http://www.informationweek.comInformationWeeken-usCopyright 2012, UBM LLC.2009-02-27T21:04:37ZLate winter and spring seem like prime time for content management conferences. If you were so inclined, you could practically make back-to-back reservations so that you're out of the office from March through June. Here's a quick look at a few of the conferences and events coming up for the first half of 2009. Ladies and gentlemen, start your frequent flyer miles!http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229207595?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsLate winter and spring seem like prime time for content management conferences. If you were so inclined, you could practically make back-to-back reservations so that you're out of the office from March through June. Here's a quick look at a few of the conferences and events coming up for the first half of 2009. Ladies and gentlemen, start your frequent flyer miles!<a href="http://dc2009.drupalcon.org/">DrupalCon DC</a> kicks things off, taking place in Washington, D.C., from March 4 - 7. It's no surprise that the conference is sold out -- there's a tremendous amount of excitement about the upcoming Drupal 7, and the development community is chomping at the bit to learn more. <P> Later in March, the <a href="http://www.aiimexpo.com/">AIIM International Exposition and Conference</a> lands in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Convention Center from March 30 - April 2. This year's conference promises more than 130 different sessions on every imaginable aspect of content management along with more than 200 vendors on the exhibition floor. AIIM is a terrific organization, and this is sure to be an exciting event. <P> The combined <a href="http://www.cm-strategies.com/">Content Management Strategies/DITA North America conference</a> will be held April 27 - 29 in St. Petersburg, Fla., at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club. The show plays host to dozens of sessions and exhibitors, and has an impressive lineup of speakers. <P> The <a href="http://www.cmsexpo.net/">CMS Expo Learning & Business Conference</a> is a fairly tech-centric event, focusing on multiple training sessions for Joomla, Drupal, and Alfresco. Held in Chicago from April 30 - May 1, this conference focuses more on learning, and less on exhibits, so plan accordingly. <P> Capping off a busy spring is the sixth annual <a href="http://gilbanesf.com/index.html">Gilbane Conference San Francisco</a>, June 2 - 4. Both the midyear San Francisco and end-of-year Boston Gilbane Conferences are major events, and you can bet that this will be well worth your time if you're in the industry or responsible for helping to select a vendor. The theme this time around is "Where Content Management Meets Social Media," which should be of interest to many of us still trying to figure out how it all fits together.2009-02-24T21:02:31Z<a href="http://www.asbrusoft.com/">Asbru</a> may not snare as many headlines as some other content management systems, but over the last decade it has built up an impressive <a href="http://wcm.asbrusoft.com/page.jsp/id=2152?version=WCM">client base</a>, and has continuously made impressive enhancements to its CMS. The release earlier this month of Asbru Web Content Management v7.0 is no exception and I don't think it's hyperbole to say that it's their strongest release to date.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229207866?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_Authors<a href="http://www.asbrusoft.com/">Asbru</a> may not snare as many headlines as some other content management systems, but over the last decade it has built up an impressive <a href="http://wcm.asbrusoft.com/page.jsp/id=2152?version=WCM">client base</a>, and has continuously made impressive enhancements to its CMS. The release earlier this month of Asbru Web Content Management v7.0 is no exception and I don't think it's hyperbole to say that it's their strongest release to date.From my point of view, the most impressive feature delivered in version 7.0 is the ability to import static DreamWeaver and HTML-based sites, converting them into a database-driven site running on Asbru's Web CMB. Although I haven't thoroughly tested this, it appears to be a great opportunity to upgrade a basic site and make the leap to a full-featured content management system. <P> Version 7.0 also enhances support for multiple content types, improves scripting and makes a number of performance improvements. You can find the <a href="http://wcm.asbrusoft.com/page.jsp/id=791?version=WebMan">full list of enhancements</a> on its site. <P> Asbru virtually defines an agile development cycle with its rapid release schedule, although that has its pros and cons. If you're opting to host the content management system yourself, you would have been faced with nearly 20 updates last year. Fortunately, Asbru also offers a hosted solution, which removes the headache of handling this yourself. <P> Asbru Web Content Management v7.0 supports multiple programming languages and back-end databases, making it particularly flexible. It also packs in a lot of value, with the Personal Edition starting at less than $100 and ranging up to just over $3,000 for the Professional Suite. Asbru also makes its source code available, which is certain to appeal to shops doing their own custom development. <P> For a small to medium-sized organization looking to make an investment in a value-minded but feature-rich content management system, Asbru's latest release is well worth a look.2009-02-23T23:06:41ZThis week the <a href="http://silverstripe.org">SilverStripe</a> team <a href="http://silverstripe.org/stable-download">released version 2.3.0</a> of its open source content management system, which packs in literally hundreds of bug fixes and dozens of enhancements. While I wouldn't consider anything in the latest release to be particularly groundbreaking, the development team is doing a commendable job of adding onto an already solid foundation.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229207770?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsThis week the <a href="http://silverstripe.org">SilverStripe</a> team <a href="http://silverstripe.org/stable-download">released version 2.3.0</a> of its open source content management system, which packs in literally hundreds of bug fixes and dozens of enhancements. While I wouldn't consider anything in the latest release to be particularly groundbreaking, the development team is doing a commendable job of adding onto an already solid foundation.Back in October 2008, SilverStripe CMS took home the <a href="http://www.packtpub.com/article/2008-most-promising-open-source-cms-announced">Most Promising Open Source Content Management System</a> award from <a href=" http://www.packtpub.com/award">Packt Publishing's 2008 Open Source CMS Awards</a>. The award raised the project's profile and helped garner it some well-deserved attention. <P> I have mixed feelings about the word "promising" when it comes to software. Sure, it may mean that good things are on the way, but it also means that they aren't quite here just yet. Fortunately the latter doesn't seem to apply to SilverStripe. Over the past couple of years, SilverStripe has emerged as a mature, robust content management system. <P> SilverStripe offers two main software packages -- the content management system, as well as <a href="http://silverstripe.org/sapphire/">Sapphire</a>, a Web site development framework. The company recently split its Web presence into two sites -- <a href="http://silverstripe.com/">Silverstripe.com</a> focuses on the services side (custom development, integration) and Silverstripe.org focuses on the software side. <P> Like the best content management systems, the SilverStripe CMS does a good job of striking a balance between real-world usability for content creators and editors, and impressive back-end technology for site developers. To get a flavor for what SilverStripe is all about, I'd recommend checking out the <a href="http://silverstripe.org/assets/video/cms-small.html">video that runs through the basics of managing content</a>, and then giving the <a href="http://demo.silverstripe.com/">live demo</a> a try.2009-02-19T21:23:56ZThere's no shortage of people willing to rhapsodize about why their favorite open source content management system is better than everyone else's. So it's sure to be interesting to watch three skilled, dedicated teams trying to prove the superiority of <a href="http://www.drupal.org">Drupal</a>, <a href="http://joomla.org">Joomla</a>, and <a href="http://www.wordpress.org">WordPress</a>, respectively, in a three-way showdown next month at the <a href="http://sxsw.com/interactive/">South by Southwest Interactive Festival</a>.