Foleon

Avantages

Foleon's been great to work with, product and customer support team, and their knowledge base is incredibly robust. I appreciate how easy and intuitive the drag and drop functions are, and if I ever have a question then one of their help articles can guide me to the right answer (not to mention their very responsive customer success team). Foleon is exactly what our organization needed to take our content to the next level. Very sharp and polished and interactive!

Inconvénients

Would looooove to have/see an "Undo" function implemented so I can feel more free to experiment inside the platform. At this time, I have to be much more careful in changes I make because I can't simply "undo" an action, therefore I feel like I'm working much slower than I'd like to.

Avantages

Foleon is powerful tool to collate and distribute information in an interactive and cross-device compatible format.

Inconvénients

There is a learning curve to using this software and it takes time to build up a bank of organisation branded templates.

Alternatives envisagées 

Pourquoi passer à Foleon

Avantages

Easy to use, responsiveness and posibillities

Inconvénients

I needs to speed up. At some points the proces to load or change elements is too slow.

Avantages

Love the user experience, all the possible ways of using creativity to create something unique, and the possibility to deliver awesome products to our clients and their clients. The bounce rate is truly something, for we have an average of 3-4% bounces... Which is amazingly good.

Inconvénients

It takes some time to create truly good background images in some templates. For example, when I'm posting a page about a motorcycle, I need an intro text and a background image. The introtext takes up about half the screen on mobile, and since I'm depending on the brands' images, I need to add a lot of scenery around the target in the image. But... Since I have to choose between these text and image on such a small screen, it's the best critic I can think of. Instant Magazine is amazing and editing capabilities are extremely user friendly.

Avantages

Not having to deal with the code stuff and being able to work with more than one person on a publication makes it a team sport. This way you can develop faster and consentrate on the things your good at.

Inconvénients

Having to wait lang for release of the drag and drop editor. Background video does not play on mobile devices. Somtime's interaction between the platform and de browser is slow but this is more a connection to internet problem.

Avantages

What I like most is especially how the software is designed to work so smooth and easy. The latest version Drag & Drop makes for me the difference to work very creative and fast.

Inconvénients

There are some bugs, sometimes the page gives error and doesn't save your content.
I like to have more options for the Drag & Drop update.

Avantages

Instantmagazine empowers content manageners to publish their content without necessary assistance of other staff specialist like IT.

Content can be designed and distributed with the look and feel that is consistent with the brand. And even more important - we worked with pdf's - data are available to see what is read, what not thus enabling us to improve the readers experience.

Inconvénients

Software is more than the url we work with. May be a better integration between the available roadmap and the log-in.

Avantages

Easy of use, powerful interface, drag and drop editor capabilities... and a fast and easy learning curve.

Inconvénients

there are no cons about instantmagazine. Be aware that you have to explain the benefits to your organisation. The average mindset is based on websites.

Avantages

The drag and drop functionality worked well, removing much of the headache around designing a mobile experience that looks/works well in a desktop viewport.
I found myself free to design whatever I wanted without much constraint or limitation. Everything just works.

Inconvénients

There were a few things I wanted to do with the tool that I was unable to at the time of publication, such as creating an anchored link. But Instant Magazine shared their feature rollout calendar and I was pleased to get insight into what would be included down the road. It didn't help me out at the time, but having the knowledge that in the future I might be able to accomplish that task was nice.

Avantages

Instant magazine offers extensive options for personalisation, is easy to use, and has beautiful templates.

Inconvénients

I can't really think of something negative about Instant Magazine. It's simply a great tool to create beautiful content. Some of my clients would like the options to fully download it as a pdf, but I think that's more a transition of mindset about ONLINE magazines vs offline ugly pdf's ;)

Avantages

Easy to use, produces attractive publications. Allows you to demonstrate creative flair, whilst not having to undergo a steep learning curve.

Inconvénients

The drag and drop, honestly does not work properly. I honestly don't understand why this was introduced, it is clunky and unuseable for the most part. I have tried and then had to abandon projects using drap and drop. When you are going through completed magazines, it also shows traces of the underlying template that you have been using. I think its a nice idea, but in reality does not work. Needs urgent attention.
Thumbnail previews don't always work, which is frustating particulary when you are posting online.

Avantages

Integrating text, url's, pics and videos. I can build and adjust pages fast en easy for my customers. Magazines made by the software are a proven opportunity to collect subscribers in my case.

Inconvénients

I will tell you when the new Drag & Drop Editor is totally ready to go. Integrating and monitoring Google Analytics on GA is hard to do.

Avantages

Versatile, easy to use, beautiful results with the ease of "drag and drop" and no coding required. The platform is constantly evolving with new features and integrations being added on a regular basis.

Inconvénients

There are minor things missing ie. anchor links, side-by-side text and images etc. but the Foleon team has a terrific Roadmap for new features so it won't be long.

