Koken is one of our picks as a top CMS for photographers. Just this week, they made an already good CMS a whole lot better. Koken 0.8, announced on May 9, includes a lineup of great new features and capabilities. We'll touch on the highlights.
Koken's old system built links in the old-fashioned ways — numerical slugs that did zilch for SEO, and even less for users. Now, the links are formatted with real text that humans can read and search engines can index. More SEO love.
If something as basic as Instagram has geotagging, shouldn't a sophisticated CMS like Koken? The answer is yes. Koken integrates GPS data into photos, and provides the familiar GPS locator button in the upper right corner of each featured photo. Clicking the pin brings up a map that locates where the picture was taken.
For the code-savvy creative, adding a bit of Java is easier than ever before. The editor now includes a code button, which allows the user to copy and paste code anywhere in normal editing.
To facilitate comments and interaction, Koken has included the Disqus plugin, which is now supported by all their default themes. Users need only to set up their Disqus account and enable the plugin to let the comments begin.
One of Koken's biggest selling points is the slick creative interior of the CMS. It makes organizing photos, portfolios, and other digital content a snap. Now, cover images appear at the top of columns when selected. The easy drag-and-drop repositioning makes it easy to rearrange files as needed.
Koken got more social. Each of the Koken themes automatically includes sharing buttons for four popular social media sites — Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Google+. In addition to spreading link love, these buttons help to trigger more social signals, that build rep and SEO for a site. Koken is pretty excited about the support for Twitter cards.
Koken describes themselves as “a free system designed for photographers, designers, and creative DIYs to publish independent websites of their work.” The sleek interface of the design and the cutting edge power make this a CMS worthy of a second look. With this update, Koken delivers more power than ever before.
Read more about Koken 0.8 in their blog article.
View the release notes for Koken 0.8.
(All screenshots, courtesy of Koken.)