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229207671?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsThere's no shortage of people willing to rhapsodize about why their favorite open source content management system is better than everyone else's. So it's sure to be interesting to watch three skilled, dedicated teams trying to prove the superiority of <a href="http://www.drupal.org">Drupal</a>, <a href="http://joomla.org">Joomla</a>, and <a href="http://www.wordpress.org">WordPress</a>, respectively, in a three-way showdown next month at the <a href="http://sxsw.com/interactive/">South by Southwest Interactive Festival</a>.Earlier this week <a href="http://www.palantir.net/">Palanstir's</a> George DeMet announced the details of the contest on his <a href="http://www.palantir.net/blog/ultimate-showdown-underway">blog</a>. From DeMet's post: <P> <blockquote>...the project is essentially an "Iron Chef"-style competition pitting three teams of all-star Web developers from the Drupal, Joomla, and WordPress communities against each other to develop the same Web site in each of their chosen open source content management platforms.</blockquote> <P> DeMet also posted the <a href="http://www.palantir.net/sxsw/sxsw_spec_final.pdf">project specification</a> as well as a set of design concepts from author and contest judge Mark Boulton. <P> Although they'll have almost a month to mentally prepare, starting on March 16 each team will have only 100 hours to actually build a site to the specifications DeMet has laid out. The teams of five people each are being led by Colleen Carroll for Drupal, Arno Zjilstra for Joomla, and Matt Mullenweg for WordPress. <P> Tip of the hat to Seth Gottlieb's Content Here blog, <a href="http://www.contenthere.net/2009/02/iron-cms.html">where I first read about the showdown</a>. Gottlieb also points out the few reasons why this may not be a completely fair fight, notably that George DeMet, one of the main organizers of the contest, runs a consultancy that specializes in Drupal. <P> Nevertheless, I love this sort of thing, particularly because there's nothing up for grabs other than bragging rights. Even if it's going to be impossible to crown an undisputed champion, real-world proof-of-concept exercises like this can go a long way toward getting the word out about excellent free content management tools. I'll be eagerly awaiting the results.2009-02-17T22:10:28ZI've been keeping an eye on <a href="http://www.kentico.com/">Kentico CMS</a> for a while now, and I've been consistently impressed with its products. With each release, it has been adding substantial new features to an already solid foundation and Kentico CMS 4.0, released earlier this month, is no exception. This release focuses on a number of social networking tools, including support for blogs, wikis, and community-building and management features.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229207497?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsI've been keeping an eye on <a href="http://www.kentico.com/">Kentico CMS</a> for a while now, and I've been consistently impressed with its products. With each release, it has been adding substantial new features to an already solid foundation and Kentico CMS 4.0, released earlier this month, is no exception. This release focuses on a number of social networking tools, including support for blogs, wikis, and community-building and management features.One of the things I like most about Kentico is that it is clearly focused on value. Last year it adopted the popular model of offering a full-featured version of its CMS for free, albeit without support, and charging for additional features and support. <P> Kentico CMS 4.0 continues that trend with four different editions: Free, Professional, Enterprise, and Social Networking. The <a href="http://www.kentico.com/cms-asp-net-features/Feature-Matrix.aspx">feature matrix</a> lays out the pricing and what's included with each edition. While the pricing seems to have crept up a bit in the last year, it's still a bargain at under three grand for the full Social Networking Edition. <P> While the new social networking features are the star of the show, version 4.0 offers a number of other features, including improvements to URL aliasing, which can make sites easier to search, and easy-to-use support for slick Ajax features. <P> Kentico's products are ASP.NET-based, and one of the things it has done particularly well is develop a robust Microsoft partner program to assist organizations in building Kentico CMS-powered sites. Of course, there's nothing stopping you from developing the site in-house, but it's nice to have options. <P> Kentico's proven themselves to have a thoughtful road map that lines up well with its customer's needs. I think its products are well worth checking out, particularly if you're working in a .NET environment.2009-02-13T21:15:37ZUp to this point there's been a tremendous amount of excitement surrounding the proposed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_Management_Interoperability_Services">Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS)</a>, but it takes a lot of work to take something from the proposal stage into something more concrete. As with any issue that requires broad-based consensus building, there's always the risk that two or more parties just won't see eye to eye and the whole project will go flying off the tracks.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229207708?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsUp to this point there's been a tremendous amount of excitement surrounding the proposed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_Management_Interoperability_Services">Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS)</a>, but it takes a lot of work to take something from the proposal stage into something more concrete. As with any issue that requires broad-based consensus building, there's always the risk that two or more parties just won't see eye to eye and the whole project will go flying off the tracks.So with that in the back of my mind, it's reassuring to see real progress being made. John Newton, the CTO and Chairman of <a href="http://www.alfresco.com">Alfresco</a>, recently posted on his<a href="http://newton.typepad.com/content/2009/01/cmis-face-to-face-at-microsoft-in-redmond.html"> blog</a> about the first face-to-face meeting of the OASIS CMIS Technical Committee last month. Alfresco has been one of the key players in helping shape the CMIS specification, and it's fascinating to have a fly on the wall view into the process. <P> Some highlights from his post: <P> <blockquote> The CMIS effort so far has been use case driven with the main use cases being collaborative content management, integration into portals, mashups and search...We don't want CMIS to be so complex that you can build a records management system, but you may want to access records information for the purposes of eDiscovery...These use cases that are in-scope seem to be clear and compelling enough that we all agreed that we urgently want to get CMIS to market to get people building these applications....There was so much agreement and consensus in the meeting that we all felt it is important to meet the deadline of having CMIS complete before the end of the year.</blockquote> <P> Regardless of what the final specification looks like, CMIS is already proving to be a game changer across the entire content management industry. At the very least it's certain to make some real waves with companies whose products primarily act as middleware between disparate content management systems. For for those of us interested in watching as the CMIS specification takes shape, Newton's post is truly compelling stuff.2009-02-11T21:23:50ZIn the content management system world, there's a fine line between "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" and simply letting your product get stagnant while competitors race ahead. While it had been starting to look like <a href="http://www.aspapp.com/">Iatek's PortalApp .NET</a> might be falling into the second category, the release last week of PortalApp .NET Enterprise 4.0 puts the company squarely back into the thick of things.