Roxen Internet Software

Rtl.nl, the new HMG information and entertainment network, which was officially launched on 24 April, the Yorin website, rtlnieuws.nl, text.nl and rtlgrandprix.nl, which have been up and running for several weeks now, all run on the Roxen Platform. RTL iMedia made its choice of Web Content Management system after careful deliberation. In a comparison of ten different Web Content Management systems, the Roxen Platform emerged as the most appealing, due to its flexibility and relatively low costs.

"The Roxen Platform is an open system. That was the deciding factor for us," explains Jan Paul Dekker, RTL iMedia's IT Manager. "We have access to all source codes and can fully adapt the system to our own requirements. The modular construction of the Roxen Platform means flexibility of use. Most other Content Management systems are either limited ready-made solutions or complicated systems for which the implementation and configuration are terribly time consuming".

The Roxen Platform also proved to be the ideal toolbox for HMG for the development and management of web pages. With Roxen's help, RTL iMedia has developed a framework for websites and a series of individual components and templates that can be used again and again, enabling RTL iMedia to launch new websites in a flash.

Thanks to the separation of content and layout and the use of open standards, such as XML and XSL, the information can be changed rapidly, whether this is text, photographs or banners. The editorial team carries out the changes using editor buttons, pull down menus and normal word processors and graphics programmes on a local version of the website and publish the altered pages directly on the web using an application launcher. The changes are also automatically implemented on all other pages of the HMG sites with the same information. The high quality graphics facilities of Roxen, XML and XSL mean that those elements that often recur, such as weather maps, can be developed for the RTL News Site far more quickly.

In addition to development tools, the Roxen Platform also offers a range of support facilities. Thanks to authorisations and workflow management, which are integrated into the platform, editors, web designers and ICT-engineers can work on the website independently but within clear frameworks and authorities. The Roxen Platform also features a Concurrent Version System (CVS), which archives the various versions and keeps track of exactly when and by whom changes have been implemented.

Web Content Management is becoming of major importance to the Holland Media Group. Yorin, Yorin FM, RTL4 and RTL5 are being profiled increasingly as multimedia brands, which integrate television, radio, concerts, events and the Internet. In that context, the Internet is an instrument for increasing interaction with the target groups. E-mail, chatboxes and polls provide viewers and listeners with increasing opportunities to influence programmes and share experiences. All Yorin, Yorin FM, RTL4 and RTL5 programmes will have their own websites.

Rtl.nl is an information and entertainment network. It not only gives up-to-date information on broadcasts on radio and television, news and background information on sport, music and films, travel information and games, but it especially provides access to the websites linked to the programmes. These websites in particular, will be very dynamic and have a great deal of content. The large number of programmes that will have their own websites makes RTL iMedia one of the largest web builders in the Netherlands. "The ability to develop and change websites quickly and efficiently is essential", says Dekker. "Also because of the costs. For example, we developed the RTL News website in barely two weeks time and at a quarter of the normal costs".