CMS, open source solutions 2010 edition

Content
Management
open source solutions
2010 edition

By Grégory Bécue

Version 4

Further information: www.smile.fr
Tel: +33 (0)1 41 40 11 00
Email : sdc@smile.fr

CMS, open source solutions

[1] PREAMBLE

[1.1] Smile
Smile is a company comprised of engineers specialising in the implementation of
open source solutions and the integration of systems based on open source solutions.
Smile is a member of APRIL, an association focused on the promotion and protection
of free software.

With over 320 employees in France, and 390 throughout the world (June 2010),
Smile is the leading French Open Source solution company.

Since around the year 2000, Smile has been actively monitoring the technological
market, allowing us to identify, to test and assess the most promising open source
solutions. We can then present our clients with the strongest, most sustainable,
most efficient products available.

This approach has given way to a whole range of white papers covering various
different application sectors. Content management (2004); portals (2005); business
intelligence (2006); PHP frameworks (2007); virtualisation (2007); digital document
management (2008); and ERPs (2008). Among the works published in 2009, the
“Open Source VPNs”, and “Open Source flow controls and Firewalls” articles, within
the “Systems and Infrastructures” collection are also of interest.

Each of these works offers a selection of the best open source solutions in the
relevant domain, their respective qualities, and feedback on operational use.

As stable open source solutions slowly gain ground in new sectors, Smile will be
present to offer customers the benefit of these solutions risk free. Smile appears in
the French I.T. market as the integration service provider of choice, to assist major
companies in adopting the best open source solutions.

Smile has also developed a range of service offers over the last few years. A
consultancy department has assisted our clients since 2005, through preproject
phases, solution research, and project support. In 2000, Smile created a graphics
studio which in 2007 became known as The Interactive Media Agency. This agency
offers not only graphic design services, but also e-marketing, editorial, and rich
interface expertise. Smile also has an agency specializing in Third-party Application
Maintenance, application support and application processing. Smile offices can be
found in Paris, Lyon, Nantes, Bordeaux and Montpellier, with presence in Spain,
Benelux, Switzerland, the Ukraine and Morocco.

© Smile – Open Source Solutions - All unauthorised reproduction is strictly forbidden


[1.2] Some Smile references

a) Web sites

Laboratoires Boiron, Foncia, Crédit Coopératif, EMI Music, Salon de l’Agriculture,
Mazars, Areva, Société Générale, Gîtes de France, Patrice Pichet, Groupama, Eco-
Emballage, CFnews, CEA, Prisma Pub, Véolia, NRJ, JCDecaux, Larousse, 01
Informatique, Spie, PSA, Boiron, Dassault-Systèmes, Action Contre la Faim, BNP
Paribas, Air Pays de Loire, Forum des Images, IFP, BHV, ZeMedical, Gallimard,
Cheval Mag, Afssaps, CNIL…

b) Portals and Intranets

Eurosport, HEC, Bouygues Telecom, Prisma, Veolia, Arjowiggins, INA, Primagaz,
Croix Rouge, Invivo, Faceo, Château de Versailles, Ipsos, VSC Technologies, Sanef,
Explorimmo, Bureau Veritas, Région Centre, Dassault Systèmes, Fondation
d’Auteuil, Korian, PagesJaunes Annonces, Primagaz…

c) Electronic Document Management and ECM

Agefiph, Primagaz, UCFF, Apave, Géoservices, Renault F1 Team, INRIA, CIDJ,
SNCD, Ecureuil Gestion, CS informatique, Serimax, Véolia Propreté, NetasQ,
Corep, Packetis, Alstom Power Services, Mazars…

d) E-business

Furet du Nord, Camif Collectivité, La Halle, De Dietrich, Adenclassifieds, Macif,
Gîtes de France, GPdis, Longchamp, Projectif, ETS, Bain & Spa, Yves Rocher,
Bouygues Immobilier, Nestlé, Stanhome, AVF Périmédical, CCI, Pompiers de
France, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique…

e) Business Intelligence and ERP

Lafarge, Groupe Accueil, Anevia, Projectif, Xinek, Companeo, Advans, Point P,
Mindscape, Loyalty Experts, Cecim, Espace Loggia, Nouvelles Frontières, France24,
La Poste, HomeCineSolutions, Vocatis, Skyrock, France Domicile, Polyexpert,
Cadremploi, Cmonjob, Meilleurmobile.com…

f) Infrastructure and Hosting

Kantar, Pierre Audoin Consultants, Rexel, Motor Presse, OSEO, Sport24, SETRAG,
Canal-U, Institut Mutualiste Montsouris, ETS, Ionis, Osmoz, SIDEL, Atel Hotels,
Cadremploi, Institut Français du Pétrole, Mutualité Française…



[1.3] This White Paper
This document goes beyond a simple comparative study of Open Source Content
Management Systems (CMS), to present an introduction to the fundamental
concepts of CMS and the implementation of these systems. Content Management
Systems must be selected based on the specific needs of the client, and not just on
the tool functions.

With this in mind we offer our analysis of the issues that arise in this area and the
capabilities (in relation to each fundamental concept) which differentiate one tool
from the other.

Following this analysis, we will attempt to bring to light the capabilities of each
CMS studied, in relation to different needs.

[1.4] Versions

[1.4.1] Version 2.1
The first version of this white paper dates back to 2004 and has been downloaded
over 10,000 times. Version, 2.1, is a major overhaul of our initial report.

First off, we eliminated Redhat CMS from our panel of solutions, for a
number of reasons: Redhat is now Byline under the responsibility of the ObjectWeb
consortium, but the transfer is far from finalized, and development seems to have
come to a standstill. Furthermore, ObjectWeb already has a portal and content
management solution with the recent integration of eXoplatform, a more dynamic
project. In this context it seems difficult to believe that this seldom-used solution
will last very long.

On the other hand we included, Apache Lenya and InfoGlue, two Java
environment products which meet very different needs. These are two quality
solutions which have already proven popular with clients, allowing to complete the
J2EE Open Source product range, which had been relatively limited up to this.

Finally, we redrafted our comments to take the important developments of the
various solutions into consideration. Typo3, in particular, which had greatly
evolved, with TemplaVoila extensions for content structures, and the version
management and workflow extensions that were so sorely lacking. OpenCMS also
delivered some excellent developments in relation to content structuring in its latest
version, while eZ publish delivered an impressive range of improvements in
versions 3.6, and 3.7.



[1.4.2] Version 3.0
Over 25 000 downloads later; version 3.0 brought a new major update of this white
paper. We felt it was necessary to include two more tools in the already large range
of solutions covered in our study. Joomla and Drupal are very widely-used tools
with active, productive, communities. The strengths of these solutions lie in the
simplicity of their installation, configuration and use, resulting in great success
among associations, individuals and small business.

These tools have proven their stability and maturity. While they do offer a few
advanced features, in their overall simplicity these tools provide an alternative to
more complete solutions which sometimes prove complex to implement.

We have taken both Cofax and PHPNuke out of the study, as they are no longer
actively maintained and as such their functionality is now less complete than that of
other solutions.

Other tools have also benefited from a number of improvements since the previous
version of this white paper. For example:

 eZ Publish 3.9: now supports clustering, advanced Multilanguage
management, Single Sign-On, etc.
 Typo3 4.1: work spaces, front office access control, etc.
 InfoGlue 2.5 image editor, web services, new identification modules, etc.
 Jahia 5 : Ajax Back-office, new portlets, XML Import /Export, specific multi-
level workflows, JSR168 compatibility, metadata, FCKEditor, hibernate, ESI
cache, clustering, …

[1.4.3] Version 4.0
After a further 20,000 downloads, this greatly revised edition is the most up-to-date
version of our white paper on Open Source CMS.

Before discussing products, we decided that an update on the fundamentals of
content management was required. Expectations have evolved, and a number of
elements which had been on the fringes have now become standard features of the
Open Source solutions studied herein.

The basics are now centred on 4 main themes: structuring content, manipulating
content, using content, and securing content. We also include an analysis of the
technical framework which is a less functional but equally important aspect,
especially in the creation of professional web sites which generate major traffic.



