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Umbraco Article

Sowing the Seeds of Love: Umbraco's Codegarden 2025 Celebrates 20 Years of Community and Innovation

matt-garrepy

<hr /> What does sustainability mean to you?For those of us in the digital experience industry, it means being more responsible about our carbon footprint and rethinking our web strategies to reduce the impact on the planet. But it's also a word that expresses a deep concern about the future – and how our efforts today can translate into a more stable and fruitful world tomorrow. In early April of this year, Umbraco published its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/about-us/impact-report/">third annual Impact Report</a>, transparently documenting its vision for sustainable action and its holistic culture to activate change at a global level. Among its peers in the broader industry, Umbraco has long exemplified how a business can tap profitability, build loyalty, and scale to new heights while embracing sustainable practices. In my analysis of the report, I noted how Umbraco synthesized the company’s business and financial performance with its commitment and responsibility to the CMS industry and the world at large. Taken together, it crystallized Umbraco’s successful investment in sustainable strategies and told an inspiring story about how a business can do good in our world.As a next step in shepherding its vision for the year ahead, the open-source .NET CMS provider has revealed the members of its 2025 Sustainability Team, who were culled from its 250,000-strong global community of web developers, designers, content managers, and business leaders.I had a chance to connect with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-w%C3%BClser-larsen-72a6733/">Martin Wülser Larsen</a>, Umbraco’s Business Excellence Manager and new Sustainability Team steward, about Umbraco’s focus on sustainability. He brings a self-described role of “sustainability enthusiast” to his resume, and is squarely centered on managing and supporting this community-based team.<h3 id="why-such-a-deep-conviction-to-sustainability?">Why such a deep conviction to sustainability?</h3>“There is no long-term upside to not focusing on sustainability,” Martin said. “Working sustainably has, for good reason, become a demand from clients, partners, and employees alike.”As Martin indicated, there are compelling forces at play. Some of the need is driven by EU legislation being rolled out (albeit later than first anticipated) with its omnibus initiative. As such, legislative demand for transparency within the supply chain needs to be met. “But that's not the main driver for Umbraco,” he continued. “We believe in creating a sustainable company in the broadest understanding of the word, focusing on the people, planet, and profitability of our company because we believe this is the type of company people would like to engage with as part of the community, do business with, and work at.”As I’ve covered previously, sustainability is a topic many companies are telegraphing to the market. Some are taking authentic actions, others are “greenwashing” for media exposure. I asked Martin how Umbraco isn’t just standing out from the crowd, but leading the way. As you might expect, it comes down to the power of people. “I think a main differentiator is that we’re in a great position to influence a large part of the industry through the Umbraco community and our partnerships with some of the world's leading web agencies,” he reflected. “What we create and share can be utilized by a much larger audience than just our own company, and it’s part of our open source DNA to collaborate and share great ideas.”Much of Umbraco’s current sustainability planning is based on a legacy of interest in this area. The company has long promoted its focus on being more carbon-conscious and taken clear action. Much of its success orbits the early decision to adopt an open source posture and build a strong community of interest.“When it comes to sustainability, I can’t think of a better foundation for having a positive impact than continuing along the open source path that we have been on from the very beginning of Umbraco’s history,” Martin said.<h3 id="sustainability:-a-team-sport-with-agency-players">Sustainability: A team sport with agency players</h3>The Umbraco Sustainability Team was first established in March 2023 as a community-led task force. The collective’s mission was to identify practical ways to reduce the carbon footprint of websites and digital experiences developed on the Umbraco CMS platform. As the world’s most widely used open-source .NET CMS, Umbraco has adopted an internal sense of responsibility to reduce its impact on the environment. To expand the message faster and further, Umbraco is collaborating with digital agency partners and its developer community to make a bigger impact. To achieve a unified front, the Sustainability Team has assembled a bench of people with solid technical experience in developing professional websites using Umbraco or who have the management expertise to guide clients to more sustainable business choices.While technical solutions are key to this initiative, both messaging and education are essential pillars. As such, team members work alongside Umbraco HQ to write blogs, present talks, and host webinars on the latest carbon-conscious web design practices. <h3 id="building-actionable-tools-with-real-world-impact">Building actionable tools with real-world impact</h3>The inaugural Sustainability Team has already made great strides. I asked Martin what tools or resources from their efforts have really resonated with him thus far.“My personal favorite out of the team’s contributions to date is the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://docs.umbraco.com/sustainability-best-practices">Sustainability Best Practices</a>, where they utilized their experience building web solutions and their knowledge of sustainability to create detailed documentation on how to reduce the carbon footprint of web solutions,” he said. “This documentation is available for anyone to use free of charge, and will not only help reduce emissions from web solutions, but could also reduce hosting costs as more energy-efficient solutions are cheaper to host.”The Sustainability Team is also developing a package that provides web content editors with sustainability insights within the Umbraco CMS back office. They also provided technical input to the Umbraco Cloud team during the development of its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://docs.umbraco.com/umbraco-cloud/getting-started/the-umbraco-cloud-portal/sustainability-dashboard">Sustainability Dashboard, </a>which allows web developers to show clients the volume of greenhouse gases generated from running Umbraco Cloud projects – and explain how and where digital operations can be optimized.Giving these tools to agency partners demonstrates their strategic role in executing Umbraco’s big vision. But as Martin suggests, bringing their team members closer to the initiative is another way that Umbraco is reinforcing the importance of community in developing new ways to expand sustainability. “Agencies are getting directly involved by letting their employees participate as members of the team,” he explained. “That alone is testimony that we are doing something right when inviting the people and organizations who are building a business around our products to collaborate with us.”As someone who votes with my own dollars for products and services that meet specific environmental standards, I understand the importance of branding a company’s participation in goodwill initiatives. It raises awareness for programs and potentially motivates further involvement. To that end, I asked Martin how agency partners can communicate their efforts in a positive channel through badging or credentialing. He noted that Umbraco already has a robust <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/partners/become-an-umbraco-solution-partner/gold/contributing-platinum-gold-partners/">Contributing Partner</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://community.umbraco.com/mvp-program/">MVP program</a>, but liked the idea of granulating it further and enabling the partners to highlight their involvement in creating a more sustainable web industry. <h3 id="the-2025-umbraco-sustainability-team-members">The 2025 Umbraco Sustainability Team members</h3>As Martin noted, the inaugural members of the Sustainability Team have lent tremendous effort over the past two years, illustrating how the Umbraco community has pulled together to share sustainable digital practices with enterprise clients – all with the goal of measurably reducing the web's emissions.The new members of the 2025 Sustainability Team are:<ul><li>Dennis Adolfi, Head of Technology at Danish digital agency <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://knowitexperience.com/about">Knowit Experience</a></li><li>Peter Solow, Lead Developer at Knowit Experience</li><li>Imran Haider, Head of Development at London digital agency <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.wearecogworks.com/">Cogworks</a></li><li>Helen Chaplin, Community Services executive at Manchester digital agency <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.cantarus.com/">Cantarus</a></li></ul>Existing members remaining on the Sustainability team include:<ul><li>James Hobbs, Head of Technology at Wiltshire digital agency <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://aerstudios.co.uk/">aer Studios</a></li><li>Rick Butterfield, Lead Software Engineer at Bristol and London agency <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.wearewattle.com/">Wattle</a></li><li>Thomas Morris, Senior Software Engineer at roadside rescue and insurance company <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.rac.co.uk/">RAC</a></li><li>Amy Czuba, Account Director at Macclesfield and Cambridge agency <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://nexergroup.com/uk/nexer-digital/">Nexer Digital</a></li><li>Neil Clark, Head of Sustainability at global agency and B-Corp, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.msqpartners.com/">MSQ Partners</a> (also a member of the BIMA Sustainability Council)</li></ul> <figure class="image image_resized" style="width:87.67%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/05/image.jpeg" alt="A collage of a group of people

