Feature
Installing everything needed for a CMS can be quite daunting, so it comes as welcome news that eZ (news, site) has developed an all-in-one installer for those just starting out or switching in the open source CMS world.
Everyone Likes it Easy
Available for Windows PCs and Macs, eZ Publish Installer throws together MySQL database, Apache web server and PHP and the latest version of eZ Publisher 1.4.3. The combination creates a one-stop shop for anyone who needs a quick Web-based publishing solution.
Ready, set go... install a full system quickly
The suite is recommended for use as a training, testing, evaluation or development environment as, once installed, all the programs will be at their default, non-optimized settings. This makes it impractical to run straight away as a production system.
For production purposes, you need to get eZ Publish standalone and install it on a production-ready and optimized environment. However, it would be a good place to learn. All of the software is open source, so there is no cost up front either.
Just a 50MB download you will be up and running in just a short while, enter a password and your e-mail address and wait for the files to install. Once the files are installed, you go through some eZ Publish set-up browser screens.
Some technical issues may need to be resolved, such as having AcceptPathInfo disabled in the Apache configuration file. Once through, choose a site package design from the pre-installed options and you are ready to go.
eZ Installer is rather a simple idea, but we're surprised to find it hasn't been done more often. Joomla's Seedling provides a fully preconfigured CMS component, but expects you to have the server in place. So, if you're not sure where to start with a CMS or just need a quick test-bed to experiment with, eZ has provided a functional solution, for free.
