Articles

CMS Awards Article

Today is Groundhog Day in the U.S., a peculiarly American tradition that marks the tipping point between winter and spring.
During a jubilant celebration held in rural Pennsylvania, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/01/us/groundhog-day-weird-history-punxsutawney-phil-cec/index.html" target="_blank">a groundhog called Punxsutawney Phil</a> – the affectionate moniker reserved for this hallowed rodent – is consulted on the fate of the weather ahead. If he sees his shadow and scurries away, it means six more weeks of winter (which is what he predicted <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/groundhog-day-2023-punxsutawney-phil-prediction/" target="_blank">this morning</a>).
One might call Punxatawney Phil a "critic," and his reviews certainly garner a lot of media attention. But given the fact that his predictions are only 46% accurate, he's not a very reliable critic.
But you know who is? YOU.
And you showed up in force this January to share your favorite nominations for the 2022 CMS Critic People's Choice Awards! We had an unbelievable amount of participation this year, so we're expanding our picks to include the top five contenders in each category. That means you'll have more platforms to select from.
There were a few ties, so you'll see six platforms in the "Best Enterprise CMS," "Best DXP," and "Best Free CMS" categories.
Now, it's time to pick the winners. <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/vote-for-the-cms-critic-2022-peoples-choice-awards/">Click here to vote now</a>!
You have until February 20, 2023 to cast your ballot. We'll share the results later this month, along with our Critic's Choice Awards, which are hand-selected by our CMS Critic staff. Just a reminder: you can only submit one ballot per valid email address, and companies that offer incentives of any kind will be disqualified.
The People's Choice Awards are all about you. YOU submitted the nominees and rallied your communities to participate, and we can't wait to see the results and celebrate your top picks. Share with your colleagues and friends to help get the word out for voting!

Cast Your Vote for the CMS Critic 2022 People’s Choice Awards

mk-patterson

The 2015 CMS Awards have well and truly arrived, and the nominations stage is underway.
Initially launched by Mike Johnston in 2012, The CMS Awards were introduced to give the CMS Critic community a chance to vote for their favorite products and to give CMS vendors an opportunity to shine.
<img style="max-width:250px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/nominate_us.png" />
The awards are comprised of the People's Choice Awards, which give the public power over which CMS wins each category, and the <a href="/announcing-this-years-judges-for-the-2014-critics-choice-awards/" target="_blank">Critic's Choice Awards</a>, where a select few judges are appointed to select the winners.
<h2>The Importance of the CMS Awards</h2>
Last year, I touched on <a href="/the-cms-awards-what-they-mean/" target="_blank">what the CMS Awards mean to the public, as well as to vendors like PrestaShop, Hippo CMS, and others</a>.
<blockquote>The CMS Awards mean more available research for businesses to apply their needs directly to a CMS- better research=better experiences
— Ceeonsoft, Inc. (@Ceeonsoft) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ceeonsoft/status/522406900244430848">October 15, 2014</a></blockquote>
<blockquote>“The CMS Awards represent an opportunity for each ecommerce solution to get the recognition they deserve. It’s extremely gratifying to watch our community come together and show their support. 
For us, winning the CMS Awards isn’t just about PrestaShop. It’s about recognizing the 700,000 dedicated community members that contribute to the software every day. 
Our supporters are members of our open source community. Together, we have built PrestaShop into what it is today. Therefore, winning would be rewarding in itself, it reaffirms the success of our collaboration.” 
– Natalie Beigel, PrestaShop's Program Marketing Manager</blockquote>
<blockquote>The CMS awards are a great opportunity to show that there are other platforms besides the most obvious choices ?
— Ben Barden (@benbarden) <a href="https://twitter.com/benbarden/status/522404989554397184">October 15, 2014</a></blockquote>
Now, with a revamped category system, 2015 is the year where more platforms should see the benefits of the Awards, if they choose to take part. Those beenfits could include getting nominated, and perhaps even taking home a trophy (which can now be personally presented at any Award Winner's Head Office).
The first step to winning though, is getting nominated in the first place.
<h2>How to get Your CMS Nominated (In 3 Steps)</h2>
You don't need a big budget or a big history to get nominated. Here's how to get people to nominate your product.
1. Identify The Most Relevant Categories
Before you set out your campaign to get nominated, it's a good idea to identify which category (or categories) your platform best fits into.
There are a wide range of categories to accommodate all CMS types. Plus, extra categories like “Most Innovative CMS” and “Most Promising CMS” make the CMS Awards that much more inclusive and flexible.
A full list of Award Categories can be found here.
2. Reach Out To your Audience
Now that you know what categories to aim for, you can begin asking your audience to nominate you.
Make use of your email newsletter, your blog and your social media handles to urge your fans and software users to nominate you in your chosen category. It's also a good idea to provide incentives, if possible.
3. Get Active With the #CMSAwards Hashtag
This year, we're making use of the #CMSAwards hashtag to help spread the word.
The CMS Critic Twitter account will be using the hashtag, and will be retweeting and favoriting tweets using it, too. So, be sure to include #CMSAwards in your tweets to get your brand's name heard.
For more information on the CMS Awards, including images to help promote your campaign, visit the dedicated website.

