Currently there are more than 200 commercially available content management
systems (CMSs). Each has strengths and weaknesses relative to the
others...belying their underlying middleware platform and customer history.
While not all are ColdFusion based, I believe that the CommonSpot Content
Server 3.0 (the 2001 CFDJ Readers' Choice winner) from PaperThin, Inc., sets
a new standard for flexibility and performance across all middle-tier
systems.
Comparing Apples to Apples
Believe it or not, there's quite a bit of controversy within the CMS industry
about what functionality a "Web content management" system should bring to
the table. After evaluating many CMS applications, however, I've found that
most vendors offer the following core set of features:
Nontechnical content contributors may modify the contents of their Web sites
anytime, anywhere, through their Web browse... (more)
I have always considered Ektron's eWebEditPro to be the best, easiest to
integrate, and most innovative Web-based WYSIWYG component available. Many
software vendors apparently concur with this assessment, for you can find the
product embedded in a number of CMS systems ranging from Allaire Spectra to
Microsoft Content Management Server 2002.
It should come as no surprise then that Ektron, seeking to capitalize on the
success of their award-winning editor, launched a series of
content-management products that interoperate with ColdFusion 4.x, 5.x,
Microsoft Active Server Pages, M... (more)
Over the past three years as an Allaire partner, I have been involved in
countless marketing presentations where I touted ColdFusion as the best
solution for producing Web-based applications. During this time other product
vendors, instead of selling against CF based on feature comparisons, have
instead focused on peripheral issues. Throughout the CF 2.0 product cycle, I
would routinely be questioned about Allaire's staying power in the market,
financial performance and capital inflows. Allaire's rapidly expanding market
share and IPO silenced those critics. During the CF 3.x pro... (more)
Over the last nine years, I must have coded at least 100 ColdFusion
applications. Many of these contained similar features - calendaring,
e-commerce, content management, and dynamic survey forms. Several were
"one-offs" - based on work done for previous customers with some modified
behavior and rebranding. Others were architected to work in either a
dedicated or "Application Service Provider" mode. All of them required an
administrative interface with an accompanying security model that required a
significant amount of time to reimplement.
Blueprint, from Ivis Technologies, Inc.... (more)
After evaluating and deploying a number of content management systems over
the past five years, I guess I've become a bit jaded. Frankly, they all just
started to look the same. To be sure, each one has core strengths and
weaknesses. Each is usually geared to fit a certain vertical market
(education, for example), and many have similar levels of functionality. All
of them have significant usability issues - particularly when authoring
content that requires HTML tables.
So when I was asked to write a review of LayerIT CMS (priced at $2,695 for
the enterprise edition), I expected ... (more)