AI-generated content may be incorrect." /></figure>Members of Umbraco’s 2025 Sustainability Team. Source: Umbraco. In addition to Martin serving as the new Sustainability Team Steward, this year’s Umbraco HQ team members include Karita Kostiainen and Mikulas Tomanka.<h3 id="what’s-next?">What’s next?</h3>According to Martin, Umbraco has seen increased interest in its Impact Reports over the years, both from agencies and end clients. This seems to indicate that more organizations from across the market are seeking guidance – and ways to take action – to create a more sustainable web.Of course, a big part of realizing this vision is having the right leadership in place. For Martin and Umbraco, that begins with the Sustainability Team. And while the new players have just arrived, he seems ready to hit the ground running. “We’ve only just held our first ‘meet and greet’ with the new members of the 2025 Sustainability Team,” he said. “Now the real work begins.”As Martin explained, it’s important that the Sustainability Team be given latitude in setting goals and establishing relevant benchmarks. He wants to build on the work that’s already been started, bring in new ideas, and ultimately evaluate where the team’s efforts will have the biggest impact.“The inaugural team created a package for Umbraco that allows people to track and reduce emissions from their solutions,” he said. “I expect that we will likely see additions to that, or maybe even new packages, as we have some skilled engineers on the team who are eager to create new solutions.”As part of its ongoing efforts to educate the web community, the Umbraco Sustainability Team just <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/webinar-sustainability-2025/">hosted a webinar</a> with sustainability champion <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebernerslee/">Mike Berners-Lee</a> on Thursday, May 22nd, at 3 p.m. UK time. If you're not familiar with Mike, he's the author of a groundbreaking series of books on sustainability, including A Climate of Truth: Why We Need It and How To Get It, There is No Planet B, and How Bad are Bananas? Mike was also one of the first researchers to calculate that the IT industry’s greenhouse gas emissions were equivalent to those of the aviation industry. <h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>I personally believe that doing good in the world is good for business – and that it’s indeed possible to be a good steward of the planet while pursuing growth. To that end, I asked Martin how the broader sustainability efforts are translating for Umbraco’s prospects. Is the messaging resonating with customers – particularly at a time when certain markets are deprecating ESG and DEI regulations and setting back previous policies to address climate change? And how can partners and the Sustainability Team support a beneficial trajectory?“During procurement processes, we see that there's already a demand for data about ESG and sustainability efforts from the market,” he said. “Legislation is making it necessary for more and more businesses to better understand and put demands on the suppliers in their supply chains. The team helps us provide just that."For Martin, the big benefit comes from working openly and collaboratively with agencies and having them well-represented within the makeup of the Sustainability Team. As he pointed out, it ensures that Umbraco gets the necessary “outside-in” perspective to align with what the agencies and end-clients prioritize when looking for new vendors.Umbraco has always marched to the beat of its own drum, and this is another example of how the company isn’t just motivated to improve digital experiences – but our planet as well. I can’t think of a better mission. <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="looking-for-guidance-on-umbraco?-talk-to-an-expert.">Looking for guidance on Umbraco? <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/contact">Talk to an expert.</a></h4><hr /> <h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:33.07%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/05/contentcon25-logo-1747412490394.png" /><h4 id="contentstack-contentcon-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/contentcon">Contentstack ContentCon 25</a></h4>June 3-5, 2025 – Chicago, USAThe future of digital is waiting for you! Contentstack presents ContentCon, the premier event for digital teams and industry leaders who are reimagining the future of digital experiences. Join us for two days of transformative presentations and workshops designed to help you put personalization and AI strategies into action. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://contentcon2025.site.zuddl.com/">Register today! </a> <img style="width:31.83%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/01/cms-connect-2025-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-connect-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect 25</a></h4>August 5-6, 2025 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present the second annual summer edition of our signature global conference dedicated to the content management community! CMS Connect will be held again in beautiful Montreal, Canada, and feature a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. Join vendors, agencies, and customers from across our industry as we engage and collaborate around the future of content management – and hear from the top thought leaders at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference exclusively focused on CMS. Space is limited for this event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">so book your seats today.</a>

Umbraco Reinforces Commitment to Global Impact with 2025 Sustainability Team

Umbraco Shines on Sustainability and Growth in Third Annual Impact Report

<hr /> Ah… personalization. Like it or not, it’s still the Holy Grail. And we’re still in search of its full potential. While the promise of scalable personalization remains a bit elusive for many companies (there are a bevy of reasons for this), CMS and DXP platforms have discovered some finely cut diamonds in the rough – making it much more attainable. Some of that success can be credited to the force-multiplying effects of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-generative-ai">generative AI</a> on things like variant testing. But it’s also due to having more of the right tooling, analytics, and best practices in place to shepherd the journey. The impact of AI can't be understated. At some point, it seems entirely feasible that we'll arrive at completely autonomous hyper-personalization, so every customer has a fully curated experience without batting an eyelash. For now, we’ll settle for the incremental gains – and how a new breed of innovative tools is helping marketers achieve success with their personalization efforts. Case in point: <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/umbraco">Umbraco</a>, an open-source .NET <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-content-management-system-cms">content management system</a> provider, recently announced the general availability of <a target="_blank" href="https://umbraco.com/products/add-ons/engage/">Umbraco Engage</a>. Born three months after the company’s acquisition of the Dutch-based <a target="_blank" href="https://www.umarketingsuite.com/">uMarketingSuite</a>, Engage is a new add-on for Umbraco CMS that instantly provides organizations with meaningful analytics around visitor interactions with web content.At its core, Umbraco Engage enables marketers to take a “learn, adapt, convert” approach to personalizing their digital experiences and optimizing content to boost conversion rates and improve ROI across their digital platforms. It has the potential to help businesses create dynamic digital content that’s continuously informed by real customer interactions. Engage is packed with power in all the right channels. It provides server-side analytics and customer 360° profiling to surface deep insights, stats, and heatmaps on critical metrics like pageviews. It also provides real-time A/B testing, enabling teams to adapt content to the needs of diverse audience segments. Having this layer of intelligence right at your fingertips will undoubtedly give marketers quick and relevant data around content engagement, allowing them to optimize more fluidly.“Engage provides businesses with intuitive tools, all within their familiar CMS platform, and we’re thrilled to now offer this powerful set of content optimization tools as a first-party solution,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mats-persson-296a66/">Mats Persson</a>, CEO at Umbraco. “This launch brings immediate value for our partners and end-clients, empowering them to meet the growing demand for tailored digital experiences. Personalization and content optimization, that work in practice, are now essential for driving conversion rates and ROI – a trend we’re excited to support with Umbraco Engage.”