As regards products, the same names appear at the top of the list: Drupal, eZ
Publish, Infoglue, Jahia, Joomla, OpenCMS, Spip & Typo3. They have all evolved
well with an improved functional scope and strengthened technical framework.
Apache Lenya is the only solution to be removed from our study, as though it has a
good architecture and does not require databases (XML files); the user interface is
poor and only suitable for users with good technical expertise.

We have added the “loaded CMS” section which presents the content management
components (portal, ECM) included in solutions other than CMS. These may well be
tangible alternatives in the coming years.

Finally, we have integrated a “Promising solutions” section which, as the name
would indicate, lists some excellent solutions which haven’t yet reached maturity
and which won’t be long in finding their niche in the market. They often place the
emphasis on their differentiating aspects: handling, scalability, architecture, etc.

[1.5] The CMS
It is now generally accepted that one must be able to manage both Intranet and
Internet web sites in an interactive manner. That is to say that an interface must be
available which allows administrators to define new pages and new sections, to
manage updates and to reorganise information.

But beyond the specific needs of a given site, certain companies identify the need to
constitute and administrate a content repository, on which different publications will
be based, both on the web and on other media.

Naturally, lots of tools may meet this need. In the CMS product range we can
distinguish between:

 Simple, ready-to-use products focused on web site management, generally with
limited extension possibilities,
 And, more high-end products which allow to build a real content repository at
company level to define the associated management processes and reproduce
content on a variety of media.

The first area, that of integrated CMS, is completely covered by Open Source
products such as Joompla or Spip. These products are of such a high standard that
no proprietary solution can rival them.

The second area, that of high-end CMS solutions was, historically, covered by
commercial products such as Documentum, Vignette or Interwoven. Today however,
solutions such as Jahia, eZ publish, Typo3 or Infoglue, provide similar if not better
scope. These solutions have become over time real alternatives in the area of
Enterprise Content Management.



Since 2001, Smile has acquired exceptional expertise in the area of content
management and excellent knowledge of the best Open Source solutions on the
market.

It is for this reason that we initially decided to compile this White Paper, in order to
share our knowledge and experience.

We have been severe in our choice of solutions, so that only really quality products make
the cut. This allows the client to select a tool based on their individual needs, safe in the
knowledge that the tool is a reliable one.

[1.6] Open Source CMS
A Gartner Group concluded that as regards content management, “today people
don’t see why they should pay for expensive leading commercial products, and are
looking for low-cost alternatives”.

Analysts agree that the advantages of Open Source solutions are not merely
financial. Content management, by its very nature, requires an ever-increasing
number of modifications. Plugins help developers to safely create new functions such
as the definitions of new types of content, workflows, etc., something which cannot
be achieved using proprietary solutions.

All kinds of companies have now chosen to use Open Source CMS and large
companies in particular, as Smile testimonials reveal. Companies often take a look
at the alternatives, including Open Source solutions, when a project is being
completely restructured or when the support contract of a proprietary solution in use
for a number of years, is due for renewal. At this stage the benefits of Open Source
solutions, such as the financial savings, come to light.

[1.7] Viability, support
When we choose a product on which to build all or part of the information system,
the question of viability or durability is often even more important than the list of
capabilities.

Open Source solutions offer two important advantages in this respect:

 The products survival does not depend on its profitability or marketing
considerations. As long as there is community interest, the product will
continue to exist.



 The free nature of sources guarantees the durability of the product, though we
must stress the importance of the client companys’ competence to manage this
source code.

One must keep in mind that proprietary CMS solutions depend entirely on their
editors. Editors who can go out of business overnight, leaving their customers
stranded, with no choice but to rebuild their sites immediately using a different tool.
There have been numerous cases like this over the past few years, and not the name,
editor, licence nor even client list can guarantee the viability of the product.

Though the Open Source nature of a product does not guarantee that it will exist
eternally, and some solutions will slowly loose the interest of their community, one
thing is certain: an Open Source solution will never disappear overnight,
furthermore a company that builds its project around an Open Source solution has
access to the source and as such can ensure that their system lasts for a least
number of years.

The specific type of support available with Open Source solutions is now broadly
recognised. There are generally two to three different levels of support.

On the one hand we have the support of the community, the activity of which is
based around a given site where downloads and source code are available (together
with the roadmap, a directory of known bugs, and support mailing lists). This
community support is non-contractual, but very strong nonetheless.

This support can be complemented with contractual support from companies such as
Smile.

More and more editor solutions are appearing alongside real Open Source
community solutions; these solutions are from commercial profit-driven companies
who have chosen to release certain solutions under Open Source licence. The free
distribution of these solutions allows these editors to make their solutions as well-
known as possible, and their business model is often based on the support and
consulting services associated with these solutions.

These companies generally offer product support and/or product guarantees
(unlimited management of kernel bugs).



Content
[1] PREAMBLE.......................................................................................................2
[1.1]SMILE............................................................................................................................... 2

[1.2]SOME SMILE REFERENCES........................................................................................................ 3

[1.3]THIS WHITE PAPER............................................................................................................... 4

[1.4]VERSIONS........................................................................................................................... 4

[1.5]THE CMS......................................................................................................................... 6

[1.6]OPEN SOURCE CMS............................................................................................................. 7

[1.7]VIABILITY, SUPPORT................................................................................................................ 7

[2] OPEN SOURCE CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ......................................10
[2.1]OUR SELECTION.................................................................................................................. 10

[2.2]OTHERS........................................................................................................................... 17

[2.3]CMS COMPONENTS............................................................................................................. 19

[2.4]PROMISING SOLUTIONS .......................................................................................................... 20

[3] THE FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS OF CONTENT MANAGEMENT .....................21
[3.1]STRUCTURING CONTENT ........................................................................................................ 21

[3.2]MANIPULATING CONTENT........................................................................................................ 32

[3.3]USING CONTENT.................................................................................................................. 41

[3.4]PERMISSIONS AND ACCESS SECURITY ..........................................................................................56

[3.5]TECHNICAL PLATFORM........................................................................................................... 61

[4] SUMMARY......................................................................................................68



[2] OPEN SOURCE CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

[2.1] Our selection
In this section we introduce our selection of the best CMS currently available. We
have based our selection on our content management savoir-faire, our
implementation experience, and client feedback.

Other solutions do exist and some definitely merit a second look; please take the
time to read the paragraphs further on in this White Paper which present other
alternatives.

The solutions below meet most of the requirements established by the Smile
monitoring team – for example: ease of handling; a solid, proven technical
framework; a dynamic community; etc.

[2.1.1] Drupal
Drupal is a multifaceted CMS. Originally designed to serve as a collective blog, it is
now used in a whole range of situations: serving corporate sites to community
portals, to Intranets and even ecommerce websites.

The strength of this CMS lies in its extendibility. Numerous modules can be
added easily (forums, photo galleries, surveys, forms, newsletters, messengers,
chats, online payment solutions, shared agenda, etc.). It includes some highly-
regarded community modules. Further modules are relatively easy to develop given
that the syntax is accessible.

Administration is a specific feature of the product; a single interface provides
consultation (the front office) and site administration (the back office)
features; something that is particularly well-appreciated by those with limited
technical experience.

At content management level, Drupal falls somewhere between Spip and eZ Publish.
A complimentary module (CCK) allows to easily create types of structured
content (native in version 7).

At content organization level, Drupal is different in that it operatres using
keywords (tags - taxonomies) and not a tree-structure, like most CMS. What might
seem a little disconcerting initially actually turns out to be really useful.



Drupal integrates a very flexible PHP template system, management of user
permissions, multi-positioning of content, together with search and statistics
features.

At performance level, Drupal offers excellent results notably in stand-alone mode. It
constitutes a real alternative to “high-end” CMS, for purely editorial sites in
particular.

The version considered in this study is version 6.16

Smile has deployed Drupal on several occasions for clients such as : NRJ-Studio,
Diester, Alban Muller, BibNum (Cerimes), CDC Biodiversité, L’Equipe, GPSA,
Bastide Diffusion, Autorisé de la Concurrence, ESTP, Université d’Orléans,
Fondation EADS, INSA, etc.

