[Techtalk] Content Management Systems

[Kathryn Andersen]

On Tue, Jan 09, 2007 at 10:04:02PM -0500, Linda de Boer wrote:
> Drupal seems to be highly recommended for Content Mangement. What I am 
> having trouble catching onto is the "way of thinking". I have the admin 
> account for which I can create content. How or can it be used to create 
> customer sites? Am I misunderstanding it's purpose? I've always done the 
> code in good old vi. I am looking into alternatives due to volume. I'm 
> also looking at Mambo.

What I would suggest you do is make a list of the things that you
require for a Content Management System, and things that would be nice,
and then take a gander at

http://www.la-grange.net/cms (a bit out of date)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_content_management_systems
and
http://www.wikimatrix.org/
 
and use your list to cross out the ones that don't suit, and make a
shortlist of those that might suit.

The reason why I say that is that, even though Drupal may be highly
recommended for content management, your requirements for content
management aren't necessarly the same as those of Joe Bloggs.
For example, since you've "always done the code in good old vi" then
you don't necessarily need a CMS which caters heavily to people who
don't know HTML.

When you say that you're looking into alternatives "due to volume", what
sort of volume?  Volume of traffic, volume of pages, volume of customers?
Maybe you don't need a database-driven CMS, maybe you would be better
served by a templating system which generates static content (because
static content is always going to be served faster than dynamic
content).

Another question is, of course, do you run your own server or do you use
a web-host?  If the latter, your options may be more limited,
depending on what they support.

A few questions to ask yourself:
- does the system have a web-page?  Do they use their own CMS on that
  page?
- how much effort will migration to the new system be?
- if something better comes along, how much effort will migration *away*
  from the system be?
- how easy is installation?
- how painful are upgrades to new versions?
- how easy is it to back up your data?
- how much effort will ongoing maintenance be?
- how modular are the plugins?  Do they require hacking the core code?
- how easy or difficult is it to create your own skin/template/look?
- how well-documented is the system?
- is there a community (mailing list/forum etc) associated with this
  system?  How helpful are they?

Okay, more than a *few* questions...

I think it's worth the effort of really looking for yourself, but you
may not wish to take the time to do so.

Kathryn Andersen
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