<h3 id="powering-personalization-for-marketing-teams">Powering personalization for marketing teams</h3>The benefits of personalization – and its impact on customer experience – are ubiquitously evident, and there's ample research to support a brand's investment in personalization technologies and strategies. A <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/the-value-of-getting-personalization-right-or-wrong-is-multiplying">McKinsey &amp; Company study</a> found that 76% of consumers were more likely to purchase from brands that personalize their experiences, and 78% were more likely to refer friends and family to those brands. Beyond the tangible effects on purchase conversion, personalization can also improve other business and financial dimensions for brands. In fact, the same study found that personalization can reduce customer acquisition costs by up to 50%, lift revenues from 5% to 15%, and increase marketing ROI by 10% to 30%. McKinsey also reported that digitally native direct-to-consumer brands – ones that own the customer transaction and put first-party data at the heart of their marketing decision-making – derived approximately 25% of their revenue from personalization. Not too shabby. Umbraco is clearly driving more focus and attention around personalization based on the company’s innovation roadmap. As noted, the launch follows the announcement of Umbraco’s acquisition of uMarketingSuite, a content personalization tool that has become popular in key industries like financial services, healthcare, and the public sector, where privacy regulations restrict the use of third-party data. Existing uMarketingSuite customers will continue to benefit from the product's A/B testing, 360° profiling, analytics, and content personalization. Because Engage is now part of Umbraco, organizations also have the confidence and reassurance that ongoing product development and support will be delivered by a larger team at Umbraco HQ.According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/hemraker/">Rune Strand</a>, Umbraco’s Product Communications Manager, marketing teams can immediately gain value from these new content personalization and optimization tools within its CMS.“As soon as Engage is installed on existing or new sites, marketing teams can instantly see how well web content is performing,” he said. “Pageview analytics and statistics are all at their fingertips within the Umbraco CMS interface. Being able to see heat maps that show precisely how users interact with your site can be game-changing for identifying which content is working well and which needs to be retired, refreshed, or personalized.”<h3 id="out-of-the-box-insights">Out-of-the-box insights</h3>Umbraco has scored a win by making this level of data more accessible to marketing professionals, content editors, and CRO specialists. With the add-on, users can gain actionable insights based on interactions with existing content and more effectively personalize and optimize information for new and returning website visitors and customers.Additionally, teams will be able to make data-informed decisions and take swift marketing actions within the Umbraco editing environment. They can proactively improve content performance using the tool’s real-time A/B content variant testing to improve digital experiences and boost conversion with more relevant, custom-tailored content. <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:85.09%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/11/umbraco-engage-screenshots.png" alt="" /></figure>Umbraco Engage provides clear analytics and performance metrics “People who create web content should be able to see how well it performs and make necessary tweaks, all within the CMS,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/leondewildt/">Leon de Wildt</a>, the Commercial Product Manager for Umbraco Engage and the founder of uMarketingSuite. “Umbraco Engage is designed to help organizations tailor digital experiences in response to their own interaction data. Using the in-app reports, marketing teams can make changes that measurably improve engagement. Businesses can use Umbraco Engage to continuously improve the digital experience and boost conversion rates, whether that means more people filling out a form, buying a product, engaging with content or signing up for a webinar.”Umbraco is also addressing regulatory and data privacy considerations – something the company has long been a fierce proponent of. With Engage, marketers will be able to use server-side analytics and first-party data to satisfy compliance with data and privacy laws while accessing the platform's benefits.Umbraco Engage works out-of-the-box with other platform add-ons like <a target="_blank" href="https://umbraco.com/products/add-ons/forms/">Umbraco Forms</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://umbraco.com/products/add-ons/commerce/">Umbraco Commerce</a>. For example, integrating Umbraco Commerce and Umbraco Engage enables digital marketers to view order history on the visitor profile level. This can help power eCommerce sites that recognize returning customers, serve personalized product information, and interact immediately with abandoned shopping carts to help boost sales. Umbraco Engage is available now, and Umbraco digital agency partners can access discounts, exclusive webinars, and free demo licenses based on their partnership agreements. If you’re a uMarketingSuite customer, there’s also a path for upgrading to Engage by February 24th, 2025. <a target="_blank" href="https://umbraco.com/products/add-ons/engage/">You can learn more about Umbraco Engage here</a>. <h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>Umbraco continues to drive a unique position as an open-source .NET content management system. With a fervent community of over 220,000 active members worldwide, they’re benefitting from a wide bench of innovation as more contributors participate in advancing the CMS and its capabilities.Personalization remains a challenge for all parties, from vendors to customers. It’s no longer the “undiscovered country,” but it needs to be defined around a brand’s specific goals. Further, there are many challenges associated with executing and maintaining a successful strategy. Having access to the right tooling – specifically around analytics and insights – can help provide a solid foundation for marketers and deliver better outcomes. AI will further disrupt the landscape, but Umbraco has a distinct advantage with a proven and “friendly” brand that will be key to cementing loyalty. By all accounts, the uMarketingSuite acquisition was a smart move as it looks to expand features, remain in competitive parity, and drive greater agility for marketing teams. UX is also pivotal. Having meaningful data closer to the CMS – and integrated within the editing workflow – will enable users with more control and faster decision-making, which could ultimately improve conversions and grow the bottom line.And that’s the real Holy Grail. <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="looking-for-guidance-on-umbraco?--talk-to-us.-">Looking for guidance on Umbraco?  <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/contact">Talk to us. </a></h4><hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2025"><a href=" https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25">CMS Kickoff 2025</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaJoin us next January in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for the third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">so secure your tickets today.</a> <img style="width:30.46%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/11/cms-summit-25.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-summit-25"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">CMS Summit 25</a></h4>May 13-14, 2025 – Frankfurt, GermanyDon't miss the first European edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community! CMS Summit 25 will bring together top-notch speakers, our renowned learning format, and engaging social events. Hear from leading practitioners like Deutsche Bahn, Dr. Oetker, and more – and join customers, agencies, and CMS vendors as we discuss current trends and what's ahead for the content and digital experience fields. Connect and network at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference focused on CMS. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">so book your seats today.</a>

