The mission of SportbikeS.com is to publish a dedicated online sportbike magazine, also known as an eZine, for two wheel performance enthusiasts.  The eZine will enhance our well established community and will encourage discussions about the many aspects of sportbikes and the sportbike lifestyle. Our website will also contain many resources to provide easy access for our members to dealers, race tracks, riding schools and other related references.

SportbikeS chose Ektron CMS400.NET to manage their content and help them reach their online goals. Says DiSabitino, "Being a fresh implementation we decided to follow the theory of using as little code-behind as possible, so that we can instantly upgrade as the versions of the Ektron CMS is released. Fortunately for us, the Ektron product is stable and has a large feature set that doesn't require modifications."

DiSabitino continues, "Challenges have been minimal, but that doesn't mean this didn't require planning. We architectured the site by determining our goals, then we created a layout map, then we had to get up to speed on DotNet and Ektron. I think that was our greatest challenge, since for years we used Linux-based servers running standard HTML for our basic pages and PHP/MySql for any type of data exchange. The Ektron product made the learning curve short and moderate, because of their control-based interface through Visual Studio. To quicken our learning experience, we also utilized the training provided by Ektron, where in three days we left with a very good understanding of our next steps."

Not only is DiSabitino passionate about their underlying theme of sportbikes, but as the architect of the project, he loves the new Ektron CMS400.NET and how it provides a simple interface for writers and a clean back-end that eliminates the hundreds of HTML pages they had previously. In addition, CMS400.NET has helped SportbikeS.com to provide their community a site with technology that is above and beyond any of their competitors, including:

•  Ektron’s new GeoMapping support, which allows content authors to create geographic sensitive content that will then appear on a Google or MS Virtual Earth map.  Since the map control plugs right into the SportbikeS web page, site visitors are never directed away from the web site to get map directions. 
      
• The new CMS400.NET wiki support allows membership users to participate in the creation and managing of content on SportbikeS.com — empowering the entire SportbikeS community. This new functionality can also be used to promote communication and collaboration making the sharing of information across projects and teams easier than ever.

"Regarding the overall results," says DiSabitino, "here is the BEST! We started implementation on October 28, 2006. The demo site went live on December 30, and the new site went live on January 20, 2007. That is with two PART-TIME developers doing ALL of the work and graphics, and taking a break for the Holidays! In fact, I have to review total man hours — it was remarkably low — thanks to Ektron! After the site went live, our organization made a total turnaround in the eyes of the industry. While trying to recruit paid advertisers through their media agencies, we have been welcomed with open arms. Additionally, we have had more unprompted media agencies requests then ever, most commenting on the site's look and feel."