The CMS Awards: How To Get Your Platform Nominated

mike-johnston

The time you've all been waiting for is here. It's now time to <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/cms-critic-awards/" target="_blank">submit your nomination</a> for your favorites in the fourth annual Critics' Choice CMS Awards!
We've got some newly revamped categories this year which I think fit better (every year we do our best to improve, I hope you agree with this year's changes).
If you are a vendor and wish to promote your product for a nomination, you can use this badge:

Categories for this year are:
<ul>
<li>Best Blogging Software</li>
<li>Best eCommerce Software for SMB</li>
<li>Best eCommerce Software for Enterprise</li>
<li>Best Marketing Automation Software</li>
<li>Best Intranet Software</li>
<li>Best Forum Software</li>
<li>Best Social Network Software</li>
<li>Best Wiki Software</li>
<li>Best Website Builder</li>
<li>Best Free CMS</li>
<li>Best Open Source CMS</li>
<li>Best New CMS</li>
<li>Best Document Management System</li>
<li>Best Enterprise Portal</li>
<li>Best Learning Management System</li>
<li>Best CMS for Communities</li>
<li>Best CMS for Designers</li>
<li>Best CMS for Developers</li>
<li>Best CMS for Marketers</li>
<li>Best CMS for Photographers</li>
<li>Best CMS for Publishers</li>
<li>Best CMS for Personal Websites</li>
<li>Best CMS for Small to Midsize Business</li>
<li>Best CMS for Enterprise</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/cms-critic-awards/" target="_blank">Get your nominations in today!</a>

Nominations are Open for the 2015 Critics' Choice CMS Awards

Today, I'm going to announce the winner of the 2014 Critics' Choice Award for Best Commercial Forum Solution.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bestcommercialforumsolution.png" />
This award is a tough one to judge but we decided on the one solution most likely to continue to improve and grow over time. With a ton of beautiful options and a stunning interface, the best commercial forum solution for this year is <a href="https://plushforums.com/">Plush Forums</a>.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/plush300x0.png" />
We like it so much, we use it here on CMS Critic. To sign up and get your own forums with Plush Forums (or to learn more) go here: <a href="https://plushforums.com/">https://plushforums.com/</a>

2014 Critics' Choice Award Winner - Best Commercial Forum Solution

This is just a quick update for those waiting on the results from the Critics' Choice CMS Awards.
Myself and the other judges this year, Kaya Ismail and Barb Mosher Zinck have finished coming up with our results and are getting ready to announce the winners.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/awards-logo300x0.png" />
We'll begin doing so on November 19th (two days from today) so please stay tuned to find out who we've selected as this year's winners.
For those of you curious as to who the winners are from this year's People's Choice portion of the awards, you can find them all listed on the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/cms-critic-awards/">Winners Page</a>.