Umbraco Engage Enhances Digital Personalization to Drive Higher Conversion Rates

<hr /> What does it mean to be “The Friendly CMS”?I don’t ask to be coy or sarcastic. This tagline has reached legendary status at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/umbraco">Umbraco</a>, permeating its messaging for years. There’s clearly something sticky about it. In the most reductive sense, one might conclude it’s a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-content-management-system-cms">content management system</a> that’s easy to use. Or, as the mantle suggests, “user-friendly.” But that’s too one-dimensional. Lots of platforms could claim user-friendliness. That’s why Umbraco has infused this tagline with more gusto, and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/about-us/values/why-the-friendly-cms/">there’s an origin story</a> that sheds more light on the subject. According to mythology, “The Friendly CMS” was conceived by one of Umbraco’s community members, Hudson Maul, back in 2006 (almost two decades if we’re keeping score). He included the now-famous moniker in his mockups for a new Umbraco.com website. When asked about it, he reflected: “Everything about Umbraco is friendly. The UX, the community, and the pricing.” Simple. Elegant. Universally understood. That’s what makes it sticky.I’ve followed Umbraco for many years – they’ve certainly stood the test of time – and this idea of being friendly goes far beyond the confines of its open source .NET technology. Which, by the way, continues to be a novel arrow in its quiver.Here’s the deal: being “The Friendly CMS” has as much to do with its global spirit and fiercely passionate community as its products. From what I’ve observed, Umbraco has consistently committed to being a people company first – one that endeavors to democratize its innovation, support its builders, and make a positive impact in our world.This impact is crystallized in the company’s <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/umbraco-publishes-annual-impact-report-reinforcing-commitments-to-sustainability-and-community">2024 Annual Impact Report</a>, published in April. It illustrates a fervent internal and external focus on achieving measurable strides in sustainability while nurturing a culture of diversity and inclusion at a global level. It certainly helps cement the case for being “friendly” in a palpable way. But as Hudson Maul codified, their CMS is about people, too. It’s engineered with purpose and provides a clean, clear, intuitive experience that still wins hearts and minds. For all these reasons, finding the right person to lead the next chapter of Umbraco’s story is clearly vital to its future. And it seems that <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mats-persson-296a66/">Mats Persson</a> is, indeed, that person.  The timing couldn’t be more apropos. Umbraco has experienced triumphant growth over the last few years. With a stellar reputation, it now counts itself among the top web CMS platforms serving the UK public sector, and among <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.g2.com/best-software-companies/emea">G2’s Top 50 EMEA Companies</a>. Perhaps more importantly, Umbraco is an open source CMS, competing in a landscape of large proprietary enterprise systems, composable DXPs, and a mele of headless platforms. As it turns out, Umbraco offers solutions that can go toe-to-toe across the market, like its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/products/umbraco-heartcore/">Heartcore Headless CMS</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/products/umbraco-cloud/">Umbraco Cloud</a> – all connected to a wellspring of open source to provide support, innovation, and more.As Persson steps into his new role, he faces headwinds in every direction: shrinking IT budgets, shaky economic signals, and shifting buying patterns (to name a few). And of course, there’s the continued challenge of helping buyers see the forest through the composable trees and weed out confusion. Setting the negative acoustics aside, the evolving preference for open source solutions at an enterprise level could be a real game changer for Umbraco. Being open is, after all, its bread and butter. But the real key here is Umbraco’s partners, who have closed more enterprise opportunities with its products – and Persson has his sights set on the channel to amplify growth. <h3 id="a-fond-farewell-to-the-kim-years">A fond farewell to the Kim Years</h3>There’s something about a bow tie that exudes class. And <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/umbraco-cms-acquired-by-software-investor-monterro-interview-with-ceo-kim-sneum-madsen">Kim Sneum-Madsen</a>, famous for sporting this overlooked fashion accouterment, is a class act all around.As Umbraco’s previous head of state, Sneum-Madsen embodied the friendliest attributes that have defined the company’s ethos. Since 2016, he has served as Umbraco’s eponymous “Chief Friend Maker” and provided ambassadorial duties to the community at large. In 2019, he took the reins as CEO, navigating Umbraco through the unprecedented challenges of a pandemic and its subsequent digital acceleration – a tumultuous period across the tech frontier. At that time, Umbraco had just 56 employees. In the years that followed, Sneum-Madsen grew the company substantially, tripling the headcount while focusing on scalable processes and products. This included the development of Umbraco Cloud and regional hosting services situated around the globe. During his tenure, Sneum-Madsen also facilitated several key acquisitions that strengthened Umbraco’s product offerings and developed a robust partner network. The growth spurt was also fueled by a Westward drift to the larger U.S. market, supported by a beachhead in Charlotte, NC. Fear not: Kim will remain on Umbraco’s board of directors, lending his continued knowledge to a company that is imprinted with his DNA. “Umbraco has achieved consistent, strong growth over the past two years,” said Martin Henricson, Chairman of the Board at Umbraco and Managing Director at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.monterro.com/">Monterro</a> (an investment firm that <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/blog/swedish-software-growth-investor-monterro-acquires-a-majority-stake-in-umbraco/">acquired a majority stake</a> in Umbraco in 2021. “Kim believes that now is the right time to hand over the baton.”<h3 id="from-ad-tech-to-cms">From ad tech to CMS</h3>Persson will marshal thirty years of leadership experience into his new job as CEO. With a Master’s degree in computer science and a Bachelor’s in economics, he brings a unique combination of technology and financial considerations that can generate value and create sustainable growth for both early-stage and established companies.  Persson comes to Umbraco from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.cavai.com/products">Cavai</a>, where he was CEO for just over two years. An award-winning global interactive advertising cloud, Cavai works with agencies, publishers, advertisers, and other platforms across ten markets and three continents. It specializes in conversational ad tech like banners, video, and commerce solutions with a clear focus on privacy.Persson’s resume includes impressive stints in senior leadership positions at IBM and PWC, but one of his longest tenures was at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/adform/">Adform</a> – an established leader in online advertising media services. As SVP, he helped shepherd a 50% ARR and the expansion from 5 to 18 offices worldwide from 2011 to 2017, a period of accelerated growth, innovation, and rising compliance and privacy considerations in the ad tech field. <h3 id="building-on-the-open-source-advantage-">Building on the open source advantage </h3>As Umbraco’s new CEO, Persson will undoubtedly blend his extensive experience and leadership with the company’s teams, community, and partners. Based on the company’s recent traction, his roadmap will likely build on Umbraco’s diverse solutions and global expansion – all reinforced by its open-source posture. “This is a really exciting time to be joining the company,” Persson said in the company’s press release. “Umbraco has steadily grown to 150 people, with its international presence reinforced by a well-established partner network and a global community of highly-engaged open-source software contributors. Over the past thirty years of working in this industry I’ve seen that once a company reaches this size, that’s when it really gains momentum in the market.”Persson also pointed to the growing adoption of open-source software within the enterprise and public sector as an opportunity for Umbraco – specifically to build on the growth achieved in the past year and increase its international expansion. “I’ve spent decades working with proprietary software enterprises and start-ups, so I am looking forward to applying my experience within an open source CMS company that allows digital organizations the freedom to build exactly what they need,” he said. “Umbraco is also a truly international company and that’s where I bring particular value, having worked in the UK, US, and Nordics.”Along with its vigorous open source community, Persson sees Umbraco’s digital agency partner network as a force multiplier for its ambitions, and that leveraging its footprint and ability to deliver local support as decisive attributes.“Umbraco already has partners and customers throughout the EU, UK, US, Australia and New Zealand, India, Vietnam, and Nepal and I’m looking forward to helping the company to build on that global presence,” he said. “The open-source CMS platform is also highly flexible and scalable, giving customers the freedom to build digital experiences that meet evolving business needs. When we support our partners and help them to grow their business with solutions that solve customers’ problems, increase transactions, and enable transformation, everyone profits.”<h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>In my recent keynote Q&amp;A with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/buytaert/">Dries Buytaert</a> (the acclaimed founder of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/drupal">Drupal</a>) at the Boye &amp; Company <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect Conference</a> in Montreal, we discussed open source at length. One of the biggest questions on the docket: why industry analysts continue to look past these CMS platforms when surveying the market for their various grids and waves (you know of whom I speak). There isn’t one answer to this conundrum. Yes, there's an explicit formula based on revenue and other metrics. But the fact is, enterprise software platforms spend big bucks to engage with analysts, thus reinforcing their visibility and, perhaps, their preference. It’s impossible to eliminate all the biases. We are, after all, only human.But open source has come a long way, and the dominance of OSS (open source software) platforms like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/wordpress">WordPress</a> is simply undeniable. When I last spoke to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/drupal-joomla-typo3-and-wordpress-join-forces-in-new-open-website-alliance">Mathias Bolt Lesniak of the Open Alliance</a>, we discussed the ripple effect of the Swiss government’s EMBAG legislation – a law that requires public sector entities to provide their apps as OSS. EMBAG was not without controversy, and some of the biggest opponents gumming up the works were proprietary platforms. This predilection towards OSS is also manifesting in a broader movement across enterprises as more companies begin to reassess the pros of open source – instead of the entrenched cons around stability, scalability, and, of course, security. The fact is, open source tools are being used across tech stacks: Kubernetes, Docker, MySQL, Linux… the list goes on. You can read more about these considerations <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-swiss-dont-miss-on-open-source-how-switzerlands-embag-law-is-evolving-the-oss-landscape">in my recent article</a> about the EMBAG law and its implications.Persson has a unique opportunity on his hands. Umbraco is an established and well-respected brand with a solid European footprint. As it looks West, there are opportunities to snare more of the addressable U.S. market – and building a stronger partner network could be key to its success. But if it can harness the market winds as they shift towards open source, there could be bigger fish on the line. Bringing on a new CEO is also a bold statement to the market, establishing Umbraco's intentions to shake things up. Culling a candidate with a strong background in digital advertising, media, and agency-focused services is a smart move, sending a further signal that Umbraco is focused on enriching its partnerships. In terms of his leadership style, Umbraco’s press release highlighted Persson's proclivity towards trusting and empowering his teams, which should gel nicely with Umbraco’s existing culture.“Umbraco is branded as ‘The Friendly CMS,’” he said. “Those core values of making things easy for users, and taking care of its partners, open-source community, and people, are demonstrated at every level of the organization.”That's what makes Umbraco so friendly: the right people.And of course, the right person to help lead the way.  <hr /> <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2025"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">CMS Kickoff 2025</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaJoin us next January in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for the third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">so secure your tickets today.</a>

The Right Person to Lead: Umbraco Appoints Mats Persson as CEO, Reflecting Growth Ahead

Umbraco 14 Blossoms with a Fresh Architecture, Delivering Enhanced Customization and Extensibility 

Power your CMS on AWS

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Eco-Friendliness in the CMS World

