Office 2.0 Alternative to FrontPage
Tuesday, May 2nd 2006 | Ismael Ghalimi
The Web Publishing category in the Office 2.0 Database shows three entries: Google Pages, Office Live, and SiteKreator, a sweet online application developed by NetClime. I saw a demonstration for it today, and I must say that I am quite impressed. Very impressed as a matter of fact.
I first heard about SiteKreator when NetClime’s founder and CEO Ivaylo Lenkov started submitting entries to the Office 2.0 Database, including one for his application. We later met for lunch and that is when I got treated to an in-depth product demonstration. SiteKreator is not your average online alternative to Microsoft FrontPage. Instead, it’s best described as a streamlined content management system that allows teams to develop complex websites, while preserving a consistent look and feel. The tool is fairly simple to use, makes parsimonious use of AJAX where it really makes sense, and can produce professional-looking websites in a matter of minutes. The platform is offered as an online service with low-cost subscriptions, or can be deployed on premise by NetClime engineers. Down the road, it should also come packaged as a standalone 3TERA AppLogic virtual appliance.
While discussing with Ivaylo, we came up with a couple of ideas. First, it would nice to package SiteKreator for Salesforce.com’s AppExchange, allowing users to publish information stored into Salesforce.com without having to learn complex web service interfaces and write a lot of code manually. Second, SiteKreator’s advanced template design tool could be used to develop a JSON equivalent to FeedDigest. I have been looking for such a tool since I started using JSON feeds produced by Dabble DB for developing my new Office 2.0 setup, and it seems to me that SiteKreator already has most of the pieces needed for it. Ideally, such a tool would take any JSON feed as an input, provide a WYSIWYG editor to design a template, and generate a one-line JavaScript badge that could be placed into any HTML page to display content in a nicely formatted-manner.
Let’s hope that such ideas will turn into products sometime soon.
Entry filed under: Office 2.0
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Time for us to implement JSON output now, me thinks… People seem to be getting savvy enough at JavaScript that it might be the best way for them to get the exact results thei want from their digests…
Peter,
I agree. JavaScript is really easy to use. If you build it, I’ll use it!
[…] The real-world complexities of enterprise-level web publishing make a one-size-fits-all approach a recipe for disaster; there’s no shortage of content management systems on the market but can they answer all needs? The short answer is no, not out of the box, anyway. And that’s where the consultants (and the revenue) come in. SiteKreator offers a personal edition for free but the revenue is going to come from subscribers to the business edition and, as customer needs expand, through customizing and backend implementations. It’s the ‘d-i-y to a point’ business model. Seen and Heard: IT|Redux uses SK for the entire Office 2.0 site, he says SiteKreator “is fairly simple to use, makes parsimonious use of AJAX where it really makes sense, and can produce professional-looking websites in a matter of minutes”. CNet’s Alpha blog notes, “it has interactive features, such as a form builder and a message board application, that are easy to integrate into your site”. […]
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