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Movable Type

Movable Type

Overview

What is Movable Type?

Movable Type is a Perl-based content management system from Six Apart, featuring the capability to host multiple weblogs and standalone content pages, manage files and user roles, templates, tags, categories, and trackback links.

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Movable Type is a versatile tool that has found multiple use cases across different industries and organizations. Web designers rely on …
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My type is Movable Type

6 out of 10
May 14, 2014
We used Movable Type as a blogging tool for our editors/writers. With the amount of content being posted to our site on a daily basis, the …
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GTD: Gets Things Done

7 out of 10
April 22, 2014
When I worked at a newspaper, we launched an entertainment website that functioned as an arm of our entertainment section. It was used by …
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Pricing

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What is Movable Type?

Movable Type is a Perl-based content management system from Six Apart, featuring the capability to host multiple weblogs and standalone content pages, manage files and user roles, templates, tags, categories, and trackback links.

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Alternatives Pricing

What is Wix?

Wix is a free, hosted website builder, designed to be user-friendly and customizable without requiring coding from the user. It is well-known for its eCommerce solution, which allows users to build an online store.

What is Squarespace?

Squarespace is a CMS platform that allows users to create a DIY blog, eCommerce store, and/or portfolio (visual art or music). Some Squarespace website and shop templates are industry or use case-specific, such as menu builders for restaurant sites.

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Product Demos

Movable Type 3.3 installatie

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Movable Type Memo Plugin With Techmeme RSS

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Product Details

What is Movable Type?

Movable Type is a Perl-based CMS from Six Apart, featuring the capability to host multiple weblogs and standalone content pages, manage files and user roles, templates, tags, categories and trackback links. Six Apart was formed in 2001 as a blog solution provider in the US. In 2003 the company founded Six Apart KK, a Japanese legal entity. In November 2010, Six Apart joined forces with VideoEgg to create a new company called SAY Media. In January 2011, Six Apart KK was wholly acquired by Infocom, a Japanese IT company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Six Apart KK has assumed responsibility over all intellectual property and business operations of Movable Type, as well as trademark rights of Six Apart. The new Six Apart, a Japanese corporation formerly known as Six Apart KK, currently develops, markets and supports Movable Type for a global user base.

Movable Type touts a template markup system near in complexity to HTML. It is designed to support unlimited users and expanding without degrading site experience or increasing page load times. Custom fields, themes, plugins and the data API support great configurability. Its decoupled architecture supports flexible deployment for multichannel delivery. It is proprietary software.

Movable Type Technical Details

Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(16)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

Movable Type is a versatile tool that has found multiple use cases across different industries and organizations. Web designers rely on Movable Type to build content management systems for their clients, enabling easy modification and addition of content to websites. According to reviewers, Movable Type serves as a lightweight CMS and blogging platform, making it ideal for setting up small to medium-sized websites for various clients.

One notable advantage of Movable Type over Wordpress, as reported by users, is its reliability and enhanced security features. By creating static pages, Movable Type minimizes the risk of compromising the site's security. Fashion publications leverage Movable Type as a blogging tool for editors and writers, streamlining content creation processes and boosting their SEO strategies. In addition, companies utilize Movable Type as an intranet system, providing employees with access to internal resources and reducing the need for frequent departmental calls.

The Creative Media Department of organizations manages multiple websites using Movable Type, benefiting from its ability to make design and content adjustments from a single installation. Educational institutions have also embraced Movable Type as a means of facilitating communication about class projects in a blog-style format. Furthermore, newspapers find value in using Movable Type to quickly reproduce print stories online, simplifying the publishing process and enabling efficient article tagging. Lastly, Oberlin College & Conservatory's Office of Communications Division utilizes Movable Type to manage student blogs effectively and maintain a strong presence on social media platforms.

Overall, Movable Type proves itself as a reliable solution with diverse applications in web design, publishing, education, and internal communication within organizations.

Intuitive and Easy-to-Use Custom Fields: Several users have found the custom fields in Movable Type to be intuitive and easy to work with, even when compared to other popular blogging platforms. They appreciate that custom fields can be defined for different entity types and are easy to find and use in the new content form.

Rich Templating Language: Many reviewers have praised the rich templating language in Movable Type, mentioning that it comes with numerous built-in features. They note that there is less need to extend for further templating functionality, and some users even mention adding their own PHP code to enhance the features.

User-Friendly Interface: Users consistently highlight that Movable Type is easy to use straight out of the box, thanks to its user-friendly interface. Navigation is effortless, making it a breeze for both beginners and experienced users alike.

Cons:

  1. Complicated Backend Customization: Some users have found the customization of the backend in Movable Type to be more complicated compared to other CMS platforms like WordPress or Drupal, making it difficult to rebrand the interface without hacking core files.
  2. Confusing Licensing: Several reviewers have mentioned that the licensing of Movable Type can be confusing and has undergone changes over time, with an open-source version of MT6.x no longer available.
  3. Limited Plugins and Media-Friendliness: Users have noted that Movable Type has a limited number of plugins compared to popular CMS platforms like WordPress or Drupal, and also found it less media-friendly with difficulties in embedding video and images, constantly needing resizing for proper display.

