TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
I agree with others that doing a roll-your-own website would be an
exercise in wheel reinvention--and the result is unlikely to be as
good as with one of the solutions existing already.
Among the various potential solutions presented, WordPress would
probably be the easiest from the standpoint of both site creation and
administration.
At present, you'd probably want to use WordPressMU (for "multi user"),
since it is designed for multiple blogs from the get-go. When version
3.0 is released within the next few months, the distinction between
WordPress and WordPress MU will cease to exist--the multi-user
features are being folded into the single product.
You can also incorporate forums and social networking features, and
there are several thousand plug-ins to add functionality if you wish
to use any of them. You simply don't have to reinvent the wheel.
It is also somewhat easier to set up and administer than are most
other alternanatives such as Drupal.
Depending upon the theme you select, too, it can look like just about
anything you wish--there are magazine format themes, for instance, in
which blogs would "live" in subdirectories. There are also some
incredibly flexible themes, both free and (usually) low cost to make
life easier.
Finally, WordPress is so popular that there are extensive resources
for learning and sharing, making your job that much simpler when and
if you run into any problems or questions.
David
> From: Rob Hudson <caveatrob -at- gmail -dot- com>
> To: techwr-l List <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:11:11 -0400
> Subject: CMS? Web site? WordPress?
> Hello Everyone,
>
> I'm putting together a plan for a small organization to create a
> public-facing website that includes things like event calendars, content
> sections that only particular people can update, blogs, pictures from
> events, etc. Someone told me I should use a CMS; another person said
> "WordPress." Yet another said "custom website."
>
> What is the best option? I just want people to be able to update their own
> areas and to be able to have a nice design/skin. The site, btw, is
> www.dutchlandrollers.com.
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Bill Swallow <techcommdood -at- gmail -dot- com>
> To: Rob Hudson <caveatrob -at- gmail -dot- com>
> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:18:09 -0400
> Subject: Re: CMS? Web site? WordPress?
>> I'm putting together a plan for a small organization to create a
>> public-facing website that includes things like event calendars, content
>> sections that only particular people can update, blogs, pictures from
>> events, etc. Someone told me I should use a CMS; another person said
>> "WordPress." Yet another said "custom website."
>>
>> What is the best option? I just want people to be able to update their own
>> areas and to be able to have a nice design/skin. The site, btw, is
>> www.dutchlandrollers.com.
>
> In this day and age, and for what you're looking for, a custom static
> web site is a bad idea.
>
> WordPress is a CMS. :) It's just one that was initially designed to be
> a blog, and with Themes and Plugins you can make it into any kind of
> site you want. I use it for my site http://techcommdood.com.
>
> Another option you should look into is Plone. It does everything I
> think you're looking to be able to do, and is fairly easy to customize
> with regard to custom themes. I've used it for a global internal
> newsletter site complete with calendar and such and had multiple
> authors with multiple permissions.
>
> Others will suggest Drupal or another open source CMS, but many of the
> open source CMS vendors mutually agree (at least they did at Gilbane
> Boston this past December) that they all can do what the others can,
> and it really comes down to personal preference with regard to back
> end implementation details.
>
> --
> Bill Swallow
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Use Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word, or HTML and
produce desktop, Web, or print deliverables. Just write (or import)
and Doc-To-Help does the rest. Free trial: http://www.doctohelp.com
Explore CAREER options and paths related to Technical Writing,
learn to create SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS documents, and
get tips on FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATION best practices. Free at: http://www.ModernAnalyst.com
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
