Vignette's StoryServer built a web page only when a visitor asked for it, and it could build a different page for each visitor. In 1999 big websites were growing faster than anyone could update them by hand. Newspapers, retailers, and banks needed their editors to publish thousands of pages and change them daily. StoryServer kept the content in a database. Vignette went public in February 1999 as one of the stars of Austin's growing tech scene.

Software for Publishing Houses

Ross Garber founded Vignette in Austin in 1995. The bet was that websites would become as complex as publishing houses and would need software to match. Vignette sold to media companies first, then to any business with a large website. It charged high license fees. Its product was expensive and complex. For a large website in 1999, there were few alternatives.

Billions, Then $310 Million

Vignette priced its offering at $19 a share in February 1999, and the stock soared through the following year. Its market grew as every major company moved online. At its peak Vignette was worth billions of dollars. Then the market crashed, and cheaper content tools crowded in. Vignette shrank but stayed in business for a decade. Open Text acquired it in 2009 for about $310 million.

Cover: Vignettes of Labor (Weaving, Fishing, Digging, Painting), Victor Adam. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a vignette (small illustrated scenes).