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<hr /> Being open source is as much a technology posture as it is a philosophical mindset. For CMSs that are truly cut from the cloth, being open and transparent about practices, communities, and other aspects of business is part of the ethos. As we all grapple with the realities of climate change and the urgency for decarbonization, it's important to remember that the internet is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gases, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200305-why-your-internet-habits-are-not-as-clean-as-you-think">accounting for 3.7% of global emissions</a>. That's roughly the equivalent of all air traffic in the world. Yikes. How can we possibly land this plane? What's more alarming is that this figure is expected to double by 2025 as our thirst for data skyrockets.For all its faults, the Internet has been miraculous for mankind. No one is suggesting we do away with it (although I might know a few people on Facebook who claim we're better off without it, but still post these notions using, er, the internet). You're probably asking, “What can I do about it?” when we rely so heavily on digital tools to do our jobs and stay connected to the world. It might seem like a pipedream for any one person to make a dent in this problem, but even small adjustments to our habits can make a difference. For businesses with websites, the opportunity is even greater – especially if the tools and platforms they utilize provide efficient and sustainable solutions that directly address these issues. As an open-source content management system, <a target="_blank" href="https://umbraco.com/">Umbraco</a> has fully embraced this thinking and made wholesale commitments with its technology, culture, and vision to combat these challenges. Transparency is key to delivering on these commitments, and the company is reinforcing that with intention by publishing an annual report that assesses its impact on people and the planet. This week, it released its second edition.The <a target="_blank" href="https://umbraco.com/about-us/impact-report/">Umbraco Impact Report 2023</a> details how the company is working with its community, clients, and partners to improve sustainability, enhance diversity and inclusion, encourage AI stewardship, and support current and future developers.“We have always focused on making the Umbraco CMS intuitive for web editors and straightforward for developers to integrate, extend, and customize," said <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/umbraco-cms-acquired-by-software-investor-monterro-interview-with-ceo-kim-sneum-madsen">Kim Sneum-Madsen</a>, Umbraco CEO. "Because of this, Umbraco is now the largest open-source .Net CMS in the world, and we recognize our responsibility to help our community to make websites more energy-efficient and sustainable.”How much of an impact can Umbraco make? Consider that over the past two decades, more than a million websites have been built using its CMS. That's impressive, and a testament to the company's perseverance. It's also a large footprint of sites and users who can all benefit from more sustainable solutions. Over that same period, Umbraco’s global open-source community has also grown to more than 250,000 software contributors, with 1,500 digital agency partners building solutions on the platform (also big numbers). With that density of reach and adoption, Umbraco is uniquely positioned to lead positive change not only in the content management industry, but beyond it. So the real question is: can a CMS vendor help save the world? Maybe. It all starts with a commitment to being the change – and taking action. <h3 id="embracing-sustainability-">Embracing sustainability </h3>Carbon. It's the 500-tonne gorilla in the room, and the primary ingredient in the climate-warming stew (there are others to be sure). As people, governments, and businesses look for ways to reduce their carbon impact, an array of tools and strategies have emerged for measuring and accounting for the effects. The U.S. EPA's <a target="_blank" href="https://www3.epa.gov/carbon-footprint-calculator/">carbon footprint calculator</a> brings it home at a household level, but the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.websitecarbon.com/">Website Carbon Calculator</a> is a great baseline for revealing how your own website (or others) contributes to the conundrum.Umbraco began calculating its carbon footprint in 2022. Last year, it applied the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wri.org/research/greenhouse-gas-protocol-0">Greenhouse Gas Corporate Standard</a> to improve accuracy when calculating what is referred to as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nationalgrid.com/stories/energy-explained/what-are-scope-1-2-3-carbon-emissions">Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions</a>. What does this mean? If you're not a carbon-counting expert, Scope 1 is basically any direct emissions that are owned or controlled by a company. Scope 2 and 3 are indirect emissions – in other words, a consequence of the activities of a company but occurring from sources that are not owned or controlled by it.According to its research, hosting <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/umbraco">Umbraco Cloud</a> and its <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/umbraco-launches-heartcore-the-most-intuitive-headless-content-management-system-cms-to-manage-large-volumes-of-content-across-any-smart-platform">headless Heartcore </a>product are the largest sources of carbon emissions. To address this, the company is working closely with <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/microsoft-azure">Microsoft Azure</a> to ensure the most efficient and sustainable implementation and drive down the numbers. While the growth of the cloud might seem antithetical to the sustainability cause, the consolidation and shared use of hardware is actually helping to reduce energy usage and cut carbon output. As it turns out, the large cloud providers are leading the pack on the move to net zero emissions – with some attaining it in the next few years. Great strides have also been made in expanding the lifespan of servers to as much as 6 six years, further reducing waste.<a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/aws">Amazon</a>, AWS' parent, is already reaching key goals for its global decarbonization and water replenishment (turns out the internet is mighty thirsty). It has been spearheading an ambitious climate pledge, and in 2022, <a target="_blank" href="https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/products-services/the-cloud?energyType=true">over 90% of the electricity consumed</a> by Amazon was attributable to renewable energy sources. By working with cloud providers on delivery and hosting optimization, CMS platforms like Umbraco could accelerate their own plans to meet aggressive sustainability goals. This is definitely a step in the right direction. <h3 id="tapping-agency-partners-to-become-more-“carbon-conscious”">Tapping agency partners to become more “carbon conscious”</h3>While Umbraco's technology is the foundation, its users, contributors, and partners are essential to its success. With numerous system integrators and digital agencies building with its CMS, this was a perfect audience for enrolling greater support around its green initiatives. In March of last year, Umbraco formed a community Sustainability Team, comprised of technology and business leaders from six digital agencies. The goal was ambitious: create a collaborative movement to help educate clients and the community, develop tools, draft best practice guides, and share practical ways of creating low-carbon websites. According to Madsen, that's exactly what they've been doing – not just because it's the right thing to do, but because prospects are increasingly asking for carbon-conscious partners and solutions. “Our digital agency partners are increasingly seeing carbon-conscious web development included within client briefs as organizations prepare to comply with new legislation requiring disclosure of sustainable strategies across the value chain," he said. "We are committed to implementing sustainable products and business practices and supporting our partners, clients and community in their efforts to reduce CO2. We plan to deepen our engagement with <a target="_blank" href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals">United Nations ESG goals</a> in 2024.”<h3 id="making-an-impact-with-people-at-work-and-across-the-planet">Making an impact with people at work and across the planet</h3>One of the first places companies can start addressing their carbon footprint is with employees. There are well-documented strategies for doing that, like adopting eco-friendly habits such as reducing paper usage, carpooling, or minimizing waste. Twelve months ago, Umbraco introduced its own Carbon Neutral Workforce initiative, which involves offsetting each employee’s carbon footprint with a target to reduce emissions by 10% per employee. Change is hard for people, and while 10% may not seem like much, multiply that by hundreds – and it becomes far more profound. In addition to its own workforce, Umbraco has been making sustainability strides around the world. Working with <a target="_blank" href="https://ecologi.com/">Ecologi</a> – an all-in-one climate platform and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bcorporation.net/">certified B Corp</a> – Umbraco also funded carbon avoidance projects in Indonesia and Eritrea.One fun story to top it off: during <a target="_blank" href="https://hacktoberfest.com/">Hacktoberfest 2023</a>, an annual open source event, Umbraco had a tree planted for every community CMS contribution. By the end, there were 13,281 seedlings added to the ground, offsetting 197 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.<h3 id="focusing-on-community-enrichment">Focusing on community enrichment</h3>Speaking of Hacktoberfest, Umbraco’s highly engaged, open source community is a vital asset to its growth and relevance. The company reported that its members continued to play an active role in code contributions throughout 2023, and were participants in addressing diversity, accessibility, and sustainability challenges. Seven new community-driven initiatives were sponsored last year following the launch of the Umbraco Champions Program, which enables members to submit ideas to benefit the community. Umbraco regularly meets with its open source community and publicly recognizes the top contributors with “Most Valuable Person (MVP)” status. To that end, 17 new MVPs were awarded in 2023 and 66 were renewed. During 2023, the number of Umbraco community events expanded to include new meetups in the U.S., India, Turkey, and Norway, in addition to the regular calendar of events in the UK and Denmark. In total, 1,750 members took part in 111 community events over the past year. A litmus test for CMS's growing interest was its annual <a target="_blank" href="https://codegarden.umbraco.com/">Umbraco Codegarden</a> business summit and developer conference in Odense, which attracted 1,700 attendees in person and online – a 17% increase from 2022’s attendance. <h3 id="setting-a-higher-bar-for-diversity-and-inclusion">Setting a higher bar for diversity and inclusion</h3>One of the beautiful things about open source software is that anyone can use and contribute to it. In many ways, it is a great equalizer – enabling everyone regardless of gender, ethnicity, learning differences, or socio-economic status to bring their voice to a community of users. Open source also promotes inclusivity by empowering people who are under-represented in the IT industry.Umbraco has been encouraging this diversity within its company and community by participating in a number of initiatives. This includes Umbraco’s Coding Class, which educates local schoolchildren and encourages the next generation of coders by providing opportunities to present their ideas and gain feedback. Up-and-coming developers are also being sponsored to attend its Codegarden event, and Umbraco is offering free training and certification to computer science students at universities in the U.S., U.K., Sweden, and Denmark.From a social perspective, Umbraco is also hosting a series of Cloud Club meetups aimed at students and professionals to help deepen their understanding of IT. Umbraco is also sponsoring <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hackyourfuture.net/">Hack Your Future</a>, a not-for-profit organization that teaches refugees to code and make the leap into the tech world. On the employee side, Umbraco has been doubling down on diversity. Last year, the company welcomed 41 new staff members, including sixteen women. Its workforce now includes 27 nationalities – including a new team in Vietnam – with ages ranging from under 25 to over 60. It's worth noting that 22% of Umbraco’s C-suite are female. To help further address the IT industry’s gender gap, Umbraco has been running a female mentorship program at a local university. <h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>DEI positioning can often feel like marketing fluff. Without transparency and action, the commitment to doing good for people and planet can fall short – particularly if there are no clear goals or expectations. It's well and good to start a recycling program in your office, but most businesses can do more. And frankly, it's good business to do it. As more organizations specify ESG (Environmental, Sustainability, and Governance) and DEI requirements in their RFPs, companies with solid messaging and a clear track record of accomplishments will have an advantage in the minds of buyers. Think of it as brand building by bettering the world. Many people aren't aware of the significant impact the internet has on our environment. When you consider its parity with all global air traffic, it takes on an urgent and undeniable weight. It might sound dire, but the good news is that small changes in our habits can actually make a difference – if we take action. That's what Umbraco is doing, and not just for itself. By highlighting its efforts in an annual report, they are helping to set a standard for the CMS industry. As technologies that are contributing to the continued growth of the internet and its emissions, we have a responsibility to lead on this issue. And as an open source company, this further codifies Umbraco's commitment to be transparent about its efforts.I must give credit where credit is due: most leading enterprise CMS and DXP companies are publicly promoting their ESG and DEI commitments. <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/acquia">Acquia</a>, for example, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.acquia.com/esg">planted nearly 15,000 trees</a> and removed 1,260 tonnes of carbon as part of their program. <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/optimizely">Optimizely</a> offers pages and reports as well, although in a bit more matter-of-fact language. I researched quite a few, and was pleased to see that most brands are aspiring to do good on these initiatives.What's refreshing about Umbraco's news is that it detailed real action, particularly around its hiring practices and social programs. By providing actual numbers and not just goals, it separated the substance from the marketing. But this has always been intrinsic to its DNA. As a CMS that fully embraces openness, it's not a stretch to imagine that empathy and compassion are core to its heart.I mean, it has a headless solution called “Heartcore.” That might say everything you need to know about this company.  <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-conferences">Upcoming conferences</h3> <img style="width:29.67%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-connect-2024-logo.png" alt="CMS Connect 24 logo" /><h4 id="cms-connect-24"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect24">CMS Connect 24</a></h4>August 6-7, 2024 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present our first annual summer edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community. Join us this August in Montreal, Canada, for a vendor-neutral conference focused on CMS. Tired of impersonal and overwhelming gatherings? Picture this event as a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-25"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">CMS Kickoff 25</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaJoin us next January in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for the third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, so secure your tickets today.