Note: The cons listed above are based on user feedback and opinions about Movable Type.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-4 of 4)
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Sophia Ahn | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We had two CMS used by our fashion publication - one was an in house, custom made CMS which was clunkier but more flexible with back end coding, and the other was Movable Type, which we used for our shorter, newsier blog posts since content was easy to build for producers, and even editors and freelance writers who weren't well versed in web production.
  • Easy to use straight out of the box, very user friendly with an intuitive interface.
  • Great for team use where there are multiple editors and writers fixing and editing each other's works. It's easy to track who last made the latest edits.
  • Stellar support team and system. I've found that Moveable Type's support system is generally more responsive and helpful than WordPress.
  • Very difficult to tamper with back-end coding, which is why we had a separate CMS for our bigger articles and interactive content.
  • Limited number of plug-ins compared to other popular CMS like WordPress or Drupal.
  • Not as media friendly as I would like. Movable Type was VERY finicky with embedding video and images. Constantly had to resize images and mess with video size to make sure it would display at the right size on the website.
For the purpose of simple, day-to-day blogging, Movable Type will get the job done. As I mentioned before, it has an intuitive UI so that most beginners can pick it up and build a simple blog post. But if you're looking for a CMS that will host multimedia content, interactive content, or any "fancy" production that goes beyond paragraphs and bullet points, then I would recommend something different - maybe even a custom CMS for the maximum control over your website's back-end coding. Keep in mind that the CMS does have some quirks and can be finicky, but the support staff is extremely helpful and available.
Web Content Creation (8)
63.75%
6.4
WYSIWYG editor
90%
9.0
Code quality / cleanliness
60%
6.0
Admin section
80%
8.0
Page templates
50%
5.0
Library of website themes
30%
3.0
Mobile optimization / responsive design
80%
8.0
Publishing workflow
90%
9.0
Form generator
30%
3.0
Web Content Management (5)
56%
5.6
Content taxonomy
90%
9.0
SEO support
60%
6.0
Bulk management
30%
3.0
Availability / breadth of extensions
30%
3.0
Community / comment management
70%
7.0
Platform & Infrastructure (2)
30%
3.0
API
60%
6.0
Internationalization / multi-language
N/A
N/A
Security (1)
50%
5.0
Role-based user permissions
50%
5.0
CMS programming language or framework
N/A
N/A
  • Because of its simple UI it is THE platform for any quick blog posts that need to be made by end of day.
  • Similarly, editors and freelance reporters who might not be web-savvy can be trained in the CMS in 5-10 minutess, and they can build the simpler posts which means the workflow really sped up for the web production team.
  • Because it's easier to spot problematic comments, and set up certain types of comments to be flagged for the admin, it was easy to keep the site clean(er) of trolls and spammy discussions.
  • WordPress,Vanguardistas,TeamSite,Ektron Web Content Management System
WordPress and Movable Type are the go to CMS for a reason - they are by far the easiest to navigate, learn, and use for daily blogging/content management. And now with more plug-ins available, these CMS products are getting more responsive and are offering capabilities (even basic things like tweeting about the story as it gets published) that integrate other platforms and capabilities into one place. As I mentioned before, if you want to make custom pages and build out any code heavy articles with extensive, multimedia pieces, then these easy to use CMS platforms won't cut it. But there's a reason why most publications are switching over from their huge, bulky CMS to these two competitors. For a team of varying web production skills, these are the perfect CMS solutions.
Kurtis Amundson | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
The Creative Media Department of our company used Movable Type to manage many of the websites that our company ran. From the President's Blog to the news pages on our ministry partner's websites, our creative staff was able to make any design and content adjustments to all of our websites from a single installation. We also had several stand-alone websites for expeditions which were hosted by the software and accessible by additional users. Having all of the content management for multiple websites available in one location really was key for our company needs and workflow.
  • Movable type seamlessly integrates multiple websites in one installation which allows easy access to the content and design.
  • Template tags and coding is well documented by Movable Type to provide developers like me the tools required to make completely custom designs.
  • The more recent versions of Movable Type have really upped the ante on how broadly the platform can be used (such as for blogs, forums, e-commerce, etc.)
  • Especially on the older versions, the limited number of well-developed third-party plugins is problematic for efficiently developing a well-functioning website.
  • Versions of movable type which didn't allow pages to be constructed were difficult to create continuity in design and easily editable pages for our editors.
  • The installation process could be simplified to make it easier for those new to a CMS to install.
Movable Type allows for great flexibility, and would be great for creating a large, multi-page, multi-purpose website. I would not advise someone to use Movable Type if they are just creating a simple 3-page portfolio website. The time to construct the site compared to the return investment of content in the end, I don't see as being worth the effort. But a fully dynamic site with many variables, is definitely one that I would recommend using Movable Type as the content management system.
  • Movable Type definitely increased employee efficiency. Having everyone on the same platform to edit multiple websites from system is crucial.
  • Expanding our website presence was a super simple process with Movable Type. All we needed to do was add another site, destination folder, and we're ready to go.
  • Having all of our web designers on the same platform helped immensely with communicating information and structuring education for new employees.
  • WordPress,ExpressionEngine
Compared to other content management systems that I have used, Movable Type is certainly a top-of-the-line platform. It is my primary choice when building large and intense user-based websites. If I'm building something simple, like a client portfolio website, I may stick with Wordpress. Movable Type misses some of the ease of use which Wordpress is known for, but Movable Type certainly beats it when you need to build a large-scale and user-intensive website with lots of populated user content.
I would renew my use of Movable Type when an opportunity comes up for a web project where the client wants to start a journey to construct an incredibly interactive user-based website. I really enjoy working with the Movable Type short codes and creating the custom applications for my clients and that would bring me back to working with this great platform.
April 22, 2014

