Content Management Systems (CMS)

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Permalink Reply by Crystina Bianco on June 17, 2008 at 12:12pm

HI. I am also interested on anyon'e input on CMS for publishers. As a small business some of the larger, main stream solutions are out of reach. What's the best way for a small publisher to get a handle on this very important aspect of technology? Are there any companies out there who specialize in CMS for small publishers?

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Permalink Reply by OlegR on June 18, 2008 at 8:55am

Hi Crystina,

What do you call a small publisher?
how many web properties do you have?
how many unique visitors/pageviews are you getting right now?
which systems are you running right now on your web side?

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Permalink Reply by Greg Jones on June 27, 2008 at 12:04pm

Crystina,
You might want to look at CentralPoint by Oxcyon (www.oxcyon.com). I've found the CMS to be very friendly to non-technical content stakeholders and it is packed with ready-made modules that can get you up-to-speed on a number of Web 2.0 tools like Video and PodCasts. There's also a great module for building vertical market search directories. Their Blog module leaves a bit to be desired however so we took another route for that.

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Permalink Reply by Steven LLorca on July 31, 2008 at 2:32pm

My team currently uses Oxcyon's Centralpoint, and while they boast of its easy use and strong core module set, there are in my opinion a number of pitfalls to their customer service and the the overall functionality of the module set. The blog module is just the first issue on my list.

I would love to hear from anyone else out there using it and learn what work around you have employed even though, according to their contract terms which may vary from customer to customer, users are not suppose to collaborate with one another. Needless to say we are examining other alternatives.

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Permalink Reply by OlegR on July 31, 2008 at 2:50pm

Hi Steven,
You ran into a common issue that a lot of publishers using cheaper solutions run into. Some of main points to consider during CMS selection are scalability of the system, UI easiness, training and support facilities available (and on the same continent with you), REFERENCES!!!, availability and willingness of the solution provider to give you customized versions to suit your particular needs, and many others.

The reality is there are more than 2000 commercial CMS systems on the market right now, out of which 95% are priced in between 20 and 100 thousand dollars.
And for some reason less than 3% of CMS systems on the market are being used by top publishers and constantly get good reviews. A good measure of that is CMS vendor revenue from professional services. If PS revenue is growing exponentially this means more and more customers are happy with the solution provider's product and are coming back for upgrades, more integration, custom solutions and other custom services.
At the same time if the vendor's software sales revenue is the main growing item - then most likely it is a rigid, out of the box, not very customized system with scripted support (if any), etc.

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Permalink Reply by OlegR on July 31, 2008 at 2:44pm

so you do web design as well? Can you name several known customers?

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Permalink Reply by Phil James on September 18, 2009 at 3:26am

Creative Circle is also a design firm (www.creativecirclemedia.com) that has a software arm specializing in media sites (www.adqic.com).

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Permalink Reply by Phil James on July 2, 2009 at 10:34pm

See reply below about Creative Circle.

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Permalink Reply by Phil James on September 18, 2009 at 3:25am

Check out Creative Circle. www.adqic.com. One of their strengths is that they have been consultants to publishers large and small for 20 years or more so they understood our needs. They are also a design firm, so their web sites don't look like other sites, which tend to look the same.

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Permalink Reply by Justin Thurman on June 18, 2008 at 4:56pm

I am currently evaluating a number of solutions. We have a home grown solution that we have outgrown.
The one that I am most happy with so far from a functionality and cost perspective is Matchbin. I just started talking to ATEC about Polopoly.

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Permalink Reply by S Uthaman on March 10, 2009 at 5:26am

Hi. Wonder if you can help me. Do you know the CMS being used by USA Today, Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Los Angeles Times and CNN. I need the info for a report I am compiling. Thanks a million.

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Permalink Reply by OlegR on March 10, 2009 at 10:51am

They all have different ones.
You can reach out to me and I will share some of the info with you.

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