Twelve CMS-inspired Gifts of Christmas

By Elizabeth Starkey

Thursday, December 6th, 2007 at 9:00am

The holidays are just a few weeks away, and Hannon Hill is here to help provide ideas for your shopping list this year.  Our content management-inspired Twelve Gifts of Christmas are sure to motivate and benefit everyone involved in maintaining and contributing to your website throughout the new year:

1. Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 is a perfect solution for any designers who work with a CMS.  The latest version of Dreamweaver includes CSS tools and intelligent integration with Adobe products.  Building templates for Cascade will be a breeze with this gift under the tree.

2. For that person on your list who always claims she needs more space, a new external hard drive should solve her problems.  LaCie makes reliable hard drives in a number of sizes, specifications, and designs to store or back up loads of content.

3. A perfect solution for someone on-the-go, AT&T LaptopConnect Cards allow any laptop to connect to the internet away from home or work.  With one of these handy cards, business trips will never again get in the way of keeping web content updated.  With compatibility in over 155 countries and improved performance, this gift is sure to please any frequent travelers on your list.

4. Podcasting is one of the most prominent features of Web 2.0.  Samson’s CO1U USB Studio Condenser Microphone makes it easy and affordable to record podcasts directly onto your computer without an audio interface, and the podcasts can be uploaded and published directly in Cascade Server.  Order one for your favorite media guru, and you’ll be sure to make his holiday a merry one.

5. Web log analysis software can be a valuable advantage for any website administrator to better understand more about those who visit her website, including the number of unique visitors, the most viewed pages, operating systems and browsers used, and search engines that were used to find the site.  Many options are available, inlcuding WebLog Expert, OneStat, and AlterWind.  Give the gift of analytics to your favorite admin this season.

6. Text-heavy blogs can often appear dull without any visual supplement.  Help to remedy your favorite blogger’s site with a new digital camera.  With today’s models, anyone can beef up a website with easy-to-use digital cameras, and many even include software for editing images before sharing them online.

7. Adobe Flash CS3 Professional will give your favorite developer or designer the tools to create all the bells and whistles he could hope to include on his website.  This gift is not only valuable for stunning visuals and animations, but it also can be used to create interactive demonstrations and polished video content.

8. For your Apple aficionado friends, Mac OS X Leopard is now available.  With over 300 new features, including the impressive new Finder, Time Machine, and Spaces, organization has never been easier.  Boot Camp even lets Mac users run Windows.  This improved operating system will give all of your Apple friends the functionality they need to be even more productive with all of their programs, including their CMS.

9. The gift of a domain is always a nice, personalized present.  Maybe you know someone with a specialized area of their website that has grown enough to warrant its own site, or perhaps you’d like to inspire someone to start a new website.  In any case, a domain will show that you took the time to personalize a gift just for the recipient.  Plus, multiple domains may be managed right from within Cascade Server.

10. A good XSL/XSLT editor, such as Oxygen or XMLSpy would make a great gift for your developer friends.  These products allow developers to create and edit XSL/XSLT documents as well as test and validate them.  This gift will keep giving all year for your favorite developer.

11. Anyone who uses a computer for long periods of time would appreciate an ergonomic keyboard in her stocking.  One of the most popular and affordable ergonomic keyboards is Microsoft’s Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000.  Ergonomic keyboards reduce muscle strain by correcting hand positioning, thus helping to prevent carpel tunnel syndrome.

12. A USB flash drive is an affordable choice for anyone who needs to quickly transfer files between home and office.  Available in various sizes and novelty designs, flash drives make perfect stocking stuffers for everyone from system administrators to simple website contributors who want to work on their content on multiple PCs.

We hope that our suggestions have provided some helpful ideas, and we wish you luck with your holiday shopping this season!

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