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More than a gadget: Modulo Systems calls its suite of advertising products Gadgets, and here the ad layout module is put through its paces. |
Modulo sings 'Stars and Stripes
Forever' after ad system sale
LAS VEGAS -- Who doesn't love gadgets? Anything shiny, noisy, handheld and electronic guarantees someone will pay attention. Modulo Systems was showing off its gadgets recently. But these weren't the expected electronic tchotchkes.
"We are really excited about the gadgets," said Geoff Kehrer, sales support and applications specialist at Modulo. "In fact, Stars & Stripes just purchased Gadgets."
What are these gadgets? It's an ad production system complete with pagination and dummy layout.
Actually, it's a gaggle of advertising applications that the Cambridge, Mass.-based Modulo now offers and is calling the whole package Gadgets. The suite includes 10 products, or modules, -- classified order entry, classified pagination, display order entry, ad layout, ad placement, ad tracking, ad creation, ad billing, web services and ad reporting.
Kehrer said that all of the Gadgets will easily integrate into existing systems for newspapers not desiring to purchase the whole suite. Newspapers can purchase each of the eight modules separately.
The recent sale to Stars & Stripes -- the multicontinent newspaper for military personnel -- guarantees to either sink or sail Gadgets. Modulo will be installing the product at multiple locations throughout the world, with all of the sites connecting into a main database. The database? Sybase ASA (Adaptive Server Anywhere). Customers can also choose Microsoft SQL Server. All of the Gadgets modules interact with the database via Open Database Connectivity (Odbc).
The two order entry modules, ClassOrderEntry and DisplayOrderEntry, allow for a high level of customization. Screens can be customized according to customer specifications or done on the fly after installation. Rate management is built into both modules providing the newspaper with flexibility and control. The classified module offers what-you-see-is-what-you-get preview of ads. No doubt this feature will be enhanced to be included in other modules as newspapers move to a more soft-proof environment.
Modulo's classified pagination module, ClassPag, is a straight-forward pagination application. It contains square-off capability, WYSIWYG preview of display and classified ads, drag-and-drop ad flow and the ability to export pages as EPS files. Users also can see multiple types of views including multiple pages with split screens.
The advertising edition management module, AdLayout serves for ad dummying. It gathers the information stored in the central database and is used to place the ads on pages. A Quark XTension, AdPlace, takes the dummied page and flows the ads onto an XPress page. It can also do single page re-flow. Reports based on the ad makeup can be generated from this module, as well.
The AdTracker module serves a management function. It keeps track of all the graphical ad components in one central database.
To create ads in a Modulo world, users work with AdMaker. Palettes provide ad creators with such tools as shadow boxes and resizing.
Those companies that know how to employ databases are the ones which know how to get the information in and how to get the right information out for the folks who need it. The module AdBill works like a data warehouse. It stores aggregated information for regular retrieval and comes with transaction capability and standardized reporting means with the potential to do granular reporting if necessary.
Modulo also offers a reporting and monitoring tool perfect for production. Management Console is web-based and connects directly to the booking database for real-time displays. Not only does it keep track during the production cycle, but it can also monitor progress during the sales cycle. That should give most bean counters the impetus to purchase this module.
And finally, Modulo offers an on-line module to complement the suite of ad products. WebAdServer connects to the database and allows for import and export of information.
The above are all cross-platform.
Modulo remains steadfast to its commitment to Quark XPress. Modulo and Quark have a long history and though Quark no longer has an ownership position in the company, they are still close.
Key to that relationship is the continued involvement by Modulo with Quark Publishing System (QPS) -- an editorial workflow system that is used at many newspapers. Anyone who has ever used QPS knows what a slick set of systems it is. And while the publishing industry seems to be leaning more toward Adobe InDesign, there are still a few system suppliers -- such as Modulo -- which know how to make XPress work within the publishing environment.
Modulo owes its success with integrating XPress to its ability to write extensions and develop a database environment in Sybase that can handle the elements found on a Quark page.
Publishing to multiple media such as web sites and cell phones is no longer a frill, but a necessary requirement to continue to be competitive. Modulo works on a module format and this lends itself to adapting new technologies as they become available.
-- J.Z.
Modulo Systems,
(617) 234-4414,
e-mail: info@modulosystems.com.
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