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229207757?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsIn the content management system world, there's a fine line between "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" and simply letting your product get stagnant while competitors race ahead. While it had been starting to look like <a href="http://www.aspapp.com/">Iatek's PortalApp .NET</a> might be falling into the second category, the release last week of PortalApp .NET Enterprise 4.0 puts the company squarely back into the thick of things.Version 4.0 delivers a number of must-have tools and technologies -- blogging support and community features, for example -- that any modern CMS needs to offer if it expects to be taken seriously. You can bet that its existing customers have been breathing down their necks to get their hands on these new additions. <P> PortalApp .NET Enterprise 4.0 also offers improvements to content creation and management as well as broadening support for extensions that enhance the base functionality. Also notably improved is their support for a broad range of content types -- it now has templates for more than 100 different content types, and that's likely to continue to grow. <P> It's been nearly five years since PortalApp released version 3.0 -- practically an eternity in Internet technology time. The good news for PortalApp and its customer base (2,500 strong, at last count) is that PortalApp .NET Enterprise 4.0 is a solid release that's clearly intended to make up for lost time. One of the major items on PortalApp's road map is a free light version of PortalApp .NET, and while that will likely generate some interest, time will tell if dipping their toes into the Web 2.0 waters will be enough to sustain their momentum going forward.2009-02-09T21:14:55ZAfter nearly half a year of heavy development, <a href="http://radiantcms.org/ ">Radiant 0.7.0</a>, a content management system built on the <a href="http://rubyonrails.org">Ruby on Rails framework</a>, was released this past weekend. This newest version delivers a nice set of new functionality and backend improvements that are sure to make it even more appealing to small teams with basic content management needs.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229207550?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsAfter nearly half a year of heavy development, <a href="http://radiantcms.org/ ">Radiant 0.7.0</a>, a content management system built on the <a href="http://rubyonrails.org">Ruby on Rails framework</a>, was released this past weekend. This newest version delivers a nice set of new functionality and backend improvements that are sure to make it even more appealing to small teams with basic content management needs.By design, Radiant has a fairly limited set of base functionality, although it can be easily expanded with an impressive library of extensions. The team behind Radiant clearly has simplicity and ease of use in mind, as administrators will find just three basic components: pages, snippets and layouts. Pages contain the actual content in a Radiant-powered site, while snippets are used for content that's reused in multiple places throughout the site. Layouts define the look and feel. <P> Radiant 0.7.0, code named Intaglio, doesn't mess with this basic approach, but instead focuses on broadening its support for recent versions of Ruby on Rails (Rails 2.1.2 is included and Ruby 1.8.7 is now supported), as well as a number of improvements to performance, the underlying database templates and extension support. <P> Radiant probably isn't the right solution for an organization looking for a full-featured enterprise content management system, but for a group with basic content management needs that's already comfortable using Ruby on Rails, it may just be the perfect fit - give the <a href="http://radiantcms.org/demo/">live demo</a> a try to find out. <P> Ruby on Rails has rapidly gained popularity over the past few years as an excellent framework for quickly building slick Web 2.0 sites and applications, and Radiant was clearly built in the same spirit. I'll be watching its progress with interest.2009-02-06T23:05:03Z<a href="http://www.jahia.com">Jahia</a> launched version 6 of its open source enterprise content management system a couple of weeks ago, adding some slick new features to the content creation tools, and adding a number of improvements to its document management functionality.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229207528?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_Authors<a href="http://www.jahia.com">Jahia</a> launched version 6 of its open source enterprise content management system a couple of weeks ago, adding some slick new features to the content creation tools, and adding a number of improvements to its document management functionality.On the front end, the Jahia 6 user interface has been overhauled and now incorporates Ajax throughout. Everything from workflows to toolbars can be customized to a team's specific needs, making the content management process much more flexible and efficient. <P> Jahia 6 also makes significant improvements to document management and broadens support for portal development and deployment, both of which promise to be welcome enhancements for IT teams. <P> As a for-profit company offering an open source content management solution, Jahia has both a free Community Edition and a subscription-based Enterprise Edition. The Community Edition was launched at the tail end of January under a GPL License, and the Enterprise Edition should be released fairly soon. <P> Although the Community Edition doesn't include professional support, answers to many of your questions can be provided by a community itself. The Enterprise Edition, on the other hand, offers a number of levels of professional support, as well as adding features not included in the free version. <P> Jahia has quietly built an impressive roster of international customers over the past few years, including Virgin America, the United Nations, and more than 300 others. You can get more information about the newly released Community Edition on <a href="http://www.jahia.org">Jahia.org</a>, and information on the Enterprise Edition and the company in general on Jahia.com.2009-02-02T21:42:04ZAs traditional blogging platforms such as <a href="http://www.wordpress.org">WordPress</a> and <a href="http://www.movabletype.org">Movable Type</a> seem to make their products more like full-fledged content management systems with each release, there's an interesting counter-movement bubbling up: content management tools that seek to provide simplicity over deep functionality.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229207633?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsAs traditional blogging platforms such as <a href="http://www.wordpress.org">WordPress</a> and <a href="http://www.movabletype.org">Movable Type</a> seem to make their products more like full-fledged content management systems with each release, there's an interesting counter-movement bubbling up: content management tools that seek to provide simplicity over deep functionality.I've been looking at three of these tools -- <a href="http://surrealcms.com/">Surreal CMS</a>, <a href="http://clovercontent.com/">Clover CMS</a>, and <a href="http://www.cushycms.com/">Cushy CMS</a>. While there are certainly differences from tool to tool, the approach for each is somewhat similar. An administrator has the ability to set certain sections of the pages on a site as editable, and can then allow the people responsible for writing content access to just those sections with a basic WYSIWYG editor. When someone later visits the page, it loads the freshly edited content and seamlessly displays it. <P> It's an inventive approach and it's particularly useful for site builders that want to offer content creators limited access. Content creators will be happy because they can make the updates and changes that they need themselves, and the site designers are happy because they don't have to worry that content creators will modify anything that could cause problems with the site. <P> It also should be noted that while the goal here is to make it easy as possible for non-technical users to edit content, you'll still need some technical chops to set up the site to begin with. If you're creating a simple two- or three-page site and want to allow someone to edit portions of it, this approach may be worth checking out. My concern is that once your users have more advanced needs -- such as a regularly updated blog or a site with more than a handful of pages -- they'll be likely to outgrow these tools fairly quickly.2009-01-30T18:27:31ZAlmost a year and a half after its last major release, the open source .Net-based <a href="http://www.Umbraco.org/v4">Umbraco 4</a> content management system was finally released this week, and based on the impressive set of new functionality and features, it looks to have been worth the wait.