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Mixing Design and Content in an Online Web Development Model


By Marisa Peacock  cmswire.com |  Jul 1, 2009

With the advent of Software as a Service (Saas), it's surprising that more browser-based options for web development don't exist. Which is what makes Platformic (news, site) so unique. Not only does it offer a browser-based web development strategy, its platform combines web design with content management.

Recently we spoke with Mark Underhill, Chief Technology Officer at Platformic about their many innovative features. The essence of Platformic 3.0 is that it lets designers, developers and laypeople use the same tools to make exciting designs, offer new media and dynamic content to users who demand it.

Platformic's first client site was launched in 2007, however, the company's brain trust had been born two years prior. Serving mostly media and broadcast companies, Platformic blends content and design, and mixes in flexibility and functionality for good measure.

Layout Manager Not File Manager

Platformic insists that their solution is a layout manager because as layouts are created, they are automatically integrated into a flexible content management platform. Instead of working with individual files, users work on a set of pages all at once.

Visual designs can be uploaded and then reformatted to fit the layout, all without external FTP access, web development applications like Adobe Dreamweaver or hard coding. Platformic does it all for you, reformatting tags accordingly.

Lots of Media

Because their customer base consists mostly of television and radio stations, media is definitely in high demand. Platformic delivers, utilizing media libraries to which audio, video and photos can be drag n' dropped. Video can be attached to individual stories, podcast and rss feeds are automatically generated, and audio clips can be added to multiple feeds.

Layouts can have an unlimited number of tools, including social media, mobile applications and custom widgets. As well, Platformic can integrate well with other video players and APIs.

But Platformic isn't limited to just sites and media, it can also produce and send broadcast emails, and maintain subscriptions and email lists.

A Platform for the People

The point of Platformic isn't just to make design and content come together in a flexible and functional manner, but it's also to make it easy and accessible to many people. What designer or content manager hasn't dreaded teaching their system to others in the company?

In probably the one area where many cooks in the kitchen is a good thing, many people can be uploading content and media, rather than gathering it for one person to upload and handle. With its drag and drop functionality, automated compression of files and back-end coding, we suspect that more designers will be taking vacation and letting others share the responsibility of the site.

Platformic offers customers support, training and off-site hosting. Interested in learning more, visit www.platformic.com

Article: http://www.cmswire.com/cms/web-development/mixing-design-and-content-in-an-online-web-development-model-004958.php
Below are just a few of our clients sites, built using the power of Platformic. Please click the thumbnails below for full size photos.
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