Archive for April, 2005

Jeffery Veen has written this
article directed at the authors of open source content management
systems. Although it’s not just about Mambo, it does appear that he
tested Mambo and has some less than flattering things to say. I will
disagree with him on several points.

First of all, I do agree with him on installation and documentation.
Fortunately, Mambo is very easy to install and works out of the box on
a wide, wide variety of webhosts. Documentation is continually
expanding, and there are websites out there that give you more of a
"getting started" task-based view of Mambo. I do agree that you need a
guide for people new to the system, but this must be backed up with
solid functional documentation.

I disagree with the following points:

• Don’t use "jargon"
• Don’t use columns
• End users should never be presented with a login

First with the jargon. Veen indirectly points out several examples of
"technical" terms used in Mambo, such as component, module, and mambot.
(I will give him a break on "mambot", this is a feature that was thrown
in to handle certain formatting issues and has changed between "mambot"
and "mosbot" in usage.) Instead of giving examples of "simple words" to
use in place of these monikers, he accuses developers of trying to
brand their projects. If these concepts are really that simple, he
should have easily been able to come up with alternative names.
Meanwhile, I have a simple explanation (read the short answer towards the top) of the difference between modules and components that seems to satisfy most people.

Next, on columns. Yes, many CMS’es do enforce a restrictive two-three
column layout (although Mambo does not). However, a majority of the
sites on the web (including the site where his essay appears) have a
two or three column layout. If we’re trying to keep things simple for
new users, wouldn’t it be wise to start with something familiar?

I vehemently disagree with his comment about logins. There are many who
wish to restrict sections of content to a select group of users. This
can only (reasonably) be accomplished through a login. If you are
building a website where you do not wish to have visitors logging in,
this is easily swiched off in Mambo.

His wrapup is a little contradictory: Don’t make any assumptions, but
make things simple. He also links back to a previous article where he
criticizes commercial CMS software, and the whole concept of content
management. It just sounds as though regardless of the system
avaliable, this man will not be pleased.

So, if you want to use a reasonably good CMS that’s making significant progress, give Mambo a try (and forgive the name "mambots").

Today, the appliance rental company came by to take away the washer and
dryer my roommate and I have used for the past year. Although I haven’t
packed any boxes yet, it’s slowly beginning to set in that I’m leaving.

After spending a year in Tulsa, I have decided to move on. Although it
is a reasonably nice (and cheap!) place to live, there really isn’t a
whole lot going on here. Overall, the citizens of Tulsa seem to be
content with the status quo. Nobody seems to be willing to change
anything unless it’s absolutely necessary to keep jobs in the area. On
the other hand, Tulsa doesn’t have a multiplicity of local governments,
boroughs, and townships fighting with each other (as frequently seen in
the northeast). I hope this place improves for the people living here,
but I can’t stick around any longer to find out if it does.

After holding out for the longest time, I now have this blog based on Mambo. Recent items from feeds and blogs I track appear to the right, along with a plethora of ways to get a feed for this blog.