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229208165?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsAlmost a year and a half after its last major release, the open source .Net-based <a href="http://www.Umbraco.org/v4">Umbraco 4</a> content management system was finally released this week, and based on the impressive set of new functionality and features, it looks to have been worth the wait.While some CMS offerings focus on usability at the expense of features or vice versa, Umbraco strikes a nice balance -- it offers powerful, user-friendly features for everyone from content creators to site designers to those responsible for making sure the back end works properly. <P> People using Umbraco to create and edit content will find it intuitive and familiar. While the built-in content tools allow you to seamlessly edit each page of the site you're working on, it's also possible to manage content directly from Word 2007, making it particularly accessible to people who haven't used content management systems in the past. <P> The features I like most are Umbraco's new site building tools. Boost is a tool used to create the basic framework of a Web site during the installation process. Into this framework you can plug in various modules -- which Umbraco calls Nitros -- that add functionality, such as menus, forms, and site maps. Umbraco has historically demonstrated a strong commitment to supporting Web standards, so further tweaking sites built with these tools should be fairly straightforward. <P> Another notable improvement in Umbraco 4 is broader database support; you can now use MySQL, MSSQL, and VistaDB, which certainly makes the platform a lot more flexible. <P> Umbraco 4 makes some pretty significant improvements across the board that I believe will win it a lot of new fans. While it's often overshadowed by <a href="http://www.DotNetNuke.com/">DotNetNuke</a>, Umbraco has emerged over the last few years as a solid choice for organizations seeking a .Net-based content management system. You can <a href="http://www.codeplex.com/umbraco/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=20699">download Umbraco 4</a> from the CodePlex open source software repository to find out for yourself.2009-01-27T21:09:01ZYou can barely take two steps on the Web these days without tripping over another "picking the best Web content management system" article, but I came across one published earlier this week on <a href="http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/">Webdesigner Depot</a> that was particularly informative, funny, and certain to stir some mild controversy.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229208331?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsYou can barely take two steps on the Web these days without tripping over another "picking the best Web content management system" article, but I came across one published earlier this week on <a href="http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/">Webdesigner Depot</a> that was particularly informative, funny, and certain to stir some mild controversy.In <a href="http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/01/how-to-choose-the-right-cms/">How To Choose The Right CMS</a>, author Derek Brown offers some genuinely good advice on pitfalls to avoid and things to look for in a CMS, while gleefully taking shots at the Joomla open source CMS, categorizing it as "evil." <P> He clearly hit a nerve. The comment section (up over 100 comments, last I looked) was packed with people not afraid to take sides. While some commenters took the opportunity to give a shout-out to their own favorite CMS, the lion's share of the rest are people either staunchly defending Joomla or joining Brown in damning it. Who knew content management systems could be so divisive? <P> Other than ruffling these feathers, the article actually has quite a bit to say. He starts off by calling out some mistakes to avoid, including choosing a CMS based on its "geek friendliness," assuming that more popular = better and allowing IT to make the decisions when it comes to choosing a CMS. While I can't say I agree with everything that he says -- IT certainly needs a seat at the CMS-selection table, for example -- these are generally pretty good guidelines. <P> From there he takes a closer look at some of his favorite up-and-coming (<a href="http://www.madebyfrog.com">Frog CMS</a>, <a href="http://www.concrete5.org/">Concrete5 CMS</a>, <a href="http://www.apple.com/ilife/iweb/">iWeb</a>) and established (<a href="http://www.drupal.org">Drupal</a>, <a href="http://www.wordpress.org">WordPress</a>, <a href="http://radiantcms.org/">Radiant CMS</a>, <a href="http://www.magentocommerce.com/">Magento</a>, <a href="http://silverstripe.org/">SilverStripe</a>) content management systems, with a helpful overview of the benefits of each. <P> The article is definitely worth the read, as long as you take it with a grain of salt. I agree that Joomla has its quirks, but come on ... evil? And don't skip the comments, as you may discover a content management system or two you haven't heard of before.2009-01-26T20:32:03ZIt's an unfortunate reality that in an economy like this not every content management vendor is going to stay afloat. While many ultimately will make it through, some are certain to be taken over and others simply will be forced to shut their doors.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229208240?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsIt's an unfortunate reality that in an economy like this not every content management vendor is going to stay afloat. While many ultimately will make it through, some are certain to be taken over and others simply will be forced to shut their doors.I'm sure that the <a href="http://www.autonomy.com/content/News/Releases/2009/0122.en.html">announcement</a> last week that <a href="http://www.autonomy.com/">Autonomy</a> is buying <a href="http://www.interwoven.com">Interwoven</a> raised the eyebrows of many of Interwoven's 4,600-plus customers, as they rightfully wonder what the heck it's going to mean for them. Autonomy has historically been known as an enterprise-search-focused company, so one has to wonder whether it's looking to round out its portfolio or cherry-pick some technology (and customers). <P> Knowing some of the warning signs can be key to helping you prepare. When long-promised upgrades fail year after year to materialize -- Interwoven's TeamSite 7 was promised for 2007, then 2008, and then 2009 -- it's time to take a step back and start weighing options. Keeping your eye on news about the company, particularly if it's publicly traded, can also help. If the company's revenue is spiraling downward and staff for research and development are being trimmed, it should probably give you pause. <P> Since the Autonomy/Interwoven announcement, it's been telling to see how many of the midtier content management vendors have tried to reassure existing customers that their finances are solid, while also hoping to pick up customers that are having second thoughts about staying with Interwoven. It's like an old-fashioned land grab ... <P> The last few years have seen quite a shakeout in the content management industry as vendors have merged, been bought out, or simply shut down. And while much of the low-hanging fruit has been gobbled up, it's hard to argue against the trend continuing. <P> I can't claim to know what will happen with Interwoven or any other CMS vendor in these tough economic times, but I do know that even if your vendor seems to be rock solid, it's never too early to start sketching out an exit strategy, just in case.2009-01-21T22:46:45ZContent management tools aren't just used for posting content to Web sites -- they also can be used for authoring and presenting documentation, creating interactive courses, and countless other purposes. Adobe this week announced the launch of two new content authoring suites, each with a separate target audience but a similar focus on delivering compelling content using mature, well-integrated tools.