buy or build a cms? where does zope fit in?
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Buy or build a CMS?Where does Zope fit in?
Paul BrowningInformation Strategy Co-ordinator
University of Bristolpaul.browning@bristol.ac.uk
Loadza Questionz
• What is a CMS?
• What is Zope?
• What are the reasons not to use Zope?
• Is Zope a CMS?
• What has UoB been doing with a CMS?
• Who is doing ztuff in UK HE?
• Is a VLE/MLE a special case of a CMS?
The short anzwerz
• What is a CMS? A way of staying sane• What is Zope? A sigmoidal learning cliff• What are the reasons not to use Zope?
Some of these are misconceptions• Is Zope a CMS? Zope + PTK certainly is• What has UoB been doing with a CMS?
IRIS, DataHub & UBIS• Is a VLE/MLE a special case of a CMS? I think so• Who is doing interesting ztuff in UK HE?
UWCM & Newcastle
What is a CMS?
(from Ed Ort, see Rezourzes)
“a CMS is a concept and not a product” Lowndes, pers. comm.
N.B. Only a selection of features is shown in the outer shell
(from Browning & Lowndes, 2001 in. prep.)
CMS Feature Onion
Top 6 (out of 41!) features @ IWMW2000
• Self-service authoring/frictionless publishing for non-technical content providers
• Workflow management – submit, review, approve, archive • Integration with existing data/databases AND user
authentication systems • Roles based security
• Flexible output – author once, publish in many formats
• Metadata management
Does the “orthodox” Web deliver these?
What is Zope?
• A Python Web Application Server • A transactional object database that thinks it’s a file system• It has many elements of a CMS ...•… and quite a lot more besides
Web Client
XML-RPC
WebDAV
FTP Client
Web Server
Z Server
Zope Core
ZODB
Z Classes
Products
RDBMSFile
System
Demo
• Management screens• Zope - a Swiss Army Knife for the Web?
examples
• WorldPilot - a third-party Product
What does Zope compete with?
• ACS - ArsDigita Community System (TCL)
• Enhydra (Java)
• Type3 (PHP)
• Mason (Perl)
Among many, many (> 80) others ….
What are the reasons not to use Zope?
• I need to use Apache
• I have to script in DTML
• I have to author in a browser
• I have to put all my content in one file
• The documentation is poor
• There is no commercial support
• You can’t recruit Python programmers
• It is not Java
What are the reasons not to use Zope?
• I need to use Apache You can• I have to script in DTML Use Python or Perl• I have to author in a browser HomeSite,
emacs, BBEdit, Word, etc• I have to put all my content in one file You don’t• The documentation is poor It’s eclectic!• There is no commercial support DC and others• You can’t recruit Python programmers Maybe• It is not Java Correct
Is Zope a CMS? I
Content Integration
and Versioning
Workflow
Application
User Management
User Interface
DataRepository
Deployment
Is Zope a CMS? II
Content Integration
and Versioning
Workflow
CONTENT INTEGRATION AND VERSIONINGCore SQLMethods, Search Interface, Undo, VersionProducts LocalFS, ZODBCDA, ZOracleDA, ZMySQLDA,
ZopeLDAP, XMLDocument Utilities load_site.py
WORKFLOWProducts Portal ToolKit (PTK)
Is Zope a CMS? II
Content Integration
and Versioning
Workflow
DEPLOYMENTCore ZEOProducts SiteAccess, CacheManager, XronUtilities ReportLab HowTos Running Zope off CD ROM, Build a WAP site with Zope
APPLICATIONSCore DTML, Zcatalog, External Methods, MailHostProducts PythonMethods, PerlMethods, SQLSession, FSSession, ZUBB, Squishdot, Site Summary, Zwiki, WorldPilot, zCommerce
USER INTERFACECore TTW Authoring & ManagementUtilities HS Extensions, RadioUserland, ZopeStud
USER MANAGEMENTCore UserFolder, Users who have users who have users, Roles, Fine-grained permissionsProducts LoginManager, Membership, smbUserFolder, ZopeLDAP,
mysqlUserFolder
DATA REPOSITORYCore Data.fs (ZODB - a transactional object database that thinks it’s a file system), ZEOProducts OracleStorage, BerkeleyStorage, CompressedStorage
What has UoB been doing with a CMS?
• Integration Research Information System (IRIS)– secret lifebelt for RAE– longer term goal as research & enterprise portal– built using JSP-based toolkit (Zebedee)
• DataHub - a reporting database
• UBIS site (Computing Service + MIS + Library)
Demos?
• Is there time?
Who is doing ztuff in UK HE?
• Newcastle (NLE, MOFS, SST, Stage 4 Options)
• Cardiff Med School (Aspire)
• Strathclyde (Zeus, Zaphod, Zealous, Zoetrope )
• Imperial College (LoginManager)
• Liverpool?
• Salford?
• Oxford Brookes?
Don’t overlook European initiatives - see Rezourcez
Is a VLE/MLE a special case of a CMS?
Student Record System
Quality Process
Business Systems Other Agencies Other Colleges
Registers
Off-line Learning
LearningResourcesCurriculumMapping
Assessment
Communication
Delivery
Tutor Support
Tracking
Virtual Learning Environment
Managed Learning Environment
(from JISC News, Winter 2000)
Some Concluzionz I
• Zope has a sigmoidal learning cliff
• Zope is glueware, highly modular and extensible, becoming more language neutral
• Zope has a loyal and helpful community
• Zope has many elements of a CMS
• A basic workflow is available in the PTK
• The PTK is not quite there yet but DC say it is an important part of the roadmap
• You can build more customised/sophisticated workflow
Some Concluzionz II
• Second generation VLEs/MLEs will be constructed in tools like Zope
• Don’t just buy a CMS (or VLE/MLE) - cul-de-sac
• Build (or buy-and-build) - keep options open
• Forming consortia would be a smart idea
• If you know all the answers then apply for the KCL@£38k job ….
Where does Zope sit in the Application Server/CMS landscape?
(The descent of WebMan?)
Easing the Webmaster bottleneck
Complexity of applications
ZopeEnhydraTeamSiteSpectra
Apache & File System
FilemakerProActive Server PagesColdFusionPerl & CGI
Zope suited to lightweight solutions too
Some Rezourzes
• The last three slides refused to Save As HTML so I put them here.
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