Prepress
Méthode Portal Server adds new Web CMS functions
Monday 27. October 2008 - The first Web CMS system to be specifically designed for news organisations, the Méthode Portal Server continues to integrate innovative content and community management functions into its powerful XML-based platform.
When it was first introduced at IfraExpo 2007, the Méthode Portal Server offered a one-stop solution to the needs of news organizations to serve large and diversified online audiences with personalised news content with minimum deployment of human resources and technical infrastructure.
Since then the Portal Server has been adopted by news organisations in both Europe and the USA and has continued to develop features that allow media companies to deliver a rich, varied online experience to a fragmented user base.
Among the new automatic enrichment features is the Backgrounder – clicking on a key person or reference in the article text, the story writer can enable a function which will display the latest N articles or photos on that topic below the story text. The location of the linked content is automatic and carried out by Méthodes powerful query functions.
For a growing number of users, a mobile device is an important news accesss channel and there is an increasing need for news organisations to provide a phone-friendly interface for their online content. With Méthode Portal server, mobile channels can be created easily. Once a channel has been configured, the tailoring of text and multimedia content is completely automatic and adapted to the display characteristics of specific devices.
Another feature, StoryMapper, uses Google to generate a map display showing readers the locations of local stories (see separate press release.)
Blogs from staff and other trusted sources are now a key feature of many news sites. The Portal Server provides extensive blog-hosting and management facilities completely integrated into the online content management system.
“Whether it is used as a standalone Web CMS or forms part of an existing Méthode multiple-media publishing platform, the Portal Server addresses two main needs for online news operations,” commented Massimo Barsotti, EidosMedias VP marketing. “The first is to offer the richest online experience to the widest range of readers, while keeping manual operations by editorial staff to a minimum.”
“The second is to achieve the highest news throughput with a given server architecture. Méthodes unique intelligent caching system maximises visitor response performance and delivers up-to-date news content while saving system resources.”