Web CMS, Multi-Site Management, Accessibility, Firefox Support

Percussion announces version 5.6 of its Rhythmyx Content Management (CMS) solution. The release is tailored for organizations that manage multiple interconnected websites. There is a strong emphasis on content reuse, site structure cloning, global templates and more.Key new capabilities in Rhythmyx 5.6 include enhanced multi-site WCM capabilities, new accessibility support for content contributors, broader support for heterogeneous IT environments as well as numerous enhancements easing both implementation and administration. Multi-site capabilities include:

• Cloning - The new cloning feature allows the structure, navigation, and content of entire sites or sub-sections of sites to be cloned from one site to a new site through the use of wizards. Associated workflows and communities may also be cloned to ensure the proper approval process and editorial process take place.
• Global Templates - enable the branding of the site to be centralized in a few common templates, making it quick and easy to update the entire look and feel for each Web site.
• Site Folder Publishing - enables publishing to be set up for a new site by simply creating folders. Once the folder structure is created and content is placed in a particular folder, the content will be published at the next publishing run without any additional set up needed.
• Managed Navigation - enables management of all site navigation including dynamic menus, section pages, breadcrumbs and sitemaps. Managed Navigation supports navigation text as well as image rollovers and permits an infinite number of navigation levels. Since no technical expertise is needed to update navigation, it is possible to delegate this task to Site Owners who can update the navigation levels and labels via a drag-and-drop interface.
• Cross-Site Linking - allows users to link content from one Rhythmyx-managed Web site to another while still managing the content relationship and therefore ensuring there are never any broken links.

Each of the multi-site enhancements takes advantage of, and is built on, Rhythmyx's FastForward for WCM capabilities first introduced in Rhythmyx 5.5. FastForward enables users to get their initial sites under management rapidly, without sacrificing any of Rhythmyx's multi-site, multi-channel features. Based on initial customer input, Rhythmyx 5.6 also includes a series of minor updates to FastForward. Accessibility & Web Compliance This release adds accessibility support for disabled users for the product's content contributor interfaces. Using Freedom Scientific's JAWS Screen Reader Version 6, users can enter, edit, view, approve and publish content. In addition, Rhythmyx fully conforms to a wide variety of international standards (e.g., US Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, UK eGovernment Interoperability Framework (e-GIF), W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) standards, etc.) requiring compliant tagging throughout the user interface. "Customers have been asking for the ability to set corporate standards globally across all their Web properties, while simultaneously enabling individual site owners to have more control. Our enhanced support for multiple Web presences enables our customers to easily and cost-effectively meet this need, making the Web the medium of choice for communicating with their customers, partners and employees," says Barry Reynolds, president and CEO of Percussion. Additional enhancements have targeted heterogeneous IT environments and ease administration. These include:

• Firefox 1.0 Certification - Rhythmyx 5.6 enhances security though support of the popular Mozilla Firefox browser, which is far less vulnerable to spyware and malware attacks than other browsers. With this addition, Rhythmyx supports all the major browsers available today.
• Easier Operation - Rhythmyx 5.6 includes a number of improved operation features to Multi-Server Manager, WebDAV and full-text search.
• Usability Enhancements - have been made to the user interface and user documentation.

Rhythmyx 5.6 runs on Windows Server, Red Hat Linux and Sun Solaris platforms and is available effective immediately. Pricing for a typical Rhythmyx 5.6 configuration starts at $95,000.