Aplyca

Tico Times pioneers ‘Freemium’ newspaper solution in Central America

The Times is Central America’s leading English language newspaper, and its website attracts more than 200,000 monthly visits. For the “freemium” system, Aplyca created a subscription and paid content extension that permits readers to purchase credits using a credit card and spend the credits to access premium content. The new site also features an easy-to-use classified section based on the light version of the eZ publish classified solution developed by Aplyca.

When Central America’s award-winning English-language newspaper wanted a redesigned website that enhanced revenue without sacrificing content and user ease, Aplyca delivered a pioneering enterprise solution.

Reaffirming its leadership in web-based news delivery in Costa Rica, The Tico Times worked with Aplyca to create a journalism model that provides selected content for free while charging affordable rates for premium articles, special reports and products.

Technology behind the solution

Aplyca used a combination of tools based on eZPublish as an enterprise content management system which was customized, expanded and integrated with the newspaper's internal accounting system.The Tico Times uses Aplyca's Paid Content Solution for eZ publish and released Tico Credits as a way for customers to keep their balance and purchase content as it is being published. Users can also subscribe for complete access to content, including more than 20.000 articles in the archive. A simplified version of Aplyca's Classified System solution was used to support the publishing and billing activities.

Among the Aplyca innovations:

Micro-payment system implemented for Tico Credits
Content management system supports a complete editorial process
E-commerce functionality integrated
Integrated classified advertising
High-traffic capability
Audio, video and social media interactivity

BridgeStreet Resources is an international management consulting and marketing services firm.

With offices in United States, France and Switzerland, Bridgestreet Resources helps companies identify new directions and opportunities by combining two distinct types of expertise: strategic consulting services and marketing capabilities.

The site was developed by eZ publish partner Aplyca Tecnología (http://www.aplyca.com) and uses eZ publish 3.7

Universitiy of Los Andes is the largest private university in Colombia, recognized for its high academic standards and research across latin America. The CD3 is a legal documentation center focused on the consolidation of treaties, rulings and different organizations working under Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law and other international law systems.

The project was funded by the European Union as well as European and Colombian education institutions.

Diario Diez is a specialized newspaper for the avid sports fans in Honduras. Within only a few months of the portal's launch, it is now in the top 25.000 sites of the Alexa ranking. The site includes in-depth coverage of the Honduras' soccer league, up to the minute reports on matches and international soccer news.

The technical team at OPSA-La Prensa was trained by Aplyca for eZ publish development. With minimal supervision, the media group's team has developed two portals (ElHeraldo.hn and Diez.hn) based on the initial La Prensa site.

El Heraldo is one of the main papers in Honduras, covering national news with a strong focus on Tegucigalpa, Honduras' capital. It is a popular portal in Alexa's TOP 50.000.

El Heraldo, La Prensa and Diario Diez are all owned by the OPSA Media Group. Aplyca trained the technical team at OPSA in advanced eZ publish development. The La Prensa site and framework was replicated and extended for two new portals: ElHeraldo.hn and Diez.hn.

"Aplyca has been a very important strategic partner for our companies. Their involvement has gone beyond a service contract. Aplyca has shown authentic interest in helping us achieve our business goals through their experience and insight. "

Rafael E. Guevara
New Media Manager
Diario La Prensa – El Heraldo – Diez – Lab Finlay
OPSA / UCTI

Aplyca was chosen to implement eZ publish for IPC Digital, a news portal directed towards to the Spanish and Portuguese speaking population in Japan.

IPC Digital (ipcdigital.com) is a high traffic site due to it’s popularity in and outside of Japan. The site is currently in the world’s Top 20.000 ranking in Alexa. IPC recognized the need to migrate from a homegrown Microsoft ASP and SQL Server solution into a robust CMS with corporate support.

The site uses eZ publish, eZ flow and eZ find in a multi-lingual context where each language edition has complete freedom for publishing content to the specific audience as well as translating existing material.

