great way to take Peppermint OS to the next level of user friendliness.
Otherwise, this is a great release. In my time running it, I've not encountered any bugs or lockups and performance has been impressive. Great work devs!
<a href="https://peppermintos.com/" target="_blank">Grab Peppermint OS 8 today</a> and give it a whirl.

Peppermint OS 8 Review

When it comes to social networking software, PHPFox has always been one of the market leaders, and with the updates brought about by their newly released platform version 3.7.0, they will be hoping to make further steps in the right direction.
The latest PHPFox update introduces a four core features, all of which administrators will directly benefit from and make use of.
With the popular community building CMS is in contention for this year's <a href="/announcing-the-people-s-choice-for-best-social-networking-solution-nominees/" target="_blank">People's Choice for Best Social Networking Solution</a>, it's fair to say that these updates will be transforming the way quite a few social networking websites manage and present their content. So, let's have a look at what's new.
<h2>Hashtags &amp; Improved Registration Forms</h2>
The first change PHPFox users will notice, is the implementation of hashtags. Users can add hashtags to images, threads, blogs and so forth, in order to help categorize content, making it easier for others to find whilst searching or browsing.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-3.png" alt="PHPFox v3.7.0" />
Also, PHPFox 3.7.0 also brings about a slightly updated user registration form, which now gives the option for users to enter their City along with the rest of their profile credentials.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-1.png" alt="PHPFox v3.7.0" />
<h2>MultiAds &amp; HTML5 Photo Uploading</h2>
Additionally, a brand new MultiAd feature means that you can display ads throughout your online community in a highly professional fashion. Using the MultiAd feature allows you to display multiple ads in a vertical block beside your content. PHPFox have also stated that custom ads from the AdminCP can be be created in line with the new MultiAd function.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-2.png" alt="PHPFox v3.7.0" />
Last, but not least, is the improved photo uploading function, which makes use of a HTML5 mass uploader. According to PHPFox, they aim to use the HTML5 mass uploader to replace the flash-based Massuploader currently provided for their user base.
PHPFox users can try out a live demo of version 3.7.0, and also read up on the new features via the <a href="https://www.phpfox.com/" target="_blank">official release notes</a>. Additionally, you can find out more about the fundamentals of <a href="/products/phpfox/" target="_blank">PHPFox via our CMS directory</a>.

PHPFox v3.7.0 Launched

Call Tracking + AI 

Call Tracking + AI that Turns Calls into Leads

Explore a wide range of informative articles, insights, and industry updates. Stay informed and ahead of the curve with our diverse collection of news and posts covering the latest trends and developments in the industry. Page - 99

News

Be an SEO hero with Semrush

Call Tracking + AI that Turns Calls into Leads