Tiki 5.1 Now Available
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The Tiki Community Software Association is proud to announce the 5.1 release of Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware. This latest release includes many fixes, tweaks, and updates, including several new and improved features:
- * Improved compatibility for Microsoft Windows and IIS
- * Fixed the Since Last Visit module
- * Better support for UTF-8
- Review the Tiki 5.1 Release Notes () and change log for complete information.
More than a dozen members of the Tiki Community have contributed over 140 updates to this release. All Tiki admins are encouraged to upgrade their sites to this latest release. See for information on how to download this release.
Tiki 6 on the Horizon
Meanwhile, Tiki developers are hard at work on Tiki 6: the next generation of Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware. The Tiki Community made great strides forward during the recent TikiFest in Barcelona. Early adopters can obtain the pre-release Tiki 6 from for testing or to explore the new features in Tiki 6.
For details on Tiki 6, planned for release in October 2010, see . Tiki 6 will succeed Tiki 3 as the Long Term Support (LTS) version.
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Mailbag: Nuxeo EP and DM 5.3.2 released
This past weekend, I returned from a two week camping vacation in the mountains of Colorado. During those two weeks of little Internet connection…a lot of good content management stories came my way via email but were not posted here at CMS Report. I’ve decided to go through my mailbag this week and post some of the better stories that were missed in my absence.
A couple weeks ago, sent us an email regarding the release of EP and DM 5.3.2, an ECM Platform and Document Management application. Stefane writes:
I’m very happy to announce that we have released Nuxeo EP and DM 5.3.2 today.
The release notes are here:
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this release, which I believe is the strongest we’ve done so far, and also the one that took the less effort to create thanks to the build and QA process we’ve put in place in the last year.
We have other new releases coming up in the following days: Nuxeo DAM 1.1 and Nuxeo CMF, and the next release of Nuxeo DM will be Nuxeo DM 5.4, scheduled around October this year.
Remember also that we have the Nuxeo World conference in November:
Meanwhile, I hope you will enjoy using Nuxeo DM 5.3.2. We’ve upgraded our intranet to use this version (over 5.3.1) in the final days of testing the new release, and I can tell you it is noticeably snappier and overall more pleasant to use than the 5.3.1.
You can find additional details of this new version of Nuxeo on Stefane’s . I’ve also embedded a on what’s new in Nuxeo DM 5.3 below.
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Web Design Tutorial – How to install Wordpress
Nick and James from Creare demonstrate a basic Wordpress 2.8 installation and highlight some important features to take advantage of when installing. This website design tutorial is intended for people who are new to Wordpress.
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Administrative Mistakes within a Content Management Systems
Content management systems are excellent pieces of software that perform many tasks. The most important are proper storage of content and retrieval of files in an efficient and timely manner. Blogs and personal and corporate sites all utilize this software for a relief of resources. Content management systems are fairly easy to use resulting in their huge popularity.
Due to the massive amount of information found within a content management system, they are a prime target for malicious attackers. There are five primary mistakes that administrators make within a content management system. These include:
- Password issues
- Poor web hosting
- Insecure plugins
- Liberal user privileges
- Lack of installed patches
One of the most common admin mistakes is using easy or blank passwords. Hackers specifically look for passwords that are easy to crack. Default passwords that came with the installation are simple to crack. To combat this simply change the password immediately following installation.
The second major mistake is utilizing a poor, insecure web host. Hackers look for vulnerabilities within the software as well as the operating system. This creates an easy entrance for them. Unfortunately the issue lies with the web hosting provider and not the admin so there’s little you can do if this occurs. The best method of avoidance is to take preventative measures like conducting proper research prior to selection a provider.
The third mistake is installing insecure plugins. Since most content management systems rely heavily on plugins, they are a huge security risk. To ensure this does not become a problem, find out if the plugin has been thoroughly tested prior to release. Also, remove plugins that are known to have security holes and risks.
