https://uuism.net/uuwiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=JoyceD&feedformat=atomUUWiki - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T21:45:53ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.35.0https://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=List_of_UU_blogs&diff=8944List of UU blogs2012-06-06T20:59:09Z<p>JoyceD: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Resource Sites'''<br />
<br />
*[http://uupdates.net UUpdates] - News aggregator for syndicated Unitarian Universalist web sites, listing more than 250 UU blogs<br />
*[http://www.philocrites.com/archives/000587.html Philocrites' Guide to UU Blogs] - an annotated list hosted by blogger Philocrites<br />
*[http://www.uua.org/socialmedia/blogs/ UUA advice about blogs]<br />
*[http://www.uua.org/socialmedia/blogs/144974.shtml UUA blogs] at blogs.uua.org<br />
*[https://www.facebook.com/groups/uubloggers/ UU Blogger Lab on Facebook]<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
'''Individual Sites'''<br />
<br />
*[http://www.aestheticdepth.blogspot.com Aesthetic Depth] Unitarian Universalist liberal faith infused with a healthy dose of irony. <br />
*[http://jesspages.net/bestofuu/ Best of UU] - the Good News of Unitarian Universalism, three times a week.<br />
*[http://homepage.mac.com/kimjacobs/BlueUU BlueUU] - How a Unitarian Universalist lives her religious beliefs<br />
*[http://www.errantfrogs.net/ bytes of grass] - Rev. Bret Lortie<br />
*[http://callingministers.blogspot.com/ Calling Ministers] - Examining & Interviewing for UU Ministry<br />
*[http://celestiallands.org/ Celestial Lands] - Unitarian Universalist Liberal Faith blog, journal, and library.<br />
*[http://chalicechick.blogspot.com/ The ChaliceBlog]<br />
*[http://www.coffeehour.org/ Coffee Hour] - "Where Unitarian Universalist bloggers mix it up."<br />
*[http://cabaretic.blogspot.com/ Comrade Kevin's Chrestomathy]- Another Damn Stupid Liberal Blog. <br />
*[http://www.wizdum.net/confessions/ Confessions of an Evangelical UU]- Reflections on theology, society, how the heck did I get here and where are we going? <br />
*[http://www.crankycindy.blogspot.com Cranky Cindy Changes the World].<br />
*[http://www.donaldwilson.info/uu/ Donald O'Bloggin ] - A weblog by Donald Wilson, focusing on Young Adult affairs, technology, and UU systems interaction<br />
*[http://fuuse.com/ FUUSE - The Voice of the RevolUUtion ] - The Media Community of Unitarian Universalist Youth and Young Adults<br />
*[http://happycindy.blogspot.com Happy Cindy Changes the World].<br />
*[http://unitaren.blogspot.com/ History of Unitarianism in Norway (and link to Nordic Unitarian history)]<br />
*[http://www.uusc.org/blog/hotwire.html Hotwire] - "The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee weblog, detailing human rights issues."<br />
*[http://uuawo.blogspot.com/ Inspired Faith, Effective Action]--The Blogs of the UUA Washington Office for Advocacy<br />
*[http://iChalice.blogspot.com/ iChalice] - the blog of a Meadville-Lombard seminarian, Scott McNeill. Podcasting to start in June.<br />
*[http://imperfectgenius.homeschooljournal.net Imperfect Genius] - "Redefining brilliance one day at a time." Personal reflections and random musings on life as an eclectic family of UUs.<br />
*[http://www.infidelityblog.org/ Infidelity] - "Reflecting on the intersection between atheism and Unitarian Universalism"<br />
*[http://jesspages.net/jessjournal Jess's Journal] - "Musings, daily goings-on, occasional rants from a UU singer, seminary wife, and mom of 2"<br />
*[http://liberalfaith.blogspot.com/ Liberal Faith Development] - "commentary on Unitarian Universalist faith development in congregations and the wider liberal religious community"<br />
*[http://www.lookingforfaith.org/ Looking for Faith] - "Are you seeking a fresh start in your spiritual journey? Visit Looking for Faith."<br />
*[http://revricky.blogspot.com/ One More Step] - the blog associated with RevRicky.com Your Online Spiritual Community <br />
*[http://justworld.typepad.com/perspectives/ A People so Bold!] "Religious commentary with a liberationist twist."<br />
*[http://www.philocrites.com/ Philocrites] - "Commentary on liberal religion and politics"<br />
*[http://www.promisethechildrenuu.org/blog/ Promise the Children] - Resources for UU's to advocate for and with children and youth.<br />
*[http://natewalker.blogspot.com/ Nate Walker's Ministerial blog] - "With you on my mind and in my heart, i mold our dreams into the shape of my most private need; i sculpt them into the image of my most public self."<br />
*[http://radicalhapa.typepad.com/my_weblog/ Radical Hapa] - Unitarian Universalist Hapa Social Justice<br />
*[http://www.returningblog.com/ Returning. . . ] - "UU minister writing about religion, culture, and whatever amuses me."<br />
*[http://revoluutions.blogspot.com/ (r)evolUUtions] a UU who is also an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps<br />
*[http://rootandsource.blogspot.com/ Root and Source]<br />
*[http://ruaiuuchurch.org/ Ruai/Tasia Unitarian Universalist Church] - site and blog of congregation in Kenya - let's connect to a larger world<br />
*[http://www.sunoida.org/blog/ Share The Knowledge: Evangelism for Liberal Religion]<br />
*[http://www.talkhumanism.com/ Talk: Humanism] - "A collaborative blogging community for religious humanists."<br />
*[http://transientandpermanent.blogspot.com/ Transient and Permanent] - "Reflections on Unitarian-Universalism"<br />
*[http://www.wizdum.net/moments/ Unexpected Moments of Grace]- Recognizing the work of the Spirit in the day to day.<br />
*[http://uu-mom.livejournal.com/ UU Mom] - Lifelong UU spreading the word</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=List_of_UU_blogs&diff=8943List of UU blogs2012-06-06T20:57:27Z<p>JoyceD: added Blogger lab</p>
<hr />
<div>'''Resource Sites'''<br />
<br />
*[http://uupdates.net UUpdates] - News aggregator for syndicated Unitarian Universalist web sites, listing more than 250 UU blogs<br />
*[http://www.philocrites.com/archives/000587.html Philocrites' Guide to UU Blogs] - an annotated list hosted by blogger Philocrites<br />
*[http://www.uua.org/socialmedia/blogs/ UUA advice about blogs]<br />
*[http://www.uua.org/socialmedia/blogs/144974.shtml UUA blogs] at blogs.uua.org<br />
*[https://www.facebook.com/groups/uubloggers/ UU Blogger Lab on Facebook]<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
'''Individual Sites'''<br />
<br />
*[http://www.aestheticdepth.blogspot.com Aesthetic Depth] Unitarian Universalist liberal faith infused with a healthy dose of irony. <br />
*[http://jesspages.net/bestofuu Best of UU] - the Good News of Unitarian Universalism, three times a week.<br />
*[http://homepage.mac.com/kimjacobs/BlueUU BlueUU] - How a Unitarian Universalist lives her religious beliefs<br />
*[http://www.errantfrogs.net/ bytes of grass] - Rev. Bret Lortie<br />
*[http://callingministers.blogspot.com/ Calling Ministers] - Examining & Interviewing for UU Ministry<br />
*[http://celestiallands.org/ Celestial Lands] - Unitarian Universalist Liberal Faith blog, journal, and library.<br />
*[http://chalicechick.blogspot.com/ The ChaliceBlog]<br />
*[http://www.coffeehour.org/ Coffee Hour] - "Where Unitarian Universalist bloggers mix it up."<br />
*[http://cabaretic.blogspot.com/ Comrade Kevin's Chrestomathy]- Another Damn Stupid Liberal Blog. <br />
*[http://www.wizdum.net/confessions/ Confessions of an Evangelical UU]- Reflections on theology, society, how the heck did I get here and where are we going? <br />
*[http://www.crankycindy.blogspot.com Cranky Cindy Changes the World].<br />
*[http://www.donaldwilson.info/uu/ Donald O'Bloggin ] - A weblog by Donald Wilson, focusing on Young Adult affairs, technology, and UU systems interaction<br />
*[http://fuuse.com/ FUUSE - The Voice of the RevolUUtion ] - The Media Community of Unitarian Universalist Youth and Young Adults<br />
*[http://happycindy.blogspot.com Happy Cindy Changes the World].<br />
*[http://unitaren.blogspot.com/ History of Unitarianism in Norway (and link to Nordic Unitarian history)]<br />
*[http://www.uusc.org/blog/hotwire.html Hotwire] - "The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee weblog, detailing human rights issues."<br />
*[http://uuawo.blogspot.com/ Inspired Faith, Effective Action]--The Blogs of the UUA Washington Office for Advocacy<br />
*[http://iChalice.blogspot.com/ iChalice] - the blog of a Meadville-Lombard seminarian, Scott McNeill. Podcasting to start in June.<br />
*[http://imperfectgenius.homeschooljournal.net Imperfect Genius] - "Redefining brilliance one day at a time." Personal reflections and random musings on life as an eclectic family of UUs.<br />
*[http://www.infidelityblog.org/ Infidelity] - "Reflecting on the intersection between atheism and Unitarian Universalism"<br />
*[http://jesspages.net/jessjournal Jess's Journal] - "Musings, daily goings-on, occasional rants from a UU singer, seminary wife, and mom of 2"<br />
*[http://liberalfaith.blogspot.com/ Liberal Faith Development] - "commentary on Unitarian Universalist faith development in congregations and the wider liberal religious community"<br />
*[http://www.lookingforfaith.org/ Looking for Faith] - "Are you seeking a fresh start in your spiritual journey? Visit Looking for Faith."<br />
*[http://revricky.blogspot.com/ One More Step] - the blog associated with RevRicky.com Your Online Spiritual Community <br />
*[http://justworld.typepad.com/perspectives/ A People so Bold!] "Religious commentary with a liberationist twist."<br />
*[http://www.philocrites.com/ Philocrites] - "Commentary on liberal religion and politics"<br />
*[http://www.promisethechildrenuu.org/blog/ Promise the Children] - Resources for UU's to advocate for and with children and youth.<br />
*[http://natewalker.blogspot.com/ Nate Walker's Ministerial blog] - "With you on my mind and in my heart, i mold our dreams into the shape of my most private need; i sculpt them into the image of my most public self."<br />
*[http://radicalhapa.typepad.com/my_weblog/ Radical Hapa] - Unitarian Universalist Hapa Social Justice<br />
*[http://www.returningblog.com/ Returning. . . ] - "UU minister writing about religion, culture, and whatever amuses me."<br />
*[http://revoluutions.blogspot.com/ (r)evolUUtions] a UU who is also an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps<br />
*[http://rootandsource.blogspot.com/ Root and Source]<br />
*[http://ruaiuuchurch.org/ Ruai/Tasia Unitarian Universalist Church] - site and blog of congregation in Kenya - let's connect to a larger world<br />
*[http://www.sunoida.org/blog/ Share The Knowledge: Evangelism for Liberal Religion]<br />
*[http://www.talkhumanism.com/ Talk: Humanism] - "A collaborative blogging community for religious humanists."<br />
*[http://transientandpermanent.blogspot.com/ Transient and Permanent] - "Reflections on Unitarian-Universalism"<br />
*[http://www.wizdum.net/moments/ Unexpected Moments of Grace]- Recognizing the work of the Spirit in the day to day.<br />
*[http://uu-mom.livejournal.com/ UU Mom] - Lifelong UU spreading the word</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=List_of_UU_blogs&diff=8942List of UU blogs2012-06-06T19:24:16Z<p>JoyceD: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Resource Sites'''<br />
<br />
*[http://uupdates.net UUpdates] - News aggregator for syndicated Unitarian Universalist web sites, listing more than 250 UU blogs<br />
*[http://www.philocrites.com/archives/000587.html Philocrites' Guide to UU Blogs] - an annotated list hosted by blogger Philocrites<br />
*[http://www.uua.org/socialmedia/blogs/ UUA advice about blogs]<br />
*[http://www.uua.org/socialmedia/blogs/144974.shtml UUA blogs] at blogs.uua.org<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
'''Individual Sites'''<br />
<br />
*[http://www.aestheticdepth.blogspot.com Aesthetic Depth] Unitarian Universalist liberal faith infused with a healthy dose of irony. <br />
*[http://jesspages.net/bestofuu Best of UU] - the Good News of Unitarian Universalism, three times a week.<br />
*[http://homepage.mac.com/kimjacobs/BlueUU BlueUU] - How a Unitarian Universalist lives her religious beliefs<br />
*[http://www.errantfrogs.net/ bytes of grass] - Rev. Bret Lortie<br />
*[http://callingministers.blogspot.com/ Calling Ministers] - Examining & Interviewing for UU Ministry<br />
*[http://celestiallands.org/ Celestial Lands] - Unitarian Universalist Liberal Faith blog, journal, and library.<br />
*[http://chalicechick.blogspot.com/ The ChaliceBlog]<br />
*[http://www.coffeehour.org/ Coffee Hour] - "Where Unitarian Universalist bloggers mix it up."<br />
*[http://cabaretic.blogspot.com/ Comrade Kevin's Chrestomathy]- Another Damn Stupid Liberal Blog. <br />
*[http://www.wizdum.net/confessions/ Confessions of an Evangelical UU]- Reflections on theology, society, how the heck did I get here and where are we going? <br />
*[http://www.crankycindy.blogspot.com Cranky Cindy Changes the World].<br />
*[http://www.donaldwilson.info/uu/ Donald O'Bloggin ] - A weblog by Donald Wilson, focusing on Young Adult affairs, technology, and UU systems interaction<br />
*[http://fuuse.com/ FUUSE - The Voice of the RevolUUtion ] - The Media Community of Unitarian Universalist Youth and Young Adults<br />
*[http://happycindy.blogspot.com Happy Cindy Changes the World].<br />
*[http://unitaren.blogspot.com/ History of Unitarianism in Norway (and link to Nordic Unitarian history)]<br />
*[http://www.uusc.org/blog/hotwire.html Hotwire] - "The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee weblog, detailing human rights issues."<br />
*[http://uuawo.blogspot.com/ Inspired Faith, Effective Action]--The Blogs of the UUA Washington Office for Advocacy<br />
*[http://iChalice.blogspot.com/ iChalice] - the blog of a Meadville-Lombard seminarian, Scott McNeill. Podcasting to start in June.<br />
*[http://imperfectgenius.homeschooljournal.net Imperfect Genius] - "Redefining brilliance one day at a time." Personal reflections and random musings on life as an eclectic family of UUs.<br />
*[http://www.infidelityblog.org/ Infidelity] - "Reflecting on the intersection between atheism and Unitarian Universalism"<br />
*[http://jesspages.net/jessjournal Jess's Journal] - "Musings, daily goings-on, occasional rants from a UU singer, seminary wife, and mom of 2"<br />
*[http://liberalfaith.blogspot.com/ Liberal Faith Development] - "commentary on Unitarian Universalist faith development in congregations and the wider liberal religious community"<br />
*[http://www.lookingforfaith.org/ Looking for Faith] - "Are you seeking a fresh start in your spiritual journey? Visit Looking for Faith."<br />
*[http://revricky.blogspot.com/ One More Step] - the blog associated with RevRicky.com Your Online Spiritual Community <br />
*[http://justworld.typepad.com/perspectives/ A People so Bold!] "Religious commentary with a liberationist twist."<br />
*[http://www.philocrites.com/ Philocrites] - "Commentary on liberal religion and politics"<br />
*[http://www.promisethechildrenuu.org/blog/ Promise the Children] - Resources for UU's to advocate for and with children and youth.<br />
*[http://natewalker.blogspot.com/ Nate Walker's Ministerial blog] - "With you on my mind and in my heart, i mold our dreams into the shape of my most private need; i sculpt them into the image of my most public self."<br />
*[http://radicalhapa.typepad.com/my_weblog/ Radical Hapa] - Unitarian Universalist Hapa Social Justice<br />
*[http://www.returningblog.com/ Returning. . . ] - "UU minister writing about religion, culture, and whatever amuses me."<br />
*[http://revoluutions.blogspot.com/ (r)evolUUtions] a UU who is also an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps<br />
*[http://rootandsource.blogspot.com/ Root and Source]<br />
*[http://ruaiuuchurch.org/ Ruai/Tasia Unitarian Universalist Church] - site and blog of congregation in Kenya - let's connect to a larger world<br />
*[http://www.sunoida.org/blog/ Share The Knowledge: Evangelism for Liberal Religion]<br />
*[http://www.talkhumanism.com/ Talk: Humanism] - "A collaborative blogging community for religious humanists."<br />
*[http://transientandpermanent.blogspot.com/ Transient and Permanent] - "Reflections on Unitarian-Universalism"<br />
*[http://www.wizdum.net/moments/ Unexpected Moments of Grace]- Recognizing the work of the Spirit in the day to day.<br />
*[http://uu-mom.livejournal.com/ UU Mom] - Lifelong UU spreading the word</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=8941Main Page2012-06-06T18:52:16Z<p>JoyceD: updating bad link</p>
<hr />
<div>'''Welcome to UUWiki!'''<br />
<br />
UUWiki is dedicated to helping Unitarian Universalists '''share ideas and work together''' using a "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki wiki]". Material that is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:What_Wikipedia_is_not encyclopedic] is generally better suited for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page Wikipedia]. Please contribute by editing these articles and adding your own.<br />
<br />
To learn more about "wikis" and how easy it is to contribute to this site, [[#About this Wiki|see below]].<br />
<br />
----<br />
*'''[[UUWiki Support Pages for UUA sponsored Mailing Lists]]'''<br />
**[[Antiracist-UU]] -- Antiracist UU activities, resources, ideas<br />
**[[ChurchMgmtSoftware]] -- Discussion of Software for Membership, Contributions and Finances. <br />
**[[Civil Liberties]] -- Discussion of Civil Liberties<br />
**[[LREDA-L]] -- Discussion for LREDA members<br />
**[[OWL-L]] -- Discussion for Our Whole Lives leaders<br />
**[[Policy Based Governance]] -- Policy Governance model of board governance in UU congregations<br />
**[[PR-L]] -- Sharing the good news about UUism <br />
**[[REACH-L]] - Religious education discussion<br />
**[[UUBF-L]] -- Unitarian Universalist Buddhist Fellowship<br />
**[[UUHS-chat]] -- Discussion of UU History and Historical Research<br />
**[[UU-leaders]] -- Discussion of issues for UU congregation leadership<br />
**[[UU-Money]] -- Sharing among Society Finance Leaders<br />
**[[Websters| Websters]] -- building and maintaining UU webpages<br />
**[[Worship-l]] -- Preparing for and presenting successful worship services<br />
<br />
*'''[http://uua.org/ Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA)] topics'''<br />
**[[Merger of two Protestant Christian denominations]]<br />
**[[Principles and Purposes Revision]]<br />
**[[Social Witness Process Bylaws Changes]] - for vote at GA 2006<br />
**Congregational Study Action Issues (CSAI)<br />
*** 2008-2012 [[Ethical Eating]]: Food and Environmental Justice<br />
*** 2006-2010 [[Peacemaking]]<br />
***[http://www.uua.org/csw/ Commission on Social Witness]: explains the process for on SAIs and AIWs<br />
***[[Proposed Study Action Issues]] - UUWiki discussions of proposals, which are due December 15 of each year<br />
**Statements of Conscience (SoC)<br />
*** 2005-2007 [[Moral Values for a Pluralistic Society]]<br />
*** 2004-2006 [[Threat of Global Warming]]<br />
*** 2003-2005 [[Criminal Justice and Prison Reform]]<br />
*** 2002-2004 [[Civil Liberties]]<br />
*** 2001-2003 [http://bcn.boulder.co.us/~neal/uu/globalization/ Economic Globalization]<br />
*** [http://www.uua.org/actions/ UUA's previous SoC's and other Social Justice Statements]<br />
**Actions of Immediate Witness (AIW)<br />
***[[Proposed Actions of Immediate Witness]] (due on Saturday of General Assembly each year)<br />
**Business Resolutions<br />
***[[Proposed Business Resolutions and Bylaws changes]] (due February 1 of each year)<br />
**General Assembly FAQs<br />
<br />
*'''[[UUA Districts]]'''<br />
**See http://www.uua.org/DIST/index.html for a map and list<br />
**See [[UUA Districts]] for UUWiki pages devoted to collaborative activities in districts<br />
<br />
*'''Independent Affiliate organizations'''<br />
**''See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarian_Universalism#Organizations Unitarian Universalist Organizations in Wikipedia]''<br />
** [[Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans]]<br />
** [[Unitarian Jihad]]<br />
<br />
*'''Links'''<br />
**[http://www.uua.org/resources/ UUA resources]<br />
**[http://www.cuc.ca/ Canadian association]<br />
**[http://www.icuu.net/ International UUs]<br />
**[http://www.uuism.net/uuphpbb UUism.net Support Forum]<br />
**[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarian_Universalism Wikipedia on UUism]<br />
**[[List of UU blogs]]<br />
**[[List of UU podcasts]]<br />
**[[List of Unitarian Universalists]]<br />
**[[Other UU Wikis]]<br />
**[[Current events]]<br />
<br />
*'''Religious Education Resources'''<br />
**[[Continental UU Young Adults Network]]<br />
**[[Liberal Religious Educators Association (LREdA)]]<br />
**[[UUA Office of Youth and Young Adults]]<br />
**[[Religious educators' webpages]]<br />
<br />
*'''Worship Resources'''<br />
**[[WorshipWeb]]<br />
<br />
==About this Wiki==<br />
A '''Wiki''', or WikiWikiWeb, is a collaborative hypertext environment, with an emphasis on easy access to and modification of information.<br />
<br />
'''You''' can edit any nearly any page by pressing the '''edit''' tab at the top of the page. And if you<br />
see clear vandalism, '''you''' can easily [[UUWiki:How to revert a page to an earlier version|revert it to an earlier version]]. <br />
<br />
To learn more about what a Wiki is, and why vandalism is less of a problem than you may think, see the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki Wikipedia page on wikis], or read about [[http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WhyWikiWorks WhyWikiWorks]].<br />
A few pages can be "protected" to cut down on wikispam. If the wiki doesn't let you edit a page, use the "discussion" tab to ask one of the sysadmins to change the page.<br />
<br />
Note that all pages on UUWiki are licensed under the [http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html GNU Free Documentation License] as discussed at [[UUWiki:Copyrights]]. Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!<br />
<br />
Interesting starting points for this wiki:<br />
* [[Help:Contents]]: help to get you going<br />
* [[Sand box]]: feel free to change this page and experiment with editing, because that's what it's there for<br />
* [[Help:Editing]]: How to make links, lists, headers, etc.<br />
* [[Special:Recentchanges]]: see which topics people are currently working on here<br />
* [[Special:Popularpages]]: the most popular pages<br />
* [[Installation experiences]] and information for administrators.<br />
<br />
With this wiki software, there is a "discussion" (or "Talk") page for each normal page.<br />
Normal practice is to try to reflect the current consensus on the actual "article" pages, without<br />
attribution of who contributed what, and to use the "Talk" page (click on the "discussion" tab at the top) to talk ''about'' that consensus, in signed entries. If you "'''log in'''" (via the link in the upper right - a quick, painless process after initial email confirmation) you can easily sign and timestamp your contributions to talk pages by entering four<br />
tildas in a row: <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki><br />
<br />
Another good reason to log in, is that you can mark pages you want to keep track of and track<br />
updates via '''my watchlist'''.<br />
<br />
Please use the [[sand box]] to try things out, rather than creating new test pages.<br />
<br />
----<br />
Quick Wikilinks: [[Special:Popularpages|Popular pages]] ~ [[Special:Newpages|Newest pages]] ~ [[Special:Ancientpages|Oldest pages]] ~ [[Special:Allpages|All pages]] ~ [[Special:Listusers|Users]]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Other_useful_web_sites_or_pages&diff=8940Other useful web sites or pages2012-03-23T01:28:25Z<p>JoyceD: new link</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
There are various other UUs out there who have web sites or specific pages that have recomendations on how to build a good web site.<br />
<br />
; www.faithandweb(dot)com/best-posts/<br />
: Faith and Web, a church diva's musings... Best Posts include Getting Started, How To - or - the Nuts & Bolts, Graphics, & more (you'll need to copy & paste the URL & replace "(dot)" with a dot as a spam precaution)<br />
<br />
; http://bertc.com/cuc_workshop.htm<br />
: Bert Christensen did a workshop at the Canadian Unitarian Council Annual Conference and Meeting titled, "Building Good Church Websites."<br />
<br />
; http://www.unitarian.org/media/crafting/crafting.html<br />
: Some introductory materials that may be a bit dated, but certainly are good for introduction to building/mainting one's own web site. One of the authors, Kent Koeninger, has a knack for straightforward and insightful presentations.<br />
<br />
; http://www.md-dc-va-churches.org/SPREAD-THE-FLAME.doc (Word doc)<br />
: 4 page document to use as basic standards for UU congregation web sites by Joseph Priestley District Public Outreach team<br />
<br />
; https://www.facebook.com/groups/uuwebsitelab/<br />
: Facebook UU Website Lab</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=REACH-L&diff=8937REACH-L2011-06-18T00:42:46Z<p>JoyceD: </p>
<hr />
<div>* Information about the REACH-L is at http://lists.uua.org/mailman/listinfo/reach-l<br />
<br />
To share information about UU religious education, you can post text on this wiki. You can also post links to useful web pages.<br />
<br />
=== Web sites ===<br />
<br />
* Tapestry of Faith is at http://www.uua.org/tapestryoffaith<br />
* UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CURRICULUM AND RESOURCE DEVELOPERS is at http://www.uucards.org/<br />
* [http://www.rec-room.org/ REC-Room: Curricula Resource] - help us by adding your own resources (curricula, books, links, etc.) - it's easy after you [http://www.rec-room.org/cgi-recroom/CCreg.pl register here].</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=REACH-L&diff=8936REACH-L2011-06-18T00:41:55Z<p>JoyceD: </p>
<hr />
<div>* Information about the REACH-L is at http://lists.uua.org/mailman/listinfo/reach-l<br />
<br />
To share information about UU religious education, you can post text on this wiki. You can also post links to useful web pages.<br />
<br />
=== Web sites ===<br />
<br />
* Tapestry of Faith is at http://www.uua.org/tapestryoffaith<br />
* UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CURRICULUM AND RESOURCE DEVELOPERS is at http://www.uucards.org/<br />
* [http://www.rec-room.org/ REC-Room: Curricula Resource] - help us by add your own resources - it's easy after you [http://www.rec-room.org/cgi-recroom/CCreg.pl register here].</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=REACH-L&diff=8935REACH-L2011-06-18T00:41:12Z<p>JoyceD: added REC-Room</p>
<hr />
<div>* Information about the REACH-L is at http://lists.uua.org/mailman/listinfo/reach-l<br />
<br />
To share information about UU religious education, you can post text on this wiki. You can also post links to useful web pages.<br />
<br />
=== Web sites ===<br />
<br />
* Tapestry of Faith is at http://www.uua.org/tapestryoffaith<br />
* UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CURRICULUM AND RESOURCE DEVELOPERS is at http://www.uucards.org/<br />
* [http://www.rec-room.org/ REC-Room: Curricula Resource] - help us by add your own resources - it's easy after you [www.rec-room.org/cgi-recroom/CCreg.pl register here].</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Content_Management_System&diff=8794Content Management System2010-11-05T03:37:03Z<p>JoyceD: /* [http://wordpress.org WordPress] */ added example</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
== Content Management Systems ==<br />
<br />
A Content Management System (CMS) is a system used to organize and facilitate creation and maintenance of documents and other content (in this case for a web site). They are designed to allow many people to directly contribute to the process. Contributors sign on to authenticate and their activities are both assisted and restricted by the system. To manage this, a CMS isolates the actions and effects of content creation and maintenance from other elements (layouts, styles, menus, etc.). <br />
<br />
Both Wiki's such as this and blogging sites use Content Management Systems. When a CMS is used for Church management, it is often referred to as a Church Management System, Church Management Software, or Church Ministry Software and often abbreviated as ChMS.<br /><br />
A more comprehensive description and additional details can be found at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system Wikipedia]. <br />
and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_management_software Church Management Software]<br />
<br />
'''Advantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* content can be added and maintained without "webmaster" skills<br />
* many people can contribute or collaborate using just their web browser<br />
* limits on what contributors can and can't do can be precisely defined<br />
* site layout, style and menus are unaffected during content editing work<br />
* content is unaffected during layout, style and menu modifications<br />
* standards and changes for layout, style and menus are applied universally<br />
* site mapping, indexing, site search and menu generation is automatic<br />
* web feed (RSS) syndication of content is usually automatic<br />
* media (images, audio, video, etc) presentation and management is easier to implement<br />
* member only features are easier to implement<br />
* member participation features are easier to implement<br />
* better for sites with many frequent changes, community and media features<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* can be more work to set up for a simple site<br />
* fine tuning the look of individual pages and elements is difficult and limited<br />
* CMS systems have their own menus and logic which users must understand<br />
* one or more people must act to administer the site and any other users<br />
* requires specific software to be present or added to the web server<br />
* your site will depend on the continuing availability and suitability of that specific software<br />
* CMS software will require occasional security maintenance and updating<br />
* usually requires some setup and configuration of a database on the web server<br />
* places greater processing demands on the web server <br />
* backup and recovery is more complicated when a database is involved <br />
* customization requires more specialized and less common skills<br />
* poor for relatively static sites with few changes and a single maintainer<br />
<br />
'''Installing:''' - Linux based web hosting services often offer a feature that can install a selection of several CMS with the click of a link or icon. Example services available through web host control panels include: Fantastico (cPanel), Installatron (cPanel, Plesk), 4psa (Plesk), CP Skins (cPanel), Helm. While these "one-click" installation services can ease installation, they sometimes do not provide secure or up-to-date software versions.<br />
<br />
'''Explore the CMS options at:'''<br />
* The website [http://www.cmsmatrix.org CMS Matrix] allows you to compare features on approximately 100 different CMS solutions. The "Search the Matrix" feature allows you to filter the list according to the features that you need for your site.<br />
* The website [http://www.opensourcecms.com Open Source CMS Systems] allows you to demo 40-50 LAMP-based Portals(CMS) and review the comments left by other visitors. ("LAMP" is an acronym for 'Linux-Apache-MySql-PHP' software.)<br />
<br /><br />
'''---Listed below are details for some CMS packages that churches use to build and maintain websites.'''<br /><br/><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/ CMS Made Simple]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' To get a simple CMS site up and start managing it is relatively simple. The product is described on its website as "simple enough to run family websites...." The standard installation provides a very friendly interface, a lot of guidance, explanations of CMS concepts, and such. This makes the product easier for the inexperienced to start working with. The CMS allows creation of web sites having good compliance with web and accessibility standards, but it does not enforce such standards. This CMS makes use of the preexisting SMARTY theme/template engine and the PHP and MySQL components. Work on this project began as a small in-house project in 2004. This is a relatively new product, with its first stable release being made available in 2006. It appears well regarded in CMS user and developer community. It earned added recognition in 2007 with a third place showing in the [http://www.packtpub.com/award/ Open Source CMS competition sponsored by Packt Publishing].<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' <br />
* very easy to make a hierarchical website<br />
* very nice administration interface, ordered by role and tasks<br />
* standard news module, RSS feeds, file and image managers, and WYSIWYG editor<br />
* module manager, allowing to download and install modules from the browser<br />
* many modules available<br />
* allows for different types of users with individual permissions, which is useful for allowing many people to edit portions of the site. <br />
'''Disadvantages:''' <br />
* inconsistent add-on modules (different ways of doing things)<br />
* lack of CMSMS functionality, a lot is borrowed from other OS software<br />
* WYSIWYG editor does not function very well. The formating is not consistent unless the content is created within CMSMS, and changes to the formatting do not apply consistently. The paste from Word function also does not function well. <br />
'''Update Dec. 2007'''<br />
With the release of Version 1.2.2 "Holetown" -- November 30, 2007 the WYSIWYG editor and other add-ons/modules have become more stable. The default editor is now [http://tinymce.moxiecode.com/ TinyMCE]. Pasting text from MSWord will remove formating except line breaks. The use of the word processer like buttons makes quick work of reformatting the content. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://bauuc.org/ Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/site/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin]<br />
* other denominations have congregations using it, but this Wiki is in need of more quality examples.<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://contentor.net Contentor]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Contentor was designed for small to medium-sized web sites, typical of sites for/by small non-profit corporations or individuals. It was developed by a fellow UU, Earl Daniels.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
(this wiki entry is in need of a good example site)<br />
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://drupal.org Drupal]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Implemented using relatively common [http://www.php.net/ PHP] and [http://www.mysql.com/ MySQL] resources. Originally developed for 'community' participation web sites where everyone in the community is able to contribute content. Today the program is being used for a wider range of uses, including online press ([http://progressive.org/ The Progressive], [http://www.theonion.com The Onion]), academic sites, media libraries, and galleries. It can be used both for sites with very limited access (just a few authors) or by a very expansive community of users and authors with different privileges. The project was started in the year 2000. While the most current release is version 6.x (became available Feb. 13,2008), version 5.x will for many months continue to be better supported by add-on packages. The 4.7.x version is no longer being supported.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Easy to create news items, single author and multi author documents, audio & video posts (podcasts), galleries (image collections), etc. The base program is highly compliant with both general [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). Many theme templates and lots of additional modules are freely available from the central Drupal community site. Common modules include kits which can be use to create custom content types and views. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using a choice of tunable editors. Regulation of user roles and privileges is very adjustable. Editing experience and viewing experience can be customized for different users. Content categorization and use of categorization is both flexible and pervasive. Technical support is available through an active user community on Drupal's community support site. A dedicated Drupal commercial hosting service option is available ([http://bryght.com/ Bryght Community content hosting]).<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Many of the contributed modules are not that reliable. The rapid advance of the Drupal core program (about one major version update a year) makes it easy to find your site is reliant on modules that have not been updated and may not get updated. Administration is done through same interface as is used for general site viewing (rather than a purpose specific back end interface). Strict enforcement of design and coding creates requirements that may pose difficulties for some trying to make customizations. Building a multi featured site requires the selection, installation, and maintenance of many third party modules. <br />
<br />
'''Features:'''<br />
* Number of user logins: at least one, but an unlimited number may be created<br />
* Registration: May be set to "anyone may register", "anyone may register, but must be approved by admin", or "no one may register". Various modules available to extend these options.<br />
* Separate file/page logins: no, everything is handled via a single login interface<br />
* Approx setup time: First time user, about 1/2 - 1 day. Experienced user, about 15 - 30 minutes.<br />
* Custom scripts allowed: Yes; may create "modules" to extend system-wide functionality, or may inject PHP directly into a page<br />
* Custom templates allowed: Yes; may create a custom "theme"<br />
* Number of templates available: A very large number. Many are listed on the [http://drupal.org/project/Themes Drupal themes page], and most of those are free.<br />
<br />
'''Major benefits:'''<br />
* Extremely customizable<br />
* Very large community - if you want to do something with Drupal, someone else has probably already done it<br />
* Many modules available for extending the core system<br />
* Extremely lightweight; does not require much server space or bandwidth, and is compatible with a wide variety of browsers<br />
<br />
'''Major drawbacks:'''<br />
* Requires some time and effort to learn<br />
* Too many modules - it can be difficult to find, assemble and maintain the modules you need<br />
<br />
'''Demo:'''<br />
[http://opensourcecms.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=132 OpenSourceCMS.com Demo site]<br />
<br />
To login as the admin, add a new page, and edit that page:<br />
1. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/?q=user<br />
2. Login with the administrative password (username admin, password demo)<br />
3. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/node/add/page<br />
4. Type in the page title, and some body text<br />
5. If you want, feel free to play with the various options which appear when you click "Comment settings", "Authoring information", and "Publishing options"; you can also change these later, by editing the page. <br />
6. Click Submit<br />
7. You should see the new page, with a button to edit it, if you want.<br />
8. To see the page as it would appear to a non-administrative user, copy the URL for the page somewhere convenient, go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/logout , and then go back to the page URL.<br />
<br />
Note: OpenSourceCMS.com occasionally wipes its demos clean - do not save precious work there!<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
* [http://www.md-dc-va-churches.org/ Baltimore, Washington, No. Virginia UUs]<br />
* [http://www.firstparishcambridge.org/ First Parish Cambridge]<br />
* [http://www.uumilwaukee.org/ First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee]<br />
* [http://follen.org/ Follen Church Society]<br />
* [http://gaiacommunity.org Gaia Community]<br />
* [http://www.lifenowradio.org/ Life Now Radio... UU + Drupal, but a podcast...not a church]<br />
* [https://www.psduua.org/prairiestore Prairie Star District's "Prairie Store"]<br />
* [http://rvuuf.org/ Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.uusc.org/ UUSC - Unitarian Universalist Service Committee]<br />
* [http://www.uuchurch.org/ University Unitarian Church (Seattle WA)]<br />
* [http://www.uuma.org/ UUMA - Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association]<br />
* [http://www.peterboroughunitarian.ca/ Unitarian Fellowship of Peterborough (Peterborough, Ontario)]<br />
* [http://www.uduuf.org/ Upper Delaware Unitarian Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.uuhaverhill.org/ Universalist Unitarian Church of Haverhill]<br />
<br />
* If you google "church drupal" you can also find quite a few churches of other denominations using it. -An example using a number of good design principles can be seen at the [http://bethlehem-church.org/ Bethlehem Lutheran Church]. A collected listing of [http://groups.drupal.org/node/2700/ Church Websites running Drupal] has been collected in the Churches group at groups.drupal.org.<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://joomla.org/ Mambo/Joomla!]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (both Mambo and Joomla! use the [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Probably the most popular CMS. Listed together: Mambo and Joomla! share a common design heritage. In mid-2005 the Miro corporation set up a "Mambo Foundation" in an attempt to exert more control via their ownership of the trademark. This was strongly resisted by the Mambo developer community, which left en-masse and are continuing their development using the name "Joomla!". As these two programs continue development they are likely to become much more distinct and less able to share. Several web hosting services support installation through automated installation scripts or "one-button installs". It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The project was started in the year 2000.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Administration is done through a separate "back end" interface to avoid limitations of the "front end" interface used during normal site viewing and navigation. Administration interface has an graphic icon driven interface that makes use less intimidating for some. Theme templates and module extensions are easily loaded remotely since the interface accepts compressed modules remotely, transfers them, and unpacks on the server before loading them for use. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using the included editor. The popularity of the system has resulted in good availability of themes, extensions and experienced developers. Supports blogs, web feeds, multimedia, calendars, galleries, and podcasting through options and extensions. Administration interface and loose enforcement of constraints makes modification of theme templates easier than some other CMS.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Most new work seems to be taking the Joomla! fork. User reviews of the fall 2006 update to Mambo show comparatively high levels of user dissatisfaction. The older Joomla! 1.0 release is well established, but does not achieve compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). A new version 1.5 was released as "stable" on January 22, 2008. The 1.0 version used tables extensively for formatting non-table content. Improvements in these areas was a major objective of the 1.5 release of Joomla!. However, due to the large amount of design experience and extensions developed around Joomla! 1.0 and Mambo, it is not clear how readily the improvements provided by version Joomla! 1.5 could be implemented.<br />
<br />
'''Interest list:''' There is a Google group for conversation about using Joomla for UU congregations at * [http://groups.google.com/group/uu-joomla]<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br /><br />
''Mambo:''<br />
* [http://www.ucsummit.org The Unitarian Church in Summit (New Jersey)]<br />
* [http://www.ccny.org The Community Church of New York Unitarian Universalist in Manhattan (New York)]<br />
''Joomla!:''<br />
* [http://uucyf.org/ The Church of the Younger Fellowship]<br />
* [http://cmwd-uuyan.org/ Central Midwest District Young Adult Network]<br />
* [http://www.firstparish.org/ First Parish in Concord]<br />
* [http://wrighttavern.org/ Wright Tavern Center for Spiritual Renewal]<br />
* [http://fuucsl.org/ First UU Church of Second Life]<br />
* [http://www.jruuc.org/ James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Congregation]<br />
* [http://www.mmuus.org/ May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
* [http://www.tjuc.org/ Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church]<br />
* [http://www.uucj.com/ Universalist Unitarian Church of Joliet]<br />
* [http://www.uuventura.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura]<br />
* [http://www.uu-uno.org/ Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office]<br />
* [http://uubedford.org/ First Parish in Bedford UU]<br />
* [http://uuaa.org First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor]<br />
* [http://www.fvuuf.org/ Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Appleton, WI]<br />
<br />
THE FOLLOWING USE JOOMLA (as of August 2009)<br />
<br />
* [http://www.auuf.net/ Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://uumia.org/ UU Congregation of Miami]<br />
* [http://www.uuvoiceswa.org/ Washington State UU Voices for Justice]<br />
* [http://www.allsoulsuu.org/ All Souls UU Church, Watertown, NY]<br />
* [http://www.uuprinceton.org/ UU Congregation of Princeton]<br />
* [http://www.cuucsa.org/ Community UU Church, San Antonio TX]<br />
* [http://www.uulmnj.org/ UULM New Jersey]<br />
* [http://www.firstuucolumbus.org/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus, OH - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.uufg.org/ UU Fellowship of Gainesville (FL) - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://necluster.uufg.org/ Northeast Cluster of the Florida District - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.cmwd-uua.org/ Central Midwest District - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.uuwr.org/ UU Women and Religion - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.cakesforthequeenofheaven.org/ Cakes for the Queen of Heaven curriculum - formerly used WordPress - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.margaretfuller.org/ Margaret Fuller Bicentennial - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.womenandreligion.org/ Central Midwest District Women and Religion - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.jpdwr.org/ Joseph Priestley District Women and Religion - Joomla 1.0]<br />
* [http://www.emerginguu.org/ CMwD Emerging UU congregations - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.midwestuuleadership.org/ CMwD-Heartland-Prairie Star Districts leadership - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.buuf2.org/ Berrien UU Fellowship, St. Joseph, Michigan - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.neshobauu.org/ Neshoba Unitarian Universalist Church, Cordova, Tennessee - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://communitychurchuuu.org/ Community Church Unitarian Universalist, New Orleans, LA]<br />
* [http://gnou.org/ Greater New Orleans UUs, New Orleans LA]<br />
* [http://fussonline.org/ First Unitarian Society of Schenectady, NY - Joomla 1.5]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.phpwebsitemanual.com/ phpWebSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Free (GPL)<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Allows separate password protected areas for different site editors. Has a lot of forum features built in.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Set up does not contain user-friendly instructions; instructions are found elsewhere. Design flexibility is limited.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
(needs good example)<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://plone.org Plone®]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE: ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Plone is a ready-to-run content management system that is built on the powerful and free [http://zope.org Zope®] application server. Plone provides a system for managing web content that is suitable for project groups, communities, web sites, extranets and intranets. Zope is a full web application environment using its own transactional object database and programmed in the full featured, object oriented, [http://python.org Python] scripting language. The project was started in the year 1999.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' It is easy to create events, news items, new documents, photos, and other files. It uses both HTML and an easy to use Structured Text for those who are unfamiliar with website design. It has many add-on products that extend features available. It has a very flexible security/permissions structure which allows people and groups with different roles to have control over different aspects and different parts of the site. Plone can manage custom content types. Plone delivers excellent compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508]). It can be set up to run on many different types of web servers (Linux, Windows, Mac, BSD etc.) A large developer community, and commercial support is available. <br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Plone will generally require a specialized web host or virtual web server due to its use of [http://zope.org Zope] rather than Apache, PHP and MySQL. It is resource-hungry on the server. It requires over 75 MB RAM dedicated to your site which tends to cost from $15 to $40/month. It will require much more learning by the webmaster about how to back up the custom database, how to combine with Apache for speed and web access logs, etc. For more insights, see http://plone.org/documentation/faq/is-plone-for-me<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.firstunitarianportland.org/ First Unitarian Church of Portland]<br />
*[http://www.spindletopuu.org/ Spindletop Unitarian Church]<br />
*[http://www.uufws.net/ Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem]<br />
<br />
To try it out, create your own free site at http://www.objectis.org/ or create your own account at a Plone-based community site like http://plone.org/ For more flexible production hosting, you might look at http://interlix.com, or http://quintagroup.com<br />
<br /><br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://revoluution.com/products.php Revoluution Media CMS]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary - by arrangement with "Revoluution Media"<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' "Revoluution Media" builds web sites and provides CMS site software for a number of Unitarian Universalist entities. The vendor website claims its own CMS is "fully integrated and easy-to-use" and that it "will allow anyone to update the page content of your site- without resorting to a slow or expensive webmaster". The coding technologies visible on example websites include XHTML, CSS, PHP, and Javascript.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Vendor assistance and support. Vendor offers an integrated service package. The vendor has experience serving a number of other Unitarian Universalist communities. System can be optimized for a small user base.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Costs associated with vendor service. Dependencies associated with a single vendor solutions. System has a small user base to test system operation and to support addition and refinement of features.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
* [http://www.jpduua.org/ Joseph Priestley District]<br />
<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://sourceforge.net/projects/tmakesite Thetaworld MakeSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' a custom open source license.<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' From the Project Page on SourceForge: Thetaworld MakeSite is an offline Content Management System for static pages based on PostgreSQL, Perl, Gedafe and web GUI. It supports Links Catalog similar to Yahoo, multi categories, pages, different publishing targets and online e-commerce shop.. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Relatively simple and efficient in operation.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is. Limited in features with little apparent prospect for evolution. No apparent maintenance since December 2005. Uses/Requires some less common (but publicly licensed) web components.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://palouseuu.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse (Moscow, Idaho)]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://typo3.com/ TYPO3 CMS]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License, GPLv3])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' The conventional wisdom is that this is a full featured and well regarded program well suited for large organizations and those having the background and time available to master it. It is not as well suited for simpler web sites and not for web novices. Three descriptive quotes from the TYPO3 website: <br />
*"TYPO3 is a content management system for enterprise purposes on the web and in intranets. It offers full flexibility and extendability while featuring an accomplished set of ready-made interfaces, functions and modules." <br />
*"Whether you are looking to manage content in a large corporation, university, non-profit organization or a small business, we can provide you with an enterprise-level solution that meets your needs." <br />
*"TYPO3 is a small to midsize enterprise-class Content Management Framework offering the best of both worlds: out-of-the-box operation with a complete set of standard modules and a clean and sturdy high-performance architecture accomodating virtually every kind of custom solution or extension."<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' The program can scale up to fit a large enterprise operation. <br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' The program has a reputation for having a steeper learning curve than most of the alternatives listed here.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
*[http://www.rruuc.org/ River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation (Bethesda, MD)]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/ UU Web Template project]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE - at least for UU organizations (the [http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/license/license.txt license] says it is [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ Creative Commons by-nc-sa] but also "Any [non-UU] use requires permission." so that isn't clear....)<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' The term template may be a bit misleading. These file sets create a scripted (PHP) interface, a choice of two visual themes and a standard set of church web pages. It provides a user interface allowing authorized users to login to the site from any web browser. Once logged in, the authorized user can create content, perform basic maintenance, and extend the page and menu content without any web editing tools. New as of May 2006; the specs for future versions are being considered to improve it. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' The UU Web Templates are designed and prepared specifically for use by UU congregations needing to create a first web site and should allow a quick and low cost launch. The UU Web Templates can also be used as an add-on or for use in re-design of a site. The project is supported by fellow UUs so the community is limited, but shares a lot of common knowledge. There is an email list to communicate with the other users. The simplicity of the design allows the templates to function on both Linux/Unix and Windows web servers. The templates do not require the complexity of a database setup and maintenance.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' A limited selection of styles and color schemes are built into the design. Limitations on the degree to which a site can be extended. There is currently no support for "Web 2.0" features such as media, community/social networking and blogs. The constraints of a small community of users may create some difficulties in maintaining and growing the application. Unspecified problems have been reported.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.allsoulsbraintree.org All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church of Braintree]<br />
*[http://www.cvuus.org Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
*[http://www.luuna.net LUUNA - Latino(a) Unitarian Universalist Networking Association]<br />
*[http://www.oaklandonuu.org Oaklandon Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.rutlanduu.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Rutland]<br />
*[http://www.secondparish.org Second Parish - Unitarian Universalist]<br />
*[http://www.uuacg.org Unitarian Universalists of Coastal Georgia]<br />
*[http://www.uucookeville.org Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cookeville]<br />
*[http://www.uucyakima.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Yakima]<br />
*[http://www.uufgc.org UU Fellowship of Greater Cumberland]<br />
*[http://www.uumuk.org The United Unitarian & Universalist Society of Mukwonago]<br />
*[http://www.uutryonnc.org Thermal Belt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://wordpress.org WordPress]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Designed principally for blogs, the basic package also supports standard web pages and a multi-level menu structure. It is easily extended through a "plug-in" interface to add support for podcasting and image galleries. Recent updates allow for a site that does not contain a blog on the opening page. Because of its popularity and flexibility, it is being used for multi-purpose and some general purpose websites. It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The WordPress product name is relatively new, but the product evolved directly from the b2 product which originated in 2001. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' WordPress is relatively easy to setup and understand. It is also a relatively mature and well maintained program. This has resulted in it being both very stable and web and accessibility standard compliant. The WordPress site provides extensive guidelines on how to improve and maintain accessibility. An extremely large collection of theme templates and plug-ins is available in the public domain and from custom developers. Themes are easily and quickly switched and customized from within the administrative interface. Non-blog pages and menus are relatively easy to create. The tabbed administrative interface opens on a dashboard which displays the system status and provides notices of upgrades from WordPress. Content is created and edited using an interactive WYSIWYG editor that allows tabbing between a formated presentation and direct HTML editing. The editor provides both auto-save backups during editing and spell checking. Edits can be saved to draft, or private, or published for public viewing. Its podcasting feed support exceeds those of other CMS offerings. It is common for web hosting services to supply their customers with a "one-button" installation for the WordPress application. A dedicated commercial hosting service option is available from [http://wordpress.com/ WordPress.com].<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' The program is designed and maintained to support the specific purpose of blogging. Congregations attempting to use it for broader purposes may encounter limitations (either immediately or in the future).<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://druumm.org/ DRUUMM: Diverse & Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries]<br />
*[http://hunterdonuu.org/ First Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hunterdon County]<br />
*[http://www.ucmh.org/ Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson]<br />
*[http://www.uusj.org/ Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice]<br />
*[http://www.sportsmanila.com/uu/ Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/sermon/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Sermons]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/announce/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Announcements](uses the blog via e-mail function and a cron job to automatically post the announcements when they are e-mailed to the congregation. An auto-delete plug-in is installed so that only the current week's announcements are available.)<br />
<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Content_Management_System&diff=8793Content Management System2010-11-05T03:36:10Z<p>JoyceD: /* [http://www.phpwebsitemanual.com/ phpWebSite] */ example no longer relavent</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
== Content Management Systems ==<br />
<br />
A Content Management System (CMS) is a system used to organize and facilitate creation and maintenance of documents and other content (in this case for a web site). They are designed to allow many people to directly contribute to the process. Contributors sign on to authenticate and their activities are both assisted and restricted by the system. To manage this, a CMS isolates the actions and effects of content creation and maintenance from other elements (layouts, styles, menus, etc.). <br />
<br />
Both Wiki's such as this and blogging sites use Content Management Systems. When a CMS is used for Church management, it is often referred to as a Church Management System, Church Management Software, or Church Ministry Software and often abbreviated as ChMS.<br /><br />
A more comprehensive description and additional details can be found at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system Wikipedia]. <br />
and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_management_software Church Management Software]<br />
<br />
'''Advantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* content can be added and maintained without "webmaster" skills<br />
* many people can contribute or collaborate using just their web browser<br />
* limits on what contributors can and can't do can be precisely defined<br />
* site layout, style and menus are unaffected during content editing work<br />
* content is unaffected during layout, style and menu modifications<br />
* standards and changes for layout, style and menus are applied universally<br />
* site mapping, indexing, site search and menu generation is automatic<br />
* web feed (RSS) syndication of content is usually automatic<br />
* media (images, audio, video, etc) presentation and management is easier to implement<br />
* member only features are easier to implement<br />
* member participation features are easier to implement<br />
* better for sites with many frequent changes, community and media features<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* can be more work to set up for a simple site<br />
* fine tuning the look of individual pages and elements is difficult and limited<br />
* CMS systems have their own menus and logic which users must understand<br />
* one or more people must act to administer the site and any other users<br />
* requires specific software to be present or added to the web server<br />
* your site will depend on the continuing availability and suitability of that specific software<br />
* CMS software will require occasional security maintenance and updating<br />
* usually requires some setup and configuration of a database on the web server<br />
* places greater processing demands on the web server <br />
* backup and recovery is more complicated when a database is involved <br />
* customization requires more specialized and less common skills<br />
* poor for relatively static sites with few changes and a single maintainer<br />
<br />
'''Installing:''' - Linux based web hosting services often offer a feature that can install a selection of several CMS with the click of a link or icon. Example services available through web host control panels include: Fantastico (cPanel), Installatron (cPanel, Plesk), 4psa (Plesk), CP Skins (cPanel), Helm. While these "one-click" installation services can ease installation, they sometimes do not provide secure or up-to-date software versions.<br />
<br />
'''Explore the CMS options at:'''<br />
* The website [http://www.cmsmatrix.org CMS Matrix] allows you to compare features on approximately 100 different CMS solutions. The "Search the Matrix" feature allows you to filter the list according to the features that you need for your site.<br />
* The website [http://www.opensourcecms.com Open Source CMS Systems] allows you to demo 40-50 LAMP-based Portals(CMS) and review the comments left by other visitors. ("LAMP" is an acronym for 'Linux-Apache-MySql-PHP' software.)<br />
<br /><br />
'''---Listed below are details for some CMS packages that churches use to build and maintain websites.'''<br /><br/><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/ CMS Made Simple]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' To get a simple CMS site up and start managing it is relatively simple. The product is described on its website as "simple enough to run family websites...." The standard installation provides a very friendly interface, a lot of guidance, explanations of CMS concepts, and such. This makes the product easier for the inexperienced to start working with. The CMS allows creation of web sites having good compliance with web and accessibility standards, but it does not enforce such standards. This CMS makes use of the preexisting SMARTY theme/template engine and the PHP and MySQL components. Work on this project began as a small in-house project in 2004. This is a relatively new product, with its first stable release being made available in 2006. It appears well regarded in CMS user and developer community. It earned added recognition in 2007 with a third place showing in the [http://www.packtpub.com/award/ Open Source CMS competition sponsored by Packt Publishing].<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' <br />