Avantages

- platform is easy and intuitive to use
- new features are introduced quite regularly making it easier to work with
- you can hide from search engines (good for my publications as they are confidential and for internal use only)
- easy to convert to ZIP if files need to be downloaded
- customer support is always easy and clear

Inconvénients

- the margin function is not the easiest to control. At the moment I have to drag the margin up or down to increase or decrease the space between paragraphs. It would be great to pre-set the margin size on a paragraph element so I don't have to edit.
- you are unable to delete publications as a publisher, you have to be an admin which was frustrating when I was only a publisher before

Avantages

What I liked most about this app was that I can create digital publications directly on it, without having to pass through many steps, in example: create the document on adobe indesign, then export the PDF, then convert it, then publish it. Foleon is amazing because I can work and share the publications online, without any further problems!

Inconvénients

What I liked least about this software was that there was absolutely no way to UNDO my actions, and I say it's a really serious issues, I almost lost what I did because of accidental clicks. I used to work with WIX and RD station and they already have this solution developed. I do like Foleon but I need to point this out to developers or UX designers because it breaks a fundamental law in user experience/interface: the user must have a way to undo or go back on his actions.

Avantages

After a short time, it became easy to create engaging content quickly.

Inconvénients

Once you understand the (few) limitations of the platform you can work within the provided templates. Occasionally you need to force content into a template which is not 100% your vsion for the page.

Avantages

Visually attractive and offers a fresh and dynamic way to create different kinds of microsites, content hubs etc. Very flexible, works for a range of different types of content, such as e-books, brochures. This software helped me deliver a big project in a speedy fashion that was very well received by key stakeholders at the company. Helped make the kernel of an idea quickly into reality. The key people at Foleon - in our case [SENSITIVE CONTENT] - have been absolutely top notch in helping us to achieve the goals we wanted to by taking on Foleon.

Inconvénients

Sometimes the formatting of text or dragging and dropping elements can be niggly and frustrating. Embedding social media has proved to be an issue. These are not reasons to be put off though and I know improvements are being worked on regularly. The response from customer success/support team is very quick and friendly.

Avantages

I like the ability to make dynamic content and collaborate with others on the platform. Our customer rep, [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] is awesome, and always there to help us along the way. It's been a great add for us and helped with user engagement. Also love the analytics aspect.

Inconvénients

The platform can be extremely slow at times, especially when publishing. I also wish we could lock down content and media files - think google drive approach. I would like the have the ability to share when needed, but keep locked when needed too.

Avantages

Once I mastered Foleon’s learning curve, the pages started to come together. Foleon’s "drag and drop" platform uses branded blocks to build pages in real time. You can change typography, colors, and create a brand platform on the fly. The tutorials are very helpful. I followed through with them side-by-side as I prepared my first project. The FAQ backup pages filled in many of the blanks when I got stuck. We are moving away from pdfs and this has great potential.

Inconvénients

Wish list.

In an age of universal streaming, with occasional connectivity issues, Foleon should add a “save draft” button or some way to save in real time.

An undo button.

I’m also unsure how to move certain files around. If I save something as a template, is it a universal template, a project template, or a publication template? Especially when there are levels of brand distinctions or publication hierarchies.

Dividers should be able to go to max width. They have a variable width.

Avantages

Every week I make a small online magazine. That's a big task for me. But with the tools of Instant Magazine I can make a magazine that looks really professional with not a lot of knowledge.

Inconvénients

There are a lot of options, I could do with less options, it makes it sometimes more difficult then necessary. And sometimes I would like a picture in an other place but that's not possible.

Avantages

Easy to use, looks stunning, fantastic way of making content connected with Google Analytics. For example; producing whitepapers in PDF did not have this option.

You don't have to know all the ins and outs of the software tool to make wonderful looking content. The software helps you, even software simpletons.

Avantages

The ease of use and customer support are both really good. A few months ago I started using IM, having no clue how to design everything I had in mind. Now, a few months later, I feel like I've learned so much and really understand how their design-tool works.

Inconvénients

Sometimes while creating an article, I receive new content that I actually also want to add to that article then. That's only not always possible (or not possible in a nice and convenient way) when I've already chosen for a certain format. I then have to create a new page and that's a waste of time and energy.

Avantages

Robust onboarding team got us going very quickly with the tool. In just over a week we were able to get trained up and publish our first annual report. The tool is intuative to digital marketers and designers alike. Foleon is flexible but not too flexible, so we never felt like we could push things too far and break any code or functionality.

Inconvénients

Not a dislike, but it would be great if they expanded the data visualisation capability so you didn't have to rely on 3rd party plugins.

Avantages

Foleon allowed us easily to move away from offline/static collateral to beautiful online/interactive microsites, will all the value and flexibility that you get from an online presence like SEO and the ability to have the content always available and up-to-date.

Inconvénients

Increasing the speed of publication/re-publication would be cool, and more animations/transitions

Avantages

The ease of use, the affordable price, the great people from support & sales

Inconvénients

The constant changes in pricing and licenses