The fourth mistake is granting liberal privileges to users. Many users will abuse their privileges and hack internally. The rule is to give users the least amount of privileges possible in order to use the website.
The final mistake is that admins don’t stay current with their upgrades and patches. These were created to patch a security hole. As soon as one is release, it’s advantageous to download and apply it. It’s not necessary to install several patches per day. Instead, be aware of critical updates that may come your way.
Many of these solutions are common sense. Simply take your time and be aware of any potential issues that may occur. Using preventative measures to ensure the content management system is robust will be beneficial in the long run.
XOOPS 2.4.5 Final Released
After over 40,000 downloads of its previous version in just over five short months, the XOOPS Project, one of world’s leading Open Source CMS, has released a new version of its award winning software – .
This release is mainly for bugfixes and cleaning up conflicts in previous versions of the XOOPS 2.4 series. Some areas, including tinyMCE/ckeditor editors, have been improved.
The main features of the 2.4 series are:
- new user friendly Admin GUI
- new mechanism to modularize and extend Core via Preloads
- central support for jQuery
- improved Installer
- Themeable Admininstration area
- support for WYSIWYG Editors: CKEditor, wymeditor, Xinha, and Spaw2
- new System License Key
- Support to PHP 5.3
System requirements
Any PHP version >= 4.3 (PHP 4.2.x may work but is not officially supported, PHP 5.0+ is strongly recommended) MySQL server 3.23+ (MySQL 5.0+ is strongly recommended) Web server: Any server supporting the required PHP version (Apache highly recommended)
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Choosing The Right Content Management System
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Building and maintaining a web site is a lot of work; one of the tools that can make it significantly easier is a dedicated content management system.
In a nutshell, a content management system is a set of server side utilities that let you manage your site’s cascading style sheets in an easy to use, centralized interface.
More sophisticated content management systems include the ability to upload content, allow visitor creation of contents, and even manage libraries of graphics, affiliate program links and more.
While there is a technical layer to using a content management system, the essence of one is that you can buy something “off the shelf” to get your web site up and running rather than paying for a custom developer to write one for you.
Your need for a content management system will grow as the number of pages (or linked sites) you run increases.
The most common installation strategy for a content management system is when upgrading an existing web site to be more interactive, most often when the client is asking you to replace a sporadically updated company web site with blog-style software.
If you’re maintaining web sites for clients, the point of a content management system is that now your client can do the mind numbingly tedious bits of posting new content; it no longer comes to your inbox to be sorted, formatted and posted, when those operations can take longer for the applications to load than it does to do the operation in question.
If you’re maintaining your own web site, a content management system does you more good the more you intend to update a site. Lots of sites are still holding to the 1996 model of company web sites four pages that never ever change.
The key to getting good traffic (and good responses) on your web site is all about fresh, regularly updated content, and the content management system makes that easier for you to do less overhead and less work, and more time spent doing the kinds of things you went into business to do.
Choosing the right content management system means looking at what you intend to do with your web site. In a nutshell, your choices come down to the following:
Hire someone to write one for you. This can get expensive, fast. If all you’re looking for is a front page blog, avoid this one WordPress or Movable Type do it better and are free.
If you’re looking for something more specific, like on site whiteboards or version tracking of submitted articles, or deadline management for freelance contributors, then a custom content management system is worth looking into.
Buy (or license) a commercial package. If you’re doing enterprise grade IT work, a commercial package with support might be your best bet.
If you’re running your own business, there are good odds that your hosting provider provides a couple of content management packages that you can use.
Install an open source package. These have the advantage of the right price (free), but may require more technical expertise to set up and run.
If you’re running on a hosting server with shared hosting environments, you may have to get your hosting provider to install it and set it up for you.
With this knowledge in hand, choosing the right content management system should be a straightforward decision.
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Content Management Systems and The Importance of Plugins
Content management systems assist you in the creation and maintenance of web sites even if you have very little previous training. Operating a content management system is about as elementary as managing the Windows OS, so if you’re self-assured in your ability to deal with your OS, then you should be skilled enough to construct and maintain your online business correctly utilizing a website CMS.
