It started life, in 1995, as roomcheck which was a total availability and booking system for accommodation. It still does that bit (standing on its head) but now it is much more about content management and content publishing. You can store any kind of data record (all the usual suspects like attractions, events, transport etc but what about jobs and car parks and newspapers!). Each record is an item and is entered with an item type. You decide what categories item types belong in, and what groups a category belongs in. This means you can store, classify and find your data any way you like. But, because the item types are common to all users you can share other people's data.

Simple. (But don't say that to the boffins who made it happen!)

The truly unusual thing about the system is the publishing capability. First you design your publishing options (as many as you like: with photo, with email, with web link, with contact details, descriptions, directions, availability, booking… or without!). This determines how a record will appear when it is seen at a distribution channel. Then, each time you enter a record you choose the publishing option or options appropriate to that provider. Very easy. And we can output to more distribution channels than anyone else: multiple websites (using multiple publishing options so a record can look completely different on one site than another), kiosks, desktop, paper, electronic file, fax (scheduled or ad hoc), teletext and TV (see the TV.newmedia section!).

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