* very easy to make a hierarchical website<br />
* very nice administration interface, ordered by role and tasks<br />
* standard news module, RSS feeds, file and image managers, and WYSIWYG editor<br />
* module manager, allowing to download and install modules from the browser<br />
* many modules available<br />
* allows for different types of users with individual permissions, which is useful for allowing many people to edit portions of the site. <br />
'''Disadvantages:''' <br />
* inconsistent add-on modules (different ways of doing things)<br />
* lack of CMSMS functionality, a lot is borrowed from other OS software<br />
* WYSIWYG editor does not function very well. The formating is not consistent unless the content is created within CMSMS, and changes to the formatting do not apply consistently. The paste from Word function also does not function well. <br />
'''Update Dec. 2007'''<br />
With the release of Version 1.2.2 "Holetown" -- November 30, 2007 the WYSIWYG editor and other add-ons/modules have become more stable. The default editor is now [http://tinymce.moxiecode.com/ TinyMCE]. Pasting text from MSWord will remove formating except line breaks. The use of the word processer like buttons makes quick work of reformatting the content. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://bauuc.org/ Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/site/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin]<br />
* other denominations have congregations using it, but this Wiki is in need of more quality examples.<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://contentor.net Contentor]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Contentor was designed for small to medium-sized web sites, typical of sites for/by small non-profit corporations or individuals. It was developed by a fellow UU, Earl Daniels.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
(this wiki entry is in need of a good example site)<br />
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://drupal.org Drupal]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Implemented using relatively common [http://www.php.net/ PHP] and [http://www.mysql.com/ MySQL] resources. Originally developed for 'community' participation web sites where everyone in the community is able to contribute content. Today the program is being used for a wider range of uses, including online press ([http://progressive.org/ The Progressive], [http://www.theonion.com The Onion]), academic sites, media libraries, and galleries. It can be used both for sites with very limited access (just a few authors) or by a very expansive community of users and authors with different privileges. The project was started in the year 2000. While the most current release is version 6.x (became available Feb. 13,2008), version 5.x will for many months continue to be better supported by add-on packages. The 4.7.x version is no longer being supported.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Easy to create news items, single author and multi author documents, audio & video posts (podcasts), galleries (image collections), etc. The base program is highly compliant with both general [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). Many theme templates and lots of additional modules are freely available from the central Drupal community site. Common modules include kits which can be use to create custom content types and views. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using a choice of tunable editors. Regulation of user roles and privileges is very adjustable. Editing experience and viewing experience can be customized for different users. Content categorization and use of categorization is both flexible and pervasive. Technical support is available through an active user community on Drupal's community support site. A dedicated Drupal commercial hosting service option is available ([http://bryght.com/ Bryght Community content hosting]).<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Many of the contributed modules are not that reliable. The rapid advance of the Drupal core program (about one major version update a year) makes it easy to find your site is reliant on modules that have not been updated and may not get updated. Administration is done through same interface as is used for general site viewing (rather than a purpose specific back end interface). Strict enforcement of design and coding creates requirements that may pose difficulties for some trying to make customizations. Building a multi featured site requires the selection, installation, and maintenance of many third party modules. <br />
<br />
'''Features:'''<br />
* Number of user logins: at least one, but an unlimited number may be created<br />
* Registration: May be set to "anyone may register", "anyone may register, but must be approved by admin", or "no one may register". Various modules available to extend these options.<br />
* Separate file/page logins: no, everything is handled via a single login interface<br />
* Approx setup time: First time user, about 1/2 - 1 day. Experienced user, about 15 - 30 minutes.<br />
* Custom scripts allowed: Yes; may create "modules" to extend system-wide functionality, or may inject PHP directly into a page<br />
* Custom templates allowed: Yes; may create a custom "theme"<br />
* Number of templates available: A very large number. Many are listed on the [http://drupal.org/project/Themes Drupal themes page], and most of those are free.<br />
<br />
'''Major benefits:'''<br />
* Extremely customizable<br />
* Very large community - if you want to do something with Drupal, someone else has probably already done it<br />
* Many modules available for extending the core system<br />
* Extremely lightweight; does not require much server space or bandwidth, and is compatible with a wide variety of browsers<br />
<br />
'''Major drawbacks:'''<br />
* Requires some time and effort to learn<br />
* Too many modules - it can be difficult to find, assemble and maintain the modules you need<br />
<br />
'''Demo:'''<br />
[http://opensourcecms.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=132 OpenSourceCMS.com Demo site]<br />
<br />
To login as the admin, add a new page, and edit that page:<br />
1. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/?q=user<br />
2. Login with the administrative password (username admin, password demo)<br />
3. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/node/add/page<br />
4. Type in the page title, and some body text<br />
5. If you want, feel free to play with the various options which appear when you click "Comment settings", "Authoring information", and "Publishing options"; you can also change these later, by editing the page. <br />
6. Click Submit<br />
7. You should see the new page, with a button to edit it, if you want.<br />
8. To see the page as it would appear to a non-administrative user, copy the URL for the page somewhere convenient, go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/logout , and then go back to the page URL.<br />
<br />
Note: OpenSourceCMS.com occasionally wipes its demos clean - do not save precious work there!<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
* [http://www.md-dc-va-churches.org/ Baltimore, Washington, No. Virginia UUs]<br />
* [http://www.firstparishcambridge.org/ First Parish Cambridge]<br />
* [http://www.uumilwaukee.org/ First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee]<br />
* [http://follen.org/ Follen Church Society]<br />
* [http://gaiacommunity.org Gaia Community]<br />
* [http://www.lifenowradio.org/ Life Now Radio... UU + Drupal, but a podcast...not a church]<br />
* [https://www.psduua.org/prairiestore Prairie Star District's "Prairie Store"]<br />
* [http://rvuuf.org/ Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.uusc.org/ UUSC - Unitarian Universalist Service Committee]<br />
* [http://www.uuchurch.org/ University Unitarian Church (Seattle WA)]<br />
* [http://www.uuma.org/ UUMA - Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association]<br />
* [http://www.peterboroughunitarian.ca/ Unitarian Fellowship of Peterborough (Peterborough, Ontario)]<br />
* [http://www.uduuf.org/ Upper Delaware Unitarian Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.uuhaverhill.org/ Universalist Unitarian Church of Haverhill]<br />
<br />
* If you google "church drupal" you can also find quite a few churches of other denominations using it. -An example using a number of good design principles can be seen at the [http://bethlehem-church.org/ Bethlehem Lutheran Church]. A collected listing of [http://groups.drupal.org/node/2700/ Church Websites running Drupal] has been collected in the Churches group at groups.drupal.org.<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://joomla.org/ Mambo/Joomla!]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (both Mambo and Joomla! use the [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Probably the most popular CMS. Listed together: Mambo and Joomla! share a common design heritage. In mid-2005 the Miro corporation set up a "Mambo Foundation" in an attempt to exert more control via their ownership of the trademark. This was strongly resisted by the Mambo developer community, which left en-masse and are continuing their development using the name "Joomla!". As these two programs continue development they are likely to become much more distinct and less able to share. Several web hosting services support installation through automated installation scripts or "one-button installs". It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The project was started in the year 2000.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Administration is done through a separate "back end" interface to avoid limitations of the "front end" interface used during normal site viewing and navigation. Administration interface has an graphic icon driven interface that makes use less intimidating for some. Theme templates and module extensions are easily loaded remotely since the interface accepts compressed modules remotely, transfers them, and unpacks on the server before loading them for use. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using the included editor. The popularity of the system has resulted in good availability of themes, extensions and experienced developers. Supports blogs, web feeds, multimedia, calendars, galleries, and podcasting through options and extensions. Administration interface and loose enforcement of constraints makes modification of theme templates easier than some other CMS.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Most new work seems to be taking the Joomla! fork. User reviews of the fall 2006 update to Mambo show comparatively high levels of user dissatisfaction. The older Joomla! 1.0 release is well established, but does not achieve compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). A new version 1.5 was released as "stable" on January 22, 2008. The 1.0 version used tables extensively for formatting non-table content. Improvements in these areas was a major objective of the 1.5 release of Joomla!. However, due to the large amount of design experience and extensions developed around Joomla! 1.0 and Mambo, it is not clear how readily the improvements provided by version Joomla! 1.5 could be implemented.<br />
<br />
'''Interest list:''' There is a Google group for conversation about using Joomla for UU congregations at * [http://groups.google.com/group/uu-joomla]<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br /><br />
''Mambo:''<br />
* [http://www.ucsummit.org The Unitarian Church in Summit (New Jersey)]<br />
* [http://www.ccny.org The Community Church of New York Unitarian Universalist in Manhattan (New York)]<br />
''Joomla!:''<br />
* [http://uucyf.org/ The Church of the Younger Fellowship]<br />
* [http://cmwd-uuyan.org/ Central Midwest District Young Adult Network]<br />
* [http://www.firstparish.org/ First Parish in Concord]<br />
* [http://wrighttavern.org/ Wright Tavern Center for Spiritual Renewal]<br />
* [http://fuucsl.org/ First UU Church of Second Life]<br />
* [http://www.jruuc.org/ James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Congregation]<br />
* [http://www.mmuus.org/ May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
* [http://www.tjuc.org/ Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church]<br />
* [http://www.uucj.com/ Universalist Unitarian Church of Joliet]<br />
* [http://www.uuventura.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura]<br />
* [http://www.uu-uno.org/ Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office]<br />
* [http://uubedford.org/ First Parish in Bedford UU]<br />
* [http://uuaa.org First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor]<br />
* [http://www.fvuuf.org/ Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Appleton, WI]<br />
<br />
THE FOLLOWING USE JOOMLA (as of August 2009)<br />
<br />
* [http://www.auuf.net/ Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://uumia.org/ UU Congregation of Miami]<br />
* [http://www.uuvoiceswa.org/ Washington State UU Voices for Justice]<br />
* [http://www.allsoulsuu.org/ All Souls UU Church, Watertown, NY]<br />
* [http://www.uuprinceton.org/ UU Congregation of Princeton]<br />
* [http://www.cuucsa.org/ Community UU Church, San Antonio TX]<br />
* [http://www.uulmnj.org/ UULM New Jersey]<br />
* [http://www.firstuucolumbus.org/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus, OH - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.uufg.org/ UU Fellowship of Gainesville (FL) - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://necluster.uufg.org/ Northeast Cluster of the Florida District - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.cmwd-uua.org/ Central Midwest District - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.uuwr.org/ UU Women and Religion - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.cakesforthequeenofheaven.org/ Cakes for the Queen of Heaven curriculum - formerly used WordPress - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.margaretfuller.org/ Margaret Fuller Bicentennial - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.womenandreligion.org/ Central Midwest District Women and Religion - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.jpdwr.org/ Joseph Priestley District Women and Religion - Joomla 1.0]<br />
* [http://www.emerginguu.org/ CMwD Emerging UU congregations - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.midwestuuleadership.org/ CMwD-Heartland-Prairie Star Districts leadership - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.buuf2.org/ Berrien UU Fellowship, St. Joseph, Michigan - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.neshobauu.org/ Neshoba Unitarian Universalist Church, Cordova, Tennessee - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://communitychurchuuu.org/ Community Church Unitarian Universalist, New Orleans, LA]<br />
* [http://gnou.org/ Greater New Orleans UUs, New Orleans LA]<br />
* [http://fussonline.org/ First Unitarian Society of Schenectady, NY - Joomla 1.5]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.phpwebsitemanual.com/ phpWebSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Free (GPL)<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Allows separate password protected areas for different site editors. Has a lot of forum features built in.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Set up does not contain user-friendly instructions; instructions are found elsewhere. Design flexibility is limited.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
(needs good example)<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://plone.org Plone®]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE: ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Plone is a ready-to-run content management system that is built on the powerful and free [http://zope.org Zope®] application server. Plone provides a system for managing web content that is suitable for project groups, communities, web sites, extranets and intranets. Zope is a full web application environment using its own transactional object database and programmed in the full featured, object oriented, [http://python.org Python] scripting language. The project was started in the year 1999.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' It is easy to create events, news items, new documents, photos, and other files. It uses both HTML and an easy to use Structured Text for those who are unfamiliar with website design. It has many add-on products that extend features available. It has a very flexible security/permissions structure which allows people and groups with different roles to have control over different aspects and different parts of the site. Plone can manage custom content types. Plone delivers excellent compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508]). It can be set up to run on many different types of web servers (Linux, Windows, Mac, BSD etc.) A large developer community, and commercial support is available. <br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Plone will generally require a specialized web host or virtual web server due to its use of [http://zope.org Zope] rather than Apache, PHP and MySQL. It is resource-hungry on the server. It requires over 75 MB RAM dedicated to your site which tends to cost from $15 to $40/month. It will require much more learning by the webmaster about how to back up the custom database, how to combine with Apache for speed and web access logs, etc. For more insights, see http://plone.org/documentation/faq/is-plone-for-me<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.firstunitarianportland.org/ First Unitarian Church of Portland]<br />
*[http://www.spindletopuu.org/ Spindletop Unitarian Church]<br />
*[http://www.uufws.net/ Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem]<br />
<br />
To try it out, create your own free site at http://www.objectis.org/ or create your own account at a Plone-based community site like http://plone.org/ For more flexible production hosting, you might look at http://interlix.com, or http://quintagroup.com<br />
<br /><br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://revoluution.com/products.php Revoluution Media CMS]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary - by arrangement with "Revoluution Media"<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' "Revoluution Media" builds web sites and provides CMS site software for a number of Unitarian Universalist entities. The vendor website claims its own CMS is "fully integrated and easy-to-use" and that it "will allow anyone to update the page content of your site- without resorting to a slow or expensive webmaster". The coding technologies visible on example websites include XHTML, CSS, PHP, and Javascript.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Vendor assistance and support. Vendor offers an integrated service package. The vendor has experience serving a number of other Unitarian Universalist communities. System can be optimized for a small user base.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Costs associated with vendor service. Dependencies associated with a single vendor solutions. System has a small user base to test system operation and to support addition and refinement of features.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
* [http://www.jpduua.org/ Joseph Priestley District]<br />
<br />
<br /><br />
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<br />
===[http://sourceforge.net/projects/tmakesite Thetaworld MakeSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' a custom open source license.<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' From the Project Page on SourceForge: Thetaworld MakeSite is an offline Content Management System for static pages based on PostgreSQL, Perl, Gedafe and web GUI. It supports Links Catalog similar to Yahoo, multi categories, pages, different publishing targets and online e-commerce shop.. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Relatively simple and efficient in operation.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is. Limited in features with little apparent prospect for evolution. No apparent maintenance since December 2005. Uses/Requires some less common (but publicly licensed) web components.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://palouseuu.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse (Moscow, Idaho)]<br />
<br /><br />
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<br />
===[http://typo3.com/ TYPO3 CMS]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License, GPLv3])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' The conventional wisdom is that this is a full featured and well regarded program well suited for large organizations and those having the background and time available to master it. It is not as well suited for simpler web sites and not for web novices. Three descriptive quotes from the TYPO3 website: <br />
*"TYPO3 is a content management system for enterprise purposes on the web and in intranets. It offers full flexibility and extendability while featuring an accomplished set of ready-made interfaces, functions and modules." <br />
*"Whether you are looking to manage content in a large corporation, university, non-profit organization or a small business, we can provide you with an enterprise-level solution that meets your needs." <br />
*"TYPO3 is a small to midsize enterprise-class Content Management Framework offering the best of both worlds: out-of-the-box operation with a complete set of standard modules and a clean and sturdy high-performance architecture accomodating virtually every kind of custom solution or extension."<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' The program can scale up to fit a large enterprise operation. <br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' The program has a reputation for having a steeper learning curve than most of the alternatives listed here.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
*[http://www.rruuc.org/ River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation (Bethesda, MD)]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/ UU Web Template project]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE - at least for UU organizations (the [http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/license/license.txt license] says it is [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ Creative Commons by-nc-sa] but also "Any [non-UU] use requires permission." so that isn't clear....)<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' The term template may be a bit misleading. These file sets create a scripted (PHP) interface, a choice of two visual themes and a standard set of church web pages. It provides a user interface allowing authorized users to login to the site from any web browser. Once logged in, the authorized user can create content, perform basic maintenance, and extend the page and menu content without any web editing tools. New as of May 2006; the specs for future versions are being considered to improve it. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' The UU Web Templates are designed and prepared specifically for use by UU congregations needing to create a first web site and should allow a quick and low cost launch. The UU Web Templates can also be used as an add-on or for use in re-design of a site. The project is supported by fellow UUs so the community is limited, but shares a lot of common knowledge. There is an email list to communicate with the other users. The simplicity of the design allows the templates to function on both Linux/Unix and Windows web servers. The templates do not require the complexity of a database setup and maintenance.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' A limited selection of styles and color schemes are built into the design. Limitations on the degree to which a site can be extended. There is currently no support for "Web 2.0" features such as media, community/social networking and blogs. The constraints of a small community of users may create some difficulties in maintaining and growing the application. Unspecified problems have been reported.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.allsoulsbraintree.org All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church of Braintree]<br />
*[http://www.cvuus.org Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
*[http://www.luuna.net LUUNA - Latino(a) Unitarian Universalist Networking Association]<br />
*[http://www.oaklandonuu.org Oaklandon Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.rutlanduu.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Rutland]<br />
*[http://www.secondparish.org Second Parish - Unitarian Universalist]<br />
*[http://www.uuacg.org Unitarian Universalists of Coastal Georgia]<br />
*[http://www.uucookeville.org Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cookeville]<br />
*[http://www.uucyakima.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Yakima]<br />
*[http://www.uufgc.org UU Fellowship of Greater Cumberland]<br />
*[http://www.uumuk.org The United Unitarian & Universalist Society of Mukwonago]<br />
*[http://www.uutryonnc.org Thermal Belt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
<br /><br />
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<br />
===[http://wordpress.org WordPress]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Designed principally for blogs, the basic package also supports standard web pages and a multi-level menu structure. It is easily extended through a "plug-in" interface to add support for podcasting and image galleries. Recent updates allow for a site that does not contain a blog on the opening page. Because of its popularity and flexibility, it is being used for multi-purpose and some general purpose websites. It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The WordPress product name is relatively new, but the product evolved directly from the b2 product which originated in 2001. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' WordPress is relatively easy to setup and understand. It is also a relatively mature and well maintained program. This has resulted in it being both very stable and web and accessibility standard compliant. The WordPress site provides extensive guidelines on how to improve and maintain accessibility. An extremely large collection of theme templates and plug-ins is available in the public domain and from custom developers. Themes are easily and quickly switched and customized from within the administrative interface. Non-blog pages and menus are relatively easy to create. The tabbed administrative interface opens on a dashboard which displays the system status and provides notices of upgrades from WordPress. Content is created and edited using an interactive WYSIWYG editor that allows tabbing between a formated presentation and direct HTML editing. The editor provides both auto-save backups during editing and spell checking. Edits can be saved to draft, or private, or published for public viewing. Its podcasting feed support exceeds those of other CMS offerings. It is common for web hosting services to supply their customers with a "one-button" installation for the WordPress application. A dedicated commercial hosting service option is available from [http://wordpress.com/ WordPress.com].<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' The program is designed and maintained to support the specific purpose of blogging. Congregations attempting to use it for broader purposes may encounter limitations (either immediately or in the future).<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://druumm.org/ DRUUMM: Diverse & Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries]<br />
*[http://hunterdonuu.org/ First Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hunterdon County]<br />
*[http://www.ucmh.org/ Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson]<br />
*[http://www.sportsmanila.com/uu/ Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/sermon/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Sermons]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/announce/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Announcements](uses the blog via e-mail function and a cron job to automatically post the announcements when they are e-mailed to the congregation. An auto-delete plug-in is installed so that only the current week's announcements are available.)<br />
<br />
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[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Content_Management_System&diff=8792Content Management System2010-11-05T03:33:43Z<p>JoyceD: /* [http://revoluution.com/products.php Revoluution Media CMS] */ added example though this will be changing soon</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
== Content Management Systems ==<br />
<br />
A Content Management System (CMS) is a system used to organize and facilitate creation and maintenance of documents and other content (in this case for a web site). They are designed to allow many people to directly contribute to the process. Contributors sign on to authenticate and their activities are both assisted and restricted by the system. To manage this, a CMS isolates the actions and effects of content creation and maintenance from other elements (layouts, styles, menus, etc.). <br />
<br />
Both Wiki's such as this and blogging sites use Content Management Systems. When a CMS is used for Church management, it is often referred to as a Church Management System, Church Management Software, or Church Ministry Software and often abbreviated as ChMS.<br /><br />
A more comprehensive description and additional details can be found at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system Wikipedia]. <br />
and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_management_software Church Management Software]<br />
<br />
'''Advantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* content can be added and maintained without "webmaster" skills<br />
* many people can contribute or collaborate using just their web browser<br />
* limits on what contributors can and can't do can be precisely defined<br />
* site layout, style and menus are unaffected during content editing work<br />
* content is unaffected during layout, style and menu modifications<br />
* standards and changes for layout, style and menus are applied universally<br />
* site mapping, indexing, site search and menu generation is automatic<br />
* web feed (RSS) syndication of content is usually automatic<br />
* media (images, audio, video, etc) presentation and management is easier to implement<br />
* member only features are easier to implement<br />
* member participation features are easier to implement<br />
* better for sites with many frequent changes, community and media features<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* can be more work to set up for a simple site<br />
* fine tuning the look of individual pages and elements is difficult and limited<br />
* CMS systems have their own menus and logic which users must understand<br />
* one or more people must act to administer the site and any other users<br />
* requires specific software to be present or added to the web server<br />
* your site will depend on the continuing availability and suitability of that specific software<br />
* CMS software will require occasional security maintenance and updating<br />
* usually requires some setup and configuration of a database on the web server<br />
* places greater processing demands on the web server <br />
* backup and recovery is more complicated when a database is involved <br />
* customization requires more specialized and less common skills<br />
* poor for relatively static sites with few changes and a single maintainer<br />
<br />
'''Installing:''' - Linux based web hosting services often offer a feature that can install a selection of several CMS with the click of a link or icon. Example services available through web host control panels include: Fantastico (cPanel), Installatron (cPanel, Plesk), 4psa (Plesk), CP Skins (cPanel), Helm. While these "one-click" installation services can ease installation, they sometimes do not provide secure or up-to-date software versions.<br />
<br />
'''Explore the CMS options at:'''<br />
* The website [http://www.cmsmatrix.org CMS Matrix] allows you to compare features on approximately 100 different CMS solutions. The "Search the Matrix" feature allows you to filter the list according to the features that you need for your site.<br />
* The website [http://www.opensourcecms.com Open Source CMS Systems] allows you to demo 40-50 LAMP-based Portals(CMS) and review the comments left by other visitors. ("LAMP" is an acronym for 'Linux-Apache-MySql-PHP' software.)<br />
<br /><br />
'''---Listed below are details for some CMS packages that churches use to build and maintain websites.'''<br /><br/><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/ CMS Made Simple]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' To get a simple CMS site up and start managing it is relatively simple. The product is described on its website as "simple enough to run family websites...." The standard installation provides a very friendly interface, a lot of guidance, explanations of CMS concepts, and such. This makes the product easier for the inexperienced to start working with. The CMS allows creation of web sites having good compliance with web and accessibility standards, but it does not enforce such standards. This CMS makes use of the preexisting SMARTY theme/template engine and the PHP and MySQL components. Work on this project began as a small in-house project in 2004. This is a relatively new product, with its first stable release being made available in 2006. It appears well regarded in CMS user and developer community. It earned added recognition in 2007 with a third place showing in the [http://www.packtpub.com/award/ Open Source CMS competition sponsored by Packt Publishing].<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' <br />
* very easy to make a hierarchical website<br />
* very nice administration interface, ordered by role and tasks<br />
* standard news module, RSS feeds, file and image managers, and WYSIWYG editor<br />
* module manager, allowing to download and install modules from the browser<br />
* many modules available<br />
* allows for different types of users with individual permissions, which is useful for allowing many people to edit portions of the site. <br />
'''Disadvantages:''' <br />
* inconsistent add-on modules (different ways of doing things)<br />
* lack of CMSMS functionality, a lot is borrowed from other OS software<br />
* WYSIWYG editor does not function very well. The formating is not consistent unless the content is created within CMSMS, and changes to the formatting do not apply consistently. The paste from Word function also does not function well. <br />
'''Update Dec. 2007'''<br />
With the release of Version 1.2.2 "Holetown" -- November 30, 2007 the WYSIWYG editor and other add-ons/modules have become more stable. The default editor is now [http://tinymce.moxiecode.com/ TinyMCE]. Pasting text from MSWord will remove formating except line breaks. The use of the word processer like buttons makes quick work of reformatting the content. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://bauuc.org/ Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/site/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin]<br />
* other denominations have congregations using it, but this Wiki is in need of more quality examples.<br />
<br /><br />
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<br />
===[http://contentor.net Contentor]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Contentor was designed for small to medium-sized web sites, typical of sites for/by small non-profit corporations or individuals. It was developed by a fellow UU, Earl Daniels.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
(this wiki entry is in need of a good example site)<br />
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
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<br />
===[http://drupal.org Drupal]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Implemented using relatively common [http://www.php.net/ PHP] and [http://www.mysql.com/ MySQL] resources. Originally developed for 'community' participation web sites where everyone in the community is able to contribute content. Today the program is being used for a wider range of uses, including online press ([http://progressive.org/ The Progressive], [http://www.theonion.com The Onion]), academic sites, media libraries, and galleries. It can be used both for sites with very limited access (just a few authors) or by a very expansive community of users and authors with different privileges. The project was started in the year 2000. While the most current release is version 6.x (became available Feb. 13,2008), version 5.x will for many months continue to be better supported by add-on packages. The 4.7.x version is no longer being supported.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Easy to create news items, single author and multi author documents, audio & video posts (podcasts), galleries (image collections), etc. The base program is highly compliant with both general [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). Many theme templates and lots of additional modules are freely available from the central Drupal community site. Common modules include kits which can be use to create custom content types and views. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using a choice of tunable editors. Regulation of user roles and privileges is very adjustable. Editing experience and viewing experience can be customized for different users. Content categorization and use of categorization is both flexible and pervasive. Technical support is available through an active user community on Drupal's community support site. A dedicated Drupal commercial hosting service option is available ([http://bryght.com/ Bryght Community content hosting]).<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Many of the contributed modules are not that reliable. The rapid advance of the Drupal core program (about one major version update a year) makes it easy to find your site is reliant on modules that have not been updated and may not get updated. Administration is done through same interface as is used for general site viewing (rather than a purpose specific back end interface). Strict enforcement of design and coding creates requirements that may pose difficulties for some trying to make customizations. Building a multi featured site requires the selection, installation, and maintenance of many third party modules. <br />
<br />
'''Features:'''<br />
* Number of user logins: at least one, but an unlimited number may be created<br />
* Registration: May be set to "anyone may register", "anyone may register, but must be approved by admin", or "no one may register". Various modules available to extend these options.<br />
* Separate file/page logins: no, everything is handled via a single login interface<br />
* Approx setup time: First time user, about 1/2 - 1 day. Experienced user, about 15 - 30 minutes.<br />
* Custom scripts allowed: Yes; may create "modules" to extend system-wide functionality, or may inject PHP directly into a page<br />
* Custom templates allowed: Yes; may create a custom "theme"<br />
* Number of templates available: A very large number. Many are listed on the [http://drupal.org/project/Themes Drupal themes page], and most of those are free.<br />
<br />
'''Major benefits:'''<br />
* Extremely customizable<br />
* Very large community - if you want to do something with Drupal, someone else has probably already done it<br />
* Many modules available for extending the core system<br />
* Extremely lightweight; does not require much server space or bandwidth, and is compatible with a wide variety of browsers<br />
<br />
'''Major drawbacks:'''<br />
* Requires some time and effort to learn<br />
* Too many modules - it can be difficult to find, assemble and maintain the modules you need<br />
<br />
'''Demo:'''<br />
[http://opensourcecms.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=132 OpenSourceCMS.com Demo site]<br />
<br />
To login as the admin, add a new page, and edit that page:<br />
1. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/?q=user<br />
2. Login with the administrative password (username admin, password demo)<br />
3. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/node/add/page<br />
4. Type in the page title, and some body text<br />
5. If you want, feel free to play with the various options which appear when you click "Comment settings", "Authoring information", and "Publishing options"; you can also change these later, by editing the page. <br />
6. Click Submit<br />
7. You should see the new page, with a button to edit it, if you want.<br />
8. To see the page as it would appear to a non-administrative user, copy the URL for the page somewhere convenient, go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/logout , and then go back to the page URL.<br />
<br />
Note: OpenSourceCMS.com occasionally wipes its demos clean - do not save precious work there!<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
* [http://www.md-dc-va-churches.org/ Baltimore, Washington, No. Virginia UUs]<br />
* [http://www.firstparishcambridge.org/ First Parish Cambridge]<br />
* [http://www.uumilwaukee.org/ First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee]<br />
* [http://follen.org/ Follen Church Society]<br />
* [http://gaiacommunity.org Gaia Community]<br />
* [http://www.lifenowradio.org/ Life Now Radio... UU + Drupal, but a podcast...not a church]<br />
* [https://www.psduua.org/prairiestore Prairie Star District's "Prairie Store"]<br />
* [http://rvuuf.org/ Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.uusc.org/ UUSC - Unitarian Universalist Service Committee]<br />
* [http://www.uuchurch.org/ University Unitarian Church (Seattle WA)]<br />
* [http://www.uuma.org/ UUMA - Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association]<br />
* [http://www.peterboroughunitarian.ca/ Unitarian Fellowship of Peterborough (Peterborough, Ontario)]<br />
* [http://www.uduuf.org/ Upper Delaware Unitarian Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.uuhaverhill.org/ Universalist Unitarian Church of Haverhill]<br />
<br />
* If you google "church drupal" you can also find quite a few churches of other denominations using it. -An example using a number of good design principles can be seen at the [http://bethlehem-church.org/ Bethlehem Lutheran Church]. A collected listing of [http://groups.drupal.org/node/2700/ Church Websites running Drupal] has been collected in the Churches group at groups.drupal.org.<br />
<br /><br />
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<br />
===[http://joomla.org/ Mambo/Joomla!]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (both Mambo and Joomla! use the [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Probably the most popular CMS. Listed together: Mambo and Joomla! share a common design heritage. In mid-2005 the Miro corporation set up a "Mambo Foundation" in an attempt to exert more control via their ownership of the trademark. This was strongly resisted by the Mambo developer community, which left en-masse and are continuing their development using the name "Joomla!". As these two programs continue development they are likely to become much more distinct and less able to share. Several web hosting services support installation through automated installation scripts or "one-button installs". It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The project was started in the year 2000.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Administration is done through a separate "back end" interface to avoid limitations of the "front end" interface used during normal site viewing and navigation. Administration interface has an graphic icon driven interface that makes use less intimidating for some. Theme templates and module extensions are easily loaded remotely since the interface accepts compressed modules remotely, transfers them, and unpacks on the server before loading them for use. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using the included editor. The popularity of the system has resulted in good availability of themes, extensions and experienced developers. Supports blogs, web feeds, multimedia, calendars, galleries, and podcasting through options and extensions. Administration interface and loose enforcement of constraints makes modification of theme templates easier than some other CMS.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Most new work seems to be taking the Joomla! fork. User reviews of the fall 2006 update to Mambo show comparatively high levels of user dissatisfaction. The older Joomla! 1.0 release is well established, but does not achieve compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). A new version 1.5 was released as "stable" on January 22, 2008. The 1.0 version used tables extensively for formatting non-table content. Improvements in these areas was a major objective of the 1.5 release of Joomla!. However, due to the large amount of design experience and extensions developed around Joomla! 1.0 and Mambo, it is not clear how readily the improvements provided by version Joomla! 1.5 could be implemented.<br />
<br />
'''Interest list:''' There is a Google group for conversation about using Joomla for UU congregations at * [http://groups.google.com/group/uu-joomla]<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br /><br />
''Mambo:''<br />
* [http://www.ucsummit.org The Unitarian Church in Summit (New Jersey)]<br />
* [http://www.ccny.org The Community Church of New York Unitarian Universalist in Manhattan (New York)]<br />
''Joomla!:''<br />
* [http://uucyf.org/ The Church of the Younger Fellowship]<br />
* [http://cmwd-uuyan.org/ Central Midwest District Young Adult Network]<br />
* [http://www.firstparish.org/ First Parish in Concord]<br />
* [http://wrighttavern.org/ Wright Tavern Center for Spiritual Renewal]<br />
* [http://fuucsl.org/ First UU Church of Second Life]<br />
* [http://www.jruuc.org/ James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Congregation]<br />
* [http://www.mmuus.org/ May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
* [http://www.tjuc.org/ Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church]<br />
* [http://www.uucj.com/ Universalist Unitarian Church of Joliet]<br />
* [http://www.uuventura.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura]<br />
* [http://www.uu-uno.org/ Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office]<br />
* [http://uubedford.org/ First Parish in Bedford UU]<br />
* [http://uuaa.org First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor]<br />
* [http://www.fvuuf.org/ Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Appleton, WI]<br />
<br />
THE FOLLOWING USE JOOMLA (as of August 2009)<br />
<br />
* [http://www.auuf.net/ Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://uumia.org/ UU Congregation of Miami]<br />
* [http://www.uuvoiceswa.org/ Washington State UU Voices for Justice]<br />
* [http://www.allsoulsuu.org/ All Souls UU Church, Watertown, NY]<br />
* [http://www.uuprinceton.org/ UU Congregation of Princeton]<br />
* [http://www.cuucsa.org/ Community UU Church, San Antonio TX]<br />
* [http://www.uulmnj.org/ UULM New Jersey]<br />
* [http://www.firstuucolumbus.org/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus, OH - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.uufg.org/ UU Fellowship of Gainesville (FL) - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://necluster.uufg.org/ Northeast Cluster of the Florida District - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.cmwd-uua.org/ Central Midwest District - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.uuwr.org/ UU Women and Religion - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.cakesforthequeenofheaven.org/ Cakes for the Queen of Heaven curriculum - formerly used WordPress - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.margaretfuller.org/ Margaret Fuller Bicentennial - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.womenandreligion.org/ Central Midwest District Women and Religion - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.jpdwr.org/ Joseph Priestley District Women and Religion - Joomla 1.0]<br />
* [http://www.emerginguu.org/ CMwD Emerging UU congregations - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.midwestuuleadership.org/ CMwD-Heartland-Prairie Star Districts leadership - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.buuf2.org/ Berrien UU Fellowship, St. Joseph, Michigan - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.neshobauu.org/ Neshoba Unitarian Universalist Church, Cordova, Tennessee - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://communitychurchuuu.org/ Community Church Unitarian Universalist, New Orleans, LA]<br />
* [http://gnou.org/ Greater New Orleans UUs, New Orleans LA]<br />
* [http://fussonline.org/ First Unitarian Society of Schenectady, NY - Joomla 1.5]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.phpwebsitemanual.com/ phpWebSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Free (GPL)<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Allows separate password protected areas for different site editors. Has a lot of forum features built in.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Set up does not contain user-friendly instructions; instructions are found elsewhere. Design flexibility is limited.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
*[http://www.uusj.org/ Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://plone.org Plone®]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE: ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Plone is a ready-to-run content management system that is built on the powerful and free [http://zope.org Zope®] application server. Plone provides a system for managing web content that is suitable for project groups, communities, web sites, extranets and intranets. Zope is a full web application environment using its own transactional object database and programmed in the full featured, object oriented, [http://python.org Python] scripting language. The project was started in the year 1999.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' It is easy to create events, news items, new documents, photos, and other files. It uses both HTML and an easy to use Structured Text for those who are unfamiliar with website design. It has many add-on products that extend features available. It has a very flexible security/permissions structure which allows people and groups with different roles to have control over different aspects and different parts of the site. Plone can manage custom content types. Plone delivers excellent compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508]). It can be set up to run on many different types of web servers (Linux, Windows, Mac, BSD etc.) A large developer community, and commercial support is available. <br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Plone will generally require a specialized web host or virtual web server due to its use of [http://zope.org Zope] rather than Apache, PHP and MySQL. It is resource-hungry on the server. It requires over 75 MB RAM dedicated to your site which tends to cost from $15 to $40/month. It will require much more learning by the webmaster about how to back up the custom database, how to combine with Apache for speed and web access logs, etc. For more insights, see http://plone.org/documentation/faq/is-plone-for-me<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.firstunitarianportland.org/ First Unitarian Church of Portland]<br />
*[http://www.spindletopuu.org/ Spindletop Unitarian Church]<br />
*[http://www.uufws.net/ Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem]<br />
<br />
To try it out, create your own free site at http://www.objectis.org/ or create your own account at a Plone-based community site like http://plone.org/ For more flexible production hosting, you might look at http://interlix.com, or http://quintagroup.com<br />
<br /><br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://revoluution.com/products.php Revoluution Media CMS]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary - by arrangement with "Revoluution Media"<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' "Revoluution Media" builds web sites and provides CMS site software for a number of Unitarian Universalist entities. The vendor website claims its own CMS is "fully integrated and easy-to-use" and that it "will allow anyone to update the page content of your site- without resorting to a slow or expensive webmaster". The coding technologies visible on example websites include XHTML, CSS, PHP, and Javascript.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Vendor assistance and support. Vendor offers an integrated service package. The vendor has experience serving a number of other Unitarian Universalist communities. System can be optimized for a small user base.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Costs associated with vendor service. Dependencies associated with a single vendor solutions. System has a small user base to test system operation and to support addition and refinement of features.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
* [http://www.jpduua.org/ Joseph Priestley District]<br />
<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://sourceforge.net/projects/tmakesite Thetaworld MakeSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' a custom open source license.<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' From the Project Page on SourceForge: Thetaworld MakeSite is an offline Content Management System for static pages based on PostgreSQL, Perl, Gedafe and web GUI. It supports Links Catalog similar to Yahoo, multi categories, pages, different publishing targets and online e-commerce shop.. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Relatively simple and efficient in operation.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is. Limited in features with little apparent prospect for evolution. No apparent maintenance since December 2005. Uses/Requires some less common (but publicly licensed) web components.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://palouseuu.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse (Moscow, Idaho)]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://typo3.com/ TYPO3 CMS]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License, GPLv3])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' The conventional wisdom is that this is a full featured and well regarded program well suited for large organizations and those having the background and time available to master it. It is not as well suited for simpler web sites and not for web novices. Three descriptive quotes from the TYPO3 website: <br />
*"TYPO3 is a content management system for enterprise purposes on the web and in intranets. It offers full flexibility and extendability while featuring an accomplished set of ready-made interfaces, functions and modules." <br />
*"Whether you are looking to manage content in a large corporation, university, non-profit organization or a small business, we can provide you with an enterprise-level solution that meets your needs." <br />
*"TYPO3 is a small to midsize enterprise-class Content Management Framework offering the best of both worlds: out-of-the-box operation with a complete set of standard modules and a clean and sturdy high-performance architecture accomodating virtually every kind of custom solution or extension."<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' The program can scale up to fit a large enterprise operation. <br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' The program has a reputation for having a steeper learning curve than most of the alternatives listed here.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
*[http://www.rruuc.org/ River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation (Bethesda, MD)]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/ UU Web Template project]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE - at least for UU organizations (the [http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/license/license.txt license] says it is [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ Creative Commons by-nc-sa] but also "Any [non-UU] use requires permission." so that isn't clear....)<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' The term template may be a bit misleading. These file sets create a scripted (PHP) interface, a choice of two visual themes and a standard set of church web pages. It provides a user interface allowing authorized users to login to the site from any web browser. Once logged in, the authorized user can create content, perform basic maintenance, and extend the page and menu content without any web editing tools. New as of May 2006; the specs for future versions are being considered to improve it. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' The UU Web Templates are designed and prepared specifically for use by UU congregations needing to create a first web site and should allow a quick and low cost launch. The UU Web Templates can also be used as an add-on or for use in re-design of a site. The project is supported by fellow UUs so the community is limited, but shares a lot of common knowledge. There is an email list to communicate with the other users. The simplicity of the design allows the templates to function on both Linux/Unix and Windows web servers. The templates do not require the complexity of a database setup and maintenance.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' A limited selection of styles and color schemes are built into the design. Limitations on the degree to which a site can be extended. There is currently no support for "Web 2.0" features such as media, community/social networking and blogs. The constraints of a small community of users may create some difficulties in maintaining and growing the application. Unspecified problems have been reported.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.allsoulsbraintree.org All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church of Braintree]<br />
*[http://www.cvuus.org Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
*[http://www.luuna.net LUUNA - Latino(a) Unitarian Universalist Networking Association]<br />
*[http://www.oaklandonuu.org Oaklandon Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.rutlanduu.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Rutland]<br />
*[http://www.secondparish.org Second Parish - Unitarian Universalist]<br />
*[http://www.uuacg.org Unitarian Universalists of Coastal Georgia]<br />
*[http://www.uucookeville.org Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cookeville]<br />
*[http://www.uucyakima.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Yakima]<br />
*[http://www.uufgc.org UU Fellowship of Greater Cumberland]<br />
*[http://www.uumuk.org The United Unitarian & Universalist Society of Mukwonago]<br />
*[http://www.uutryonnc.org Thermal Belt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://wordpress.org WordPress]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Designed principally for blogs, the basic package also supports standard web pages and a multi-level menu structure. It is easily extended through a "plug-in" interface to add support for podcasting and image galleries. Recent updates allow for a site that does not contain a blog on the opening page. Because of its popularity and flexibility, it is being used for multi-purpose and some general purpose websites. It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The WordPress product name is relatively new, but the product evolved directly from the b2 product which originated in 2001. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' WordPress is relatively easy to setup and understand. It is also a relatively mature and well maintained program. This has resulted in it being both very stable and web and accessibility standard compliant. The WordPress site provides extensive guidelines on how to improve and maintain accessibility. An extremely large collection of theme templates and plug-ins is available in the public domain and from custom developers. Themes are easily and quickly switched and customized from within the administrative interface. Non-blog pages and menus are relatively easy to create. The tabbed administrative interface opens on a dashboard which displays the system status and provides notices of upgrades from WordPress. Content is created and edited using an interactive WYSIWYG editor that allows tabbing between a formated presentation and direct HTML editing. The editor provides both auto-save backups during editing and spell checking. Edits can be saved to draft, or private, or published for public viewing. Its podcasting feed support exceeds those of other CMS offerings. It is common for web hosting services to supply their customers with a "one-button" installation for the WordPress application. A dedicated commercial hosting service option is available from [http://wordpress.com/ WordPress.com].<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' The program is designed and maintained to support the specific purpose of blogging. Congregations attempting to use it for broader purposes may encounter limitations (either immediately or in the future).<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://druumm.org/ DRUUMM: Diverse & Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries]<br />
*[http://hunterdonuu.org/ First Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hunterdon County]<br />
*[http://www.ucmh.org/ Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson]<br />
*[http://www.sportsmanila.com/uu/ Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/sermon/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Sermons]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/announce/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Announcements](uses the blog via e-mail function and a cron job to automatically post the announcements when they are e-mailed to the congregation. An auto-delete plug-in is installed so that only the current week's announcements are available.)<br />
<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Content_Management_System&diff=8791Content Management System2010-11-05T03:30:36Z<p>JoyceD: /* Content Management Systems */ deleted old systems no longer available with current update</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
== Content Management Systems ==<br />
<br />
A Content Management System (CMS) is a system used to organize and facilitate creation and maintenance of documents and other content (in this case for a web site). They are designed to allow many people to directly contribute to the process. Contributors sign on to authenticate and their activities are both assisted and restricted by the system. To manage this, a CMS isolates the actions and effects of content creation and maintenance from other elements (layouts, styles, menus, etc.). <br />
<br />
Both Wiki's such as this and blogging sites use Content Management Systems. When a CMS is used for Church management, it is often referred to as a Church Management System, Church Management Software, or Church Ministry Software and often abbreviated as ChMS.<br /><br />
A more comprehensive description and additional details can be found at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system Wikipedia]. <br />
and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_management_software Church Management Software]<br />
<br />
'''Advantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* content can be added and maintained without "webmaster" skills<br />
* many people can contribute or collaborate using just their web browser<br />
* limits on what contributors can and can't do can be precisely defined<br />
* site layout, style and menus are unaffected during content editing work<br />
* content is unaffected during layout, style and menu modifications<br />
* standards and changes for layout, style and menus are applied universally<br />
* site mapping, indexing, site search and menu generation is automatic<br />
* web feed (RSS) syndication of content is usually automatic<br />
* media (images, audio, video, etc) presentation and management is easier to implement<br />
* member only features are easier to implement<br />
* member participation features are easier to implement<br />
* better for sites with many frequent changes, community and media features<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* can be more work to set up for a simple site<br />
* fine tuning the look of individual pages and elements is difficult and limited<br />
* CMS systems have their own menus and logic which users must understand<br />
* one or more people must act to administer the site and any other users<br />
* requires specific software to be present or added to the web server<br />
* your site will depend on the continuing availability and suitability of that specific software<br />
* CMS software will require occasional security maintenance and updating<br />
* usually requires some setup and configuration of a database on the web server<br />
* places greater processing demands on the web server <br />