There are numerous CMS for sale in the internet marketplace at the moment, a handful of which are free. Even though each content management system offers you lots of the same features, there are some particularly notable dissimilarities between each CMS. The most obvious differences are typically found within the graphical GUI, in which most of your site’s administrative tasks can be executed. Ordinarily speaking, just about all site CMS try to provide a simplistic interface, as this tends to make the software a bit more convenient.
What Makes a Quality Content Management System?
The full value of a content management system cannot be seen in it’s root capacities, but somewhat in the ability to interact with plugins to enrich functionality. Without these addons most Content Management Systems would be essentially pointless when attempting to perform more innovative tasks. Aside from their compatibility with plugins, a quality Content management system ought to be effortless to use, as it is the interface you will be working with to control your web pages on a scheduled basis.
What Exactly Do Plugins Do?
In basic terms, plugins let you expand the functionality of the CMS without the need for extra expensive software or programming skills. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of plugins available that can assist you in nearly every aspect of site management and improvement. Most plugins are free, and can be found by using the search function within the CMS itself. For example, WordPress provides an installation/search module that lets you find and install plugins within one fell swoop. Plugins can do everything from help you organize your site, to improve your search engine ranking. If you’re not currently utilizing plugins within your content management system then you are not receiving the full benefit of your CMS.
Can I Create My Own Plugins?
The reason why so many plugins exist is because people are creating new ones on a daily basis. You can create your own plugins, however, you would need some PHP programming experience. You could also hire a programmer to make the plugin for you, using a freelancing sites. There are plenty of skilled programmers that are struggling to make a living and would love to help yo with your project for a very nominal fee. If you find that there is a task you would like to automate or improve within your CMS, first try doing a plugin search, as most tasks can be executed using plugins that have already been created. However if you find you need a plugin that is completely unique, then you could easily contract the help of several programmers simultaneously to expedite the plugin development process.
CMS Builder – Constructing Your Own Content Management System
Content management systems are perhaps one of the most important software options available that help you build and maintain websites. With a god CMS you’ll be able to develop, upload, and organize your content within a streamlined interface that allows for complete control over all user activity. Content management systems help you effectively manage your work force by letting you set permissions for each of the system’s users, thus giving you the ability to outsource the development and organization on your entire site with ease. However each content management system has a different user interface, with various modules that are assigned to specific task sets within the software.
In some cases the CMS may not accommodate all of your site’s needs, in which case you’ll either have to hire a programmer to amend the coding of the CMS or purchase another CMS. However there is another option that will give you full control over the user interface and administrative functions of your control panel.
Using CMS Builder to Personally Build a Custom CMS
CMS builder is a software that lets you customize nearly every aspect of your site’s backend interface, the area of the site that you’ll be using to build and operate your online business. With this software you can quickly and easily change the design of your site using templates that are created to be compatible with a variety of theme formats such as Joomla and WordPress, and you can even choose which kind of theme template you would prefer during the construction of your website. Using the integrated design features within the software you can change the look and feel of every module within your site’s control panel, without having any advanced coding knowledge or experience.
Reselling Your CMS Creations
Perhaps the most appealing aspect of the CMS builder software is that you an resell the CMS that you create with it, giving you the opportunity to brand your web hosting or other online services company by offering a custom CMS to each client. You can even upload a custom logo into the CMS which will give the user an even more authentic experience. If you specialize in client-based online industries such as site development, then you’ll definitely want to consider offering a custom CMS solution to each of your customers.
Reselling CMS Builder
You can also resell the CMS builder software itself, which can produce a hefty amount of affiliate commissions if done correctly. Perhaps the best way to sell the software is through instructional sites that teach web design to prospective web designers. Many new web designers do not have the patience or skill to design a custom CMS themselves, and would quickly pay for a solution that could help them do so without the time or effort needed to create a CMS manually. If you have a technical blog with following of new web designers you can easily see a few conversions each week promoting this software.
