DirectControl integrates a WYSIWYG or HTML Expert editor that centralizes most components of web development within the editor controls, including:

Site Management

  • A unique template/keyword approach based on a simple naming convention to minimize repetitive work and accelerate content deployment.
  • Built-in automatic versioning of every change, with the ability to easily roll forward or backward to any restore point in time.
  • Call in XML feeds.
  • Friendly enough for users to focus on content instead of construct.
  • Offer experienced web developers a flexible and powerful platform with support for the latest in presentation technology.
  • Strive to minimize repetitive work while accelerating content deployment.
  • Integrate all features with a safety net to recover from mistakes.

Security

  • Self contained security OR utilize third-party authentication protocols and databases such as Active Directory or LDAP.
  • Manage user permissions and group permissions.
  • Lock down security to the page level if necessary. This allows one user to control only one page of your site if necessary.
  • Monitor user activity with built-in audit logging.
  • DirectClarity's data rendering optimization core (DRoC™) employs a security checkpoint that is enforced during exchanges of data; this checkpoint is automated and may not be defeated by users or administrators.
    • The checkpoint is automatically applied to every data exchange form.
    • This consists of a unique key that is created for the generated form, and the key may be used only once and only for the specific form that called it.
    • This checkpoint eliminates malicious entry of data from spammers/hackers, rejects data injection attacks, and maintains an ongoing and detailed transaction log independent from the data source.

Content Management

  • Easily add pages to your site or portal without having to worry about updating global site navigation - it's all automatic.
  • Edit pages of your site with a WYSIWYG inline editor or use the HTML Expert feature that allows advanced users to work in a pure HTML environment.
  • Move pages to other sections of your site in less than three clicks - navigation updates automatically.
  • Delete pages from the system, or simply take them to an "offline" state for use later on.
  • Manage page name, link name, page title, style group association, Meta group association and template usage at the page level.
  • Manage page status, link status, and page version with an easy interface at the page level.
  • Assign pages to site portals in two clicks.
  • Manage hyperlinks with external linking interface, or internal links by simply choosing existing pages within the site.
  • Multiple levels of undo - retains unlimited page versions just in case a user messes up a page, or if you'd like to utilize different page versions at different times.
  • Webpage Check-Out/Check-In system allows users to check out pages they are working on. This feature prevents other users from modifying checked out pages checked out by other users. Checked out pages remain checked out until they are checked back in by the check-out owner account.

Styling, Appearance and Accessibility

  • Unlimited style class capability in unlimited numbers of class groups.
  • Allow duplicate style names in separate class groups.
  • Browsers incapable of using a style sheet link not suffixed in "css" will be linked to standard css files managed internally within the system. A standards-compliant css file is generated for each style group created in the CMS.

Meta Data Management

  • Manage Meta data at the global or page level.
  • Use groups to easily deploy specific Meta data in order to effectively target different search engines.
  • For large database implementations, deploy Meta data at the record level for dynamic search indexing.

Navigation

  • Auto-generated navigation in horizontal, vertical, split or drop down modes.
  • Easily integrate external links in your navigation structure.
  • Define link targets to open new window if necessary.
  • Define the order of your navigation links.
  • Manage navigation link cosmetics with pre-link and post-link HTML or script routines.
  • Control hyperlink styling and behavior with internally-managed CSS, defining link, hover, active, and visited states.
  • Top-level and sub page hyperlinks can have completely different styling and behavior.

Site Utilities

  • EmailURL - Creates a mailto hyper link that opens the end-user's email client and inserts a hyper link to the current web site page allowing the user to easily share the page with friends and associates.
  • Provide dynamic site search features.
  • Togglefont - Allows end user to enlarge/reduce font size from within the generated web site using point, pixel, or relative percentage increases.

Portal Management

  • URL Redirection/Walled Garden provides simple or password-protected interrupt and redirect capabilities for any matching URL, and an interrupt requiring a username and password to continue to the requested page or another URL.
  • Building on the Walled Garden approach, DirectControl has a back end interface for managing user accounts on a per-portal basis and provides controls in the Edit Page screen to associate additional pages to created portals. Logged in users can manage their own profile and password.

Data Management

  • Integration of DRoc™ is MSSQL compatible set of extensible core features that enable non-technical personnel to rapidly develop robust data interactive applications without the need for traditional-based software development and development staff.
  • Display data from an unlimited number of external databases right in your site or portal.
  • Data import manager allows you to map and import data to a specific database or table.
  • Data views can be designed with no other development tools. This includes grid views, single record views, and multi-record views.
  • Manage record pagination quickly and efficiently. Even data view styling is completely managed within DirectControl.
  • Assign images to data values quickly and easily (ex: ratings equal stars).

Web Form Design and Management

  • Design Canvas allows you to visually design database driven forms, webpage layouts, and web forms. Use your mouse to drag objects onto the canvas for quick precision layout. Use the custom object to place ANYTHING on a canvas, including navigation menus, keywords, and other existing Canvas Projects. Native object types include Flash, Pictures, Content layouts, and a variety of form controls like text fields, drop-downs, and buttons. Switchable graph-paper background aides in lining up objects with accuracy- use the nudge feature to finalize positions. All canvas objects (including keywords and navigation menus) are rendered in real-time - Work with everything visually!

Third-Party Application Integration

  • Iframe Mode controls the ability for outside hosts to Iframe your CMS website.
  • Third-party authentication plugin allows the Client Portal login to utilize an external user authentication database such as Active Directory or LDAP.
    • Map DirectControl login fields to your remote database login fields and allow the user account info locally cached to support existing keywords that return logged in username, email address, etc.
    • Custom mapping of a "user disabled" field and value pair ensures that DirectControl is aware of disabled users in the remote database.

File Management

  • Upload documents, images, video files, and audio files without the need to FTP.
  • Easily embed these files into your web content using the WYSIWYG inline editor.

Search Engine Optimization

  • SEO Toolbox features-set enables SEO tactics for site owners.
  • URL Optimization leverages the IIS 404 Page Not Found system to intercept URL's and map them to existing content.
  • Site owners can create friendly URL patterns and map those patters to existing content, greatly enhancing SEO. This feature can also be leveraged as a tool for sharing content between remove sites enhancing the size and content of all sites.
  • Auto XML site map generation. Simply define a site map profile and generate and re-generate the sitemap as often as you like at the click of a button.
  • Deploy field-level Meta data for data sets making individual database records mare visible to search engines.
  • A delivery engine that presents itself to browsers and search engines as a static website.
  • Customized Meta tags and Doctype declaration for Search Engine optimization (SEO).
  • Preferred Domain feature employs automatic 301 redirects to boost page rank of your multi-domain CMS web sites.