![[Image]](../nodeye.gif){kind=small}
I am lucky in what I do. Not only do I have a blast looking for new software but I also get to use it and write about it. I write about it to let others know how great the software is, or, I write about it to warn others about its bugs, anomalies and the fact that it does not live up to its hype.
Eureka! I found a good one…
One program I had the pleasure of evaluating and now using is called Article Manager by Interactvetools.com I had always admired Article Manager. I learned of the company while searching for a tool that would help me build and manage documentation for the software programs that I write and sell. I found Interactivetools’ Doc Builder program. It was perfect for me. While on their Web site I also saw some other neat products, one of which was Article Manager. As I returned to their site over the months just to "look" I grew more and more attached to Article Manager. I don't know why, I guess I just like those types of programs. At the time I was writing a few reviews and some short articles but never enough to justify a full blown program like Article Manager.
Well, I finally woke up and realised that all of the scrap pieces of code I had thrown together over the years and all the free stuff I had collected on the Web to manage my articles and reviews was taking its toll on my time. It was then that Article Manager started looking real good. I am glad I made the switch to Article Manager and I'll tell you why.
Article Manager meets all my criteria for a useful software application:
- Frst of all the program works and is feature rich.
- The company has a great support department.
- They host a very active support forum.
- They are constantly adding more user-requested features to Article Manager and often I receive an opt-in newsletter that contains tips and tricks and a section on how others use Article Manager.
- Interactivetools has a good reputation in the industry. You can just feel it while poking around in their support forum.
Well, what is it...
Article Manager is a complete solution for writing, managing, and distributing articles on the Web.
Article Manager is easy to install and understand. It is template based so it fits into ANY existing site. It is browser based so you can create and manage articles from anywhere, anytime - so can the writers you configure in Article Manager (more on that in a moment). It allows you to create unique users who can be admins, writers and trusted writers. It provides for categories, searches, summaries (those little teasers you see under the article title to get the reader interested in reading more), images may be embedded in the article, articles can be marked as visible, pending or hidden. Even a webfeed generator is provided which allows other web sites to show your content - when your content is updated so is theirs - automatically!
Installation…
Installation is a snap. Unzip the distribution on your local computer, upload it to your Web site's root directory and load a URL in your browser to configure the program to your specifications.
Read more on the installation here:
http://www.interactivetools.com/docs/articlemanager/install/index.html
It can look like your existing site…
Article Manager is a template based application. Template based means you can make AM fit into and look like your existing site by createing/defining html templates to look just like your existing site. In the html templates you simply insert placeholders which expand into the content you input into the placeholder via Article Manager's browser based WYSIWYG editor.
For example, here are some placeholders:
| Placeholder-name | What it contains |
| $art_name$ | the title of the article |
| $art_date$ | the date of the article |
| $art_time$ | the time of the article |
| $art_summary$ | the article's summary |
| $art_content$ | the article's main body of content |
Simply place these variables or placeholders into your template wherever you'd like and the appropriate content will be displayed in your page.
<html><title> $art_name$ </title>
<head></head>
<body>
<table><tr><td>
$art_content$
</tr>
</td>
</table>
</body></html>
That's about as easy as it gets. Your template of course can be much more complex than this but you get the idea.
Admins, trusted writers and writers…
Article Manager gives you three ways to create authors: Admins, trusted writers and writers. The Admin has permission to do anything through the browser. The admin can create/delete/review and release articles to be published. The admin can change the configuration settings that Article Manager uses when publishing articles. The trusted writer is one who can login, create articles, assign them to some categories and even set them to be published immediately on the Web site. The writer can login, write articles in some categories but is not able to publish them on the Web site. Publishing is left to an editor after review.
Creating an article couldn't be easier…
Login, click on Create Article, fill in the title, category and status (is the article pending, visible, or hidden?), add a little information about the author and you're off. Adding information about the author is nice because most sites don't pay for submitted articles, but in return they usually give the author a chance to shine his/her light. The author section is also a placeholder we talked about earlier. You can create a nice little table, highlite the background, and put the author placeholder inside. A nice touch. Article Manager has a great - and getting better - WYSIWYG editor in which you can write. Also, you have about 20 or more – even more in the upcoming version 2 - user-definable fields which also include placeholders with which to work with. The Admin sets these up in advance.
How about support…
I love good support. I expect good support. You can't have a great product without great support. Interactivetools' support is as good as it gets. They respond! The discussion forum is full of creative ideas from a tremendous user base. The answers from the Interactivetools support team (yes, their support team actually mans the discussion forum) are immediate and helpful.
Here's a sample of the kind of helpful tips you will find in the discussion forum:
Want a scrolling news ticker that uses the titles from your articles?
SiliconDale shows you how he did it.
http://www.interactivetools.com/forum/forum.cgi?post=3587
Discuss this Article v1.04
------------------------
We've extended the "Discuss this Article" script to include Discus to
goforum.cgi. So, if you're using Discus, and want people to be able
to
chat about your stories on a discussion forum, check it out:
http://www.interactivetools.com/forum/forum.cgi?post=3222
Additional fields in webfeed content...
------------------------
Want to add more than just the basic fields into your webfeed (such
As Author)? blorincz suspected he knew how to do it, but Chris provides
A more detailed explanation:
http://www.interactivetools.com/forum/forum.cgi?post=3560
These tips, BTW, are also taken from the forum and placed in an excellent, informative, and to-the-point newsletter which arrives in my email box about once a month from Interactivetools.
Take another look at the second tip above: “Additional fields in Webfeed content” that's right, Article Manager comes with a webfeed generator so other companies can display your news on their site.
What's next for Article Manager…
I heard some secret stuff about what's coming down the pike for Article Manager.
1. mySQL support
2. unlimited user-defined fields for articles and categories,
3. language editor, easily change the language - without editing the templates, multilevel category manager, supports unlimited categories and 3 viewing modes
4. template editor - simple template editor built right into admin menu
The final line…
The total advantage of using Article Manager over any other content/article manager I’ve tried is that:
- It is a full featured browser based WYSIWYG product.
- It is ideally suited for multiple authors submitting content from just about anywhere in the world and at anytime they feel like it.
You know... authors are like programmers, musicians, actors or any creative type personality, and being such they like to work whenever the moment suits them. Article Manager allows that flexibility.
Do yourself a favor...
If you are in the market for a content manager, just try Article Manager. I promise it will be a purchase you will use and value not one you will place in the bit bucket!
Here, Help Yourself...
See some:
If you like this article or maybe had a similar experience and would like to share it with other readers then feel free to:
Simply fill in YOUR e-mail address, your name and your comment. Click the SEND button.After submitting your comment, you will be transported back to the article you commented on!
John Cesta is a contract programmer. John's current project is designer and lead developer of the automated hosting software at bestcfhosting.com, a ColdFusion MX hosting company. John is currently working on commercializing his programs and offering them to the IIS community at serverautomationtools.com