Gutensite: A Free CMS
Gutensite is a fairly new and unique content management system that’s free, but can be extended to unlock additional features for a small price. The design of the system and the design choices within their library are what makes this a distinctive system. Also, it’s an extremely easy to use system that offers extensibility as well as specialized modules for different functions.
This content management system is considered by many to be the best free online system available. For additional add-ons, users can pay for individual features including:
- E-commerce store
- Gutenshare intranet
- Live MLS feed
- Donations
- SendStudio email marketing
The e-commerce store includes every resource needed to conduct business online. Product organization, advanced checkout filters, product details, coupons and custom filers are a few of the many features available. Both physical and digital products can be sold with instant downloads, memberships and registrations at the click of a button.
The Gutenshare intranet is a secure site that helps users manage employee information, administer and track products, share files, report employee hours, generate reports and organize client accounts. This is an all-in-one system to help ecommerce companies remain organized.
A live MLS feed is an attractive option for realtors that are members of various MLS organizations. This feed streams MLS information directly onto a website. It’s customizable to filter different types of data to different web pages, displaying photos and formatting the page display.
Another helpful feature is the addition of donations area. Although this is a free option for non-profit packages, an upgrade is available for business and individual sites. Included in the price is an IP address as well as an SSL certificate to ensure full security to its users and present a more reputable business.
Finally SendStudio email marketing is software that links directly to the website to send newsletters to its users and secure subscriptions. This is an additional feature that allows for customization. Furthermore, this application tracks campaigns, creates reports and statistics and manages multiple subscriptions.
Gutensite is an advanced yet inexpensive content management system that provides numerous features to suit the needs of every type of organization. The free edition is jam-packed with elements that are a necessity to business. Upgrades are available that provide further customization to the site. Gutensite is proving to be the best free online content management system available to date.
Content Management Systems and Site Design
Content management systems are the root of the success behind almost all major websites. Without a good CMS most sites would cease to exist, as many site owners simply don’t have the skills necessary to design a site without the help of a friendly template-based user interface. With content management systems complete novices have been able to make incredible looking websites in just a few minutes time. In previous years this was not possible unless you had advanced site design skills. The secret behind the convenience of content management systems is the amount of themes that are readily available, which are complete designs that can be uploaded and activated instantly.
Theme Selection
There are a variety of content management systems available on the market today, including but not limited to Wordpress, Joomla, and Drupal. Since the popularity of each content management system varies, there are a different amount of themes available for each one. WordPress is by far the most popular out of all mainstream content management systems, so there are many more themes available for WordPress. You can find cheap and high quality themes for WordPress on sites like Theme Forest and Dream Templates, however there are also sites that offer WordPress themes for free.
Uploading the Theme
Once you’ve found a theme for your content management system you can easily upload it and activate it. In the WordPress interface this can be done within the “Themes” section of the Appearance module on the left side. Simply click on the “add new” button and then click the upload option. After uploading the theme you’ll be able to activate it, at which point it will become visible on your site. The best part about a WordPress theme is that it can be changed without the content of the site being deleted. Therefore, if you ever decide to change the design you can keep all of the pages, categories and articles that are currently on your site.
How Themes Work
Many people fail to understand how the design of an entire site can change without changing the content of the site. This is because the site’s content and the site’s design are kept in different MySQL databases. A theme is a basically a collection of HTML pages that are brought together using PHP, and the design of each HTML page is modified with CSS coding. The colors and placement of every element in the theme can be changed by simply editing a few snippets of code in the style.css sheet of each theme.
Conclusion
While most people are convinced that site design is reserved for those with web development experience, there are options available for people with no technical knowledge at all. WordPress provides a venue that novice webmasters can use to get a site setup and operating with no special skills or monetary investment. If you’ve been struggling to learn HTML just to put up the simplest site then you should know that all of your problems could be solved with a simple WordPress theme.
