- SharePoint 2010 - 5 Hot Features to Look Forward To
- Selecting a CMS: How to Build a Short List
- Alterian Drops Immediacy, Morello Web CMS Brands
- Installing SharePoint 2010 on Windows 7
- How SharePoint 2010’s Metadata Services Increase Usability
- Gartner’s Top 5 BPM Predictions for 2010 And Beyond
- Open Text Reports Good Q2, Vignette Contributes to YoY Spike
Get the NewsletterReviewed: New Book on Selecting an Open Source CMS
People who are new to content management systems find it a little overwhelming as they try to figure out which CMS is right for them. Packt Publishing (news, site) has released a book that hopes to help people make some sense out of so many choices.
The book is "Choosing an Open Source CMS," by Nirav Mehta.
A Project-Oriented Approach
Choosing an Open Source CMS begins with a project-oriented approach. As the reader, you're introduced to a small business owner with a problem. She's got a friend who handles her website for her but has to chase him down to get even the smallest things done.
In discussing the problems, the friend recommends a free, open source CMS since her needs are fairly common and she doesn't have the budget to have something written from scratch, or to purchase a commercial one.
A Selection Process
After getting into the benefits of open source and the typical features of a content management system, the book moves on to a process that might be worth the price of admission to many newbies to the scene:
- Break open source content management systems down into rough categories.
- Describe the core features you can expect from each category.
- Describe some possible uses for this category of CMS.
- List a variety of existing sites that currently use CMS's from that category.
- List the most popular open source content management systems in that category.
From there, Mehta continues with his example, walking through how to set your expectations for your site from the large scale of what you expect to get from it to issues such as projected traffic and resources, and more.
By the time you reach Chapter 4, the example user has a good idea of their requirements and at least which type of CMS she wants — you've worked through the process with her. Then you learn how to try out a variety of options without ever having to install your own.
Overall Impressions
I should warn you right here that I am very fussy when I do computer book reviews. It likely comes from being a computer book author and editor myself. Overall, this book is useful, written in an accessible way and imparts a lot of information.
Better Organization
However, this book would have benefited from a stronger organizational hand. Sticking more strictly with the project-based approach would have helped. Instead, while the project does continue, one moment you're test-driving live demos of the major content management systems and then in the middle of that suddenly you're designing navigational structure in Joomla, then you're installing WordPress, leaving me feeling like in a book about choosing a CMS I hadn't actually chosen anything.
After covering adding content to the site and managing it using Joomla for the platform, then choosing, adding, customizing templates and plug-ins, Mehta changes gears and starts going more in depth into the more specialized CMS's (for example, blog CMS's), whether you need self-hosted or not, tips on hosting your site, how to get involved in the community, and working with a specialist. All of that seems to me like it belongs before getting into any installation or configuration technical details.
A Useful Resource for Selecting a CMS
Overall, the strength of this book is in its core purpose, choosing an open source CMS. While reorganization and refocus would make it stronger, it's still quite useful as it is. If I had a friend who was confused on what to choose, this would be one resource I would point them to.
But what really matters is what you think. If you check out the book for yourself, let us know!
Was this article useful?
Email It
Stumble It
Add RSS2 Reader Comments
Leave a Response
Processing...
From our Job Board View all jobs
| 
Jobs RSS feed
| Post a job right now
Featured Events View all events
| Events RSS feed
| Add your event
- Feb 17, 2010 – Webinar: 4 Essential Strategies for Advancing Your Website's Business Impact
- Feb 26, 2010 – Intelligent Content 2010
- Apr 21, 2010 – Drupalcon San Francisco 2010
- May 5, 2010 – CMS Expo 2010 (Evanston)
- Oct 7, 2010 – HartmanEVENT 2010 - Social Media & Mobile Usability
I think that to choose a CMS depends of the project characteristics. For example, Drupal can be used for enterprise projects but it have advantages and disadvantages over other CMS.
I found the book to be a great primer on the topic, sorely missing from the marketplace until now. If a second edition came out, I think it would benefit from stronger editing and closely inspecting that any feature or benefit highlighted in one system is comparitively described when talking about the others. But, I thank Packt and Nirav sincerely for producing the work.
You can read one of the chapters for free at Packt's website:
http://www.packtpub.com/article/web-cms