Vignette produces Web site tools

Vignette announced yesterday two Web site production tools, StoryBuilder and StoryServer, focused on Internet-based delivery of content that is refreshed several times a day.

StoryBuilder is a production server that uses a bird's-eye-view tracking board to report the latest status of every content element in the system. If an article is past deadline, for example, StoryBuilder will warn the editor with a red alarm button. The first release of StoryBuilder does not provide for version tracking, however, so once a story is edited and resubmitted to the system, the previous version cannot be recovered.

Once completed and approved for publication, StoryServer posts the pages to the Web. StoryServer is based on CNET technology, purchased in a deal earlier this year. Vignette has added online documentation and help systems and has rebuilt the user interfaces in Java. Both programs run as standalone desktop applications on any Java-compatible operating system. The back-end database runs on any Sun Solaris-based Web server.

The two tools do not need each other to run and other publishing tools such as Microsoft's FrontPage or NetObjects' Fusion can be used in conjunction with StoryServer, according to Vignette president and CEO Ross Garber.

StoryBuilder and StoryServer will be available in the first quarter of 1997; per-seat licenses start at $9,500 for 10 seats and reach a maximum of $90,000.

CNET:The Computer Network owns an equity stake in Vignette.