Paul Krill
Editor at Large

Macromedia adding to Studio MX suite

news
Feb 10, 20032 mins

Content tool for Web sites now in package

Macromedia on Monday will add to its Studio MX Suite its Contribute  tool for adding content to Web sites and a new version of the Freehand design tool.

The company will rename the suite Studio MX Plus and also unveil a software subscription service.

Announced in November, Contribute enables laymen to add content to Web sites. “It makes it possible for business users to contribute content to Web sites without compromising the control of either the formatting or the layout of files or directory structure, or anything about the Web site that the professional [Web developer] wants to hang on to,” said Tom Hale, senior vice president in charge of business strategy at Macromedia, in San Francisco.

Macromedia will upgrade the Freehand MX (formerly Freehand 10) print and Web graphic design tool now in the suite, fitting it with a new interface and a live connection to technical resources at Macromedia and integration with other parts of the product family. Other new features include an enhanced ability to output directly to the Flash file format, the ability to import Flash files, a bigger selection of action script events, and an improved movie set-up process.

A user of the current Studio MX product said he has been pleased with it. “We pretty much use it for the assembly of all our Web sites. We also write some back-end code as well,” said Buck Cerulli, vice president of Creative at 2b interactive, an Internet marketing and promotions firm in Memphis .

Macromedia also is announcing DevNet Subscriptions, a software subscription service for Macromedia developers. Developers can access technologies such as tools, servers, extensions, and components from the company. A subscriber portal enables users to download products, including upgrades and extensions.

DevNet includes the DevNet Resource Kit, featuring building blocks of user experiences, such as pull-down menus and data grids.

The DevNet Subscriptons program is available in two levels, Professional and Essentials. A DevNet Professional subscription, which features single-user perpetual licenses to tools such as DreamWeaver and Contribute, costs $1,499 for the first year and $999 to renew yearly.

DevNet Essentials costs $299 and complements Macromedia Studio MX tolls with an annual subscription to advance access of the quarterly DevNet Resource Kits.

The company also is adding components and extensions for DreamWeaver and Flash to the DevNet Resource Kit. Components such as a rich text editor and UI controls will be added.

Paul Krill

Paul Krill is editor at large at InfoWorld. Paul has been covering computer technology as a news and feature reporter for more than 35 years, including 30 years at InfoWorld. He has specialized in coverage of software development tools and technologies since the 1990s, and he continues to lead InfoWorld’s news coverage of software development platforms including Java and .NET and programming languages including JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rust, and Go. Long trusted as a reporter who prioritizes accuracy, integrity, and the best interests of readers, Paul is sought out by technology companies and industry organizations who want to reach InfoWorld’s audience of software developers and other information technology professionals. Paul has won a “Best Technology News Coverage” award from IDG.

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