[2.1.2] eZ Publish
The main aspect which differentiates eZ Publish from other Open Source
solutions is its configuration and extension capabilities: it is presented as a
ready-to-use tool but also as a development framework allowing to create business
applications.

eZ Publish is one of the most powerful Open Source tools in relation to the
fundamentals of content management: structured content, categorisation,
version management, etc.

eZ Publish allows to create online content types. “Minutes of meetings”,
“News” or even “Cataloguing” content types can be created in a just a few clicks, and
using forms. First piece of content is composed of a title, project name, date, list of
participants, a body of text, etc. The second only contains a title and small amount of
text. The third is more complex.

eZ Publish pushes the object approach to the limit, making each piece of content an
object and applying all possible methods to same object: multi-positioning,
versioning, multilingualism, relationships between content, access permissions, and
workflows. This makes eZ Publish a highly configurable CMS.

The eZ Publish CMS offers a number of options for the integration of
content: basic forms, multiple-uploads, WebDAV access, frontend editing, Open
Office document loads.

From a technical point of view, eZ Publish is written in PHP, on Apache & MySql
(PostGreSql 8 & Oracle 11g are supported), manages three different caches and
distinctly separates form and content (layout and content).



As regards search capabilities, eZ Publish interfaces with the Open Source search
engine Solr; it returns pertinent results in very rapid response times.

The version considered in this study is version 4.3.

Smile has deployed eZ publish on over 100 projects, including Foncia, CFnews, Fia-
Net, Afssaps, Evian Masters, Gallimard, BFM, Bouygues Telecom, Mazars, Yves
Rocher, Groupama, Patrice Pichet, EMI, Voyages-Sncf, Eurostar.com, INRA, OSEO,
Sport24, De Dietrich, Prisma Presse, Femme Actuelle, Elle, Gîtes de France, Hachette
Filipacchi, Suez environnement, Amnesty International, National Geographic,
Automobile Magazine, Forum des Images, Ordre des Pharmaciens, etc.

[2.1.3] InfoGlue
InfoGlue is a tool that originated in Sweden. It has a number of interesting features:

Technical advantages: InfoGlue is developed in Java, and can use any MySQL,
Oracle, Microsoft Sql Server or DB2 database. InfoGlue integrates the Pluto
Open Source portal tool, which allows it to accept extension modules. As regards
workflows, InfoGlue integrates the OpenSymphony Open Source tool, which
allows it to configure any business process in XML.

Functional advantages: InfoGlue allows to define new types of content and
categories without development, two essential high-end content management
functions.

The latest version of the CMS, version 3.0, is eagerly awaited and it’s improved,
more user-friendly, graphic interface in particular.

In the meantime, version 2.9.7.1 consolidates existing functions offering an
extensive range: text editor, multi-sites management, page publication on a given
date, page and tree-structure versioning, batch publication, personalized reports,
etc.

Though the project was launched in 2003, it remains relatively unknown in France;
it is implemented in Universities in particular.

In the Java world, InfoGlue is a solution which filled a niche in the Open
Source market. Easy to install, easy to use, configurable and extendible, InfoGlue
meets a number of web site needs, but is also an excellent solution for the
management of company content repositories.

The version considered in this study is version 2.9.7.1



Smile has integrated the Infoglue solution on several occasions: Xinek, Oncoval, K
par K, Lapeyre, Nouvelles frontières, Université de Pau, Université de Bordeaux 3 &
4, etc.

[2.1.4] Jahia
Jahia is a Franco-Swiss product, which has a special place in the world of portals
and JEE CMS, in two respects.

In terms of licence first of all. There is a real Open Source “Community” (GPL)
version, but this is not the version which is most commonly used. Annual Production
Subscription is obligatory for professional developers. This provides: the right of
annual use of company versions, correction of bugs, production support, etc.

Secondly in terms of it’s position, as Jahia is one of the rare solutions which
brings together the JEE portal and content management, perfectly
integrated in one single product.

Jahia is an excellent alternative to the portal solutions offered by leading editors,
the fact that Jahia source files can be accessed and modified ensures that the
product can meet client needs, while also ensuring the durability of the product.

As mentioned earlier, the strength of Jahia lies in its ability to bring together the
CMS and portal in one perfectly integrated, easy-to-use package. Compliance with
technical standards and the standard JSR 168 (& 286) in particular, offers real
compatibility and the capacity to integrate “portlets” (third-party or specific), giving
access to internal company applications.

Jahia is ready-to-use and implementation generally doesn’t necessitate any
development (apart from its integration). Freely available to download, Jahia is
most impressive as regards its finish and packaging: it is installed and ready-for-use
in a matter of minutes.

The Jahia content administration interface, blended into the site itself,
differentiates Jahia from other CMS. Once identified, you have access to add, modify
and delete functions, directly on the site, within pages and menus. This
management mode really simplifies processes for the administrator, who can view
the information on the site directly and instantly see where it needs to be modified.

At functional level, Jahia is one of the most complete solutions offering: multi-site
management, versioning, efficient workflows, structured data, multilingualism, very
specific management of permissions, etc. Version 6 has notably delivered an
excellent user interface via Ajax.

The version considered in this study is version 6



Smile has implemented the Jahia portal for Bouygues Immobilier, BNP Paribas,
Valorissimo, Arjowiggins, Beauté Prestige International, Veolia Eau, Eutelsat, Egide,
Académie de Rennes, Conseil Régional d’Ile de France, SANEF, Groupe COLAS,
Adoma, Fondation d’Auteuil, Académie de Créteil, IRP Auto, Pimkie-Diramode,
AFNOR, OCP, Vinci Energies, Conseil Général de la Côte d’Or, Diagnostica Stago,
Conseil Régional du Centre, Conseil Supérieur du Notariat, Macif, and La Poste,
among others.

[2.1.5] Joomla
Joomla is a CMS developed from Mambo. It was created following a falling out
between the main developers and the company coordinating development. Today,
the majority of the community developers are focused on Joomla, which decidedly
tips the scale in its favour.

The most distinguishing element of this tool is probably the conviviality of its
administration interface. The emphasis being on “giving non-techies total control
of the product”. Page creation, categorisation, search, access statistics, significant
URLs, are integrated together with a number of modules, and these do not require
any specific technical expertise for their implementation.

Nevertheless, Joule does not allow to natively manage different types of content, and
cannot be used for advanced content structuring needs (even if a plugin does exist
allowing the implementation of structured content).

This CMS is perfectly adequate for personal sites and to meet the needs of certain
professional sites; for example corporate type sites (basic publications).

The version considered in this study is version 1.5.15



[2.1.6] OpenCms
OpenCms is an Open Source CMS edited by the German company Alkacon. It a
broadscale, solid product - the result of a great deal of development work.

The latest version, 7.5, offers a number of functions: structured content, batch
publication, publication on a given date, a content editor, management of links,
WebDAV, management of permissions, etc.

OpenCms is built on a specific Java framework, with a view to extendibility. As
such, while the basic functions are ready-to-use, advanced implementations require
development by way of extensions.

One of the features of the tool is a back office with graphics that are practically a
reproduction of a Windows interface: tree-structure, contextual menus, dialogue
boxes, etc. The interface though very attractive from an aesthetic point of view, is a
bit heavy to use. The tool has allowed to edit content in the front office since version
6, (without having to go through the back office). But this use is still limited to very
straightforward edits, and not for total administration of content.

OpenCms has excellent corporate site references, the majority of which are from
German companies.

Here are some examples of the companies who have chosen to use OpenCms: Alice
DSL: www.alice-dsl.de, Bonduelle Germany: www.bonduelle.de, Fujifilm France:
www.fujifilmgraphic.fr, Intersport International: www.intersport.com, etc.

The version considered in this study is version 7.5.2

Smile has implemented OpenCms for l’UDF and Editions Francis Lefebvre.

[2.1.7] Spip
Spip includes all of the main features that one would expect with a CMS. Spip was
originally used by web-users to manage their personal site, or by associations for
their sites, but Spip continued to develop and is now used by both private and public
entities to manage their professional web sites. Spip is a French Open Source
project, with an active community, hundreds to thousands of members. Several
versions of the solution are released each year.

Spip is one of the rare CMS which can boast thousands of users throughout the
world. This success is explained by the simplicity of the product: it is easy-to-
use, but beyond that is easy to deploy and easy to adapt.



The downside to this simplicity is that Spip presents some limitations as regards the
main content management functions, which obviously limits it to the world of ‘web’
oriented content management tools, as opposed to ‘enterprise’ oriented CM tools. An
interesting Spip feature is its totally multi-lingual administration interface,
translated into over 20 languages, including Arabic, Esperanto, Russian, and even
Chinese.

