Is this CMS right for me? Please help.

Wednesday 24 January 2007 10:41:57 am

* Ability to set-up a cms framework where we can then easily create multiple sites which are completely separate to one another and new sites do not require new installations of the CMS.

Yes, using siteaccess function you can have multiple sites with different databases, designs, and settings all in the same install.

* Customisable front-end styles on the CMS admin interface
We would like to be able to style up the admin area of each separate instance of the CMS into different look & feels.
Specifically we want to be able to change colours, font styles, and maybe images.

They are just templates like the rest of the system. You can change css or images, or design an entirely new interface.

* WYSIWYG editing interface
On this CMS the user seems to edit the page straight on the site rather than in an admin area.
How is the preview done? Is it via a popup window that shows what the final page will look like or can you actually view the change in the site before it goes live?
Do you know if this is cross-browser compatible (IE 6+ and Firefox 1+) and accessible.

Both options (edit in admin and straight on page) are possible. Preview is provided and looks just like the real thing (in an iframe in the admin view). You can then edit the page again or publish it directly. It does not work in Safari, but does in other major browsers.

* Blog-style visitor comments
Would it be possible to add blogging to articles e.g. to let people comment on news stories.
Though we would like to choose whether anyone can comment or if only registered users could (manageable via the CMS) or only team members could.
Could it also create an email alert which would go to administrators for approval before a comment appears.

Comments is allowed on the built in templates. Workflow for approval can be configured with the basic install.

* Development content can be easily migrated to live
We would like to start adding content while the site is in development (on a development server) and for that content to be movable to the live site.
So some sort of extract from development which is able to be inserted on Live.
Some CMS's appear to assign id's to items which are referenced and this mean they are then not copyable to separate database instances where the id's may already be taken.

There is a hide and show function that may work for this. Also, "Sections" can be used to provide some more advanced functionality, allowing admins to require login to see a particular page/section during development. The nav and links would not appear to point to this page/section unless you are logged in.

* Modular
We would like options to be simple to turn on and off for different sites.
For example, advanced options like changing navigation are disabled by default, but can be switched on, if we need it.

I am not sure what you are really looking to do here. My standard answer in this case is always Yes, it is just a matter of time and budget.

* Integrated free-text search for CMS users
So that CMS content providers can easily find the content they are looking for if they wish to edit existing items. Ideally with keyword highlighting.

Keyword highlighting is not currently included, but the search function otherwise is decent. The Lucene plugin provides more intelligent results.

* Automatic RSS feed generation of page content
E.g. for a news page. I read somewhere that this CMS can do RSS but is it as easy as a tick box to decide whether an RSS feed link appears on the page or not.

Included in the admin interface. Making it that easy would require some customization but it could be done.

* Different permissioning levels - lock content from certain users
We would like this type of CMS user levels:
* User (can edit but not publish)
* Moderator (can edit and publish)

You can have as many roles as needed, and one user can have multiple roles.

* Administrator (can edit, publish, and change navigation, user permissions,
etc)
Preferably, we would like a system where the administrators can set permissions for other users, and create custom user groups.

Yes, the roles and policies are very flexible

* Change navigation at all levels, add new pages as necessary
Ideally the CMS should be able to change the entire structure of the site.

Yes

* Automatic updating of the Site Map
Based on any changes to page titles or navigation. I've also read this is doable but could you confirm please.

It is automatic, and configurable (how many levels deep to show, etc) in templates

* User-defined templates
Administrators can define new templates for pages and add new data fields to existing ones as required from within the CMS.
I.e. the CMS controls the templates

Defining new templates is possible, but not as polished as other systems. It takes some training for admins to be able to do this, but it is technically possilble.

* Auto-populate details based on login
Certain fields of the templates are automatically populated. Such as for news stories published date and author.
An Author photo could also be auto-populated into a news item based on the CMS users profile.

This can be done in the templates and through object relations. It may be possible to do it in the news item itself, but it is better form to relate them and present the photo at the time the story is presented to the user (which is trivial to do with the template language)

* Track downloads of files added to CMS
Either track pages and files or have it integratable with our webtrends solution.

We use Google Analytics to track stats which works very well. Any other standard log analyzer including webtrends would work, but as far as integration they are really two separate packages. Apache serves the pages, and the analyzer reads the apache logs and presents the info in a separate interface. eZ Publish provides statics on current sessions and search requests.

* Secure areas
Sections of the public website (I.e. not the admin section) can be kept behind a login.
Access can be administered from within the CMS system.

Very thorough roles and access can be granted. This is a very strong point for eZ.

* Scheduler to send pages live and review or remove pages at a given time.
So we can choose when a page goes live and when it is removed from the site, via an on-line calendar.
For example, users can send pages live at 7am without actually being there or automatically take a page down when content expires.

With the Smile Schedule extension, this is possible.

* Email Notification
Automatic email alert when a moderator or administrator needs to approve a change.

Yes

* Simple Task Management
Task allocation system, where moderators and Administrators can assign tasks to other CMS users.
For example, an Administrator can flag a page for updating by a certain team member.
The person either gets an email or is alerted next time they login.

This is not included, but could possible be hacked with a workflow or extension.

* Versioning and history tracking
Administrators can view an audit trail of all changes in viewable and searchable format.
They can roll back to restore old versions of files.
When pages are deleted you can reinstate them based on the history - a sort of 'recycle bin'.

All included and configurable. The only drawback is that currently when a tree of content is deleted, it is difficult to restore the entire tree. You can put things back where they originally were, but not all at once.

* Email list management
The CMS ideally should be able to maintain email lists.
For example, from the email addresses supplied in a press area where you register to be granted access.
These profiles could tie in with the password protected area users.
This functionality could also be combined with permissioning for comments
(e.g. if you have to register before you can comment).

Using the PHPList or Newsletter extensions this is possible.

* Integration
This is actually one of our biggest needs.
We'd like to integrate the CMS with other web pages e.g. via portlets or http includes.
The CMS could be supplied with an xml feed and a xsl or php file with which it can do an xslt transform and include the result.
Basically we're not too worried how but we would like to easily add non CMS pages into the site and these pages may not be on the same server or domain.

You would add a CMS page that is essentially just a name and navigation element, and you can override the templates in many different ways to use a template that calls your XML directly. We have done this several times to access external databases and content within a site.

* Active Community
Is there an active community looking after, updating and supporting this CMS? Is commercial support available?

Yes, and Yes. See http://ez.no/community and http://ez.no/services/local_support

Partners are also a good choice for support. http://ez.no/partner

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