Webnodes CMS and the Semantic Web Roy Lachica, Webnodes, June 16. 2011

Webnodes and semantics Webnodes is proud to have the most evolved semantic Content Management System (CMS) on the market, far ahead of the competition when it comes to semantic readiness. Semantics basically means meaning. In this document we will take a closer look at how semantics can benefit a CMS. There are many degrees of semanticity and in this document we will show how Webnodes CMS excels in this area. First off we will give an introduction to the Semantic Web as it has gained considerable attention in the last few years. We are just in the start of the Semantic Web build-out. Many have predicted this to be the most significant transition for the web in this decade. Webnodes CMS supports Semantic Web features particularly well because of its semantic core engine.

What is the Semantic web The Semantic Web is a mesh of information linked up in such a way that enables it to be processed by machines, on a global scale. It is an extension to the current World Wide Web and consists of a set formats and technologies that build upon current web standards. Many see the Semantic Web as a globally linked database. The term Semantic Web is often used more specifically to refer to formats and technologies such as Resource Description Framework (RDF), RDF Schema (RDFS) and the Web Ontology Language (OWL). These provide a formal description of concepts, terms, and relationships within a given knowledge domain. The Semantic Web has gained considerable interest due to the rapid growth in the use of the Web. The Semantic Web can also be seen as an attempt to get more out of the web, to be able to use it to its full potential, and exploit huge untapped benefits that lie within.

A universal format for the interchange of information Today data is generally hidden away in HTML content. Some data are also exposed as SOAP based web services or more simple REST interfaces. The majority of data on the Web is in a format that it is difficult to use on a large scale. For example information about the weather or public events is presented on numerous sites but the data is not interchangeable because there is no way to tell they are actually talking about the same things. webnodes.com

Among the promises of the Semantic Web is the ability to share and reuse data on a global scale. Having universal formats will make it easier to publish data that everyone can benefit from. There are also other simpler formats such as microdata and microformats. These can only be used to represent a subset of agreed upon concepts though predefined vocabularies. They are not extensible but provide just enough semantics to enable search engines to understand the content.

A more intelligent web Humans are capable of using the Web to carry out tasks such as finding a clinic for the treatment of a particular illness. Machines cannot accomplish this task without human direction, because web pages are designed to be read by people, not machines. The Semantic Web, on the other hand, enables machines to understand the meaning of the Web. This enables automated agents to access the Web more intelligently and perform tasks on behalf of users. Machines could then be able to perform more of the tedious work involved in finding, combining, and acting upon information on the web. Once meaning is established agents can reason about the information.

Other semantic technologies There are also other semantic technologies. These share much of the same vision but use different formats. Topic Maps (ISO standard 13250) is such an example. There are also semi-semantic protocols such as OData. OData provides a complete and easy to use protocol to unlock your data and free it from silos that exist in applications today. Webnodes CMS enable exposing OData feeds.

Why choose a semantic CMS? A semantic CMS offers several significant benefits over more traditional page centric content management systems. We have divided this chapter in two. The first section describe benefits of supporting a semantic data model, the next section describes the benefits of utilizing semantic formats for the interchange of information.

Benefits of a semantic core engine Separating out meaning lays the foundation for a Semantic Web strategy but it also by itself has direct benefits as we will see below.

Content is easier to understand for both employees and customers Webnodes CMS is able to retain the meaning of your content. We separate between presentation, data and meaning. In doing so we make it easier to create content that fits perfectly with your business domain. By describing the different types of content and the relationships between them, you're creating a content model (also called ontology) that fits your needs.

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Using your business model with words and terms that you normally use when you're describing content brings many advantages. Existing employees will quickly understand how the content is structured as they already know the domain. This simplifies training of end users. Visitors of your site with knowledge about the domain will also feel instantly at home on your website and are able to find what they are looking for faster.

Flexibility and agility The semantic model can be changed in one place. In many line of business application semantics is hard coded into the system. When using Webnodes CMS you are able to adapt the model if the focus of your business changes.

Better navigation Using a model where relations between abstract concepts are explicitly defined makes it easier to create and present relations between content. A model like this mimic the associative nature of human thinking and it is therefore easier for humans to process webpages allowing for better user experience. You also get two-way navigation without extra work for editors. With an ontology driven site, navigation is not restricted by where the editor has decided to put a page in a hierarchical structure. Navigation becomes more natural and intuitive.

Easier to open up data As data is clearly separated from both presentation and meaning, it is easier to make data available as API’s and have them reusable both inside and outside your organization. Using OData, JSON and other REST based services others can reuse your data and mix them with other data sources to create new services often called mash-ups. Many of these services are implemented as Apps that run on mobiles or tablets. The use of your data in new and unforeseen ways can lead to innovation and synergy effects. In areas such as government and public services, opening up data helps to enable transparency which is important for democracy. Opening up data can also increase your reputation.

