From Static to Dynamic:Choosing and Implementing a CMSRuth Kneale, rkneale@nso.eduNational Solar Observatory, Advanced Technology Solar Telescope

Whats a CMS anyway?CMS = Content Management SystemUsed to collaboratively and interactively create, manage, control, and publish informationKnown by many other termsPDM or EDMS, like DocuShareWeb CMS, like DrupalWikiWe need a web CMS

Why do we want one?To avoid any more of the single point syndromeTo enable:Ease of administrationIncreased team collaborationIncreased functionalityImproved presentation for the web site

Our Basic Starting PointOpen Source = $0 costLAMP Setup

Must HavesAudit trailContent approvalWYSIWYG editorGranular privilegesFriendly URLsVersioningContent reuseCGI support

Should HavesSandbox/staging area Online administrationInline administrationMass uploadingSite map/index

Nice to HaveContact managementDrag-n-dropPhoto galleryEvents calendarWeb statistics

To CMS or to Wiki?That is the questionBoth are strong possibilities

How to determine?Experience of others (listservs, etc)Cmsmatrix.org and wikimatrix.orgOpensourcecms.comExperts-Exchange.comLocal evaluation

Initial Search ResultsWebCMSs:LenyaDrupale107eTouchExpressionEngineJoomla!PloneWebGUIXoopsWikis:GikiKeheiWikiMediaWikiMoniWikiPHPwikiPmWikiPukiWikiSnipSnapTWiki

The Weeding BeginsExclusions based on:Too many missing functionalitiesHidden feesCurrency of supportRequired database underpinningsReports of others on ease of installationReports of others on ease of useShort evaluation on opensourcecms

The Final FourDrupalTWiki

WebGUIMediaWiki

These were installed and tested locally.

Drupal: Adding Content

WebGUI: Adding Content

TWiki: Adding Content

MediaWiki: Adding Content

Local TestingSmall group of local users made up of staff who would also be final users of the productCreated, edited contentProvided feedback

General ThoughtsWanted familiar look-and-feelWanted terminology changedLiked the CMSsMore like WordDisliked the wikisToo much work

The Winner Is

Next StepsExpanding functionalityIngesting existing siteTraining staff on useGoing live on new server by 2008

Thanks for Listening!http://atst.nso.edu(after January 1st)

Audit trail = who made changes when?Granular privs = system provides read/write privs per page or per content chunkContent reuse = system allows use of content throughout the site without making multiple copies of content

Sandbox = private area to try out new content ideas or templates that doesnt affect the rest of the siteInline admin = Content edited directly in the pageOnline admin = System can be completely managed through a web browserContact management = Site-wide and staff contact pages that dont explicitly state staff email addresses

Lenya = no support or updates for last 18 months; dead in the water?eTouch, ExpressionEngine = free for 1 user but high cost for actual enterprise useJoomla = Doesnt provide too many of the required functionalities (no granular privs, no CGI support)Plone = incompatible application server & database (zope/python vs php/mysql)