[WEB4LIB] how to get it all done

[Alnisa Allgood]

At 11:01 AM -0700 4/21/05, Karen Davis wrote:
>Unfortunately, all I know how to do is create stand-alone web pages. 
>I can see that I'm going to be swamped if I continue this way. I 
>don't have a content management system for staff to use (e.g. 
>Contribute). Each new set of pages I consider creating is now making 
>me *cringe*. Too much repetitive work! How can I do all this as 
>efficiently as possible? I
>
>I've recommended Contribute 3 to help distribute the content 
>maintenance work among department staff (who are willing ot do it), 
>but am told there are security issues which make it unfeasible, 
>since we don't have an in-house staging server (just ftp to an ISP).
>
>You all know a great deal more than I do, so, if you could suggest 
>how I should recommend that this be set up to run efficiently, I 
>would be grateful! What do I need?
>

Hi Karen-

You definitely want a Content Management Solution (CMS). I took a 
look at your current site, and looked up some backend information on 
your current host.  Kanren.net, your current host does have you on an 
Apache web server, and I spoke to their systems admin person and they 
offer access to PHP4 and MySQL, and don't restrict CMS. It also seems 
that they could help you guys some in selecting and installing a CMS 
system, though there is probably a fee associated with that.

 From rapidly going through your website, I don't see anything that 
couldn't be duplicated in a very good web publishing system, like 
Expression Engine (EE) http://www.pmachine.com/expressionengine/ 
rather than a high end CMS.  No mistakes, EE is a CMS system, its 
just not as extensive as say Plone or other high-end/more expensive 
systems.

They don't pay me, but I recommend them a lot. Why, because about a 
year and a half ago, we were managing a number of our nonprofit 
clients websites-- some were handcode, some we had developed custom 
CMS system for, others we were using Movable Type or some other 
publishing system for.  It was a mess and a pain, and I often cringed 
when clients wanted updates they couldn't handle themselves.  The 
pMachine introduced Expression Engine, and now we've switched 10 of 
12 web clients over to it.  The clients love being able to add and 
edit articles at will, and I love that when they contact us, its for 
something that's actually worth the money they'll be charged.

I forget who said it, but planning is really a key component--who has 
access to what, if all staff can post, is there an official overseer 
for each content area, do post go live immediately, or get staged for 
review, etc., etc., etc.  Poor human management can cause a slew of 
regrets.  That said though...

With an application like Expression Engine, you can have it installed 
and running in about 15 minutes. Of course that's using a default 
template,  so you'd then have to add time to move your current 
templates into the system, decide how to break-up content, etc.  It 
sounds hard, but could be done fairly quickly.

I could go on, about what to do and how, but you should really look 
at a few different systems, demo them if possible; then maybe speak 
with someone at Kanren if you have any questions about what will or 
won't work on their systems.  Then if you need more specific help 
regarding planning and structure send me an email. Any assistance, I 
can write up in my free time or when I'm avoiding client projects is 
available.

Alnisa