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229208279?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsContent management tools aren't just used for posting content to Web sites -- they also can be used for authoring and presenting documentation, creating interactive courses, and countless other purposes. Adobe this week announced the launch of two new content authoring suites, each with a separate target audience but a similar focus on delivering compelling content using mature, well-integrated tools.The two suites, <a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/elearningsuite/">Adobe eLearning Suite</a> and <a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/technicalcommunicationsuite/">Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2</a>, are a mix of newly upgraded tools -- the eLearning courseware authoring tool Captivate 4 is included in both suites -- bundled with perennial favorites such as Photoshop CS4 and Acrobat Pro. A number of the products in each suite include additional plug-ins and extensions to customize them for eLearning and technical communication respectively. <P> The Adobe eLearning Suite includes seven products: Captivate 4, Flash CS4 Professional with Learning Interactions, Dreamweaver CS4 with CourseBuilder Extension, Photoshop CS4 Extended, Acrobat 9 Pro, Presenter 7, and Soundbooth CS4, an audio recording and editing tool. <P> At the foundation of the Technical Communication Suite 2 are FrameMaker 9, a DITA-compliant tool used to author and publish technical documentation, and RoboHelp 8, a well-regarded tool used for creating knowledge bases and content for Help systems within software and on Web sites. Also included in the package are Captivate 4, Photoshop CS4, Acrobat 9 Pro Extended, and Presenter 7. <P> Neither package is cheap. The eLearning suite retails for about $1,800 and the Technical Communication Suite 2 goes for about $1,900, but when you consider the cost of buying each program separately, the suites end up being a good value. As with most Adobe software, you can download a trial to see if they're right for your organization.2009-01-20T21:11:08ZWhile there's no shortage of collaboration tools for small workgroups, large groups with dozens or even hundreds of individuals are somewhat limited in the ways they have to work together. With a multitude of opinions to consider, authoring and building consensus on a single document can be challenging, and while traditional wikis have their place, a company called <a href="http://www.mixedink.com/">MixedInk</a> has launched a new service aimed at making the process easier and more efficient.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229208009?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsWhile there's no shortage of collaboration tools for small workgroups, large groups with dozens or even hundreds of individuals are somewhat limited in the ways they have to work together. With a multitude of opinions to consider, authoring and building consensus on a single document can be challenging, and while traditional wikis have their place, a company called <a href="http://www.mixedink.com/">MixedInk</a> has launched a new service aimed at making the process easier and more efficient.The MixedInk team describes their service as "combining the wiki concept with Digg-for-ideas," and that seems about right. The approach is particularly interesting - as each individual writes their own document, they're presented with phrases and entire paragraphs as suggestions from other authors on the team. They can pick and choose what they like best, submit their own version and then vote on the results. Through multiple revisions and voting steps, a consensus version of the document takes shape. MixedInk has a clever <a href="http://vimeo.com/2674991">demo video</a> available that summarizes the entire process in about three minutes. <P> MixedInk's highest profile proof-of-concept demonstration to date is a partnership with <a href="http://www.slate.com">Slate Magazine</a> called <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2209138/">The People's Inaugural Address</a>. It was an opportunity for people to write what they wanted to hear in Barack Obama's inaugural address. It's interesting to compare how Obama's <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=6689022">actual inaugural address</a> echoes some of the same themes and sentiments, yet diverges in other areas. <P> I'd imagine that a large organization could find a lot of applications for the MixedInk service, although a small team probably would be better served by a solution offered by <a href="http://zoho.com/">Zoho</a>, <a href="http://docs.google.com/">Google Docs</a> or <a href="http://buzzword.acrobat.com/">Adobe's Buzzword</a>. <P> Nevertheless, MixedInk is an interesting idea executed well, and I look forward to see what they have in store for the future.2009-01-16T16:45:56ZIt appears that the Joomla community won't have to wait much longer to kick the tires on the next major release. The alpha release of Joomla 1.6 may be ready for testing within the next month or two, <a href="http://developer.joomla.org/coordinator-blog/286-happy-new-year-2009-is-going-to-be-a-big-one-point-six.html">according to a blog posting from a Joomla lead developer Andrew Eddie</a>.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229207947?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsIt appears that the Joomla community won't have to wait much longer to kick the tires on the next major release. The alpha release of Joomla 1.6 may be ready for testing within the next month or two, <a href="http://developer.joomla.org/coordinator-blog/286-happy-new-year-2009-is-going-to-be-a-big-one-point-six.html">according to a blog posting from a Joomla lead developer Andrew Eddie</a>.It's been about a year since Joomla 1.5 was released. Since then they've issued dot releases with a few minor enhancements and bug fixes, the most recent of which, <a href="http://www.joomla.org/announcements/release-news/5226-joomla-159-security-release-now-available.html">1.5.9</a>, addresses a couple security issues and a handful of bugs. <P> Joomla 1.6 adds two significant enhancements. The first is a revamp of the way that extensions are handled by the system, allowing more flexibility and customized builds. The second is an overhaul of access controls, which promises to give administrators much more granular control over user rights. While trying to estimate a production launch date based on the timing of an alpha is a fool's game, I think it's fair to say were looking at least two or three months before Joomla 1.6 is ready for prime time. <P> While on the topic of Joomla, I wanted to point out the excellent <a href="http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/01/05/joomla-developers-toolbox/">Joomla Developer's Toolbox</a> piece from Smashing Magazine earlier this month. It's a detailed, screenshot-packed run-through on how to get started, with links to tutorials and resources, information on how to find and use templates and extensions, and links to real-world examples of inventive implementations. It's a great article and good place to start for any Joomla newcomer. <P> Joomla already is one of the most popular open source content management systems available, and for good reason. It's flexible, extensible, has solid documentation, and a very active user community ready to help their peers tackle just about any issue. The solid road map and wealth of resources are sure to bolster this even more.2009-01-14T22:47:15ZContent migration can be one of the more technically challenging tasks facing administrators, whether you're running a complex site with thousands of articles or a simple blog with a handful of posts. Hoping to ease the pain a bit for the latter, Google recently introduced the <a href="http://code.google.com/p/google-blog-converters-appengine/">Google Blog Converters project</a>, which features tools intended to make migrations easier to and from a number of popular blogging and content management platforms.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229208125?