The Spip-Agora project, sponsored by a French government department, was
developed concurrently with Spip. The idea of Spip-Agora was to add functions to the
Spip project in order to use Spip for administration purposes on complex projects.
Having enhanced the product, the Spip-Agora project ceased to exist and is no longer
supported (as of May 2008).

Almost 2 years after the 1.9.2 version was released, Spip brought out version 2.0,
giving the project a new lease of life. This new version offers a number of new
features: the possibility of installing PostSQL and SQLite on top of MySQL, a
simplified private interface based on Ajax, a download & plugin installation page,
troubleshooting management, API and new functions for the development of
templates.

The version considered in this study is 2.0.10

Smile has used Spip for several sites, including the Spip site generator for delegations
of the French Red Cross, the Fratel site, réseau francophone de la régulation des
télécommunications, ANCV, Evian masters experience, or more recently the Secours
Catholique.

[2.1.8] Typo3
Typo3 is the fruit of several years of work from the Danish guru Kasper Skårhøj. A
highly active community has developed around the product in Germanic countries in
particular, since its launch in 2000.

In terms of ready-to-use functions, Typo3 is one of the most comprehensive
tools that we have found to date. It offers practically everything one could wish
for, all the while providing an excellent finish. Management of contributions &
permissions, cache, layout, templates, etc., it’s all there, with very few limitations.

Among the functions Typo3 has to offer, we found the image editor to be of particular
interest, allowing to resize images, create thumbnails and dynamically generate
titles as images.

One of the greatest strengths of Typo3 lies in the extendibility of its modules.
Modules can not only add a range of functions to Typo3, but also modify existing
functions that are already integrated, without modifying Typo3 code, leaving it
compatible with future versions of Typo3.



Several thousands of companies already use the product, as indicated on
the community site. In France, Smile has already implemented Typo3 on over 100
sites, while also training and supporting numerous other integrators.

For example, Dassault Systèmes choose typo3 for their Intranet, giving Smile the
opportunity to work alongside Kasper on this ambitious and exciting project.

The version considered in this study is version 4.3

Smile implemented Typo3 for the CNIL, Dassault Systèmes, Eco-Emballages, Areva,
AMUE, Archimag, BHV, Armée de l'air, IPSOS, CCI, Polytech’Savoie, PCI, Projectif,
Spie, Faceo, Institut National de l'Audiovisuel, Cidil, RATP, Souriau, Prolea, PSA
Peugeot Citroën, Crédit Coopératif, Château de Versailles, SAS, ETS Europe, Agence
de l'Eau Seine Normandie, Glamour, Jaccede.com, IUFM Créteil, Conseil Régional
d’Ile de France, ODIT France, AFPA, Action contre la Faim, Arvalis, Comexpo,
CORA, MGEN, World Water Council, Société Générale, Immovalor, Legris
Industries, Agritel, My Coop, Gefco, Salon de l’Agriculture, INVIVO, Cidilait, and
many more.

[2.2] Others
A number of other CMS solutions also exist apart from those mentioned; Mambo,
Apache Lenya and Zope are 3 solutions that featured in our previous studies. Here is
a quick review of these products.

Mambo, Joomla’s “predecessor” is a relatively complete site management tool. As
with other tools of this type, it has a number of ready-to-use modules which are
practical for community sites: guestbook, forum, photo gallery, blog, etc. Its ease of
access allows even non-techies to create graphically pleasing sites.

The latest Mambo version, version 4.6.4, was released in July 2008. The project
seems to have come to a standstill as most of its contributors have gone over to
Joomla.

Apache Lenya is a tool which really stands out in the world of content
management. Integrated by the Apache Foundation, it comes from the Wyona CMS
product, of Swiss origin.

Lenya is a content and document management software product, developed in Java,
based on the Cocoon framework, which manipulates XML content.



One of the distinguishing features of Lenya is that all of the data that it manages is
stocked in XML files. Even structure information, such as on groups and users, is
managed in XML files. Lenya does not require a database to function. XML files are
organised into a tree-structure and are displayed in HTML – or another format –
using XSL style sheets. XML content modifications (the schemas of which are
modifiable) are carried out by rich graphic editors integrated into the web interface,
resulting from different Open Source projects.

Its distinctive architecture can be useful to specific needs (no database for example)
but its range of functions together with it’s difficulty of use, has put off more than
one contributor in favour of one of the excellent solutions offered by the competition.

Finally, we can’t talk about CMS without mentioning Zope and risking the wrath of
the products numerous fans!

Zope is a very complete server application, which goes well beyond the function of a
CMS. Everyone is in agreement that the only major fault of this tool is its
construction on a Python environment. Python development and maintenance
expertise is rare, which is the reason that we have decided not to include Zope in our
study. We have chosen solutions where the native functions can be completed and/or
modified as necessary. Furthermore, the progressive abandoning of this environment
has been confirmed by the main promotor Nuxeo’s decision to cease using Zope CPS,
despite the release of a new version.



[2.3] CMS components
Beyond “business” CMS, a great number of Web solutions exist which provide
content management “components”. CMS components are just one among a
whole range of modules.

This is the case with portals such as Liferay or ExoPlatform which, apart from their
primary functions as content aggregators, also offer content management functions.
These components are not yet as developed as the best CMS but they are
rapidly advancing and may well equal CMS and Portal type solutions, as with
Jahia, in the coming years.

On the other hand, other solutions are not designed for the implementation of
complex web sites, they did not orignally include real CMS components. This is the
case with Wordpress, one of the leaders in blog solutions. This type of tool will be
completely capable of rivalling the best CMS in the near future; especially with the
word processing strength that it is known for. In its favour, it already has content
structuring notions and experience of scalability.

Finally, surprisingly, we notice that certain EDM tools or more precisely
ECM tools are capable of extending their scope to provide advanced
publication functions. Nuxeo stands out, with its capability to modulate articles
or news (from larger content). These tools are very powerful in structuring (the
creation of complex document types) and manipulating data (multitudes of loads
possible including excellent interfacing with Microsoft Office or Open Office). The
only area which is not developed or requires further development is the content
publication area. Webengine from Nuxeo enables the publication of mini web sites,
designed as folders in the content tree-structure. The Alfresco WCM module which
manages content production and dispatch to a CMS for publication is also
interesting.

Finally it is worth noting that the CMIS standard is being finalized to allow a
simple and efficient bridge between content managed in an ECM and to be published
in a CMS.

As we can see, there is a fine line between the tools; and a new distribution of roles
may very well come about in coming years.



[2.4] Promising solutions
Smile is committed to offering its clients the very best Open Source solutions. In
order to achieve this, we constantly monitor new and existing content management
tools. Some tools tend to become dated, while others are particularly dynamic.

In general, new tools are too young to be used in the framework of a professional
project but we are keeping an eye on these tools and hope that development on them
will continue.

Here are some of the new tools that we are closely monitoring:

 SilverStripe, Modx, CMS Made Simple, for the quality of their handling in
particular
 Sympal, Diem, Apostrophe, recent products based on the Symfony framework
 Cahaya, a product based on the Zend Framework
 Magnolia, a product which is having some difficulty in building up a
community
 Silverpeas, a product which recently adopted the Open Source model

Framework based CMS are not particularly advanced to date, but look promising. They
offer a real alternative for projects which require complex modifications to existing CMS.



[3] THE FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS OF CONTENT MANAGEMENT

[3.1] Structuring content
In the previous versions of this White Paper, we deal with a number of aspects of
content structuring and manipulation. Both issues are intrinsically linked; but the
notion of content structuring has taken such an important place in choosing a CMS
solution we felt it was important to go back over the main concepts of structuring.

[3.1.1] Structuring content
An article is a content element. It deals with a given subject, representing from a
few lines to a few pages of text.

An article is not the smallest unit of content structure; an article itself is generally
broken down into basic fields, for example: title, sub-title, image, text body.

There are two main ways of structuring articles: functional and semantic
structuring.

Functional structuring breaks down the article based on the role, or function, of each
item, often title, sub-title, summary. This function is independent to the subject
being treated, the theme of the article: whether we are talking about cooking or a
rugby match, we can identify a field title and a field summary.

