CommonSpot 4.0 Product Review

An Article by Steve Drucker

CommonSpot Content Server, developed by PaperThin, Inc., has been simplifying Web site development and authoring since its introduction in 1998. On April 8, 2004, the newest generation, version 4.0, was released.

Web Content Management products usually seek to empower nontechnical users by allowing them to modify Web content from their desktops; enforcing standards; and categorizing, structuring, and cataloging information in a way that makes it easy to locate.

With over 200 commercially available products spanning every conceivable market niche, CommonSpot has earned a reputation for ease of use and best overall value among its competitors. The fact that it's written and extensible through ColdFusion should come as no surprise to anyone.

Easy Development
I'm a big fan of Occam's Razor - a logical principle attached to medieval philosopher William of Occam that clearly states the following: “one should not increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of entities required to explain anything.”

PaperThin has wisely followed this mantra as it pertains to CMS development. Developing templates with CommonSpot requires mastery of just two simple tags. The net effect of this simple architecture enables you to create a template in a very short amount of time with no learning curve. The following <CFINCLUDE> definition invokes the menu bar, as depicted in Figure 1.

<cfinclude template=”/commonspot/pagemode/pagemodeui.cfm>

The second tag defines an editable content area that allows a user to define rows and columns, and insert any of the 50 “out of the box” interface widgets that ship with the product. These include the following:

• Layout: HTML table control
  
• Formatted text block: IE-based WYSIWYG editor
  
• Image: jpg, gif, png image with version control and metadata
  
• PDF: Embed a PDF file within a page
  
• PowerPoint: Autoconvert a MS PowerPoint file to HTML
  
• MS Word: Autoconvert a MS Word file to HTML
  
• Page Index Element: Dynamic set of links
  
• Breadcrumb: Breadcrumb navigation links
  
• Simple form: Define a data input/update form
  
• Datasheet: Extract and display database content in a sortable HTML table
  
• SearchForm: Defines a full-text or keyword-based search form
  
• SearchResults: Captures data input from the searchform control and performs searching through the Verity VDK/K2
  
• QBE (new): Query by example allowing you to define an advanced search interface on custom-defined objects

<cfmodule template=”/commonspot/utilities/ct-render-named-element.cfm”
   elementtype=”layout”
   elementname=”contentlayout”
   basetemplatename=”common”>

Once a “base template” built in ColdFusion is defined, you can create your own custom template “layers” through the CommonSpot authoring user interface. No additional coding is required. PaperThin's model for template layering is unique among CMS vendors and has repeatedly been cited by CMSWatch (www.cmswatch.com) as a best-of-breed implementation.

Enhancements to the Authoring Experience
PaperThin has added enhanced spell-check capabilities to CommonSpot. Whereas some systems allow you to only spell check content within a WYSIWYG editor, CommonSpot now allows you to spell check virtually every data input field within the system. Administrators may create custom dictionaries as well as allow users to maintain their own personal dictionaries. I found the spell-checking interface to be quite intuitive, yet somewhat frustrating, as many of the technical terms that I was entering were not part of the default dictionary. If you plan on enforcing the spell-checker popup, I strongly suggest that you add proper nouns (like your company's name, for instance) to a custom dictionary before roll-out to your content authors.

CommonSpot 4.0 Product Review

An Article by Steve Drucker\n\nCommonSpot Content Server, developed by PaperThin, Inc., has been simplifying Web site development and authoring since its introduction in 1998. On April 8, 2004, the newest generation, version 4.0, was released. \n\nWeb Content Management products usually seek to empower nontechnical users by allowing them to modify Web content from their desktops; enforcing standards; and categorizing, structuring, and cataloging information in a way that makes it easy to locate.\n\nWith over 200 commercially available products spanning every conceivable market niche, CommonSpot has earned a reputation for ease of use and best overall value among its competitors. The fact that it's written and extensible through ColdFusion should come as no surprise to anyone.

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