GTD: Gets Things Done

Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
When I worked at a newspaper, we launched an entertainment website that functioned as an arm of our entertainment section. It was used by about a dozen people, who essentially functioned as bloggers. So basically, we were using it as a content management system. I also seem to recall that the newspaper used Movable Type to make posts to the news side of the website. We all had our own logins and would schedule postings to particular parts of the entertainment website and the newspaper site. I would characterize our use as departmental, specifically from an editorial perspective.
  • It provided easy management of blog postings. I was able to set up content early and schedule my posts for a later date.
  • The interface was user friendly so you don't need to spend a lot of time in training. I was able to figure out a lot of the product on my own.
  • You could assign different administrative privileges to certain people. This means that certain people could only post to certain modules.
  • While it's beneficial to be able to assign administrative rights to a user so they can only post to certain places of a website, I can recall that Movable Type did not inform general users of the types of privileges they had. So, for example, when I knew I needed to make a posting to a certain area, and was unable to do so, I was not informed that I did not have access to make that posting. It would have been helpful for Movable Type to post a message on the screen, saying that I needed more permissions. This was very frustrating, especially when I was on deadline for a newspaper story.
  • Unfortunately, (or fortunately), I do not recall other negative experiences. I thought it was a pretty clean, friendly interface.
Know who your users will be. Are they tech savvy? Do they know HTML? Do they need access to HTML or style sheets? If so, make sure that the access Movable Type provides is enough for your administrators/users. I think Movable Type does a good job of finding a middle ground. You don't really need to be an expert in HTML. It seems to be a good product for people who are professional communicators-- such as journalists.
  • A product like this doesn't require a lot of time looking for IT support. It's easy and fast to use and you can learn it on the fly.
  • Employees worked efficiently and quickly, often by writing their stories directly into Movable Type. There was never any down time and product updates were always within the scope of the overall interface, so we could always pick up right where we left off and intuitively navigated an improved interface that provided for an enhanced experience.
Movable Type can be compared to WordPress. It's easy to use, and I would say Movable Type is actually more user-friendly.
I give it a rating of 8 points because it was so easy to use. I also gave it this number because I can't remember anything particularly impressive. It's just a good, decent product. It gets the job done and efficiently.

I currently don't use Movable Type and have not used it in three years so the question referencing the renewal decision does not apply to me.
Joffroi Holcombe | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
I primarily used Movable Type when I was performing free lance web designing. I would use it at the CMS for clients so they could easily modify and add content on their sites without having any coding experience. I used Moveable Type over its competitors because it was more open to modifications and customization. It was very easy to template and depending on how proficient your PHP and SQL skills were, you could make the platform do anything you wanted.

The man issue I had was implementing the dynamic page load portion of it. I couldn't get it to work so many of my pages were loaded statically. The issue with this is some of my site's typical side bar content (ex. Recently posted....) content was not updating. I also used the system on a site that grew to about 800+ pages. This resulted in build errors and system errors.
  • Very easy to theme.
  • The control panel is simple enough for the basic user to figure out
  • Very easy to add plugins and more complex code.
  • The actual plugin website seems out of date and not well maintained.
  • The system seemed to crash for much larger sites (800+ entries).
If someone was well versed in PHP and SQL, I would recommend building a system from scratch. If they are more comfortable using a system then can customize, but that has the backbone already created, this would be a great tool. If they have a very limited knowledge of coding, I would recommend Wordpress just due to the more available plugins and templates.
  • Most of my Movable Type sites were smaller scaled or did not really have marketing goals so this isn't applicable to my case.
As mentioned, this tool is great for small companies that have no web experience and want a designer to build something they can eventually update and maintain. For larger scale sites, I would be more comfortable creating everything in-house.
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