Semantic structuring breaks down the article based on the significance of each item.
As such it is possible to distinguish between fields relating to ingredients, cooking
time, the oven temperature, the level of difficulty, etc. for a cooking recipe; to
distinguish between fields relating to teams, the stadium, date and time, for a
football match, etc. As we see, semantic structuring is closely dependant on the
theme of the article, this means, we may be led to define several structures or types
of articles within the same content management. As each content is one type or
another, it is not always easy to return a type 1 article where a type B article is
expected.

Correctly structuring each article in a specific way is greatly advantageous:

 This allows to guide the correct entering of articles using a customised form,
and as such ensuring that they all fall into the right categories. Hence
effecting to the quality of content.



 This also allows to distinguish between each of the components of the article
during publication, and as such to truly separate the form/layout from
content, as mentioned above. This makes it possible to define in the article
template that, for example, the “ingredients” field is to be displayed in italics,
while “cooking time” should be displayed in bold. This effectively makes it
possible to modify the way content is displayed without touching content itself.
In the absence of a suitable article structure, one would have had to either give
up on these effects on the ingredients and cooking time, or else inject
formatting in the body of the article.
 This allows to carry out specific searches beyond simple textual searches; e.g.
recover all of the recipes with a cooking time of under 30 minutes.
 Finally, this is what gives content meaning. Content is no longer text fields,
but attributes which describe an object: country, city, price, date, etc. as such
multiplying the possibilities for use of this content.

We have seen how important it is to ensure that article structuring is managed
correctly. But it must be recognized that these benefits are obtained at a certain
price, that of complexity. The CMS becomes a real database: where entities,
entities attributes, and relationships between entities are defined, together with
controls to be carried out on each field, etc. When the declaration of a structured
content type can be done without I.T. development, this is one of the features of a
CMS which is most appreciated.

The images above show two different ways of presenting a recipe for “Apple pie”, the
image on the left depicts the non-structured version, and the image on the right
depicts the structured version of the same content. It is easy to see that the control
of restoration as well as the use of content is much greater with structured content.



This concept of content management (structured or non-structured) is key,
in choosing your CMS solution. It is important to think about this and to decide
what type of information you want to publish and what you want to do with this
information.

Joomla & Spip do not natively allow to define specific types of articles (cooking recipes
etc.) This creates some restrictions, but also a large simplicity in the management and
organisation of a site. All of the content is entered on the same form; all content can be
restored on the same template. Nevertheless, a number of quality extensions exist to get
around this problem:
jSeblod CCK for joomla (which is relatively complete) and Champs Extras 2 for Spip
(which only allows to extend existing content types).

Drupal natively supports different types of content, but does not allow to directly
manage their editing. An operational module (CCK) provides this capability and allows to
simply create new types of content with the help of forms integrated into the Back Office.
The success of this extension has won it a native place in version 7 of Drupal.

Tpyo3’s TemplaVoila module allows to define new content structures, with customised
data-entry forms. While creation is still a little technical, the result is worth it, we can
create new types of content and use them easily throughout the site. Structured content
is stored in XML in a new field of the table of contents. It is particularly well adapted to
sites which require a lot of content structuring.

OpenCms has allowed to define specific types of articles based on XSD schemas since
version 6. The structure possibilities remain basic, not using XML potential to its full,
but it is possible to easily create new content structures. Structured content is then
stored as XML, in a database field.

eZ Publish really stands out here. This is the tool which most easily allows to define as
many content types as we like, online, using a web interface. The new types of content
have a standard template by default, displaying all content fields. For each type of
content, both an administration interface preview and restore interface template (front
office) has to defined. eZ Publish also allows to define content relationships.

Jahia allows to define new types of content using CND files in which the structure of
content is defined. There is no graphic interface to create new content types, but creation
is easy and can be done at the same time as definition of new rendering templates. Jahia
6 has made improvements in this area.

InfoGlue allows to create new content structures via its interface, without the need for
any prior technical experience. InfoGlue goes even further being the only CMS which
allows to define the rules of validity for each field, by using regular expressions. This
allows, for example, to ensure that the first letter be capitalised, or that there are no
spaces etc.



[3.1.2] Seperating form/layout and content
One of the principles of Content Management Systems is to create a divide
between form and content, between the presentation of articles and the article
text (or the attributes of these articles).

There are a great number of reasons for maintaining this divide.

Form and content touch on different professions: the page layout is created by a
graphic artist, while content is supplied by a contributor.

Both of these individuals must be able to work independently of each other. It
must be possible to change the site design without touching the content, and vice-
versa, to add or modify content without touching the page layout.

A unique page layout (template) is shared by multitudes of content: this is what
makes the site homogenous. It would be impossible to obtain this result if each
time content was entered the page layout also had to be defined.

Add to this that formatting is always defined in reference with a publication
medium, so that mixing up formatting and content means reducing the publication
possibilities to one single medium.

As such the layout and content are seperated. Practically speaking, this signifies
that the text inserted into the content database must not include formatting data.

This restriction is sometimes too restrictive for certain usage, as such exceptions
must be authorised e.g.: bold, italics; or the level of formatting accepted within a
newspaper article. The type of modifications which can be made must be limited;
and changes to font, character size, colours, aligning, column layout, etc. must
remain unauthorized under content administration. Some WYSIWYG editors
store all content (even in Bold, etc.) under XML format and provide total
separation of form and content.

To meet formatting needs, CMS generally include a graphic editing tool
(WYSIWYG); this allows to format text, but also to insert links and images.
Integration of such a tool can be partial or total, depending on whether CSS files
defined for the site need to be taken into consideration, or whether the insertion of a
link should allow to select site content or the insertion of an image into a media
library.

To conclude, the separation of form and content is important in order to carry out
multi-channel publication (web & mobile for example). Furthermore, it is essential
for the creation of accessible sites.



Joomla natively offers the Open Source solution TinyMCE (Sourceforge: Project of the
Month, January 2009), a quality WYSIWYG editor which produces good HTML code.
Other editors can be implemented on the extension principle.

Drupal does not natively integrate a rich text editor, but complementary modules allow
this function to be easily added using good Open Source editors.

OpenCms has a native graphic editing solution (FckEditor), which is well integrated
into the tool.

There are a few versions of this, Typo3 had opted for the VBscript solution which only
functions on Internet Explorer. In version 4, Typo3 now integrates the WYSISYG editor
HTMLArea RTE, which opens up compatibility with other navigators. This editor is
perfectly integrated, with image management and editor customization possibilities
depending on the user.

As for Spip, it does not have a WYSIWYG editor which is replaced by specific tags that
the user must be familiar with (a “mini-editor” allows to insert them). This greatly limits
page edit possibilities, like the inclusion of images in the text, or a more complex table or
structure; however this does allow the complete separation of form and content. It is also
worth noting that a full WYSIWYG editor such as FckEditor can be integrated.

Jahia includes the graphic editor FckEditor, which ensures functionality on all client
platforms. There are three distinguishable levels of use for this editor (light, complete,
etc.) configurable profile by profile. We can as such offer, for example, the full version to
the administrator and the simplified version to contributors.

eZ Publish integrates its own Open Source editor "Online editor", under GPL. This
WYSIWYG editor writes in XML as opposed to HTML, this results in some very minor
formatting restrictions, but ensures perfect separation of form from content.
Furthermore, perfectly integrated with the CMS, this editor allows to insert files from
the eZPublish media library, to upload a file directly as a content attachment. 5.0, the
latest version from the editor, is based on TinyMCE.

InfoGlue natively integrates a rich text editor, based on FckEditor (versions prior to
version 2 used HTMLArea), which is very well integrated with the CMS, and which
allows to create a link to content by selecting it, and likewise for the insertion of images.

Good separation of form and content is more a question of policy than a question of
tool.

On an integrated CMS such as Spip, Joomla, OpenCMS, or Drupal, it is not
unreasonable to authorise contributors to define formatting beyond Bold and Italics.
The multi-channel restriction is very slight, and we can count on validation processes to
control these contributions and ensure that pages are homogenous.



As opposed to this, in Enterprise CMS such as eZ Publish, InfoGlue, Jahia and
Typo3, this restriction must be closely complied with. It must be highlighted that the
possibilities of structuring of specific article types greatly limit the need to insert
formatting in articles, as for each article field a format can be defined at template level,
as we will see later.

