asp:review
emagiC CMS.Net v4.0
Create Powerful Web Sites
By Anand Narayanaswamy
Content Management System (CMS) applications are becoming
very popular within the developer community. One reason for this trend is the
lack of time we developers have to create a Web site from scratch. Moreover, a
developer can easily deploy a Web site in a few minutes without any major
effort by simply following the instructions in a manual. emagiC CMS.Net is one
such product it enables a developer to create a powerful Web site in a short
period of time by taking advantage of its powerful features. The product is
entirely developed using ASP.NET 2.0 and can be managed with either SQL Server
2005 or SQL Server 2005 Express Edition.
When I reviewed emagiC CMS.Net v1.3 last year (http://www.aspnetpro.com/productreviews/2006/05/asp200605an_p/asp200605an_p.asp),
it had very little functionality. But in the newly released version (v4.0), the
vendor has extended the feature set by including many advanced functionalities.
Primarily, the vendor has put more emphasis on security-related aspects.
To get started, download a free license from http://www.emagiccms.com/Products/emagiC+CMS.Net/Download/page.aspx/39.
You ll be required to enter certain information and the vendor will e-mail the
download location and license keys. I received the relevant information within
minutes of submitting the form. Be aware that the free license is valid for one
community, one domain, 50 pages, and one administrator. However, the free
license comes with all the standard modules (WYSIWYG editor, breadcrumb, document
gallery, dynamic menu, image editor, and more).
For a change, I deployed the product to a remote Web
server rather than testing it locally (as I did when I reviewed v1.3). Although
I had suggested that the vendor simplify the installation process when I reviewed
the previous version, I had to follow the same set of steps to install this new
version which includes uploading the relevant files to the root directory,
restoration of the database, modification of the trust level to full, and the
creation of relevant host headers. I also started ASP.NET State Server using
Internet Information Services (IIS), as it is required for the product to
function properly. Additionally, you must create a separate domain pointer to
access the administration interface of the product.
I advise customers to work closely with their hosting
provider to configure the previously mentioned permissions if they don t have
access to the remote server. Once these steps are completed, you can log in to
the administration interface using the default username and password. The
vendor has organized the various elements on the administration page very
nicely (see Figure 1). Even though you ve installed the product successfully
you still must create a domain and enter the required license key supplied by
the vendor from the management section of the administration interface to
access the home page of your site.
Figure 1: A view of the administration
interface.
A nice feature to note regarding the product is that,
because it recognizes each site as a separate community, you need to set up the
product only once on a remote server to manage all your Web sites. You don t have
to upload the files and specify the permissions again for each domain. I m sure
this will reduce the work of developers and Webmasters.
One of the core features of v4.0 is the implementation of the
Microsoft Office 2003 connector (see Figure 2). This functionality enables you
to view and edit documents stored in the document library, directly from within
Office 2003 without any need to log in to the administration interface. You simply
need to open Word, Excel, or PowerPoint and connect to the document library of
the product. It is available as a free module and the installation procedure
can be launched from the administration interface.
Figure 2: The Office 2003 connector
in action.
Although many developers currently use Office 2003, the
vendor should ve also provided the connector for Office 2007. Hopefully it will
be included in the next version of the product. Version 4.0 of the product also
includes an integrated image editor, with which you can optimize your images
easily (see Figure 3). I was amazed to see several built-in filters such as
colors, brightness, contrast, blur, sharpen, flip, and rotate, which enables you
to modify an image.
Figure 3: Explore the image editor.
With the help of v4.0, you can upload all your documents
and images in bulk using FTP without any need to upload them one by one using
the administration interface. Simply upload your files to the server and
synchronize using the bulk import feature included with the product. You can
explore all the features included with the product at http://www.emagiccms.com/Products/emagiC+CMS.Net/page.aspx/9.
The vendor also upgraded the WYSIWYG editor to FreeTextBox
v3.1.6, which is an added bonus to the product. The vendor provides
comprehensive documentation in HTML and CHM help format. The technical manual
can be referenced during installation, but the user manual contains the requisite
information regarding every feature of the product, with concise explanations
and screenshots (it s also available in PDF format). The vendor also provides
excellent support through e-mail and maintains an online discussion forum at http://forum.emagiccms.com.
Version 4.0 also includes several new modules that provide
support for Multimedia, Active Directory, and Search connector powered by
dtSearch (http://www.dtSearch.com). The
product also ships with an optional SharePoint connector module that enables
you to display in your Web site content from Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server
2003. You can even customize the information you want to be displayed on your
pages and extend the site by tweaking the Application Programming Interface
(API) of the product, which now includes more than 200 classes and 3,000
objects.
An interesting feature of v4.0 is that it includes new
authentication features based on the electronic IDentity Card (eID); two logon
modules for that purpose have been integrated with the CMS. With the help of
the first module, which is based on the middleware software of the Belgian
Government, you will be able to log in to the extranet or into the
administration interface using your Belgian eID card. The second module,
referred to as logonPkSuite, is based on eID technology from Intesi Group (http://www.intesigroup.com). Although
this technology is currently only available for Belgian and Italian eID cards,
the vendor is planning to expand it to other countries in the near future (once
these countries have implemented the electronic identity card technology). The
product also provides support for Load Balancing, which is useful for those who
wish to deploy the product in Web Farms.
Using the Language Matrix tool you can also link pages in
one language to corresponding pages in other languages (see Figure 4).
Figure 4: The Language Matrix tool
in action.
The vendor has implemented single sign-on functionality,
which enables visitors to log in using their relevant NT account. This feature
is only useful if you use the product in an Intranet or extranet environment.
This version also has the ability to deliver newsletters from within the
administration interface.
A Web site based on emagiC CMS.Net can be used by any
person without having any technical knowledge. But to implement and administer
it, users require a basic understanding of the ASP.NET technology. The product
will scale new heights if the vendor implements AJAX
functionality in the next version of the product.
Anand Narayanaswamy,
a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP), works as an independent
consultant and runs NetAns Technologies (http://www.netans.com),
which provides Web hosting services based in Trivandrum,
India. Anand also works
as a technical editor lead for http://ASPAlliance.com.
He runs http://www.Learnxpress.com, http://Dotnetalbum.com, and http://Csharpfaq.com. Anand is the author of Community
Server Quickly (Packt Publishing). You can explore more information about the
book at http://www.communityserverbook.com.
Find out more about him at http://www.visualanand.net
or e-mail him at mailto:netans@gmail.com.
Rating:
Web Site: http://www.emagiccms.com
Price: Plans
start at approximately US$2,000