* backup and recovery is more complicated when a database is involved <br />
* customization requires more specialized and less common skills<br />
* poor for relatively static sites with few changes and a single maintainer<br />
<br />
'''Installing:''' - Linux based web hosting services often offer a feature that can install a selection of several CMS with the click of a link or icon. Example services available through web host control panels include: Fantastico (cPanel), Installatron (cPanel, Plesk), 4psa (Plesk), CP Skins (cPanel), Helm. While these "one-click" installation services can ease installation, they sometimes do not provide secure or up-to-date software versions.<br />
<br />
'''Explore the CMS options at:'''<br />
* The website [http://www.cmsmatrix.org CMS Matrix] allows you to compare features on approximately 100 different CMS solutions. The "Search the Matrix" feature allows you to filter the list according to the features that you need for your site.<br />
* The website [http://www.opensourcecms.com Open Source CMS Systems] allows you to demo 40-50 LAMP-based Portals(CMS) and review the comments left by other visitors. ("LAMP" is an acronym for 'Linux-Apache-MySql-PHP' software.)<br />
<br /><br />
'''---Listed below are details for some CMS packages that churches use to build and maintain websites.'''<br /><br/><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/ CMS Made Simple]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' To get a simple CMS site up and start managing it is relatively simple. The product is described on its website as "simple enough to run family websites...." The standard installation provides a very friendly interface, a lot of guidance, explanations of CMS concepts, and such. This makes the product easier for the inexperienced to start working with. The CMS allows creation of web sites having good compliance with web and accessibility standards, but it does not enforce such standards. This CMS makes use of the preexisting SMARTY theme/template engine and the PHP and MySQL components. Work on this project began as a small in-house project in 2004. This is a relatively new product, with its first stable release being made available in 2006. It appears well regarded in CMS user and developer community. It earned added recognition in 2007 with a third place showing in the [http://www.packtpub.com/award/ Open Source CMS competition sponsored by Packt Publishing].<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' <br />
* very easy to make a hierarchical website<br />
* very nice administration interface, ordered by role and tasks<br />
* standard news module, RSS feeds, file and image managers, and WYSIWYG editor<br />
* module manager, allowing to download and install modules from the browser<br />
* many modules available<br />
* allows for different types of users with individual permissions, which is useful for allowing many people to edit portions of the site. <br />
'''Disadvantages:''' <br />
* inconsistent add-on modules (different ways of doing things)<br />
* lack of CMSMS functionality, a lot is borrowed from other OS software<br />
* WYSIWYG editor does not function very well. The formating is not consistent unless the content is created within CMSMS, and changes to the formatting do not apply consistently. The paste from Word function also does not function well. <br />
'''Update Dec. 2007'''<br />
With the release of Version 1.2.2 "Holetown" -- November 30, 2007 the WYSIWYG editor and other add-ons/modules have become more stable. The default editor is now [http://tinymce.moxiecode.com/ TinyMCE]. Pasting text from MSWord will remove formating except line breaks. The use of the word processer like buttons makes quick work of reformatting the content. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://bauuc.org/ Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/site/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin]<br />
* other denominations have congregations using it, but this Wiki is in need of more quality examples.<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://contentor.net Contentor]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Contentor was designed for small to medium-sized web sites, typical of sites for/by small non-profit corporations or individuals. It was developed by a fellow UU, Earl Daniels.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
(this wiki entry is in need of a good example site)<br />
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://drupal.org Drupal]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Implemented using relatively common [http://www.php.net/ PHP] and [http://www.mysql.com/ MySQL] resources. Originally developed for 'community' participation web sites where everyone in the community is able to contribute content. Today the program is being used for a wider range of uses, including online press ([http://progressive.org/ The Progressive], [http://www.theonion.com The Onion]), academic sites, media libraries, and galleries. It can be used both for sites with very limited access (just a few authors) or by a very expansive community of users and authors with different privileges. The project was started in the year 2000. While the most current release is version 6.x (became available Feb. 13,2008), version 5.x will for many months continue to be better supported by add-on packages. The 4.7.x version is no longer being supported.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Easy to create news items, single author and multi author documents, audio & video posts (podcasts), galleries (image collections), etc. The base program is highly compliant with both general [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). Many theme templates and lots of additional modules are freely available from the central Drupal community site. Common modules include kits which can be use to create custom content types and views. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using a choice of tunable editors. Regulation of user roles and privileges is very adjustable. Editing experience and viewing experience can be customized for different users. Content categorization and use of categorization is both flexible and pervasive. Technical support is available through an active user community on Drupal's community support site. A dedicated Drupal commercial hosting service option is available ([http://bryght.com/ Bryght Community content hosting]).<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Many of the contributed modules are not that reliable. The rapid advance of the Drupal core program (about one major version update a year) makes it easy to find your site is reliant on modules that have not been updated and may not get updated. Administration is done through same interface as is used for general site viewing (rather than a purpose specific back end interface). Strict enforcement of design and coding creates requirements that may pose difficulties for some trying to make customizations. Building a multi featured site requires the selection, installation, and maintenance of many third party modules. <br />
<br />
'''Features:'''<br />
* Number of user logins: at least one, but an unlimited number may be created<br />
* Registration: May be set to "anyone may register", "anyone may register, but must be approved by admin", or "no one may register". Various modules available to extend these options.<br />
* Separate file/page logins: no, everything is handled via a single login interface<br />
* Approx setup time: First time user, about 1/2 - 1 day. Experienced user, about 15 - 30 minutes.<br />
* Custom scripts allowed: Yes; may create "modules" to extend system-wide functionality, or may inject PHP directly into a page<br />
* Custom templates allowed: Yes; may create a custom "theme"<br />
* Number of templates available: A very large number. Many are listed on the [http://drupal.org/project/Themes Drupal themes page], and most of those are free.<br />
<br />
'''Major benefits:'''<br />
* Extremely customizable<br />
* Very large community - if you want to do something with Drupal, someone else has probably already done it<br />
* Many modules available for extending the core system<br />
* Extremely lightweight; does not require much server space or bandwidth, and is compatible with a wide variety of browsers<br />
<br />
'''Major drawbacks:'''<br />
* Requires some time and effort to learn<br />
* Too many modules - it can be difficult to find, assemble and maintain the modules you need<br />
<br />
'''Demo:'''<br />
[http://opensourcecms.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=132 OpenSourceCMS.com Demo site]<br />
<br />
To login as the admin, add a new page, and edit that page:<br />
1. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/?q=user<br />
2. Login with the administrative password (username admin, password demo)<br />
3. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/node/add/page<br />
4. Type in the page title, and some body text<br />
5. If you want, feel free to play with the various options which appear when you click "Comment settings", "Authoring information", and "Publishing options"; you can also change these later, by editing the page. <br />
6. Click Submit<br />
7. You should see the new page, with a button to edit it, if you want.<br />
8. To see the page as it would appear to a non-administrative user, copy the URL for the page somewhere convenient, go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/logout , and then go back to the page URL.<br />
<br />
Note: OpenSourceCMS.com occasionally wipes its demos clean - do not save precious work there!<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
* [http://www.md-dc-va-churches.org/ Baltimore, Washington, No. Virginia UUs]<br />
* [http://www.firstparishcambridge.org/ First Parish Cambridge]<br />
* [http://www.uumilwaukee.org/ First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee]<br />
* [http://follen.org/ Follen Church Society]<br />
* [http://gaiacommunity.org Gaia Community]<br />
* [http://www.lifenowradio.org/ Life Now Radio... UU + Drupal, but a podcast...not a church]<br />
* [https://www.psduua.org/prairiestore Prairie Star District's "Prairie Store"]<br />
* [http://rvuuf.org/ Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.uusc.org/ UUSC - Unitarian Universalist Service Committee]<br />
* [http://www.uuchurch.org/ University Unitarian Church (Seattle WA)]<br />
* [http://www.uuma.org/ UUMA - Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association]<br />
* [http://www.peterboroughunitarian.ca/ Unitarian Fellowship of Peterborough (Peterborough, Ontario)]<br />
* [http://www.uduuf.org/ Upper Delaware Unitarian Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.uuhaverhill.org/ Universalist Unitarian Church of Haverhill]<br />
<br />
* If you google "church drupal" you can also find quite a few churches of other denominations using it. -An example using a number of good design principles can be seen at the [http://bethlehem-church.org/ Bethlehem Lutheran Church]. A collected listing of [http://groups.drupal.org/node/2700/ Church Websites running Drupal] has been collected in the Churches group at groups.drupal.org.<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://joomla.org/ Mambo/Joomla!]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (both Mambo and Joomla! use the [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Probably the most popular CMS. Listed together: Mambo and Joomla! share a common design heritage. In mid-2005 the Miro corporation set up a "Mambo Foundation" in an attempt to exert more control via their ownership of the trademark. This was strongly resisted by the Mambo developer community, which left en-masse and are continuing their development using the name "Joomla!". As these two programs continue development they are likely to become much more distinct and less able to share. Several web hosting services support installation through automated installation scripts or "one-button installs". It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The project was started in the year 2000.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Administration is done through a separate "back end" interface to avoid limitations of the "front end" interface used during normal site viewing and navigation. Administration interface has an graphic icon driven interface that makes use less intimidating for some. Theme templates and module extensions are easily loaded remotely since the interface accepts compressed modules remotely, transfers them, and unpacks on the server before loading them for use. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using the included editor. The popularity of the system has resulted in good availability of themes, extensions and experienced developers. Supports blogs, web feeds, multimedia, calendars, galleries, and podcasting through options and extensions. Administration interface and loose enforcement of constraints makes modification of theme templates easier than some other CMS.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Most new work seems to be taking the Joomla! fork. User reviews of the fall 2006 update to Mambo show comparatively high levels of user dissatisfaction. The older Joomla! 1.0 release is well established, but does not achieve compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). A new version 1.5 was released as "stable" on January 22, 2008. The 1.0 version used tables extensively for formatting non-table content. Improvements in these areas was a major objective of the 1.5 release of Joomla!. However, due to the large amount of design experience and extensions developed around Joomla! 1.0 and Mambo, it is not clear how readily the improvements provided by version Joomla! 1.5 could be implemented.<br />
<br />
'''Interest list:''' There is a Google group for conversation about using Joomla for UU congregations at * [http://groups.google.com/group/uu-joomla]<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br /><br />
''Mambo:''<br />
* [http://www.ucsummit.org The Unitarian Church in Summit (New Jersey)]<br />
* [http://www.ccny.org The Community Church of New York Unitarian Universalist in Manhattan (New York)]<br />
''Joomla!:''<br />
* [http://uucyf.org/ The Church of the Younger Fellowship]<br />
* [http://cmwd-uuyan.org/ Central Midwest District Young Adult Network]<br />
* [http://www.firstparish.org/ First Parish in Concord]<br />
* [http://wrighttavern.org/ Wright Tavern Center for Spiritual Renewal]<br />
* [http://fuucsl.org/ First UU Church of Second Life]<br />
* [http://www.jruuc.org/ James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Congregation]<br />
* [http://www.mmuus.org/ May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
* [http://www.tjuc.org/ Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church]<br />
* [http://www.uucj.com/ Universalist Unitarian Church of Joliet]<br />
* [http://www.uuventura.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura]<br />
* [http://www.uu-uno.org/ Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office]<br />
* [http://uubedford.org/ First Parish in Bedford UU]<br />
* [http://uuaa.org First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor]<br />
* [http://www.fvuuf.org/ Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Appleton, WI]<br />
<br />
THE FOLLOWING USE JOOMLA (as of August 2009)<br />
<br />
* [http://www.auuf.net/ Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://uumia.org/ UU Congregation of Miami]<br />
* [http://www.uuvoiceswa.org/ Washington State UU Voices for Justice]<br />
* [http://www.allsoulsuu.org/ All Souls UU Church, Watertown, NY]<br />
* [http://www.uuprinceton.org/ UU Congregation of Princeton]<br />
* [http://www.cuucsa.org/ Community UU Church, San Antonio TX]<br />
* [http://www.uulmnj.org/ UULM New Jersey]<br />
* [http://www.firstuucolumbus.org/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus, OH - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.uufg.org/ UU Fellowship of Gainesville (FL) - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://necluster.uufg.org/ Northeast Cluster of the Florida District - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.cmwd-uua.org/ Central Midwest District - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.uuwr.org/ UU Women and Religion - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.cakesforthequeenofheaven.org/ Cakes for the Queen of Heaven curriculum - formerly used WordPress - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.margaretfuller.org/ Margaret Fuller Bicentennial - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.womenandreligion.org/ Central Midwest District Women and Religion - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.jpdwr.org/ Joseph Priestley District Women and Religion - Joomla 1.0]<br />
* [http://www.emerginguu.org/ CMwD Emerging UU congregations - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.midwestuuleadership.org/ CMwD-Heartland-Prairie Star Districts leadership - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.buuf2.org/ Berrien UU Fellowship, St. Joseph, Michigan - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.neshobauu.org/ Neshoba Unitarian Universalist Church, Cordova, Tennessee - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://communitychurchuuu.org/ Community Church Unitarian Universalist, New Orleans, LA]<br />
* [http://gnou.org/ Greater New Orleans UUs, New Orleans LA]<br />
* [http://fussonline.org/ First Unitarian Society of Schenectady, NY - Joomla 1.5]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.phpwebsitemanual.com/ phpWebSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Free (GPL)<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Allows separate password protected areas for different site editors. Has a lot of forum features built in.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Set up does not contain user-friendly instructions; instructions are found elsewhere. Design flexibility is limited.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
*[http://www.uusj.org/ Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://plone.org Plone®]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE: ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Plone is a ready-to-run content management system that is built on the powerful and free [http://zope.org Zope®] application server. Plone provides a system for managing web content that is suitable for project groups, communities, web sites, extranets and intranets. Zope is a full web application environment using its own transactional object database and programmed in the full featured, object oriented, [http://python.org Python] scripting language. The project was started in the year 1999.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' It is easy to create events, news items, new documents, photos, and other files. It uses both HTML and an easy to use Structured Text for those who are unfamiliar with website design. It has many add-on products that extend features available. It has a very flexible security/permissions structure which allows people and groups with different roles to have control over different aspects and different parts of the site. Plone can manage custom content types. Plone delivers excellent compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508]). It can be set up to run on many different types of web servers (Linux, Windows, Mac, BSD etc.) A large developer community, and commercial support is available. <br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Plone will generally require a specialized web host or virtual web server due to its use of [http://zope.org Zope] rather than Apache, PHP and MySQL. It is resource-hungry on the server. It requires over 75 MB RAM dedicated to your site which tends to cost from $15 to $40/month. It will require much more learning by the webmaster about how to back up the custom database, how to combine with Apache for speed and web access logs, etc. For more insights, see http://plone.org/documentation/faq/is-plone-for-me<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.firstunitarianportland.org/ First Unitarian Church of Portland]<br />
*[http://www.spindletopuu.org/ Spindletop Unitarian Church]<br />
*[http://www.uufws.net/ Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem]<br />
<br />
To try it out, create your own free site at http://www.objectis.org/ or create your own account at a Plone-based community site like http://plone.org/ For more flexible production hosting, you might look at http://interlix.com, or http://quintagroup.com<br />
<br /><br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://revoluution.com/products.php Revoluution Media CMS]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary - by arrangement with "Revoluution Media"<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' "Revoluution Media" builds web sites and provides CMS site software for a number of Unitarian Universalist entities. The vendor website claims its own CMS is "fully integrated and easy-to-use" and that it "will allow anyone to update the page content of your site- without resorting to a slow or expensive webmaster". The coding technologies visible on example websites include XHTML, CSS, PHP, and Javascript.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Vendor assistance and support. Vendor offers an integrated service package. The vendor has experience serving a number of other Unitarian Universalist communities. System can be optimized for a small user base.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Costs associated with vendor service. Dependencies associated with a single vendor solutions. System has a small user base to test system operation and to support addition and refinement of features.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
(this wiki entry is in need of a good example site) <br />
<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://sourceforge.net/projects/tmakesite Thetaworld MakeSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' a custom open source license.<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' From the Project Page on SourceForge: Thetaworld MakeSite is an offline Content Management System for static pages based on PostgreSQL, Perl, Gedafe and web GUI. It supports Links Catalog similar to Yahoo, multi categories, pages, different publishing targets and online e-commerce shop.. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Relatively simple and efficient in operation.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is. Limited in features with little apparent prospect for evolution. No apparent maintenance since December 2005. Uses/Requires some less common (but publicly licensed) web components.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://palouseuu.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse (Moscow, Idaho)]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://typo3.com/ TYPO3 CMS]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License, GPLv3])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' The conventional wisdom is that this is a full featured and well regarded program well suited for large organizations and those having the background and time available to master it. It is not as well suited for simpler web sites and not for web novices. Three descriptive quotes from the TYPO3 website: <br />
*"TYPO3 is a content management system for enterprise purposes on the web and in intranets. It offers full flexibility and extendability while featuring an accomplished set of ready-made interfaces, functions and modules." <br />
*"Whether you are looking to manage content in a large corporation, university, non-profit organization or a small business, we can provide you with an enterprise-level solution that meets your needs." <br />
*"TYPO3 is a small to midsize enterprise-class Content Management Framework offering the best of both worlds: out-of-the-box operation with a complete set of standard modules and a clean and sturdy high-performance architecture accomodating virtually every kind of custom solution or extension."<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' The program can scale up to fit a large enterprise operation. <br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' The program has a reputation for having a steeper learning curve than most of the alternatives listed here.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
*[http://www.rruuc.org/ River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation (Bethesda, MD)]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/ UU Web Template project]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE - at least for UU organizations (the [http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/license/license.txt license] says it is [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ Creative Commons by-nc-sa] but also "Any [non-UU] use requires permission." so that isn't clear....)<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' The term template may be a bit misleading. These file sets create a scripted (PHP) interface, a choice of two visual themes and a standard set of church web pages. It provides a user interface allowing authorized users to login to the site from any web browser. Once logged in, the authorized user can create content, perform basic maintenance, and extend the page and menu content without any web editing tools. New as of May 2006; the specs for future versions are being considered to improve it. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' The UU Web Templates are designed and prepared specifically for use by UU congregations needing to create a first web site and should allow a quick and low cost launch. The UU Web Templates can also be used as an add-on or for use in re-design of a site. The project is supported by fellow UUs so the community is limited, but shares a lot of common knowledge. There is an email list to communicate with the other users. The simplicity of the design allows the templates to function on both Linux/Unix and Windows web servers. The templates do not require the complexity of a database setup and maintenance.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' A limited selection of styles and color schemes are built into the design. Limitations on the degree to which a site can be extended. There is currently no support for "Web 2.0" features such as media, community/social networking and blogs. The constraints of a small community of users may create some difficulties in maintaining and growing the application. Unspecified problems have been reported.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.allsoulsbraintree.org All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church of Braintree]<br />
*[http://www.cvuus.org Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
*[http://www.luuna.net LUUNA - Latino(a) Unitarian Universalist Networking Association]<br />
*[http://www.oaklandonuu.org Oaklandon Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.rutlanduu.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Rutland]<br />
*[http://www.secondparish.org Second Parish - Unitarian Universalist]<br />
*[http://www.uuacg.org Unitarian Universalists of Coastal Georgia]<br />
*[http://www.uucookeville.org Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cookeville]<br />
*[http://www.uucyakima.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Yakima]<br />
*[http://www.uufgc.org UU Fellowship of Greater Cumberland]<br />
*[http://www.uumuk.org The United Unitarian & Universalist Society of Mukwonago]<br />
*[http://www.uutryonnc.org Thermal Belt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://wordpress.org WordPress]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Designed principally for blogs, the basic package also supports standard web pages and a multi-level menu structure. It is easily extended through a "plug-in" interface to add support for podcasting and image galleries. Recent updates allow for a site that does not contain a blog on the opening page. Because of its popularity and flexibility, it is being used for multi-purpose and some general purpose websites. It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The WordPress product name is relatively new, but the product evolved directly from the b2 product which originated in 2001. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' WordPress is relatively easy to setup and understand. It is also a relatively mature and well maintained program. This has resulted in it being both very stable and web and accessibility standard compliant. The WordPress site provides extensive guidelines on how to improve and maintain accessibility. An extremely large collection of theme templates and plug-ins is available in the public domain and from custom developers. Themes are easily and quickly switched and customized from within the administrative interface. Non-blog pages and menus are relatively easy to create. The tabbed administrative interface opens on a dashboard which displays the system status and provides notices of upgrades from WordPress. Content is created and edited using an interactive WYSIWYG editor that allows tabbing between a formated presentation and direct HTML editing. The editor provides both auto-save backups during editing and spell checking. Edits can be saved to draft, or private, or published for public viewing. Its podcasting feed support exceeds those of other CMS offerings. It is common for web hosting services to supply their customers with a "one-button" installation for the WordPress application. A dedicated commercial hosting service option is available from [http://wordpress.com/ WordPress.com].<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' The program is designed and maintained to support the specific purpose of blogging. Congregations attempting to use it for broader purposes may encounter limitations (either immediately or in the future).<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://druumm.org/ DRUUMM: Diverse & Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries]<br />
*[http://hunterdonuu.org/ First Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hunterdon County]<br />
*[http://www.ucmh.org/ Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson]<br />
*[http://www.sportsmanila.com/uu/ Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/sermon/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Sermons]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/announce/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Announcements](uses the blog via e-mail function and a cron job to automatically post the announcements when they are e-mailed to the congregation. An auto-delete plug-in is installed so that only the current week's announcements are available.)<br />
<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Content_Management_System&diff=8758Content Management System2010-07-01T20:43:20Z<p>JoyceD: /* [http://joomla.org/ Mambo/Joomla!] */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
== Content Management Systems ==<br />
<br />
A Content Management System (CMS) is a system used to organize and facilitate creation and maintenance of documents and other content (in this case for a web site). They are designed to allow many people to directly contribute to the process. Contributors sign on to authenticate and their activities are both assisted and restricted by the system. To manage this, a CMS isolates the actions and effects of content creation and maintenance from other elements (layouts, styles, menus, etc.). <br />
<br />
Both Wiki's such as this and blogging sites use Content Management Systems. When a CMS is used for Church management, it is often referred to as a Church Management System, Church Management Software, or Church Ministry Software and often abbreviated as ChMS.<br /><br />
A more comprehensive description and additional details can be found at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system Wikipedia]. <br />
and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_management_software Church Management Software]<br />
<br />
'''Advantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* content can be added and maintained without "webmaster" skills<br />
* many people can contribute or collaborate using just their web browser<br />
* limits on what contributors can and can't do can be precisely defined<br />
* site layout, style and menus are unaffected during content editing work<br />
* content is unaffected during layout, style and menu modifications<br />
* standards and changes for layout, style and menus are applied universally<br />
* site mapping, indexing, site search and menu generation is automatic<br />
* web feed (RSS) syndication of content is usually automatic<br />
* media (images, audio, video, etc) presentation and management is easier to implement<br />
* member only features are easier to implement<br />
* member participation features are easier to implement<br />
* better for sites with many frequent changes, community and media features<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* can be more work to set up for a simple site<br />
* fine tuning the look of individual pages and elements is difficult and limited<br />
* CMS systems have their own menus and logic which users must understand<br />
* one or more people must act to administer the site and any other users<br />
* requires specific software to be present or added to the web server<br />
* your site will depend on the continuing availability and suitability of that specific software<br />
* CMS software will require occasional security maintenance and updating<br />
* usually requires some setup and configuration of a database on the web server<br />
* places greater processing demands on the web server <br />
* backup and recovery is more complicated when a database is involved <br />
* customization requires more specialized and less common skills<br />
* poor for relatively static sites with few changes and a single maintainer<br />
<br />
'''Installing:''' - Linux based web hosting services often offer a feature that can install a selection of several CMS with the click of a link or icon. Example services available through web host control panels include: Fantastico (cPanel), Installatron (cPanel, Plesk), 4psa (Plesk), CP Skins (cPanel), Helm. While these "one-click" installation services can ease installation, they sometimes do not provide secure or up-to-date software versions.<br />
<br />
'''Explore the CMS options at:'''<br />
* The website [http://www.cmsmatrix.org CMS Matrix] allows you to compare features on approximately 100 different CMS solutions. The "Search the Matrix" feature allows you to filter the list according to the features that you need for your site.<br />
* The website [http://www.opensourcecms.com Open Source CMS Systems] allows you to demo 40-50 LAMP-based Portals(CMS) and review the comments left by other visitors. ("LAMP" is an acronym for 'Linux-Apache-MySql-PHP' software.)<br />
<br /><br />
'''---Listed below are details for some CMS packages that churches use to build and maintain websites.'''<br /><br/><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/ CMS Made Simple]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' To get a simple CMS site up and start managing it is relatively simple. The product is described on its website as "simple enough to run family websites...." The standard installation provides a very friendly interface, a lot of guidance, explanations of CMS concepts, and such. This makes the product easier for the inexperienced to start working with. The CMS allows creation of web sites having good compliance with web and accessibility standards, but it does not enforce such standards. This CMS makes use of the preexisting SMARTY theme/template engine and the PHP and MySQL components. Work on this project began as a small in-house project in 2004. This is a relatively new product, with its first stable release being made available in 2006. It appears well regarded in CMS user and developer community. It earned added recognition in 2007 with a third place showing in the [http://www.packtpub.com/award/ Open Source CMS competition sponsored by Packt Publishing].<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' <br />
* very easy to make a hierarchical website<br />
* very nice administration interface, ordered by role and tasks<br />
* standard news module, RSS feeds, file and image managers, and WYSIWYG editor<br />
* module manager, allowing to download and install modules from the browser<br />
* many modules available<br />
* allows for different types of users with individual permissions, which is useful for allowing many people to edit portions of the site. <br />
'''Disadvantages:''' <br />
* inconsistent add-on modules (different ways of doing things)<br />
* lack of CMSMS functionality, a lot is borrowed from other OS software<br />
* WYSIWYG editor does not function very well. The formating is not consistent unless the content is created within CMSMS, and changes to the formatting do not apply consistently. The paste from Word function also does not function well. <br />
'''Update Dec. 2007'''<br />
With the release of Version 1.2.2 "Holetown" -- November 30, 2007 the WYSIWYG editor and other add-ons/modules have become more stable. The default editor is now [http://tinymce.moxiecode.com/ TinyMCE]. Pasting text from MSWord will remove formating except line breaks. The use of the word processer like buttons makes quick work of reformatting the content. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://bauuc.org/ Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/site/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin]<br />
* other denominations have congregations using it, but this Wiki is in need of more quality examples.<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://contentor.net Contentor]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Contentor was designed for small to medium-sized web sites, typical of sites for/by small non-profit corporations or individuals. It was developed by a fellow UU, Earl Daniels.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
(this wiki entry is in need of a good example site)<br />
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://drupal.org Drupal]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Implemented using relatively common [http://www.php.net/ PHP] and [http://www.mysql.com/ MySQL] resources. Originally developed for 'community' participation web sites where everyone in the community is able to contribute content. Today the program is being used for a wider range of uses, including online press ([http://progressive.org/ The Progressive], [http://www.theonion.com The Onion]), academic sites, media libraries, and galleries. It can be used both for sites with very limited access (just a few authors) or by a very expansive community of users and authors with different privileges. The project was started in the year 2000. While the most current release is version 6.x (became available Feb. 13,2008), version 5.x will for many months continue to be better supported by add-on packages. The 4.7.x version is no longer being supported.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Easy to create news items, single author and multi author documents, audio & video posts (podcasts), galleries (image collections), etc. The base program is highly compliant with both general [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). Many theme templates and lots of additional modules are freely available from the central Drupal community site. Common modules include kits which can be use to create custom content types and views. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using a choice of tunable editors. Regulation of user roles and privileges is very adjustable. Editing experience and viewing experience can be customized for different users. Content categorization and use of categorization is both flexible and pervasive. Technical support is available through an active user community on Drupal's community support site. A dedicated Drupal commercial hosting service option is available ([http://bryght.com/ Bryght Community content hosting]).<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Many of the contributed modules are not that reliable. The rapid advance of the Drupal core program (about one major version update a year) makes it easy to find your site is reliant on modules that have not been updated and may not get updated. Administration is done through same interface as is used for general site viewing (rather than a purpose specific back end interface). Strict enforcement of design and coding creates requirements that may pose difficulties for some trying to make customizations. Building a multi featured site requires the selection, installation, and maintenance of many third party modules. <br />
<br />
'''Features:'''<br />
* Number of user logins: at least one, but an unlimited number may be created<br />
* Registration: May be set to "anyone may register", "anyone may register, but must be approved by admin", or "no one may register". Various modules available to extend these options.<br />
* Separate file/page logins: no, everything is handled via a single login interface<br />
* Approx setup time: First time user, about 1/2 - 1 day. Experienced user, about 15 - 30 minutes.<br />
* Custom scripts allowed: Yes; may create "modules" to extend system-wide functionality, or may inject PHP directly into a page<br />
* Custom templates allowed: Yes; may create a custom "theme"<br />
* Number of templates available: A very large number. Many are listed on the [http://drupal.org/project/Themes Drupal themes page], and most of those are free.<br />
<br />
'''Major benefits:'''<br />
* Extremely customizable<br />
* Very large community - if you want to do something with Drupal, someone else has probably already done it<br />
* Many modules available for extending the core system<br />
* Extremely lightweight; does not require much server space or bandwidth, and is compatible with a wide variety of browsers<br />
<br />
'''Major drawbacks:'''<br />
* Requires some time and effort to learn<br />
* Too many modules - it can be difficult to find, assemble and maintain the modules you need<br />
<br />
'''Demo:'''<br />
[http://opensourcecms.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=132 OpenSourceCMS.com Demo site]<br />
<br />
To login as the admin, add a new page, and edit that page:<br />
1. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/?q=user<br />
2. Login with the administrative password (username admin, password demo)<br />
3. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/node/add/page<br />
4. Type in the page title, and some body text<br />
5. If you want, feel free to play with the various options which appear when you click "Comment settings", "Authoring information", and "Publishing options"; you can also change these later, by editing the page. <br />
6. Click Submit<br />
7. You should see the new page, with a button to edit it, if you want.<br />
8. To see the page as it would appear to a non-administrative user, copy the URL for the page somewhere convenient, go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/logout , and then go back to the page URL.<br />
<br />
Note: OpenSourceCMS.com occasionally wipes its demos clean - do not save precious work there!<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
* [http://www.md-dc-va-churches.org/ Baltimore, Washington, No. Virginia UUs]<br />
* [http://www.firstparishcambridge.org/ First Parish Cambridge]<br />
* [http://www.uumilwaukee.org/ First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee]<br />
* [http://follen.org/ Follen Church Society]<br />
* [http://gaiacommunity.org Gaia Community]<br />
* [http://www.lifenowradio.org/ Life Now Radio... UU + Drupal, but a podcast...not a church]<br />
* [https://www.psduua.org/prairiestore Prairie Star District's "Prairie Store"]<br />
* [http://rvuuf.org/ Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.uusc.org/ UUSC - Unitarian Universalist Service Committee]<br />
* [http://www.uuchurch.org/ University Unitarian Church (Seattle WA)]<br />
* [http://www.uuma.org/ UUMA - Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association]<br />
* [http://www.peterboroughunitarian.ca/ Unitarian Fellowship of Peterborough (Peterborough, Ontario)]<br />
* [http://www.uduuf.org/ Upper Delaware Unitarian Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.uuhaverhill.org/ Universalist Unitarian Church of Haverhill]<br />
<br />
* If you google "church drupal" you can also find quite a few churches of other denominations using it. -An example using a number of good design principles can be seen at the [http://bethlehem-church.org/ Bethlehem Lutheran Church]. A collected listing of [http://groups.drupal.org/node/2700/ Church Websites running Drupal] has been collected in the Churches group at groups.drupal.org.<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://joomla.org/ Mambo/Joomla!]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (both Mambo and Joomla! use the [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Probably the most popular CMS. Listed together: Mambo and Joomla! share a common design heritage. In mid-2005 the Miro corporation set up a "Mambo Foundation" in an attempt to exert more control via their ownership of the trademark. This was strongly resisted by the Mambo developer community, which left en-masse and are continuing their development using the name "Joomla!". As these two programs continue development they are likely to become much more distinct and less able to share. Several web hosting services support installation through automated installation scripts or "one-button installs". It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The project was started in the year 2000.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Administration is done through a separate "back end" interface to avoid limitations of the "front end" interface used during normal site viewing and navigation. Administration interface has an graphic icon driven interface that makes use less intimidating for some. Theme templates and module extensions are easily loaded remotely since the interface accepts compressed modules remotely, transfers them, and unpacks on the server before loading them for use. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using the included editor. The popularity of the system has resulted in good availability of themes, extensions and experienced developers. Supports blogs, web feeds, multimedia, calendars, galleries, and podcasting through options and extensions. Administration interface and loose enforcement of constraints makes modification of theme templates easier than some other CMS.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Most new work seems to be taking the Joomla! fork. User reviews of the fall 2006 update to Mambo show comparatively high levels of user dissatisfaction. The older Joomla! 1.0 release is well established, but does not achieve compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). A new version 1.5 was released as "stable" on January 22, 2008. The 1.0 version used tables extensively for formatting non-table content. Improvements in these areas was a major objective of the 1.5 release of Joomla!. However, due to the large amount of design experience and extensions developed around Joomla! 1.0 and Mambo, it is not clear how readily the improvements provided by version Joomla! 1.5 could be implemented.<br />
<br />
'''Interest list:''' There is a Google group for conversation about using Joomla for UU congregations at * [http://groups.google.com/group/uu-joomla]<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br /><br />
''Mambo:''<br />
* [http://www.ucsummit.org The Unitarian Church in Summit (New Jersey)]<br />
* [http://www.ccny.org The Community Church of New York Unitarian Universalist in Manhattan (New York)]<br />
''Joomla!:''<br />
* [http://uucyf.org/ The Church of the Younger Fellowship]<br />
* [http://cmwd-uuyan.org/ Central Midwest District Young Adult Network]<br />
* [http://www.firstparish.org/ First Parish in Concord]<br />
* [http://wrighttavern.org/ Wright Tavern Center for Spiritual Renewal]<br />
* [http://fuucsl.org/ First UU Church of Second Life]<br />
* [http://www.jruuc.org/ James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Congregation]<br />
* [http://www.mmuus.org/ May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
* [http://www.tjuc.org/ Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church]<br />
* [http://www.uucj.com/ Universalist Unitarian Church of Joliet]<br />
* [http://www.uuventura.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura]<br />
* [http://www.uu-uno.org/ Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office]<br />
* [http://uubedford.org/ First Parish in Bedford UU]<br />
* [http://uuaa.org First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor]<br />
* [http://www.fvuuf.org/ Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Appleton, WI]<br />
<br />
THE FOLLOWING USE JOOMLA (as of August 2009)<br />
<br />
* [http://www.auuf.net/ Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://uumia.org/ UU Congregation of Miami]<br />
* [http://www.uuvoiceswa.org/ Washington State UU Voices for Justice]<br />
* [http://www.allsoulsuu.org/ All Souls UU Church, Watertown, NY]<br />
* [http://www.uuprinceton.org/ UU Congregation of Princeton]<br />
* [http://www.cuucsa.org/ Community UU Church, San Antonio TX]<br />
* [http://www.uulmnj.org/ UULM New Jersey]<br />
* [http://www.firstuucolumbus.org/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus, OH - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.tuuc-wa.org/ Tahoma UU Congregation, Tacoma, WA]<br />
* [http://www.uufg.org/ UU Fellowship of Gainesville (FL) - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://necluster.uufg.org/ Northeast Cluster of the Florida District - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.cmwd-uua.org/ Central Midwest District - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.uuwr.org/ UU Women and Religion - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.cakesforthequeenofheaven.org/ Cakes for the Queen of Heaven curriculum - formerly used WordPress - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.margaretfuller.org/ Margaret Fuller Bicentennial - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.womenandreligion.org/ Central Midwest District Women and Religion - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.jpdwr.org/ Joseph Priestley District Women and Religion - Joomla 1.0]<br />
* [http://www.emerginguu.org/ CMwD Emerging UU congregations - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.midwestuuleadership.org/ CMwD-Heartland-Prairie Star Districts leadership - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.buuf2.org/ Berrien UU Fellowship, St. Joseph, Michigan - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.neshobauu.org/ Neshoba Unitarian Universalist Church, Cordova, Tennessee - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://communitychurchuuu.org/ Community Church Unitarian Universalist, New Orleans, LA]<br />
* [http://gnou.org/ Greater New Orleans UUs, New Orleans LA]<br />
* [http://fussonline.org/ First Unitarian Society of Schenectady, NY - Joomla 1.5]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.phpwebsitemanual.com/ phpWebSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Free (GPL)<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Allows separate password protected areas for different site editors. Has a lot of forum features built in.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Set up does not contain user-friendly instructions; instructions are found elsewhere. Design flexibility is limited.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
*[http://www.uusj.org/ Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://plone.org Plone®]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE: ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Plone is a ready-to-run content management system that is built on the powerful and free [http://zope.org Zope®] application server. Plone provides a system for managing web content that is suitable for project groups, communities, web sites, extranets and intranets. Zope is a full web application environment using its own transactional object database and programmed in the full featured, object oriented, [http://python.org Python] scripting language. The project was started in the year 1999.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' It is easy to create events, news items, new documents, photos, and other files. It uses both HTML and an easy to use Structured Text for those who are unfamiliar with website design. It has many add-on products that extend features available. It has a very flexible security/permissions structure which allows people and groups with different roles to have control over different aspects and different parts of the site. Plone can manage custom content types. Plone delivers excellent compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508]). It can be set up to run on many different types of web servers (Linux, Windows, Mac, BSD etc.) A large developer community, and commercial support is available. <br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Plone will generally require a specialized web host or virtual web server due to its use of [http://zope.org Zope] rather than Apache, PHP and MySQL. It is resource-hungry on the server. It requires over 75 MB RAM dedicated to your site which tends to cost from $15 to $40/month. It will require much more learning by the webmaster about how to back up the custom database, how to combine with Apache for speed and web access logs, etc. For more insights, see http://plone.org/documentation/faq/is-plone-for-me<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.firstunitarianportland.org/ First Unitarian Church of Portland]<br />
*[http://www.spindletopuu.org/ Spindletop Unitarian Church]<br />
*[http://www.uufws.net/ Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem]<br />
<br />
To try it out, create your own free site at http://www.objectis.org/ or create your own account at a Plone-based community site like http://plone.org/ For more flexible production hosting, you might look at http://interlix.com, or http://quintagroup.com<br />
<br /><br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://revoluution.com/products.php Revoluution Media CMS]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary - by arrangement with "Revoluution Media"<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' "Revoluution Media" builds web sites and provides CMS site software for a number of Unitarian Universalist entities. The vendor website claims its own CMS is "fully integrated and easy-to-use" and that it "will allow anyone to update the page content of your site- without resorting to a slow or expensive webmaster". The coding technologies visible on example websites include XHTML, CSS, PHP, and Javascript.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Vendor assistance and support. Vendor offers an integrated service package. The vendor has experience serving a number of other Unitarian Universalist communities. System can be optimized for a small user base.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Costs associated with vendor service. Dependencies associated with a single vendor solutions. System has a small user base to test system operation and to support addition and refinement of features.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
(this wiki entry is in need of a good example site) <br />
<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.oneworldhosting.com/support/website_builder.html SiteXpress Website Builder]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary. Free if you use a host service that offer the software (see link above).<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Offers more flexible design options than some other CMSs - many design elements available, not just full templates. User-friendly instructions for people with good web experience. Customizing options available (uploading your own header images).<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Limited to servers that offer it. More steps needed to edit than some other CMSs. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
*[http://www.drchrisbell.com/ Dr. Chris Bell] - code for Sitemeter added as free service (not available with software)<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://info.soholaunch.com/ Soholaunch]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary. Basic version is free of cost. "For 15 days, all of the full-version features will be turned on for you. After your full-version trial expires you can keep using all of the ProBase features forever for free, or you can purchase a full-version license and pick up where you left off with the advanced features." according to 3ix.org, but see [[Web_Hosting_Services|Choosing a Web Hosting Service]] for one that offers the Pro version free<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Relatively easy to use and to set up. A non-tech person can learn how to add information to the site using a web browser and username and password. There are limited templates with the program, but there are forums that give information about creating customized designs.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Requires several steps for the editor to create a page - is not a wysiwyg tool. Does not allow for separate password protected folders for different editors of different areas of the site as might be needed for a large site. Might have limits that I'm not aware of as I've only used it for small sites. Experienced problems updating the software without having the content removed, but server had backup to restore it and forum gives instructions on how to correct the problem.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
[http://www.jpdwr.org/ Joseph Priestley District Women and Religion] - this site was set up by someone with moderate tech skills and instructions were created for volunteer site managers - uses a template that was provided plus their logo designed by a member artist (2008 was updated to a Joomla site)<br />
<br />
[http://www.4stepscreativelearning.com/ 4 Steps Creative Learning Child Care Services] - this is not a UU site, but it demonstrates how a template can be edited for a new design - a real estate template was used, header photos were replaced, and colors were changed. The counter at the bottom is a free sitemeter - not a part of the Soholaunch program, but it shows that code can be added for other services.<br />
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://sourceforge.net/projects/tmakesite Thetaworld MakeSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' a custom open source license.<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' From the Project Page on SourceForge: Thetaworld MakeSite is an offline Content Management System for static pages based on PostgreSQL, Perl, Gedafe and web GUI. It supports Links Catalog similar to Yahoo, multi categories, pages, different publishing targets and online e-commerce shop.. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Relatively simple and efficient in operation.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is. Limited in features with little apparent prospect for evolution. No apparent maintenance since December 2005. Uses/Requires some less common (but publicly licensed) web components.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://palouseuu.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse (Moscow, Idaho)]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://typo3.com/ TYPO3 CMS]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License, GPLv3])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' The conventional wisdom is that this is a full featured and well regarded program well suited for large organizations and those having the background and time available to master it. It is not as well suited for simpler web sites and not for web novices. Three descriptive quotes from the TYPO3 website: <br />
*"TYPO3 is a content management system for enterprise purposes on the web and in intranets. It offers full flexibility and extendability while featuring an accomplished set of ready-made interfaces, functions and modules." <br />
*"Whether you are looking to manage content in a large corporation, university, non-profit organization or a small business, we can provide you with an enterprise-level solution that meets your needs." <br />
*"TYPO3 is a small to midsize enterprise-class Content Management Framework offering the best of both worlds: out-of-the-box operation with a complete set of standard modules and a clean and sturdy high-performance architecture accomodating virtually every kind of custom solution or extension."<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' The program can scale up to fit a large enterprise operation. <br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' The program has a reputation for having a steeper learning curve than most of the alternatives listed here.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
*[http://www.rruuc.org/ River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation (Bethesda, MD)]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/ UU Web Template project]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE - at least for UU organizations (the [http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/license/license.txt license] says it is [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ Creative Commons by-nc-sa] but also "Any [non-UU] use requires permission." so that isn't clear....)<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' The term template may be a bit misleading. These file sets create a scripted (PHP) interface, a choice of two visual themes and a standard set of church web pages. It provides a user interface allowing authorized users to login to the site from any web browser. Once logged in, the authorized user can create content, perform basic maintenance, and extend the page and menu content without any web editing tools. New as of May 2006; the specs for future versions are being considered to improve it. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' The UU Web Templates are designed and prepared specifically for use by UU congregations needing to create a first web site and should allow a quick and low cost launch. The UU Web Templates can also be used as an add-on or for use in re-design of a site. The project is supported by fellow UUs so the community is limited, but shares a lot of common knowledge. There is an email list to communicate with the other users. The simplicity of the design allows the templates to function on both Linux/Unix and Windows web servers. The templates do not require the complexity of a database setup and maintenance.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' A limited selection of styles and color schemes are built into the design. Limitations on the degree to which a site can be extended. There is currently no support for "Web 2.0" features such as media, community/social networking and blogs. The constraints of a small community of users may create some difficulties in maintaining and growing the application. Unspecified problems have been reported.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.allsoulsbraintree.org All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church of Braintree]<br />
*[http://www.cvuus.org Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
*[http://www.luuna.net LUUNA - Latino(a) Unitarian Universalist Networking Association]<br />
*[http://www.oaklandonuu.org Oaklandon Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.rutlanduu.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Rutland]<br />
*[http://www.secondparish.org Second Parish - Unitarian Universalist]<br />
*[http://www.uuacg.org Unitarian Universalists of Coastal Georgia]<br />
*[http://www.uucookeville.org Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cookeville]<br />
*[http://www.uucyakima.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Yakima]<br />
*[http://www.uufgc.org UU Fellowship of Greater Cumberland]<br />
*[http://www.uumuk.org The United Unitarian & Universalist Society of Mukwonago]<br />
*[http://www.uutryonnc.org Thermal Belt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://wordpress.org WordPress]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Designed principally for blogs, the basic package also supports standard web pages and a multi-level menu structure. It is easily extended through a "plug-in" interface to add support for podcasting and image galleries. Recent updates allow for a site that does not contain a blog on the opening page. Because of its popularity and flexibility, it is being used for multi-purpose and some general purpose websites. It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The WordPress product name is relatively new, but the product evolved directly from the b2 product which originated in 2001. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' WordPress is relatively easy to setup and understand. It is also a relatively mature and well maintained program. This has resulted in it being both very stable and web and accessibility standard compliant. The WordPress site provides extensive guidelines on how to improve and maintain accessibility. An extremely large collection of theme templates and plug-ins is available in the public domain and from custom developers. Themes are easily and quickly switched and customized from within the administrative interface. Non-blog pages and menus are relatively easy to create. The tabbed administrative interface opens on a dashboard which displays the system status and provides notices of upgrades from WordPress. Content is created and edited using an interactive WYSIWYG editor that allows tabbing between a formated presentation and direct HTML editing. The editor provides both auto-save backups during editing and spell checking. Edits can be saved to draft, or private, or published for public viewing. Its podcasting feed support exceeds those of other CMS offerings. It is common for web hosting services to supply their customers with a "one-button" installation for the WordPress application. A dedicated commercial hosting service option is available from [http://wordpress.com/ WordPress.com].<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' The program is designed and maintained to support the specific purpose of blogging. Congregations attempting to use it for broader purposes may encounter limitations (either immediately or in the future).<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://druumm.org/ DRUUMM: Diverse & Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries]<br />
