Everett Griffiths recently wrote a comparison between WordPress and MODx over at TipsFor.US. In the article he walks the reader through various CMS comparison factors such as installation, templating, menus, plugins, architecture, custom content, security, and support. This comparison specifically focuses on WordPress 3.1 and MODx Revolution.

Everett writes:

Sharlyn Lauby, a writer for Open Forum, recently wrote an article called "5 Challenges for Human Resources in a Digital World" which shares the automation challenges that HR departments face today. Sharlyn explains that an array of automation tools is available to HR professionals; however, the adoption of this technology is slow. A great way to overcome computerization issues is to implement an intranet to share and store human resources information digitally.

Once an intranet is up and running, there are exceptional applications that can make HR documents and polices accessible to all business sectors securely.

Justin Olson from the Utah Credit Union, who has been on our intranet software since 2004, created two unique time-saving Human Resources tools on his intranet:

Non-salaried employees clock-in using Hyperlinked logos that are connected to their external time tracking system. Hours worked are tracked through one site so that HR does not have to login to another system. 

Full time employees have a Human Resources widget for health benefits, medical, dental and 401K plan information. Justin said that providing all of the proper documentation in a central area has freed up Human Resources because less people have questions when all of the forms are easily available on the site. 

Practical Intranet HR Tools that can be utilized

• Encourage employees to use the intranet by solely providing HR forms and policies on the intranet
• Use the vacation application to track and manage absence requests from employees.
• Create HR e-forms; all files can be stored and managed in this secured area
• Manage employee course registration with the training application
• Obtain user feedback by adding comments and ratings to the bottom of each widget or application that you create. This way, employees can respond on how things are working.
• Utilize the anniversary and birthday widgets so employees can respond to their coworker’s special occasions

These are a few of the great ways that an intranet can automate HR in a protected and organized manner.  How has your company enhanced Human Resources capabilities via your intranet?

Sitefinity 4.1 offers performance gains up to 35 percent, compatibility with new Microsoft cloud OS and native language support

WALTHAM, MA, APRIL 18, 2011 –Telerik, an end-to-end provider of software application lifecycle and content management solutions, today revealed details of its latest release for Sitefinity, the company’s robust Web Content Management System (WCM). The Sitefinity 4.1 release introduces a number of upgrades and improvements to the sophisticated system, including enhancements delivering performance increases of up to 35 percent. Also being debuted is support for Windows Azure, Microsoft’s cloud services operating system, and native language packs for international Sitefinity users.

“This release delivers significant improvements that benefit all the audiences typically using a WCM. Content editors get a working environment in their native language, developers and site administrators have more server and database support options, and finally the considerable performance boost obviously benefits all,” said Martin Kirov, Sitefinity executive vice president, Telerik. “Our dedication to uncompromising quality and innovation means we cannot and will not settle for offering products that are just ‘good enough’. Telerik will continue to aggressively pursue and deliver those leading-edge solutions that developers need to excel.”

With the release of Sitefinity 4.1, the system is now compatible with Microsoft Azure, Microsoft’s recently released platform that acts as a runtime for off-premises application development, management, and hosting. With this integrated support for Microsoft Azure, developers can leverage Sitefinity’s exceptional features and functionality to tap into new cloud-based markets and revenue streams, as well as reaping the benefits that cloud computing offers, like greater reliability and increased uptime at lower a cost threshold than with conventional IT infrastructures.

I received an email earlier today introducing me to Foswiki. This free and open source wiki is a fork that began in late 2008 of another wiki you may know by the name of TWiki. Foswiki is positioning itself as the ideal collaboration tool for your project , team or business.

The sender of the email also wanted me to bring attention on the fact that Foswiki 1.1.3 has been released recently. Foswiki 1.1.3 is a release that adds more than 150 bug fixes and improvements making it better than the already stable 1.1.2. Upgrade package is available for upgrading from any earlier 1.1.X version to 1.1.2.

Some of the improvements in this version of Foswiki include:

• Facelift of the history user interface
• Update to the Wysiwyg editor TinyMCE to 3.3.9.3 and further improvements of the Wysiwyg editor has been made
• Improvement of the UI for managing webs
• Default jQuery is now 1.4.3. JQueryPlugin’s form plugin form is upgraded to 2.49 and jquery-ui is upgraded to 1.8
• Fixes in the access controls for renaming attachments
  

Nashua, New Hampshire, USA, April 13, 2011 – Kentico Software, the Web content management system vendor, announced today that it is expanding its US operations by opening a new office in Seattle and has signed on Justin Smith as a Territory Sales Manager for the Western United States.

Version 6.0.3 of ocPortal was released over the weekend. This version is a patch release that introduces a number of bug fixes since the last release. Although the focus of this release is to fix software bugs, there are some new feature included in this latest release.

New features included in ocPortal 6.0.3 are:

"The more I learn about Enterprise 2.0, the more inclined I am to encourage companies to throw caution to the wind: buy (or build) some well-designed lightweight tools that take advantage of emergence and game mechanics, find a few leaders willing to lead by example, and go live."

- Andrew McAfee, Enterprise 2.0 the Indian Way,  AndrewMcAfee.org, April 7, 2011.

Bitrix, Inc., a technology trendsetter in business communications solutions, announces the release of Bitrix Site Manager 10.0, a version that includes 10 new weapons in the web and mobile-development arsenal, significant changes in the licensing policies of the product and a brand new module for senior editions.

Ten new technologies and tools are incorporated into Version 10.0 including:

1. BitrixMobile: for development of mobile sites and apps with support of iOS, Android and BlackBerry OS on the basis of HTML5
2. A ready-made mobile internet shop, created with BitrixMobile technology and an application for one-time passwords (OTP)
3. Web clusters, a complex solution for scalability and reliability of an entire web project (database, search module, etc.), can be applied in high availability (HA) or high performance (HP) configurations
4. Integration with social networks including Facebook, Twitter and Google
5. Sticky web-it notes for simplifying collaborative work in web project creation and content management
6. Instant search with query suggestion
7. Support of SKU in the e-commerce module
8. Rating and influence systems in the social networking module
9. A ready-made InfoPortal for municipalities and media outlets
10. A "Live session" feature, providing a more convenient experience to the daily user