r
r
r
March 13, 2002 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — CrownPeak Technology (crownpeak.com), a content management
r
provider, yesterday introduced a high-level template management system that
r
allows users to change the look of an entire Web site via a browser
r
interface.
r
r
The latest addition to the Advantage CMS content management tool, this
r
template creation and management interface enables business users to modify
r
templates, preview the resulting changes, schedule those templates live, and
r
redesign the site on the fly.
r
r
Because output templates are managed as assets in the system, multiple new
r
look-and-feel options can be created, previewed, run through workflow,
r
offered for collaboration and scheduled live. More basic changes to an
r
existing template – like adding a new text field or swapping out graphics -
r
can be performed through a drag-and-drop interface. More complex actions,
r
like adjusting navigation or setting a new layout, can be performed via a
r
“helper” interface, or directly with the template’s HTML code.
r
r
“Our new offering is, bar none, the most powerful tool available for
r
changing the look and feel of a site without the need for technical staff,”
r
said Jim Howard, CEO, CrownPeak Technology. “The ROI is plain – if you
r
rollout a new site once a year, the content management system is paid for,”
r
Howard said. “If you change your site three times a year because of product
r
cycles, it’ll pay for itself three times over, taking speed of return to
r
dizzying proportions. On that basis, this stands alone in the market.”
r
r
“We are releasing clients from being hostage to the template,” he said. “In
r
other systems, templates are coded in esoteric languages and have inherent
r
relationships with the database. In those systems, you need an engineer to
r
make changes to the template, and then make changes to the database in order
r
to execute even small adjustments to a site’s navigation structure and
r
look-and-feel.”
r
r
By managing template changes through workflow, CrownPeak clients typically
r
perform a site redesign while others in the client organization continue to
r
use the system to manage and update the site. The redesign can be previewed,
r
approved, and scheduled live.
r
r
Advantage CMS also features a developer environment to enable more
r
sophisticated and complex interactions. Based on Microsoft’s Active Server
r
Pages, this environment gives developers access to a complete programming
r
language. To enable custom logic on an input form, or to establish a
r
connection with another application, for example, a developer could add this
r
code into the template.
r
r
Advantage CMS has is interoperable with other systems and applications.
r
Connection options available to developers include SOAP, XML, FTP, Web
r
Services, SMTP and ODBC.
r
r
The company simultaneously announced a browser-based development environment
r
yesterday, targeted at professional Web developers.
