CMS Vendors
Xalok
Xalok is a well-established CMS in Spanish language markets, offering editors a live preview of what their content will look like on various devices.
- While the "Xalok Go" SaaS platform caters to small news organizations, most customers will still likely require extensive engagement with the vendor's services arm to customize an implementation to their requirements.
- Parent company Hiberus offers other website and application development services
- Key customers include La Vanguardia, El Tiempo, and Corriere della Serra
Likely fit
Xalok Go could be a potential next step from WordPress for Micro-Independent News Organizations. However, any additional requirements will mean switching to the core version of Xalok with custom development. Hiberus can offer all professional services required, from development to managed services, which could prove convenient to a Mid-Sized Chain of News Organizations (such as the media arm of parent company HENNEO). However, this could prove a step too far for Small Independent News Organizations and Small Chains of News Organizations.
At a glance
Primary Customer Fit
Mid-Sized Chain of News Organizations
Secondary Fit
Micro-Independent News Organizations
Most Active Geographies
EMEA, Latin America
Official Support Hours
Choices for 8x5, 12x5, 24x7
Officially Supported Languages for User Interface
ES, EN
Third-party Language Support Available?
No
License Model
Monthly fee for use of the software, depending on tiers based on traffic, page views and users
Scope Summary
Digital first CMS with visual interface from a vendor in Spain that can see to many peripheral IT needs as well
Tech Base
PHP (Symfony), MySQL, Elastic, Redis, Node.js, Twig
Cloud Model
SaaS
Headquarters
Zaragoza, Spain
Head Count
72
What customers report
- Visual interface allows editors to work on an article as site visitors would see it
- Hiberus Media Labs can draw from a large pool of Hiberus tech resources to implement the CMS, as well as many other adjacent technology needs
- A Xalok Go demo could give the impression the product is a good fit out of the box, while in reality this may require complicated bespoke development based more on the underlying core product
- The core CMS is mostly an editorial interface, with integration or expansion needed to go beyond this
- Lacking a partner network, you will have to defer to Hiberus professional services for any customisation required
Background
- What began in 1895 as the newspaper Heraldo de Aragon has in the past decade transformed into HENNEO, a media and technology conglomerate. Technology consulting subsidiary Hiberus was created in 2012 with the addition of Comex Integración and IriTec. In 2017, Xalok merged with Hiberus' content management team to form what is now Hiberus Media Labs, with Xalok as their main product.
- Xalok's editorial interface revolves around editing within the preview, which can be switched to show different screen sizes (desktop and mobile). The company has focussed on its visual editing interface and minimizing the number of steps editors have to take outside of it. Setting the focal point for an image, for example, can be done from within the article view, without having to go into a separate DAM (Digital Asset Management) system. Editors can also add different types of content blocks, and if the content is sourced from the CMS itself, will immediately show these within the editor. The system also supports multiple languages (for instance, a Spanish and an English edition) with the option to automatically translate the first version for editors to work on.
- What the platform brings in editorial niceties, it generally lacks in other services (such as planning, paywalls, subscription services, commenting), which must be built or bolted on.
- Xalok is a PHP based system with a Node.js front-end and Twig templating (though the CMS can also be used headless). Customers must implement a custom layer on top of the core system that caters to their specific needs and integrations. This can be developed by the customer tech teams themselves, though in many cases Hiberus Media Labs will have heavy involvement in the development and daily operation of the platform. The company can be a "one stop shop" to the extent that a customer will only need to fulfil the product management role -- though it can be easy to underestimate the responsibilities this brings in deciding on implementation details. To mitigate this, Hiberus Media Labs also created the more out of the box "Xalok Go", which caters to small publications. However, if requirements exceed Xalok Go capabilities, it can then require a steep step-up to a custom Xalok implementation.
- While Hiberus Media Labs has 72 employees, its rapidly-growing parent company Hiberus employs 3,300 – a large resource pool covering multiple technology areas, which can be drawn upon for CMS implementations when needed. In fact, many Xalok customers also engage in other technology projects with Hiberus (ranging from SEO to big data projects).
- Xalok has very recently announced the "Xalok IA assistant", which promises to suggest article topics (integrated with competitive ananlytics), and aid with content creation. The goal for this is to be service independent, using ChatGPT and Gemini, or open source alternatives such as Vicuna.
套件涵蓋範圍 (根據供應商回報內容)
| 核心平台，即產品隨附平台 (是/否/Beta 版) | 外掛程式 (是/自訂/第三方) | |
|---|---|---|
|
內容生命週期：建立/分類/編輯/核准/發布/重新利用/封存/丟棄
|
是
|
|
|
基本數位/語音/媒體資產管理
|
是
|
|
|
支援紙本發布
|
否
|
是
|
|
簡易社群媒體重新發布
|
否
|
是
|
|
選用模組：表單/意見調查/社交小工具/其他
|
否
|
是
|
|
連結器資料庫 (OOTB 連結器、API 等)
|
否
|
第三方
|
|
套裝組合 CDN (含分散式阻斷服務防護)
|
是
|
第三方
|
|
使用者註冊
|
否
|
第三方
|
|
訂閱管理與發布 (數位)
|
否
|
第三方
|
|
訂閱管理 (紙本)
|
否
|
第三方
|
|
個人化
|
否
|
|
|
廣告管理 (數位)
|
是
|
第三方
|
|
廣告管理 (紙本)
|
否
|
|
|
行動應用程式管理
|
否
|
自訂
|
|
站內搜尋
|
是
|
|
|
內容和指派項目規劃
|
否
|
第三方
|
|
影片管理/OVP
|
是
|
第三方
|
|
音訊管理/Podcast 製播
|
是
|
第三方
|
|
資料視覺化圖像
|
否
|
第三方
|
|
分類廣告
|
否
|
第三方
|
|
留言/社群功能/
|
否
|
第三方
|
|
電子報製作與管理
|
否
|
是
|
|
通知與快訊
|
否
|
是
|
|
A/B 測試
|
否
|
是
|
|
搜尋引擎最佳化
|
是
|
|
|
多出版品管理 (變數繼承)
|
否
|
自訂
|
|
複雜版面配置與子網站/子區段複製
|
是
|
|
|
AR/VR 服務
|
否
|
第三方
|
|
公開說明文件
|
否
|
|
|
線上使用者/合作夥伴論壇
|
是
|
|
|
定期使用者群組會面
|
否
|
|
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