Features overview

Outlined below is a  summary of some of the features that make Cobra-cms a powerful and versatile CMS (Web Content Managment System).  The product is totally browser based and does not require any special plug-ins, enabling you to administer your site from anywhere you have access to the internet with Internet Explorer.

Security

We take security very seriously. Cobra-cms has been designed from the ground upwards to be as secure as possible.

Secure logon:  Site administrators logon via a very secure facility.

Secure content access:  Site member and administrator access can be set at page and site section level thus providing very granular control of who can see what.

Anti hacking:  All data coming in from the Internet is checked to see if it has been tampered with.

Editing

Rich-text editor: allows people to edit information using a familiar interface that provides ‘What You See Is What You Get’  editing an without having any knowledge of HTML.

Microsoft® Office integration: Content can be easily cut & pasted from MS Word and Excel into the content editor.

Content filtering (Clean HTML): When you cut & paste from MS Word and other desktop applications, mark-up is inserted into the editor.  Filters remove unwanted mark-up ensuring content is displayed correctly. 

Libraries: content authors will often need to insert standard graphics, disclaimer notices or motion graphics.  These items and HTML fragments can be held in a managed library of files and code fragments.

Content templates: provide a means of creating standard page layouts and styles.

Editable regions: of a page prevent certain areas from being edited, such as disclaimer notices, thus enabling the site to be more consistent and correct.

Publishing

Automatic menu updates:  When you add a new page or delete or move an existing page, site navigation menus are automatically updated.

Content expiry:  Pages that pass their expiry date are automatically removed from site navigation menus.

Content embargo: A page can be embargoed. During this period it can only be read by a certain assigned site members.

Page archiving and resurrection: Old pages can be restored and re-published, thus minimising the affect of those ‘doh’ moments!

Publishing workflow: a simple two stage, edit and approve workflow allows content to be approved by site editors and managers.  

Page design

Page templates (Skins):  uses standard HTML layout to define the overall structure, livery and style of a page.

CSS Support:  skins and content templates support full CSS positioning (tableless) designs.

Controls:  automatically create page menus, handle site logon, switch languages and display multi language text.  Controls can be easily customised by setting colour, CSS styles and other display properties.

Content grouping (lists):  are the grouping together of content. Lists enable large amounts of content, for example press releases, to be broken up into pages and automatically linked together.

Fragment stores:  hold  multi language text and HTML strings. Skin developers can easily access and display these items. When a site visitor changes the current language of the site, the specific language value of an item is automatically retrieved.

Meta Data:  can be easily created for users & pages and accessed in skins and display it in pages. Developers can use Meta data to customise and personalise page content.

Site management

User and Group management: The management of User/Group permissions is achieved through an easy-to-use and familiar interface design.

Content deletion: when items are deleted by a user they sit in a trash can and can be recovered or permanently deleted

Content reorganisation: Pages or whole site sections can be easily moved within a menu using our Mark & Move technique.  These actions can be performed whilst the site is still live.

Site availability: A site can be taken on & offline with ease, an “apology message” can be created letting site visitors know when the site might be back in operation.

Administration activity logging: User admin and authoring actions can be logged on a scale of light to verbose.

Site Membership: Cobra-cms supports a full membership system, which enables automatic and semi automatic (configurable manual approval step) site registration.  Members are assigned to groups where access rights and permissions can be set. Member data can be extended through user Meta data.  

Web site operation & hosting

Membership registration:  site visitors can register automatically by email or an administrator can approve registrations manually.

Site Logon/off: site user authentication (logon/off) is handled automatically by Cobra-cms.

Site search: Site users and visitors can search through page content using simple, combined and Boolean searches. 

Language switching: when a site visitor/user changes language the system automatically selects the correct language version for the given page.

Search friendly URLs: ULRs are encrypted or obfuscated to prevent site hacking and provide a consistent structure for visitor book marking and search engine friendliness. 

Runs on 3rd party web hosts: With a very simple installation process

Multi database support: Runs on both Microsoft® Access and SQL Server databases (Cobra-cms Enterprise Edition).

High performance: Cobra-cms has been designed for high performance. In tests, Cobra-cms has demonstrated that it will serve between a hundred and two hundred page impressions per second depending upon the database. With .Net caching enabled it serves between 600 and 800 pages a second to 300 concurrent users.