Latest Web Publishing News & Articles

What’s up with Flash content management in 2010? According to Flypaper Studios (news, site), it’s all about doing right by the e-Learning customer base.

The third version of the company’s Flash CMS platform was released this week, and includes features like an overhauled data base (for speed!), learning management system (LMS) bookmarking, and a new scoring display component.

There’s never a dull moment for web publishing, especially in 2010.

Tom Foremski of the Silicon Valley Watcher has continually called for the need of the media engineer — an individual who is part journalist and part software engineer — in today’s web publishing industry. Lately, his vision is becoming reality.

Ephox (news, site) is apparently no longer content with providing just editing solutions that plug in to a variety of Web CMS's. They've just acquired a product line that adds web content intelligence to the mix.

The Guardian News & Media (via Guardian.co.uk) are broadcasting their recent good fortune. It turns out that it has sold 68,979 copies of its premium iPhone app, which launched in December. Does the future of web publishing belong to iPhone apps?

Each quarter, Akamai (news, site) publishes a “State of the Internet” report. The rundown includes data gathered across Akamai’s global server network about attack traffic and broadband adoption, as well as where each country ranks in speed.

Q3’s verdict: United States, we’re not even in the top 10 (insert sad emoticon here).

Traditional marketers and communicators are obsessed with achieving their objectives. Web marketers and communicators are obsessed with helping customers achieve their objectives.

Why waste all that time creating an account on a website when you can login with one click of your mouse? Such is the beauty of Facebook Connect. And, if we’re lucky, soon the same will go for Twitter (news, site) as well.

Word on the street is that the microblogging champs are planning to release a set of tools that will enable third party websites to integrate Twitter features directly into their websites and services.

Not to be mistaken for Twitter’s Simply Buttons with a new look (the buttons let users on third party sites sign into Twitter), the new features will reportedly allow websites to authenticate users, pull data and publish it back to Twitter. Though it’s true that all these functionalities currently exist, they’re not wrapped in the neat little package that Facebook Connect offers.

Facebook Connect has gained massive popularity since its release in 2008, currently extending to 80,000 websites with a monthly 60 million users. And let’s not forget a recent and fairly significant move from Myspace. Once thought to be the king of social networks, the site bowed pretty low when it integrated Facebook Connect into its Fan Video service last week.

Will Twitter’s upcoming tools catch on? Towards the end of 2009 our fine feathered friend saw an unexpected leveling out in their growth rate, causing many to wonder the site would do next. Perhaps these connectivity tools are one their tricks for an explosive 2010. 

In an act that could possibly bring them up to par with some of the better known CDNs in the market, Amazon Web Services (news, site) has tossed cheap audio and video streaming support into the mix with CloudFront, their typically low-key service for content delivery.  

What's the chance that your digital assets — images, videos, music, etc. — are spread across multiple desktops, file shares, websites and more? If you are in this situation then you are at best likely duplicating your assets and at worst losing them.

A modern digital asset management strategy is becoming increasingly essential. But it's not as simple as going out and picking the first DAM product you see. Things you need to consider include:

• Building a business case
• The role of taxonomy and metadata
• If you need a marketing resource management system (a specialized flavor of DAM)

Once you define your strategy and your needs, you must to examine the DAM market closely to see what tools and technologies are appropriate.

If this sounds like just your can of worms, then the upcoming (and free) Digital Asset Management Jumpstart series from Earley and Associates can help. Starting tomorrow January 14, this series will provide you with some key info and tools needed for an intelligent approach to DAM.

There are 4 webinars in the series with the fourth being a CMS Watch review of DAM software options. You can sign up here, just in time for part one tomorrow afternoon.

A great many people have a poor view of what happened during the 2000s, with the exception of the growth of the Web.

WCM Field Notes is a regular column written in collaboration with Jon Marks (@McBoof), Head of Development at LBi. This second issue looks at what Open Source really means, and suggests ways for you to sensibly include both open source and proprietary systems in your Content Management System selection exercise. 

Web analytics is a hot discussion topic these days — you can't move forward and embrace your customers if you can't measure the choices they are making. One area of this industry that is taking on a major role is the mobile web. And Semphonic, an independent web analytics consultancy firm, is demonstrating just how important is has become.

The company has hired former Nokia Head of Analytics, Greg Dowling, to be their new Vice President. Dowling, a fifteen year industry veteran, has extensive experience in mobile measurements and enterprise analytics. Not only has he worked for Nokia, he was also Vice President of Strategy & Analysis for Digitas and worked as a senior analyst with JupiterResearch.

Dowling will head up Semphonic's office in New York and take the lead with their mobile strategy and measurement practice. Gary Angel, Semphonic's President had this to say about Dowling joining the company:

Semphonic is committed to being the leader in mobile measurement consulting. Many of our clients are still struggling with what to do about mobile and Greg’s deep knowledge in this area will create a significant advantage for all Semphonic clients.

The explosive growth of mobile device usage has definitely lead to a strong need for organizations to both develop their mobile strategy (because they need one) and measurement tactics. It's not as simple as using the tools and strategies that apply to the web itself, there's a little more to it.

How much more? Stay tuned here as we dig deeper into this topic.

Recent reports about a plan to tax online advertising revenues for those in France have garnered attention.

FLYP is more than a magazine. Its dynamic, interactive insights about American and world culture engage users through a variety of text, video, audio and animation and have proven to be a journalistic endeavor that turns news and information into a multimedia experience.

FLYP has been described as Life Magazine for the Web 2.0 era so it’s only fitting that Jim Gaines, former managing editor of People, Time and Life magazines is editor-in-chief. A veteran news journalist, Gaines is committed to multimedia initiatives and advocates for experimentation and change within the digital publishing landscape.

We had the opportunity to talk with Mr. Gaines about the future of digital publishing. He shared many insights about how the web publishing industry can best position themselves in the New Year and what he considers to be important in the years ahead.

WoodWing (news, site) launches the latest version of its Enterprise 7 Publishing System, packing in improvements for search and production, and adding a much-evolved Content Station to make managing media less of a chore.

We’re about a week into the New Year, but don’t cork up those bottles just yet. At long last, Six Apart (news, site) has released Movable Type 5. The new version is being called “a great milestone in the 8 years of Movable Type history” by its team, and MT users are more than happy to welcome some long-awaited features — features which we say take this project one step closer being a full-fledged Web CMS.  
 

On most sites, users look to on-site Search after they've scanned the page for clues to the content they're seeking. A quality Search experience is critical to making users happy, yet many teams don't spend nearly enough time looking at that experience.

One place to start is the Search Log. Spending a little quality time with it, on a regular basis, is a great way to learn more about how people use your site.

Raise your hand if you hate the idea of the Web running faster! Yeah, I thought so. In apparent frustration with not being able to deliver their massive array of content as quickly as they'd like, Google (news, site) is working on this very problem.

Web publishing in 2010 is proving to be as exciting as 2009. And this year, publishers are wasting little time. Redesigns, funding and trends for what’s to come in the next millennial decade are all making headlines.