I will, but your description doesn't sound like a glowing endorsement. However, as I said in my previous post, I'm asking here and looking for guidance on windows based applications, as generally these tend to be more familiar to people, and in the case of my authors, familiarity is key. Time to market is very important, so if a basic editor can be deployed instead of a full CMS solution where learning curves exist for both the authors AND me, so much the better.
So, does anyone have any advice to offer on windows based applications that can: a) working along side Visual Studio, i.e. understand master pages b) allow for access control via Active Directory c) include publishing workflows thanks Kevin On Jul 27, 10:41 am, jason white <[email protected]> wrote: > take a look at KooBoo, it seems to be a very promising CMS built on top of > .NET using MVC. > > On Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 7:22 AM, Kevin Blount <[email protected]>wrote: > > > CMS's tend to contain more features than we need. We already have a > > social networking site, using a 3rd party product, so we wouldn't want/ > > need to pay for a product that includes this concept, especially as > > the social networking site we have it very recent, having only been > > implemented within the last 6 months. > > > Most CMS's seem to. All I want is a tool that let's my authors create > > web pages - plain and simple. I am looking at CMS, in the hopes that > > there is a simple one out there, but I am still asking for help and > > advice with a windows based application, to see if anyone has either a > > preference between Expression Web and Visual Developer Express, or if > > there is another one out there, that's fully .NET compliant, yet > > simple enough for non-developers to use without getting overwhelmed. > > > Thank you. > > > On Jul 17, 7:50 am, Cerebrus <[email protected]> wrote: > > > It sounds like what you're looking for is a Web CMS. > > > > More info at Wikipedia: > >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_content_management_system > > > > List of Web CMS: > >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_content_management_systems > > > > On Jul 17, 12:45 am, Kevin Blount <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Back in '06 I wrote a .NET based website for my company using > > > > Dreamweaver and Contribute (not the faint of heart). Now that I have > > > > more control over a potential re-write, I'm looking to tell my company > > > > that I'm using Visual Studio ONLY (for my development work), but I > > > > need a good, simple tool that my content authors can use to add and > > > > update pages on the site. These authors are marketing people, mostly, > > > > and not web developers, so the tool needs to be as basic as possible, > > > > and Contribute was great for that. > > > > > Ideally, I would be re-writing the site with the following in mind: > > > > > - Master Pages - I'm done with Dreamweaver templates. We have approx > > > > 20 templates, and each time they are updated I have to sync 3500 .aspx > > > > files, check them out, update them and finally re-upload them - takes > > > > about 15hrs usually. So, whatever tool I use for authors has to > > > > understand Master Pages. > > > > > - Web Application - I like the idea of writing a web application, > > > > rather than a website. For me the ability to 'hide' my C# code, test > > > > fully before deploying (local debug) and not be editing files that are > > > > on the live/production web server. > > > > > So, now all I need to a tool that my content authors can use, that > > > > will allow me to do the item above, but will also have the following > > > > features: > > > > > - Access control & Roles - With Contribute Publishing Server (which > > > > Contribute connects to) I can define who in my company can access the > > > > website to edit it, by integrating with Active Directory. I can also > > > > assign these lucky few to Roles within Contribute, and specify where > > > > they are able to create/edit pages, control the styles they are able > > > > to use, and various other "Go nuts... you can't break anything" type > > > > features. > > > > > - Publishing workflow - Again, with Contribute I can specify which > > > > Roles can publish files to the live website, and which cannot. Those > > > > that cannot must submit their new or updated page(s) for approval, and > > > > the Role that does the approval can then publish the page(s). > > > > Finally, I would prefer the tool to be as dummy proof as possible. > > > > Contribute (I know, I keep talking about it.. if only it > > > > supported .NET) is a simple tool, and didn't give much chance for my > > > > authors to mess anything up! > > > > > I've been looking at both Visual Web Developer 2010 Express and > > > > Microsoft Expression Web 4, and both still seem a little 'technical' > > > > for my marketeers. One feature in Expression Web that set of huge > > > > alarm bells was the ability to "Detach from Master Page" - I could > > > > just imagine my authors doing that and saving the document having > > > > removed all kinds of registered controls and styles. *shudder* > > > > > So, any advice? What tool would you want to give to your non-developer > > > > colleagues so that they would add words (ok, and maybe pictures too.. > > > > sheesh) to a complete site?
