Microsoft recently released Expression Web 2, their new web design program.

Frontpage is old news:

For those of you who don’t know much about it, Expression Web replaces Frontpage and as such, you won’t be seeing any new versions of Frontpage.

… You can read more about Expression Web 2 in the magazine.

Thanks,

Stefan Mischook

www.killersites.com

What is a gravatar?

Let’s take it from the source:

A gravatar, or globally recognized avatar, is quite simply an avatar image that follows you from weblog to weblog appearing beside your name when you comment on gravatar enabled sites. Avatars help identify your posts on web forums, so why not on weblogs?

From a community members point of view, what’s cool about gravatars is that you don’t have to upload your avatar image on every blog, forum or community that you are a member of. And from the community owner’s point of view, you can now add a little pizazz to your blog or forum with your members gravatars.

You can read more about gravatars in the magazine.

What is the difference between a CMS (content management system) and a Wiki?

In a nutshell:

Both are web based applications/software designed to allow many people to contribute content (typically articles … but podcast and videos are becoming more common) to a website.

I would say the basic difference is that a CMS (Ex: Drupal) is a closed system where only certain people can add or edit content to the website/cms.

On the other hand, a wiki is an open system where anyone can edit and add content. The idea behind a wiki is that the masses will eventually correct any false information – with the help of editors.

My thoughts:

I’m no wiki expert, but I see wiki’s being more suitable to general encyclopedic information. If you need a tighter structure and control over what is being posted on your site, I would be leaning towards a CMS rather than a WIKI.

That said, I am sure that the differences between the two types of software has room for a lot of gray area – I’m sure some CMS software have WIKI like functionality and vice versa.

How about blogs?

Blogs are kinda like a CMS for one person. One other distinction would be that the blog traditionally is date driven – where newer articles are posted to the front page of the blog. As with the WIKI/CMS blurring of the lines, you see the same with blogs and CMS software.

For example: Wordpress (a popular blog program) has CMS like features:

• Multiple users can post articles.
• You can have static non date affected pages. Wordpress call these ‘pages’.

Beyond the CMS-like features built into the core Wordpress package, Wordpress has a huge number of plug-ins out there that extend it’s capability considerably … bringing it even closer inline with a true CMS.

A few links:

Wordpress home page: www.wordpress.org
Drupal home page: http://drupal.org
Another popular CMS – Joomla: joomla.org
Wiki software: Media Wiki

Ciao,

Stefan Mischook

www.killersites.com

Hi,

I’m happy to announce this great new video on Actionscript.

A few points:

Actionscript has gone through a few major changes that make it increasingly more powerful. But, on the downside, Actioscript has gotten a little more complex along the way.

The following video is designed to introduce you the major differences between Actionscript 1, 2 and 3.

Check it out.

Stefan Mischook

www.killersites.com

Hi,

I just wanted to announce a new section on killersites.com: the Killersites.com Magazine.

Why another section?

I wanted a place where I could include other people articles and tutorials and I wanted a place where we could keep you up to date with the latest news on new products, technology … whatever on all things web design and web programming.

… I did this a little on my blog, but I felt a needed a more author neutral location.

Anyway, it sports a brand new layout, gravatars (Globally Recognized Avatars) and a way to subscribe to the magazine’s RSS feed through email.

We are just starting and so there is much to do … but I kicked it off with a great video on Actionscript 1, 2, and 3.

I hope you find it useful.

Stefan Mischook

www.killersites.com