Webonizer 2010 Roadmap

The year of 2010 will bring an entirely new face to the Webonizer Content Management System. Webonizer 2 was released in 2008 and saw some changes that optimized various database structures and introduced several new features that aided the rapid deployment of yet other new features. Webonizer 2 was ahead of the curve.

As 2010 is on its way, we are now prepared to share some of the development plans that will change the face of Webonizer in the upcoming months with the release of Webonizer 3.

Years of working with clients have taught us many things about how people use Webonizer. We’ve been listening to feedback on Webonizer technology and have decided it is time to propel Webonizer ahead of the pack with new interfaces and toolsets to optimize and ease the process of maintaining large, data-and-media-driven websites.

Key Features

Templates & Themes

For webmasters, the most notable change is the template system. Webonizer 1 and 2 both utilized a PHP-driven template system. Changing the templates in Webonizer 1 and 2 required knowledge of PHP; since syntax errors can break PHP scripts, this method entailed some risk—especially for casual webmasters/bloggers or non-programmers. We tried to limit the danger by encouraging users to customize their sites by simply editing their Style Sheets (CSS).

In the end, we have decided to follow the convention of many other systems by making Webonizer theme-driven. Themes will control the look and structure of sites. Webonizer will come with its own set of default themes that you can choose from on your live site; they can also be easily customized without any PHP knowledge—simple XHTML and CSS will be all you need know if you want to customize a template.

Built-in Ecommerce

In previous versions of Webonizer, you could implement ecommerce by purchasing a license for a plugin called Sellonizer. Sellonizer is now being integrated into the core of Webonizer. Selling products, site permissions or digital content will be a simple standard part of Webonizer.

Streamlined Data Structures

One of the main benefits of Webonizer over other CMSs is that it organizes data in logical fashions. That strong suit has also been a challenge to some users since it forces users to think in a logical yet abstract manner when planning the structure of a site. To help ease the process of planning a site, we have consolidated some of the key features to make the process more intuitive. In Webonizer 3, you will no longer organize your site by Areas and then break those into Topics; instead, you will simply chart your site structure as one single tree.

Another consolidation is the Event and Article. Now you will simply be able to flag an article as an event and attach various event-information to articles.

Natural RIA Readiness

Now that Web 2.0 has settled into the norm, it is becoming a necessity for high-power websites to utilize the toolsets and interfaces that everyone is coming to expect. Webonizer 3 will have internal hooks for Rich Internet Application (RIA) development. Now you will be able to quickly build data-driven gadgets in Flash and Flex.

Classic Webonizer Functionalities

Webonizer 3 will continue to innovate on the features that make it so diversely powerful. Those classic features include: ·

Article Publishing
Media Publishing
Email Newsletter Management
Online Guestbooks
Built-In RSS Feeds
Search Engine Sitemaps
Event Calendars
Multi-User Environment
Permission-based Features for Members
Anti-Spam Filters for contact and guestbook forms