*[http://hunterdonuu.org/ First Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hunterdon County]<br />
*[http://www.ucmh.org/ Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson]<br />
*[http://www.sportsmanila.com/uu/ Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/sermon/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Sermons]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/announce/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Announcements](uses the blog via e-mail function and a cron job to automatically post the announcements when they are e-mailed to the congregation. An auto-delete plug-in is installed so that only the current week's announcements are available.)<br />
<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Content_Management_System&diff=8757Content Management System2010-07-01T20:42:41Z<p>JoyceD: /* [http://drupal.org Drupal] */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
== Content Management Systems ==<br />
<br />
A Content Management System (CMS) is a system used to organize and facilitate creation and maintenance of documents and other content (in this case for a web site). They are designed to allow many people to directly contribute to the process. Contributors sign on to authenticate and their activities are both assisted and restricted by the system. To manage this, a CMS isolates the actions and effects of content creation and maintenance from other elements (layouts, styles, menus, etc.). <br />
<br />
Both Wiki's such as this and blogging sites use Content Management Systems. When a CMS is used for Church management, it is often referred to as a Church Management System, Church Management Software, or Church Ministry Software and often abbreviated as ChMS.<br /><br />
A more comprehensive description and additional details can be found at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system Wikipedia]. <br />
and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_management_software Church Management Software]<br />
<br />
'''Advantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* content can be added and maintained without "webmaster" skills<br />
* many people can contribute or collaborate using just their web browser<br />
* limits on what contributors can and can't do can be precisely defined<br />
* site layout, style and menus are unaffected during content editing work<br />
* content is unaffected during layout, style and menu modifications<br />
* standards and changes for layout, style and menus are applied universally<br />
* site mapping, indexing, site search and menu generation is automatic<br />
* web feed (RSS) syndication of content is usually automatic<br />
* media (images, audio, video, etc) presentation and management is easier to implement<br />
* member only features are easier to implement<br />
* member participation features are easier to implement<br />
* better for sites with many frequent changes, community and media features<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* can be more work to set up for a simple site<br />
* fine tuning the look of individual pages and elements is difficult and limited<br />
* CMS systems have their own menus and logic which users must understand<br />
* one or more people must act to administer the site and any other users<br />
* requires specific software to be present or added to the web server<br />
* your site will depend on the continuing availability and suitability of that specific software<br />
* CMS software will require occasional security maintenance and updating<br />
* usually requires some setup and configuration of a database on the web server<br />
* places greater processing demands on the web server <br />
* backup and recovery is more complicated when a database is involved <br />
* customization requires more specialized and less common skills<br />
* poor for relatively static sites with few changes and a single maintainer<br />
<br />
'''Installing:''' - Linux based web hosting services often offer a feature that can install a selection of several CMS with the click of a link or icon. Example services available through web host control panels include: Fantastico (cPanel), Installatron (cPanel, Plesk), 4psa (Plesk), CP Skins (cPanel), Helm. While these "one-click" installation services can ease installation, they sometimes do not provide secure or up-to-date software versions.<br />
<br />
'''Explore the CMS options at:'''<br />
* The website [http://www.cmsmatrix.org CMS Matrix] allows you to compare features on approximately 100 different CMS solutions. The "Search the Matrix" feature allows you to filter the list according to the features that you need for your site.<br />
* The website [http://www.opensourcecms.com Open Source CMS Systems] allows you to demo 40-50 LAMP-based Portals(CMS) and review the comments left by other visitors. ("LAMP" is an acronym for 'Linux-Apache-MySql-PHP' software.)<br />
<br /><br />
'''---Listed below are details for some CMS packages that churches use to build and maintain websites.'''<br /><br/><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/ CMS Made Simple]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' To get a simple CMS site up and start managing it is relatively simple. The product is described on its website as "simple enough to run family websites...." The standard installation provides a very friendly interface, a lot of guidance, explanations of CMS concepts, and such. This makes the product easier for the inexperienced to start working with. The CMS allows creation of web sites having good compliance with web and accessibility standards, but it does not enforce such standards. This CMS makes use of the preexisting SMARTY theme/template engine and the PHP and MySQL components. Work on this project began as a small in-house project in 2004. This is a relatively new product, with its first stable release being made available in 2006. It appears well regarded in CMS user and developer community. It earned added recognition in 2007 with a third place showing in the [http://www.packtpub.com/award/ Open Source CMS competition sponsored by Packt Publishing].<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' <br />
* very easy to make a hierarchical website<br />
* very nice administration interface, ordered by role and tasks<br />
* standard news module, RSS feeds, file and image managers, and WYSIWYG editor<br />
* module manager, allowing to download and install modules from the browser<br />
* many modules available<br />
* allows for different types of users with individual permissions, which is useful for allowing many people to edit portions of the site. <br />
'''Disadvantages:''' <br />
* inconsistent add-on modules (different ways of doing things)<br />
* lack of CMSMS functionality, a lot is borrowed from other OS software<br />
* WYSIWYG editor does not function very well. The formating is not consistent unless the content is created within CMSMS, and changes to the formatting do not apply consistently. The paste from Word function also does not function well. <br />
'''Update Dec. 2007'''<br />
With the release of Version 1.2.2 "Holetown" -- November 30, 2007 the WYSIWYG editor and other add-ons/modules have become more stable. The default editor is now [http://tinymce.moxiecode.com/ TinyMCE]. Pasting text from MSWord will remove formating except line breaks. The use of the word processer like buttons makes quick work of reformatting the content. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://bauuc.org/ Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/site/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin]<br />
* other denominations have congregations using it, but this Wiki is in need of more quality examples.<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://contentor.net Contentor]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Contentor was designed for small to medium-sized web sites, typical of sites for/by small non-profit corporations or individuals. It was developed by a fellow UU, Earl Daniels.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
(this wiki entry is in need of a good example site)<br />
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://drupal.org Drupal]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Implemented using relatively common [http://www.php.net/ PHP] and [http://www.mysql.com/ MySQL] resources. Originally developed for 'community' participation web sites where everyone in the community is able to contribute content. Today the program is being used for a wider range of uses, including online press ([http://progressive.org/ The Progressive], [http://www.theonion.com The Onion]), academic sites, media libraries, and galleries. It can be used both for sites with very limited access (just a few authors) or by a very expansive community of users and authors with different privileges. The project was started in the year 2000. While the most current release is version 6.x (became available Feb. 13,2008), version 5.x will for many months continue to be better supported by add-on packages. The 4.7.x version is no longer being supported.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Easy to create news items, single author and multi author documents, audio & video posts (podcasts), galleries (image collections), etc. The base program is highly compliant with both general [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). Many theme templates and lots of additional modules are freely available from the central Drupal community site. Common modules include kits which can be use to create custom content types and views. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using a choice of tunable editors. Regulation of user roles and privileges is very adjustable. Editing experience and viewing experience can be customized for different users. Content categorization and use of categorization is both flexible and pervasive. Technical support is available through an active user community on Drupal's community support site. A dedicated Drupal commercial hosting service option is available ([http://bryght.com/ Bryght Community content hosting]).<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Many of the contributed modules are not that reliable. The rapid advance of the Drupal core program (about one major version update a year) makes it easy to find your site is reliant on modules that have not been updated and may not get updated. Administration is done through same interface as is used for general site viewing (rather than a purpose specific back end interface). Strict enforcement of design and coding creates requirements that may pose difficulties for some trying to make customizations. Building a multi featured site requires the selection, installation, and maintenance of many third party modules. <br />
<br />
'''Features:'''<br />
* Number of user logins: at least one, but an unlimited number may be created<br />
* Registration: May be set to "anyone may register", "anyone may register, but must be approved by admin", or "no one may register". Various modules available to extend these options.<br />
* Separate file/page logins: no, everything is handled via a single login interface<br />
* Approx setup time: First time user, about 1/2 - 1 day. Experienced user, about 15 - 30 minutes.<br />
* Custom scripts allowed: Yes; may create "modules" to extend system-wide functionality, or may inject PHP directly into a page<br />
* Custom templates allowed: Yes; may create a custom "theme"<br />
* Number of templates available: A very large number. Many are listed on the [http://drupal.org/project/Themes Drupal themes page], and most of those are free.<br />
<br />
'''Major benefits:'''<br />
* Extremely customizable<br />
* Very large community - if you want to do something with Drupal, someone else has probably already done it<br />
* Many modules available for extending the core system<br />
* Extremely lightweight; does not require much server space or bandwidth, and is compatible with a wide variety of browsers<br />
<br />
'''Major drawbacks:'''<br />
* Requires some time and effort to learn<br />
* Too many modules - it can be difficult to find, assemble and maintain the modules you need<br />
<br />
'''Demo:'''<br />
[http://opensourcecms.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=132 OpenSourceCMS.com Demo site]<br />
<br />
To login as the admin, add a new page, and edit that page:<br />
1. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/?q=user<br />
2. Login with the administrative password (username admin, password demo)<br />
3. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/node/add/page<br />
4. Type in the page title, and some body text<br />
5. If you want, feel free to play with the various options which appear when you click "Comment settings", "Authoring information", and "Publishing options"; you can also change these later, by editing the page. <br />
6. Click Submit<br />
7. You should see the new page, with a button to edit it, if you want.<br />
8. To see the page as it would appear to a non-administrative user, copy the URL for the page somewhere convenient, go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/logout , and then go back to the page URL.<br />
<br />
Note: OpenSourceCMS.com occasionally wipes its demos clean - do not save precious work there!<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
* [http://www.md-dc-va-churches.org/ Baltimore, Washington, No. Virginia UUs]<br />
* [http://www.firstparishcambridge.org/ First Parish Cambridge]<br />
* [http://www.uumilwaukee.org/ First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee]<br />
* [http://follen.org/ Follen Church Society]<br />
* [http://gaiacommunity.org Gaia Community]<br />
* [http://www.lifenowradio.org/ Life Now Radio... UU + Drupal, but a podcast...not a church]<br />
* [https://www.psduua.org/prairiestore Prairie Star District's "Prairie Store"]<br />
* [http://rvuuf.org/ Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.uusc.org/ UUSC - Unitarian Universalist Service Committee]<br />
* [http://www.uuchurch.org/ University Unitarian Church (Seattle WA)]<br />
* [http://www.uuma.org/ UUMA - Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association]<br />
* [http://www.peterboroughunitarian.ca/ Unitarian Fellowship of Peterborough (Peterborough, Ontario)]<br />
* [http://www.uduuf.org/ Upper Delaware Unitarian Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.uuhaverhill.org/ Universalist Unitarian Church of Haverhill]<br />
<br />
* If you google "church drupal" you can also find quite a few churches of other denominations using it. -An example using a number of good design principles can be seen at the [http://bethlehem-church.org/ Bethlehem Lutheran Church]. A collected listing of [http://groups.drupal.org/node/2700/ Church Websites running Drupal] has been collected in the Churches group at groups.drupal.org.<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://joomla.org/ Mambo/Joomla!]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (both Mambo and Joomla! use the [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Probably the most popular CMS. Listed together: Mambo and Joomla! share a common design heritage. In mid-2005 the Miro corporation set up a "Mambo Foundation" in an attempt to exert more control via their ownership of the trademark. This was strongly resisted by the Mambo developer community, which left en-masse and are continuing their development using the name "Joomla!". As these two programs continue development they are likely to become much more distinct and less able to share. Several web hosting services support installation through automated installation scripts or "one-button installs". It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The project was started in the year 2000.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Administration is done through a separate "back end" interface to avoid limitations of the "front end" interface used during normal site viewing and navigation. Administration interface has an graphic icon driven interface that makes use less intimidating for some. Theme templates and module extensions are easily loaded remotely since the interface accepts compressed modules remotely, transfers them, and unpacks on the server before loading them for use. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using the included editor. The popularity of the system has resulted in good availability of themes, extensions and experienced developers. Supports blogs, web feeds, multimedia, calendars, galleries, and podcasting through options and extensions. Administration interface and loose enforcement of constraints makes modification of theme templates easier than some other CMS.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Most new work seems to be taking the Joomla! fork. User reviews of the fall 2006 update to Mambo show comparatively high levels of user dissatisfaction. The older Joomla! 1.0 release is well established, but does not achieve compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). A new version 1.5 was released as "stable" on January 22, 2008. The 1.0 version used tables extensively for formatting non-table content. Improvements in these areas was a major objective of the 1.5 release of Joomla!. However, due to the large amount of design experience and extensions developed around Joomla! 1.0 and Mambo, it is not clear how readily the improvements provided by version Joomla! 1.5 could be implemented.<br />
<br />
'''Interest list:''' There is a Google group for conversation about using Joomla for UU congregations at * [http://groups.google.com/group/uu-joomla]<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br /><br />
''Mambo:''<br />
* [http://www.ucsummit.org The Unitarian Church in Summit (New Jersey)]<br />
* [http://www.ccny.org The Community Church of New York Unitarian Universalist in Manhattan (New York)]<br />
''Joomla!:''<br />
* [http://uucyf.org/ The Church of the Younger Fellowship]<br />
* [http://cmwd-uuyan.org/ Central Midwest District Young Adult Network]<br />
* [http://www.firstparish.org/ First Parish in Concord]<br />
* [http://wrighttavern.org/ Wright Tavern Center for Spiritual Renewal]<br />
* [http://fuucsl.org/ First UU Church of Second Life]<br />
* [http://www.jruuc.org/ James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Congregation]<br />
* [http://www.mmuus.org/ May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
* [http://www.tjuc.org/ Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church]<br />
* [http://www.uucj.com/ Universalist Unitarian Church of Joliet]<br />
* [http://www.uuventura.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura]<br />
* [http://www.uu-uno.org/ Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office]<br />
* [http://uubedford.org/ First Parish in Bedford UU]<br />
* [http://uuaa.org First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor]<br />
* [http://www.fvuuf.org/ Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Appleton, WI]<br />
<br />
THE FOLLOWING USE JOOMLA (as of August 2009)<br />
<br />
* [http://uumia.org/ UU Congregation of Miami]<br />
* [http://www.uuvoiceswa.org/ Washington State UU Voices for Justice]<br />
* [http://www.allsoulsuu.org/ All Souls UU Church, Watertown, NY]<br />
* [http://www.uuprinceton.org/ UU Congregation of Princeton]<br />
* [http://www.cuucsa.org/ Community UU Church, San Antonio TX]<br />
* [http://www.uulmnj.org/ UULM New Jersey]<br />
* [http://www.firstuucolumbus.org/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus, OH - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.tuuc-wa.org/ Tahoma UU Congregation, Tacoma, WA]<br />
* [http://www.uufg.org/ UU Fellowship of Gainesville (FL) - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://necluster.uufg.org/ Northeast Cluster of the Florida District - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.cmwd-uua.org/ Central Midwest District - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.uuwr.org/ UU Women and Religion - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.cakesforthequeenofheaven.org/ Cakes for the Queen of Heaven curriculum - formerly used WordPress - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.margaretfuller.org/ Margaret Fuller Bicentennial - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.womenandreligion.org/ Central Midwest District Women and Religion - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.jpdwr.org/ Joseph Priestley District Women and Religion - Joomla 1.0]<br />
* [http://www.emerginguu.org/ CMwD Emerging UU congregations - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.midwestuuleadership.org/ CMwD-Heartland-Prairie Star Districts leadership - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.buuf2.org/ Berrien UU Fellowship, St. Joseph, Michigan - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.neshobauu.org/ Neshoba Unitarian Universalist Church, Cordova, Tennessee - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://communitychurchuuu.org/ Community Church Unitarian Universalist, New Orleans, LA]<br />
* [http://gnou.org/ Greater New Orleans UUs, New Orleans LA]<br />
* [http://fussonline.org/ First Unitarian Society of Schenectady, NY - Joomla 1.5]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.phpwebsitemanual.com/ phpWebSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Free (GPL)<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Allows separate password protected areas for different site editors. Has a lot of forum features built in.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Set up does not contain user-friendly instructions; instructions are found elsewhere. Design flexibility is limited.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
*[http://www.uusj.org/ Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://plone.org Plone®]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE: ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Plone is a ready-to-run content management system that is built on the powerful and free [http://zope.org Zope®] application server. Plone provides a system for managing web content that is suitable for project groups, communities, web sites, extranets and intranets. Zope is a full web application environment using its own transactional object database and programmed in the full featured, object oriented, [http://python.org Python] scripting language. The project was started in the year 1999.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' It is easy to create events, news items, new documents, photos, and other files. It uses both HTML and an easy to use Structured Text for those who are unfamiliar with website design. It has many add-on products that extend features available. It has a very flexible security/permissions structure which allows people and groups with different roles to have control over different aspects and different parts of the site. Plone can manage custom content types. Plone delivers excellent compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508]). It can be set up to run on many different types of web servers (Linux, Windows, Mac, BSD etc.) A large developer community, and commercial support is available. <br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Plone will generally require a specialized web host or virtual web server due to its use of [http://zope.org Zope] rather than Apache, PHP and MySQL. It is resource-hungry on the server. It requires over 75 MB RAM dedicated to your site which tends to cost from $15 to $40/month. It will require much more learning by the webmaster about how to back up the custom database, how to combine with Apache for speed and web access logs, etc. For more insights, see http://plone.org/documentation/faq/is-plone-for-me<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.firstunitarianportland.org/ First Unitarian Church of Portland]<br />
*[http://www.spindletopuu.org/ Spindletop Unitarian Church]<br />
*[http://www.uufws.net/ Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem]<br />
<br />
To try it out, create your own free site at http://www.objectis.org/ or create your own account at a Plone-based community site like http://plone.org/ For more flexible production hosting, you might look at http://interlix.com, or http://quintagroup.com<br />
<br /><br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://revoluution.com/products.php Revoluution Media CMS]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary - by arrangement with "Revoluution Media"<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' "Revoluution Media" builds web sites and provides CMS site software for a number of Unitarian Universalist entities. The vendor website claims its own CMS is "fully integrated and easy-to-use" and that it "will allow anyone to update the page content of your site- without resorting to a slow or expensive webmaster". The coding technologies visible on example websites include XHTML, CSS, PHP, and Javascript.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Vendor assistance and support. Vendor offers an integrated service package. The vendor has experience serving a number of other Unitarian Universalist communities. System can be optimized for a small user base.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Costs associated with vendor service. Dependencies associated with a single vendor solutions. System has a small user base to test system operation and to support addition and refinement of features.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
(this wiki entry is in need of a good example site) <br />
<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.oneworldhosting.com/support/website_builder.html SiteXpress Website Builder]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary. Free if you use a host service that offer the software (see link above).<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Offers more flexible design options than some other CMSs - many design elements available, not just full templates. User-friendly instructions for people with good web experience. Customizing options available (uploading your own header images).<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Limited to servers that offer it. More steps needed to edit than some other CMSs. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
*[http://www.drchrisbell.com/ Dr. Chris Bell] - code for Sitemeter added as free service (not available with software)<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://info.soholaunch.com/ Soholaunch]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary. Basic version is free of cost. "For 15 days, all of the full-version features will be turned on for you. After your full-version trial expires you can keep using all of the ProBase features forever for free, or you can purchase a full-version license and pick up where you left off with the advanced features." according to 3ix.org, but see [[Web_Hosting_Services|Choosing a Web Hosting Service]] for one that offers the Pro version free<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Relatively easy to use and to set up. A non-tech person can learn how to add information to the site using a web browser and username and password. There are limited templates with the program, but there are forums that give information about creating customized designs.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Requires several steps for the editor to create a page - is not a wysiwyg tool. Does not allow for separate password protected folders for different editors of different areas of the site as might be needed for a large site. Might have limits that I'm not aware of as I've only used it for small sites. Experienced problems updating the software without having the content removed, but server had backup to restore it and forum gives instructions on how to correct the problem.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
[http://www.jpdwr.org/ Joseph Priestley District Women and Religion] - this site was set up by someone with moderate tech skills and instructions were created for volunteer site managers - uses a template that was provided plus their logo designed by a member artist (2008 was updated to a Joomla site)<br />
<br />
[http://www.4stepscreativelearning.com/ 4 Steps Creative Learning Child Care Services] - this is not a UU site, but it demonstrates how a template can be edited for a new design - a real estate template was used, header photos were replaced, and colors were changed. The counter at the bottom is a free sitemeter - not a part of the Soholaunch program, but it shows that code can be added for other services.<br />
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://sourceforge.net/projects/tmakesite Thetaworld MakeSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' a custom open source license.<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' From the Project Page on SourceForge: Thetaworld MakeSite is an offline Content Management System for static pages based on PostgreSQL, Perl, Gedafe and web GUI. It supports Links Catalog similar to Yahoo, multi categories, pages, different publishing targets and online e-commerce shop.. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Relatively simple and efficient in operation.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is. Limited in features with little apparent prospect for evolution. No apparent maintenance since December 2005. Uses/Requires some less common (but publicly licensed) web components.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://palouseuu.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse (Moscow, Idaho)]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://typo3.com/ TYPO3 CMS]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License, GPLv3])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' The conventional wisdom is that this is a full featured and well regarded program well suited for large organizations and those having the background and time available to master it. It is not as well suited for simpler web sites and not for web novices. Three descriptive quotes from the TYPO3 website: <br />
*"TYPO3 is a content management system for enterprise purposes on the web and in intranets. It offers full flexibility and extendability while featuring an accomplished set of ready-made interfaces, functions and modules." <br />
*"Whether you are looking to manage content in a large corporation, university, non-profit organization or a small business, we can provide you with an enterprise-level solution that meets your needs." <br />
*"TYPO3 is a small to midsize enterprise-class Content Management Framework offering the best of both worlds: out-of-the-box operation with a complete set of standard modules and a clean and sturdy high-performance architecture accomodating virtually every kind of custom solution or extension."<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' The program can scale up to fit a large enterprise operation. <br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' The program has a reputation for having a steeper learning curve than most of the alternatives listed here.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
*[http://www.rruuc.org/ River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation (Bethesda, MD)]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/ UU Web Template project]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE - at least for UU organizations (the [http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/license/license.txt license] says it is [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ Creative Commons by-nc-sa] but also "Any [non-UU] use requires permission." so that isn't clear....)<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' The term template may be a bit misleading. These file sets create a scripted (PHP) interface, a choice of two visual themes and a standard set of church web pages. It provides a user interface allowing authorized users to login to the site from any web browser. Once logged in, the authorized user can create content, perform basic maintenance, and extend the page and menu content without any web editing tools. New as of May 2006; the specs for future versions are being considered to improve it. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' The UU Web Templates are designed and prepared specifically for use by UU congregations needing to create a first web site and should allow a quick and low cost launch. The UU Web Templates can also be used as an add-on or for use in re-design of a site. The project is supported by fellow UUs so the community is limited, but shares a lot of common knowledge. There is an email list to communicate with the other users. The simplicity of the design allows the templates to function on both Linux/Unix and Windows web servers. The templates do not require the complexity of a database setup and maintenance.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' A limited selection of styles and color schemes are built into the design. Limitations on the degree to which a site can be extended. There is currently no support for "Web 2.0" features such as media, community/social networking and blogs. The constraints of a small community of users may create some difficulties in maintaining and growing the application. Unspecified problems have been reported.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.allsoulsbraintree.org All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church of Braintree]<br />
*[http://www.cvuus.org Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
*[http://www.luuna.net LUUNA - Latino(a) Unitarian Universalist Networking Association]<br />
*[http://www.oaklandonuu.org Oaklandon Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.rutlanduu.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Rutland]<br />
*[http://www.secondparish.org Second Parish - Unitarian Universalist]<br />
*[http://www.uuacg.org Unitarian Universalists of Coastal Georgia]<br />
*[http://www.uucookeville.org Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cookeville]<br />
*[http://www.uucyakima.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Yakima]<br />
*[http://www.uufgc.org UU Fellowship of Greater Cumberland]<br />
*[http://www.uumuk.org The United Unitarian & Universalist Society of Mukwonago]<br />
*[http://www.uutryonnc.org Thermal Belt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://wordpress.org WordPress]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Designed principally for blogs, the basic package also supports standard web pages and a multi-level menu structure. It is easily extended through a "plug-in" interface to add support for podcasting and image galleries. Recent updates allow for a site that does not contain a blog on the opening page. Because of its popularity and flexibility, it is being used for multi-purpose and some general purpose websites. It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The WordPress product name is relatively new, but the product evolved directly from the b2 product which originated in 2001. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' WordPress is relatively easy to setup and understand. It is also a relatively mature and well maintained program. This has resulted in it being both very stable and web and accessibility standard compliant. The WordPress site provides extensive guidelines on how to improve and maintain accessibility. An extremely large collection of theme templates and plug-ins is available in the public domain and from custom developers. Themes are easily and quickly switched and customized from within the administrative interface. Non-blog pages and menus are relatively easy to create. The tabbed administrative interface opens on a dashboard which displays the system status and provides notices of upgrades from WordPress. Content is created and edited using an interactive WYSIWYG editor that allows tabbing between a formated presentation and direct HTML editing. The editor provides both auto-save backups during editing and spell checking. Edits can be saved to draft, or private, or published for public viewing. Its podcasting feed support exceeds those of other CMS offerings. It is common for web hosting services to supply their customers with a "one-button" installation for the WordPress application. A dedicated commercial hosting service option is available from [http://wordpress.com/ WordPress.com].<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' The program is designed and maintained to support the specific purpose of blogging. Congregations attempting to use it for broader purposes may encounter limitations (either immediately or in the future).<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://druumm.org/ DRUUMM: Diverse & Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries]<br />
*[http://hunterdonuu.org/ First Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hunterdon County]<br />
*[http://www.ucmh.org/ Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson]<br />
*[http://www.sportsmanila.com/uu/ Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/sermon/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Sermons]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/announce/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Announcements](uses the blog via e-mail function and a cron job to automatically post the announcements when they are e-mailed to the congregation. An auto-delete plug-in is installed so that only the current week's announcements are available.)<br />
<br />
<br /><br />
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[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Content_Management_System&diff=8756Content Management System2010-06-18T19:00:57Z<p>JoyceD: /* [http://joomla.org/ Mambo/Joomla!] */ removed sites that had errors</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
== Content Management Systems ==<br />
<br />
A Content Management System (CMS) is a system used to organize and facilitate creation and maintenance of documents and other content (in this case for a web site). They are designed to allow many people to directly contribute to the process. Contributors sign on to authenticate and their activities are both assisted and restricted by the system. To manage this, a CMS isolates the actions and effects of content creation and maintenance from other elements (layouts, styles, menus, etc.). <br />
<br />
Both Wiki's such as this and blogging sites use Content Management Systems. When a CMS is used for Church management, it is often referred to as a Church Management System, Church Management Software, or Church Ministry Software and often abbreviated as ChMS.<br /><br />
A more comprehensive description and additional details can be found at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system Wikipedia]. <br />
and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_management_software Church Management Software]<br />
<br />
'''Advantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* content can be added and maintained without "webmaster" skills<br />
* many people can contribute or collaborate using just their web browser<br />
* limits on what contributors can and can't do can be precisely defined<br />
* site layout, style and menus are unaffected during content editing work<br />
* content is unaffected during layout, style and menu modifications<br />
* standards and changes for layout, style and menus are applied universally<br />
* site mapping, indexing, site search and menu generation is automatic<br />
* web feed (RSS) syndication of content is usually automatic<br />
* media (images, audio, video, etc) presentation and management is easier to implement<br />
* member only features are easier to implement<br />
* member participation features are easier to implement<br />
* better for sites with many frequent changes, community and media features<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* can be more work to set up for a simple site<br />
* fine tuning the look of individual pages and elements is difficult and limited<br />
* CMS systems have their own menus and logic which users must understand<br />
* one or more people must act to administer the site and any other users<br />
* requires specific software to be present or added to the web server<br />
* your site will depend on the continuing availability and suitability of that specific software<br />
* CMS software will require occasional security maintenance and updating<br />
* usually requires some setup and configuration of a database on the web server<br />
* places greater processing demands on the web server <br />
* backup and recovery is more complicated when a database is involved <br />
* customization requires more specialized and less common skills<br />
* poor for relatively static sites with few changes and a single maintainer<br />
<br />
'''Installing:''' - Linux based web hosting services often offer a feature that can install a selection of several CMS with the click of a link or icon. Example services available through web host control panels include: Fantastico (cPanel), Installatron (cPanel, Plesk), 4psa (Plesk), CP Skins (cPanel), Helm. While these "one-click" installation services can ease installation, they sometimes do not provide secure or up-to-date software versions.<br />
<br />
'''Explore the CMS options at:'''<br />
* The website [http://www.cmsmatrix.org CMS Matrix] allows you to compare features on approximately 100 different CMS solutions. The "Search the Matrix" feature allows you to filter the list according to the features that you need for your site.<br />
* The website [http://www.opensourcecms.com Open Source CMS Systems] allows you to demo 40-50 LAMP-based Portals(CMS) and review the comments left by other visitors. ("LAMP" is an acronym for 'Linux-Apache-MySql-PHP' software.)<br />
<br /><br />
'''---Listed below are details for some CMS packages that churches use to build and maintain websites.'''<br /><br/><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/ CMS Made Simple]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' To get a simple CMS site up and start managing it is relatively simple. The product is described on its website as "simple enough to run family websites...." The standard installation provides a very friendly interface, a lot of guidance, explanations of CMS concepts, and such. This makes the product easier for the inexperienced to start working with. The CMS allows creation of web sites having good compliance with web and accessibility standards, but it does not enforce such standards. This CMS makes use of the preexisting SMARTY theme/template engine and the PHP and MySQL components. Work on this project began as a small in-house project in 2004. This is a relatively new product, with its first stable release being made available in 2006. It appears well regarded in CMS user and developer community. It earned added recognition in 2007 with a third place showing in the [http://www.packtpub.com/award/ Open Source CMS competition sponsored by Packt Publishing].<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' <br />
* very easy to make a hierarchical website<br />
* very nice administration interface, ordered by role and tasks<br />
* standard news module, RSS feeds, file and image managers, and WYSIWYG editor<br />
* module manager, allowing to download and install modules from the browser<br />
* many modules available<br />
* allows for different types of users with individual permissions, which is useful for allowing many people to edit portions of the site. <br />
'''Disadvantages:''' <br />
* inconsistent add-on modules (different ways of doing things)<br />
* lack of CMSMS functionality, a lot is borrowed from other OS software<br />
* WYSIWYG editor does not function very well. The formating is not consistent unless the content is created within CMSMS, and changes to the formatting do not apply consistently. The paste from Word function also does not function well. <br />
'''Update Dec. 2007'''<br />
With the release of Version 1.2.2 "Holetown" -- November 30, 2007 the WYSIWYG editor and other add-ons/modules have become more stable. The default editor is now [http://tinymce.moxiecode.com/ TinyMCE]. Pasting text from MSWord will remove formating except line breaks. The use of the word processer like buttons makes quick work of reformatting the content. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://bauuc.org/ Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/site/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin]<br />
* other denominations have congregations using it, but this Wiki is in need of more quality examples.<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://contentor.net Contentor]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Contentor was designed for small to medium-sized web sites, typical of sites for/by small non-profit corporations or individuals. It was developed by a fellow UU, Earl Daniels.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
(this wiki entry is in need of a good example site)<br />
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://drupal.org Drupal]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Implemented using relatively common [http://www.php.net/ PHP] and [http://www.mysql.com/ MySQL] resources. Originally developed for 'community' participation web sites where everyone in the community is able to contribute content. Today the program is being used for a wider range of uses, including online press ([http://progressive.org/ The Progressive], [http://www.theonion.com The Onion]), academic sites, media libraries, and galleries. It can be used both for sites with very limited access (just a few authors) or by a very expansive community of users and authors with different privileges. The project was started in the year 2000. While the most current release is version 6.x (became available Feb. 13,2008), version 5.x will for many months continue to be better supported by add-on packages. The 4.7.x version is no longer being supported.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Easy to create news items, single author and multi author documents, audio & video posts (podcasts), galleries (image collections), etc. The base program is highly compliant with both general [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). Many theme templates and lots of additional modules are freely available from the central Drupal community site. Common modules include kits which can be use to create custom content types and views. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using a choice of tunable editors. Regulation of user roles and privileges is very adjustable. Editing experience and viewing experience can be customized for different users. Content categorization and use of categorization is both flexible and pervasive. Technical support is available through an active user community on Drupal's community support site. A dedicated Drupal commercial hosting service option is available ([http://bryght.com/ Bryght Community content hosting]).<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Many of the contributed modules are not that reliable. The rapid advance of the Drupal core program (about one major version update a year) makes it easy to find your site is reliant on modules that have not been updated and may not get updated. Administration is done through same interface as is used for general site viewing (rather than a purpose specific back end interface). Strict enforcement of design and coding creates requirements that may pose difficulties for some trying to make customizations. Building a multi featured site requires the selection, installation, and maintenance of many third party modules. <br />
<br />
'''Features:'''<br />
* Number of user logins: at least one, but an unlimited number may be created<br />
* Registration: May be set to "anyone may register", "anyone may register, but must be approved by admin", or "no one may register". Various modules available to extend these options.<br />
* Separate file/page logins: no, everything is handled via a single login interface<br />
* Approx setup time: First time user, about 1/2 - 1 day. Experienced user, about 15 - 30 minutes.<br />
* Custom scripts allowed: Yes; may create "modules" to extend system-wide functionality, or may inject PHP directly into a page<br />
* Custom templates allowed: Yes; may create a custom "theme"<br />
* Number of templates available: A very large number. Many are listed on the [http://drupal.org/project/Themes Drupal themes page], and most of those are free.<br />
<br />
'''Major benefits:'''<br />
* Extremely customizable<br />
* Very large community - if you want to do something with Drupal, someone else has probably already done it<br />
* Many modules available for extending the core system<br />
* Extremely lightweight; does not require much server space or bandwidth, and is compatible with a wide variety of browsers<br />
<br />
'''Major drawbacks:'''<br />
* Requires some time and effort to learn<br />
* Too many modules - it can be difficult to find, assemble and maintain the modules you need<br />
<br />
'''Demo:'''<br />
[http://opensourcecms.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=132 OpenSourceCMS.com Demo site]<br />
<br />
To login as the admin, add a new page, and edit that page:<br />
1. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/?q=user<br />
2. Login with the administrative password (username admin, password demo)<br />
3. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/node/add/page<br />
4. Type in the page title, and some body text<br />
5. If you want, feel free to play with the various options which appear when you click "Comment settings", "Authoring information", and "Publishing options"; you can also change these later, by editing the page. <br />
6. Click Submit<br />
7. You should see the new page, with a button to edit it, if you want.<br />
8. To see the page as it would appear to a non-administrative user, copy the URL for the page somewhere convenient, go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/logout , and then go back to the page URL.<br />
<br />
Note: OpenSourceCMS.com occasionally wipes its demos clean - do not save precious work there!<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
* [http://www.auuf.net/ Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.md-dc-va-churches.org/ Baltimore, Washington, No. Virginia UUs]<br />
* [http://www.firstparishcambridge.org/ First Parish Cambridge]<br />
* [http://www.uumilwaukee.org/ First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee]<br />
* [http://follen.org/ Follen Church Society]<br />
* [http://gaiacommunity.org Gaia Community]<br />
* [http://www.lifenowradio.org/ Life Now Radio... UU + Drupal, but a podcast...not a church]<br />
* [https://www.psduua.org/prairiestore Prairie Star District's "Prairie Store"]<br />
* [http://rvuuf.org/ Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.uusc.org/ UUSC - Unitarian Universalist Service Committee]<br />
* [http://www.uuchurch.org/ University Unitarian Church (Seattle WA)]<br />
* [http://www.uuma.org/ UUMA - Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association]<br />
* [http://www.peterboroughunitarian.ca/ Unitarian Fellowship of Peterborough (Peterborough, Ontario)]<br />
* [http://www.uduuf.org/ Upper Delaware Unitarian Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.uuhaverhill.org/ Universalist Unitarian Church of Haverhill]<br />
<br />
* If you google "church drupal" you can also find quite a few churches of other denominations using it. -An example using a number of good design principles can be seen at the [http://bethlehem-church.org/ Bethlehem Lutheran Church]. A collected listing of [http://groups.drupal.org/node/2700/ Church Websites running Drupal] has been collected in the Churches group at groups.drupal.org.<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://joomla.org/ Mambo/Joomla!]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (both Mambo and Joomla! use the [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Probably the most popular CMS. Listed together: Mambo and Joomla! share a common design heritage. In mid-2005 the Miro corporation set up a "Mambo Foundation" in an attempt to exert more control via their ownership of the trademark. This was strongly resisted by the Mambo developer community, which left en-masse and are continuing their development using the name "Joomla!". As these two programs continue development they are likely to become much more distinct and less able to share. Several web hosting services support installation through automated installation scripts or "one-button installs". It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The project was started in the year 2000.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Administration is done through a separate "back end" interface to avoid limitations of the "front end" interface used during normal site viewing and navigation. Administration interface has an graphic icon driven interface that makes use less intimidating for some. Theme templates and module extensions are easily loaded remotely since the interface accepts compressed modules remotely, transfers them, and unpacks on the server before loading them for use. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using the included editor. The popularity of the system has resulted in good availability of themes, extensions and experienced developers. Supports blogs, web feeds, multimedia, calendars, galleries, and podcasting through options and extensions. Administration interface and loose enforcement of constraints makes modification of theme templates easier than some other CMS.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Most new work seems to be taking the Joomla! fork. User reviews of the fall 2006 update to Mambo show comparatively high levels of user dissatisfaction. The older Joomla! 1.0 release is well established, but does not achieve compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). A new version 1.5 was released as "stable" on January 22, 2008. The 1.0 version used tables extensively for formatting non-table content. Improvements in these areas was a major objective of the 1.5 release of Joomla!. However, due to the large amount of design experience and extensions developed around Joomla! 1.0 and Mambo, it is not clear how readily the improvements provided by version Joomla! 1.5 could be implemented.<br />
<br />
'''Interest list:''' There is a Google group for conversation about using Joomla for UU congregations at * [http://groups.google.com/group/uu-joomla]<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br /><br />
''Mambo:''<br />
* [http://www.ucsummit.org The Unitarian Church in Summit (New Jersey)]<br />
* [http://www.ccny.org The Community Church of New York Unitarian Universalist in Manhattan (New York)]<br />
''Joomla!:''<br />
* [http://uucyf.org/ The Church of the Younger Fellowship]<br />
* [http://cmwd-uuyan.org/ Central Midwest District Young Adult Network]<br />
* [http://www.firstparish.org/ First Parish in Concord]<br />
* [http://wrighttavern.org/ Wright Tavern Center for Spiritual Renewal]<br />
* [http://fuucsl.org/ First UU Church of Second Life]<br />
* [http://www.jruuc.org/ James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Congregation]<br />
* [http://www.mmuus.org/ May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
* [http://www.tjuc.org/ Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church]<br />
* [http://www.uucj.com/ Universalist Unitarian Church of Joliet]<br />
* [http://www.uuventura.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura]<br />
* [http://www.uu-uno.org/ Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office]<br />
* [http://uubedford.org/ First Parish in Bedford UU]<br />
* [http://uuaa.org First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor]<br />
* [http://www.fvuuf.org/ Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Appleton, WI]<br />
<br />
THE FOLLOWING USE JOOMLA (as of August 2009)<br />
<br />
* [http://uumia.org/ UU Congregation of Miami]<br />
* [http://www.uuvoiceswa.org/ Washington State UU Voices for Justice]<br />
* [http://www.allsoulsuu.org/ All Souls UU Church, Watertown, NY]<br />
* [http://www.uuprinceton.org/ UU Congregation of Princeton]<br />
* [http://www.cuucsa.org/ Community UU Church, San Antonio TX]<br />
* [http://www.uulmnj.org/ UULM New Jersey]<br />
* [http://www.firstuucolumbus.org/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus, OH - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.tuuc-wa.org/ Tahoma UU Congregation, Tacoma, WA]<br />
* [http://www.uufg.org/ UU Fellowship of Gainesville (FL) - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://necluster.uufg.org/ Northeast Cluster of the Florida District - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.cmwd-uua.org/ Central Midwest District - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.uuwr.org/ UU Women and Religion - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.cakesforthequeenofheaven.org/ Cakes for the Queen of Heaven curriculum - formerly used WordPress - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.margaretfuller.org/ Margaret Fuller Bicentennial - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.womenandreligion.org/ Central Midwest District Women and Religion - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.jpdwr.org/ Joseph Priestley District Women and Religion - Joomla 1.0]<br />
* [http://www.emerginguu.org/ CMwD Emerging UU congregations - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.midwestuuleadership.org/ CMwD-Heartland-Prairie Star Districts leadership - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.buuf2.org/ Berrien UU Fellowship, St. Joseph, Michigan - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.neshobauu.org/ Neshoba Unitarian Universalist Church, Cordova, Tennessee - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://communitychurchuuu.org/ Community Church Unitarian Universalist, New Orleans, LA]<br />
* [http://gnou.org/ Greater New Orleans UUs, New Orleans LA]<br />
* [http://fussonline.org/ First Unitarian Society of Schenectady, NY - Joomla 1.5]<br />
<br /><br />
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<br />
===[http://www.phpwebsitemanual.com/ phpWebSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Free (GPL)<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Allows separate password protected areas for different site editors. Has a lot of forum features built in.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Set up does not contain user-friendly instructions; instructions are found elsewhere. Design flexibility is limited.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
*[http://www.uusj.org/ Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice]<br />
<br /><br />
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<br />
===[http://plone.org Plone®]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE: ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Plone is a ready-to-run content management system that is built on the powerful and free [http://zope.org Zope®] application server. Plone provides a system for managing web content that is suitable for project groups, communities, web sites, extranets and intranets. Zope is a full web application environment using its own transactional object database and programmed in the full featured, object oriented, [http://python.org Python] scripting language. The project was started in the year 1999.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' It is easy to create events, news items, new documents, photos, and other files. It uses both HTML and an easy to use Structured Text for those who are unfamiliar with website design. It has many add-on products that extend features available. It has a very flexible security/permissions structure which allows people and groups with different roles to have control over different aspects and different parts of the site. Plone can manage custom content types. Plone delivers excellent compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508]). It can be set up to run on many different types of web servers (Linux, Windows, Mac, BSD etc.) A large developer community, and commercial support is available. <br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Plone will generally require a specialized web host or virtual web server due to its use of [http://zope.org Zope] rather than Apache, PHP and MySQL. It is resource-hungry on the server. It requires over 75 MB RAM dedicated to your site which tends to cost from $15 to $40/month. It will require much more learning by the webmaster about how to back up the custom database, how to combine with Apache for speed and web access logs, etc. For more insights, see http://plone.org/documentation/faq/is-plone-for-me<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.firstunitarianportland.org/ First Unitarian Church of Portland]<br />
*[http://www.spindletopuu.org/ Spindletop Unitarian Church]<br />
*[http://www.uufws.net/ Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem]<br />
<br />
To try it out, create your own free site at http://www.objectis.org/ or create your own account at a Plone-based community site like http://plone.org/ For more flexible production hosting, you might look at http://interlix.com, or http://quintagroup.com<br />
<br /><br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://revoluution.com/products.php Revoluution Media CMS]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary - by arrangement with "Revoluution Media"<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' "Revoluution Media" builds web sites and provides CMS site software for a number of Unitarian Universalist entities. The vendor website claims its own CMS is "fully integrated and easy-to-use" and that it "will allow anyone to update the page content of your site- without resorting to a slow or expensive webmaster". The coding technologies visible on example websites include XHTML, CSS, PHP, and Javascript.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Vendor assistance and support. Vendor offers an integrated service package. The vendor has experience serving a number of other Unitarian Universalist communities. System can be optimized for a small user base.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Costs associated with vendor service. Dependencies associated with a single vendor solutions. System has a small user base to test system operation and to support addition and refinement of features.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
(this wiki entry is in need of a good example site) <br />
<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.oneworldhosting.com/support/website_builder.html SiteXpress Website Builder]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary. Free if you use a host service that offer the software (see link above).<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Offers more flexible design options than some other CMSs - many design elements available, not just full templates. User-friendly instructions for people with good web experience. Customizing options available (uploading your own header images).<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Limited to servers that offer it. More steps needed to edit than some other CMSs. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
*[http://www.drchrisbell.com/ Dr. Chris Bell] - code for Sitemeter added as free service (not available with software)<br />
<br /><br />
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<br />
===[http://info.soholaunch.com/ Soholaunch]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary. Basic version is free of cost. "For 15 days, all of the full-version features will be turned on for you. After your full-version trial expires you can keep using all of the ProBase features forever for free, or you can purchase a full-version license and pick up where you left off with the advanced features." according to 3ix.org, but see [[Web_Hosting_Services|Choosing a Web Hosting Service]] for one that offers the Pro version free<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Relatively easy to use and to set up. A non-tech person can learn how to add information to the site using a web browser and username and password. There are limited templates with the program, but there are forums that give information about creating customized designs.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Requires several steps for the editor to create a page - is not a wysiwyg tool. Does not allow for separate password protected folders for different editors of different areas of the site as might be needed for a large site. Might have limits that I'm not aware of as I've only used it for small sites. Experienced problems updating the software without having the content removed, but server had backup to restore it and forum gives instructions on how to correct the problem.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
[http://www.jpdwr.org/ Joseph Priestley District Women and Religion] - this site was set up by someone with moderate tech skills and instructions were created for volunteer site managers - uses a template that was provided plus their logo designed by a member artist (2008 was updated to a Joomla site)<br />
