Monday, June 28, 1999
What is NewsCenter?
...and how will it help me?
The what and why of news sites
News sites have a couple key characteristics:
- They are focused on a particular topic
- They are updated regularly
Good examples are the obvious news websites, like "Wired News" and "Macintouch" and of course, "Scripting News". These sites are different in scale and the amount of content they provide, but they all follow this formula: a certain focus for content, and a schedule of updates.
And it is this formula that leads to their success. Readers on the web want to know what to expect when they go to a site--a consistent topic or message--and they want a current, or relevant site--consistent updating.
Why do I need a news site?
There are dozens of applications for news sites.
At work: every project could have a news page on the intranet where your colleagues can check the status of your work. On an extranet, a news site is a great way to keep your client informed of the status of the project.
At school: Keep parents informed of school events, link to student websites, point to local news that your students and parents should be informed about.
Family: A family news site could be a way to keep the extended family--aunts, grandpas, and cousins, abreast of what's going on... and remind them of your birthday.
Community: Organizations can communicate quickly and easily to their members between meetings--keeping the feedback loop tight generates more interest and involvement in your group.
News sites are not just for news!
Most good news sites evolve to be more than just one page--they add features and services. You'll want to do the same:
Make old news available in an archive. Present a list of links relating to your topic. Let your readers download files. Finally, share the feedback you get in the mail.
Bad News and Good News
Are you ready for the bad news? A properly run news site is a lot of work. Most of us don't have the time or energy to manage a growing website.
The good news is, you have at your disposal some excellent tools for creating and maintaining your news site.
Frontier is an extremely powerful tool for managing your web content. Whether your site is twenty pages, or twenty-thousand, Frontier has the capability to grow with you.
And then there is newsCenter.
newsCenter makes it easy
newsCenter is a tool specifically designed to make news sites. And to make them easy and fun.
Seamlessly integrated with the Frontier environment, newsCenter automates the daily news update process. It creates new daily pages, archives old news, and renders your pages--all through convenient menu commands.
Easy to use: Make the news with convenient menu commands. Add page, archive news, even customize your output--with no scripting!
It is totally customizable: power users will appreciate the number of hooks available to create custom output--like ad inserts next to every section of news.
Manage multiple sites: Once you get the hang of it, managing another news site is as simple as one menu command. Your colleagues will wonder how you do it!
Mac users will enjoy special integration features with their web browser and email clients, making the updating and adding pages a snap.
In summary
Newscenter:
- automates the management of a news site
- takes care of the infrastructure so you can be more expressive
- allows you to customize your site--at your level of Frontier expertise
Read on to find out more
Read on to find out more about
- features
- pricing and licensing
- future plans
- downloading
- case studies
- history
This is Phil's Frontier Scripting Site. San Francisco, CA
Copyright © 1996-98, Phil Suh. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.filsa.net/frontier/software/newsCenter/whatis.html
This page last built on 6/28/99; 11:13:51 PM