Simplifies multichannel publishing With the rapid advances of alternative channels for publishing content, being able to reuse your content in multiple channels with a minimum effort is a goal many companies strive for. With advanced functionality and content structures with multilingual support and a rich content model you can manage all your content in the same user-friendly interface.

Allow for rich metadata management in knowledge centric organizations Many organizations have dedicated resources for managing metadata, vocabularies, taxonomies etc. Examples of this can be organizations that curate content or need to apply metadata to very large content databases. A semantic CMS makes metadata management easier as meaning is separated

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from data and presentation. Metadata is data about data and can be seen as the meaning of the data it is annotating.

Benefits of semantic interchange formats Get more traffic to your site Many websites get a lot of their traffic from search engines. Search engine optimization (SEO) has become a big industry, and there is a constant battle for rankings on popular keywords. Google, Bing and Yahoo have adopted semantic technologies. Using vocabularies such as schema.org search engines index your website, looking for semantic tags to understand the meaning of the content of the web page. For example when a cooking site uses semantic tagging, Google is able to understand what the different ingredients of a dish are, the name of the dish and how long it takes to cook. Using that information, Google is able to change the presentation of the search result to a faceted search:

Experiments suggest this increase click-through rates1. 1

http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/05/google-adds-microformat-parsin.html

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While it's difficult to say if Google uses semantic tags in their ranking algorithm, there have been a number of companies that have gotten higher organic traffic from Google after adding semantic tags to the website. For example, Best Buy in the US reported a 30% increase in search traffic after adding semantic tags2. Semantic tags can also provide better visibility on social media sites.

Provide better search experience With semantic tags you can provide convenient summary information on search engines results pages making search a better user experience.

Establish authority By publishing your ontology and your data on the Semantic Web you can establish yourself as the dominant source for certain information.

Easier integrations As semantic technologies and universal formats such as RDF mature and become main stream it will be easier to integrate Semantic Web solutions lowering the cost of integration projects be it internal or external.

Support the greater good By using the Sematic Web and linking your dataset to the Linked Open Data cloud you are adding to the global collective info sphere. If the full Semantic Web vision is realized this global database can provide the means for better decisions and more insight. Better decisions can be made around the world because there is more data to base decisions on. New insights and knowledge can be reached since there are more data to do research with.

Provide possible future features As Semantic Web and in particular vocabularies matures web browsers will be able to present and make use of data on web pages in new ways. Data tagged using RDFa or microdata could be used by tools that aid the disabled.

http://searchengineland.com/yahoo-searchmonkey-becomes-more-mainstream-14498 2

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_best_buy_is_using_the_semantic_web.php

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Why aren’t more websites using semantic technologies? The cost and effort needed to create Semantic Web solutions is still very high. This is mainly due to a lack of support for semantic technologies in content management systems. Today, the vast majority of websites are powered by a CMS of some sort. Most content management systems do not support a semantic model. Many are still highly page centric preventing semanticity.

Semantics in other CMS’s Semantic technologies have not had a wide adoption in the software industry until recently. Many of the more established CMS’es that have been around for a long time did not have the same requirements and has thus not been designed for semantics. Because of this, semantic features are often implemented as side modules or external components. RDF mapping, tagging and classification modules are typical examples of this. CMS’s like these often tend to have less user friendly interfaces for editors and the technical solutions are more complex and fragmented which make them errorprone and can even be a security issue. Webnodes CMS has a built in Object Relational Mapper. This has proven to be a great advantage when it comes to semantics for CMS’s. Most CMS’s employ one of two types of data models. The first one has fixed table structures. This often makes the system inflexible. A business domain model is often difficult to represent. This leads to extra development time and costs. The second model often employed is a highly abstract and generic approach where any domain model can be represented in the database. The problem with this approach is that scalability often becomes an issue since queries against the database needs to be translated to a generic model. Advanced multi-faceted queries fast becomes extremely complex and slow to execute against the database. As the data model is very abstract it is also harder for developers to work against it and debugging is often very hard. Webnodes on the other hand rebuilds the database tables for you. This makes development easier. Programmers can work against code classes that are easily understood. The application stays responsive since database operations do not need to be translated into intermediate abstract structures. And most importantly you get a flexible data model that can adapt to the needs of the business. Webnodes CMS is built ground up with semantics in mind. Webnodes CMS eliminates many of the problems other CMS’s face and presents an all-in-one coherent semantic package. No need to install other modules or integrate third party components. Save time and development costs and reduce potential vulnerabilities.

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