<br />
[http://www.4stepscreativelearning.com/ 4 Steps Creative Learning Child Care Services] - this is not a UU site, but it demonstrates how a template can be edited for a new design - a real estate template was used, header photos were replaced, and colors were changed. The counter at the bottom is a free sitemeter - not a part of the Soholaunch program, but it shows that code can be added for other services.<br />
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://sourceforge.net/projects/tmakesite Thetaworld MakeSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' a custom open source license.<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' From the Project Page on SourceForge: Thetaworld MakeSite is an offline Content Management System for static pages based on PostgreSQL, Perl, Gedafe and web GUI. It supports Links Catalog similar to Yahoo, multi categories, pages, different publishing targets and online e-commerce shop.. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Relatively simple and efficient in operation.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is. Limited in features with little apparent prospect for evolution. No apparent maintenance since December 2005. Uses/Requires some less common (but publicly licensed) web components.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://palouseuu.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse (Moscow, Idaho)]<br />
<br /><br />
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<br />
===[http://typo3.com/ TYPO3 CMS]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License, GPLv3])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' The conventional wisdom is that this is a full featured and well regarded program well suited for large organizations and those having the background and time available to master it. It is not as well suited for simpler web sites and not for web novices. Three descriptive quotes from the TYPO3 website: <br />
*"TYPO3 is a content management system for enterprise purposes on the web and in intranets. It offers full flexibility and extendability while featuring an accomplished set of ready-made interfaces, functions and modules." <br />
*"Whether you are looking to manage content in a large corporation, university, non-profit organization or a small business, we can provide you with an enterprise-level solution that meets your needs." <br />
*"TYPO3 is a small to midsize enterprise-class Content Management Framework offering the best of both worlds: out-of-the-box operation with a complete set of standard modules and a clean and sturdy high-performance architecture accomodating virtually every kind of custom solution or extension."<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' The program can scale up to fit a large enterprise operation. <br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' The program has a reputation for having a steeper learning curve than most of the alternatives listed here.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
*[http://www.rruuc.org/ River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation (Bethesda, MD)]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/ UU Web Template project]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE - at least for UU organizations (the [http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/license/license.txt license] says it is [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ Creative Commons by-nc-sa] but also "Any [non-UU] use requires permission." so that isn't clear....)<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' The term template may be a bit misleading. These file sets create a scripted (PHP) interface, a choice of two visual themes and a standard set of church web pages. It provides a user interface allowing authorized users to login to the site from any web browser. Once logged in, the authorized user can create content, perform basic maintenance, and extend the page and menu content without any web editing tools. New as of May 2006; the specs for future versions are being considered to improve it. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' The UU Web Templates are designed and prepared specifically for use by UU congregations needing to create a first web site and should allow a quick and low cost launch. The UU Web Templates can also be used as an add-on or for use in re-design of a site. The project is supported by fellow UUs so the community is limited, but shares a lot of common knowledge. There is an email list to communicate with the other users. The simplicity of the design allows the templates to function on both Linux/Unix and Windows web servers. The templates do not require the complexity of a database setup and maintenance.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' A limited selection of styles and color schemes are built into the design. Limitations on the degree to which a site can be extended. There is currently no support for "Web 2.0" features such as media, community/social networking and blogs. The constraints of a small community of users may create some difficulties in maintaining and growing the application. Unspecified problems have been reported.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.allsoulsbraintree.org All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church of Braintree]<br />
*[http://www.cvuus.org Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
*[http://www.luuna.net LUUNA - Latino(a) Unitarian Universalist Networking Association]<br />
*[http://www.oaklandonuu.org Oaklandon Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.rutlanduu.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Rutland]<br />
*[http://www.secondparish.org Second Parish - Unitarian Universalist]<br />
*[http://www.uuacg.org Unitarian Universalists of Coastal Georgia]<br />
*[http://www.uucookeville.org Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cookeville]<br />
*[http://www.uucyakima.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Yakima]<br />
*[http://www.uufgc.org UU Fellowship of Greater Cumberland]<br />
*[http://www.uumuk.org The United Unitarian & Universalist Society of Mukwonago]<br />
*[http://www.uutryonnc.org Thermal Belt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
<br /><br />
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<br />
===[http://wordpress.org WordPress]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Designed principally for blogs, the basic package also supports standard web pages and a multi-level menu structure. It is easily extended through a "plug-in" interface to add support for podcasting and image galleries. Recent updates allow for a site that does not contain a blog on the opening page. Because of its popularity and flexibility, it is being used for multi-purpose and some general purpose websites. It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The WordPress product name is relatively new, but the product evolved directly from the b2 product which originated in 2001. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' WordPress is relatively easy to setup and understand. It is also a relatively mature and well maintained program. This has resulted in it being both very stable and web and accessibility standard compliant. The WordPress site provides extensive guidelines on how to improve and maintain accessibility. An extremely large collection of theme templates and plug-ins is available in the public domain and from custom developers. Themes are easily and quickly switched and customized from within the administrative interface. Non-blog pages and menus are relatively easy to create. The tabbed administrative interface opens on a dashboard which displays the system status and provides notices of upgrades from WordPress. Content is created and edited using an interactive WYSIWYG editor that allows tabbing between a formated presentation and direct HTML editing. The editor provides both auto-save backups during editing and spell checking. Edits can be saved to draft, or private, or published for public viewing. Its podcasting feed support exceeds those of other CMS offerings. It is common for web hosting services to supply their customers with a "one-button" installation for the WordPress application. A dedicated commercial hosting service option is available from [http://wordpress.com/ WordPress.com].<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' The program is designed and maintained to support the specific purpose of blogging. Congregations attempting to use it for broader purposes may encounter limitations (either immediately or in the future).<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://druumm.org/ DRUUMM: Diverse & Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries]<br />
*[http://hunterdonuu.org/ First Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hunterdon County]<br />
*[http://www.ucmh.org/ Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson]<br />
*[http://www.sportsmanila.com/uu/ Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/sermon/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Sermons]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/announce/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Announcements](uses the blog via e-mail function and a cron job to automatically post the announcements when they are e-mailed to the congregation. An auto-delete plug-in is installed so that only the current week's announcements are available.)<br />
<br />
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<br />
[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Content_Management_System&diff=8745Content Management System2010-01-20T04:05:20Z<p>JoyceD: /* [http://drupal.org Drupal] */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
== Content Management Systems ==<br />
<br />
A Content Management System (CMS) is a system used to organize and facilitate creation and maintenance of documents and other content (in this case for a web site). They are designed to allow many people to directly contribute to the process. Contributors sign on to authenticate and their activities are both assisted and restricted by the system. To manage this, a CMS isolates the actions and effects of content creation and maintenance from other elements (layouts, styles, menus, etc.). <br />
<br />
Both Wiki's such as this and blogging sites use Content Management Systems. When a CMS is used for Church management, it is often referred to as a Church Management System, Church Management Software, or Church Ministry Software and often abbreviated as ChMS.<br /><br />
A more comprehensive description and additional details can be found at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system Wikipedia]. <br />
and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_management_software Church Management Software]<br />
<br />
'''Advantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* content can be added and maintained without "webmaster" skills<br />
* many people can contribute or collaborate using just their web browser<br />
* limits on what contributors can and can't do can be precisely defined<br />
* site layout, style and menus are unaffected during content editing work<br />
* content is unaffected during layout, style and menu modifications<br />
* standards and changes for layout, style and menus are applied universally<br />
* site mapping, indexing, site search and menu generation is automatic<br />
* web feed (RSS) syndication of content is usually automatic<br />
* media (images, audio, video, etc) presentation and management is easier to implement<br />
* member only features are easier to implement<br />
* member participation features are easier to implement<br />
* better for sites with many frequent changes, community and media features<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* can be more work to set up for a simple site<br />
* fine tuning the look of individual pages and elements is difficult and limited<br />
* CMS systems have their own menus and logic which users must understand<br />
* one or more people must act to administer the site and any other users<br />
* requires specific software to be present or added to the web server<br />
* your site will depend on the continuing availability and suitability of that specific software<br />
* CMS software will require occasional security maintenance and updating<br />
* usually requires some setup and configuration of a database on the web server<br />
* places greater processing demands on the web server <br />
* backup and recovery is more complicated when a database is involved <br />
* customization requires more specialized and less common skills<br />
* poor for relatively static sites with few changes and a single maintainer<br />
<br />
'''Installing:''' - Linux based web hosting services often offer a feature that can install a selection of several CMS with the click of a link or icon. Example services available through web host control panels include: Fantastico (cPanel), Installatron (cPanel, Plesk), 4psa (Plesk), CP Skins (cPanel), Helm. While these "one-click" installation services can ease installation, they sometimes do not provide secure or up-to-date software versions.<br />
<br />
'''Explore the CMS options at:'''<br />
* The website [http://www.cmsmatrix.org CMS Matrix] allows you to compare features on approximately 100 different CMS solutions. The "Search the Matrix" feature allows you to filter the list according to the features that you need for your site.<br />
* The website [http://www.opensourcecms.com Open Source CMS Systems] allows you to demo 40-50 LAMP-based Portals(CMS) and review the comments left by other visitors. ("LAMP" is an acronym for 'Linux-Apache-MySql-PHP' software.)<br />
<br /><br />
'''---Listed below are details for some CMS packages that churches use to build and maintain websites.'''<br /><br/><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/ CMS Made Simple]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' To get a simple CMS site up and start managing it is relatively simple. The product is described on its website as "simple enough to run family websites...." The standard installation provides a very friendly interface, a lot of guidance, explanations of CMS concepts, and such. This makes the product easier for the inexperienced to start working with. The CMS allows creation of web sites having good compliance with web and accessibility standards, but it does not enforce such standards. This CMS makes use of the preexisting SMARTY theme/template engine and the PHP and MySQL components. Work on this project began as a small in-house project in 2004. This is a relatively new product, with its first stable release being made available in 2006. It appears well regarded in CMS user and developer community. It earned added recognition in 2007 with a third place showing in the [http://www.packtpub.com/award/ Open Source CMS competition sponsored by Packt Publishing].<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' <br />
* very easy to make a hierarchical website<br />
* very nice administration interface, ordered by role and tasks<br />
* standard news module, RSS feeds, file and image managers, and WYSIWYG editor<br />
* module manager, allowing to download and install modules from the browser<br />
* many modules available<br />
* allows for different types of users with individual permissions, which is useful for allowing many people to edit portions of the site. <br />
'''Disadvantages:''' <br />
* inconsistent add-on modules (different ways of doing things)<br />
* lack of CMSMS functionality, a lot is borrowed from other OS software<br />
* WYSIWYG editor does not function very well. The formating is not consistent unless the content is created within CMSMS, and changes to the formatting do not apply consistently. The paste from Word function also does not function well. <br />
'''Update Dec. 2007'''<br />
With the release of Version 1.2.2 "Holetown" -- November 30, 2007 the WYSIWYG editor and other add-ons/modules have become more stable. The default editor is now [http://tinymce.moxiecode.com/ TinyMCE]. Pasting text from MSWord will remove formating except line breaks. The use of the word processer like buttons makes quick work of reformatting the content. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://bauuc.org/ Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/site/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin]<br />
* other denominations have congregations using it, but this Wiki is in need of more quality examples.<br />
<br /><br />
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<br />
===[http://contentor.net Contentor]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Contentor was designed for small to medium-sized web sites, typical of sites for/by small non-profit corporations or individuals. It was developed by a fellow UU, Earl Daniels.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
(this wiki entry is in need of a good example site)<br />
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
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<br />
===[http://drupal.org Drupal]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Implemented using relatively common [http://www.php.net/ PHP] and [http://www.mysql.com/ MySQL] resources. Originally developed for 'community' participation web sites where everyone in the community is able to contribute content. Today the program is being used for a wider range of uses, including online press ([http://progressive.org/ The Progressive], [http://www.theonion.com The Onion]), academic sites, media libraries, and galleries. It can be used both for sites with very limited access (just a few authors) or by a very expansive community of users and authors with different privileges. The project was started in the year 2000. While the most current release is version 6.x (became available Feb. 13,2008), version 5.x will for many months continue to be better supported by add-on packages. The 4.7.x version is no longer being supported.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Easy to create news items, single author and multi author documents, audio & video posts (podcasts), galleries (image collections), etc. The base program is highly compliant with both general [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). Many theme templates and lots of additional modules are freely available from the central Drupal community site. Common modules include kits which can be use to create custom content types and views. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using a choice of tunable editors. Regulation of user roles and privileges is very adjustable. Editing experience and viewing experience can be customized for different users. Content categorization and use of categorization is both flexible and pervasive. Technical support is available through an active user community on Drupal's community support site. A dedicated Drupal commercial hosting service option is available ([http://bryght.com/ Bryght Community content hosting]).<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Many of the contributed modules are not that reliable. The rapid advance of the Drupal core program (about one major version update a year) makes it easy to find your site is reliant on modules that have not been updated and may not get updated. Administration is done through same interface as is used for general site viewing (rather than a purpose specific back end interface). Strict enforcement of design and coding creates requirements that may pose difficulties for some trying to make customizations. Building a multi featured site requires the selection, installation, and maintenance of many third party modules. <br />
<br />
'''Features:'''<br />
* Number of user logins: at least one, but an unlimited number may be created<br />
* Registration: May be set to "anyone may register", "anyone may register, but must be approved by admin", or "no one may register". Various modules available to extend these options.<br />
* Separate file/page logins: no, everything is handled via a single login interface<br />
* Approx setup time: First time user, about 1/2 - 1 day. Experienced user, about 15 - 30 minutes.<br />
* Custom scripts allowed: Yes; may create "modules" to extend system-wide functionality, or may inject PHP directly into a page<br />
* Custom templates allowed: Yes; may create a custom "theme"<br />
* Number of templates available: A very large number. Many are listed on the [http://drupal.org/project/Themes Drupal themes page], and most of those are free.<br />
<br />
'''Major benefits:'''<br />
* Extremely customizable<br />
* Very large community - if you want to do something with Drupal, someone else has probably already done it<br />
* Many modules available for extending the core system<br />
* Extremely lightweight; does not require much server space or bandwidth, and is compatible with a wide variety of browsers<br />
<br />
'''Major drawbacks:'''<br />
* Requires some time and effort to learn<br />
* Too many modules - it can be difficult to find, assemble and maintain the modules you need<br />
<br />
'''Demo:'''<br />
[http://opensourcecms.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=132 OpenSourceCMS.com Demo site]<br />
<br />
To login as the admin, add a new page, and edit that page:<br />
1. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/?q=user<br />
2. Login with the administrative password (username admin, password demo)<br />
3. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/node/add/page<br />
4. Type in the page title, and some body text<br />
5. If you want, feel free to play with the various options which appear when you click "Comment settings", "Authoring information", and "Publishing options"; you can also change these later, by editing the page. <br />
6. Click Submit<br />
7. You should see the new page, with a button to edit it, if you want.<br />
8. To see the page as it would appear to a non-administrative user, copy the URL for the page somewhere convenient, go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/logout , and then go back to the page URL.<br />
<br />
Note: OpenSourceCMS.com occasionally wipes its demos clean - do not save precious work there!<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
* [http://www.auuf.net/ Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.md-dc-va-churches.org/ Baltimore, Washington, No. Virginia UUs]<br />
* [http://www.firstparishcambridge.org/ First Parish Cambridge]<br />
* [http://www.uumilwaukee.org/ First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee]<br />
* [http://follen.org/ Follen Church Society]<br />
* [http://gaiacommunity.org Gaia Community]<br />
* [http://www.lifenowradio.org/ Life Now Radio... UU + Drupal, but a podcast...not a church]<br />
* [https://www.psduua.org/prairiestore Prairie Star District's "Prairie Store"]<br />
* [http://rvuuf.org/ Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.uusc.org/ UUSC - Unitarian Universalist Service Committee]<br />
* [http://www.uuchurch.org/ University Unitarian Church (Seattle WA)]<br />
* [http://www.uuma.org/ UUMA - Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association]<br />
* [http://www.peterboroughunitarian.ca/ Unitarian Fellowship of Peterborough (Peterborough, Ontario)]<br />
* [http://www.uduuf.org/ Upper Delaware Unitarian Fellowship]<br />
<br />
* If you google "church drupal" you can also find quite a few churches of other denominations using it. -An example using a number of good design principles can be seen at the [http://bethlehem-church.org/ Bethlehem Lutheran Church]. A collected listing of [http://groups.drupal.org/node/2700/ Church Websites running Drupal] has been collected in the Churches group at groups.drupal.org.<br />
<br /><br />
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<br />
===[http://joomla.org/ Mambo/Joomla!]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (both Mambo and Joomla! use the [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Probably the most popular CMS. Listed together: Mambo and Joomla! share a common design heritage. In mid-2005 the Miro corporation set up a "Mambo Foundation" in an attempt to exert more control via their ownership of the trademark. This was strongly resisted by the Mambo developer community, which left en-masse and are continuing their development using the name "Joomla!". As these two programs continue development they are likely to become much more distinct and less able to share. Several web hosting services support installation through automated installation scripts or "one-button installs". It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The project was started in the year 2000.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Administration is done through a separate "back end" interface to avoid limitations of the "front end" interface used during normal site viewing and navigation. Administration interface has an graphic icon driven interface that makes use less intimidating for some. Theme templates and module extensions are easily loaded remotely since the interface accepts compressed modules remotely, transfers them, and unpacks on the server before loading them for use. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using the included editor. The popularity of the system has resulted in good availability of themes, extensions and experienced developers. Supports blogs, web feeds, multimedia, calendars, galleries, and podcasting through options and extensions. Administration interface and loose enforcement of constraints makes modification of theme templates easier than some other CMS.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Most new work seems to be taking the Joomla! fork. User reviews of the fall 2006 update to Mambo show comparatively high levels of user dissatisfaction. The older Joomla! 1.0 release is well established, but does not achieve compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). A new version 1.5 was released as "stable" on January 22, 2008. The 1.0 version used tables extensively for formatting non-table content. Improvements in these areas was a major objective of the 1.5 release of Joomla!. However, due to the large amount of design experience and extensions developed around Joomla! 1.0 and Mambo, it is not clear how readily the improvements provided by version Joomla! 1.5 could be implemented.<br />
<br />
'''Interest list:''' There is a Google group for conversation about using Joomla for UU congregations at * [http://groups.google.com/group/uu-joomla]<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br /><br />
''Mambo:''<br />
* [http://www.ucsummit.org The Unitarian Church in Summit (New Jersey)]<br />
* [http://www.ccny.org The Community Church of New York Unitarian Universalist in Manhattan (New York)]<br />
''Joomla!:''<br />
* [http://uucyf.org/ The Church of the Younger Fellowship]<br />
* [http://cmwd-uuyan.org/ Central Midwest District Young Adult Network]<br />
* [http://cms.plymouthuu.org/joomla/ First Parish Church in Plymouth]<br />
* [http://www.firstparish.org/ First Parish in Concord]<br />
* [http://wrighttavern.org/ Wright Tavern Center for Spiritual Renewal]<br />
* [http://fuucsl.org/ First UU Church of Second Life]<br />
* [http://www.jruuc.org/ James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Congregation]<br />
* [http://www.mmuus.org/ May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
* [http://swuucyruu.org/ Southwest District Young Religious Unitarian Universalists]<br />
* [http://www.tjuc.org/ Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church]<br />
* [http://www.uucj.com/ Universalist Unitarian Church of Joliet]<br />
* [http://www.uuventura.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura]<br />
* [http://www.uu-uno.org/ Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office]<br />
* [http://uubedford.org/ First Parish in Bedford UU]<br />
* [http://uuaa.org First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor]<br />
* [http://fvuuf.org Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Appleton, WI]<br />
<br />
THE FOLLOWING USE JOOMLA (as of August 2009)<br />
<br />
* [http://uumia.org/ UU Congregation of Miami]<br />
* [http://www.uuvoiceswa.org/ Washington State UU Voices for Justice]<br />
* [http://www.allsoulsuu.org/ All Souls UU Church, Watertown, NY]<br />
* [http://www.uuprinceton.org/ UU Congregation of Princeton]<br />
* [http://www.cuucsa.org/ Community UU Church, San Antonio TX]<br />
* [http://www.uulmnj.org/ UULM New Jersey]<br />
* [http://www.firstuucolumbus.org/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus, OH]<br />
* [http://www.tuuc-wa.org/ Tahoma UU Congregation, Tacoma, WA]<br />
* [http://www.uufg.org/ UU Fellowship of Gainesville (FL) - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://necluster.uufg.org/ Northeast Cluster of the Florida District - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.cmwd-uua.org/ Central Midwest District - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.uuwr.org/ UU Women and Religion - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.cakesforthequeenofheaven.org/ Cakes for the Queen of Heaven curriculum - formerly used WordPress - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.margaretfuller.org/ Margaret Fuller Bicentennial - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.womenandreligion.org/ Central Midwest District Women and Religion - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.jpdwr.org/ Joseph Priestley District Women and Religion - Joomla 1.0]<br />
* [http://www.emerginguu.org/ CMwD Emerging UU congregations - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.midwestuuleadership.org/ CMwD-Heartland-Prairie Star Districts leadership - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.buuf2.org/ Berrien UU Fellowship, St. Joseph, Michigan - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://www.neshobauu.org/ Neshoba Unitarian Universalist Church, Cordova, Tennessee - Joomla 1.5]<br />
* [http://communitychurchuuu.org/ Community Church Unitarian Universalist, New Orleans, LA]<br />
* [http://gnou.org/ Greater New Orleans UUs, New Orleans LA]<br />
* [http://fussonline.org/ First Unitarian Society of Schenectady, NY - Joomla 1.5]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.phpwebsitemanual.com/ phpWebSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Free (GPL)<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Allows separate password protected areas for different site editors. Has a lot of forum features built in.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Set up does not contain user-friendly instructions; instructions are found elsewhere. Design flexibility is limited.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
*[http://www.uusj.org/ Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://plone.org Plone®]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE: ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Plone is a ready-to-run content management system that is built on the powerful and free [http://zope.org Zope®] application server. Plone provides a system for managing web content that is suitable for project groups, communities, web sites, extranets and intranets. Zope is a full web application environment using its own transactional object database and programmed in the full featured, object oriented, [http://python.org Python] scripting language. The project was started in the year 1999.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' It is easy to create events, news items, new documents, photos, and other files. It uses both HTML and an easy to use Structured Text for those who are unfamiliar with website design. It has many add-on products that extend features available. It has a very flexible security/permissions structure which allows people and groups with different roles to have control over different aspects and different parts of the site. Plone can manage custom content types. Plone delivers excellent compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508]). It can be set up to run on many different types of web servers (Linux, Windows, Mac, BSD etc.) A large developer community, and commercial support is available. <br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Plone will generally require a specialized web host or virtual web server due to its use of [http://zope.org Zope] rather than Apache, PHP and MySQL. It is resource-hungry on the server. It requires over 75 MB RAM dedicated to your site which tends to cost from $15 to $40/month. It will require much more learning by the webmaster about how to back up the custom database, how to combine with Apache for speed and web access logs, etc. For more insights, see http://plone.org/documentation/faq/is-plone-for-me<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.firstunitarianportland.org/ First Unitarian Church of Portland]<br />
*[http://www.spindletopuu.org/ Spindletop Unitarian Church]<br />
*[http://www.uufws.net/ Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem]<br />
<br />
To try it out, create your own free site at http://www.objectis.org/ or create your own account at a Plone-based community site like http://plone.org/ For more flexible production hosting, you might look at http://interlix.com, or http://quintagroup.com<br />
<br /><br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://revoluution.com/products.php Revoluution Media CMS]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary - by arrangement with "Revoluution Media"<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' "Revoluution Media" builds web sites and provides CMS site software for a number of Unitarian Universalist entities. The vendor website claims its own CMS is "fully integrated and easy-to-use" and that it "will allow anyone to update the page content of your site- without resorting to a slow or expensive webmaster". The coding technologies visible on example websites include XHTML, CSS, PHP, and Javascript.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Vendor assistance and support. Vendor offers an integrated service package. The vendor has experience serving a number of other Unitarian Universalist communities. System can be optimized for a small user base.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Costs associated with vendor service. Dependencies associated with a single vendor solutions. System has a small user base to test system operation and to support addition and refinement of features.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
(this wiki entry is in need of a good example site) <br />
<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.oneworldhosting.com/support/website_builder.html SiteXpress Website Builder]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary. Free if you use a host service that offer the software (see link above).<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Offers more flexible design options than some other CMSs - many design elements available, not just full templates. User-friendly instructions for people with good web experience. Customizing options available (uploading your own header images).<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Limited to servers that offer it. More steps needed to edit than some other CMSs. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
*[http://www.drchrisbell.com/ Dr. Chris Bell] - code for Sitemeter added as free service (not available with software)<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://info.soholaunch.com/ Soholaunch]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary. Basic version is free of cost. "For 15 days, all of the full-version features will be turned on for you. After your full-version trial expires you can keep using all of the ProBase features forever for free, or you can purchase a full-version license and pick up where you left off with the advanced features." according to 3ix.org, but see [[Web_Hosting_Services|Choosing a Web Hosting Service]] for one that offers the Pro version free<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Relatively easy to use and to set up. A non-tech person can learn how to add information to the site using a web browser and username and password. There are limited templates with the program, but there are forums that give information about creating customized designs.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Requires several steps for the editor to create a page - is not a wysiwyg tool. Does not allow for separate password protected folders for different editors of different areas of the site as might be needed for a large site. Might have limits that I'm not aware of as I've only used it for small sites. Experienced problems updating the software without having the content removed, but server had backup to restore it and forum gives instructions on how to correct the problem.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
[http://www.jpdwr.org/ Joseph Priestley District Women and Religion] - this site was set up by someone with moderate tech skills and instructions were created for volunteer site managers - uses a template that was provided plus their logo designed by a member artist (2008 was updated to a Joomla site)<br />
<br />
[http://www.4stepscreativelearning.com/ 4 Steps Creative Learning Child Care Services] - this is not a UU site, but it demonstrates how a template can be edited for a new design - a real estate template was used, header photos were replaced, and colors were changed. The counter at the bottom is a free sitemeter - not a part of the Soholaunch program, but it shows that code can be added for other services.<br />
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://sourceforge.net/projects/tmakesite Thetaworld MakeSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' a custom open source license.<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' From the Project Page on SourceForge: Thetaworld MakeSite is an offline Content Management System for static pages based on PostgreSQL, Perl, Gedafe and web GUI. It supports Links Catalog similar to Yahoo, multi categories, pages, different publishing targets and online e-commerce shop.. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Relatively simple and efficient in operation.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is. Limited in features with little apparent prospect for evolution. No apparent maintenance since December 2005. Uses/Requires some less common (but publicly licensed) web components.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://palouseuu.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse (Moscow, Idaho)]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://typo3.com/ TYPO3 CMS]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License, GPLv3])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' The conventional wisdom is that this is a full featured and well regarded program well suited for large organizations and those having the background and time available to master it. It is not as well suited for simpler web sites and not for web novices. Three descriptive quotes from the TYPO3 website: <br />
*"TYPO3 is a content management system for enterprise purposes on the web and in intranets. It offers full flexibility and extendability while featuring an accomplished set of ready-made interfaces, functions and modules." <br />
*"Whether you are looking to manage content in a large corporation, university, non-profit organization or a small business, we can provide you with an enterprise-level solution that meets your needs." <br />
*"TYPO3 is a small to midsize enterprise-class Content Management Framework offering the best of both worlds: out-of-the-box operation with a complete set of standard modules and a clean and sturdy high-performance architecture accomodating virtually every kind of custom solution or extension."<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' The program can scale up to fit a large enterprise operation. <br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' The program has a reputation for having a steeper learning curve than most of the alternatives listed here.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
*[http://www.rruuc.org/ River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation (Bethesda, MD)]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/ UU Web Template project]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE - at least for UU organizations (the [http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/license/license.txt license] says it is [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ Creative Commons by-nc-sa] but also "Any [non-UU] use requires permission." so that isn't clear....)<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' The term template may be a bit misleading. These file sets create a scripted (PHP) interface, a choice of two visual themes and a standard set of church web pages. It provides a user interface allowing authorized users to login to the site from any web browser. Once logged in, the authorized user can create content, perform basic maintenance, and extend the page and menu content without any web editing tools. New as of May 2006; the specs for future versions are being considered to improve it. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' The UU Web Templates are designed and prepared specifically for use by UU congregations needing to create a first web site and should allow a quick and low cost launch. The UU Web Templates can also be used as an add-on or for use in re-design of a site. The project is supported by fellow UUs so the community is limited, but shares a lot of common knowledge. There is an email list to communicate with the other users. The simplicity of the design allows the templates to function on both Linux/Unix and Windows web servers. The templates do not require the complexity of a database setup and maintenance.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' A limited selection of styles and color schemes are built into the design. Limitations on the degree to which a site can be extended. There is currently no support for "Web 2.0" features such as media, community/social networking and blogs. The constraints of a small community of users may create some difficulties in maintaining and growing the application. Unspecified problems have been reported.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.allsoulsbraintree.org All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church of Braintree]<br />
*[http://www.cvuus.org Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
*[http://www.luuna.net LUUNA - Latino(a) Unitarian Universalist Networking Association]<br />
*[http://www.oaklandonuu.org Oaklandon Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.rutlanduu.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Rutland]<br />
*[http://www.secondparish.org Second Parish - Unitarian Universalist]<br />
*[http://www.uuacg.org Unitarian Universalists of Coastal Georgia]<br />
*[http://www.uucookeville.org Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cookeville]<br />
*[http://www.uucyakima.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Yakima]<br />
*[http://www.uufgc.org UU Fellowship of Greater Cumberland]<br />
*[http://www.uumuk.org The United Unitarian & Universalist Society of Mukwonago]<br />
*[http://www.uutryonnc.org Thermal Belt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://wordpress.org WordPress]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Designed principally for blogs, the basic package also supports standard web pages and a multi-level menu structure. It is easily extended through a "plug-in" interface to add support for podcasting and image galleries. Recent updates allow for a site that does not contain a blog on the opening page. Because of its popularity and flexibility, it is being used for multi-purpose and some general purpose websites. It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The WordPress product name is relatively new, but the product evolved directly from the b2 product which originated in 2001. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' WordPress is relatively easy to setup and understand. It is also a relatively mature and well maintained program. This has resulted in it being both very stable and web and accessibility standard compliant. The WordPress site provides extensive guidelines on how to improve and maintain accessibility. An extremely large collection of theme templates and plug-ins is available in the public domain and from custom developers. Themes are easily and quickly switched and customized from within the administrative interface. Non-blog pages and menus are relatively easy to create. The tabbed administrative interface opens on a dashboard which displays the system status and provides notices of upgrades from WordPress. Content is created and edited using an interactive WYSIWYG editor that allows tabbing between a formated presentation and direct HTML editing. The editor provides both auto-save backups during editing and spell checking. Edits can be saved to draft, or private, or published for public viewing. Its podcasting feed support exceeds those of other CMS offerings. It is common for web hosting services to supply their customers with a "one-button" installation for the WordPress application. A dedicated commercial hosting service option is available from [http://wordpress.com/ WordPress.com].<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' The program is designed and maintained to support the specific purpose of blogging. Congregations attempting to use it for broader purposes may encounter limitations (either immediately or in the future).<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://druumm.org/ DRUUMM: Diverse & Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries]<br />
*[http://hunterdonuu.org/ First Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hunterdon County]<br />
*[http://www.ucmh.org/ Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson]<br />
*[http://www.sportsmanila.com/uu/ Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/sermon/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Sermons]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/announce/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Announcements](uses the blog via e-mail function and a cron job to automatically post the announcements when they are e-mailed to the congregation. An auto-delete plug-in is installed so that only the current week's announcements are available.)<br />
<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Help:Editing&diff=8513Help:Editing2009-04-30T17:55:20Z<p>JoyceD: Replacing page with 'See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:How_to_edit_a_page Wikipedia's How_to_edit_a_page] for information on how to make the page look the way you want.'</p>
<hr />
<div>See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:How_to_edit_a_page Wikipedia's How_to_edit_a_page] for information on how to make the page look the way you want.</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=UU-Money_Recommended_Book_List&diff=8495UU-Money Recommended Book List2009-04-11T04:59:14Z<p>JoyceD: Restored</p>
<hr />
<div>Recommended Books from various members of the UU-Money List<br />
<br />
<br />
* 44 Steps Off the Plateau, by Lyle Schaller<br />
* Activating the Passive Church, by Lyle Schaller<br />
* Churchworks: A Well-Body Book for Congregations, by Anne Heller<br />
* Financial Management in the Church: Being Stewards of Right Relationships, by Peter Henrickson<br />
* Growing A Beloved Community, by Tom Owen-Towle<br />
* Good to Great, by Jim Collins<br />
* Salted With Fire, by Scott Alexander</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Talk:UU-Money&diff=8494Talk:UU-Money2009-04-11T04:54:45Z<p>JoyceD: /* [http://www.3ix.org/ 3ix] */</p>
<hr />
<div>== Comparison of services used by UUs ==<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.3ix.org/ 3ix] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - cPanel with Fantastico and a long list of Open Source programs<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - 4 packages range from $12/yr. to $88/yr. ($73 additional for SSL & dedicated IP using their top 2 packages with Shell Access)<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I've used it for 1 1/2 yrs. with several sites and few problems, though it doesn't have a toll free phone number for tech support & sometimes the LiveChat will put in a ticket for tech support via email, I usually get a satisfactory answer to questions within 12 hrs. I wouldn't recommend it if you need faster tech support. I notice that some accounts (on different 3ix computers) have more updated software than others. They also don't have automated bill paying using saved credit card information - they email their annual renewal bill, but they don't take down sites that are late and there's no late fee (up to 10 days or something like that). I see there's a dedicated hate group to them that primarily criticizes their "unlimited bandwidth" - I don't see how any server can truly offer bandwidth that is "unlimited" or space either, though many claim to. The cost per service is very good for those who would like to save money.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.jpdwr.org/ JPD Women & Religion] uses the Excite plan ($12/yr.)<br />
*[http://www.uuallies.com/drupal UU Allies for Racial Equity] uses the Expert hosting plan (and pays a small amount extra for SSL and dedicated IP - for $128/yr.)<br />
*[http://www.md-dc-va-churches.org/ Baltimore-Washington-No. Virginia Unitarian Universalists] and [http://www.philwiluus.org/ Philadelphia Wilmington Unitarian Universalists] share the same service in different directories using the Extra Hosing Plan ($33/yr.)<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.bluehost.com/ Blue Host] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - cPanel with Fantastico and a long list of Open Source programs - 1 package only, includes Shell Access<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - $6.95/mo. if you sign up for 2 yrs. up front ($166.80/2 yrs. = $83.40/yr.)<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I have log-in capability on a site that uses it, but I haven't dealt with them directly. I see a lot of people think they're great, but I compared software versions and they're not up-to-date on everything. I believe it's their customer service that gets them top ratings, which includes 24X7 toll free phone support. I have also read some reviews from unsatisfied customers, though.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.jpduua.org/ Joseph Priestley District]<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://dreamhost.com/ DreamHost] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux (Debian "Sarge" 3.1r4)<br />
<br />
'''[http://dreamhost.com/hosting.html Features]''' - Web hosting (Apache with PHP, Perl, Ruby, CGI, SSI, FastCGI, etc.). Comprehensive array of pre-installed or easily-installed services, including WordPress, Gallery, Joomla, phpBB, MediaWiki, Jabber, CVS, Subversion, WebDAV, streaming audio & video, and WebCalendar. Secure POP / IMAP / SMTP email service with SquirrelMail webmail. FTP. Procmail. Secure shell (SSH). Databases (MySQL). Spam filtering. Snapshot backups. Great control panel. Site statistics. File Storage. Custom DNS. WHOIS privacy. Unique IP and SSL available.<br />
<br />
'''Resources''' - Basic account gets 500GB + 5TB monthly bandwidth, both of which increase every week. Unlimited databases, email accounts, shell users, hosted domains and subdomains.<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - $11/month + $50 startup fee. Monthly cost and startup fees decline with increasing prepaid term. Promo Codes readily available to reduce cost further.<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
<br />
*From Stonewall Ballard 2007/11/09 - First Parish in Concord has used DreamHost since June of 2005. I chose it because it was cheap and offered enough space for our photo gallery. Web and database services tends to be slow. Outages are not uncommon. Outgoing email is frequently blacklisted by Comcast, Verizon, and AOL. OTOH, it's very easy to use and very flexible. For example, I installed my own copy of SpamAssassin. It has a large set of services. Support is variable, but usually ok. They're very open about problems in their blog and forums. Do not choose DreamHost if you want high reliability. Go with Pair for that.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
<br />
*[http://www.firstparish.org/ www.firstparish.org]<br />
<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://simple.be/hosting/ Simple.be] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Windows, Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - Web hosting (Apache, PHP, CGI, and Perl), Secure POP / IMAP / SMTP email service, Secure shell (SSH) & secure copy (SCP), Databases (MySQL & PostgreSQL), Anti-spam service, Snapshot backups, Debian GNU/Linux<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - 6 packages from $14/month (for 80 MB storage and 3 email aliases) up.<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From PatRodgers 2007/11/08 - Brett Hamilton has hosted our www.mpuuc.org website for almost 4 years. He walked me through the WinSCP setup and quickly handles changes in the forwarding of our email aliases. Readily available via email or phone.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.mpuuc.org/ Mission Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation]<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.uuism.net/index.php UUism Networks] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Red Hat Linux Fedora Core 4<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - EnsimPro administrative panel - "comes with Web Site, Subdirectory Access (FTP), Shell Access (SSH) and Email Server Access (POP3)"<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - "$48 per year for 25 MB with free setup" (according to site 11/7/2007)<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I've used it for ~8 yrs. & it has improved over time. I've only used it for services that our UU host, Jim Hermann, has offered free. THANKS, JIM! He serves over 100 UU congregations and organizations.<br />
*From BruceC 2007/11/7 - I've used this service for many years. Our main pages are still hosted on a local community based service for non-profit pages. But they don't offer server programs so I have been migrating more and more to uuism. First was our domain name, then email lists, then the forums and now we are rebuilding our site in Joomla. (UUism doesn't currently offer Joomla via Ensim, but it was not difficult to install.) Ensim doesn't always keep all software up to the most current, but most of it is especially if there are security concerns. Site availability has been much better than 99%. Response to emailed questions is usually within a couple of hours.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.rec-room.org/ REC-Room]<br />
*[http://www.uuism.net/uuwiki/ UU Wiki] - this site<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.vervehosting.com/ Verve Hosting] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - cPanel, Fantastico (automatically installs Drupal, WordPress, Joomla, etc.), multiple MYSQL databases, multiple domains and subdomains, SSH, PHP 4 or 5, Awstats, Spam Assasin, FTP, Imap<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - as low as $5.95 a month<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From Chris Walton 11/9/2007 - I've hosted [http://www.philocrites.com/ Philocrites] and several other websites with Verve for four years. They provide extremely stable hosting and almost immediate customer support. Domain registration from $11.95 is slightly higher than from other services. <br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.philocrites.com/ Philocrites]<br />
*[http://www.jameslutheradams.org/ James Luther Adams Foundation]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Other_useful_web_sites_or_pages&diff=8493Other useful web sites or pages2009-04-10T15:42:27Z<p>JoyceD: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
There are various other UUs out there who have web sites or specific pages that have recomendations on how to build a good web site.<br />
<br />
; www.faithandweb(dot)com/best-posts/<br />
: Faith and Web, a church diva's musings... Best Posts include Getting Started, How To - or - the Nuts & Bolts, Graphics, & more (you'll need to copy & paste the URL & replace "(dot)" with a dot as a spam precaution)<br />
<br />
; http://bertc.com/cuc_workshop.htm<br />
: Bert Christensen did a workshop at the Canadian Unitarian Council Annual Conference and Meeting titled, "Building Good Church Websites."<br />
<br />
; http://www.unitarian.org/media/crafting/crafting.html<br />
: Some introductory materials that may be a bit dated, but certainly are good for introduction to building/mainting one's own web site. One of the authors, Kent Koeninger, has a knack for straightforward and insightful presentations.<br />
<br />
; http://www.md-dc-va-churches.org/SPREAD-THE-FLAME.doc (Word doc)<br />
: 4 page document to use as basic standards for UU congregation web sites by Joseph Priestley District Public Outreach team</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Web_Hosting_Services&diff=8255Web Hosting Services2008-04-27T18:41:49Z<p>JoyceD: added OneWorldHosting</p>
<hr />
<div>== Comparison of services used by UUs ==<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.3ix.org/ 3ix] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - cPanel with Fantastico and a long list of Open Source programs<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - 4 packages range from $12/yr. to $88/yr. ($73 additional for SSL & dedicated IP using their top 2 packages with Shell Access)<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From JoyceD 4/27/2008 - I was having good experience with it, but recently the tech support has been atrocious and my church site was hacked several times. I recommend that you find a service with an 800 number so you can speak directly with your tech support. I would not recommend this service! Though I do still have a couple of sites using it as they have minimal service & have not experienced any problems.<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.bluehost.com/ Blue Host] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - cPanel with Fantastico and a long list of Open Source programs - 1 package only, includes Shell Access<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - $6.95/mo. if you sign up for 2 yrs. up front ($166.80/2 yrs. = $83.40/yr.)<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I have log-in capability on a site that uses it, but I haven't dealt with them directly. I see a lot of people think they're great, but I compared software versions and they're not up-to-date on everything. I believe it's their customer service that gets them top ratings, which includes 24X7 toll free phone support. I have also read some reviews from unsatisfied customers, though.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.jpduua.org/ Joseph Priestley District]<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://drak.net/ DrakNet] ===<br />
<br />
'''Slogan''' - Blue Hosting in a Red State with a focus on Green!<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - "Linux hosting solutions powered fully by 100% renewable energy"<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - "One fully working copy of the powerful Content Management System Soholaunch Pro is included with every, single hosting account, a $149 value."<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - AlmostFree Account for $0/m for "progressive" non-profits = $25 set up, no annual charge<br />
<br />
'''Reviews''' - I got a good review from someone on Soholaunch forum - see "Features" for churches and orgs who'd like to use the [[Content_Management_System#Soholaunch|content management system Soholaunch]].<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://dreamhost.com/ DreamHost] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux (Debian "Sarge" 3.1r4)<br />
<br />
'''[http://dreamhost.com/hosting.html Features]''' - Web hosting (Apache with PHP, Perl, Ruby, CGI, SSI, FastCGI, etc.). Comprehensive array of pre-installed or easily-installed services, including WordPress, Gallery, Joomla, phpBB, MediaWiki, Jabber, CVS, Subversion, WebDAV, streaming audio & video, and WebCalendar. Secure POP / IMAP / SMTP email service with SquirrelMail webmail. FTP. Procmail. Secure shell (SSH). Databases (MySQL). Spam filtering. Snapshot backups. Great control panel. Site statistics. File Storage. Custom DNS. WHOIS privacy. Unique IP and SSL available.<br />
<br />
'''Resources''' - Basic account gets 500GB + 5TB monthly bandwidth, both of which increase every week. Unlimited databases, email accounts, shell users, hosted domains and subdomains.<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - $11/month + $50 startup fee. Monthly cost and startup fees decline with increasing prepaid term. Promo Codes readily available to reduce cost further.<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
<br />
*From Stonewall Ballard 2007/11/09 - First Parish in Concord has used DreamHost since June of 2005. I chose it because it was cheap and offered enough space for our photo gallery. Web and database services tends to be slow. Outages are not uncommon. Outgoing email is frequently blacklisted by Comcast, Verizon, and AOL. OTOH, it's very easy to use and very flexible. For example, I installed my own copy of SpamAssassin. It has a large set of services. Support is variable, but usually ok. They're very open about problems in their blog and forums. Do not choose DreamHost if you want high reliability. Go with Pair for that.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
<br />
*[http://www.firstparish.org/ www.firstparish.org]<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://oneworldhosting.com/ OneWorldHosting.com] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - Web hosting (Apache, PHP, CGI, and Perl), Spam blocker tools, Free SSL, Telnet/SSH, FrontPage extensions, Control Panel, Traffic Analysis Tools, webmail, multiple MySQL databases, mailing lists, SiteXpress web site builder<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - $14.95 monthly or $9.95/mo. when paying for 2 year (for 5 GB storage & 30 ).<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From JoyceD 4/27/2008 - Great customer service. Great for SiteBuilder if you want a flexible design content management system. A little pricey if you don't need all the features and tech support.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.drchrisbell.com/ Chris Bell, UU Author]<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://simple.be/hosting/ Simple.be] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - Web hosting (Apache, PHP, CGI, and Perl), Secure POP / IMAP / SMTP email service, Secure shell (SSH) & secure copy (SCP), Databases (MySQL & PostgreSQL), Anti-spam service, Snapshot backups, support for Windows or Mac<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - 6 packages from $14/month (for 80 MB storage and 3 email aliases) up.<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From PatRodgers 2007/11/08 - Brett Hamilton has hosted our www.mpuuc.org website for almost 4 years. He walked me through the WinSCP setup and quickly handles changes in the forwarding of our email aliases. Readily available via email or phone.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.mpuuc.org/ Mission Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation]<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.uuism.net/index.php UUism Networks] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Red Hat Linux Fedora Core 4<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - EnsimPro administrative panel - "comes with Web Site, Subdirectory Access (FTP), Shell Access (SSH) and Email Server Access (POP3)"<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - "$48 per year for 25 MB with free setup" (according to site 11/7/2007)<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I've used it for ~8 yrs. & it has improved over time. I've only used it for services that our UU host, Jim Hermann, has offered free. THANKS, JIM! He serves over 100 UU congregations and organizations.<br />
*From BruceC 2007/11/7 - I've used this service for many years. Our main pages are still hosted on a local community based service for non-profit pages. But they don't offer server programs so I have been migrating more and more to uuism. First was our domain name, then email lists, then the forums and now we are rebuilding our site in Joomla. (UUism doesn't currently offer Joomla via Ensim, but it was not difficult to install.) Ensim doesn't always keep all software up to the most current, but most of it is especially if there are security concerns. Site availability has been much better than 99%. Response to emailed questions is usually within a couple of hours.<br />
*From PatG 12/10/2007 - We've used for for the past two or three years for all of our hosting needs - main site, mailing lists, blog, and web calendar. Jim is a great help providing tech support and assistance especially when he hears the a desperate call for help. <br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.rec-room.org/ REC-Room]<br />
*[http://www.uuism.net/uuwiki/ UU Wiki] - this site<br />
*[http://HUUweb.org / Harrisonburg UU]<br />
*[http://huuweb.org/community-cafe/ HUU Community Cafe]<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.vervehosting.com/ Verve Hosting] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - cPanel, Fantastico (automatically installs Drupal, WordPress, Joomla, etc.), multiple MYSQL databases, multiple domains and subdomains, SSH, PHP 4 or 5, Awstats, Spam Assasin, FTP, Imap<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - as low as $5.95 a month<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From Chris Walton 11/9/2007 - I've hosted [http://www.philocrites.com/ Philocrites] and several other websites with Verve for four years. They provide extremely stable hosting and almost immediate customer support. Domain registration from $11.95 is slightly higher than from other services. <br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.philocrites.com/ Philocrites]<br />
