[Web4lib] Contribute opinions?

Thomas Bennett bennetttm at appstate.edu
Wed Nov 8 08:15:24 EST 2006


DreamWeaver or Contribute may be okay for some CMSs but not with Zope or 
Plone.  DreamWeaver tries to put directories on the server that begin with an 
underscore such as _notes if you have upload notes to the server enabled.  
Zope, which Plone runs on top of, does not allow files or folders to begin 
with an underscore because that is used for namespace in Python which is the 
underlying engine of Zope.  Although, we do use DreamWeaver here with 
templates but just turn off upload notes and other incompatible features.  
The server itself has built-in undo and other great features.

  Complaints have been sent to Macromedia in the past to no fix ever being 
considered.  And, all users have to have write access to the root directory 
of the WEB site because of directories DreamWeaver wants to create on each 
WEBDAV  connection.  Contribute would not even work with Zope at all partly 
for the same reasons.  Now that Adobe owns the Macromedia products it might 
be possible to get them to make these simple changes to the products although 
they also own the sort of commercial version of Zope, Cold Fusion.  Owning 
Cold Fusion they also may not want to make their products more compatible 
with other CMSs.

Thomas


On Tuesday 07 November 2006 15:38, Kyle Felker wrote:
> I'm at a small liberal arts college, and our library recently decided to
> start using contribute to edit the site.  Previously, we were using
> dreamweaver/frontpage, both of which were too complex for staff to
> master for routine tasks, and hand updating, which can wreak havok on
> your code.
>
> We are still learning about the software and what it can do, but
> overall, I'm very pleased with it.  I consider the major plusses to be:
> fine-grained control over what, exactly, editors can do on the site
> through roles and folder editing restrictions, access keys which allow
> users to set up their connection to the website quickly and easily,
> web-browser-like navigation that allows editors to find pages quickly
> using the sites native navigation, code that seems fully compliant with
> most web standards, and an easy-to-use, word-processor like interface.
> The training we've had to do has been minimal (at least, compared to the
> traning we'd have to do for frontpage or dreamweaver), and it's fully
> compatible with dreamweaver, so some of us can continue to use that tool
> for advanced tasks while the rest of us use contribute for day-to-day
> maintenance of the site.
>
> Our campus has recently acquired a CMS system that seems pretty snazzy
> (am I the only one that actually likes their campus CMS system?), but we
> are heavily invested in contribute and are not eager to do the work to
> transfer the site into the CMS anytime soon.  If you have specific
> questions, feel free to ask, and I'll temporize madly.  :)
>
>
>
>
> **********************************************
> Kyle Felker
> Technology Coordinator
> Washington and Lee University Library
> Phone: 540-458-8653
> Email: felkerk at wlu.edu
> Chat: geeklibrary (aol) techbookgeek (yahoo)
> *********************************************
> _______________________________________________
> Web4lib mailing list
> Web4lib at webjunction.org
> http://lists.webjunction.org/web4lib/

-- 
====================================================================
Thomas McMillan Grant Bennett		Appalachian State University
Computer Consultant III			P O Box 32026
University Library				Boone, North Carolina 28608
(828) 262 6587

If it's not as simple as possible to try it, then the barrier to entry is too 
high.

Library Systems Help Desk: http://www.library.appstate.edu/help/
====================================================================


More information about the Web4lib mailing list