Note: This article originally incorrectly stated the pricing for Rockstar support and the version number that has been released. Rockstar Support is actually a one-year agreement and starts at $850 per month. (or $10,200 a year). These changes are reflected below.
There are thousands of open-source content management systems, from Alfresco to Drupal to Joomla, but one that gets less attention yet still delivers great functionality for Intranets and other smaller Web sites is WebGUI, developed by Plain Black.
Plain Black just released WebGUI 7.6 with a host of new functionality, including:
- An enhanced survey engine that allows users to easily create multiple choice, rating scale, and open-response questions;
- Comparison charts (i.e., for putting competitive product or feature matrices, service comparisons, etc. online);
- iPhone application that allows Web administrators to upload images directly to the site from their iPhone;
- iPhoto (and soon-to-be-release Google Picasa) capability to upload directly from a desktop photo application to the Web site;
- And more.
Some of the new functionality seems destined for small to mid-size enterprises, and, indeed, this seems to be the staple of Plain Black's customer base, though it indicates that WebGUI is in use within Fortune 1000 Intranets.
At $850 per year month for "Rockstar Support," or $10,200 per year (annual contract), it can fit within the budgets of the small-business market. Even so, WebGUI 7.6's enhanced ease of use should be attractive to organizations of all sizes.
It's difficult to stand out in the crowded open-source content management system market, but WebGUI 7.6 may make it easier to manage a Web site on a limited budget and limited CMS expertise. It may not be ideal for every organization, but since it's free of charge and licensed under the General Public License, why not give it a try?
It takes a second to realize that what you see on Dashwire.com's cool gray interface is content from your mobile phone. That's probably because you're not used to reading it so easily.
There on Dashwire's spacious Internet dashboard are your photos and videos, contacts, bookmarks, and SMS and call history laid out in movable AJAX tiles. There are ringtones you can click on the Web to play on your phone, and text messages you can reply to with your keyboard, and which are tagged with your identifying phone number so your friends know who sent it.
You can e-mail photo links from Dashwire, too, without your friends having to sign up to the service to view them online. Contacts you add online materialize in your mobile address book. Another groovy part: Dashwire auto-saves your content, effectively backing up your phone.
Now it's time for the secret sauce: how your content gets there. Dashwire begins as a mobile app that most users will probably download over the air. It installs, and then syncs to your personal page on Dashwire.com, which you've configured by registering your screen name and number on sign-up. The synching took a little time, and might take more if your mobile network is lagging. Photos and videos take the longest to upload, and even longer the more you've got. Have patience; the wait is worth it.
Dashwire works remarkably well, but it doesn't do everything yet. For the moment, it only supports Windows Mobile 5 and 6, and subscribers have to specify their carrier and device model when they register. Dashwire doesn't manage files or programs, or perform certain small tasks like deleting photos from the phone or reading and initiating e-mail. You can't expect perfection from early closed betas, but you can expect novel ideas.
Read mail, SMS, and back up phone content from Dashwire's dashboard.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
(Credit:
Squarespace)
Last night I was among the attendees at the New York City chapter of Social Media Club, and there was arguably one star of the evening: Squarespace, a home-grown Manhattan start-up that claims to offer a content management system for small Web sites that can do more than, say, WordPress or MovableType.
Here's the raison d'etre for Squarespace. There are plenty of small Web site owners out there, both businesses and individuals, that are yearning for more than a blog but don't have the technical know-how to do it themselves. Maybe they'd like a few extra pages, or a photo gallery, or a forum. At the same time, though, they don't want to shell out the money for a full-out, large-scale Web site--after all, that's more than they'd need. And that's where Squarespace comes in.
Created by founder and then-college student Anthony Casalena in 2003, Squarespace is an elegant little piece of software that allows site owners to use AJAX-laced point-and-click page editing to make sites that are a little more sophisticated than a blog, but still simple and easy-to-use. The interface reminded me of one of my favorite blogging services, Vox, except more functional: users can easily choose page designs, insert images, add new pages, and tweak the color scheme. Some of Squarespace's portfolio examples, like Purlbee and Modern Girls Kitchen, are really impressive.
Here's the catch: It ain't free. In the manner of "professional blog" platforms like MovableType, Squarespace charges a monthly fee that ranges between $7 and $17 depending on features that include storage space, number of user accounts, and domain mapping.
At the Social Media Club last night, founder Anthony Casalena gave a presentation about Squarespace that left just about the whole room thoroughly impressed. One attendee thought it would be a great solution for political campaign Web sites. Another thought it showed promise for the education sector. But regardless of where they thought Squarespace would have the most impact, the consensus was pretty clear: This is a "Silicon Alley 2.0" start-up that shows real promise.
- prev
- 1
- next