*[http://www.jameslutheradams.org/ James Luther Adams Foundation]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Web_Hosting_Services&diff=8254Web Hosting Services2008-04-27T18:29:26Z<p>JoyceD: /* [http://www.3ix.org/ 3ix] */</p>
<hr />
<div>== Comparison of services used by UUs ==<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.3ix.org/ 3ix] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - cPanel with Fantastico and a long list of Open Source programs<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - 4 packages range from $12/yr. to $88/yr. ($73 additional for SSL & dedicated IP using their top 2 packages with Shell Access)<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From JoyceD 4/27/2008 - I was having good experience with it, but recently the tech support has been atrocious and my church site was hacked several times. I recommend that you find a service with an 800 number so you can speak directly with your tech support. I would not recommend this service! Though I do still have a couple of sites using it as they have minimal service & have not experienced any problems.<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.bluehost.com/ Blue Host] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - cPanel with Fantastico and a long list of Open Source programs - 1 package only, includes Shell Access<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - $6.95/mo. if you sign up for 2 yrs. up front ($166.80/2 yrs. = $83.40/yr.)<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I have log-in capability on a site that uses it, but I haven't dealt with them directly. I see a lot of people think they're great, but I compared software versions and they're not up-to-date on everything. I believe it's their customer service that gets them top ratings, which includes 24X7 toll free phone support. I have also read some reviews from unsatisfied customers, though.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.jpduua.org/ Joseph Priestley District]<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://drak.net/ DrakNet] ===<br />
<br />
'''Slogan''' - Blue Hosting in a Red State with a focus on Green!<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - "Linux hosting solutions powered fully by 100% renewable energy"<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - "One fully working copy of the powerful Content Management System Soholaunch Pro is included with every, single hosting account, a $149 value."<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - AlmostFree Account for $0/m for "progressive" non-profits = $25 set up, no annual charge<br />
<br />
'''Reviews''' - I got a good review from someone on Soholaunch forum - see "Features" for churches and orgs who'd like to use the [[Content_Management_System#Soholaunch|content management system Soholaunch]].<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://dreamhost.com/ DreamHost] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux (Debian "Sarge" 3.1r4)<br />
<br />
'''[http://dreamhost.com/hosting.html Features]''' - Web hosting (Apache with PHP, Perl, Ruby, CGI, SSI, FastCGI, etc.). Comprehensive array of pre-installed or easily-installed services, including WordPress, Gallery, Joomla, phpBB, MediaWiki, Jabber, CVS, Subversion, WebDAV, streaming audio & video, and WebCalendar. Secure POP / IMAP / SMTP email service with SquirrelMail webmail. FTP. Procmail. Secure shell (SSH). Databases (MySQL). Spam filtering. Snapshot backups. Great control panel. Site statistics. File Storage. Custom DNS. WHOIS privacy. Unique IP and SSL available.<br />
<br />
'''Resources''' - Basic account gets 500GB + 5TB monthly bandwidth, both of which increase every week. Unlimited databases, email accounts, shell users, hosted domains and subdomains.<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - $11/month + $50 startup fee. Monthly cost and startup fees decline with increasing prepaid term. Promo Codes readily available to reduce cost further.<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
<br />
*From Stonewall Ballard 2007/11/09 - First Parish in Concord has used DreamHost since June of 2005. I chose it because it was cheap and offered enough space for our photo gallery. Web and database services tends to be slow. Outages are not uncommon. Outgoing email is frequently blacklisted by Comcast, Verizon, and AOL. OTOH, it's very easy to use and very flexible. For example, I installed my own copy of SpamAssassin. It has a large set of services. Support is variable, but usually ok. They're very open about problems in their blog and forums. Do not choose DreamHost if you want high reliability. Go with Pair for that.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
<br />
*[http://www.firstparish.org/ www.firstparish.org]<br />
<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://simple.be/hosting/ Simple.be] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - Web hosting (Apache, PHP, CGI, and Perl), Secure POP / IMAP / SMTP email service, Secure shell (SSH) & secure copy (SCP), Databases (MySQL & PostgreSQL), Anti-spam service, Snapshot backups, support for Windows or Mac<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - 6 packages from $14/month (for 80 MB storage and 3 email aliases) up.<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From PatRodgers 2007/11/08 - Brett Hamilton has hosted our www.mpuuc.org website for almost 4 years. He walked me through the WinSCP setup and quickly handles changes in the forwarding of our email aliases. Readily available via email or phone.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.mpuuc.org/ Mission Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation]<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.uuism.net/index.php UUism Networks] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Red Hat Linux Fedora Core 4<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - EnsimPro administrative panel - "comes with Web Site, Subdirectory Access (FTP), Shell Access (SSH) and Email Server Access (POP3)"<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - "$48 per year for 25 MB with free setup" (according to site 11/7/2007)<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I've used it for ~8 yrs. & it has improved over time. I've only used it for services that our UU host, Jim Hermann, has offered free. THANKS, JIM! He serves over 100 UU congregations and organizations.<br />
*From BruceC 2007/11/7 - I've used this service for many years. Our main pages are still hosted on a local community based service for non-profit pages. But they don't offer server programs so I have been migrating more and more to uuism. First was our domain name, then email lists, then the forums and now we are rebuilding our site in Joomla. (UUism doesn't currently offer Joomla via Ensim, but it was not difficult to install.) Ensim doesn't always keep all software up to the most current, but most of it is especially if there are security concerns. Site availability has been much better than 99%. Response to emailed questions is usually within a couple of hours.<br />
*From PatG 12/10/2007 - We've used for for the past two or three years for all of our hosting needs - main site, mailing lists, blog, and web calendar. Jim is a great help providing tech support and assistance especially when he hears the a desperate call for help. <br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.rec-room.org/ REC-Room]<br />
*[http://www.uuism.net/uuwiki/ UU Wiki] - this site<br />
*[http://HUUweb.org / Harrisonburg UU]<br />
*[http://huuweb.org/community-cafe/ HUU Community Cafe]<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.vervehosting.com/ Verve Hosting] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - cPanel, Fantastico (automatically installs Drupal, WordPress, Joomla, etc.), multiple MYSQL databases, multiple domains and subdomains, SSH, PHP 4 or 5, Awstats, Spam Assasin, FTP, Imap<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - as low as $5.95 a month<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From Chris Walton 11/9/2007 - I've hosted [http://www.philocrites.com/ Philocrites] and several other websites with Verve for four years. They provide extremely stable hosting and almost immediate customer support. Domain registration from $11.95 is slightly higher than from other services. <br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.philocrites.com/ Philocrites]<br />
*[http://www.jameslutheradams.org/ James Luther Adams Foundation]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Web_Hosting_Services&diff=8253Web Hosting Services2008-04-27T18:28:51Z<p>JoyceD: /* [http://www.3ix.org/ 3ix] */</p>
<hr />
<div>== Comparison of services used by UUs ==<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.3ix.org/ 3ix] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - cPanel with Fantastico and a long list of Open Source programs<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - 4 packages range from $12/yr. to $88/yr. ($73 additional for SSL & dedicated IP using their top 2 packages with Shell Access)<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I was having good experience with it, but recently the tech support has been atrocious and my church site was hacked several times. I recommend that you find a service with an 800 number so you can speak directly with your tech support. I would not recommend this service! Though I do still have a couple of sites using it as they have minimal service & have not experienced any problems.<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.bluehost.com/ Blue Host] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - cPanel with Fantastico and a long list of Open Source programs - 1 package only, includes Shell Access<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - $6.95/mo. if you sign up for 2 yrs. up front ($166.80/2 yrs. = $83.40/yr.)<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I have log-in capability on a site that uses it, but I haven't dealt with them directly. I see a lot of people think they're great, but I compared software versions and they're not up-to-date on everything. I believe it's their customer service that gets them top ratings, which includes 24X7 toll free phone support. I have also read some reviews from unsatisfied customers, though.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.jpduua.org/ Joseph Priestley District]<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://drak.net/ DrakNet] ===<br />
<br />
'''Slogan''' - Blue Hosting in a Red State with a focus on Green!<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - "Linux hosting solutions powered fully by 100% renewable energy"<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - "One fully working copy of the powerful Content Management System Soholaunch Pro is included with every, single hosting account, a $149 value."<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - AlmostFree Account for $0/m for "progressive" non-profits = $25 set up, no annual charge<br />
<br />
'''Reviews''' - I got a good review from someone on Soholaunch forum - see "Features" for churches and orgs who'd like to use the [[Content_Management_System#Soholaunch|content management system Soholaunch]].<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://dreamhost.com/ DreamHost] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux (Debian "Sarge" 3.1r4)<br />
<br />
'''[http://dreamhost.com/hosting.html Features]''' - Web hosting (Apache with PHP, Perl, Ruby, CGI, SSI, FastCGI, etc.). Comprehensive array of pre-installed or easily-installed services, including WordPress, Gallery, Joomla, phpBB, MediaWiki, Jabber, CVS, Subversion, WebDAV, streaming audio & video, and WebCalendar. Secure POP / IMAP / SMTP email service with SquirrelMail webmail. FTP. Procmail. Secure shell (SSH). Databases (MySQL). Spam filtering. Snapshot backups. Great control panel. Site statistics. File Storage. Custom DNS. WHOIS privacy. Unique IP and SSL available.<br />
<br />
'''Resources''' - Basic account gets 500GB + 5TB monthly bandwidth, both of which increase every week. Unlimited databases, email accounts, shell users, hosted domains and subdomains.<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - $11/month + $50 startup fee. Monthly cost and startup fees decline with increasing prepaid term. Promo Codes readily available to reduce cost further.<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
<br />
*From Stonewall Ballard 2007/11/09 - First Parish in Concord has used DreamHost since June of 2005. I chose it because it was cheap and offered enough space for our photo gallery. Web and database services tends to be slow. Outages are not uncommon. Outgoing email is frequently blacklisted by Comcast, Verizon, and AOL. OTOH, it's very easy to use and very flexible. For example, I installed my own copy of SpamAssassin. It has a large set of services. Support is variable, but usually ok. They're very open about problems in their blog and forums. Do not choose DreamHost if you want high reliability. Go with Pair for that.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
<br />
*[http://www.firstparish.org/ www.firstparish.org]<br />
<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://simple.be/hosting/ Simple.be] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - Web hosting (Apache, PHP, CGI, and Perl), Secure POP / IMAP / SMTP email service, Secure shell (SSH) & secure copy (SCP), Databases (MySQL & PostgreSQL), Anti-spam service, Snapshot backups, support for Windows or Mac<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - 6 packages from $14/month (for 80 MB storage and 3 email aliases) up.<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From PatRodgers 2007/11/08 - Brett Hamilton has hosted our www.mpuuc.org website for almost 4 years. He walked me through the WinSCP setup and quickly handles changes in the forwarding of our email aliases. Readily available via email or phone.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.mpuuc.org/ Mission Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation]<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.uuism.net/index.php UUism Networks] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Red Hat Linux Fedora Core 4<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - EnsimPro administrative panel - "comes with Web Site, Subdirectory Access (FTP), Shell Access (SSH) and Email Server Access (POP3)"<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - "$48 per year for 25 MB with free setup" (according to site 11/7/2007)<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I've used it for ~8 yrs. & it has improved over time. I've only used it for services that our UU host, Jim Hermann, has offered free. THANKS, JIM! He serves over 100 UU congregations and organizations.<br />
*From BruceC 2007/11/7 - I've used this service for many years. Our main pages are still hosted on a local community based service for non-profit pages. But they don't offer server programs so I have been migrating more and more to uuism. First was our domain name, then email lists, then the forums and now we are rebuilding our site in Joomla. (UUism doesn't currently offer Joomla via Ensim, but it was not difficult to install.) Ensim doesn't always keep all software up to the most current, but most of it is especially if there are security concerns. Site availability has been much better than 99%. Response to emailed questions is usually within a couple of hours.<br />
*From PatG 12/10/2007 - We've used for for the past two or three years for all of our hosting needs - main site, mailing lists, blog, and web calendar. Jim is a great help providing tech support and assistance especially when he hears the a desperate call for help. <br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.rec-room.org/ REC-Room]<br />
*[http://www.uuism.net/uuwiki/ UU Wiki] - this site<br />
*[http://HUUweb.org / Harrisonburg UU]<br />
*[http://huuweb.org/community-cafe/ HUU Community Cafe]<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.vervehosting.com/ Verve Hosting] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - cPanel, Fantastico (automatically installs Drupal, WordPress, Joomla, etc.), multiple MYSQL databases, multiple domains and subdomains, SSH, PHP 4 or 5, Awstats, Spam Assasin, FTP, Imap<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - as low as $5.95 a month<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From Chris Walton 11/9/2007 - I've hosted [http://www.philocrites.com/ Philocrites] and several other websites with Verve for four years. They provide extremely stable hosting and almost immediate customer support. Domain registration from $11.95 is slightly higher than from other services. <br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.philocrites.com/ Philocrites]<br />
*[http://www.jameslutheradams.org/ James Luther Adams Foundation]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Web_Hosting_Services&diff=8252Web Hosting Services2008-04-27T05:06:12Z<p>JoyceD: </p>
<hr />
<div>== Comparison of services used by UUs ==<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.3ix.org/ 3ix] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - cPanel with Fantastico and a long list of Open Source programs<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - 4 packages range from $12/yr. to $88/yr. ($73 additional for SSL & dedicated IP using their top 2 packages with Shell Access)<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I was having good experience with it, but recently the tech support and customer service has been atrocious! I recommend that you find a service with an 800 number so you can speak directly with your tech support. Also sites have been hacked. I would not recommend this service!<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.bluehost.com/ Blue Host] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - cPanel with Fantastico and a long list of Open Source programs - 1 package only, includes Shell Access<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - $6.95/mo. if you sign up for 2 yrs. up front ($166.80/2 yrs. = $83.40/yr.)<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I have log-in capability on a site that uses it, but I haven't dealt with them directly. I see a lot of people think they're great, but I compared software versions and they're not up-to-date on everything. I believe it's their customer service that gets them top ratings, which includes 24X7 toll free phone support. I have also read some reviews from unsatisfied customers, though.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.jpduua.org/ Joseph Priestley District]<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://drak.net/ DrakNet] ===<br />
<br />
'''Slogan''' - Blue Hosting in a Red State with a focus on Green!<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - "Linux hosting solutions powered fully by 100% renewable energy"<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - "One fully working copy of the powerful Content Management System Soholaunch Pro is included with every, single hosting account, a $149 value."<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - AlmostFree Account for $0/m for "progressive" non-profits = $25 set up, no annual charge<br />
<br />
'''Reviews''' - I got a good review from someone on Soholaunch forum - see "Features" for churches and orgs who'd like to use the [[Content_Management_System#Soholaunch|content management system Soholaunch]].<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://dreamhost.com/ DreamHost] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux (Debian "Sarge" 3.1r4)<br />
<br />
'''[http://dreamhost.com/hosting.html Features]''' - Web hosting (Apache with PHP, Perl, Ruby, CGI, SSI, FastCGI, etc.). Comprehensive array of pre-installed or easily-installed services, including WordPress, Gallery, Joomla, phpBB, MediaWiki, Jabber, CVS, Subversion, WebDAV, streaming audio & video, and WebCalendar. Secure POP / IMAP / SMTP email service with SquirrelMail webmail. FTP. Procmail. Secure shell (SSH). Databases (MySQL). Spam filtering. Snapshot backups. Great control panel. Site statistics. File Storage. Custom DNS. WHOIS privacy. Unique IP and SSL available.<br />
<br />
'''Resources''' - Basic account gets 500GB + 5TB monthly bandwidth, both of which increase every week. Unlimited databases, email accounts, shell users, hosted domains and subdomains.<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - $11/month + $50 startup fee. Monthly cost and startup fees decline with increasing prepaid term. Promo Codes readily available to reduce cost further.<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
<br />
*From Stonewall Ballard 2007/11/09 - First Parish in Concord has used DreamHost since June of 2005. I chose it because it was cheap and offered enough space for our photo gallery. Web and database services tends to be slow. Outages are not uncommon. Outgoing email is frequently blacklisted by Comcast, Verizon, and AOL. OTOH, it's very easy to use and very flexible. For example, I installed my own copy of SpamAssassin. It has a large set of services. Support is variable, but usually ok. They're very open about problems in their blog and forums. Do not choose DreamHost if you want high reliability. Go with Pair for that.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
<br />
*[http://www.firstparish.org/ www.firstparish.org]<br />
<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://simple.be/hosting/ Simple.be] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - Web hosting (Apache, PHP, CGI, and Perl), Secure POP / IMAP / SMTP email service, Secure shell (SSH) & secure copy (SCP), Databases (MySQL & PostgreSQL), Anti-spam service, Snapshot backups, support for Windows or Mac<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - 6 packages from $14/month (for 80 MB storage and 3 email aliases) up.<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From PatRodgers 2007/11/08 - Brett Hamilton has hosted our www.mpuuc.org website for almost 4 years. He walked me through the WinSCP setup and quickly handles changes in the forwarding of our email aliases. Readily available via email or phone.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.mpuuc.org/ Mission Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation]<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.uuism.net/index.php UUism Networks] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Red Hat Linux Fedora Core 4<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - EnsimPro administrative panel - "comes with Web Site, Subdirectory Access (FTP), Shell Access (SSH) and Email Server Access (POP3)"<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - "$48 per year for 25 MB with free setup" (according to site 11/7/2007)<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I've used it for ~8 yrs. & it has improved over time. I've only used it for services that our UU host, Jim Hermann, has offered free. THANKS, JIM! He serves over 100 UU congregations and organizations.<br />
*From BruceC 2007/11/7 - I've used this service for many years. Our main pages are still hosted on a local community based service for non-profit pages. But they don't offer server programs so I have been migrating more and more to uuism. First was our domain name, then email lists, then the forums and now we are rebuilding our site in Joomla. (UUism doesn't currently offer Joomla via Ensim, but it was not difficult to install.) Ensim doesn't always keep all software up to the most current, but most of it is especially if there are security concerns. Site availability has been much better than 99%. Response to emailed questions is usually within a couple of hours.<br />
*From PatG 12/10/2007 - We've used for for the past two or three years for all of our hosting needs - main site, mailing lists, blog, and web calendar. Jim is a great help providing tech support and assistance especially when he hears the a desperate call for help. <br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.rec-room.org/ REC-Room]<br />
*[http://www.uuism.net/uuwiki/ UU Wiki] - this site<br />
*[http://HUUweb.org / Harrisonburg UU]<br />
*[http://huuweb.org/community-cafe/ HUU Community Cafe]<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.vervehosting.com/ Verve Hosting] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - cPanel, Fantastico (automatically installs Drupal, WordPress, Joomla, etc.), multiple MYSQL databases, multiple domains and subdomains, SSH, PHP 4 or 5, Awstats, Spam Assasin, FTP, Imap<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - as low as $5.95 a month<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From Chris Walton 11/9/2007 - I've hosted [http://www.philocrites.com/ Philocrites] and several other websites with Verve for four years. They provide extremely stable hosting and almost immediate customer support. Domain registration from $11.95 is slightly higher than from other services. <br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.philocrites.com/ Philocrites]<br />
*[http://www.jameslutheradams.org/ James Luther Adams Foundation]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Worship-l&diff=8176Worship-l2008-03-23T23:58:33Z<p>JoyceD: /* Useful Software */</p>
<hr />
<div>The UUA [http://lists.uua.org/mailman/listinfo/worship-l Worship-l] list is about preparing for and presenting successful worship services. This page provides [[UUWiki Support Pages for UUA sponsored Mailing Lists|support]].<br />
<br />
Much information is already available via [http://www.uua.org/worshipweb/main.html WorshipWeb], an online resource for ordained and lay worship leaders.<br />
<br />
==Congregational pages about worship services==<br />
*[http://bcn.boulder.co.us/uuc/program/ UU Church of Boulder Program Planning Council]<br />
<br />
==Sermons/Reflections/Services available on the Internet==<br />
<br />
Available under Creative Commons "[http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ share and share alike]" license:<br />
* [http://bcn.boulder.co.us/~neal/uu/evolutionstory.html A Story of Cosmic Evolution]<br />
<br />
Available under ''insert other licenses here''<br />
<br />
Various licenses:<br />
<br />
*[[List of UU podcasts]]<br />
<br />
==Useful Software==<br />
[http://sourceforge.net/projects/opensong/ OpenSong] is a cross-platform application for managing chords and lyrics sheets, presenting lyrics (and custom slides) using a projector, etc. (e.g., Useful for worship leaders and musicians.)</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Worship-l&diff=8175Worship-l2008-03-23T23:56:57Z<p>JoyceD: /* Sermons/Reflections/Services available on the Internet */</p>
<hr />
<div>The UUA [http://lists.uua.org/mailman/listinfo/worship-l Worship-l] list is about preparing for and presenting successful worship services. This page provides [[UUWiki Support Pages for UUA sponsored Mailing Lists|support]].<br />
<br />
Much information is already available via [http://www.uua.org/worshipweb/main.html WorshipWeb], an online resource for ordained and lay worship leaders.<br />
<br />
==Congregational pages about worship services==<br />
*[http://bcn.boulder.co.us/uuc/program/ UU Church of Boulder Program Planning Council]<br />
<br />
==Sermons/Reflections/Services available on the Internet==<br />
<br />
Available under Creative Commons "[http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ share and share alike]" license:<br />
* [http://bcn.boulder.co.us/~neal/uu/evolutionstory.html A Story of Cosmic Evolution]<br />
<br />
Available under ''insert other licenses here''<br />
<br />
Various licenses:<br />
<br />
*[[List of UU podcasts]]<br />
<br />
==Useful Software==<br />
[http://sourceforge.net/projects/opensong/ OpenSong] is a cross-platform application for managing chords and lyrics sheets, presenting lyrics (and custom slides) using a projector, etc. (e.g., Useful for worship leaders and musicians.)<br />
86199141324942889575788</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Civil_Liberties&diff=8174Civil Liberties2008-03-23T22:36:53Z<p>JoyceD: </p>
<hr />
<div><u style="display: none;">... no changes ... no changes ... no changes ... no changes ... no changes ... no changes ... no changes ... no changes ... no changes ... no changes ... no changes ... </u>In June 2002, UUA's [[General Assembly]] voted to study and act on the issue of Civil Liberties for two years, as part of the the [http://www.uua.org/csw/ Study Action Issue] process. In June of 2004, the <br />
[http://www.uua.org/csw/soc2004.html Civil Liberties Statement of Conscience] was adopted.<br />
<br />
This page serves as an space in which UUs can coordinate continuing efforts in support of this issue, and<br />
as a place for members of the CivilLiberties mailing list to share ideas in a more permanent manner.<br />
<br />
* [http://www.uua.org/mailman/listinfo/civilliberties CivilLiberties Mailing List]<br />
* [http://bcn.boulder.co.us/~neal/civilliberties/faq.html FAQ for the CivilLiberties Mailing List]<br />
* [http://www.uua.org/csw/2002guide.htm Civil Liberties Resource Guide]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Civil_Liberties&diff=8173Civil Liberties2008-03-23T22:30:49Z<p>JoyceD: Undo revision 7834 by EuqSdh (Talk)</p>
<hr />
<div>If your congregation has its policy governance documents on a web site, please place a link below. Documents can be uploaded and linked if they are not available elsewhere on the web.<br />
<br />
[[http://www.dallasuu.org/pdfs/policies.pdf]First Unitarian Church of Dallas, TX pdf<br />
<br />
Governance model chart, UU Church of Berkeley, CA [[Media:UUCB PG Chart.pdf]]<br />
<br />
Coordinating Team Covenant, UU Church of Berkeley, CA [[Media:Covenant of the Coordinating Team UUCB.doc]] (MS Word file) <br />
<br />
Frequently Asked Questions, UU Congregation of Fairfax, VA [[Media:Fairfax FAQ.pdf]] Word processor version [[Media:Fairfax FAQ.doc]] This is a document used for informing the congregation about PG.</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Web_Hosting_Services&diff=8116Web Hosting Services2008-02-24T04:58:08Z<p>JoyceD: /* [http://www.3ix.org/ 3ix] */</p>
<hr />
<div>== Comparison of services used by UUs ==<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.3ix.org/ 3ix] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - cPanel with Fantastico and a long list of Open Source programs<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - 4 packages range from $12/yr. to $88/yr. ($73 additional for SSL & dedicated IP using their top 2 packages with Shell Access)<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I was having good experience with it, but recently the tech support and customer service has been atrocious! I recommend that you find a service with an 800 number so you can speak directly with your tech support.<br />
<br />
'''Examples''' <br />
*[http://www.uuallies.com/drupal UU Allies for Racial Equity] uses the Expert hosting plan (and pays a small amount extra for SSL and dedicated IP - for $128/yr.)<br />
*[http://www.baltwashuus.org/ Baltimore Washington Unitarian Universalists] and [http://www.philwiluus.org/ Philadelphia Wilmington Unitarian Universalists] share the same service in different directories using the Extra Hosing Plan ($33/yr.) - these sites have never needed tech support as they don't use special software<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.bluehost.com/ Blue Host] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - cPanel with Fantastico and a long list of Open Source programs - 1 package only, includes Shell Access<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - $6.95/mo. if you sign up for 2 yrs. up front ($166.80/2 yrs. = $83.40/yr.)<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I have log-in capability on a site that uses it, but I haven't dealt with them directly. I see a lot of people think they're great, but I compared software versions and they're not up-to-date on everything. I believe it's their customer service that gets them top ratings, which includes 24X7 toll free phone support. I have also read some reviews from unsatisfied customers, though.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.jpduua.org/ Joseph Priestley District]<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://drak.net/ DrakNet] ===<br />
<br />
'''Slogan''' - Blue Hosting in a Red State with a focus on Green!<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - "Linux hosting solutions powered fully by 100% renewable energy"<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - "One fully working copy of the powerful Content Management System Soholaunch Pro is included with every, single hosting account, a $149 value."<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - AlmostFree Account for $0/m for "progressive" non-profits = $25 set up, no annual charge<br />
<br />
'''Reviews''' - I got a good review from someone on Soholaunch forum - see "Features" for churches and orgs who'd like to use the [[Content_Management_System#Soholaunch|content management system Soholaunch]].<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://dreamhost.com/ DreamHost] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux (Debian "Sarge" 3.1r4)<br />
<br />
'''[http://dreamhost.com/hosting.html Features]''' - Web hosting (Apache with PHP, Perl, Ruby, CGI, SSI, FastCGI, etc.). Comprehensive array of pre-installed or easily-installed services, including WordPress, Gallery, Joomla, phpBB, MediaWiki, Jabber, CVS, Subversion, WebDAV, streaming audio & video, and WebCalendar. Secure POP / IMAP / SMTP email service with SquirrelMail webmail. FTP. Procmail. Secure shell (SSH). Databases (MySQL). Spam filtering. Snapshot backups. Great control panel. Site statistics. File Storage. Custom DNS. WHOIS privacy. Unique IP and SSL available.<br />
<br />
'''Resources''' - Basic account gets 500GB + 5TB monthly bandwidth, both of which increase every week. Unlimited databases, email accounts, shell users, hosted domains and subdomains.<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - $11/month + $50 startup fee. Monthly cost and startup fees decline with increasing prepaid term. Promo Codes readily available to reduce cost further.<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
<br />
*From Stonewall Ballard 2007/11/09 - First Parish in Concord has used DreamHost since June of 2005. I chose it because it was cheap and offered enough space for our photo gallery. Web and database services tends to be slow. Outages are not uncommon. Outgoing email is frequently blacklisted by Comcast, Verizon, and AOL. OTOH, it's very easy to use and very flexible. For example, I installed my own copy of SpamAssassin. It has a large set of services. Support is variable, but usually ok. They're very open about problems in their blog and forums. Do not choose DreamHost if you want high reliability. Go with Pair for that.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
<br />
*[http://www.firstparish.org/ www.firstparish.org]<br />
<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://simple.be/hosting/ Simple.be] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - Web hosting (Apache, PHP, CGI, and Perl), Secure POP / IMAP / SMTP email service, Secure shell (SSH) & secure copy (SCP), Databases (MySQL & PostgreSQL), Anti-spam service, Snapshot backups, support for Windows or Mac<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - 6 packages from $14/month (for 80 MB storage and 3 email aliases) up.<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From PatRodgers 2007/11/08 - Brett Hamilton has hosted our www.mpuuc.org website for almost 4 years. He walked me through the WinSCP setup and quickly handles changes in the forwarding of our email aliases. Readily available via email or phone.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.mpuuc.org/ Mission Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation]<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.uuism.net/index.php UUism Networks] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Red Hat Linux Fedora Core 4<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - EnsimPro administrative panel - "comes with Web Site, Subdirectory Access (FTP), Shell Access (SSH) and Email Server Access (POP3)"<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - "$48 per year for 25 MB with free setup" (according to site 11/7/2007)<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I've used it for ~8 yrs. & it has improved over time. I've only used it for services that our UU host, Jim Hermann, has offered free. THANKS, JIM! He serves over 100 UU congregations and organizations.<br />
*From BruceC 2007/11/7 - I've used this service for many years. Our main pages are still hosted on a local community based service for non-profit pages. But they don't offer server programs so I have been migrating more and more to uuism. First was our domain name, then email lists, then the forums and now we are rebuilding our site in Joomla. (UUism doesn't currently offer Joomla via Ensim, but it was not difficult to install.) Ensim doesn't always keep all software up to the most current, but most of it is especially if there are security concerns. Site availability has been much better than 99%. Response to emailed questions is usually within a couple of hours.<br />
*From PatG 12/10/2007 - We've used for for the past two or three years for all of our hosting needs - main site, mailing lists, blog, and web calendar. Jim is a great help providing tech support and assistance especially when he hears the a desperate call for help. <br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.rec-room.org/ REC-Room]<br />
*[http://www.uuism.net/uuwiki/ UU Wiki] - this site<br />
*[http://HUUweb.org / Harrisonburg UU]<br />
*[http://huuweb.org/community-cafe/ HUU Community Cafe]<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.vervehosting.com/ Verve Hosting] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - cPanel, Fantastico (automatically installs Drupal, WordPress, Joomla, etc.), multiple MYSQL databases, multiple domains and subdomains, SSH, PHP 4 or 5, Awstats, Spam Assasin, FTP, Imap<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - as low as $5.95 a month<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From Chris Walton 11/9/2007 - I've hosted [http://www.philocrites.com/ Philocrites] and several other websites with Verve for four years. They provide extremely stable hosting and almost immediate customer support. Domain registration from $11.95 is slightly higher than from other services. <br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.philocrites.com/ Philocrites]<br />
*[http://www.jameslutheradams.org/ James Luther Adams Foundation]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Link_Placement_Suggestions&diff=8115Link Placement Suggestions2008-02-24T04:49:46Z<p>JoyceD: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
== World Wide Sites For UU Congregation Home Pages ==<br />
<br />
* [http://dmoz.org/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/Unitarianism_and_Universalism/Congregations/ Open Directory] check to see if your site is already listed there - click "update listing" if it's wrong and follow directions to change<br />
<br />
== World Wide Sites For UU Congregation Program Pages ==<br />
<br />
* [http://dmoz.org/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/Unitarianism_and_Universalism/ Open Directory] general UU category - find the specific category you need there, click "suggest URL" and follow directions to submit your listing<br />
<br />
* [http://www.onlinegigs.com/index.asp Online Gigs] submit your open mic or concert page here<br />
<br />
== Sites For UU Pages in Specific Locations ==<br />
<br />
=== Maryland ===<br />
<br />
* [http://www.marylandinfo.com/Education_and_Reference/Religious/Churches/ MarylandInfo.com] click "Add your site" at bottom of page<br />
<br />
=== Washington DC and vicinity ===<br />
<br />
* [http://www.crosstownarts.com/CrosstownArts/venues/music/clubmd.html Crosstown Arts] click "About Us" to ask them to list your open mic<br />
* [http://dcpages.com/Community/Worship_and_Spiritual_Centers/Unitarian/index.html DC Pages] click "Add Your Listing" for congregation; also check other sections to list concerts (your web page and event can be listed separately)<br />
* [http://www.dcregistry.com/churches.html DC Registry] click "Add your site"<br />
<br />
== Other suggestions ==<br />
<br />
* If you have a history page, see if your local historical society has a links page & ask them to link to your history page<br />
<br />
== Event Submission forms for local calendars online ==<br />
<br />
=== Maryland ===<br />
<br />
* [http://www.gazette.net/speakout/ Gazette Speakout] Newspaper for Montgomery, Frederick, Prince George's, & Carroll Counties - submit an opinion about a local issue & mention your UU values or church<br />
* [http://mdparty.com/join/default.asp Maryland Party] join to post your open mic or other concerts<br />
* [http://www.pennysaverwired.com/cnews_jump.cfm Pennysaver Community News]<br />
<br />
=== Washington DC and vicinity ===<br />
<br />
* [http://www.areaguides.com/ Area Guides] covers 10 counties in Maryland, 6 counties in Virginia, Washington, DC, and 2 counties in North Carolina - each area has a calendar to accept submissions<br />
* [http://dcpages.com/DC_Events/enter.php DCPages.com Events]<br />
* [http://www.dcregistry.com/cgi-bin/calendar/calendar.cgi DC Registry Events Calendar]<br />
* [http://beta.news8.net/community/addevent.hrb News Channel 8 Community Events]<br />
* [http://www.wamu.org/calendar/psas/ WAMU Public Service Announcements]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Anti-spam_strategies&diff=8114Anti-spam strategies2008-02-24T04:49:12Z<p>JoyceD: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
Putting email addresses on web pages is sure to result in spam being sent to the address, since many robots harvest them for spammers. Currently, most of the robots can be thwarted by these simple methods.<br />
But they will probably get smarter over time.<br />
<br />
==Use a image of an email address==<br />
<br />
[http://www.digitalcolony.com/02/maskemail/genEmailMask.asp Email Image Generator]<br />
<br />
==JavaScript replacing Mailto==<br />
<br />
[http://www.dmuuc.org/ Davies Memorial UU Church] uses a no-spam javascript. You need to put it both in the header and replace each mailto link. The drawback is that browsers with javascript disabled will not be able to use the links. Also, see below for "Include a Subject Line".<br />
<br />
==Text email addresses==<br />
<br />
You can create text for the email address with "at" replacing "@" and have spaces on either side of the word as is done in the Mailman list archives and subscribers' lists for UUA email lists (accessible only by list subscribers). For instance, dmuuc at dmuuc.org. One would have to view it and reform it into an email address. Most spammers wouldn't be bothered.<br />
<br />
To make sure your text email addresses stay together on one line, use some variation of this markup:<br />
<br />
<pre> Source Result<br />
<br />
name&amp;nbsp;at&amp;nbsp;email.org name&nbsp;at&nbsp;email.org<br />
name&amp;nbsp;@&amp;nbsp;email.org name&nbsp;@&nbsp;email.org</pre><br />
<br />
==Mundge your addresses==<br />
<br />
This is a better way to disguise address since 1) the links still work for humans, and 2) spammers are soon gonna figure out about Mailman-style obfuscation. See [http://www.brettglass.com/spam/paper.html#WebPageHarvesting Stopping Spam and Malware with Open Source] by Brett Glass for complete details.<br />
<br />
<br />
==Invisible HTML==<br />
<br />
If you insert meaningless html into an e-mail address then the Spambots will not recognize the e-mail address pattern, but when it is rendered for the end user it will be in the correct format. For example "<NoSpam>Username@</NoSpam>domain.tld" will render to the end user as "Username@domain.tld" with the meaningless tags dropping out. The advantage over images being the ability for the user to cut and paste the address.<br />
<br />
==Server Side Form instead of an Email Address==<br />
<br />
Spambots can not collect information that is never displayed. If you have the ability to use server side scripting then you can create an "Contact Us" form for users to fill out. <br />
<br />
This could further be beneficial by setting up standard subject lines or body content (subject "E-mail from online form"). That way if you are running spam filters on your e-mail account you can make sure that e-mail submitted from online forms are not filtered.<br />
<br />
Forms can take user input and email it to a list, sort it, stuff it into a log or database, or perform any desired operation including any combination of the above. One disadvatage: if the vistor does not enter their email address correctly, you won't be able to respond to them with email.<br />
<br />
==Include a subject line==<br />
<br />
With all the spam we're getting, it's best to write your own subject line so that you can catch the message when it comes into your In Box or accidentally sorts into your Spam Box. This can be done on standard mailto links, javascript links, as above, and server side email forms.<br />
<br />
== Run a Baysian Filter==<br />
Rather than write endless rules, you *teach* Baysian Filters with actualy samples of spam and "ham." The filter calculates a "spamminess" score <br />
for each subsequent email based on content. Since each person has different criteria, <br />
bulk emailers cannot easily defeat with forged headers, intentional misspelling, <br />
hash busing dictionary attacks, etc. And since they are adaptive, Bayesian filters <br />
[http://email.about.com/cs/bayesianfilters/a/bayesian_filter.htm get better and better with time].<br />
<br />
There's free software from http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/<br />
If you are running Outlook (not Outlook Express), there's <br />
a [http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/windows.html free binary plugin] - I've used it and it works great!<br />
<br />
<pre><br />
Installation & Configuration<br />
1. Quit Outlook. <br />
2. Run installer<br />
3. Launch Outlook<br />
4. Config wizard starts: accept all defaults.<br />
</pre><br />
<br />
SpamBayes works with 3 sets of folders: Inbox(es), Junk, and <br />
Unsure (I renamed the from the default "Junk-Suspects" and it was created for me). <br />
Messages with > 90% spamminess are moved to the Junk folder. Message < 20% spammy <br />
aren't touched. Message between the thresholds are moved to the Unsure folder. <br />
These thresholds are adjustable, but the defaults work well. When I first installed <br />
SpamBayes, I thought Outlook had hung. However, because the filter had not yet been <br />
trained, it was simply busy moving everything to the Unsure folder. I forced-quit <br />
(End Task) a couple of times with no ill effect. <br />
<br />
Training<br />
The plugin adds a pair of "smiley/frowny" buttons to Outlook. These are labeled <br />
"Recover from Spam" and "Delete as Spam" respectively. Simply marking messages <br />
appropriately trains the filter. I found it's helpful to initially sort by subject <br />
as this puts related messages together so you can easily select and mark many at once. <br />
Ironically, while I was training on old mail, I found a couple of unread message from <br />
by boss, a potentially career-limiting mistake!</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Online_newsletters&diff=8113Online newsletters2008-02-24T04:48:22Z<p>JoyceD: </p>
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<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
Many congregations want to distribute their news using ways other than paper.<br />
<br />
==Email==<br />
<br />
One option is to offer to send the newsletter out as an email attachment. This is<br />
<br />
* Cheaper (You can have members opt-out of getting it in the mail, so it saves in postage and paper).<br />
* Faster (It is instantaneous, once you create it, it can be sent out to a website or e-mail list instantly).<br />
* Online (it can be easily searched and archived)<br />
<br />
==Web Site==<br />
<br />
Another option is to post the news, or parts of it, on a web page and/or include it in a [[Websters#Site Syndication|syndicated]] web feed. Publishing on the web allows greater freedom as to the timing with which you add or update articles and sections. It opens up new possibilities for what you include in or with those articles or sections. Finally it frees you from the constraints of formatting for the inflexible limits of the paper page. In summary, it allows you to shift your focus to publishing "the news" and away from assembling "the newsletter".<br />
<br />
===Pages===<br />
Using web pages can allow greater freedom of layout and timing and the incorporation of web links, web media, subsidiary documents, and forms. In essence it allow the publisher to expand what you can do and when you can do it in the way that extends beyond the limits of the PDF format (which has its core purpose a format for developing a layout for paper documents).<br />
<br />
===Feeds===<br />
Using [[Websters#Site Syndication|syndicated]] web feeds allows you to distribute your news has the value of allowing your readers to automatically receive notice of the new articles as they are available. Your readers are freed from having to visit your site to check for the updates. It also allows you to use most of the expanded content and format options you get from using a web page and can be linked to the web page to provide additional information and drive your readers to visit your site as they need to or as you want to encourage them to. A web feed can be structured to contain categories and differing amounts and types of content. A website design can be setup to to generate web-feeds for you on a largely automatic basis and contain a audio or video component to create a "podcast". Often the automation is done through use of a [[Content_Management_System|content management system]].<br />
<br />
===Privacy===<br />
Many congregations consider part of the newsletter to be inappropriate for worldwide public access, and thus avoid this, or pull sections out the newsletter before posting it. (In fact the UUA [http://www.uua.org/leaders/leaderslibrary/leaderslibrary/55398.shtml endorses] these privacy concerns.) <br />
<br />
Hiding all your content however, lowers its promotional and outreach value.<br />
<br />
Limiting the access to some or all of your news to those authorized and authenticated (as a member) can help mitigate those concerns. Having private sections of your website accessible only to those with authorization requires special design. [[Content_Management_System|Content management systems]] typically include this type of feature as a standard component.<br />
<br />
==Format options==<br />
<br />
===PDF===<br />
<br />
* People can view it and print it, needing only a free PDF reader like Adobe Acrobat or xpdf.<br />
* It looks the same on every machine.<br />
* It is easy to send as an email attachment<br />
* A free tool to create pdf files can be found at http://www.cutepdf.com/ Once installed, it appears to be a regular printer. A PDF of a document can then be created from any program that supports printing.<br />
* Another free tool which creates and manipulates pdf files is available at http://software995.com/. This product will open a browser window to an ad whenever it is used, but if your browser cannot access the internet, it still works fine.<br />
<br />
===HTML===<br />
<br />
HTML is generally much better than pdf for providing information via the web. <br />
<br />
* The aspect ratio (which is usually not 4:3) and size of the pages in a PDF document is a poor match for a computer screen. So reading PDF on-line is generally a worse experience than reading HTML. With good HTML, the user can choose a font size and a window width so the text is easy to read, and the paragraphs are laid out to match the user's preference. But with PDF the user has no choice of line length. At a nice font size the page often doesn't fit on the screen. Reading 2-column output requires either a small font or lots of up-and-down scrolling. Headers and footers and page breaks get in the way.<br />
* Using modern [[Wikipedia:XHTML#Overview|XHTML]] + [[Wikipedia:CSS#Overview|CSS]] standards will allow you to keep the content and meaning independent of its layout.<br />
* PDF information is less accessibile than HTML, e.g. for those with vision impairments.<br />
* PDF is designed for printing, not browsing or sharing articles to be reused in other publications. When the user does a copy-and-paste of text, it all ends up in one blob with paragraphs, lists, etc. all mushed together into one unformatted paragraph. Words that contain ligatures (like when "fi" is represented by a single joined printing symbol) will often be garbled. Often the entire selection doesn't show up in the clipboard. Problems with hyphenation and multiple columns, etc. often crop up.<br />
* Images are embedded in PDF, so they aren't easy to pull out as a .jpg or .gif file for reuse.<br />
* Hyperlinks work badly. Relative hyperlinks are generally preferable but don't work on some platforms. Putting it all in one file to avoid this handicap makes it slower and harder to just read one part of the document.<br />
* PDF files are usually larger than a simple HTML version.<br />
* PDF documents are harder to reuse since they are not an editable source format and the formatting instructions are gone.<br />
* PDF is a proprietary format. Control over the evolution of the format is not managed by an open standards body, so those who standardize on PDF are vulnerable to future changes Adobe (or some future company that might buy Adobe) makes.<br />
* Programs that create PDF are less available or cost more money than programs to produce HTML. <br />
* PDF "Security" is sometimes viewed by producers as a useful feature, but it is mostly useful "for keeping honest people honest". Anything that someone can view on the screen can be captured for use elsewhere, so it won't protect you from plagarizers, etc. Features like printing or saving to a file can be made more difficult, but simply can't be prevented.<br />
<br />
===Microsoft Word===<br />
<br />
Closed, proprietary formats like Microsoft Word are a bad choice for disemination of information online.<br />
See http://bcn.boulder.co.us/~neal/attachments.html for information on the problems with Word, involving access, privacy, security, cost, freedom, and for tips on how to convert Word documents into more appropriate formats.<br />
<br />
===Microsoft Powerpoint===<br />
<br />
Yes, there are some "brochure" or "billboard" sites created in Microsoft Powerpoint. While not too frequent, this does happen. It is generally a bad choice for the same reasons as Microsoft Word. The generated pages are very "Powerpoint" specific and limit your ability to design the site layout. Also, the user experience is to browse the site by going slide to slide or using a table of contents based on the slide titles. Adding some of the advanced features of Powerpoint will not work in generated HTML pages.<br />
<br />
==See Also==<br />
* [http://bcn.boulder.co.us/~neal/pdf-vs-html.html PDF vs HTML]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=To_Blue_or_Not_to_Blue:&diff=8112To Blue or Not to Blue:2008-02-24T04:46:59Z<p>JoyceD: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
Pros and Cons of making text links blue and underlined.<br />
<br />
Pro: Your visitors expect text links to be blue and underlined. They expect visited links to turn purple. As a corollary, if any other text is blue, purple or underlined, that text will confuse them at first glance. <br />
Ted Pack<br />
<br />
Pro: I heard that fewer internet users click on links that are not underlined, so I tested this for 5 days during a 6-week Google Adword campaign that used [http://www.dmuuc.org/uus/ a site that had only 3 obvious and prominant links]. The number of clicks on the links when they weren't underlined went down by more than half. Joyce Dowling</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Google_Traps&diff=8111Google Traps2008-02-24T04:46:29Z<p>JoyceD: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
A Google Trap is a web page with no links out.<br />
<br />
They come about when a web designer uses frames and a web visitor goes directly to an unframed page from a search engine.<br />
<br />
Suppose all of your pages have three frames, a heading at the top, a navigation bar on the left, and the meat of the page in the lower right-hand 75%. Each page would consist of head.html, navbar.html, and {meat}.html, where {meat} was map, minister, welcome, FAQ, etc. Now suppose someone looks for your town, denomination or minister in Google. Say that minister.html comes up. Fine and good; there she is, great picture, warm welcoming words - but, since your visitor is looking at minister.html, not the whole three-framed page, and your navigation bar isn't there, he is trapped.<br />
<br />
<br />
If you use frames, you should have a link to your home page on every interior page. A navigation bar with the main sub-sections is even better. Your visitors are not always going to be able to use the "Back" button, as they could if they came in through the home page. It is frustrating to find a page via a search engine, a page that doesn't even say what state it is in, then have to delete sections of the URL to fight back to the home page. Not everyone will have the patience (or skill) to do it.<br />
<br />
Above excerpted from the section "Implications of Google on Web Design" on the page<br />
[http://www.tedpack.org/churchweb.html#google Suggestions for Church Web Sites].</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Good_Web_Site_Examples&diff=8110Good Web Site Examples2008-02-24T04:45:13Z<p>JoyceD: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
Every once in a while on the Websters list someone will say "I think the ''X'' church's web site is really good". This page is an attempt to collect these sites in one convenient location so that we can all learn from each other.<br />
<br />
(For now I'm including what people have said about the site on websters-l, without attribution.)<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
; http://palouseuu.org/<br />
: From webster-l on 2005-05-21: "I was very impressed. (And not just because I used to live on the Palouse and love the place, either.) This seems to me to be 99th percentile design work for a UU site. The only thing I'd change is to have it be CSS-based rather than table based, but that's a religious thing."<br />
<br />
; http://huuweb.org/<br />
: From webster-l on 2005-05-21: Scott Wells said "What sold me for the Harrisonburg, Va. site was the extra content that made routine administration easier, as in rental pix and Sunday worship planning."<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
Also, some people have collected their own lists of congregational web sites they admire:<br />
<br />
* http://bertc.com/web_stuff.htm</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Basic_information&diff=8109Basic information2008-02-24T04:44:38Z<p>JoyceD: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
= Suggested web standards =<br />
From <i>SPREAD THE FLAME Share the Message of Unitarian Universalism via the Web</i> by the Baltimore Washington Public Outreach Team 2007<br />
<br />
<i>[In] common between the Internet folks and the UUs… UUism is full of hope, and the fact that the Web happens is an example of a dream coming true and an encouragement to all who hope.</i> – Tim Berners Lee, founder of the World Wide Web (www.w3.org)<br />
<br />
6 important aspects of web sites: appearance, content, safety, navigation, accessibility, & search optimization + useful resources<br />
<br />
== APPEARANCE ==<br />
Use images with smiling faces & racial, gender, age diversity. We’re about people, not buildings or flowers, and people like to see people who they think appear to be like them – provide a vision of how you want to look. Home page should give good impression for potential newcomers; little or no scrolling for essential information. Include warm picture of the minister and some brief words of welcome. Consider every page like a homepage since searchers can enter the site from any page. All ways to communicate with the church should be clear & easy to locate. Consistency of design is important, background, headers, footers, palette, etc., make certain that you have plenty of color, but not too busy to be difficult to concentrate on content. Should view well with Firefox, Explorer, and other browsers – test on many by posting to Websters listserv (see Resources). <br />
<br />
== CONTENT ==<br />
The Template Project & Web Check List (see Resources) have good examples of content, plus you can get ideas from the hundreds of other UU web sites. It’s nice to have “Welcome”, “We invite you to join us”, and/or a tagline included in your heading banner, such as "Imagine a religion where ALL are Welcome!" or "Room for different beliefs. Yours." First pages should have directions, what to expect when you arrive, what’s happening on Sunday. Content helps with searchability - the more pages, the easier it can be to find if the right keywords/text is on those pages. Remember what is unique about your church – among UUs it’s your LOCATION, so put the name of your town and state at the bottom of every page besides clearly on the home page and directions page. What is unique about your church from other local churches? If you want a church that does these things… you may like our church. Remember searchers can enter your site through any page, so create your template and link list with that in mind. Don’t use underlines as they may be assumed to be links, which can frustrate users. <br />
<br />
== SAFETY ==<br />
Basic tips on safety can be found in several resources (check the Resources below). Primary tips: don’t label names on photos of children (get permission forms signed), block searches on more private pages, put newsletters in a password protected area if they are uploaded in full or remove personal information, get copyright permissions, and disguise email addresses so that "robots" can't pick them up and send spam.<br />
<br />
== NAVIGATION ==<br />
The Template Project has good examples for link placement (top and left of each page is good). If your site has more than 10 pages, consider adding a search function and site map link, too. Do use underlines for all links as users may not access additional pages if they don’t see an underline. Organize links top to bottom, left to right. Consider using pithy statements that allow you to click and get to the details. Include a calendar of events that can be edited using a web browser for non-techie administrators or volunteers. May want a members-only part of the site; consider password-protected elements. Include a links page for all different kinds of interests related to UUism and your church.<br />
<br />
== ACCESSIBILITY ==<br />
Remember that not all web users have good eye sight, good eye-hand coordination, a high-speed connection, the same Operating System you have, the same browser you have, etc. Particularly remember to use flexible font sizes, color contrast, colorblind checks (see Resources), alt tags on images that describe the image for the blind, don’t use flashing objects, and be careful of scrolling text to minimize movement. Also consider accessibility for your staff and volunteers to update the site; a content management system could be used for easy updating, but could be used only on certain sections of the site if the software might affect other types of accessibility. If you have special pages such as a newsletter that may need printing, use both web pages that can be seen in a typical browser without a plugin (e.g. html, php) for online reading and PDF, but avoid using other file types. See “Resources” for more information.<br />
<br />
== SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION ==<br />
Without this, the only way people can get to your site is by typing in the domain name or clicking an email link. Certainly, do remember to include your web site address on everything (stationary, newsletters, phone book, signs), but also get your link in search engines, directories, and other sites. <br />
<br />
* See CONTENT suggestions & think in terms of keywords – belief words & locations not included in your address that people in your area might use to find your congregation and programs who never heard of Unitarians before; suggestions: liberal religion, fellowship, society, congregation, church (even if yours is not called a “church”, searchers using that keyword might be interested), sunday school, religion, spirituality – use as synonyms instead of repeating a similar word. The more content, the more keywords that will make your site able to be found by searchers who could become visitors.<br />
<br />
* MAKE SURE ALL PAGES HAVE GOOD TITLES (up to 60 characters) – not just in the content, but in the html header – that title appears in searches as the link & it appears when someone bookmarks a page – see it at the top of your browser<br />
<br />
* SUBMIT YOUR LINKS TO DIRECTORY SITES: OPEN DIRECTORY (dmoz.org – Regional:State-Town) & make sure it’s on the UUA’s site (uua.org/CONG); swap links with local churches &/or related organizations; look for local & state directories (for those that charge, you can ask if it’s free for non-profits)<br />
<br />
