Web Publishing News & Articles

When we last visited the garden, we introduced the Eden Platform, a self-optimizing web content management system released by Preation. Designed to let entrepreneurs and marketers create and maintain an optimized website and generate more results without the need for any technical or web marketing expertise, Eden proved to be both affordable and useful.

Since then, the platform has seen a number of updates and enhancements directed at improving usability, marketing and website management. Let’s take a look.

WCM Field Notes is a regular column written in collaboration with Jon Marks (@McBoof), Head of Development at LBi. This issue lists 15 questions you can use to judge the state of your content management project.

This week in web publishing we cover three key areas: social media, magazines and Wisconsin.

Paul Boag wrote an article a while back entitled "The 5 hidden costs of running a CMS" over on Vitamin/Carsonified and I really thought it was a useful item to ponder over as a CMS user. Then I thought, "This totally applies to digital asset management software as well, somebody should write up the same thing for DAM." So here goes (with all due respect to Mr. Boag).

Newly updated, K4 is a German-originated product shipped in America by MEI. It offers tighter control of the publishing process with task-based workflow giving specific instructions on each user's tasks to keep them on the ball.

So, Autonomy (news, site) had a pretty good 2009. No surprise there, considering the company ate up every bit of Interwoven around this time last year.

WoodWing Software (news, site) just updated their Smart Catalog productivity plugins. The tool, which is used for the rapid distribution of publications that rely on external data (TV guides, price lists, etc.) can now utilize the formatting power of Adobe inDesign and InCopy.

How would you feel if you knew Facebook and Twitter usage at the workplace was costing your economy upwards of 2 billion dollars per year in lost productivity?

 Open source Web content management provider XOOPS (news, site) is making some solid headway--a fact recently highlighted by Alexa.com. According to the Web information company, XOOPS’ reach increased by 57% over the last three months:

It is easy to see why most companies struggle with the CMS selection process. The market is flooded with hundreds of products and there does not appear to be a "safe", market-leading choice.

Ultimately, you want to select a content management system that supports your requirements and that your users will find usable.  But evaluating CMS software for functionality and usability takes time.  You don't want to waste your time getting intimate with the wrong products, yet battling your way to a reasonable short list is easier said than done. There are some shortcuts, here's how to get started.

In this week’s web publishing roll up, Tina Brown, former editor of Tatler, Vanity Fair and Talk, wants you to know that “American newspapers are dying mostly because they were so dull for so long a whole generation gave up on them” and not because the internet is killing them.

If you swear allegiance to both Internet Explorer and Google Apps, as of March 1st you may find yourself in an uncomfortable predicament, and frankly speaking, we're rather happy about all this. Google's recent decision will effect apps ranging from GMail to Google Docs. Enterprise folks, pay attention.

In full support of the rapidly growing e-reader trend, Atex (news, site) has just announced that their Web CMS offers direct publishing to devices all the way from the Kindle to the iPad.

The topic of digital asset management (DAM) is increasingly coming to the foreground as we information age types make greater use of video, images and audio. The use of digital assets on our websites opens the door to a larger, more engaged audience. But it also causes some trouble, if the related systems are not managed well.

Are you struggling with a DAM system, or in the process of selecting and implementing one? Tell us what your most pressing challenge currently is.

WoodWing (news, site) showed their love for Apple yesterday by announcing the development of a set of iPad-friendly tools.      

Firstly, WoodWing's Content Station for planning and publishing content has been extended to support the iPad's special type of digital publication. The support will allow everyone to get involved with Apple's new toy, as in addition to smoothing out the workflow for creating such content, the team will also offer a native iPad app for consumers to enjoy it. 

"Apple's iPad is most certainly going to boost the success of media consumption through handheld devices," explained Hans Janssen, CEO of WoodWing Software. "This offers a host of possibilities for publishers to create new sources of income. It's our task as a software supplier to provide them with the right tools for that job."

The new iPad tools will be unveiled on March 3 during the first stop of WoodWing's World Tour at the New York City. Can't make it? We got you.