CMS

Consider before deploying a CMS solution..

How easily can it provide FRESH CONTENT?

The easier it is to do, the more likely it will be done.

Static pages are old fashioned, todays web visitors want up to the minute information.

With proper credentials, editing an eZ Publish site happens in real time. No bottlenecks waiting for IT (Information Technology) expertise like html, css, or PHP.

The expertise is built into the system. Anybody who can fill out a web form, can create and update content.

• Access the page in web browser
  

  casual visitor

• Login with proper credentials
• Button click to edit
  

  edit

• Fill out the web form
  
• Click "Send for Publishing"
• Site is updated

Maintaining fresh content cannot be made much simpler. And if that is all that is required you can stop reading now. There is simply no need to understand the complexities that make this possible. Just use it and enjoy.

Can it handle the FULL RANGE OF WEB CONTENT?

• Older communications paradigms - blogs, forums, polls, galleries.
• Newer strategies - RSS, multimedia formats.
• Latest web enhancements, SEO Search Engine Optimization, twitter, silverlight, real time video streaming, cross-site publishing, time scheduled publishing, the iPad and mobile devices.

eZ Publish does them all. Far more importantly, eZ Publish adapts to change with ease. It was built for change.

With some solutions, you get the idea that developers are stretched to their limits, and that last piece of functionality may be the one that brings the whole system crashing down. With eZ, incorporating new functionality is simply adding one more new little piece right where it logically fits. There is a logic and structure already in place that makes it easy to extend and adapt.

Does it offer the latest USER INTERFACE ENHANCEMENTS?

• Multi-lingual
• Revisions and versioning control
• Site Search
• Breadcrumb Trails
• Tag Cloud
• Automated Table of Contents TOC Creation and Updates - Like on this page.
• Full Range of Menu Styles and Options
• Capability of device dependent display when accessed by an iPhone or handheld portable devices

The above are built into the base functionality of an eZ Publish system with eZ Flow.

Does it offer SIMPLE ACCESS CONTROL MECHANISMS?

Simple is a relative term when applied to access control. Fine grained, fully modular access control is never going to be simple. It is a case of too many possibilities.

eZ Publish starts off a standard installation with a reasonably complete set of access control mechanisms for a web publishing system. Going much beyond what is provided out of the box requires some study and experimentation. But what is provided out of the box should meet the needs of most casual users. The power is there, when the power is needed. Example..

How easy is SITE MAINTENANCE, SITE ADMINISTRATION?

• Broken links make a site look a shambles and can happen far too easily. eZ has automated facilities to search the entire site contents, current and archived, for broken links.
• Search statistics, what are site visitors entering in the search box? eZ can tell you, and tell you how many times, and how many results were returned for the search.
• Sessions management in real time. How many and which users are currently logged in to the system? eZ can tell you, with capabilities built into the default installation.

Does it offer FLEXIBLE DEPLOYMENT OPTIONS?

APACHE, MYSQL, PHP
The most widely deployed standards for serving web content. Other database options are available. Other than that, secure shell access is a necessity for eZ Publish, and not provided by all web hosting companies.

Does it offer FLEXIBLE CUSTOMIZATION OPTIONS?

eZ is Open Source. Use and customize what you want, when you want, as needed. Never be limited by the resources of a single vendor. eZ, their partners, anyone with a thorough understanding of open source technologies can provide support with various levels of expertise and costs.

Will it Scale?

When growth is the goal, consider how easily the solution adapts to growth. Just that simple. Much time and effort is easily expended even on the simplest web solutions. Best to be certain these efforts do not need to be repeated down the road.

Other considerations.

• How long has it been around? eZ practically forever, a popular CMS in 2002
• Does it have focus, leadership, direction, a strategic business model that is working?
• How regularly is it updated? eZ daily in SVN.
• How transparently are specific issues, problems and bugs discussed? eZ is wide open. Bugs and feature requests, are handled out in the open with full disclosure.
• How well documented? If you make it easy enough to use, you don't need much documentation. And if it is too difficult to use, no amount of documentation is going to cure the problem. EZ has great developer documentation. The source code. For the casual end user, well that is the reason for a site like this, to extend the knowledge base.
• How easy to use? A casual user can enjoy much utility from eZ, by simply replacing default content with their own.
• Sustainable value. Ratio of annual revenue to www page loads or web sites? eZ 2008 revenue ~$6 million US / 300,000 sites, about $20 per site and profitable for them. They don't need a small fortune in licensing fees per client to maintain interest and developers.

Not needed, MINDLESS REPETITION

You don't want a design, or framework, that depends upon copy and paste repetition to expand content.

RY - Repeat Yourself. Write a layout, copy the layout, change the copy, repeat the process for each new page until the site is fully fleshed

DRY - Don't repeat yourself. Because every repetition is one more place that needs changed when the site is changed.

• Write a standard SITE layout
• Then a standard PAGE layout or two that fits within the site
• Then standard block layouts to fit handily on each page.
• Tack on totally unique little pieces here or there as necessary to customize and finish the design.
• Leave open only the place where new content logically will be inserted by the end user.

DRY is implemented in eZ Publish using templates and siteaccesses. Templates all the way down from the complete site layout to the point where the end user enters their unique content. More..

Not needed - VENDOR LOCK-IN

Also not wanted is total dependence upon third party extensions, a single vendor, or a few individuals for base functionality.

The nature of the web is continuous change. People and resources jump into and out of projects with dizzying frequency. If you do not have total and transparent access to source code, there is no guarantee that anyone else does either. With a closed source solution, when the developers leave, and something breaks, all the great marketing effort in the world will not fix the problem. Worse yet, closed systems make it far too easy to hide structural and design problems.

Trust is good.

Being able to verify that your trust is well founded is better.

Anyone who spends very much time with the source code from eZ Publish, develops an appreciation for just how great a foundation has been laid for presenting content to the web. The original design was ENTERPRISE level content management. The quality of the code has been verified by hundreds of top developers all over the world, who build on the code base to provide unique solutions to ever more specific problems. Their contributions make eZ a better solution every day. Thanks to all of them. Hopefully the rest of us can figure out how to make all this power easy to comprehend and use. Regardless, the foundation is there, downloaded into a few million independent locations, freely available for all to use as they see fit.