2009/08/17: Overview and experiences with content management systems NCTech4Good
Location: United Way of the Greater Triangle, 2400 Perimeter Park Dr, Morrisville, NC 27560
Speaker: Sean Watson, netCorps, Technology Consultant
Speakers Notes: nccommunities.org/sites/nccommunities.org/files/6.17.2009 CMS Talk Notes.doc
Overview and experiences with content management systems: Sean Watson, netCorps, Technology Consultant, will provide a general overview of several of the popular content management systems and will lead a discussion of the pros/cons of each.
Meetup announcement: http://http://www.meetup.com/NCTech4Good/calendar/10542956/
Notes and discussion:
- Judy Hallman opened the meeting and said a few words about Public Information Network, Inc., RTPnet, and NCCommunities. She said that the Meetup.com group had been recently renamed (by a team of organizers) to NCTech4Good. Beyond monthly meetings, the group will provide opportunities for in-depth learning, support subgroups of common interests, and bring together volunteers to provide consulting and "day-of-service" events. Information about the group is being added to NCCommunities at NCCommunities.org/NCTech4Good, which includes meeting summaries and forums. The forums already have one request for help and one offer of assistance. [NOTE: When I showed the forum post, the replies did not display. As, Sean suggested, I had not given anonymous users access to the comments module -- comments are not considered "nodes," like pages, so node permissions do not apply to comments, in Drupal.]
- There were about 25 people. We introduced ourselves and described our experiences and interests in content management systems. There were a few people with Drupal interests, some with WordPress, two or three using Joomla, Sean uses Plone (and WordPress), and a few people are using, or are interested in, proprietary software, such as Microsoft SharePoint.
- A custom built website can be very expensive and difficult to maintain.
- Dreamhost.com (which provides free hosting for nonprofits) offers one-click-installs for WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. Hosting services for Plone are harder to find -- plone.org has info on hosting services. Plone is written in Python and requires Zope, while WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal are written in PHP.
- WordPress is easy to use for small sites that don't have a lot of content. It was intended for blogs and doesn't have a lot of built-in features. But it's easy to use.
- Joomla has lots of themes. It's easy to install and efficient.
- Drupal has a lot of contributed modules. It has a security team that investigates potential threats and provides announcements. Acquia is a commercial company that provides technical support for Drupal.
- Plone started at NASA. Security is important.
- There was some discussion about CiviCRM, which runs under Drupal, Joomla, or standalone.
- Places to look for information and comparison of CMSs:
- There was a lot of discussion about follow-up meetings
- Do an install
- Show the end-user perspective
- How hard is it for maintainers? Can you copy and paste from MS Word?
- For folks who are trying to select a CMS, state your requirements and then have discussion about which CMS best fits with the stated needs.
- Add beer to it
- Need a demo before hands-on
- There seemed to be a lot of interest in demos, show what they do.
- Content management systems could be an NCTech4Good special interest group.
Sign-In and Evaluation Form
There were about 25 people. About 11 forms collected.
Nonprofit organizations you work with: ASQ Raleigh, ESAPNC, AAUW, UNC-CH, RTPnet, YSOP Village, Incs. , Urban Ministries / Wake
How did you hear about this meeting:
- NCTech4Good Meetup.com site/email list: 5
- 501 Tech Club site/email list: 2
- Another email list (please specify): 2 , UNC-CH email list
- A friend/colleague: 2
- Other (please specify): Was searching for resources for my nonprofit
Have a need/have skills and time for:
- Skills - most anything IT.
- UWGT's T4T program provides computers for nonprofits. If your org needs equipment, contact us! t4t@unitedwaytriangle.org.
Suggestions for future meetings:
- Topics I Could Present On:
- MS Products - XP, Office 2007, small business networks
- PCI compliance for NPOs; digital divide & tech poverty
- WordPress design/installation/theming (in light of this meeting)
- WordPress, Joomla
- Development databases
- Topics I'm Interested In:
- Managing multimedia assets: sound files, video, graphics, flash
- Collaboration tools
- Social web sites ie ning, wordpress, accessibility
- Everything
- Security, backup strategies, framework
- Drupal, SEO, web design, e-marketing
- Social networking
- Good meeting places: Welcome to use our space at FPG in Carrboro
- Other suggestions:
Evaluation of this meeting:
- Previous knowledge of the topic:
- I was unaware of this technology before hearing about this meeting.
- I've heard of the technology, but don't use it yet. 7
- I use this technology. 3
- I could give this talk. 1
- Other
- Was the meeting what you expected? Yes 2, Somewhat 1
- I expected demos and perhaps a tad more structure
- Hoping for examples on the web
- Yes, except that I was hoping for demo
- Expecting more detailed overview
- Was the meeting worth your time? Yes 6, "Yes! Thank you" 1, Somewhat 1
- Do you expect to use the info from this meeting: Immediately? Yes 2, No 2 Within six months? Yes 5
- Do you want to learn more on this topic? Yes 4, Yes!!! 2
- Comments:
- I will attend the next meeting
- Lots of smart people!