[3.1.3] Multilingualism
For some time, multilingualism was manually implemented using handy hints built
into the CMS tree-structure and elsewhere. This meant that to give the site an
international dimension one had to create as many sections (e.g. FR & EN) as
languages, at the root of the site. The corresponding sites were managed
independently to each other.

Better handling of multilingualism is required for companies with international
presence.

As such the CMS must manage different translations for each piece of content to
build multilingual sites – this reintroduces a link or dependence between the sites.
This dependence makes it possible to go between one language and another on a
given page, to use an automatic page translation tool, etc.

Multilingual management can become very complex: fields that require translation,
fields that don’t require translation, the chain to validate translations, automatic
and semi-automatic translations, specific permissions for a given language,
consideration of the different “alphabets”, identification of the visitors’ language, etc.

This is why multilingualism is now a fundamental part of content management. All
tools offer different multilingualism implementations; some are limited to the same
container for different languages; others offer a full interaction with excellent
functions. This is an important point to be considered if you wish to communicate at
international level.

A plugin (content translation and locale) must be used if you wish to implement a
multilingual site on Drupal. This allows to configure languages and behaviours on your
site. Drupal, like Spip, creates links between the different linguistic versions, a basic
principle which is generally sufficient.

eZ Publish perfectly manages multilingualism; it is one of the forerunners in this
domain. Every piece of content can be translated into one or more languages. The
creation of linguistic versions of the site is very easy to implement. Configurable
management rules allow to define eZ Publish behaviour in the absence of a linguistic
version of a piece of content.



Infoglue offers a very appealing language management feature. The interfaces are
straightforward and linguistic versions are made around content not pages. Content or
structure (a page) is composed of two facets: range and version. The range contains
general content information (is the content protected? what is its lifecycle? etc). Each
piece of content and structure has one single range. Each element has multiple versions.
A version is created for an element as soon as we modify published content or when we
create a new language. This gives us a version tree-structure for each element, one
branch per language. This CMS is very comprehensive on this point.

Jahia perfectly manages multilingualism. The linguistic mechanism is well-oiled and
easily accessed via different screens. “By default” it manages languages based on user
preferences (e.g. where the profile is connected). The administrator can configure the
front office display rules according to the availability of content. Jahia allows to declare
content attributes that are not translatable. Very thorough multi-language management.

Joomla does not natively offer multi-language site management. To properly implement
a multi-language site (beyond two separate tree-structures), a complimentary extension,
such as Joom !Fish must be activated.

OpenCMS does offer multi-language management. Similarly to Jahia, different
linguistic versions can exist for given content.

Spip also offers multi-language management; it has evolved-well in this regard. As Spip
is more “page” than “content” orientated, article translation is carried out by the link
between two pages (data entered by the contributor); a simple but efficient solution.

Typo3 offers several multilingual site options. Apart from that of developing X number
of sites (one per language), it is possible to define several linguistic versions of a given
page (where one page has content in French another content in English etc.) For the
initialization of a linguistic version, the contributor can copy the content from the
existing source. From there on, the site administrator can delegate administration of a
linguistic version to a given contributor.

[3.1.4] Organisation of content
The traditional mode of content organisation is, of course, that of a
hierarchical tree-structure, similar in structure to a directory. Each level on the
tree-structure, each file or folder within the directory, corresponds to a concept, a
classification based on the sense of each item, for example based on themes.

To give an example: the content of a media site can be organised into sport, culture,
international, etc., the sport section can then be broken down into basket, football,
etc.

In this example, content is organised in line with how publishing is organised. It is
easy to see that where internal organisation reflects external organisation, the
administrators work is greatly simplified.



However, when content management is planned at company level as the platform for
several publications, it is unlikely that the organisation of publications reflects the
organisation of the content repository. In this case, it is worth defining in what
manner the articles will be placed in the structure of each publication, either
explicitly, by placing each article in a specific position, or implicitly using
management rules.

Pure hierarchical organisation is not always the best solution, even within a
lone site, as it can be too structured. There are a number of alternatives. We can for
example, associate an article with different themes, which is a more relational than
hierarchical approach to organisation. This is sometimes referred to as content
categorisation or taxonomy, which is an important feature of content
management.

Classification that is not strictly hierarchical is often a necessity at publication level.
An article on a local football match may appear in both the “sport” section and the
“local news” section. The possibility of finding an article in different areas of
the tree-structure allows to satisfy visitors who each have their own
rationale; we are talking here of multi-positioning.



This point is very important. Presenting content in a logical, organised manner is
not sufficient, one must also take the visitors manner of thinking into
consideration. As we don’t all follow the same manner of reasoning, content must
be made available based on different ways of reasoning.

Pages and content

For certain CMS, content is always created in a
specific page, or even a specific part of a specific
page. For others, the creation, validation, and
versioning of content is independent to the notion
of page. It is only once created and validated that
the content can be placed in one or more pages.
This approach comes from the principle of
separating management (upstream) and
publication (downstream).

Even when content is placed on a page first, it is important that it can be restored on
other pages without being duplicated. As such if the content is updated on one file
the updated version will automatically appear on all of the other pages that this
content is displayed on.

This multiple restitution of content, sometimes referred to as the multi-positioning
of articles, can be handled explicitly: where the manager places the article in a given
page or pages; or implicitly where rules are created to manage publication
(sometimes using taxonomy).

The display of the latest 5 news headlines on the
homepage, or on the side of certain pages, is a
typical example of publication by rules. A new
headline doesn’t need to be placed on such and
such a page (the home page for example), as it is
recognised as “news” content type (or it is
associated with the keyword News) and because it
is recent, it will automatically appear on the given
page/pages.

Some solutions are based on multi-positioning to
manage multi-sites; this corresponds to use of the
same content within different sites (in this case,
one single management tool with a single database
is often used).



Spip, Drupal & Joomla are “content” orientated; each piece of content (article,
newsflash, section, etc.) forms a page, with a URL. Keywords then allow to assign
content to different pages.

Typo3 is “page” orientated. A page contains one or more columns, and each column
contains one or more blocks of content or modules, which gives page layout great
flexibility. The validation and monitoring of versions are done at the level of the page as
a whole.

Jahia is also “page” orientated, reflecting its portal aspect. Page formatting is flexible,
and dependant on the templates created. Well-implemented categorisation – or the
“content picker” (improved on version 6) – then allows to assign content to several pages.
The validation and monitoring of versions is carried out by page and content. Jahia also
allows to carry out multi-positioning of content using the principle of “virtual links”.

eZ Publish is more “content” orientated. Content follows validation processes, is
followed-up in versions, and placed in several folders, which they themselves are
considered as content. A piece of content has a URL in relation to its position on the tree-
structure. Page are managed via templates. The eZ Flow extension allows to build page
layouts from repository elements (contents).

InfoGlue is “content” orientated. Content is validated, followed-up in versions, and
multi-positioned via components. Infoglue separates the content tree-structure from that
of rendered informtion. Content is visible in the front office via components placed in
pages by the webmaster.

[3.1.5] Versions of content
Version management and the capacity to conserve previous versions of a given
article (content in the larger meaning of the term), are basic functions of a CMS.
They apply to both old and future versions. As such, a given article can have an
online version, a N+1 version (accepted but not published), and a N+2 version (in
draft status).

As we will see further on in this document, having several simultaneous versions of
the same content is necessary for the workings of validation workflows. This is what
allows us to follow chains of validation for each modification, and so to always
ensure that a manager checks the quality of the published item.

Versions can be managed at either content or page level – where a page presents one
or more organised content blocks -, or at the level of part of the site or even the
complete site. Management of the site version is complex to manipulate, but is
useful to conjointly publish content blocks, divided up throughout the site. This is a
practise which is come across in large structures where a single communication can
lead to whole range of changes; in this case, the modifications can not be published
individually; they form a coherent whole which must be “manipulated” in one block.



Where version management is involved bug management is not far behind. The tool
must also avoid all loss, by prohibiting two people to access to a given document at
the same time or by creating different versions, one per person.

For traceability purposes, contributors need for one to know who has modified what
on the site, and secondly, what the differences are between the two versions, be it at
content, page or site level.

A differentiating point between the tools is the capacity to manage versions of
attachments, like PDF files for example, but also images. As when a contributor
modifies a press release with a PDF attachment, replacing the text but also the
PDF, the tool must be abel to differentiate between the two PDF versions for the
chain of validation and to make it possible to return to a previous version.

