Open Source Content Management Systems for SMEs, NGOs and Charities

About Me

Web developer for Forward Press (the largest poetry publisher in the world)

Build majority of site using PHP/MySql

MSc IT concentrating on Web Application development and Open Source CMS

Drupal fan-boy

I own 16 guitars and play in a band

Learning Outcomes

Identifying you specifications

Realization of your specifications

What is a content management system?

Why use content management systems?

What is open source?

Why open source?

Open Source vs Bespoke vs Commercial/Proprietary

Factors in choosing open source content management systems

Challenges Facing SMEs, NGOs and Charities

BudgetWith money being imperative, how much can the business afford on software?

TimeWith a large proportion of part-time/voluntary workers, especially in charity work, or workers having to multi-task/multi-role how can you find the time to develop business systems?

Knowledge/ExperienceWith a small workforce, the experience/knowledge of the staff can be limited, and the prospect of having a full-time developer unrealistic.

The most important question: What do you want to do?

When planning anything it is the most important question, yet regularly overlooked:Analyse why you want a computer system.

What you want to achieve.

Who are your users/audience? Without this information, software has a propensity to drift. You wouldnt build a house without a blueprint. You cant make sensible software decisions without a blueprint.

Never imagine anything is impossible, just difficult to achieve.

Establish your requirements and how important each aspect is, then find a system to suit them! Never the other way round!

Identify your specifications

Look at other sites/competitors, what features do they have you would like

Compare with other software

Be realistic about what you want to achieve, but stay optimistic

Realization of your specifications

Analyse current system. Does it require complete replacement or migration?

Could your business processes be improved (complex, not complicated)

Standardisation

What is content management system?

ContentBroadly means all stuff you have, video, images, text, audio: all content.This also has to include stuff you may create/use in the future.

Management SystemThe organisation of that content. How to present/structure/use to achieve the specifications of the project. Maximise potential applications and usability.

Together, a computerised system to create, edit, publish, manage and search off of your stuff!

Why Content Management Systems?

Purpose is to make it easier for users to create, edit, manage, publish and search their content.

Often take take of a large proportion of:Content structure (information architecture)

Content searching/indexing

User access control/tracking

Much more

What is Open Source Software?

Open source usually refers to software that is released with source code under a license that ensures that derivative works will also be available as source code, protects certain rights of the original authors, and prohibits restrictions on how the software can be used or who can use it.

Open source began as, and for the most part still is, software created by a community of people who are dedicated to working together in a highly collaborative and evolutionary way.

http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php (whatever the OSI says it is?!)

Why Open Source Software?

Modify

Redistribute and improve

Use the software in any way

There is no single entity on which the future of the software depends

OSS vs Bespoke vs Commercial

OSSBespokeCommercial

Reliability (bug free?)Many devs make light workUnknownTested yet closed

Stability / UpgradesOften free / recentPay for / only when required Pay for / scheduled

AuditabilityFully changeable/testableMust largely rely on devBelieve the software

CostFree (potentially license based)Pay up front, pay for upgradesPay up front, pay for upgrades

Flexibility / FreedomOpen to changesClosed systemClosed system

Support / AccountabilityCommunity based, learning involvedPay based on dev teamPay based to supplier / training

Open Source Software

AdvantagesThe software can be very sophisticated as the very large numbers of developers means that a lot of resources can be applied to it's development

Updated and revised, constantly under development

Have active support network

System created with minimal configuration

Open to configuration as you require

DisadvantagesNot necessarily tailored to specific needs

By it's nature it is designed for many different types of users, each of whom will have different requirements

Open Source CMS can be highly complex and will usually include large sections that you will never use

Bespoke Software

AdvantagesTailored to specific needs

Users will usually find it easier and more intuitive to use

It can incorporate business processes that are specific to you not existing in a packaged solution

DisadvantagesNot quick development

Without support contract:No possibility for update/development

Limited product life cycle (it can not develop further than the end product)

Lack of support network

Commercial/Proprietary Software

AdvantagesCompany responsible for maintenance/updates

Developed by professional companies (potentially less likely to fold/stop support of the system

DisadvantagesClosed to bespoke configuration

May include large sections that you are unable to remove change which do not respond as you wish

Cost based either upfront or potentially as SaaS/licence based

Open Source vs Bespoke vs Commercial/Proprietary

Open source software gives you far more flexibility and manageability when resources are limited

Bespoke is likely to be able to be customized to your particular situation, yet, can cost a great deal for both the initial product and ongoing support and maintenance

Commercial/proprietary, ongoing costs for support/product licencing

The Real Analysis

The real analysis is what is best for your requirements and resources budget.

For the majority of small/medium businesses, charities or NGOs the cost of a bespoke systems, with active developers to maintain/upgrade/adjust the software is unobtainable.

Choosing an open source CMS; the Community

Open source is largely dependent on community, therefore the strength of the open source project is normally directly proportional to the skill and size of the contributing community.

The community drives the project forward!

Choosing an open source CMS; Documentation/Code

Open source thrives on the strength/structure of its source code, and the documentation that assist it both for developers and managers.

With so many complex solutions required, how can the open source answer your queries?

Standards based

Choosing your open source CMS; Support

Google (Knows the answer but you must ask the right question. If the answers not the right answer, have you asked the right question?)

Assistance through forums/IRC or traditional learning methods, tuition/books.

Web Based CMS Solutions

Web based solutions offer possibility for more flexible working, part-time, remote

24x7 always on

Less requirement for own IT hardware (use remote services far more cost effective than owning equipment/paying IT support)

No requirement for centralised offices etc

Flexibility

The Big 3; Drupal, Wordpress, Joomla

Top 10,000 global sites

Backend Battles, but uses a larger sample size of 100,000 sites. According to BuiltWith as of July 2010, WordPress is used by 3.09% of websites, and Drupal is used by 1.67%.

Drupal/Wordpress/Joomla

Drupal (http://drupal.org)Configurability over simplicity

Requirement to learn Drupal terms

Wordpress (http://wordpress.com)Good user interface

Lacking an extent of configurability

Joomla (http://joomla.org)Relatively middle ground on both user interface and configurability

Leveraging the Open Source Community

Google (knows the answer)

Understand that although it may be time critical for you, many contributors have other responsibilities/time constraints

Give full and detailed analysis of your problems (not simply it doesnt work, use how, why, Ive tried..., System Details etc)

Be friendly/open (if you are a charity, say it and maybe even mention a bit about your business, the more people know about you, the more likely they are to help.

If you find an answer, think about becoming a contributor yourself, blog, forum etc. Grow the community. Don't be a leech!!

Demonstration Drupal+CiviCRM

My Charity

Accept Payments

Installation and setup in 5 minutes or your money back!

Start the stopwatch!

The future

1989: The future is multi-media

1999: The future is the Web

2009: The future is smart mobile

2019: ??? (App Inventor/All Content Mashable/Social)

The strength of your open-source software can provide solutions into the future

Points to take away!

Always build a system around your requirements

Just because I'm an open source fan-boy doesn't mean it is always the right decision for you

Open source may have a learning curve, but will pay off in the long run

Bespoke/commercial for short term/costly matters

Questions?

will@willhallonline.co.uk

Web: http://www.willhallonline.co.uk

Twitter: @willhallonline

Drupal/Ubercart: willhallonline

My question to you: how could today have been improved?

Thankyou!

27/07/2010

Will Hall BA (Hons), MScWeb Developer/Guitarist