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsContent migration can be one of the more technically challenging tasks facing administrators, whether you're running a complex site with thousands of articles or a simple blog with a handful of posts. Hoping to ease the pain a bit for the latter, Google recently introduced the <a href="http://code.google.com/p/google-blog-converters-appengine/">Google Blog Converters project</a>, which features tools intended to make migrations easier to and from a number of popular blogging and content management platforms.Currently the tools support content migration to and from <a href="http://wordpress.org/">WordPress</a>, <a href="http://www.movabletype.org/">MovableType</a>, <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/">LiveJournal</a>, and Google's own <a href="http://www.blogger.com/">Blogger</a> platform. The Data Liberation Front team at Google also announced that the scripts could now be run on Google App Engine. From their <a href="http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2009/01/google-blog-converters-10-released.html">post on the Google open-source blog</a>: <P> <blockquote>In addition, the source code includes templates for hosting these conversions on Google App Engine. Future additions to the project will include support for BlogML and synchronization tools between various services that do not provide an import/export feature but do provide APIs for accessing and modifying blog contents.</blockquote> <P> Having read with interest about some of the <a href="http://www.contenthere.net/2009/01/getting-your-google-mojo-back.html">challenges that the folks at Enter Content Here faced</a> when moving from Blogger to WordPress late last year, I'd be interested in seeing how their migration would work with these new tools. It's not often that you see a company offer up tools that make it easier to move off of their platform, but to paraphrase their post, your blog is your data. This, of course, isn't the only way to move your data -- many content management systems offer modules specifically for importing data from other platforms -- but this is the first time that I've seen so many options in one place. It's a bit of a Swiss Army knife approach to content migration, and I think it will be very well received by the blogging and content management communities.2009-01-12T21:34:59ZWhile there are plenty of options to choose from if you're looking for free, open source PHP-based content management systems, the list is much shorter for organizations using Microsoft's .NET framework and coding in C#. While <a href="http://www.dotnetnuke.com/">DotNetNuke</a> has received the lion's share of attention over the past year or so, it certainly isn't the only game in town.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229208348?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsWhile there are plenty of options to choose from if you're looking for free, open source PHP-based content management systems, the list is much shorter for organizations using Microsoft's .NET framework and coding in C#. While <a href="http://www.dotnetnuke.com/">DotNetNuke</a> has received the lion's share of attention over the past year or so, it certainly isn't the only game in town.That brings me to <a href="http://www.mojoportal.com/home.aspx">mojoPortal</a>, an ASP.NET-based content management system that's been quietly building a solid, mature platform for nearly 5 years. While mojoPortal is primarily developed and maintained by Joe Audette, there's an active community of users and contributors and a solid set of documentation to help new users get up to speed. <P> It's a surprisingly flexible platform. Although it's written in C#, mojoPortal can actually run on a number of different platforms, including Microsoft's .NET framework or the open source .NET alternative, <a href="http://mono-project.com/Main_Page">Mono</a>. On the database side it can run on SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and a handful of other options. <P> In terms of features, mojoPortal covers most of the basics that you'd expect from a content management system platform that's been around for five years. As stated on the site: <P> <blockquote>You can think of mojoPortal as a Starter Kit for Advanced ASP.NET Web Sites and Portals. Out of the box, mojoPortal provides dynamic database-driven Web site(s) with an XHTML compliant Content Management System and community features like Blogs, Forums, Image Galleries, etc. </blockquote> <P> The most recent version of mojoPortal (2.2.8.2) was released earlier this month, but the team behind it has a rapid development cycle -- it seems as if it has been putting out a new release every two to three weeks. Based on the road map and what ends up in each release, it's clear the team is reading its feedback and responding to requests quickly. <P> Having more options -- particularly when it comes to choosing a content management system -- is a good thing, and mojoPortal is well worth adding to your list for evaluation.2009-01-08T21:01:48ZThe past couple of days have been an interesting roller-coaster ride for sites using the hosted <a href="http://www.soapblox.net">SoapBlox content management system</a>. From all appearances, SoapBlox's servers were compromised by hackers earlier this week, and Paul Preston, the president of SoapBlox, came close to shutting down the service completely.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229208282?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsThe past couple of days have been an interesting roller-coaster ride for sites using the hosted <a href="http://www.soapblox.net">SoapBlox content management system</a>. From all appearances, SoapBlox's servers were compromised by hackers earlier this week, and Paul Preston, the president of SoapBlox, came close to shutting down the service completely.The good news is that it appears that Preston, who basically ran SoapBlox as a one-man show, has had a change of heart. Due in part to the kindness and assistance of numerous volunteers, it looks as if it's well on the way to restoring the functionality of hosted sites, and working on a more sustainable long-term model for managing the platform and servers. From the <a href="http://www.soapblox.net/blog/">SoapBlox blog</a>: <blockquote> We have many wonderful people now volunteering to ensure this doesn't happen again. Clean servers are being created, and existing sites will be migrated shortly on to these more secure servers. <P> Discussions are currently underway on how to best provide the SoapBlox service, continually improve it, and keep it funded in a way that keeps everything running smoothly. </blockquote> <P> SoapBlox is a CMS and community site framework <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/1/7/121323/7371/193/681191">based loosely on Scoop, the software that runs DailyKos</a>, a popular left-leaning political site. While it has a relatively small customer base, the sites it hosts are made up for the most part of local political organizations sharing many of the same political viewpoints as DailyKos. <P> We may never know the identity of the hackers, or why they targeted SoapBlox. But this does serve as a reminder of some things to keep in mind when selecting and maintaining a content management system. <P> While SoapBlox offered a solid set of features, there can be little argument that there's a risk in choosing a platform or host that relies on an single person or two. It looks as if SoapBlox is working to change that, but one has to wonder if it would be in this predicament if it had a dedicated support team in place to begin with. <P> This also underlines the importance of backing up your site, no matter how much confidence you have in the vendor. Servers die, companies go out of business, and hackers hack all the time, and you need to have a backup in case something like this ever happens to one of your sites. <P> It looks as if this story will have a happy ending for SoapBlox and its customers. Just remember to do what you can to make sure your story has one, too.2009-01-06T22:23:58ZJakob Nielsen of the <a href="http://www.nngroup.com/">Nielsen Norman Group</a> posted his <a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/intranet_design.html">2009 picks for the best-designed intranets</a> in his Alertbox column earlier this week, and while there are no earth-shattering surprises, the list and his views on the state of intranets in general is always an interesting read.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229207929?