* LINKS FROM OTHER SITES – Get links to special pages, such as if you have a Coffee House, create a separate page for it and list it on sites that list coffee houses in your state. Do the same for other programs (theatre, women’s, pagan groups, social action programs, concerts, etc.) and consider including pages for your ongoing renters and getting links to them. Search with Google and/or other major search engines for sites that list local churches and try to get your site listed there, too – email the web site manager or if it’s a directory site, look for a “submit URL” or “add your web site” form. You can also use online calendars to submit events.<br />
<br />
* USE PERTINENT NAMES INSTEAD OF NUMBERS IN PAGE NAMES & IMAGES – The home page is usually “index” by default (and ends in “.htm”, “.html”, “.asp” or “.php” depending on the program you use). For other pages, you can name them whatever you want, but choose one that is pertinent, preferably one that is in the title. For instance, if you have a page that lists sermons, you could call it “sermons”. If a sermon title is long, you won’t be able to use all the words, but you can use important ones and separate the words with dashes, such as “A Look at the Present and Future”, you can use “present-future” rather than the date. Use pertinent names for images, such as “minister.jpg” for a photo of the minister. The alt tags for images, see “Accessibility” above, should have something pertinent to the information you’re trying to convey that could be useful to a searcher, too.<br />
<br />
* CREATE A CUSTOMIZED 404 ERROR PAGE – Check your error message by typing in something that is not a page on your site (e.g. www.yourchurch.org/e). If your server supports it, you can use a .htaccess page that is a plain text document with this in the body "ErrorDocument 404 /404form.html" (no quotes) and then create a page named “404form.html” using your template with your special error message. See www.dmuuc.org/e for an example. <br />
<br />
* ADD DESCRIPTION META TAGS - in the html header (maximum of 250 characters), but don’t need to bother with keywords as major search engines no longer use them. The description does show up in some search engine results.<br />
<br />
* TEST YOUR SITE ON GOOGLE which is currently the #1 search engine. Use “uu” or “unitarian” and “site:” with your domain name next to it with no spaces and without quotes. As an example, you’d put this in the search form: uu site:uua.org Since “uu” is in most domain names, you should see most or all of your pages listed. This is how many searchers will see your pages first. Also test with town names and other terms that searchers might use, without using “site:”, such as “your town church”.<br />
<br />
<br />
== RESOURCES == <br />
<br />
* [http://www.uuism.net/uuwiki UU Wiki] and click on the link for “Websters” for an encyclopedia <br />
of resources for UU web folks<br />
* [http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject Template Project] <br />
* [http://www.uua.org/programs/congservices/uncommon/banners/ Web banners with photos of diverse groups] <br />
* [http://www.openwebdesign.org Open Web Design] free templates & tips <br />
* [http://www.uua.org/ads UUA Banners] <br />
* [http://www.uua.org/programs/online UUA Online Services] <br />
* [http://www.uua.org/info/prmanual UUA Media Manual Appendix 2: A Checklist for Church Websites] <br />
* [http://www.w3.org WWW Consortium for standards and checking tools] <br />
* [http://www.useit.com/alertbox Top Ten Web Design Mistakes] (updated annually) & other useful information <br />
* [http://www.linkpopularity.com Link Popularity] See how many links are on major search engines <br />
* [http://www.vischeck.com Vischeck] Colorblind site checker <br />
* [http://www.anybrowser.org/campaign Viewable with Any Browser] is updated with browser accessibility information <br />
<br />
* Listservs:<br />
** [http://lists.uua.org/mailman/listinfo/websters Websters] Building & maintaining web pages <br />
** [http://groups.google.com/group/UUPodcasters UU Podcasters]<br />
<br />
* MS Word doc of this content is available here: [http://www.baltwashuus.org/SPREAD-THE-FLAME.doc Spread the Flame]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Webmaster_policy&diff=8108Webmaster policy2008-02-24T04:44:06Z<p>JoyceD: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
'''Policy for UU Congregation Web Sites and Email Lists'''<br />
<br />
= Corporate Web sites =<br />
<br />
'''Purposes:''' The web site's objectives are to serve as a living and dynamic<br />
electronic extension of the parish ministry by: <br />
<br />
* Providing information about our church, its history, and beliefs to prospective, new, or existing members.<br />
* Creating a "virtual church" to allow friends and members away at school, or unable to physically attend congregation functions to continue to maintain contact with our church community.<br />
* Establishing a warm and welcoming presence on the Web and within the electronic community of our geographic area. <br />
* Creating a living spiritual and educational resource for adult education, the young people of the church, and lifelong learners by supporting and extending existing church curriculum.<br />
* Contributing to the general presence of our church and Unitarian Universalism on the Internet.<br />
* Creating a dynamic forum for the free expression of views and opinions relating to UU values, principles, and Resolutions of Immediate Witness as voted at parish meetings and the UUA General Assembly.<br />
<br />
The web site will contain information concerning the congregation and its activities, contact information for the congregation and staff, and information of use to prospective visitors and members. <br />
<br />
'''Congregation Contact Information:''' Only the minister, president (if no full-time minister), and office administrator will normally be listed as contacts on public web pages. Further contact information can be found in the congregation's printed directory (not on the Web). Other contact information will only be provided in accordance with the Privacy Policy below.<br />
<br />
''Standards:'' All material, in whatever medium, distributed for public consumption on behalf of the congregation shall be consistent with our mission statement and will reflect the highest quality and<br />
professionalism standards reasonably obtainable.<br />
<br />
==Privacy==<br />
<br />
'''Contact Information:''' This congregation respects the privacy of its members and visitors. No personal contact information will be placed on the congregation's public web pages without<br />
prior permission. <br />
<br />
Exceptions: First names (only) may be placed under pictures adult members engaged in routine events sponsored by the congregation. These captioned pictures may be placed on the congregation's web site without prior consent. If a member wishes pictures of him or her not to be used, then s/he may contact the minister, administrator, or webmaster to have their name placed on a list of members for whom absolutely no information will be publicly displayed on the web site. This aspect of web policy will be promulgated to all members upon joining and at least annually thereafter.<br />
<br />
'''Web Site Posted Privacy Policy:''' The following policy will be posted on the web site:<br />
<br />
Privacy Statement<br />
This congregation respects the privacy of its members as well as that of visitors and<br />
friends. We understand that there are those who feel uncomfortable about<br />
having personal information, or information about their personal preferences<br />
disclosed, accidentally or otherwise. At no point does our web site<br />
capture or intend to capture personal data. If you email a congregation member, you<br />
are NOT added to a mailing list (unless you explicitly request to be added<br />
to a mailing list).<br />
<br />
'''Responsibility for Linked Content:''' The congregation does not take responsibility for, and does not necessarily agree with or support the opinions expressed and information provided at other web<br />
>sites which can be accessed by following links from our site.<br />
<br />
Another privacy policy to consider: [http://www.uui.org/privacy.php]<br />
<br />
==Web site administration==<br />
<br />
'''Webmaster:''' One member, designated by the minister (or in his/her absence, the President) and approved by the Board of Trustees, shall act as webmaster and have the following responsibilities:<br />
<br />
# Have overall authority and control of web site administration.<br />
# Administer the web site consistent with the congregation's mission and the Purposes and Principles of the UUA.<br />
# Act as a liaison to the organization currently hosting the web site.<br />
# Act as a liaison to the Domain Name Service currently hosting our domain name.<br />
# Administer access to all parts of the web site.<br />
# Coordinate development and delivery of content to be placed on the web site.<br />
# Develop and maintain guidelines for the 'look and feel' of the web site so that its appearance is consistent and access to information is logical.<br />
# Allow for password controlled access for writing to the web site to other designated congregation members. Designate members who will help in maintaining web content. The Minister will additionally approve these members. This approval will be followed by notification of the Board of Trustees at its next regularly scheduled meeting.<br />
# Designate members who will act as reviewers of web content and policy.<br />
# Ensure that the web site policies outlined in this document are adhered to.<br />
# Be responsible for promulgation of web site privacy policies to all members at least annually.<br />
# Maintain back-up copies of the web site at least monthly.<br />
# Review our web policy (this policy) annually (generally prior to the annual congregational meeting) and provide a report to the Board of Trustees.<br />
# Maintain a list of members who desire that absolutely no public information about them be revealed on the web site. Ensure that our web site respects the rights and wishes of these, as well as all members.<br />
# Coordinate with Council members and various committees to allow opportunities for any committee to provide web content consistent with this policy.<br />
# Maintain a budget for web-related activities and report at least annually to the Treasurer regarding financial activities related to the web site.<br />
# Maintain a list of persons currently granted (write) access to all or part of the web site and make this list available for review by the Minister and Board of Trustees.<br />
# Remove (write) access from persons who are no longer actively serving the interests of the congregation. The Minister (or in his/her absence, the President) shall have final appeal authority concerning removal of access to the web site.<br />
# On an emergent basis, remove content that has been placed on the web site and subsequently deemed inappropriate.<br />
# Act as a developer for those portions of the web site that are common, or have no developer available.<br />
<br />
'''Developers:'''<br />
<br />
One or more congregation members (and/or the Administrator if s/he is not a member), designated by the Webmaster and approved by the Minister shall act as web site developers. Developers will have the following responsibilities:<br />
<br />
# Understand the areas of the web site for which they are responsible (designated by the Webmaster, approved by the Minister).<br />
# Develop web content consistent with the mission of this congregation and the Purposes and Principles of the UUA.<br />
# Deal with technical details of placing content on the web site.<br />
# Gather existing brochures, reports, pictures and histories for the site.<br />
# Act as liaison to Council and Committee members as appropriate.<br />
# Design the page layout for his or her area of responsibility, consistent with look and feel of the overall web site as decided by the Webmaster. The minister (or in her absence, the President) will arbitrate disputes should any occur in this area.<br />
# Keep dynamic information current.<br />
# Create graphics as necessary (ensure copyright laws are adhered to).<br />
# Work on continuously updating, expanding and enhancing the web site.<br />
# Consult the Minister (or in nis/her absence, the President) concerning content intended for the web site which is of a questionable nature.<br />
# Have e-mail that will usually be accessed daily and have convenient access to the Web.<br />
<br />
'''Reviewers:'''<br />
<br />
One or more congregation members, designated by the Webmaster and approved by the Minister (or in his/her absence, the President) shall act as Web Site Reviewers. A person who is a Developer or the Webmaster may not be an independent reviewer of content that s/he has developed. Web Site Reviewers will have the following responsibilities:<br />
<br />
# Look at the site when changes are made and make suggestions on how to improve it.<br />
# Comment on drafts of the policies that guide how the site works.<br />
# Have e-mail that will usually be accessed daily and convenient access to the Web.<br />
<br />
<br /><br />
= Community Web Sites =<br />
<br />
( definition development needed - corporate policy above would not be appropriate )<br />
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<br />
= E-mail and Mailing List(s) =<br />
<br />
== Privacy ==<br />
<br />
E-mail sent or received by congregation staff members is considered to be private in nature and will not be forwarded, copied, or otherwise retransmitted unless permission of the author is obtained or permission is implicit in the content of the e-mail. Forwarding may occur between staff members when it is necessary to expedite services that are directly related to content of the e-mail in question.<br />
<br />
Staff members will take reasonable precautions (password protection, screensavers, secured backups, etc.) to ensure that unauthorized access to e-mail does not occur. When such access is suspected, further security measures (as appropriate) will be taken and all persons whose private information might reasonably have been compromised will be informed.<br />
<br />
<br />
== Mailing Lists ==<br />
<br />
'''Announcement mailing lists:''' The congregation hosts one or more announcement mailing lists to which anyone (members and friends of the congregation as well as others) may subscribe. Announcements may be posted to these lists only by the church administrator and should pertain to congregation business and events. Subscribers cannot post to the list, and it is not intended for online discussions.<br />
<br />
'''Discussion mailing lists:''' The congregation does not host or manage a discussion mailing list (that is, a mailing list to which subscribers can post messages). The congregation does not take responsibility for discussion mailing lists hosted by members or others, even if the list topic relates to the congregation.<br />
<br />
- Adapted from Kitsap Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, written by John Stilwell, adapted by Margy Levine Young, with some material from the First Congregational Parish in Kingston's policy blended in 1/23/2007</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Online_privacy&diff=8107Online privacy2008-02-24T04:43:26Z<p>JoyceD: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
Be considerate of the privacy preferences of the users of your site.<br />
<br />
== Images from Other Sites ==<br />
<br />
=====One View:===== <br />
Don't include images from other sites on your pages - that allows the owner of the other site to track the users of your page. Instead, copy the image to your own site and point to it there. If you don't have permission to make a local copy of the image, leave it out or use a different image. See [[Wikipedia:web bug]] for more information.<br />
<br />
=====Another View:===== <br />
Utilize embedded images and other embedded media whenever and wherever you have both the legal right to do and it will serve your viewers well. <br />
<br />
The concern mentioned above seems quite dated. Today both cookies and embedded content are ubiquitous on the web. Some limited use is near essential. Today users are able to control their exposure to privacy risks using the setup of their computers and browsers. Services (Flickr, YouTube, etc.) providing remote media and storage and processing along with embedding have proven very useful options for enhancing web sites. You would likely handicap both your site and your visitors if you categorically avoid them.<br />
<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
== Children's Privacy ==<br />
Sites should not compromise people's privacy or safety, especially children.<br />
<br />
Be sure to be in compliance with this federal law: [http://www.ftc.gov/ogc/coppa1.htm Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA)]<br />
<br />
Note however that COPPA applies only to commercial sites and excludes most nonprofit organizations.<br />
But it can still serve as a useful set of guidelines for congregation sites.</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Other_useful_web_sites_or_pages&diff=8106Other useful web sites or pages2008-02-24T04:42:39Z<p>JoyceD: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
There are various other UUs out there who have web sites or specific pages that have recomendations on how to build a good web site.<br />
<br />
; www.faithandweb(dot)com/best-posts/<br />
: Faith and Web, a church diva's musings... Best Posts include Getting Started, How To - or - the Nuts & Bolts, Graphics, & more (you'll need to copy & paste the URL & replace "(dot)" with a dot as a spam precaution)<br />
<br />
; http://bertc.com/cuc_workshop.htm<br />
: Bert Christensen did a workshop at the Canadian Unitarian Council Annual Conference and Meeting titled, "Building Good Church Websites."<br />
<br />
; http://www.unitarian.org/media/crafting/crafting.html<br />
: Some introductory materials that may be a bit dated, but certainly are good for introduction to building/mainting one's own web site. One of the authors, Kent Koeninger, has a knack for straightforward and insightful presentations.<br />
<br />
; http://www.baltwashuus.org/SPREAD-THE-FLAME.doc (Word doc)<br />
: 4 page document to use as basic standards for UU congregation web sites by Joseph Priestley District Public Outreach team</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Other_useful_web_sites_or_pages&diff=8105Other useful web sites or pages2008-02-24T04:35:43Z<p>JoyceD: </p>
<hr />
<div>There are various other UUs out there who have web sites or specific pages that have recomendations on how to build a good web site.<br />
<br />
; www.faithandweb(dot)com/best-posts/<br />
: Faith and Web, a church diva's musings... Best Posts include Getting Started, How To - or - the Nuts & Bolts, Graphics, & more (you'll need to copy & paste the URL & replace "(dot)" with a dot as a spam precaution)<br />
<br />
; http://bertc.com/cuc_workshop.htm<br />
: Bert Christensen did a workshop at the Canadian Unitarian Council Annual Conference and Meeting titled, "Building Good Church Websites."<br />
<br />
; http://www.unitarian.org/media/crafting/crafting.html<br />
: Some introductory materials that may be a bit dated, but certainly are good for introduction to building/mainting one's own web site. One of the authors, Kent Koeninger, has a knack for straightforward and insightful presentations.<br />
<br />
; http://www.baltwashuus.org/SPREAD-THE-FLAME.doc (Word doc)<br />
: 4 page document to use as basic standards for UU congregation web sites by Joseph Priestley District Public Outreach team</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Other_useful_web_sites_or_pages&diff=8104Other useful web sites or pages2008-02-24T04:32:24Z<p>JoyceD: </p>
<hr />
<div>There are various other UUs out there who have web sites or specific pages that have recomendations on how to build a good web site.<br />
<br />
; http://www.faithandweb(dot)com/best-posts/<br />
: Faith and Web, a church diva's musings... Best Posts include Getting Started, How To - or - the Nuts & Bolts, Graphics, & more (you'll need to replace the word (dot) with a dot as a spam precaution)<br />
<br />
; http://bertc.com/cuc_workshop.htm<br />
: Bert Christensen did a workshop at the Canadian Unitarian Council Annual Conference and Meeting titled, "Building Good Church Websites."<br />
<br />
; http://www.unitarian.org/media/crafting/crafting.html<br />
: Some introductory materials that may be a bit dated, but certainly are good for introduction to building/mainting one's own web site. One of the authors, Kent Koeninger, has a knack for straightforward and insightful presentations.<br />
<br />
; http://www.baltwashuus.org/SPREAD-THE-FLAME.doc (Word doc)<br />
: 4 page document to use as basic standards for UU congregation web sites by Joseph Priestley District Public Outreach team</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Other_useful_web_sites_or_pages&diff=8103Other useful web sites or pages2008-02-24T04:30:43Z<p>JoyceD: added faith and web</p>
<hr />
<div>There are various other UUs out there who have web sites or specific pages that have recomendations on how to build a good web site.<br />
<br />
; http://www.faithandweb(dot)com/best-posts/<br />
: Faith and Web, a church diva's musings... Best Posts include Getting Started, How To - or - the Nuts & Bolts, Graphics, & more<br />
<br />
; http://bertc.com/cuc_workshop.htm<br />
: Bert Christensen did a workshop at the Canadian Unitarian Council Annual Conference and Meeting titled, "Building Good Church Websites."<br />
<br />
; http://www.unitarian.org/media/crafting/crafting.html<br />
: Some introductory materials that may be a bit dated, but certainly are good for introduction to building/mainting one's own web site. One of the authors, Kent Koeninger, has a knack for straightforward and insightful presentations.<br />
<br />
; http://www.baltwashuus.org/SPREAD-THE-FLAME.doc (Word doc)<br />
: 4 page document to use as basic standards for UU congregation web sites by Joseph Priestley District Public Outreach team</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=To_Blue_or_Not_to_Blue:&diff=8093To Blue or Not to Blue:2008-02-03T20:35:42Z<p>JoyceD: added importance of underlining</p>
<hr />
<div>Pros and Cons of making text links blue and underlined.<br />
<br />
Pro: Your visitors expect text links to be blue and underlined. They expect visited links to turn purple. As a corollary, if any other text is blue, purple or underlined, that text will confuse them at first glance. <br />
Ted Pack<br />
<br />
Pro: I heard that fewer internet users click on links that are not underlined, so I tested this for 5 days during a 6-week Google Adword campaign that used [http://www.dmuuc.org/uus/ a site that had only 3 obvious and prominant links]. The number of clicks on the links when they weren't underlined went down by more than half. Joyce Dowling</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=List_of_UU_blogs&diff=8090List of UU blogs2008-02-01T04:05:58Z<p>JoyceD: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Resource Sites'''<br />
<br />
*[http://uupdates.net UUpdates] - News aggregator for syndicated Unitarian Universalist web sites, listing more than 250 UU blogs<br />
*[http://www.philocrites.com/archives/000587.html Philocrites' Guide to UU Blogs] - an annotated list hosted by blogger Philocrites<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
'''Individual Sites'''<br />
<br />
*[http://jesspages.net/bestofuu Best of UU] - the Good News of Unitarian Universalism, three times a week.<br />
*[http://homepage.mac.com/kimjacobs/BlueUU BlueUU] - How a Unitarian Universalist lives her religious beliefs<br />
*[http://www.errantfrogs.net/ bytes of grass] - Rev. Bret Lortie<br />
*[http://celestiallands.org/ Celestial Lands] - Unitarian Universalist Liberal Faith blog, journal, and library.<br />
*[http://chalicechick.blogspot.com/ The ChaliceBlog]<br />
*[http://www.coffeehour.org/ Coffee Hour] - "Where Unitarian Universalist bloggers mix it up."<br />
*[http://cabaretic.blogspot.com/ Comrade Kevin's Chrestomathy]- Another Damn Stupid Liberal Blog. <br />
*[http://www.wizdum.net/?q=confessions/ Confessions of an Evangelical UU]- Reflections on theology, society, how the heck did I get here and where are we going? <br />
*[http://www.crankycindy.blogspot.com Cranky Cindy Changes the World].<br />
*[http://www.donaldwilson.info/uu/ Donald O'Bloggin ] - A weblog by Donald Wilson, focusing on Young Adult affairs, technology, and UU systems interaction<br />
*[http://fuuse.com/ FUUSE - The Voice of the RevolUUtion ] - The Media Community of Unitarian Universalist Youth and Young Adults<br />
*[http://happycindy.blogspot.com Happy Cindy Changes the World].<br />
*[http://unitaren.blogspot.com/ History of Unitarianism in Norway (and link to Nordic Unitarian history)]<br />
*[http://www.uusc.org/blog/hotwire.html Hotwire] - "The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee weblog, detailing human rights issues."<br />
*[http://uuawo.blogspot.com/ Inspired Faith, Effective Action]--The Blogs of the UUA Washington Office for Advocacy<br />
*[http://iChalice.blogspot.com/ iChalice] - the blog of a Meadville-Lombard seminarian, Scott McNeill. Podcasting to start in June.<br />
*[http://imperfectgenius.homeschooljournal.net Imperfect Genius] - "Redefining brilliance one day at a time." Personal reflections and random musings on life as an eclectic family of UUs.<br />
*[http://www.infidelityblog.org/ Infidelity] - "Reflecting on the intersection between atheism and Unitarian Universalism"<br />
*[http://jesspages.net/jessjournal Jess's Journal] - "Musings, daily goings-on, occasional rants from a UU singer, seminary wife, and mom of 2"<br />
*[http://liberalfaith.blogspot.com/ Liberal Faith Development] - "commentary on Unitarian Universalist faith development in congregations and the wider liberal religious community"<br />
*[http://www.lookingforfaith.org/ Looking for Faith] - "Are you seeking a fresh start in your spiritual journey? Visit Looking for Faith."<br />
*[http://revricky.blogspot.com/ One More Step] - the blog associated with RevRicky.com Your Online Spiritual Community <br />
*[http://justworld.typepad.com/perspectives/ A People so Bold!] "Religious commentary with a liberationist twist."<br />
*[http://www.philocrites.com/ Philocrites] - "Commentary on liberal religion and politics"<br />
*[http://www.promisethechildrenuu.org/blog/ Promise the Children] - Resources for UU's to advocate for and with children and youth.<br />
*[http://natewalker.blogspot.com/ Nate Walker's Ministerial blog] - "With you on my mind and in my heart, i mold our dreams into the shape of my most private need; i sculpt them into the image of my most public self."<br />
*[http://radicalhapa.typepad.com/my_weblog/ Radical Hapa] - Unitarian Universalist Hapa Social Justice<br />
*[http://www.returningblog.com/ Returning. . . ] - "UU minister writing about religion, culture, and whatever amuses me."<br />
*[http://revoluutions.blogspot.com/ (r)evolUUtions] a UU who is also an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps<br />
*[http://rootandsource.blogspot.com/ Root and Source]<br />
*[http://www.sunoida.org/blog/ Share The Knowledge: Evangelism for Liberal Religion]<br />
*[http://www.talkhumanism.com/ Talk: Humanism] - "A collaborative blogging community for religious humanists."<br />
*[http://transientandpermanent.blogspot.com/ Transient and Permanent] - "Reflections on Unitarian-Universalism"<br />
*[http://uu-mom.livejournal.com/ UU Mom] - Lifelong UU spreading the word</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Web_Hosting_Services&diff=8019Web Hosting Services2008-01-22T07:57:48Z<p>JoyceD: /* [http://www.3ix.org/ 3ix] */</p>
<hr />
<div>== Comparison of services used by UUs ==<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.3ix.org/ 3ix] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - cPanel with Fantastico and a long list of Open Source programs<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - 4 packages range from $12/yr. to $88/yr. ($73 additional for SSL & dedicated IP using their top 2 packages with Shell Access)<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I was having good experience with it, but recently the tech support and customer service has been atrocious! I recommend that you find a service with an 800 number so you can speak directly with your tech support.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.jpdwr.org/ JPD Women & Religion] uses the Excite plan ($12/yr.) - plans to move to drak.net <br />
*[http://www.uuallies.com/drupal UU Allies for Racial Equity] uses the Expert hosting plan (and pays a small amount extra for SSL and dedicated IP - for $128/yr.)<br />
*[http://www.baltwashuus.org/ Baltimore Washington Unitarian Universalists] and [http://www.philwiluus.org/ Philadelphia Wilmington Unitarian Universalists] share the same service in different directories using the Extra Hosing Plan ($33/yr.) - these sites have never needed tech support as they don't use special software<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.bluehost.com/ Blue Host] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - cPanel with Fantastico and a long list of Open Source programs - 1 package only, includes Shell Access<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - $6.95/mo. if you sign up for 2 yrs. up front ($166.80/2 yrs. = $83.40/yr.)<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I have log-in capability on a site that uses it, but I haven't dealt with them directly. I see a lot of people think they're great, but I compared software versions and they're not up-to-date on everything. I believe it's their customer service that gets them top ratings, which includes 24X7 toll free phone support. I have also read some reviews from unsatisfied customers, though.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.jpduua.org/ Joseph Priestley District]<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://drak.net/ DrakNet] ===<br />
<br />
'''Slogan''' - Blue Hosting in a Red State with a focus on Green!<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - "Linux hosting solutions powered fully by 100% renewable energy"<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - "One fully working copy of the powerful Content Management System Soholaunch Pro is included with every, single hosting account, a $149 value."<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - AlmostFree Account for $0/m for "progressive" non-profits = $25 set up, no annual charge<br />
<br />
'''Reviews''' - I got a good review from someone on Soholaunch forum - see "Features" for churches and orgs who'd like to use the [[Content_Management_System#Soholaunch|content management system Soholaunch]].<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://dreamhost.com/ DreamHost] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux (Debian "Sarge" 3.1r4)<br />
<br />
'''[http://dreamhost.com/hosting.html Features]''' - Web hosting (Apache with PHP, Perl, Ruby, CGI, SSI, FastCGI, etc.). Comprehensive array of pre-installed or easily-installed services, including WordPress, Gallery, Joomla, phpBB, MediaWiki, Jabber, CVS, Subversion, WebDAV, streaming audio & video, and WebCalendar. Secure POP / IMAP / SMTP email service with SquirrelMail webmail. FTP. Procmail. Secure shell (SSH). Databases (MySQL). Spam filtering. Snapshot backups. Great control panel. Site statistics. File Storage. Custom DNS. WHOIS privacy. Unique IP and SSL available.<br />
<br />
'''Resources''' - Basic account gets 500GB + 5TB monthly bandwidth, both of which increase every week. Unlimited databases, email accounts, shell users, hosted domains and subdomains.<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - $11/month + $50 startup fee. Monthly cost and startup fees decline with increasing prepaid term. Promo Codes readily available to reduce cost further.<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
<br />
*From Stonewall Ballard 2007/11/09 - First Parish in Concord has used DreamHost since June of 2005. I chose it because it was cheap and offered enough space for our photo gallery. Web and database services tends to be slow. Outages are not uncommon. Outgoing email is frequently blacklisted by Comcast, Verizon, and AOL. OTOH, it's very easy to use and very flexible. For example, I installed my own copy of SpamAssassin. It has a large set of services. Support is variable, but usually ok. They're very open about problems in their blog and forums. Do not choose DreamHost if you want high reliability. Go with Pair for that.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
<br />
*[http://www.firstparish.org/ www.firstparish.org]<br />
<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://simple.be/hosting/ Simple.be] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - Web hosting (Apache, PHP, CGI, and Perl), Secure POP / IMAP / SMTP email service, Secure shell (SSH) & secure copy (SCP), Databases (MySQL & PostgreSQL), Anti-spam service, Snapshot backups, support for Windows or Mac<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - 6 packages from $14/month (for 80 MB storage and 3 email aliases) up.<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From PatRodgers 2007/11/08 - Brett Hamilton has hosted our www.mpuuc.org website for almost 4 years. He walked me through the WinSCP setup and quickly handles changes in the forwarding of our email aliases. Readily available via email or phone.<br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.mpuuc.org/ Mission Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation]<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.uuism.net/index.php UUism Networks] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Red Hat Linux Fedora Core 4<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - EnsimPro administrative panel - "comes with Web Site, Subdirectory Access (FTP), Shell Access (SSH) and Email Server Access (POP3)"<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - "$48 per year for 25 MB with free setup" (according to site 11/7/2007)<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I've used it for ~8 yrs. & it has improved over time. I've only used it for services that our UU host, Jim Hermann, has offered free. THANKS, JIM! He serves over 100 UU congregations and organizations.<br />
*From BruceC 2007/11/7 - I've used this service for many years. Our main pages are still hosted on a local community based service for non-profit pages. But they don't offer server programs so I have been migrating more and more to uuism. First was our domain name, then email lists, then the forums and now we are rebuilding our site in Joomla. (UUism doesn't currently offer Joomla via Ensim, but it was not difficult to install.) Ensim doesn't always keep all software up to the most current, but most of it is especially if there are security concerns. Site availability has been much better than 99%. Response to emailed questions is usually within a couple of hours.<br />
*From PatG 12/10/2007 - We've used for for the past two or three years for all of our hosting needs - main site, mailing lists, blog, and web calendar. Jim is a great help providing tech support and assistance especially when he hears the a desperate call for help. <br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.rec-room.org/ REC-Room]<br />
*[http://www.uuism.net/uuwiki/ UU Wiki] - this site<br />
*[http://HUUweb.org / Harrisonburg UU]<br />
*[http://huuweb.org/community-cafe/ HUU Community Cafe]<br />
----<br />
<br />
=== [http://www.vervehosting.com/ Verve Hosting] ===<br />
<br />
'''Operating System''' - Linux<br />
<br />
'''Features''' - cPanel, Fantastico (automatically installs Drupal, WordPress, Joomla, etc.), multiple MYSQL databases, multiple domains and subdomains, SSH, PHP 4 or 5, Awstats, Spam Assasin, FTP, Imap<br />
<br />
'''Cost''' - as low as $5.95 a month<br />
<br />
'''Reviews'''<br />
*From Chris Walton 11/9/2007 - I've hosted [http://www.philocrites.com/ Philocrites] and several other websites with Verve for four years. They provide extremely stable hosting and almost immediate customer support. Domain registration from $11.95 is slightly higher than from other services. <br />
<br />
'''Examples'''<br />
*[http://www.philocrites.com/ Philocrites]<br />
*[http://www.jameslutheradams.org/ James Luther Adams Foundation]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Content_Management_System&diff=7979Content Management System2008-01-02T00:36:44Z<p>JoyceD: /* [http://info.soholaunch.com/ Soholaunch] */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
== Content Management Systems ==<br />
<br />
A Content Management System (CMS) is a system used to organize and facilitate creation and maintenance of documents and other content (in this case for a web site). They are designed to allow many people to directly contribute to the process. Contributors sign on to authenticate and their activities are both assisted and restricted by the system. To manage this, a CMS isolates the actions and effects of content creation and maintenance from other elements (layouts, styles, menus, etc.). <br />
Both Wiki's such as this and blogging sites use Content Management Systems.<br /><br />
A more comprehensive description and additional details can be found at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system Wikipedia]. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* content can be added and maintained without "webmaster" skills<br />
* many people can contribute or collaborate using just their web browser<br />
* limits on what contributors can and can't do can be precisely defined<br />
* site layout, style and menus are unaffected during content editing work<br />
* content is unaffected during layout, style and menu modifications<br />
* standards and changes for layout, style and menus are applied universally<br />
* site mapping, indexing, site search and menu generation is automatic<br />
* web feed (RSS) syndication of content is usually automatic<br />
* media (images, audio, video, etc) presentation and management is easier to implement<br />
* member only features are easier to implement<br />
* member participation features are easier to implement<br />
* better for sites with many frequent changes, community and media features<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* can be more work to set up for a simple site<br />
* fine tuning the look of individual pages and elements is difficult and limited<br />
* CMS systems have their own menus and logic which users must understand<br />
* one or more people must act to administrator the site and any other users<br />
* requires specific software to be present or added to the web server<br />
* your site will depend on the continuing availability and suitability of that specific software<br />
* CMS software will require occasional security maintenance and updating<br />
* usually requires some setup and configuration of a database on the web server<br />
* places greater processing demands on the web server <br />
* backup and recovery is more complicated when a database is involved <br />
* customization requires more specialized and less common skills<br />
* poor for relatively static sites with few changes and a single maintainer<br />
<br />
'''Installing:''' - Linux based web hosting services often offer a feature that can install a selection of several CMS with the click of a link or icon. Example services available through web host control panels include: Fantastico (cPanel), Installatron (cPanel, Plesk), 4psa (Plesk), CP Skins (cPanel), Helm. While these "one-click" installation services can ease installation, they sometimes do not provide secure or up-to-date software versions.<br />
<br />
'''Explore the CMS options at:'''<br />
* The website [http://www.cmsmatrix.org CMS Matrix] allows you to compare features on approximately 100 different CMS solutions. The "Search the Matrix" feature allows you to filter the list according to the features that you need for your site.<br />
* The website [http://www.opensourcecms.com Open Source CMS Systems] allows you to demo 40-50 LAMP-based Portals(CMS) and review the comments left by other visitors. ("LAMP" is an acronym for 'Linux-Apache-MySql-PHP' software.)<br />
<br /><br />
'''---Listed below are details for some CMS packages that churches use to build and maintain websites.'''<br /><br/><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://plone.org Plone®]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE: ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Plone is a ready-to-run content management system that is built on the powerful and free [http://zope.org Zope®] application server. Plone provides a system for managing web content that is suitable for project groups, communities, web sites, extranets and intranets. Zope is a full web application environment using its own transactional object database and programmed in the full featured, object oriented, [http://python.org Python] scripting language. The project was started in the year 1999.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' It is easy to create events, news items, new documents, photos, and other files. It uses both HTML and an easy to use Structured Text for those who are unfamiliar with website design. It has many add-on products that extend features available. It has a very flexible security/permissions structure which allows people and groups with different roles to have control over different aspects and different parts of the site. Plone can manage custom content types. Plone delivers excellent compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508]). It can be set up to run on many different types of web servers (Linux, Windows, Mac, BSD etc.) A large developer community, and commercial support is available. <br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Plone will generally require a specialized web host or virtual web server due to its use of [http://zope.org Zope] rather than Apache, PHP and MySQL. It is resource-hungry on the server. It requires over 75 MB RAM dedicated to your site which tends to cost from $15 to $40/month. It will require much more learning by the webmaster about how to back up the custom database, how to combine with Apache for speed and web access logs, etc. For more insights, see http://plone.org/documentation/faq/is-plone-for-me<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.firstunitarianportland.org/ First Unitarian Church of Portland]<br />
*[http://www.nwuuf.org/ Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
*[http://www.spindletopuu.org/ Spindletop Unitarian Church]<br />
*[http://www.uufws.net/ Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem]<br />
<br />
To try it out, create your own free site at http://www.objectis.org/ or create your own account at a Plone-based community site like http://plone.org/ For more flexible production hosting, you might look at http://interlix.com, or http://quintagroup.com<br />
<br /><br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://drupal.org Drupal]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Similar to Plone® but implemented using more standard [http://www.php.net/ PHP] and [http://www.mysql.com/ MySQL] resources. Originally developed for 'community' participation web sites where everyone in the community is able to contribute content. Today the program is being used for a wider range of uses, including online press ([http://progressive.org/ The Progressive], [http://www.theonion.com The Onion]), academic sites, media libraries, and galleries. It can be used both for sites with very limited access (just a few authors) or by a very expansive community of users and authors with different privileges. The project was started in the year 2000.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Easy to create news items, single author and multi author documents, audio & video posts (podcasts), galleries (image collections), etc. The base program is highly compliant with both general [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). Many theme templates and lots of additional modules are freely available from the central Drupal community site. Common modules include kits which can be use to create custom content types and views. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using a choice of tunable editors. Regulation of user roles and privileges is very adjustable. Editing experience and viewing experience can be customized for different users. Content categorization and use of categorization is both flexible and pervasive. Technical support is available through an active user community on Drupal's community support site. A dedicated Drupal commercial hosting service option is available ([http://bryght.com/ Bryght Community content hosting]).<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Many of the contributed modules are not that reliable. The rapid advance of the Drupal core program (about one major version update a year) makes it easy to find your site is reliant on modules that are not getting updated. Administration is done through same interface as is used for general site viewing (rather than a purpose specific back end interface). Strict enforcement of design and coding creates requirements that may pose difficulties for some trying to make customizations. Building a multi featured site requires the selection, installation, and maintenance of many third party modules. <br />
<br />
'''Features:'''<br />
* Number of user logins: at least one, but an unlimited number may be created<br />
* Registration: May be set to "anyone may register", "anyone may register, but must be approved by admin", or "no one may register". Various modules available to extend these options.<br />
* Separate file/page logins: no, everything is handled via a single login interface<br />
* Approx setup time: First time user, about 1/2 - 1 day. Experienced user, about 15 - 30 minutes.<br />
* Custom scripts allowed: Yes; may create "modules" to extend system-wide functionality, or may inject PHP directly into a page<br />
* Custom templates allowed: Yes; may create a custom "theme"<br />
* Number of templates available: A very large number. Many are listed on the [http://drupal.org/project/Themes Drupal themes page], and most of those are free.<br />
<br />
'''Major benefits:'''<br />
* Extremely customizable<br />
* Very large community - if you want to do something with Drupal, someone else has probably already done it<br />
* Many modules available for extending the core system<br />
* Extremely lightweight; does not require much server space or bandwidth, and is compatible with a wide variety of browsers<br />
<br />
'''Major drawbacks:'''<br />
* Requires some time and effort to learn<br />
* Too many modules - it can be difficult to find, assemble and maintain the modules you need<br />
<br />
'''Demo:'''<br />
[http://opensourcecms.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=132 OpenSourceCMS.com Demo site]<br />
<br />
To login as the admin, add a new page, and edit that page:<br />
1. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/?q=user<br />
2. Login with the administrative password (username admin, password demo)<br />
3. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/node/add/page<br />
4. Type in the page title, and some body text<br />
5. If you want, feel free to play with the various options which appear when you click "Comment settings", "Authoring information", and "Publishing options"; you can also change these later, by editing the page. <br />
6. Click Submit<br />
7. You should see the new page, with a button to edit it, if you want.<br />
8. To see the page as it would appear to a non-administrative user, copy the URL for the page somewhere convenient, go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/logout , and then go back to the page URL.<br />
<br />
Note: OpenSourceCMS.com occasionally wipes its demos clean - do not save precious work there!<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
* [http://www.auuf.net/ Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.firstparishcambridge.org/ First Parish Cambridge]<br />
* [http://www.uumilwaukee.org/ First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee]<br />
* [http://follen.org/ Follen Church Society]<br />
* [http://rvuuf.org/ Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.uduuf.org/ Upper Delaware Unitarian Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.lifenowradio.org/ Life Now Radio... UU + Drupal, but a podcast...not a church]<br />
* If you google "church drupal" you can also find quite a few churches of other denominations using it. -An example using a number of good design principles can be seen at the [http://bethlehem-church.org/ Bethlehem Lutheran Church]. A collected listing of [http://groups.drupal.org/node/2700/ Church Websites running Drupal] has been collected in the Churches group at groups.drupal.org.<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://joomla.org/ Mambo/Joomla]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (both Mambo and Joomla use the [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Probably the most popular CMS. Listed together: Mambo and Joomla share a common design heritage. In mid-2005 the Miro corporation set up a "Mambo Foundation" in an attempt to exert more control via their ownership of the trademark. This was strongly resisted by the Mambo developer community, which left en-masse and are continuing their development using the name "Joomla". As these two programs continue development they are likely to become much more distinct and less able to share. Several web hosting services support installation through automated installation scripts or "one-button installs". It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The project was started in the year 2000.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Administration is done through a separate "back end" interface to avoid limitations of the "front end" interface used during normal site viewing and navigation. Administration interface has an graphic icon driven interface that makes use less intimidating for some. Theme templates and module extensions are easily loaded remotely since the interface accepts compressed modules remotely, transfers them, and unpacks on the server before loading them for use. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using the included editor. The popularity of the system has resulted in good availability of themes, extensions and experienced developers. Supports blogs, web feeds, multimedia, calendars, galleries, and podcasting through options and extensions. Administration interface and loose enforcement of constraints makes modification of theme templates easier than some other CMS.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Most new work seems to be taking the Joomla fork. User reviews of the fall 2006 update to Mambo show comparatively high levels of user dissatisfaction. The current Joomla 1.0 release seems stable, but is in need of revision to achieve compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). The 1.0 version still uses tables extensively for formatting non-table content. Improvements in these areas is a major objective of the 1.5 release of Joomla. The version 1.5 update will provide a major redesign and is progressing. (Release candidates 1,2,3 and 4 became available on 7-24, 9-1, 10-6 and 12-19 of 2007. The developers are anticipating a final release near the beginning of 2008.) Due to the large amount of base design and extensions built outside of standards, it is not clear how readily or thoroughly the design improvements will be achieved. In Joomla 1.0, the administration interface has been extended such that structure isn't always clear and some functions lack the clarity typical of the other sections. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br /><br />
''Mambo:''<br />
* [http://www.uuaa.org First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor]<br />
* [http://www.ucsummit.org The Unitarian Church in Summit (New Jersey)]<br />
''Joomla:''<br />
* [http://uucyf.org/ The Church of the Younger Fellowship]<br />
* [http://cms.plymouthuu.org/ First Parish Church in Plymouth]<br />
* [http://www.firstparish.org/ First Parish in Concord]<br />
* [http://rochesteruniversalist.org/ First Universalist Church of Rochester]<br />
* [http://www.jruuc.org/ James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Congregation]<br />
* [http://www.mmuus.org/ May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
* [http://swuucyruu.org/ Southwest District Young Religious Unitarian Universalists]<br />
* [http://www.tjuc.org/ Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church]<br />
* [http://www.uucj.com/ Universalist Unitarian Church of Joliet]<br />
* [http://www.uuventura.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura]<br />
* [http://www.uu-uno.org/ Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office]<br />
<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://contentor.net Contentor]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Contentor was designed for small to medium-sized web sites, typical of sites for/by small non-profit corporations or individuals. It was developed by a fellow UU, Earl Daniels.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.uuism.net UUism.net]<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://info.soholaunch.com/ Soholaunch]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary. Basic version is free of cost. "For 15 days, all of the full-version features will be turned on for you. After your full-version trial expires you can keep using all of the ProBase features forever for free, or you can purchase a full-version license and pick up where you left off with the advanced features." according to 3ix.org, but see [[Web_Hosting_Services|Choosing a Web Hosting Service]] for one that offers the Pro version free<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Relatively easy to use and to set up. A non-tech person can learn how to add information to the site using a web browser and username and password. There are limited templates with the program, but there are forums that give information about creating customized designs.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Requires several steps for the editor to create a page - is not a wysiwyg tool. Does not allow for separate password protected folders for different editors of different areas of the site as might be needed for a large site. Might have limits that I'm not aware of as I've only used it for small sites. Experienced problems updating the software without having the content removed, but server had backup to restore it and forum gives instructions on how to correct the problem.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
[http://www.jpdwr.org/ Joseph Priestley District Women and Religion] - this site was set up by someone with moderate tech skills and instructions were created for volunteer site managers - uses a template that was provided plus their logo designed by a member artist<br />
<br />
[http://www.4stepscreativelearning.com/ 4 Steps Creative Learning Child Care Services] - this is not a UU site, but it demonstrates how a template can be edited for a new design - a real estate template was used, header photos were replaced, and colors were changed. The counter at the bottom is a free sitemeter - not a part of the Soholaunch program, but it shows that code can be added for other services.<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.oneworldhosting.com/support/website_builder.html SiteXpress Website Builder]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary. Free if you use a host service that offer the software (see link above).<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Offers more flexible design options than some other CMSs - many design elements available, not just full templates. User-friendly instructions for people with good web experience. Customizing options available (uploading your own header images).<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Limited to servers that offer it. More steps needed to edit than some other CMSs. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
[http://www.drchrisbell.com/ Dr. Chris Bell] - code for Sitemeter added as free service (not available with software)<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.phpwebsitemanual.com/ phpWebSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Free (GPL)<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Allows separate password protected areas for different site editors. Has a lot of forum features built in.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Set up does not contain user-friendly instructions; instructions are found elsewhere. Design flexibility is limited.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
[http://www.uusj.org/ Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice]<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://revoluution.com/products.php Revoluution Media CMS]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary - by arrangement with "Revoluution Media"<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' "Revoluution Media" builds web sites and provides CMS site software for a number of Unitarian Universalist entities. The vendor website claims its own CMS is "fully integrated and easy-to-use" and that it "will allow anyone to update the page content of your site- without resorting to a slow or expensive webmaster". The coding technologies visible on example websites include XHTML, CSS, PHP, and Javascript.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Vendor assistance and support. Vendor offers an integrated service package. The vendor has experience serving a number of other Unitarian Universalist communities. System can be optimized for a small user base.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Costs associated with vendor service. Dependencies associated with a single vendor solutions. System has a small user base to test system operation and to support addition and refinement of features.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://cmwdyan.org/ Central Midwest District Young Adult Network]<br />
<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://sourceforge.net/projects/tmakesite Thetaworld MakeSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' a custom open source license.<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' From the Project Page on SourceForge: Thetaworld MakeSite is an offline Content Management System for static pages based on PostgreSQL, Perl, Gedafe and web GUI. It supports Links Catalog similar to Yahoo, multi categories, pages, different publishing targets and online e-commerce shop.. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Relatively simple and efficient in operation.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is. Limited in features with little apparent prospect for evolution. No apparent maintenance since December 2005. Uses/Requires some less common (but publicly licensed) web components.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://palouseuu.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse (Moscow, Idaho)]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/ UU Web Template project]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE - at least for UU organizations (the [http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/license/license.txt license] says it is [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ Creative Commons by-nc-sa] but also "Any [non-UU] use requires permission." so that isn't clear....)<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' The term template may be a bit misleading. These file sets create a scripted (PHP) interface, a choice of two visual themes and a standard set of church web pages. It provides a user interface allowing authorized users to login to the site from any web browser. Once logged in, the authorized user can create content, perform basic maintenance, and extend the page and menu content without any web editing tools. New as of May 2006; the specs for future versions are being considered to improve it. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' The UU Web Templates are designed and prepared specifically for use by UU congregations needing to create a first web site and should allow a quick and low cost launch. The UU Web Templates can also be used as an add-on or for use in re-design of a site. The project is supported by fellow UUs so the community is limited, but shares a lot of common knowledge. There is an email list to communicate with the other users. The simplicity of the design allows the templates to function on both Linux/Unix and Windows web servers. The templates do not require the complexity of a database setup and maintenance.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' A limited selection of styles and color schemes are built into the design. Limitations on the degree to which a site can be extended. There is currently no support for "Web 2.0" features such as media, community/social networking and blogs. The constraints of a small community of users may create some difficulties in maintaining and growing the application. Unspecified problems have been reported.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.allsoulsbraintree.org All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church of Braintree]<br />
*[http://www.athensuuc.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Athens and Sheshequin]<br />
*[http://www.cvuus.org Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
*[http://www.luuna.net LUUNA - Latino(a) Unitarian Universalist Networking Association]<br />
*[http://www.oaklandonuu.org Oaklandon Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.rutlanduu.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Rutland]<br />
*[http://www.secondparish.org Second Parish - Unitarian Universalist]<br />
*[http://www.uuacg.org Unitarian Universalists of Coastal Georgia]<br />
*[http://www.uucookeville.org Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cookeville]<br />
*[http://www.uucyakima.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Yakima]<br />
*[http://www.uufgc.org UU Fellowship of Greater Cumberland]<br />
*[http://www.uumuk.org The United Unitarian & Universalist Society of Mukwonago]<br />
*[http://www.uutryonnc.org Thermal Belt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://wordpress.org WordPress]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Designed principally for blogs, the basic package also supports standard web pages and a multi-level menu structure. It is easily extended through a "plug-in" interface to add support for podcasting and image galleries. Recent updates allow for a site that does not contain a blog on the opening page. Because of its popularity and flexibility, it is being used for multi-purpose and some general purpose websites. It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The WordPress product name is relatively new, but the product evolved directly from the b2 product which originated in 2001. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' WordPress is relatively easy to setup and understand. It is also a relatively mature and well maintained program. This has resulted in it being both very stable and web and accessibility standard compliant. The WordPress site provides extensive guidelines on how to improve and maintain accessibility. An extremely large collection of theme templates and plug-ins is available in the public domain and from custom developers. Themes are easily and quickly switched and customized from within the administrative interface. Non-blog pages and menus are relatively easy to create. The tabbed administrative interface opens on a dashboard which displays the system status and provides notices of upgrades from WordPress. Content is created and edited using an interactive WYSIWYG editor that allows tabbing between a formated presentation and direct HTML editing. The editor provides both auto-save backups during editing and spell checking. Edits can be saved to draft, or private, or published for public viewing. Its podcasting feed support exceeds those of other CMS offerings. It is common for web hosting services to supply their customers with a "one-button" installation for the WordPress application. A dedicated commercial hosting service option is available from [http://wordpress.com/ WordPress.com].<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' The program is designed and maintained to support the specific purpose of blogging. Congregations attempting to use it for broader purposes may encounter limitations (either immediately or in the future).<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://hunterdonuu.org/ First Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hunterdon County]<br />
*[http://www.ucmh.org/ Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/sermon/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Sermons]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/announce/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Announcements](uses the blog via e-mail function and a cron job to automatically post the announcements when they are e-mailed to the congregation. An auto-delete plug-in is installed so that only the current week's announcements are available.)<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/ CMS Made Simple]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' To get a simple CMS site up and start managing it is relatively simple. The product is described on its website as "simple enough to run family websites...." The standard installation provides a very friendly interface, a lot of guidance, explanations of CMS concepts, and such. This makes the product easier for the inexperienced to start working with. The CMS allows creation of web sites having good compliance with web and accessibility standards, but it does not enforce such standards. This CMS makes use of the preexisting SMARTY theme/template engine and the PHP and MySQL components. Work on this project began as a small in-house project in 2004. This is a relatively new product, with its first stable release being made available in 2006. It appears well regarded in CMS user and developer community. It earned added recognition in 2007 with a third place showing in the [http://www.packtpub.com/award/ Open Source CMS competition sponsored by Packt Publishing].<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' <br />
