Allaire boosts productivity with new Spectra version

Through its sole distributor in South Africa, enterprise software and Web-enablement specialist, Dax Data, US-based Allaire has announced a new version of its application framework for building business on the Web, Allaire Spectra 1.5.

According to Jeremy Matthews, MD of the local company, the latest release is the first major upgrade to the product for building content management, e-commerce and personalised Web applications. "Spectra 1.5 makes it easier to build Web applications while increasing developer and end-user productivity.

"The goal with Spectra is to reduce the time required to bring Internet-based business solutions to market," he says. The product provides the tools necessary to efficiently manage and analyse the business and to deliver personalised experiences to customers, partners and other site visitors. In the new release, significant features include step-by-step wizards for installation and configuration and out-of-the-box business rules for personalising and customising visitor experiences.

Content versioning allows users to version, edit, track and rollback content and productivity wizards help developers to build new applications - by setting up the application, assisting in adding users to the system, and setting up the business intelligence infrastructure. In addition, the inclusion of intelligent caching in Spectra 1.5 allows cache settings to be automated and optimised for improved site performance while a new Web-based editor which allows users to spell check content, upload images, place text and images into tables and add hyperlinks simplifies content authoring. Matthews sums up: "Spectra 1.5 allows organisations to deliver dynamic sites and empowers non-technical end users to contribute and manage site content."