Umbraco Publishes Annual Impact Report, Reinforcing Commitments to Sustainability and Community

<hr /> The number “13” gets a bad rap in superstitious circles, but <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/umbraco">Umbraco</a> might see it as a good luck charm. Today, the company announced the availability of its <a target="_blank" href="https://umbraco.com/blog/umbraco-13-release-candidate/">Umbraco 13 release candidate</a>, the next long-term supported version of its popular <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-content-management-system-cms">content management system (CMS)</a>. According to the company's blog , the package is ready for testing and can be <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nuget.org/packages/Umbraco.Cms/13.0.0-rc1">downloaded via NuGet.</a>The release candidate offers an opportunity to explore Umbraco 13 and check out its new features. This includes a major update to the platform's underlying .NET framework to .NET 8 with C# 12, along with more <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/are-headless-cms-platforms-neglecting-their-users">headless</a> capabilities.Users are generally invited to test drive the Umbraco 13 release candidate and provide feedback. All of this leads to the public release, targeted for December 14, 2023.<h3>What's new in Umbraco 13?</h3>The company's announcement provides a quick overview of version 13, which offers a bevy of enhancements. This includes more flexible scaling for better performance and more sustainable hosting. Serialization, JSON, and other components have also been optimized. C# 12 will feature upgrades to Primary Constructors, Using Declarations, Field Interpolation in String Literals, and Lambda improvements.Umbraco has also included a Minimal Hosting Model, which <a target="_blank" href="https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/">Microsoft</a> introduced in .NET 6. This model merges the previous program.cs and startup.cs into one single program.cs file and simplifies the initiation of an application. But most importantly, this model is now used for all Microsoft Tutorials and examples. The implementation is also backward compatible.As part of the company's headless initiative, Umbraco 13 contains <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webhook">Webhooks</a>, so that users can inform third-party systems about events like publishing in the CMS. There's also new UI that eases this process, enabling users to type in a URL they want to call and align it with specific events.<h3>Enhancements to APIs</h3>Along with the embellishments to the core CMS, Umbraco 13 is also better aligned with the <a target="_blank" href="https://docs.umbraco.com/umbraco-commerce/reference/storefront-api">Umbraco Commerce Storefront API</a>, introducing nested field limiting and expansion for its <a target="_blank" href="https://docs.umbraco.com/umbraco-cms/reference/content-delivery-api">Content Delivery API</a>. There's new functionality with this upgrade, including greater flexibility on where to limit and expand on multiple levels.The <a target="_blank" href="https://docs.umbraco.com/umbraco-cms/reference/content-delivery-api/media-delivery-api">Media Delivery API</a> has also received some enhancements. First introduced in version 12.2, the upgrades amend some earlier compromises the company wanted to improve upon. Umbraco 13 does this by including some class fixes along with a new public interface and some changed return values. <h3>Preparing for future functionality</h3>A few features have been introduced in Umbraco 13 as prerequisites for future capabilities. One such example is the Dynamic Root for the Multinode Treepicker, implemented as an alternative to the XPath expressions. This new approach has been introduced to prepare for lazy loaded content, where Umbraco aims to introduce more efficient caching and memory management to improve performance for sites with large amounts of content. As an added benefit, it will now also be way easier to set up a relative path for the Multinode Treepicker.<h3>New editing and UX capabilities</h3>In the version 13 release candidate, one of the UX enhancements is the introduction of Blocks in the Rich Text Editor. The company plans to add more block functionality, including global blocks as reusable content.Umbraco is also working on its next-gen backoffice (called Bellissima) where new frontend technologies will take the stage. Most of this UI is bound to a new management API but has also been applied to the CMS login screen, which sports a new visual design experience. To avoid a user accidentally logging in multiple times – and to align with security by design principles – Umbraco 13 is allowing for concurrent logins, so it's now default set to false.<h3>What’s next</h3>While the version 13 release candidate is considered “feature complete,” Umbraco anticipates more changes to come. That said, the company expects most of the issues to be minor fixes based on feedback and testing.Along with bug remediation, Umbraco will focus on making HQ packages available for Umbraco Commerce, Workflow, Forms, and Deploy, and expects additional release candidates to be available shortly after this announcement. The company is also ensuring that version 13 will be available on <a target="_blank" href="https://umbraco.com/products/umbraco-cloud/">Umbraco Cloud</a> when released, along with current documentation. As noted, the company is targeting a public release on December 14. To provide feedback on the release candidate, users can report them using the <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/umbraco/Umbraco-CMS/issues/new?assignees=&amp;labels=type%2Fbug&amp;template=01_bug_report.yml&amp;title=v13%20RC1">GitHub tracker</a> by following the link or selecting “Bug Report” when creating a new issue.