Aplyca was in charge of replicating and improving functionality from the legacy system, migrate content, integrate a sophisticated mechanism for Ad Serving as well as setting up an eZ Newsletter based solution.

High performance caching is handled by the Varnish reverse proxy, a fast and lightweight web accelerator that reduces load on the application servers and provides a fast browsing experience to millions of users a month.

Computer Shopper Magazine (US) has been covering consumer technology for more than 30 years. The magazine made its debut as a 350 page publication, reaching the 800 page mark in the early 1990’s.

ComputerShopper currently centers on a portal with reviews, product roundups, help and how-to coverage. It has a comparison-shopping component that allows buyers to connect with the lowest prices on technology products from online sellers.

The site comprises central pages for all major computer hardware and software categories. One section lists break out the site's most recent coverage according to category, while another lists provide guidance to the five best products in a given category. The site provides succinct summaries (including videos) of how to shop for PC hardware in over 30 categories. Editors blog new product releases, first impressions.

A forum area enables readers to engage in debate and get answers to computer buying questions and operating troubles. The site's download area provides access to thousands of free, shareware, and trial software apps, maintained on the back end by CNET.com.

Aplyca implemented a full eZ publish solution including eZ publish and eZ find which, together with eZ Premium form the perfect match for magazines requiring enterprise open source with corporate support.

The project involved content migration, a sophisticated Editorial system based on eZ publish and several third party integrations for external content and functionality.

After the site launch, Computer Shopper experienced its most profitable quarter so far and has reported a surge in organic search engine traffic. With a robust and stable CMS to support it, ComputerShopper announced the magazine was going to migrate fully to it's web edition, following the path of several tech publications in the US.

"We are very impressed with the work that Aplyca has done for ComputerShopper.com. They are easy to work with, flexible and professional. We have seen great results due to their work on our content management system. “

Josh London
General Manager
SX2 Media Labs (owners of Computer Shopper Magazine)

Aplyca developed the School of Economics for University of Los Andes. The leading Economics school in Colombia is also home for CEDE, a famous centre for economic research.

The site includes a thorough eZ publish implementation covering academic, research and student services.

The Management Faculty in Universidad de los Andes is considered to be a leading business school in Latin America. Aplyca designed and developed the complete project under eZ publish. The site has seen significant increases in traffic and user engagement with eZ publish. The publications catalog, teacher's profile and complete program information provide a wide variety of content for the whole academic community.

Imocom is a leading distributor of heavy machinery in the Andean region (Colombia, Ecuador and Peru). The project includes a catalog in more than 200 categories as well as integration with their ERP system to provide a restricted area for suppliers. Aplyca works with IMOCOM on marketing the site with online promotion, search engine optimization and email marketing.

MERIDIAN 72° mission is to promote Colombia’s natural ecosystems, while preserving its natural resources, honouring traditional cultures, and acting to advance positive economic development.

BlueFields speciality is to encourage school children to enjoy Colombian natural ecosystems through outdoor excursions.

BlueFields speciality is to encourage school children to enjoy the best destinies of Colombian natural ecosystems through outdoor excursions

Geomatrix manufactures geosynthetic materials for civil engineering projects incluiding roads, airports and dams. For more information about our projects please visit http://www.aplyca.com

Informática is one of the biggest hardware and software suppliers in Colombia. It provides large-scale solutions to the government, and private sector companies

Tribeca Capital Partners is a private investment fund with important holdings in the healthcare sector (SUMA, EMI Emergencias, and UCM Uruguay) as well as in apparel (Onda de Mar). The website was launched to coincide with the company's mention in a Forbes Magazine special report on Colombia.

La Prensa, the leading newspaper in Honduras, chose Aplyca to set up its system for content management. This project involved moving the newspaper to a new platform, analysis and export of close to 140,000 news items, improvements to the database, a support service contract with SLA (Service Level Agreements), and on-site training.