I appreciated the modes that allowed me to navigate sites using a folder hierarchy or by using searchable lists and reports.
Reports are quite extensive, not only providing Web site access data but also details about internal users, such as how many
times someone logged on and which pages they changed.
Several uncommon capabilities round out Advantage CMS, including team discussions, a project manager, and a task manager.
CrownPeak Advantage CMS packs as much power as you’d likely need for handling a spectrum of corporate sites. Although the
service lacks e-commerce, CRM (e-mail campaigns), and a few less important functions such as polls and chat, these are available
from a number of CrownPeak partners.
iUploadContent Manager
iUpload Content Manager offers a fairly complete feature set for both developers and end-users -- without sacrificing usability
for either group. Although this product is not intended for large, complex sites with a lot of authors, you can stretch iUpload
in other directions.
Logging in to iUpload reveals a portal-like site, with the number and type of options displayed in a tabbed menu bar, based
on role. As administrator, I first created templates and views for displaying content. After opening HTML pages in Dreamweaver,
I merely inserted iUpload tags and content placeholders and placed the resulting files into the system.
Content Manager Version 5, released this past summer, includes several enhancements over past versions that should interest
enterprise users. As with many other hosted offerings, with iUpload you don’t work with your Web site in context; rather,
you surf through a folder hierarchy to find a page or element to edit. To mitigate this problem, various areas of the user
interface, including the Site Architecture and Asset areas, have a quick search option.
The new rich text in this release has excellent Apple Macintosh and Mozilla browser support. This word-processing-style editor
offers many text formatting options and tables. In addition, it cleans extraneous HTML tags hidden in text pasted from Microsoft
Word. When edits had been completed, menu options allowed me to either view the page as it would appear on the live site,
publish the page immediately, or set the date and time for changes to appear; it’s also possible to archive content, but that’s
done in another area of the user interface, which is a bit inconvenient.
iUpload Content Manager has a decent array of high-end features, but that doesn’t get in the way of publishing more basic
sites. Workflow, for instance, can include multiple steps, with each one triggering an e-mail event. Yet if you don’t want
this, the home page of the portal links to a section where each user can review content they have been assigned.
Similarly, group and user permissions have been revamped. This streamlined the process of adding users and then determining
which interface tabs were shown to each person. Taking permissions to another level, I used this capability to secure portions
of the site -- a helpful feature for extranets, to which you want to limit access to a small group of external editors.
This system shouldn’t hinder the creativity of designers and developers. Art directors, for instance, can route images through
a workflow. In similar fashion, I created new page templates independent of production versions and then easily switched to
the new variation after it was approved for a wholesale site makeover. Content can also be reused by publishing to different
site areas.
iUpload’s eMarketing Manager is a useful option. This opt-in tool allows you to create plain-text or HTML “publications” that
visitors subscribe to via a straightforward form. Another useful tool, Personal Publisher, enables you to add blogs to your
site.
Content Manager’s instinctive interface and publishing features compare favorably with those of lower-end CM systems such
as Ektron’s CMS 400 or Red Dot CMS. But it’s iUpload’s price model that tips the scale in its favor.
The choice is yours
The growing sophistication and feature completeness of hosted Web CM services are giving installed CM systems a run for their
money.
So, what’s the catch? For CrownPeak Advantage CMS, there isn’t any significant weakness -- which could mean trouble for vendors
such as Interwoven and Documentum. Advantage CMS combines sophisticated workflow, versioning, and interoperability with other
systems -- all wrapped around a complete user interface that’s back-ended with well-built developer functions.
In the midrange market, Clickability cmPublish manages hundreds of users, accommodates complex permissions, and has HTML-based
templates for quick design changes. Most products also have some unusual twists, in this case Clickability integrates Web
analytics and e-mail newsletters.
iUpload Content Manager’s clean design and one-button publishing will be appreciated by content authors, while extensive role
functions make this product appropriate for extranets.
Hosted services come close to offering the best of both worlds: enterprise features and lower cost. And that cost can be even
more attractive to the bottom line because engineering staff are freed from supporting yet another application and set of
servers.
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