Joomla does not integrate a version management system. It does however lock articles
which are being edited, in order to avoid inconsistencies. This makes it impossible to
return to older versions unless the user copies the page and labels it as an archive.

Drupal now integrates a version manager. The creation of a new version is,
nevertheless, declarative; it is the contributor who decides when a new version is created.
It is possible to get around this, but the Drupal version management system remains
relatively basic.

Spip conserves article versions and can display the differences between two versions; but
management remains basic. Spip locks articles which are being edited, in order to avoid
inconsistencies. Spip’s weakness lies in the fact that it does not allow to modify an article
independently to the online version.

Typo3 allows to natively manage complete tree-structure versions thanks to the
workspace notion. Since version 3.7, a versioning module allows to create new page
versions, but also complete tree-structures, which can be worked on, and then uploaded.
The differential remains at the level of each piece of content. As such, a contributor can
work on Draft content, accept it, and automatically make this content Go Live (online).
This is a very practical feature.

OpenCms manages content versions. The separation of work and publication spaces
allows to work a tree-structure, piece of content or file without impacting on the online
version.

eZ Publish can manage content versions, including versions of files associates with
content; it is very complete in this respect. eZ Publish associates a version with a status
in the chain of validation, which allows to perfectly manage content, in modification and
monitoring. eZ Publish offers a version comparison system.

Jahia has a version monitoring module. Page or page content modifications and
validations are carried out in parallel with the online version, the draft version of the
overall site can even be previewed; which is a really interesting feature. Jahia offers a
version comparison system.



InfoGlue manages versions at content level, and allows a given piece of content both a
published status and draft status. Once content is published, its display depends on its
life cycle (creation date, expiry date); this introduces a new status which can be entitled
“archived”. Content is always present in the back office but not visible in the front office.
Infoglue allows batch publication.

[3.2] Manipulating content
This section deals with manipulating content, including lifecycle management. Once
the content type has been defined, content can be created, modified, published, etc.
This is obviously the main purpose of the CMS, and as such particular attention
must be paid to this content manipulation.

[3.2.1] The management interface
Over the years, the content management interface has become a key element of the
CMS.

Contributors and administrators spend most of their time updating. It is for this
reason that it is important that they have an efficient interface at their disposal
which facilitates their work and helps to save time.

The use of technologies such as Ajax (grouped technologies which allow to exchange
and manipulate data without having to reload the page) allow to implement
interfaces which have nothing to do with simple Web pages; this allows to build real
interactive applications which can be used via a simple navigator. This can be taken
further again: use of keyboard shortcuts, field “completers”, “drag and drop”,
contextual menus, etc.

It is easier to delete a page in one click using a contextual menu than by loading a
page, then finding the “delete” button and clicking on it. It is easier to associate
keywords using a “completer” tool (which proposes existing keywords based on the
first few letters entered) than by entered keywords one by one (without spelling
errors), etc.

Beyond ergonomics (a key part of a good management interface), ease of use is vital
in approbation of the tool. All too many tools are rejected by contributors, who are
not generally technicians. It is not surprising then that the CMS which are most
commonly used are those that are the easiest to access and handle.

Certain CMS with complex interfaces put the emphasis on the “productivity” of their
back office, which is to say that what they lack in user-friendliness is made up for in
efficiency once the tool is mastered.



Naturally, the management interface is only one of the criteria taken into
consideration; the others must not be forgotten: extendibility, performance, etc.

Joomla made a great impression right from the beginning, in great part due to the
quality of its management interface. Highly graphic and well-finished, its screens are
greatly inspired by Web computer tools. It interface is easy to master and even though
some terminology may be difficult to understand at first (menu, section, category). In
2010, it seems a little dated, especially in relation to Ajax (no drag and drop to put pages
into order, for example).

Drupal is also very easy to use. Its interfaces are low key and practical. Drupal
differentiates itself from its competitors with its management interface (back office)
which is situated in the front office. This can be a little disconcerting initially but is
actually very interesting to use. The only downside is complex navigation between
functions when numerous extensions are activated. Version 7.0, which recently became
available, provides improved ergonomics, with great use of Ajax. Very promising.

The Spip hasn’t evolved very much, in terms of graphics in particular, from version to
version. Users like its ease of handling, improved in version 2.0 to make it one of the
easiest to use CMS. The WYSIWYG editor for typographic shortcuts sometimes proves to
be confusing for contributors.

Typo3 has few weaknesses, but its management interface is one of them. Beyond the
“idea” behind the tool (that it may be complex but highly efficient), its screens are
difficult to read due to the great number of functions. Fortunately version 4.3 provides a
well-made frontend-editing contribution (from the front office interface – i.e. the part
visible to web-users) which makes it easier for those who do not have technical
experience to contribute. The eagerly-awaited version 5, promises to provide a new, much
more ergonomic, graphic interface. In the meantime, Typo3 users are highlighting the
productivity associated with its use.

OpenCMS has the peculiarity of “reproducing” Windows screens. This can be
advantageous as regards change management associated with certain projects. This
imitation can, however, lead to strange behaviour in web interfaces.

eZ Publish has a relatively staid interface which is straightforward and easily
accessible. It is a good compromise between advanced features and usability. The
recently released version 4.3 delivers a revamped interface, more neutral and most
especially featuring very practical Ajax functions.

Jahia provides a well-designed interface that it is hard to find fault with. Its front end
editing tool is exceptionally easy to use; guaranteeing that users will quickly take to it.
The only downside is the block architecture (a page is made up of several blocks); it is
sometimes difficult to find the entrance point for interface modifications; likewise for
workflow statuses.



One of the advantages with Infoglue is that it clearly separates the contribution step
from the page layout step. Its interfaces are nice but lack Ajax. Contributors can work
solely on content production without worrying about rendering or final positioning. The
positioning of content in the rendering tree-structure can be automatically or manually
carried out by the webmaster. Building a page from a black page can be a bit daunting
for a beginner, but it actually turns out to be quite easy.

[3.2.2] Depositing content
In the first versions of content management tools, content integration was done
exclusively by a simple form (e.g.: title, sub-title, text, etc.) without even using a
WYSIWYG editor.

Things have come a long way since then, and there are now a great number of ways
to incorporate content: a form with a graphic editor, multi-uploads, WebDAV,
frontend editing, Microsoft or Open Office integration, email, etc.

Forms and editors

Forms remain the main method for integrating web site content, but today they are
far more comprehensive and efficient.

Firstly, they almost all include a graphic editor (WYSIWYG: What you see is what
you get). This editor must be completely integrated with your CMS in order to
function efficiently (see above).

Secondly, forms (like content) are more structured (see the “cooking recipe” example
above) which allows to assist the contributor in entering data.

Frontend Editing

Frontend Editing consists in modifying content directly from the front office. We
always work using forms but this makes it easier to navigate and search for a page
to be modified. Frontend Editing is particularly well adapted to site proofing or
modification, going through pages and stopping at those which require
modifications. This is a very simple mode of contribution, mainly due to the fact
that the interfaces lack advanced functions.

Multi-upload

Upload fields have always existed in forms but in the past loads were made one by
one. Today, new components (often in flash) allow any number of files to be loaded
simultaneously. This greatly revolutionizes the creation of a media library!



WebDAV

The HTTP protocol has developed an extra layer allowing to make a web server a file
server. WebDAV (Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning) allows users to
access and modify files (or content in the larger sense) on distant web servers.

Compared to the well-known FTP protocol, the WebDAV protocol also allows to lock
files while they are being modified by a user, but more importantly, it avoids having
to make a local copy of the file before modifying it. This allows users to work in
collaboration on files that are stored on a distant server, as if it was a
simple shared directory on a network.

User workstations must be equipped with a WebDAV client in order to allow them to
access it. The Windows file explorer has one, as does Microsoft Word & Open Office,
together with several (free) clients for Linux and Mac.

The integration of WebDAV with content management tools opens up new
functionalities: access to files published and publication processes outside the web
interface.

WebDAV access to a CMS must employ the same security as web interface access,
with the same users and permissions.

Integration with word processors

For several companies and organisations, the creation of a web site goes through the
never-ending copy/paste phase. The majority of content is usually already available
in office format, preciously held by the communications department.

