Plone - CMS For The Masses

March 3rd, 2003

Plone

I have been searching high and low for a free content managment system/framework. I have played with all of the nuke type CMSes and some built on the Cocoon framework, but none that have I looked at so far have been as good as Plone. I discovered Plone, which is built on top of the Zope application server and Content Management Framework (CMF). I have been thoroughly impressed with its out-of-the-box capability, usability, and most of all extendability.

Installation was a snap, I just downloaded an .EXE file and was using the system within 3 minutes. It installed Zope, Python, and Plone and runs as a service in Windows. There is also an installer for OS X and it is also available for linux and FreeBSD.

I won’t go into great detail, but here are some features of plone:

  • Robust framework that allows you to “plug-in” CMF applications that have already been built.
  • A customizable workflow system. Content editors can create directories and web pages, as well as other content, where they have permissions to do so, and then this content can be submitted for a reviewer’s approval.
  • Built-in role and user based security system that allows you to lock the system down and display personalized content through a single website.
  • Extremely fast and scalable. There are a number of ways to optimize the system for performance.
  • Custom slots (gadgets). For instance, I could create a slot that shows users in the IT department, if there are any network outages. Basically the only limits to this are your imagination and your level of programming skills with Python.
  • Built in RSS. The system allows you to turn on syndication for any directory and you immediately have and RSS feed generated for all the objects in that directory.

I could go on and on about this, but if you are interested in finding out more about Plone, head over to their website. I also recommend taking a look at this presentation of Plone made by the Hawaii State Government.

Posted by Brian Sweeting Filed in Development, e-Government

One Response to “Plone - CMS For The Masses”

  1. Kone Mamadou Says:
    September 21st, 2003 at 7:21 am

    Hi ,

    Yes you are right about Plone, Zope and CMF which I discovered accidentally on the Web. They are really as great as you say. A real wonder that I immediatly recommended to my undergraduate students involved in eCommerce.

    Kone M. T.
    Assistant Professor, Laval University, Quebec, Canada.