Umbraco 13 Release Candidate Now Available for Testing, Offers New CMS Features

cms-critic-staff

Let's be honest: there's nothing quite like Awards Season. Just ask Moira Rose.
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<div class="tenor-gif-embed"><a href="https://tenor.com/view/moira-rose-schitts-creek-awards-favorite-season-gif-16223893">Moira Rose Schitts Creek GIF</a>from <a href="https://tenor.com/search/moira+rose-gifs">Moira Rose GIFs</a></div>
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And it's not because of the glitz, the glamour, or even the drama (although last year's Oscars did deliver the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/23/entertainment/oscars-crisis-will-smith/index.html" target="_blank">slap heard 'round the world</a>).
No, we love Awards Season because it's a celebration. An opportunity to cheer for the things we love. From film to music, actors to performers. Heck, even our favorite technologies.
Each year, CMS Critic is proud to feature our People's Choice Awards: a unique, one-of-a-kind platform for celebrating our industry. Since 2012, the People's Choice Awards have provided an opportunity for you – our community of digital professionals and stack fanatics – to tell us which platforms you love the most.
The People's Choice Awards are always fun and engaging, and the results never fail to surprise us. We put the power in your hands to nominate and vote, so it reflects your community participation. No matter how you feel about the outcomes, this is a win for every platform involved and your passionate users and fans.
This year, we had record participation from around the globe for both the nominations and final voting, and we're thrilled to share the winners you selected!
<h2>And the Oscar goes to...</h2>
But first, a quick reminder about the contest and how it worked:
<ul>
<li>In <a href="/nominate-your-favorite-platforms-for-the-2022-cms-critic-peoples-choice-awards/">December 2022</a>, we invited readers to nominate platforms across a set of categories on our website.</li>
<li>Nominations closed at the end of January.</li>
<li>The top five nominees (in the case of a few ties, the top six) were selected for voting in each category.</li>
<li>General voting began in early February and closed on February 20.</li>
<li>Participants could vote only once, and companies that offered incentives of any kind were disqualified.</li>
</ul>
And that's it! Without further ado, here are the winners of the 2022 People’s Choice Award winners:
<h4>Best Enterprise CMS: Contensis</h4>
<a href="https://www.contensis.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/03/contensis-logo.jpg" alt="Contensis Logo" /></a>
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<h4>Best DXP: Adobe Experience Cloud</h4>
<a href="https://business.adobe.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/adobe-edited.jpg" alt="Adobe Experience Cloud Logo" /></a>
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<h4>Best Free CMS: Joomla!</h4>
<a href="https://www.joomla.org/" target="_blank"><img style="width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/joomla-edited.png" alt="Joomla! Logo" /></a>
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<h4>Best Flat File CMS: Statamic</h4>
<a href="https://statamic.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/statamic-edited.jpg" alt="Statamic Logo" /></a>
<hr />
<h4>Best Open Source CMS: Umbraco</h4>
<a href="https://umbraco.com/?gclid=CjwKCAiAr4GgBhBFEiwAgwORrRdPATQsqJ5M2tqVIMIHVlkjBnO2Cl29dGTXI9dhb9_BNa9pqdulIhoCK40QAvD_BwE" target="_blank"><img style="width:120px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/umbraco-edited.png" alt="Umbraco Logo" /></a>
<hr />
<h4>Best ECM (Enterprise Content Management): Microsoft SharePoint</h4>
<a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/sharepoint/collaboration" target="_blank"><img style="width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/sharepoint-edited.png" alt="Microsoft SharePoint Logo" /></a>
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<h4>Best E-Commerce Solution: Shopify</h4>
<a href="https://www.shopify.com/free-trial?term=shopify&amp;adid=565872334073&amp;campaignid=15436644439&amp;branded_enterprise=1&amp;BOID=brand&amp;gclid=CjwKCAiAr4GgBhBFEiwAgwORrQTcMx9LwHQNvRFM6fN3NdS4GIn0wcvVgK3LdPDmBWiVFRhMOA64HxoCZEQQAvD_BwE&amp;cmadid=516586854;cmadvertiserid=10730501;cmcampaignid=26990768;cmplacementid=324494812;cmcreativeid=163722649;cmsiteid=5500011" target="_blank"><img style="width:250px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/shopify-edited.png" alt="Shopify Logo" /></a>
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<h4>Best Headless Commerce Solution: commercetools</h4>
<a href="https://commercetools.com/resources/booklet/microservices?utm_source=Paid%20Search&amp;utm_medium=Google%20Search&amp;utm_content=microservices-bookle-CA&amp;utm_campaign=MACH&amp;utm_term=commercetools&amp;utm_campaign=MACH%20retargeting%20AMER&amp;utm_source=adwords&amp;utm_medium=ppc&amp;hsa_acc=9131799125&amp;hsa_cam=19415290532&amp;hsa_grp=145609670540&amp;hsa_ad=643141341485&amp;hsa_src=g&amp;hsa_tgt=aud-1945381266863:kwd-366236213007&amp;hsa_kw=commercetools&amp;hsa_mt=p&amp;hsa_net=adwords&amp;hsa_ver=3&amp;gclid=CjwKCAiAr4GgBhBFEiwAgwORrbE7RUL47caWM3RyFkC6b649F5PR5Z6DHNnToZTeBOWkTjGjxOL6IBoCGAMQAvD_BwE" target="_blank"><img style="width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/commercetools-edited.png" alt="Commercetools Logo" /></a>
<hr />
<h4>Best Headless CMS: Contentful </h4>
<a href="https://www.contentful.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width:260px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/contentful-edited.jpg" alt="Contentful Logo" /></a>
<hr />
<h4>Best Website Builder: YOOtheme</h4>
<a href="https://yootheme.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width:250px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/yootheme-edited.png" alt="YOOtheme Logo" /></a>
<hr />
<h4>Best Static Site Generator: Next.js</h4>
<a href="https://nextjs.org/" target="_blank"><img style="width:200px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/next-js-edited.png" alt="Next.js Logo" /></a>
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<h4>Best Composable System: Uniform</h4>
<a href="https://uniform.dev/" target="_blank"><img style="width:250px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/uniform-edited.jpg" alt="Uniform Logo" /></a>
<hr />
<h4>Best Digital Experience Composition (DXC): Occtoo</h4>
<a href="https://www.occtoo.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width:250px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/02/occtoo-edited.png" alt="Occtoo Logo" /></a>
<h2> </h2>
<h2>Congratulations to our People's Choice Winners!</h2>
There you have it, folks! Thank you again for participating in our Awards this year, and always, we welcome your feedback and your votes for next season!

Let's Celebrate the Winners of the 2022 CMS Critic People’s Choice Awards

More big news from Umbraco, right on the heels of <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/umbraco-cms-acquired-by-software-investor-monterro-interview-with-ceo-kim-sneum-madsen/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">their recent acquisition</a> by Monterro: the launch of <a href="https://umbraco.com/products/umbraco-cms/umbraco-9/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Umbraco 9</a>.
As the company claims on its website, "with every new release of Umbraco, you get a CMS that's simpler." That seems central to this new version, which promises a simpler experience for editors, developers, and web agencies that rely on their user-friendly, flexible, and fully customizable content management system.
Umbraco 9 features a complete update of their CMS technology stack, with a move from .NET Framework to now running completely on .NET 5 (previously known as .NET Core). According to the company, this transformation will offer enhanced performance and scalability, a cleaner architecture, and compatibility with macOS, Linux, and Microsoft Windows – opening up Umbraco to a larger pool of web developers.
“Moving Umbraco completely to the latest version of .NET future proofs the platform, providing a robust CMS on the most relevant and modern technology familiar to—and expected from—today’s web developers,” said Kim Sneum Madsen, CEO of Umbraco. “Making Umbraco cross-platform as well means web agencies struggling to find developers will have even more options as Linux and macOS developers – and not just those working on Windows – recognize the benefits Umbraco offers.”
Founded in 2005, Umbraco’s CMS "family" includes its flagship, open-source Umbraco CMS, as well as Umbraco Heartcore (a headless CMS), Umbraco Cloud, and Umbraco Uno – a one-stop platform for non-technical marketers and creative agencies. 
With help from its active community of more than 220,000 members, including a large “best-of-breed” partner network that offers customized solutions that integrate with Umbraco, the company now counts more than 700,000 websites worldwide—the majority in Europe and the U.S.—running live on its solutions.
<h2>Umbraco provides cadence for major new version releases, taps community for validation</h2>
The launch of Umbraco 9 also kicks off the company's plan for steady releases of new major versions. This cadence is aligned with Microsoft .NET Long Term Support (LTS) releases, which means users can be confident that future Umbraco LTS versions are always updated to the latest Microsoft technology.
“With Umbraco now on .NET 5, not only do we get some significant baseline improvements from the framework, but we can finally take advantage of some of the huge performance gains available in these latest .NET releases,” said Benjamin Carleski, senior developer, ProWorks Corporation. ”Umbraco 9 brings the latest advances to the CMS, such as string and Regex optimizations, and is fully compatible with .NET 6, with its round of further enhancements, when it releases later this year. Umbraco developers will also get access to an improved config system, Lucene.NET 4 enhancements, better member/user integrations, and so much more that has been added to Umbraco in v9.”
With help from long-time users like Carleski – and thousands of members of their open-source community – Umbraco 9 is “clearly ready for global use,” Madsen added. He went on to say: “Developers and their web agencies can be confident using Umbraco 9 for new projects today and long into the future, all without worrying about multiple frameworks or running multiple versions in tandem. They get a user-friendly and up-to-date CMS on modern and secure technology with a clear upgrade plan, making it even easier to create new digital experiences for themselves and their clients.”
To learn more about Umbraco 9, <a href="https://umbraco.com/products/umbraco-cms/umbraco-9/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">visit Umbraco's website</a>.
<h2>About Umbraco</h2>
Danish Umbraco was founded in 2005 with the vision of making the complex simpler. The company offers a user-friendly best-of-breed platform for content management (CMS) based on open-source technology. With more than 700,000 installations, Umbraco is one of the most deployed Web Content Management Systems on the Microsoft stack. Its success lies in the open-source model, a unique community of more than 220,000 developers and users, and a well-established partner network of digital agencies. Umbraco has 100 employees and is headquartered in Odense, Denmark, with a branch office in Charlotte, North Carolina. For more information, visit <a href="https://umbraco.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.umbraco.com</a>

Umbraco 9 "Future Proofs" CMS with Complete Move to .NET 5/ASP.NET Core

Image of Umbraco 9 logo in space illustration

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

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Image of CMS Critic Monthly Recap with ice cream cone superimposed

