We are proud to say that Southern Delaware Tourism has launched. You can visit the website here:
http://www.visitsoutherndelaware.com
Another beautiful, well designed, fluid website by Inclind. Southern Delaware Tourism runs off of our Inclind CMS (content management system) platform so the staff can quickly manage their website. Our advanced CMS allows them to control every element on the page, except for the design, giving them absolute control of the content. A robust media manager allows them to manage, organize, and share documents and photos, as well as control the banners on the website. On top of that, they can manage and review contacts (much like an address book in Outlook) and mailing lists and manage an event calendar.
Also, we had an opportunity to launch a new product / add-on with the website.
I’m excited at this website launch (like many) because it marks the first client to employ the use of the blog platform I developed in Coldfusion. It is integrated fully with our CMS (Content Management System) so everything is usable from one central interface. Also, it looks killer. On the left hand side of the site, you will see a button below the calendar that says Southern Delaware Blog. This is the area where the blog is.
Why is this important?
Typically when a company wants a blog, they face two common options. One is to go to Google and use their Blogger application, and another (more popular) method is to use Wordpress.
On the surface, nothing is wrong with using either. We’ve used Wordpress in the past for clients and ourselves, but now that Inclind Blog is tested and ready to use we plan on using this. Ready-to-use platforms such as Wordpress are not all that great (even though we go through great lengths customizing it), and here’s why:
Integration
When you get a site at Blogger or Wordpress, integrating it into an existing website is not as simple as most people think. The closest most will come is to setup a subdomain and point it in the direction of the blog. Those who are technically savvy may be able to figure out how to merge the code. Most don’t, or won’t. Thus becoming disenfranchised altogether with their endeavor of being a blogger, which is sad. Blogging is fun!
Websites that are already established may have an intranet or CMS they use. Ready-to-use blogging platforms also have them, so now you have two interfaces when you should only have one. This can be confusing for some people, and its another login to remember. Example, if you have a blog built in PHP (like Wordpress) and your website is in another language like Coldfusion or Ruby on Rails, you won’t be able to mix the two technologies. What does that mean? That means that the company handling your website has to make a ‘clone’ of your website, removing all the dynamic code that the blog is not built on. This takes time and can be a frustrating process. Also, if your host server doesn’t have the right language installed, your blog won’t run, period. This alone is a lot of responsibility for the user to manage (and they shouldn’t have to consider any of that).
I don’t want to alarm current clients and have them believe that Wordpress is terrible. It’s not. I’ve been refining our platform for the last few months so that its easy to use, seamless, has powerful SEO (search engine optimization) methods built in, and fits right into web work flow just like any other section of your Intranet or CMS. Most importantly, not overloaded with bloated features like the others are.
Just what you need, when you need it.
Interface
As mentioned before, our blog platform can be standalone (for folks who just want a blog) or added into an existing intranet or CMS. A user shouldn’t have to have multiple interfaces at different addresses to manage their website. Defeats the purpose of centralized management.
If you don’t have an intranet, extranet, CMS (content management system) or CRM (customer / contact relationship management system) we can also help you get started with that. Contact us (302-856-2802) for more information.
Versoning
You won’t have to patch up and keep your blog up to date. We do that. For example with Wordpress, its up to you to keep it patched, updated, and functioning. The user shouldn’t be bothered with doing that. It’s tedious, you can make mistakes and lose data, or overwrite your layout. Don’t chance it.
Security and Vulnerability
Open source languages such as PHP tend to have more security loopholes and exploits in it than a closed source one like Coldfusion, which this blog platform is based off of. One reason why other platforms like Typepad, Wordpress and others are getting updated a few times a month is because exploits, cross site scripting hacks, and other security issues are detected. If you fall behind on updating your core files for these blogs, you may fall victim to a security exploit yourself. The end result is usually losing control of your site due to these hacks.
With us, this won’t happen.
As a user of many systems, I feel we can provide the best solution for you in the end. We build our applications from the ground up according to YOUR needs, instead of giving you a huge application and saying to use just a few parts. If you don’t have an intranet, extranet, CMS (content management system) or CRM (customer / contact relationship management system) we can also help you get started with that. Contact us (302-856-2802) for more information.
