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internet.pro - September 2005 |
Modern Websites Are Smart
Web Content Management System comparing 19 systems
By Roberto Ghislandi
translated by J. L. Walker
DYNASQUARE
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A navigational menu is on the left-hand side of the screen while on the right you can see the actual pages or their properties. |
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One phase of content editing. A WYSIWYG HTML editor makes it easy for anyone to use, even those that don't know HTML. |
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Dynasquare allows for more than one administrator, as well as a division of roles. Anyone can refer to a page in the administration area that reports who has accessed the website. |
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Dynasquare can record all changes made to a page and can even complete rollback operations. | |
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Dynasquare is a product created by Monforte in Milano, a publishing house that in the past few years has converted its business from art publications to the Web. Dynasquare is mainly sold using ASP with 3 price ranges that go from 700 to 2,000 euros per year, depending on how complex the site is. An installation license is also available upon request for anyone that would like to install their site on their own server. The product was developed so that more than one user can use the same environment and makes it possible to manage all versions of each published element . Modicication permissions, publication permissions and rollback to previous versions can be managed with a few clicks. Like most CMS systems, Dynasquare is based on a series of templates that need to be designed by Monforte technicians, or at least by users with XHTML knowledge.
Once the templates are ready, administering the website, inserting content and creating new pages is an easy job for anyone with some familiarity with common office tasks. Dynasquare's administration interface is a great example of what can be done with modern web development languages.
The use of drag and drop and contextual menus simplify tasks. If it weren't for the Internet Explorer frame and once in awhile the wait due to the internet connection, it would seem like working with an offline application.
Dynasquare manages users with access to site administration similar to users that may have access to restricted areas on the public site. If a user is also an administrator, the user is asked if they want to enter as an administrator or to simply enter the protected section of the site when they log on. The function that allows users to access reserved areas of the public site based on specific IP addresses is very useul. This makes it easy to build public Internet sites with sections that are visible only, for example, to users navigating with company internet access. A great solution for large work groups that can be controlled without having to change each user's profile. Once the log in is accepted by the administrator, the user is welcomed by an interface divided in two vertical resizable windows: on the left the site map can be seen, while on the right the actual page or its properties are shown. The published pages, the pages waiting to be published and those visible only to authorized users are clearly marked on the site map. Pages' positions and the site structure can also be changed by dragging the pages where desired. Inside each page the various elements that can be personalized are highlighted, using the contextual menu. To insert text in a page, the user simply needs to select the text element and right-click to open the HTML "What You See Is What You Get" (WYSIWYG). Once pleased with the results you can publish the page immediately, specifying the start and end dates, or request approval if you do not have the permission. The resources section in which images, downloadable files and links that can be used to increase the site is also interesting. Centralized management of the various elements allows for a quick udpate of all of the same element and allows, for example, different users to be appointed to update files and their uses. Image you have a product catalog with detailed product specifications that can be downloaded in a Pdf format. In this case, the marketing that takes care of content decides where to use the Pdfs of the technical specifications while the job of the updates is delegated to users that have a more technical role. By updating the files in the archive, all the files on the site would be updated automatically, wherever they appear.
As mentioned at the beginning, Dynasquare is sold in ASP and Monforte technicians supply the settings of the template pages, leaving the final task of filling in the content to the user. A winning solution right from the moment the site structure is set is not available to everyone, though everyone can do the part of changing and updating content. At any rate, Dynasquare users are supported by a one-day user course as well as technical support. Dynasquare is a well-structured product that could improve its usability level with more work in the rationalization and semplification of the initial template development phases. In this point of view the introduction of simple wizards and a few extra comments about the interface options could make the job of less experienced users easier.
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