The Critics' Choice CMS Awards Update

Content management systems are an important part of business today and small to midsize businesses have a wide variety of solutions to choose from.
Today, we're going to announce the winner of the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Small to Midsize Business CMS (Other Languages).
<img style="max-width:200px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best_smb_other_cms-1200x0.png" alt="best_smb_other_cms" />
This year's contenders were Django CMS, Surreal CMS, and Movable Type.
The winner, in the end, was Django CMS.
<img style="max-width:200px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/561px-django_cms_logo_svg200x0.png" />
Congratulations to Django CMS on their win. Check them out here: <a href="https://www.django-cms.org/en/">https://www.django-cms.org/en/</a>

The Winner of the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Small to Midsize Business CMS Other Langs

Content management systems are an important part of business today and small to midsize businesses have a wide variety of solutions to choose from.
Today, we're going to announce the winner of the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Small to Midsize Business Java CMS.
<img style="max-width:200px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best_smb_java_cms200x0.png" alt="best_smb_java_cms" />
This year's contenders were Liferay and Percussion CMS.
While the race was close between the two, the winner in the end was...
<img style="max-width:200px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/percussion-logo200x0.jpg" />
Congratulations to the team at Percussion on their win. You can check them out here: <a href="https://www.percussion.com/">https://www.percussion.com/</a>

The Winner of the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Small to Midsize Business JAVA CMS

Content management systems are an important part of business today and small to midsize businesses have a wide variety of solutions to choose from.
Today, we're going to announce the winner of the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Small to Midsize Business .NET CMS.
This year's contenders were Orchard, DNN Evoq Content, and Envisage.
The race between DNN Evoq Content and Orchard was very close but in the end, the winner was…
<img style="max-width:250px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/250px-orchard_logo_1_svg.png" />
Congratulations to the Orchard Project on their win!
You can learn more about their project here: <a href="http://www.orchardproject.net/">http://www.orchardproject.net/</a>

The Winner of the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Small to Midsize Business .NET CMS

WP Engine - #1 Wordpress

Build and manage amazing WordPress, WooCommerce, and headless sites on the #1 WordPress platform.

A Smarter Way to WordPress

#ffffff

Enterprise content management systems are continually gaining in complexity and functionality but only a few have managed to maintain a fine balance between these requirements and the need for a positive user experience.
Today, we're going to announce the .NET-based CMS that, according to the people, has managed to do this the best. It's time to announce the winner of the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Enterprise .NET CMS.
<img style="max-width:200px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best_enterprise_net_cms200x0.jpg" alt="best_enterprise_net_cms" />
The contenders this year were Sitecore, Kentico, and Sitefinity.
It gives me great pleasure to announce that the winner this year was none other than <a href="http://www.sitecore.net">Sitecore</a>!
<img style="max-width:461px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sitecorelogo.png" />
The runner up this year was <a href="http://www.kentico.com">Kentico</a>.
Congratulations to the team at Sitecore on their win. It's clear that when it comes down to excellence in the world of .NET-based CMS, Sitecore is the top dog and they should be proud of their win. This clearly shows that not only do their customers love them, so do our readers. Congratulations to all contenders this year as well.

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

Enterprise content management systems are continually gaining in complexity and functionality but only a few have managed to maintain a fine balance between these requirements and the need for a positive user experience.
Today, we're going to announce the Java-based CMS that, according to the people, has managed to do this the best. It's time to announce the winner of the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Enterprise Java CMS.
<img style="max-width:200px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best_enterprise_java_cms-1200x0.jpg" />
The contenders this year were Hippo, Adobe AEM, and Jahia Digital Factory.
It gives me great pleasure to announce that the winner this year was none other than <a href="http://www.onehippo.com/">Hippo</a>!
<img style="max-width:221px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/418409_292078750864133_1858985276_n.jpg" />
The runner-up this year was <a href="http://www.jahia.com">Jahia Digital Factory</a>.
Congratulations to the team at Hippo on their win. It's clear that when it comes down to excellence in the world of Java-based CMS, Hippo is the top dog and they should be proud of their win. This clearly shows that not only do their customers love them, so do our readers. Congratulations to all contenders this year as well.

