How can open source CMS's meet the particular challenges that running SME's, NGO's or charities involve? Whether you run a small business, non-governmental organisation or charity, the potential for spending hundreds of thousands of pound on software to assist with the running of your business is untenable, however, how far can open-source software (and particularly content management systems) enable your business to evolve, thrive and even surpass your expectations. In my presentation I intend to discuss; what your content is and how to use it to your advantage when running a complex operation with limited resources. The advantages and disadvantages of utilising open source software and how you can leverage the community to gain support and expertise. What the future for open source projects are and how you can ensure your business/organisation/charity can continue its work into Web 3.0
25. What is content management system? Content Broadly 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 System The 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”!
31. 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.
36. There is no single entity on which the future of the software depends
37. OSS vs Bespoke vs Commercial OSS Bespoke Commercial Reliability (bug free?) Many devs make light work Unknown Tested yet closed Stability / Upgrades Often free / recent Pay for / only when required Pay for / scheduled Auditability Fully changeable/testable Must largely rely on dev Believe the software Cost Free (potentially license based) Pay up front, pay for upgrades Pay up front, pay for upgrades Flexibility / Freedom Open to changes Closed system Closed system Support / Accountability Community based, learning involved Pay based on dev team Pay based to supplier / training
56. 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
58. 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.
59. 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!
60.
61. With so many complex solutions required, how can the open source answer your queries?
71. 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%.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76. Understand that although it may be time critical for you, many contributors have other responsibilities/time constraints
77. Give full and detailed analysis of your problems (not simply “it doesn’t work”, use “how”, “why”, “I’ve tried...”, System Details etc)
78. 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.
79. If you find an answer, think about becoming a contributor yourself, blog, forum etc. Grow the community. Don't be a leech!!