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsJakob Nielsen of the <a href="http://www.nngroup.com/">Nielsen Norman Group</a> posted his <a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/intranet_design.html">2009 picks for the best-designed intranets</a> in his Alertbox column earlier this week, and while there are no earth-shattering surprises, the list and his views on the state of intranets in general is always an interesting read.As he summarizes: <blockquote> Intranets are getting more strategic, with increased collaboration support. Team size is growing by 12% per year, and platforms are becoming integrated, with a strong showing for SharePoint. Improving usability increased use by 106% on average.</blockquote> <P> The Nielsen Norman Group has been compiling this top 10 list since 2001, although in 2004 they focused on government intranets. Each year's list is accompanied by a sizable report with details on each site, and <a href="http://www.nngroup.com/reports/intranet/design/">this year's report</a>, the biggest ever, weighs in at 473 pages and features more than 200 screenshots. <P> Here are Nielsen's picks for the 10 best intranets of 2009: <P> -Altran -Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) -BASF SE -COWI Group A/S -Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (DTT) -Environmental Resource Management (ERM) -HSBC Bank Brazil -Kaupthing Bank -L.L.Bean -McKesson Corporation <P> Nielsen's main focus always has been site usability, and this year is no exception. Almost to a fault, it seems that he prefers simplicity over flashiness and has eschewed much of the hype surrounding Web 2.0-driven designs. <P> That said, there's a notable appreciation in this year's list of collaboration and social networking features as valuable tools in many of the leading sites. I'm glad to see that Nielsen's warming up to these new technologies and <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/intranets_increased_collaboration_support.php">I'm certainly not the only one</a>. <P> Nielsen is a bit of a lovable curmudgeon, but he really knows his stuff. For that, his thoughts are always worth reading.2008-12-31T14:44:08Z<a href="http://www.aiim.org/" target="_blank">AIIM</a>, the Association for Information and Image Management, has long been a useful resource for established content management industry professionals as well as organizations just getting started with piecing together a content strategy.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229208596?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_Authors<a href="http://www.aiim.org/" target="_blank">AIIM</a>, the Association for Information and Image Management, has long been a useful resource for established content management industry professionals as well as organizations just getting started with piecing together a content strategy.AIIM has added to its site over the past few weeks high-level introductions to a number of content management topics, which will be particularly helpful to people in the second category. Among these are <a href="http://www.aiim.org/What-is-Email-Management-EMM.aspx" target="_blank">What is Email Management?</a>, <a href="http://www.aiim.org/What-is-ERM-Electronic-Records-Management.aspx" target="_blank">What is Electronic Records Management?</a>, <a href="http://www.aiim.org/What-is-ECM-Enterprise-Content-Management.aspx" target="_blank">What is Enterprise Content Management?</a>, <a href="http://www.aiim.org/What-is-BPM-Business-Process-Management.aspx" target="_blank">What is Business Process Management (BPM)?</a>, and <a href="http://www.aiim.org/Infonomics/ArticleView.aspx?ID=35472" target="_blank">Best Practices 101</a>. These aren't by any means a full education on the topics, but they do serve as a nice primer. You can also find a handful of other subjects in the Resource Center section of the site. <P> Also new on the site are the articles from the November/December issue of <i>Infonomics</I>, AIIM's bimonthly publication. Although the issue has been available as a downloadable digital magazine for a few weeks, it's helpful to be able to reference them online. <P> There are a number of good pieces this month, including <a href="http://www.aiim.org/Infonomics/DAM-vs-WCM.aspx" target="_blank">a comparison of the similarities and differences between digital asset management and Web content management</a>, and <a href="http://www.aiim.org/Infonomics/SaaS-Meets-ECM-2.aspx" target="_blank">a look at the return on investment for software-as-a-service offerings</a>. Both articles are worth a read. <P> Content management is a broad topic, and sometimes it's tough to know where to start. Being able to bridge the gap between seasoned vets and content management newbies is one of the things that makes AIIM so helpful.2008-12-23T22:02:10ZI've never been one to make grand predictions about the future of technology, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy hearing what others have to say. As 2008 comes to a close, a handful of prognosticators are stepping forward to offer up their vision for the future of content management. Here are some of the more interesting lists ...http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229208664?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsI've never been one to make grand predictions about the future of technology, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy hearing what others have to say. As 2008 comes to a close, a handful of prognosticators are stepping forward to offer up their vision for the future of content management. Here are some of the more interesting lists ...The first entry on our list is from <a href="http://www.cmswatch.com/Feature/189-Predictions-2009">CMS Watch</a>, with its Technology Predictions for 2009. Highlights include its prediction that 2009 will be a good year for open source enterprise content management, that regulatory compliance and e-discovery will be hot topics, and that the content management industry will both consolidate and focus on software as a service models. The team of analysts at CMS Watch is particularly insightful, and their list is well worth a read. <P> The next entry is from content management vendor <a href="http://www.vignette.com/portal/site/us/menuitem.62215d74e262b2ba32189210180141a0/?vgnextoid=ec2484d20f34e110VgnVCM1000005610140aRCRD&vgnext-selected-menuitem=191626ff2f7512e8fb3d8010180141a0">Vignette</a>. Since it has its own software to sell, you have to assume there's going to be some bias. That said, it's a pretty solid list that foresees a number of trends, including the deployment of Web 2.0 collaboration tools in the enterprise (they call it Enterprise 2.0), a continuing focus on personalization, growing interest in cloud computing, and a strong push in the area of the semantic web -- the idea that the context of a page is just as important as its content. <P> The <a href="http://ccsblog.burtongroup.com/collaboration_and_content/2008/12/the-2009-communication-collaboration-and-content-landscape.html">Burton Group</a> has an interesting way of presenting its thoughts for 2009. It presents a graph that shows six key areas of technology -- Search, E-mail, Real-time Communications, Productivity, Content, and Collaboration -- and give its view on the maturity of each technology, across the range of Developing, Mainstream, Stable, and Sunsetting. The approach and explanations are worth a look. <P> <a href="http://blog.junta42.com/content_marketing_blog/2008/12/42-social-media-and-content-marketing-predictions-for-2009.html">Junta42.com</a>, a community for people interested in content marketing and custom publishing, asked its top 42 bloggers to submit predictions for next year. Their list has a lot of interesting points of view, and while there's a heavy focus on marketing and social media, there are some worthwhile nuggets here. <P> One thing that I found interesting was that nowhere did I come across any mentions of content management interoperability services (CMIS), which I expect to be a major force over the next few years. I'm not quite sure how to interpret that. One thing's for sure, though; the content management industry -- and information technology in general -- is in for an interesting (and possibly bumpy) ride in 2009. I look forward to watching it unfold.2008-12-19T23:51:03ZAs more household names from print make the migration to the Web, it will be more critical than ever for them to focus on certain principles that lay the foundation for a successful site. From my point of view, there are three basic things they need to get right: the content itself, the design, and the content management tools.