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

Content management systems are an important part of business today and small to midsize businesses have a wide variety of solutions to choose from.
Today, we're going to announce the winner of the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Small to Midsize Business PHP CMS.
Contenders this year were CMS Made Simple, Craft CMS, and Impress Pages.
<img style="max-width:188px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best_small_to_midsize_business_php_cms-1.png" />
This was one of the hardest-fought categories this year with all three projects very close in the votes until the end.
Finally, a winner emerged from the rubble and it's time to announce that CMS Made Simple has taken the award this year as Best Small to Midsize Business PHP CMS.
<a href="http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/"><img style="max-width:300px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/cmsms_newlogo300-1.png" /></a>
CMS Made Simple has been a strong contender each year in these awards and we're very pleased to see them take the cake this year. Congratulations to everyone at <a href="http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/">CMS Made Simple</a>!
Head over to our forum and share your thoughts on the winners: Discuss the Winners of the People's Choice Awards

The Winner of the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Small to Midsize Business PHP CMS

Nothing is better than announcing winners and one of the most popular categories this year was the Best Open Source PHP CMS Category within the People's Choice CMS awards.
This year, the contenders were Joomla, eZ Publish and MODx and the competition between all three was quite fierce. Having said that, in the end, a winner became clear and we're pleased to announce that this year's deserving winner is none other than <a href="http://www.joomla.org">Joomla!</a>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/original.jpg" />
Joomla! came to the awards this year with a mission to win and their community rallied behind them in an amazing way with huge votes and nominations in their favor pushing them to the forefront as the People's Choice.
The runner up this year was <a href="http://ez.no/">eZ Publish</a>. Congratulations to both projects and their communities! You've done an amazing job rallying for your favorites.
Head over to our forum and share your thoughts on the winners: Discuss the Winners of the People's Choice Awards

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

The <a href="/the-cms-awards-what-they-mean/" target="_blank">third annual CMS Awards</a> have come to a close, having attracted more nominations and voters than ever before. Thankfully though, the results are probably my favourite part!
For the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Website Builder, participants selected the industry's “big three” website builders to battle it out. <a href="http://www.wix.com/" target="_blank">Wix</a>, <a href="https://www.squarespace.com/" target="_blank">Squarespace</a>, and <a href="https://www.weebly.com/">Weebly</a>.
It is with great pleasure that I announce the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Website Builder goes to:
<a href="http://www.wix.com/" target="_blank"><img style="max-width:220px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wix-.png" alt="Wix" /></a>
<a href="http://www.wix.com/" target="_blank">Wix</a> was triumphant over two worthy competitors, as <a href="https://www.squarespace.com/" target="_blank">Squarespace</a> came in as runners-up, with <a href="https://www.weebly.com/" target="_blank">Weebly</a> trailing closely behind.
<img style="max-width:250px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/10733526_801171129939789_151468802_n.jpg" />
Congratulations to everyone at <a href="http://www.wix.com/" target="_blank">Wix</a> on their big win!
If you aren't familiar with Wix and would like to learn more, read our <a href="http://www.websitebuilderscritic.com/website_builders/reviews/wix/" target="_blank">Wix Review</a> on our new site, <a href="http://www.websitebuilderscritic.com/"> Website Builders Critic</a> where you can find <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/websitebuilderscriti" target="_blank">Wix video tutorials</a> and more.

The Winner of the 2014 People's Choice CMS Award for Best Website Builder

CMS Kickoff 25

Find out at CMS Kickoff '25, January 14-15 in St. Petersburg, Florida. Seats are limited.

Where is CMS headed in 2025?

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

News

A Smarter Way to WordPress

Where is CMS headed in 2025?