Today the best CMS provide interfaces which include the best word processors on
the market. Integration, in conjunction with the WebDAV protocol, is exceptionally
efficient! You just need to deposit your files via WebDAV and they are automatically
converted into articles on your site. Over time, you will be able to manage your site
(content at least) directly from your favourite word processor.

Email integration

Editors and communities have come to understand the obstacles to the use of their
solutions. They have attempted to increase the ways in which content can be
integrated easily.

Among these methods, we now find the integration of emails directly in the CMS.
The principle is: to route emails and transform messages into articles or flashes
(with consideration of attachments, for the most advanced solutions).

This method is very easy to use. It is recommended in Intranet mode to collect, for
example, news regarding various subjects and breakthroughs. Email integration
must be coupled with a workflow to validate content before it is published online.



A site which works well is a site that is up-to-date! It is for this reason that we
consider it to be a fundamental concept of content management. As we have seen,
there is a wide range of content integration methods; one must take care to choose
one which suits the organisation and format of your content.

OpenCMS allows the integration of content via structured forms, WebDAV and frontend
editing.

Typo3 offers different types of content integration: frontend editing, adapted forms,
multi-uploads and email via extensions.

Joomla integrates content using forms.

eZ Publish is very comprehensive as regards content integration. Content can be
integrated: using structured forms (often accompanied by a WYSIWYG editor), via
OpenOffice, via a multi-load flash component and via WebDAV implementation. eZ
Publish offers a frontend editing mode together with a content saving module via a mail
intermediary.

Spip is more restrictive in this respect. It provides fixed interfaces to integrate different
types of content (articles, flashes, sections) and multiple loads via a community
component.

Jahia provides content integration via structured forms, WebDAV, multiple uploads via
Zip files and frontend editing.

Infoglue integrates content via structured forms and multiple uploads (via a flash
component). It also offers frontend editing via back office etc.

Drupal allows content integration via forms. It also supports WebDAV and multiple
loads via plugins. Frontend editing is native; a Drupal commitment.

[3.2.3] The lifecycle of content
Articles are born, live and die within the content database. Let’s take a look at how
the CMS manages this lifecycle.

One of the standard needs consists in preparing an article before its publication date,
and programming this article to go live automatically on a certain date.

An article can also have a life duration that is known in advance: either in terms of
duration or in terms of a given expiry date. This allows for example to create an
article entitled “how to complete your income tax return”, and indicate right from
creation, that this article is valid for one year, or up to the 31 of January 2011.

What happens on this date? The article can easily be removed from the site
automatically. In certain cases, the contributor will wish to be informed of the
upcoming modification in advance. The CMS can then, allow to define the article



removal date together with a date upon which the contributor and/or webmaster will
be alerted on this looming site modification. Once alerted, the contributor can
update the article if necessary, and define a new article expiry date.

These are relatively basic lifecycles. One may need more complex options, and in
particular that article display options change between its creation and expiry. For
example, an article may remain on the home page for one week, then remain in the
news section for three months, and then one year in the archive section before finally
disappearing off the site.

We generally use process triggers and workflows to implement lifecycles.

In relation to lifecycle management, Joomla only allows to define the start and expiry
dates for articles.

Drupal has a “Scheduler” module which allows to manage content lifecycles.

Spip meets common needs and allows to publish articles, prepared in advance, from a
given date, without a publication expiry date. A slight modification (being developed) will
allow to implement publication start and expiry dates.

In the same way, Typo3 optionally defines a start and expiry date for the visibility of
each article, without expiry alerts. Typo3 also manages the duration that a page will live
for, even a full tree-structure.

eZ Publish does not associate the duration of life with content, but this functionality is
made possible by simply configuring the tool: add the two dates (or more) to each content
structure, and configure the workflow event so that it compares the date of the day with
the start and expiry dates entered. This is an important part of the tool. The extension eZ
Flow also allows to create pages by blocks and to create block actions (automatic rotation,
publication on the _, etc.

Jahia allows to define start and expiry dates for all content. It is also possible to plan
“daily” publications (for example, every day from 5pm – 6pm, etc.) and “weekly”
publications (for example, Monday from 9am – 10am, Tuesday from 15pm -16pm, etc.).
For more complex actions, the workflow engine must be implemented and configured.

InfoGlue allows to input start and expiry dates in content metadata, as such defining
the lifecycle for each piece of content.

Validation workflows

It is often necessary to be able to separate the contribution steps from validation
steps. This is the case when it comes to situations where contributions are external
and come from a great number of different sources. If we wish to keep full control of
content, as is often essential, an article must first be drafted, then accepted, and



then eventually published online. This is important as contributors are often neither
communications nor web specialists.

In certain situations, there are several levels of validation: a contributor writes an
article, his head of department accepts it at his level, and then the head of
communications accepts it at his level.

Validation or acceptance
must, then, be
implemented by the CMS
with all of the features of
a real workflow: the
contributing parties must
be notified by mail
regarding tasks that
relate to them, and
managers must be able to
consult the list of articles
that await validation, in
one simple click.

But validation doesn’t
end here, once content
has been created,
accepted and published
following the validation process, one must be able to modify it, accept modifications
and republish, where online content remains unchanged until the modified version
is published. Advanced management of versions must therefore be associated with
the validation process, allowing several simultaneous statuses for the same content.

Workflows are, then, elements that make up a whole part of the content
lifecycle. They have to be given serious consideration as regards the organisation of
your work. And this even more in that implementation varies depending on the
CMS.

With Spip, an article can be in draft, proposed, published, refused or deleted status.
Depending on their role as writer or administrator, one has/does not have publishing
permissions. The workflow is therefore relatively limited, but sufficient in most
situations. It should be noted that in order to modify an article that is already online, it
has to be duplicated to then go through the validation process, as Spip content can only
have one status at a time.

Validation management is very straightforward with Joomla. Content is either in
“published” or “not published” status. Only a user with the right permissions can change
the status of an article. Joomla is not adapted to a collaborative content production mode.



Drupal does not natively include workflow management. Nevertheless, it should be
noted that an excellent additional module exists for this purpose. Initial configurations
can seem work intensive but the resulting options are numerous.

Since version 4 Typo3 integrates the notion of workspaces which allow to work in several
environments (a 'preprod', a 2011 version, etc.) and then to switch a page or tree-
structure of pages into production. We define three groups for each workspace: members
(contributors), reviewers and owners (those who validate), corresponding to a 3 tier
publication workflow, specific to each workspace. The owner decides to publish the
content in the “live” workspace. This can be taken further by cumulating workspaces.

OpenCms, offers a workflow option which is both extremely generic, and practically
decorrulated from the validation process in the strictest sense of the term: it allows to
build all sorts of task flows, but there is no precise link between these tasks and content
management. The advantage is that we can, in this way, build workflows in which we
can ask a given individual to complete a given article, or to tidy their desk etc. The
inconvenience is that it doesn’t offer much added-value when compared with the simple
exchange of a mail.

eZ Publish allows to define workflows associated with sections, applied or otherwise
depending on the user or groups. This function allows to implement workflows with one
or more validation level. A notification system automatically sends mail alerts and
validation requests to relevant parties. Furthermore, eZ Publish allows to have as many
versions as you like of the same content, at any given time: 3 drafts, 1 pending
validation, 1 published, 5 archived, etc. which avoids inconsistencies when updates are
made by different individuals. The recent addition of “States” has increased eZ Publish
workflow possibilities.

Since version 5.0 Jahia allows to implement multi-stage workflows and to allocate
content according to a legacy logic. A new workflow can be defined interactively, in the
back-office. There are different types of workflows by default (levels 0, 2, 3 & 4), which
meet the majority of needs and are easy to implement. Easy and fun to use.

InfoGlue integrates basic publication workflows (contribution, validation, etc.). It also
carries the open source workflow tool OpenSymphony, which allows to define complex
workflows in XML. These configurable workflows can be applied to content, or used in
conjunction with other enterprise applications, via web services. Version management is
dealt with well here, with both the possibility of modifying content and monitor
workflows by leaving online content unchanged, and the possibility of publishing content
in packets, which allows to obtain coherent versions of sites, which can/cannot be
published.

[3.2.4] Collaborative contributions
The main purpose of content management tools is the production and publication of
content.


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