The new version adds RSS feeds and improves the interface for LDAP and Active Directory.Macromedia announced Wednesday that it is offering a free update to its Web Publishing System application suite. The new version includes Macromedia Contribute 3.1 and Macromedia Contribute Publishing Services 1.1.
Coming six months after the initial product launch, the update offers enhancements to WPS' server components, including extensibility and connectivity solutions, said Craig Barberich, senior product manager of WPS and Contribute at Macromedia Inc.
Macromedia first released WPS in August 2004 to help large enterprises manage the client-side copies of Contribute for company intranets and extranets.
Macromedia touts WPS' new RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds as one of the key enhancements. Taking a cue from bloggers and wiki users, WPS lets users set up RSS-based feature activity areas so that companies can take RSS management responsibilities out of the hands of specialists.
Rather than relying on an IT department to notify employees of announcements via e-mail, users in their respective departments can publish the information as an RSS activity notification on their intranets that employees can check out on their RSS aggregators or blog readers, Barberich said.
Click here to read a review of Macromedia Web Publishing System.
Macromedia also improved the user interface for LDAP and Active Directory to simplify its use. "For this version, we focused on large-scale deployment and on scalability, and we wanted to improve on a platform that [would allow] a corporation to support thousands of publishers inside the organization," Barberich said.
"When we introduced Contribute three years ago, we wanted to make a publishing and editing tool that we call 'Microsoft Word for the Web.' WPS came about because [corporations] loved Contribute, but they needed something to manage these large groups that would work for business users who aren't programming- or html-savvy," Barberich said. WPS allows these users to share information with teams and workgroups, and the back end allows administrators to set up different degrees of access, he said.
Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Wilcox said products such as WPS are shifting the burden of Web publishing from experts to the masses in the same way desktop publishing has.
"I can remember doing Web site design in 1994. Back then, there were no WYSIWYG editors. The code has to be hand-done by professionals. As time has gone on, and as the Web has grown more mainstream and Web use more ubiquitous, the tools have improved so that regular folks can do it," Wilcox said.
"With desktop publishing, you no longer need to hire someone with a specialized talent to create a newsletter. Now you can hand it off to a secretary or an intern."
"As the expertise level decreases, [companies like Macromedia] are trying to bring comparable capabilities to the masses. After the Webmaster creates the site, now anyone can go in to make changes. Information can now get there faster," Wilcox said, adding that these capabilities save the company money.
"If HR has important resources it needs to put out, it shouldn't have to stand in a queue for the IT guy to make updates. [The department] can do it themselves," he said.
The update can be downloaded here.
Web Design 
