Planetgarden.com Selects Arbortext XML e-Content Software toWeb-enable Content for Lawn and Garden Portal

[Beth Ambaruch <bea@arbortext.com>]

Planetgarden.com Selects Arbortext XML e-Content Software to Web-enable
Content for Lawn and Garden Portal

Portal to utilize Arbortext’s Epic e-content software to serve both
business-to-business and business-to-consumer e-marketplaces


ANN ARBOR, Mich., September 5, 2000 -- Arbortext, Inc., a leading provider
of Extensible Markup Language (XML) –based e-content software for
e-publishing, e-commerce, and B2B
e-marketplaces, today announced that Planetgarden.com, the first Internet
company that connects lawn and garden consumers, professionals, and the
entire lawn and garden industry, has chosen Arbortext’s Epic e-content
software as the data-foundation to build its business-to-business and
business-to-consumer e-marketplaces.

Using Arbortext’s XML-based Epic e-content software, Planetgarden.com is
able to easily create, manage, personalize and deliver XML-based e-content
for use in their Web site.  Planetgarden.com offers personalized delivery of
information, services and the largest online selection of plant goods to
business professionals and consumers.  Approximately 90% of Planetgarden.com
’s Web site is driven by XML content.

Planetgarden.com is able to supply premier lawn and garden information by
partnering with the nation’s leading content sources as well as receiving
regular contributions from lawn and gardening authors – a weekly media reach
of more than 20 million impressions that adds up to the most current
information for customers using this site.  Arbortext’s e-content software
enables Planetgarden.com to convert, create and manage the enormous volume
of information that arrives in many different formats.  Currently,
Planetgarden.com is using Epic to convert over 11,000 pages of content –
including graphics and photographs – into XML for storage in its database,
enabling Planetgarden.com to quickly update and publish the information
needed to keep its Web site current and resourceful to visitors.

Arbortext’s XML-based Epic e-content software also provides the basis for
Planetgarden.com to personalize and deliver e-content for specific format
requirements such as Feature Articles or Daily Hot Tips through a
combination of Epic’s personalization capability and the ability to apply
specific formatting using XSL (extensible stylesheet language) to XML-based
content stored in a database.  These capabilities enable Planetgarden.com to
achieve a corporate goal: to create the number one Internet lawn and garden
portal where people go to have questions answered, to purchase gardening
supplies, or to get a dose of gardening inspiration.

“We decided to use XML as the basis for our portal because it’s an
international standard that is well-positioned for enabling e-commerce,”
said Todd Willis, director of e-content production at Planetgarden.com.  “We
then looked at the vendors who are supplying XML-based e-content software
and chose Arbortext because of their vast technical expertise and custom
solution to our unique needs.  Arbortext is one of the original inventors of
XML and they continue to create new software applications that support their
customer’s future requirements as they move to business-to-business and
business-to-consumer e-marketplaces.”

“The Arbortext solution allowed us to build our Internet lawn and garden
portal on-time and on-budget,” said Charles Marto, Founder and CEO of
Planetgarden.com.  “We now have a rich collection of information that can be
delivered to any electronic format; known or yet to be invented.”

A future look

XML is an industry standard that is here to stay, and Arbortext’s Epic
XML-based e-content software is continually being enhanced to support new
XML-related initiatives.  Using Epic, Planetgarden.com is well positioned to
achieve some of its future goals:
·	Personalized News and Information – Topical news and access to
comprehensive databases, online journals and the first-ever horticultural
newswire.
·	Multi-lingual How To’s – Ready-to-print instructional materials in a
variety of languages.

“Consumers are much more demanding about how they wish to receive
information.  It needs to be current, comprehensive, accurate and relevant
for their specific purpose,” said PG Bartlett, vice president of marketing
at Arbortext.   “Using Epic as the basis for their Internet lawn and garden
portal, Planetgarden.com can readily address these demands by using Epic to
aggregate content from many diverse sources and turn it into a powerful,
Web-friendly form of XML.”

About Planetgarden.com

Planetgarden.com is the first Internet lawn and garden company to help
professionals, consumers, and industry partners be more successful in the
Lawn & Garden endeavors.  Planetgarden.com is headquartered in Atlanta,
Georgia.  For more information, please visit http://www.planetgarden.com.


About Arbortext

Renowned as one of the original creators of XML, Arbortext is the leading
global provider of XML software for content critical to e-business. Shipping
since 1991, Arbortext’s standards-based software enables enterprises to
provide more personalized, dynamic and easily searchable content for
e-publishing, e-commerce and B2B e-marketplaces. Arbortext’s software is
currently deployed at over 300 of the Global 2000 companies, including AT&T,
Audi, Boeing, British Aerospace, Caterpillar, DaimlerChrysler, Ericsson
Telecom, Ford, GM, IBM, Lucent, Nokia, Qantas, Ricoh, Sun Microsystems,
International Thomson Publishing, United Airlines, Volkswagen, Volvo and
West Group. Arbortext is a founding member and active participant in the XML
Activity of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Headquartered in Ann Arbor,
Michigan, USA, Arbortext has offices around the world.  For more information
please visit http://www.arbortext.com.

# # #

Contact: 	Kevin Astle					PG Bartlett
	  	Text 100					Arbortext, Inc.
	  	+1 617.399.4902				+1 734.327.6819
	 	kevina@text100.com			pgb@arbortext.com