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229208697?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsAs more household names from print make the migration to the Web, it will be more critical than ever for them to focus on certain principles that lay the foundation for a successful site. From my point of view, there are three basic things they need to get right: the content itself, the design, and the content management tools.You've probably heard the recent news about both <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/"><i>PC Magazine</i></a> and the <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/"><i>Christian Science Monitor</i></a> ending their print runs, but they're far from the only print publications teetering on the brink. Even the venerable <a href="http://nytimes.com"><i>New York Times</i></a> appears to be <a href="http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/11/new-york-times-cash-crunch-2-negative-net-worth">facing some financial challenges</a> and may need to accelerate the shift of its focus from print to online. <P> <i>PC Magazine</i> already has a solid, successful online presence, with pcmag.com as the centerpiece of its network of sites. <i>PC Magazine</i> itself will continue as <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2335009,00.asp">PC Magazine Digital</a>, which is in a format similar to the print magazine and it also employs a subscription model. One would assume, however, that most of the content will end up on pcmag.com as well. <P> The <i>Christian Science Monitor</i> has engaged Duo Consulting to help with the design and implementation of the site, which will be based on the <a href="http://ez.no/company/news/christian_science_monitor_chooses_partners_for_print_to_web_conversion">eZ Publish</a> content management system. More than just a Web site redesign, it appears that Duo is helping them shape an entire online strategy. <P> A world where we can't flip through our favorite magazines and newspapers is hard to imagine, and while the evolution from print to online won't be easy, a lot of newspapers and magazines are <a href="http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/11/11/newspaper-website-design-trends-and-examples/">getting things right</a>. The best examples here put most of their focus on good design matched with compelling content. The content management tools are secondary, quietly doing the heavy lifting in the background. <P> Let's hope that as more publications make the Web their only home, they're learning from these best practices.2008-12-18T00:45:02ZFew tools are as effective as a wiki when an organization needs to quickly post and collaborate on content. Dozens of free and paid options for creating a wiki exist, but when it comes to quickly and easily creating a wiki with minimal technical headaches, I keep coming back to <a href="http://pbwiki.com">PBwiki</a>.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229208591?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsFew tools are as effective as a wiki when an organization needs to quickly post and collaborate on content. Dozens of free and paid options for creating a wiki exist, but when it comes to quickly and easily creating a wiki with minimal technical headaches, I keep coming back to <a href="http://pbwiki.com">PBwiki</a>.I'm certainly not alone. It recently snared a second-place finish behind <a href="http://www.wikipedia.org/">Wikipedia</a> in <a href="http://mashable.com/openwebawards/the-winners/">Mashable.com's Open Web Awards</a>, (the PBwiki team's tongue-in-cheek <a href="http://blog.pbwiki.com/2008/12/11/we-demand-a-recount-open-web-awards/">demand for a recount</a> gave me a chuckle) and are continuing to build an impressive customer base of more than half a million individual wikis for personal, business, and academic use. <P> Thanks to a solid feature set, ease of use, and centrally hosted model, PBwiki continues to be one of the easiest, fastest ways to launch a wiki. The PBwiki team is adding functionality and upgrading features at a rapid pace -- it most recently added document management features (basic features are available for free, but document searching requires a premium account). It also has bumped up the file storage to 2 GB for the free service and made file storage for the premium service unlimited. <P> I'd argue that <a href="http://www.mediawiki.org/ ">MediaWiki</a> -- the free, open source software behind Wikipedia -- is more powerful, but it's also more solution than most organizations need. It requires that you provide your own hosting, which can quickly result in administrative and technical headaches. A hosted wiki can help you avoid that, and you can be up and running within minutes. <P> Even in its free incarnation, PBwiki can be a great solution. Its basic wiki editing and administration features are top-notch, and the platform offers built-in RSS feeds, automatic backups, an API to allow other applications to hook into your wiki, and a robust set of security features. Unless you're inclined to host your own wiki (and granted, quite a few organizations are), PBwiki is well worth checking out.2008-12-15T21:29:20ZLast week, after a long process of drafting and refining the documents, W3C's <a href="http://www.w3.org/WAI/">Web Accessibility Initiative</a> released the <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/">Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0)</a>. It's been nine years since the guidelines have been updated, and while the technology behind Web sites has vastly changed, the basic need for accessibility hasn't.http://www.iweek-interim.com/news/229208512?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsLast week, after a long process of drafting and refining the documents, W3C's <a href="http://www.w3.org/WAI/">Web Accessibility Initiative</a> released the <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/">Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0)</a>. It's been nine years since the guidelines have been updated, and while the technology behind Web sites has vastly changed, the basic need for accessibility hasn't.In a nutshell, WCAG 2.0 is a series of guidelines around making Web sites accessible to older users, the vision impaired, and other people with disabilities. From the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) <a href="http://www.w3.org/QA/2008/12/wcag_20_is_finalized.html">blog post announcing the new guidelines</a>: <P> <blockquote>WCAG 2.0 is a significant improvement. It's better for Web site creators, it's better for people with disabilities, and many others, too. WCAG 2.0 met its goals: to apply to more advanced technologies; to be more precisely testable (with automated testing and human evaluation); and to be easier to use and understand.</blockquote> <P> While the guidelines themselves are extremely detailed, W3C has provided an excellent <a href="http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/quickref/">quick reference guide on how to meet the guidelines</a>, running through both technical best practices and pitfalls to avoid as well as the different levels of success criteria. <P> While many content management tools already have functionality to assist with making sites more accessible, a new set of <a href="http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/atag.php">Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG 2.0)</a> also is being developed. <P> The goal of ATAG 2.0 is twofold -- offering recommendations on how the tools can help make content more accessible, while at the same time making the tools themselves more accessible to those with disabilities. A <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/ATAG20/">working draft of the ATAG 2.0 guidelines</a> has been made available and the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Working Group is currently gathering feedback. <P> Unless your organization is federally funded or has government contracts (in which case you must adhere to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_508_Amendment_to_the_Rehabilitation_Act_of_1973">Section 508 regulations</a>), there's no legal mandate that your site must be accessible. But thanks to the efforts of dozens of volunteers putting in hundreds of hours of work, WCAG 2.0 makes it easier than ever to understand how to do the right thing.