Stellent Releases Version 7.5 of Stellent Site Studio

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Stellent, Inc., a global provider of content management solutions, released version 7.5 of Stellent(R) Site Studio, the multi-site Web content management component of the enterprise-scalable Stellent Universal Content Management(TM) system. Site Studio is designed to support the growing trend of companies building multiple Web sites. The application provides a software infrastructure for developing and managing intranet sites and document/records management applications; supplier, distribution and customer extranets; localized Web sites; public micro-sites; and the delivery of content and services to portals and application servers.

"We are pleased to release a new version of our multi-site Web content management application, a product that enabled us to pioneer a rapidly growing market extending beyond traditional Web content management," said Dan Ryan, executive vice president of marketing and business development for Stellent. "Stellent's multi-site management technology has generated substantial business benefits for hundreds of customers; new functionality in Stellent Site Studio version 7.5 provides a more robust management foundation for deploying and maintaining multiple Web sites. Site Studio is the only multi-site management application built upon a fully unified enterprise content management architecture, enabling it to leverage other functionality critical to multi-site management, such as digital asset management (DAM) and records management."

"Software products that support a Web site methodology of efficient content reuse, collaboration, customization and decentralization within a controlled, managed environment provide companies with a powerful platform for maximizing Web site resources," said Toby Bell, research director for Gartner. "A multi-site Web content management foundation can be particularly useful for organizations that require: multiple micro-sites for activities like product launches; Web sites for significant company endeavors such as an acquisition; localized, often multi-lingual Web sites; and intranet 'views' for interdepartmental communication and collaboration."

According to Forrester Research(1), "WCM products have matured from single site IT platforms supporting the separation of content from presentation and enabling non-IT individuals to contribute site content to broad, multi-site management offerings supporting the personalized delivery of content across multiple online channels. These products help enterprise-class IT organizations consolidate independent sites within a central application, reducing the duplication and redundancy of content by providing a centralized repository of Web content and supporting more meaningful end user interactions via the personalized delivery of dynamic content." To access the complete Forrester Wave report on Web Content Management, visit www.stellent.com/forresterwcmwave.

"If the business problem is managing a site or two, a few staff can be trained to manually handle all of the associated tasks and individuals involved in the process," Ryan said. "However, as the number of Web properties expands and potentially involves millions of content objects across hundreds of internal and external sites with thousands of contributors, the solution needs to be easy-to-use and automated. Stellent Site Studio fulfills this need."

The new version of Site Studio addresses all users involved in multi-site management - information technology staff, Web developers, site designers, content contributors and content consumers - offering expanded Web site lifecycle management capabilities and more robust, flexible in-context contribution. Site Studio 7.5 also leverages Stellent's new DAM and records and retention management functionality.

Expanded Web Site Lifecycle Management Capabilities

Site Studio now helps organizations better manage the process of progressing Web sites from the development and quality assurance phase through contribution, staging and production environments. Its expanded feature set offers more flexibility and automation while ensuring a Web site's architecture, navigation and content remain intact and accurate as the site moves from one stage to another. For example, automated site migration capabilities allow administrators to configure certain or all aspects of a site (e.g. content, fragments, layouts, navigation) to move or replicate automatically when a change occurs. This change can be as minor as changing one piece of content or as substantial as moving an entire site from a development to a production environment.

In addition, Site Studio 7.5 enables companies to better handle Web sites throughout their lifecycle by offering Web site project files managed as content items within Stellent Content Server. These files store all information about a Web site, in XML format, in one place, facilitating quicker and easier movement of sites and more granular management and access to Web site information. Version 7.5 also provides a single-click Web site snapshot and restore functionality that captures all pieces of a site in the Stellent system for backup and archiving purposes, enabling organizations to leverage full records and retention management capabilities for any site element or the entire site itself. Other new Web site lifecycle management features include an asset manager tool providing better organization of and access to site assets for Web site designers, and the ability for designers to easily mark Web site sections for "contribution only," which creates navigation that only appears while contributors are in contribution mode - offering authors a comfortable environment in which to work on new site sections not yet ready for public viewing.

"Transitioning our Web sites through multiple environments can be a manual and time-consuming process for our organization," said Femi Bamisaiye, group technical services director of group information management for REXAM PLC. "With Site Studio's new features, we will be able to develop and publish new sections to our corporate intranet more quickly and easily, ensuring our Web site is a dynamic destination that provides up-to-date content and easy access to business-critical information for all employees."

Enhanced, Industry Leading Usability for Web Developers, Site Designers, Contributors and Consumers

Site Studio 7.5 provides even greater flexibility to users who contribute content directly within a Web site, enabling them to make optimal decisions related to changing, keeping or adding new content to a site. For example, a new Web content comparison feature allows users to quickly compare current changes to a previous version of site content, which is particularly beneficial for editors reviewing content in workflow. With new usage reports, users can quickly determine directly from the contribution Web site where a specific content item is used across one or multiple sites, giving them an immediate analysis of how a content change will potentially impact multiple Web sites.

Version 7.5 also includes new features to further support Site Studio's ability to provide Web developers and site designers the needed control over layout and design, while offering enough flexibility and robust contribution options for authors to create content that fits their business needs. New in-context region contribution functionality empowers contributors to create new content directly within the contribution Web site, while giving site designers ultimate control over which regions of Web sites provide this option and which types of content they can submit. A new extensible element validation wizard allows Web developers to establish rules for Web sites, ensuring content conforms to a specific syntax or format when contributors submit it. And predictable, configurable URLs for Web sites in dynamic consumption environments ensure search engines can more easily index dynamic Web sites. These URLs are also more intuitive, making them easy to read and share with others. Version 7.5 also provides added tools and features for more easily deploying Section 508- and W3C WAI-compliant Web sites.

"Logical Web site URLs are highly important to user-friendly document and Web content management," said Mark Heindselman, manager of knowledge network and information services for Emerson Process Management. "With the new Stellent Site Studio 7.5 'friendly URLs' feature, we will greatly enhance our ability to provide end-users with easier and more sensible, memorable URLs."

"In maintaining our focus on rapid success and ease-of-use for our customers, we've provided in version 7.5 of Stellent Site Studio an enhanced user experience for all individuals involved in multi-site management deployments - from Web developers and site designers to content contributors and consumers," Ryan concluded.

Stellent Universal Content Management Features

Stellent Universal Content Management provides rapid success and distinct advantages to customers via its product functionality, breadth of content managed, unified architecture and ease-of-use -- all which enable fast implementations and quick user adoption. The Universal Content Management product suite offers a full array of enterprise content management functionality, including document management and imaging, Web content management, digital asset management, collaboration, and records management. The scalable system manages and delivers the entire spectrum of unstructured content, from documents, graphics and Web pages to scanned images, email and records.

26.07.2005, Stellent, Inc.


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