Open Source CMS Playroom

Open Source Content Management Systems Karen A. Coombs Amanda Hollister

What is Open Source Software • “free” software • source code is available for you to examine • Source code can be modiﬁed • Modiﬁcations can be redistributed • Typically developed in a collaborative fashion by many people

What is a CMS • Content Management System • System for creating, organizing and publishing web content • Create web content without knowing any code • Content stored in database back-end and edited/ create with web-programming language

Why use a CMS • Can focus on site organization not content management • Can give others ability to update their own content • One install can manage 10,000,000 html pages • Easy off-site access

What are some OSS CMS? • Wordpress • Joomla • Drupal • ModX • Concrete5 • Plone

What will we cover? • Joomla • Wordpress • Drupal

Wordpress as CMS • PHP and MySQL Backend • Used by many libraries for blogging • Some libraries are using it for some CMS functions: • Atchison Public Library, California State University East Bay, Dartmouth Public Libraries, Millsaps College Library, Park County Library, Patagonia Public Library, Stevens Memorial Library

Wordpress Pages • Outside the normal “sequence” of blog • Typically, content input via a WYSIWYG editor • Can be hierarchical • Can use different templates • Page order

Making a Page Your Homepage • Settings • Reading • Front page displays • Choose the page you want to be your homepage from the drop down • Make another page your “news” page

Themes • In choosing a theme you should consider the following: • what kind of banner do you want? • where do you want your site navigation to appear? • what kinds of layouts do you want to use, one column, two column, three column? • do you want a ﬁxed or scalable layout? • Sources for Themes • http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/ • http://www.templatesbrowser.com/wordpress-themes/

Basic Theme Structure • index.php • style.css • header.php • footer.php • sidebar.php • comments.php • comments-popup.php

Customizing Your Theme • Widgets • Template Tags • Conditional Tags

Widgets • What is a widget? • Default Widgets • Archives, Calendar, Categories, Links, Meta, Pages, Recent Comments, Recent Posts, RSS, Search, Tag Cloud, and Text

Widgets • Where to get other widgets • http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/tags/widget • Other widgets to consider • Flexi Pages Widget, Category Posts Widget

Key Template Tags • wp_list_pages() • Post tags - need to sit in the Loop • the_title() • the_content() • the_meta() • the_category() • the_tags() • wp_list_bookmarks()

Helpful Conditional Tags • is_front_page() • is_page() • can include or exclude pages • no conditional tag to test for subpages • is_page_template() • can check to see if a speciﬁc page template is being used • is_home() - posts page, which is typically the site home

Custom Fields • Allows you to add additional ﬁelds to pages or posts • Key - Value pairs • Stored as text in database • Can be displayed using <?php the_meta(); ?> • Better way is to code to display each ﬁeld <?php $key="mykey"; echo get_post_meta($post->ID, $key, true); ?>

Useful Plugins • Blogroll Links • Google Maps for Wordpress • Inline Feed • OpenBook Book Data • Widget Logic • Event Calendar 3

Advanced Techniques and Tricks • MeeboMe in your sidebar • Creating a Photo Gallery • NexGen Gallery plugin • Scriblio plugin

Scriblio • Plugin for Wordpress • Import MARC records • Use as NextGen Catalog • Catalog digital library objects

Wordpress Strengths • Easy to use • Lots of plugins available • Easy to create new themes of modify existing themes • Large user base

Wordpress Issues • Can’t easily create custom content types • Contact Info • Lacks ﬂexibility to deal with complex types of objects with different types of ﬁelds out of the box • Customizing display of group of page/posts requires knowledge of PHP

Drupal as CMS • PHP and MySQL backend • Strongly recommend using PHP5 • Used by a variety of libraries including • Darien Public Library, Athens County Public Library, McMasters University Library, University of Prince Edward Island

Making a Page Your Homepage • By default Drupal displays the most recent “nodes” added as the homepage • You can override this by going to • Administer > Site conﬁguration > Site Information • Change the “Default front page” ﬁeld to be the node you want to be your homepage

Themes • http://drupal.org/project/Themes • http://drupal2u.com • http://mydrupal.com/downloads

Modules to Add • FCKEditor • IMCE • Image • Event

Modules to Add • CCK • Date, URL, Email • Contact Form • MultiBlock • Token • Views • View Reference

Content Types • Pages • Stories • Image

Blocks • Default Blocks • Can be made to display on certain page • include • exclude • PHP

Blocks • Custom Blocks • HTML • PHP code • Views

Menus • Primary Links • Secondary Links • Navigation • Menus you create

Taxonomies • Used to organize content on your site • Categories • Tags • Can be hierarchical, or free-form • Different taxonomies can be used for different content types

Feed Aggregator • Does more than aggregate feeds • Creates a block for every feed • Allows you to embed feed in a node • Need to give Anonymous user permission to access feeds

Image gallery • Create Galleries • Uploaded Images can be associated with a gallery

CCK • Add new fields to any Content Type • Control the type of field added • Text, Number • Date, Email, URL • CCK fields can be used in views • Remember to give Anonymous user permission to access fields you create

Create Your Own Content Type • Links • URL ﬁeld • Staff • Email ﬁeld

Views • Types • Page • Block • Feed • Display • Node or Fields • Limit criteria • Sort Criteria

Filters • Default filters • Other filters often classified as “Modules” • insert_view

Drupal Strengths • Exceptional Flexibility • Easy to create new content types • Substantial user base particularly in libraries • Drupal4Lib • SOPAC • Drupal + Fedora • Drupal for Digital Libraries - McMasters

Drupal Issues • Some modules are buggy and problematic • High learning curve • Not as many modules and ﬁlters developed as one would like • library-related modules in particular missing in some areas

Choices, choices • Wordpress is best for small sites; has an easy start up • Joomla is best for medium sites, average complexity, relatively easy UI • Drupal can handle multiple, large, complex sites

Lessons Learned • Learning a CMS takes time • Important to map out your site’s content to know what modules, widgets need to be installed • Need to decide how you want your site to look in order to choose an appropriate theme • Understand each CMS’s strengths and limitations

Open Source CMS Playroom

by librarywebchic on Oct 26, 2009

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