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Scandinavia has long been regarded as a cradle of CMS innovation. And while that cradle has been rocked by the rise of Western competitors, the Nordic legion of web content management systems still holds a strong position in the minds – and hearts – of their users.
Heart. That might be one of the most tangible differentiators for <a href="https://umbraco.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Umbraco</a>, a Danish platform that was originally coined “The Friendly CMS” <a href="https://umbraco.com/about-us/values/why-the-friendly-cms/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">by one of its community members</a> back in 2006.
As this now-legendary designer was credited with observing: Everything about Umbraco is friendly. The UX, the community, and the pricing.
Turns out this tagline has stood the test of time – just like Umbraco itself.
In a global marketplace where CMS providers are struggling to establish or re-establish their identity (be it headless, DXP, or some bolt-on Frankenstein of neo-monolithic proportions), Umbraco is staying true to its core. It’s doubling down on its community, making complex technologies easier to use, and reminding us that open source is really about people – not just platforms.
For all these reasons (and presumably more), <a href="https://www.monterro.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Monterro</a> – the Swedish software growth investor that prides itself on turning Nordic software companies into global players – <a href="https://umbraco.com/blog/swedish-software-growth-investor-monterro-acquires-a-majority-stake-in-umbraco/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has just purchased a majority stake in the Danish vendor</a>.
We had a chance to discuss this news with Umbraco’s CEO and self-proclaimed “Chief Friend Maker,” <a href="https://twitter.com/kimsneummadsen?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kim Sneum Madsen</a>, who has been with the outfit since 2016. While acclaimed founder Niels Hartvig will be parting company, Madsen will continue to man the reigns as Monterro’s operational and financial backing comes online.
In our exclusive interview, we discussed where the company has been, what’s ahead – and how open source is “not a hippie thing anymore.”
<h2>Expanding best-of-breed digital experiences</h2>
Umbraco has come a long way since its founding in 2005, and like the rest of the market, the company has adapted to significant change. But according to Madsen, what hasn’t changed is their persistent focus on making things simpler.
While describing Umbraco’s history, Madsen said there have been three key elements to their success: software, community, and company. The first decade of their growth was focused on making great software and aligning with Hartvig’s vision of open source. The second was focused on nurturing an active community that loved their product – and built on it in a big way. At last count, Umbraco boasts over 220,000 developers and users worldwide, which is an astounding amount of adoption by any measure.
With the software and community pieces firing on all cylinders, the company is now focused on the company, which is where Madsen comes in. While his mission over the last five years has revolved around “customer happiness,” his job as CEO will require a balancing of the elements to achieve scale in a competitive, mature, and increasingly commoditized market.
“We believe we’re in a very strong position with the balance of the elements,” said Madsen, speaking of the software, community, and company components. “We’ve reinvented the way our community works, we have a mature model for engaging community teams around the globe, and we can give them something to build on.”
To reach the next level, Umbraco has invested in expanding its product set. Along with its flagship open-source Umbraco CMS, they now feature <a href="https://umbraco.com/products/umbraco-heartcore/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Umbraco Heartcore</a>, a headless offering; <a href="https://umbraco.com/products/umbraco-cloud/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Umbraco Cloud</a>, a fully-hosted ecosystem that boasts simplicity as one of its core attributes; and <a href="https://umbraco.com/products/umbraco-uno/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Umbraco Uno</a>, a one-stop platform for non-technical marketers and creative agencies.
Along with its vast community of members, including a large partner network that offers customized solutions that integrate with Umbraco, the company now counts more than 700,000 websites worldwide – the majority in Europe and the U.S. – running live on its solutions. Along the way, the company has scored some impressive customers, including JP Morgan, Rubbermaid, Scholl, the NFL, and other market leaders.
<h2>Monterro brings extensive CMS experience to Umbraco </h2>
On the Monterro side of the ledger, the stars couldn’t be more aligned – and Madsen is thrilled with the outcome. He said the private equity partner stood out because of their financial structure, but also because members of their operational staff served in key roles at other CMS platforms, including Episerver.
“With extensive CMS experience and a true belief in open-source software, Monterro is a perfect match as we strive to meet the increasing demand for best-of-breed DXP solutions that make complex technologies easy to use,” Madsen said.
As part of its mission to turn Nordic software companies into global market leaders, Monterro has completed 17 investments and 17 add-on investments since 2012. These include operational experience from successfully developing and running companies such as Pointsec, Orc Software, and CMS vendor Episerver, now <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/episerver-rebrands-as-optimizely-following-acquisition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Optimizely</a>.
“With Monterro’s valuable guidance and capital,” Madsen remarked, “we will continue to work closely with our active open-source community to bring the Umbraco family of user-friendly, flexible, and robust CMS platforms to an even greater portfolio of companies in even more countries.”
While the structure of Umbraco’s ownership has changed, Madsen affirmed that the company’s direction will remain the same. “Our ambition is to use this position and invest money back into the continued growth of all the elements that constitute Umbraco," he said. "We will continue to focus on creating world-class software that produces outstanding value for users and customers.”
<h2>Market consolidation and confronting the data challenge</h2>
One area we discussed was the breakneck consolidation echoing across the CMS market and the drive to shore up the data layer – <a href="https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/digital-experience-platforms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a key requirement for Gartner</a> in their assessment of modern digital experience platforms.
Earlier this year, we saw several DXP players purchase customer data platforms (CDPs) to address the “missing data link” in their vision of completeness. This includes <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/optimizely-acquires-customer-data-platform-zaius/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Optimizely’s purchase of Zaius</a> this past March.
Madsen said that data is important, and while Umbraco would love to claim itself as the “single source” for data, what’s important is the aggregation of all relevant data – particularly as it relates to GDPR and other compliance requirements. He said customers must be in control, and with CMS as the backbone of a digital business, this should be made simpler in the process.
<h2>The growth of Enterprise and the role of Microsoft</h2>
“As Umbraco has matured over the last five years, we’re seeing increased demand from Enterprise customers,” said Madsen. At the same time, he said they’re seeing more customers wanting to move campaign sites closer to marketers – which is where Umbraco Uno comes in. As an out-of-the-box solution, it’s providing shorter delivery times for a wider range of clients, from enterprise to full-service digital agencies to design shops.
We also discussed the legacy role of <a href="https://dotnet.microsoft.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Microsoft</a> and their history of .NET – which Madsen said continues to be a differentiator given Microsoft’s footprint in key geographies.
<h2>The rise of headless CMS</h2>
In our discussion of Umbraco Heartcore – their headless offering – Madsen reflected that it’s still very new as a stand-alone product. Like other traditional CMS platforms, their API nature has enabled connections and integrations before headless exploded in demand. He maintains that users want the freedom to build and connect as they see fit.
While the jury may be out on whether headless is a lasting trend, Madsen supports the need for agencies to have greater freedom over the frontend and focus on omnichannel. However, he underscored the need for the CMS to be structured around the workflow for users, so it remains easy for editors to do their job.
“We’ve always been focused on the content editor,” he punctuated. “It has to be easy, or they won’t bother.”
<h2>Mining growth from a strong open source community</h2>
What’s abundantly clear is that Umbraco’s fiercely loyal community has been a keystone to their success. Madsen knows this well given his history and proximity to partners during his tenure at Umbraco.
“Users and partners are intertwined, as developers often work for an agency,” he said. “Every developer working on Umbraco makes a living on our software.” This underscores the value of their open source community to their future growth.
Focusing on partners has had an intrinsic “one to many” effect on multiplying Umbraco’s business. Madsen describes their community as the implementers, which has allowed Umbraco to focus on perfecting their software.
We asked Madsen if there’s one thing he would want the market to know about Umbraco, and he again came back to the value of being open source – and the contributions of their community.
“Open source is not a hippie thing anymore,” he noted. “It has a far better development cycle. Developers can raise an issue and get an answer quickly from other developers. It is the true ‘outside in’ approach, not us inventing in a lab and taking something to market. This is all based on real-life experiences that our developers have.”
That sounds like a friendly CMS experience to us – and a true differentiator for an investor like Monterro.
Peace, love, and integration.
<h2>About Umbraco</h2>
Danish Umbraco was founded in 2005 with the vision of making the complex simpler. The company offers a user-friendly best-of-breed platform for content management (CMS) based on open-source technology. With more than 700,000 installations, Umbraco is one of the most deployed Web Content Management Systems on the Microsoft stack. Its success lies in the open-source model, a unique community of more than 220,000 developers and users, and a well-established partner network of digital agencies. Umbraco has 100 employees and is headquartered in Odense, Denmark, with a branch office in Charlotte, North Carolina. For more information, visit <a href="https://umbraco.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.umbraco.com</a>

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