* very easy to make a hierarchical website<br />
* very nice administration interface, ordered by role and tasks<br />
* standard news module, RSS feeds, file and image managers, and WYSIWYG editor<br />
* module manager, allowing to download and install modules from the browser<br />
* many modules available<br />
* allows for different types of users with individual permissions, which is useful for allowing many people to edit portions of the site. <br />
'''Disadvantages:''' <br />
* inconsistent add-on modules (different ways of doing things)<br />
* lack of CMSMS functionality, a lot is borrowed from other OS software<br />
* WYSIWYG editor does not function very well. The formating is not consistent unless the content is created within CMSMS, and changes to the formatting do not apply consistently. The paste from Word function also does not function well. <br />
'''Update Dec. 2007'''<br />
With the release of Version 1.2.2 "Holetown" -- November 30, 2007 the WYSIWYG editor and other add-ons/modules have become more stable. The default editor is now [http://tinymce.moxiecode.com/ TinyMCE]. Pasting text from MSWord will remove formating except line breaks. The use of the word processer like buttons makes quick work of reformatting the content. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://bauuc.org/ Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/site/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin]<br />
* other denominations have congregations using it, but this Wiki is in need of more quality examples.<br />
<br /><br />
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[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Content_Management_System&diff=7969Content Management System2007-12-08T15:53:43Z<p>JoyceD: /* Content Management Systems */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
== Content Management Systems ==<br />
<br />
A Content Management System (CMS) is a system used to organize and facilitate creation and maintenance of documents and other content (in this case for a web site). They are designed to allow many people to directly contribute to the process. Contributors sign on to authenticate and their activities are both assisted and restricted by the system. To manage this, a CMS isolates the actions and effects of content creation and maintenance from other elements (layouts, styles, menus, etc.). <br />
Both Wiki's such as this and blogging sites use Content Management Systems.<br /><br />
A more comprehensive description and additional details can be found at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system Wikipedia]. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* content can be added and maintained without "webmaster" skills<br />
* many people can contribute or collaborate using just their web browser<br />
* limits on what contributors can and can't do can be precisely defined<br />
* site layout, style and menus are unaffected during content editing work<br />
* content is unaffected during layout, style and menu modifications<br />
* standards and changes for layout, style and menus are applied universally<br />
* site mapping, indexing, site search and menu generation is automatic<br />
* web feed (RSS) syndication of content is usually automatic<br />
* media (images, audio, video, etc) presentation and management is easier to implement<br />
* member only features are easier to implement<br />
* member participation features are easier to implement<br />
* better for sites with many frequent changes, community and media features<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* can be more work to set up for a simple site<br />
* fine tuning the look of individual pages and elements is difficult and limited<br />
* CMS systems have their own menus and logic which users must understand<br />
* one or more people must act to administrator the site and any other users<br />
* requires specific software to be present or added to the web server<br />
* your site will depend on the continuing availability and suitability of that specific software<br />
* CMS software will require occasional security maintenance and updating<br />
* usually requires some setup and configuration of a database on the web server<br />
* places greater processing demands on the web server <br />
* backup and recovery is more complicated when a database is involved <br />
* customization requires more specialized and less common skills<br />
* poor for relatively static sites with few changes and a single maintainer<br />
<br />
'''Installing:''' - Linux servers often offer one of these features that will install many CMS with the click of a link or icon: Fantastico (cPanel), Installatron (cPanel, Plesk), 4psa (Plesk), CP Skins (cPanel), Helm<br />
<br />
'''Explore the CMS options at:'''<br />
* The website [http://www.cmsmatrix.org CMS Matrix] allows you to compare features on approximately 100 different CMS solutions. The "Search the Matrix" feature allows you to filter the list according to the features that you need for your site.<br />
* The website [http://www.opensourcecms.com Open Source CMS Systems] allows you to demo 40-50 LAMP-based Portals(CMS) and review the comments left by other visitors. ("LAMP" is an acronym for 'Linux-Apache-MySql-PHP' software.)<br />
<br /><br />
'''---Listed below are details for some CMS packages that churches use to build and maintain websites.'''<br /><br/><br />
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<br />
===[http://plone.org Plone®]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE: ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Plone is a ready-to-run content management system that is built on the powerful and free [http://zope.org Zope®] application server. Plone provides a system for managing web content that is suitable for project groups, communities, web sites, extranets and intranets. Zope is a full web application environment using its own transactional object database and programmed in the full featured, object oriented, [http://python.org Python] scripting language. The project was started in the year 1999.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' It is easy to create events, news items, new documents, photos, and other files. It uses both HTML and an easy to use Structured Text for those who are unfamiliar with website design. It has many add-on products that extend features available. It has a very flexible security/permissions structure which allows people and groups with different roles to have control over different aspects and different parts of the site. Plone can manage custom content types. Plone delivers excellent compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508]). It can be set up to run on many different types of web servers (Linux, Windows, Mac, BSD etc.) A large developer community, and commercial support is available. <br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Plone will generally require a specialized web host or virtual web server due to its use of [http://zope.org Zope] rather than Apache, PHP and MySQL. It is resource-hungry on the server. It requires over 75 MB RAM dedicated to your site which tends to cost from $15 to $40/month. It will require much more learning by the webmaster about how to back up the custom database, how to combine with Apache for speed and web access logs, etc. For more insights, see http://plone.org/documentation/faq/is-plone-for-me<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.firstunitarianportland.org/ First Unitarian Church of Portland]<br />
*[http://www.nwuuf.org/ Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
*[http://www.spindletopuu.org/ Spindletop Unitarian Church]<br />
*[http://www.uufws.net/ Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem]<br />
<br />
To try it out, create your own free site at http://www.objectis.org/ or create your own account at a Plone-based community site like http://plone.org/ For more flexible production hosting, you might look at http://interlix.com, or http://quintagroup.com<br />
<br /><br /><br />
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===[http://drupal.org Drupal]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Similar to Plone® but implemented using more standard [http://www.php.net/ PHP] and [http://www.mysql.com/ MySQL] resources. Originally developed for 'community' participation web sites where everyone in the community is able to contribute content. Today the program is being used for a wider range of uses, including online press ([http://progressive.org/ The Progressive], [http://www.theonion.com The Onion]), academic sites, media libraries, and galleries. It can be used both for sites with very limited access (just a few authors) or by a very expansive community of users and authors with different privileges. The project was started in the year 2000.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Easy to create news items, single author and multi author documents, audio & video posts (podcasts), galleries (image collections), etc. The base program is highly compliant with both general [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). Many theme templates and lots of additional modules are freely available from the central Drupal community site. Common modules include kits which can be use to create custom content types and views. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using a choice of tunable editors. Regulation of user roles and privileges is very adjustable. Editing experience and viewing experience can be customized for different users. Content categorization and use of categorization is both flexible and pervasive. Technical support is available through an active user community on Drupal's community support site. A dedicated Drupal commercial hosting service option is available ([http://bryght.com/ Bryght Community content hosting]).<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Many of the contributed modules are not that reliable. The rapid advance of the Drupal core program (about one major version update a year) makes it easy to find your site is reliant on modules that are not getting updated. Administration is done through same interface as is used for general site viewing (rather than a purpose specific back end interface). Strict enforcement of design and coding creates requirements that may pose difficulties for some trying to make customizations. Building a multi featured site requires the selection, installation, and maintenance of many third party modules. <br />
<br />
'''Features:'''<br />
* Number of user logins: at least one, but an unlimited number may be created<br />
* Registration: May be set to "anyone may register", "anyone may register, but must be approved by admin", or "no one may register". Various modules available to extend these options.<br />
* Separate file/page logins: no, everything is handled via a single login interface<br />
* Approx setup time: First time user, about 1/2 - 1 day. Experienced user, about 15 - 30 minutes.<br />
* Custom scripts allowed: Yes; may create "modules" to extend system-wide functionality, or may inject PHP directly into a page<br />
* Custom templates allowed: Yes; may create a custom "theme"<br />
* Number of templates available: A very large number. Many are listed on the [http://drupal.org/project/Themes Drupal themes page], and most of those are free.<br />
<br />
'''Major benefits:'''<br />
* Extremely customizable<br />
* Very large community - if you want to do something with Drupal, someone else has probably already done it<br />
* Many modules available for extending the core system<br />
* Extremely lightweight; does not require much server space or bandwidth, and is compatible with a wide variety of browsers<br />
<br />
'''Major drawbacks:'''<br />
* Requires some time and effort to learn<br />
* Too many modules - it can be difficult to find, assemble and maintain the modules you need<br />
<br />
'''Demo:'''<br />
[http://opensourcecms.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=132 OpenSourceCMS.com Demo site]<br />
<br />
To login as the admin, add a new page, and edit that page:<br />
1. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/?q=user<br />
2. Login with the administrative password (username admin, password demo)<br />
3. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/node/add/page<br />
4. Type in the page title, and some body text<br />
5. If you want, feel free to play with the various options which appear when you click "Comment settings", "Authoring information", and "Publishing options"; you can also change these later, by editing the page. <br />
6. Click Submit<br />
7. You should see the new page, with a button to edit it, if you want.<br />
8. To see the page as it would appear to a non-administrative user, copy the URL for the page somewhere convenient, go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/logout , and then go back to the page URL.<br />
<br />
Note: OpenSourceCMS.com occasionally wipes its demos clean - do not save precious work there!<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
* [http://www.auuf.net/ Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.firstparishcambridge.org/ First Parish Cambridge]<br />
* [http://www.uumilwaukee.org/ First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee]<br />
* [http://follen.org/ Follen Church Society]<br />
* [http://rvuuf.org/ Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.uduuf.org/ Upper Delaware Unitarian Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.lifenowradio.org/ Life Now Radio... UU + Drupal, but a podcast...not a church]<br />
* If you google "church drupal" you can also find quite a few churches of other denominations using it. -An example using a number of good design principles can be seen at the [http://bethlehem-church.org/ Bethlehem Lutheran Church]. A collected listing of [http://groups.drupal.org/node/2700/ Church Websites running Drupal] has been collected in the Churches group at groups.drupal.org.<br />
<br /><br />
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<br />
===[http://joomla.org/ Mambo/Joomla]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (both Mambo and Joomla use the [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Probably the most popular CMS. Listed together: Mambo and Joomla share a common design heritage. In mid-2005 the Miro corporation set up a "Mambo Foundation" in an attempt to exert more control via their ownership of the trademark. This was strongly resisted by the Mambo developer community, which left en-masse and are continuing their development using the name "Joomla". As these two programs continue development they are likely to become much more distinct and less able to share. Several web hosting services support installation through automated installation scripts or "one-button installs". It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The project was started in the year 2000.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Administration is done through a separate "back end" interface to avoid limitations of the "front end" interface used during normal site viewing and navigation. Administration interface has an graphic icon driven interface that makes use less intimidating for some. Theme templates and module extensions are easily loaded remotely since the interface accepts compressed modules remotely, transfers them, and unpacks on the server before loading them for use. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using the included editor. The popularity of the system has resulted in good availability of themes, extensions and experienced developers. Supports blogs, web feeds, multimedia, calendars, galleries, and podcasting through options and extensions. Administration interface and loose enforcement of constraints makes modification of theme templates easier than some other CMS.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Most new work seems to be taking the Joomla fork. User reviews of the fall 2006 update to Mambo show comparatively high levels of user dissatisfaction. The current Joomla 1.0 release seems stable, but is in need of revision to achieve compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). The 1.0 version still uses tables extensively for formatting non-table content. Improvements in these areas is a major objective of the 1.5 release of Joomla. The version 1.5 update will provide a major redesign and is progressing. (Release candidates 1, 2 and 3 became available on 7-24, 9-1 and 10-6 of 2007. The developers are anticipating a final release later this year.) Due to the large amount of base design and extensions built outside of standards, it is not clear how readily or thoroughly the design improvements will be achieved. In Joomla 1.0, the administration interface has been extended such that structure isn't always clear and some functions lack the clarity typical of the other sections. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br /><br />
''Mambo:''<br />
* [http://www.uuaa.org First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor]<br />
* [http://www.ucsummit.org The Unitarian Church in Summit (New Jersey)]<br />
''Joomla:''<br />
* [http://uucyf.org/ The Church of the Younger Fellowship]<br />
* [http://cms.plymouthuu.org/ First Parish Church in Plymouth]<br />
* [http://www.firstparish.org/ First Parish in Concord]<br />
* [http://rochesteruniversalist.org/ First Universalist Church of Rochester]<br />
* [http://www.jruuc.org/ James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Congregation]<br />
* [http://www.mmuus.org/ May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
* [http://swuucyruu.org/ Southwest District Young Religious Unitarian Universalists]<br />
* [http://www.tjuc.org/ Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church]<br />
* [http://www.uucj.com/ Universalist Unitarian Church of Joliet]<br />
* [http://www.uuventura.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura]<br />
* [http://www.uu-uno.org/ Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office]<br />
<br />
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<br />
===[http://contentor.net Contentor]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Contentor was designed for small to medium-sized web sites, typical of sites for/by small non-profit corporations or individuals. It was developed by a fellow UU, Earl Daniels.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.uuism.net UUism.net]<br />
<br /><br />
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<br />
===[http://info.soholaunch.com/ Soholaunch]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary. Basic version is free of cost. "For 15 days, all of the full-version features will be turned on for you. After your full-version trial expires you can keep using all of the ProBase features forever for free, or you can purchase a full-version license and pick up where you left off with the advanced features." according to 3ix.org, but see [[Choosing a Web Hosting Service]] for one that offers the Pro version free<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Relatively easy to use and to set up. A non-tech person can learn how to add information to the site using a web browser and username and password. There are limited templates with the program, but there are forums that give information about creating customized designs.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Requires several steps for the editor to create a page - is not a wysiwyg tool. Does not allow for separate password protected folders for different editors of different areas of the site as might be needed for a large site. Might have limits that I'm not aware of as I've only used it for small sites. Experienced problems updating the software without having the content removed, but server had backup to restore it and forum gives instructions on how to correct the problem.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
[http://www.jpdwr.org/ Joseph Priestley District Women and Religion] - this site was set up by someone with moderate tech skills and instructions were created for volunteer site managers - uses a template that was provided plus their logo designed by a member artist<br />
<br />
[http://www.4stepscreativelearning.com/ 4 Steps Creative Learning Child Care Services] - this is not a UU site, but it demonstrates how a template can be edited for a new design - a real estate template was used, header photos were replaced, and colors were changed. The counter at the bottom is a free sitemeter - not a part of the Soholaunch program, but it shows that code can be added for other services.<br />
<br />
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===[http://www.oneworldhosting.com/support/website_builder.html SiteXpress Website Builder]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary. Free if you use a host service that offer the software (see link above).<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Offers more flexible design options than some other CMSs - many design elements available, not just full templates. User-friendly instructions for people with good web experience. Customizing options available (uploading your own header images).<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Limited to servers that offer it. More steps needed to edit than some other CMSs. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
[http://www.drchrisbell.com/ Dr. Chris Bell] - code for Sitemeter added as free service (not available with software)<br />
<br />
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===[http://www.phpwebsitemanual.com/ phpWebSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Free (GPL)<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Allows separate password protected areas for different site editors. Has a lot of forum features built in.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Set up does not contain user-friendly instructions; instructions are found elsewhere. Design flexibility is limited.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
[http://www.uusj.org/ Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice]<br />
<br />
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===[http://revoluution.com/products.php Revoluution Media CMS]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary - by arrangement with "Revoluution Media"<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' "Revoluution Media" builds web sites and provides CMS site software for a number of Unitarian Universalist entities. The vendor website claims its own CMS is "fully integrated and easy-to-use" and that it "will allow anyone to update the page content of your site- without resorting to a slow or expensive webmaster". The coding technologies visible on example websites include XHTML, CSS, PHP, and Javascript.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Vendor assistance and support. Vendor offers an integrated service package. The vendor has experience serving a number of other Unitarian Universalist communities. System can be optimized for a small user base.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Costs associated with vendor service. Dependencies associated with a single vendor solutions. System has a small user base to test system operation and to support addition and refinement of features.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://cmwdyan.org/ Central Midwest District Young Adult Network]<br />
<br />
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===[http://sourceforge.net/projects/tmakesite Thetaworld MakeSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' a custom open source license.<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' From the Project Page on SourceForge: Thetaworld MakeSite is an offline Content Management System for static pages based on PostgreSQL, Perl, Gedafe and web GUI. It supports Links Catalog similar to Yahoo, multi categories, pages, different publishing targets and online e-commerce shop.. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Relatively simple and efficient in operation.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is. Limited in features with little apparent prospect for evolution. No apparent maintenance since December 2005. Uses/Requires some less common (but publicly licensed) web components.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://palouseuu.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse (Moscow, Idaho)]<br />
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<br />
===[http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/ UU Web Template project]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE - at least for UU organizations (the [http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/license/license.txt license] says it is [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ Creative Commons by-nc-sa] but also "Any [non-UU] use requires permission." so that isn't clear....)<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' The term template may be a bit misleading. These file sets create a scripted (PHP) interface, a choice of two visual themes and a standard set of church web pages. It provides a user interface allowing authorized users to login to the site from any web browser. Once logged in, the authorized user can create content, perform basic maintenance, and extend the page and menu content without any web editing tools. New as of May 2006; the specs for future versions are being considered to improve it. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' The UU Web Templates are designed and prepared specifically for use by UU congregations needing to create a first web site and should allow a quick and low cost launch. The UU Web Templates can also be used as an add-on or for use in re-design of a site. The project is supported by fellow UUs so the community is limited, but shares a lot of common knowledge. There is an email list to communicate with the other users. The simplicity of the design allows the templates to function on both Linux/Unix and Windows web servers. The templates do not require the complexity of a database setup and maintenance.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' A limited selection of styles and color schemes are built into the design. Limitations on the degree to which a site can be extended. There is currently no support for "Web 2.0" features such as media, community/social networking and blogs. The constraints of a small community of users may create some difficulties in maintaining and growing the application. Unspecified problems have been reported.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.allsoulsbraintree.org All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church of Braintree]<br />
*[http://www.athensuuc.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Athens and Sheshequin]<br />
*[http://www.cvuus.org Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
*[http://www.luuna.net LUUNA - Latino(a) Unitarian Universalist Networking Association]<br />
*[http://www.oaklandonuu.org Oaklandon Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.rutlanduu.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Rutland]<br />
*[http://www.secondparish.org Second Parish - Unitarian Universalist]<br />
*[http://www.uuacg.org Unitarian Universalists of Coastal Georgia]<br />
*[http://www.uucookeville.org Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cookeville]<br />
*[http://www.uucyakima.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Yakima]<br />
*[http://www.uufgc.org UU Fellowship of Greater Cumberland]<br />
*[http://www.uumuk.org The United Unitarian & Universalist Society of Mukwonago]<br />
*[http://www.uutryonnc.org Thermal Belt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
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===[http://wordpress.org WordPress]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Designed principally for blogs, the basic package also supports standard web pages and a multi-level menu structure. It is easily extended through a "plug-in" interface to add support for podcasting and image galleries. Recent updates allow for a site that does not contain a blog on the opening page. Because of its popularity and flexibility, it is being used for multi-purpose and some general purpose websites. It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The WordPress product name is relatively new, but the product evolved directly from the b2 product which originated in 2001. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' WordPress is relatively easy to setup and understand. It is also a relatively mature and well maintained program. This has resulted in it being both very stable and web and accessibility standard compliant. The WordPress site provides extensive guidelines on how to improve and maintain accessibility. An extremely large collection of theme templates and plug-ins is available in the public domain and from custom developers. Themes are easily and quickly switched and customized from within the administrative interface. Non-blog pages and menus are relatively easy to create. The tabbed administrative interface opens on a dashboard which displays the system status and provides notices of upgrades from WordPress. Content is created and edited using an interactive WYSIWYG editor that allows tabbing between a formated presentation and direct HTML editing. The editor provides both auto-save backups during editing and spell checking. Edits can be saved to draft, or private, or published for public viewing. Its podcasting feed support exceeds those of other CMS offerings. It is common for web hosting services to supply their customers with a "one-button" installation for the WordPress application. A dedicated commercial hosting service option is available from [http://wordpress.com/ WordPress.com].<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' The program is designed and maintained to support the specific purpose of blogging. Congregations attempting to use it for broader purposes may encounter limitations (either immediately or in the future).<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://hunterdonuu.org/ First Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hunterdon County]<br />
*[http://www.ucmh.org/ Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/sermon/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Sermons]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/announce/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Announcements](uses the blog via e-mail function and a cron job to automatically post the announcements when they are e-mailed to the congregation. An auto-delete plug-in is installed so that only the current week's announcements are available.)<br />
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<br />
===[http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/ CMS Made Simple]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' To get a simple CMS site up and start managing it is relatively simple. The product is described on its website as "simple enough to run family websites...." The standard installation provides a very friendly interface, a lot of guidance, explanations of CMS concepts, and such. This makes the product easier for the inexperienced to start working with. The CMS allows creation of web sites having good compliance with web and accessibility standards, but it does not enforce such standards. This CMS makes use of the preexisting SMARTY theme/template engine and the PHP and MySQL components. Work on this project began as a small in-house project in 2004. This is a relatively new product, with its first stable release being made available in 2006. It appears well regarded in CMS user and developer community. It earned added recognition in 2007 with a third place showing in the [http://www.packtpub.com/award/ Open Source CMS competition sponsored by Packt Publishing].<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' <br />
* very easy to make a hierarchical website<br />
* very nice administration interface, ordered by role and tasks<br />
* standard news module, RSS feeds, file and image managers, and WYSIWYG editor<br />
* module manager, allowing to download and install modules from the browser<br />
* many modules available<br />
* allows for different types of users with individual permissions, which is useful for allowing many people to edit portions of the site. <br />
'''Disadvantages:''' <br />
* inconsistent add-on modules (different ways of doing things)<br />
* lack of CMSMS functionality, a lot is borrowed from other OS software<br />
* WYSIWYG editor does not function very well. The formating is not consistent unless the content is created within CMSMS, and changes to the formatting do not apply consistently. The paste from Word function also does not function well. <br />
'''Update Dec. 2007'''<br />
With the release of Version 1.2.2 "Holetown" -- November 30, 2007 the WYSIWYG editor and other add-ons/modules have become more stable. The default editor is now [http://tinymce.moxiecode.com/ TinyMCE]. Pasting text from MSWord will remove formating except line breaks. The use of the word processer like buttons makes quick work of reformatting the content. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://bauuc.org/ Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/site/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin]<br />
* other denominations have congregations using it, but this Wiki is in need of more quality examples.<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Content_Management_System&diff=7968Content Management System2007-12-08T15:52:42Z<p>JoyceD: /* [http://info.soholaunch.com/ Soholaunch] */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
== Content Management Systems ==<br />
<br />
A Content Management System (CMS) is a system used to organize and facilitate creation and maintenance of documents and other content (in this case for a web site). They are designed to allow many people to directly contribute to the process. Contributors sign on to authenticate and their activities are both assisted and restricted by the system. To manage this, a CMS isolates the actions and effects of content creation and maintenance from other elements (layouts, styles, menus, etc.). <br />
Both Wiki's such as this and blogging sites use Content Management Systems.<br /><br />
A more comprehensive description and additional details can be found at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system Wikipedia]. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* content can be added and maintained without "webmaster" skills<br />
* many people can contribute or collaborate using just their web browser<br />
* limits on what contributors can and can't do can be precisely defined<br />
* site layout, style and menus are unaffected during content editing work<br />
* content is unaffected during layout, style and menu modifications<br />
* standards and changes for layout, style and menus are applied universally<br />
* site mapping, indexing, site search and menu generation is automatic<br />
* web feed (RSS) syndication of content is usually automatic<br />
* media (images, audio, video, etc) presentation and management is easier to implement<br />
* member only features are easier to implement<br />
* member participation features are easier to implement<br />
* better for sites with many frequent changes, community and media features<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* can be more work to set up for a simple site<br />
* fine tuning the look of individual pages and elements is difficult and limited<br />
* CMS systems have their own menus and logic which users must understand<br />
* one or more people must act to administrator the site and any other users<br />
* requires specific software to be present or added to the web server<br />
* your site will depend on the continuing availability and suitability of that specific software<br />
* CMS software will require occasional security maintenance and updating<br />
* usually requires some setup and configuration of a database on the web server<br />
* places greater processing demands on the web server <br />
* backup and recovery is more complicated when a database is involved <br />
* customization requires more specialized and less common skills<br />
* poor for relatively static sites with few changes and a single maintainer<br />
<br />
'''Explore the CMS options at:'''<br />
* The website [http://www.cmsmatrix.org CMS Matrix] allows you to compare features on approximately 100 different CMS solutions. The "Search the Matrix" feature allows you to filter the list according to the features that you need for your site.<br />
* The website [http://www.opensourcecms.com Open Source CMS Systems] allows you to demo 40-50 LAMP-based Portals(CMS) and review the comments left by other visitors. ("LAMP" is an acronym for 'Linux-Apache-MySql-PHP' software.)<br />
<br /><br />
'''---Listed below are details for some CMS packages that churches use to build and maintain websites.'''<br /><br/><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://plone.org Plone®]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE: ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Plone is a ready-to-run content management system that is built on the powerful and free [http://zope.org Zope®] application server. Plone provides a system for managing web content that is suitable for project groups, communities, web sites, extranets and intranets. Zope is a full web application environment using its own transactional object database and programmed in the full featured, object oriented, [http://python.org Python] scripting language. The project was started in the year 1999.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' It is easy to create events, news items, new documents, photos, and other files. It uses both HTML and an easy to use Structured Text for those who are unfamiliar with website design. It has many add-on products that extend features available. It has a very flexible security/permissions structure which allows people and groups with different roles to have control over different aspects and different parts of the site. Plone can manage custom content types. Plone delivers excellent compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508]). It can be set up to run on many different types of web servers (Linux, Windows, Mac, BSD etc.) A large developer community, and commercial support is available. <br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Plone will generally require a specialized web host or virtual web server due to its use of [http://zope.org Zope] rather than Apache, PHP and MySQL. It is resource-hungry on the server. It requires over 75 MB RAM dedicated to your site which tends to cost from $15 to $40/month. It will require much more learning by the webmaster about how to back up the custom database, how to combine with Apache for speed and web access logs, etc. For more insights, see http://plone.org/documentation/faq/is-plone-for-me<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.firstunitarianportland.org/ First Unitarian Church of Portland]<br />
*[http://www.nwuuf.org/ Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
*[http://www.spindletopuu.org/ Spindletop Unitarian Church]<br />
*[http://www.uufws.net/ Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem]<br />
<br />
To try it out, create your own free site at http://www.objectis.org/ or create your own account at a Plone-based community site like http://plone.org/ For more flexible production hosting, you might look at http://interlix.com, or http://quintagroup.com<br />
<br /><br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://drupal.org Drupal]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Similar to Plone® but implemented using more standard [http://www.php.net/ PHP] and [http://www.mysql.com/ MySQL] resources. Originally developed for 'community' participation web sites where everyone in the community is able to contribute content. Today the program is being used for a wider range of uses, including online press ([http://progressive.org/ The Progressive], [http://www.theonion.com The Onion]), academic sites, media libraries, and galleries. It can be used both for sites with very limited access (just a few authors) or by a very expansive community of users and authors with different privileges. The project was started in the year 2000.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Easy to create news items, single author and multi author documents, audio & video posts (podcasts), galleries (image collections), etc. The base program is highly compliant with both general [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). Many theme templates and lots of additional modules are freely available from the central Drupal community site. Common modules include kits which can be use to create custom content types and views. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using a choice of tunable editors. Regulation of user roles and privileges is very adjustable. Editing experience and viewing experience can be customized for different users. Content categorization and use of categorization is both flexible and pervasive. Technical support is available through an active user community on Drupal's community support site. A dedicated Drupal commercial hosting service option is available ([http://bryght.com/ Bryght Community content hosting]).<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Many of the contributed modules are not that reliable. The rapid advance of the Drupal core program (about one major version update a year) makes it easy to find your site is reliant on modules that are not getting updated. Administration is done through same interface as is used for general site viewing (rather than a purpose specific back end interface). Strict enforcement of design and coding creates requirements that may pose difficulties for some trying to make customizations. Building a multi featured site requires the selection, installation, and maintenance of many third party modules. <br />
<br />
'''Features:'''<br />
* Number of user logins: at least one, but an unlimited number may be created<br />
* Registration: May be set to "anyone may register", "anyone may register, but must be approved by admin", or "no one may register". Various modules available to extend these options.<br />
* Separate file/page logins: no, everything is handled via a single login interface<br />
* Approx setup time: First time user, about 1/2 - 1 day. Experienced user, about 15 - 30 minutes.<br />
* Custom scripts allowed: Yes; may create "modules" to extend system-wide functionality, or may inject PHP directly into a page<br />
* Custom templates allowed: Yes; may create a custom "theme"<br />
* Number of templates available: A very large number. Many are listed on the [http://drupal.org/project/Themes Drupal themes page], and most of those are free.<br />
<br />
'''Major benefits:'''<br />
* Extremely customizable<br />
* Very large community - if you want to do something with Drupal, someone else has probably already done it<br />
* Many modules available for extending the core system<br />
* Extremely lightweight; does not require much server space or bandwidth, and is compatible with a wide variety of browsers<br />
<br />
'''Major drawbacks:'''<br />
* Requires some time and effort to learn<br />
* Too many modules - it can be difficult to find, assemble and maintain the modules you need<br />
<br />
'''Demo:'''<br />
[http://opensourcecms.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=132 OpenSourceCMS.com Demo site]<br />
<br />
To login as the admin, add a new page, and edit that page:<br />
1. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/?q=user<br />
2. Login with the administrative password (username admin, password demo)<br />
3. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/node/add/page<br />
4. Type in the page title, and some body text<br />
5. If you want, feel free to play with the various options which appear when you click "Comment settings", "Authoring information", and "Publishing options"; you can also change these later, by editing the page. <br />
6. Click Submit<br />
7. You should see the new page, with a button to edit it, if you want.<br />
8. To see the page as it would appear to a non-administrative user, copy the URL for the page somewhere convenient, go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/logout , and then go back to the page URL.<br />
<br />
Note: OpenSourceCMS.com occasionally wipes its demos clean - do not save precious work there!<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
* [http://www.auuf.net/ Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.firstparishcambridge.org/ First Parish Cambridge]<br />
* [http://www.uumilwaukee.org/ First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee]<br />
* [http://follen.org/ Follen Church Society]<br />
* [http://rvuuf.org/ Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.uduuf.org/ Upper Delaware Unitarian Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.lifenowradio.org/ Life Now Radio... UU + Drupal, but a podcast...not a church]<br />
* If you google "church drupal" you can also find quite a few churches of other denominations using it. -An example using a number of good design principles can be seen at the [http://bethlehem-church.org/ Bethlehem Lutheran Church]. A collected listing of [http://groups.drupal.org/node/2700/ Church Websites running Drupal] has been collected in the Churches group at groups.drupal.org.<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://joomla.org/ Mambo/Joomla]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (both Mambo and Joomla use the [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Probably the most popular CMS. Listed together: Mambo and Joomla share a common design heritage. In mid-2005 the Miro corporation set up a "Mambo Foundation" in an attempt to exert more control via their ownership of the trademark. This was strongly resisted by the Mambo developer community, which left en-masse and are continuing their development using the name "Joomla". As these two programs continue development they are likely to become much more distinct and less able to share. Several web hosting services support installation through automated installation scripts or "one-button installs". It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The project was started in the year 2000.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Administration is done through a separate "back end" interface to avoid limitations of the "front end" interface used during normal site viewing and navigation. Administration interface has an graphic icon driven interface that makes use less intimidating for some. Theme templates and module extensions are easily loaded remotely since the interface accepts compressed modules remotely, transfers them, and unpacks on the server before loading them for use. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using the included editor. The popularity of the system has resulted in good availability of themes, extensions and experienced developers. Supports blogs, web feeds, multimedia, calendars, galleries, and podcasting through options and extensions. Administration interface and loose enforcement of constraints makes modification of theme templates easier than some other CMS.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Most new work seems to be taking the Joomla fork. User reviews of the fall 2006 update to Mambo show comparatively high levels of user dissatisfaction. The current Joomla 1.0 release seems stable, but is in need of revision to achieve compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). The 1.0 version still uses tables extensively for formatting non-table content. Improvements in these areas is a major objective of the 1.5 release of Joomla. The version 1.5 update will provide a major redesign and is progressing. (Release candidates 1, 2 and 3 became available on 7-24, 9-1 and 10-6 of 2007. The developers are anticipating a final release later this year.) Due to the large amount of base design and extensions built outside of standards, it is not clear how readily or thoroughly the design improvements will be achieved. In Joomla 1.0, the administration interface has been extended such that structure isn't always clear and some functions lack the clarity typical of the other sections. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br /><br />
''Mambo:''<br />
* [http://www.uuaa.org First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor]<br />
* [http://www.ucsummit.org The Unitarian Church in Summit (New Jersey)]<br />
''Joomla:''<br />
* [http://uucyf.org/ The Church of the Younger Fellowship]<br />
* [http://cms.plymouthuu.org/ First Parish Church in Plymouth]<br />
* [http://www.firstparish.org/ First Parish in Concord]<br />
* [http://rochesteruniversalist.org/ First Universalist Church of Rochester]<br />
* [http://www.jruuc.org/ James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Congregation]<br />
* [http://www.mmuus.org/ May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
* [http://swuucyruu.org/ Southwest District Young Religious Unitarian Universalists]<br />
* [http://www.tjuc.org/ Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church]<br />
* [http://www.uucj.com/ Universalist Unitarian Church of Joliet]<br />
* [http://www.uuventura.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura]<br />
* [http://www.uu-uno.org/ Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office]<br />
<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://contentor.net Contentor]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Contentor was designed for small to medium-sized web sites, typical of sites for/by small non-profit corporations or individuals. It was developed by a fellow UU, Earl Daniels.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.uuism.net UUism.net]<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://info.soholaunch.com/ Soholaunch]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary. Basic version is free of cost. "For 15 days, all of the full-version features will be turned on for you. After your full-version trial expires you can keep using all of the ProBase features forever for free, or you can purchase a full-version license and pick up where you left off with the advanced features." according to 3ix.org, but see [[Choosing a Web Hosting Service]] for one that offers the Pro version free<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Relatively easy to use and to set up. A non-tech person can learn how to add information to the site using a web browser and username and password. There are limited templates with the program, but there are forums that give information about creating customized designs.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Requires several steps for the editor to create a page - is not a wysiwyg tool. Does not allow for separate password protected folders for different editors of different areas of the site as might be needed for a large site. Might have limits that I'm not aware of as I've only used it for small sites. Experienced problems updating the software without having the content removed, but server had backup to restore it and forum gives instructions on how to correct the problem.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
[http://www.jpdwr.org/ Joseph Priestley District Women and Religion] - this site was set up by someone with moderate tech skills and instructions were created for volunteer site managers - uses a template that was provided plus their logo designed by a member artist<br />
<br />
[http://www.4stepscreativelearning.com/ 4 Steps Creative Learning Child Care Services] - this is not a UU site, but it demonstrates how a template can be edited for a new design - a real estate template was used, header photos were replaced, and colors were changed. The counter at the bottom is a free sitemeter - not a part of the Soholaunch program, but it shows that code can be added for other services.<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.oneworldhosting.com/support/website_builder.html SiteXpress Website Builder]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary. Free if you use a host service that offer the software (see link above).<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Offers more flexible design options than some other CMSs - many design elements available, not just full templates. User-friendly instructions for people with good web experience. Customizing options available (uploading your own header images).<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Limited to servers that offer it. More steps needed to edit than some other CMSs. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
[http://www.drchrisbell.com/ Dr. Chris Bell] - code for Sitemeter added as free service (not available with software)<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.phpwebsitemanual.com/ phpWebSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Free (GPL)<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Allows separate password protected areas for different site editors. Has a lot of forum features built in.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Set up does not contain user-friendly instructions; instructions are found elsewhere. Design flexibility is limited.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
[http://www.uusj.org/ Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice]<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://revoluution.com/products.php Revoluution Media CMS]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary - by arrangement with "Revoluution Media"<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' "Revoluution Media" builds web sites and provides CMS site software for a number of Unitarian Universalist entities. The vendor website claims its own CMS is "fully integrated and easy-to-use" and that it "will allow anyone to update the page content of your site- without resorting to a slow or expensive webmaster". The coding technologies visible on example websites include XHTML, CSS, PHP, and Javascript.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Vendor assistance and support. Vendor offers an integrated service package. The vendor has experience serving a number of other Unitarian Universalist communities. System can be optimized for a small user base.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Costs associated with vendor service. Dependencies associated with a single vendor solutions. System has a small user base to test system operation and to support addition and refinement of features.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://cmwdyan.org/ Central Midwest District Young Adult Network]<br />
<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://sourceforge.net/projects/tmakesite Thetaworld MakeSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' a custom open source license.<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' From the Project Page on SourceForge: Thetaworld MakeSite is an offline Content Management System for static pages based on PostgreSQL, Perl, Gedafe and web GUI. It supports Links Catalog similar to Yahoo, multi categories, pages, different publishing targets and online e-commerce shop.. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Relatively simple and efficient in operation.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is. Limited in features with little apparent prospect for evolution. No apparent maintenance since December 2005. Uses/Requires some less common (but publicly licensed) web components.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://palouseuu.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse (Moscow, Idaho)]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/ UU Web Template project]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE - at least for UU organizations (the [http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/license/license.txt license] says it is [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ Creative Commons by-nc-sa] but also "Any [non-UU] use requires permission." so that isn't clear....)<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' The term template may be a bit misleading. These file sets create a scripted (PHP) interface, a choice of two visual themes and a standard set of church web pages. It provides a user interface allowing authorized users to login to the site from any web browser. Once logged in, the authorized user can create content, perform basic maintenance, and extend the page and menu content without any web editing tools. New as of May 2006; the specs for future versions are being considered to improve it. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' The UU Web Templates are designed and prepared specifically for use by UU congregations needing to create a first web site and should allow a quick and low cost launch. The UU Web Templates can also be used as an add-on or for use in re-design of a site. The project is supported by fellow UUs so the community is limited, but shares a lot of common knowledge. There is an email list to communicate with the other users. The simplicity of the design allows the templates to function on both Linux/Unix and Windows web servers. The templates do not require the complexity of a database setup and maintenance.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' A limited selection of styles and color schemes are built into the design. Limitations on the degree to which a site can be extended. There is currently no support for "Web 2.0" features such as media, community/social networking and blogs. The constraints of a small community of users may create some difficulties in maintaining and growing the application. Unspecified problems have been reported.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.allsoulsbraintree.org All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church of Braintree]<br />
*[http://www.athensuuc.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Athens and Sheshequin]<br />
*[http://www.cvuus.org Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
*[http://www.luuna.net LUUNA - Latino(a) Unitarian Universalist Networking Association]<br />
*[http://www.oaklandonuu.org Oaklandon Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.rutlanduu.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Rutland]<br />
*[http://www.secondparish.org Second Parish - Unitarian Universalist]<br />
*[http://www.uuacg.org Unitarian Universalists of Coastal Georgia]<br />
*[http://www.uucookeville.org Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cookeville]<br />
*[http://www.uucyakima.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Yakima]<br />
*[http://www.uufgc.org UU Fellowship of Greater Cumberland]<br />
*[http://www.uumuk.org The United Unitarian & Universalist Society of Mukwonago]<br />
*[http://www.uutryonnc.org Thermal Belt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://wordpress.org WordPress]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Designed principally for blogs, the basic package also supports standard web pages and a multi-level menu structure. It is easily extended through a "plug-in" interface to add support for podcasting and image galleries. Recent updates allow for a site that does not contain a blog on the opening page. Because of its popularity and flexibility, it is being used for multi-purpose and some general purpose websites. It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The WordPress product name is relatively new, but the product evolved directly from the b2 product which originated in 2001. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' WordPress is relatively easy to setup and understand. It is also a relatively mature and well maintained program. This has resulted in it being both very stable and web and accessibility standard compliant. The WordPress site provides extensive guidelines on how to improve and maintain accessibility. An extremely large collection of theme templates and plug-ins is available in the public domain and from custom developers. Themes are easily and quickly switched and customized from within the administrative interface. Non-blog pages and menus are relatively easy to create. The tabbed administrative interface opens on a dashboard which displays the system status and provides notices of upgrades from WordPress. Content is created and edited using an interactive WYSIWYG editor that allows tabbing between a formated presentation and direct HTML editing. The editor provides both auto-save backups during editing and spell checking. Edits can be saved to draft, or private, or published for public viewing. Its podcasting feed support exceeds those of other CMS offerings. It is common for web hosting services to supply their customers with a "one-button" installation for the WordPress application. A dedicated commercial hosting service option is available from [http://wordpress.com/ WordPress.com].<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' The program is designed and maintained to support the specific purpose of blogging. Congregations attempting to use it for broader purposes may encounter limitations (either immediately or in the future).<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://hunterdonuu.org/ First Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hunterdon County]<br />
*[http://www.ucmh.org/ Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/sermon/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Sermons]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/announce/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Announcements](uses the blog via e-mail function and a cron job to automatically post the announcements when they are e-mailed to the congregation. An auto-delete plug-in is installed so that only the current week's announcements are available.)<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/ CMS Made Simple]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' To get a simple CMS site up and start managing it is relatively simple. The product is described on its website as "simple enough to run family websites...." The standard installation provides a very friendly interface, a lot of guidance, explanations of CMS concepts, and such. This makes the product easier for the inexperienced to start working with. The CMS allows creation of web sites having good compliance with web and accessibility standards, but it does not enforce such standards. This CMS makes use of the preexisting SMARTY theme/template engine and the PHP and MySQL components. Work on this project began as a small in-house project in 2004. This is a relatively new product, with its first stable release being made available in 2006. It appears well regarded in CMS user and developer community. It earned added recognition in 2007 with a third place showing in the [http://www.packtpub.com/award/ Open Source CMS competition sponsored by Packt Publishing].<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' <br />
* very easy to make a hierarchical website<br />
* very nice administration interface, ordered by role and tasks<br />
* standard news module, RSS feeds, file and image managers, and WYSIWYG editor<br />
* module manager, allowing to download and install modules from the browser<br />
* many modules available<br />
* allows for different types of users with individual permissions, which is useful for allowing many people to edit portions of the site. <br />
'''Disadvantages:''' <br />
* inconsistent add-on modules (different ways of doing things)<br />
* lack of CMSMS functionality, a lot is borrowed from other OS software<br />
* WYSIWYG editor does not function very well. The formating is not consistent unless the content is created within CMSMS, and changes to the formatting do not apply consistently. The paste from Word function also does not function well. <br />
'''Update Dec. 2007'''<br />
With the release of Version 1.2.2 "Holetown" -- November 30, 2007 the WYSIWYG editor and other add-ons/modules have become more stable. The default editor is now [http://tinymce.moxiecode.com/ TinyMCE]. Pasting text from MSWord will remove formating except line breaks. The use of the word processer like buttons makes quick work of reformatting the content. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://bauuc.org/ Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/site/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin]<br />
* other denominations have congregations using it, but this Wiki is in need of more quality examples.<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Content_Management_System&diff=7967Content Management System2007-12-08T15:47:38Z<p>JoyceD: /* [http://info.soholaunch.com/ Soholaunch] */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
== Content Management Systems ==<br />
<br />
A Content Management System (CMS) is a system used to organize and facilitate creation and maintenance of documents and other content (in this case for a web site). They are designed to allow many people to directly contribute to the process. Contributors sign on to authenticate and their activities are both assisted and restricted by the system. To manage this, a CMS isolates the actions and effects of content creation and maintenance from other elements (layouts, styles, menus, etc.). <br />
Both Wiki's such as this and blogging sites use Content Management Systems.<br /><br />
A more comprehensive description and additional details can be found at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system Wikipedia]. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* content can be added and maintained without "webmaster" skills<br />
* many people can contribute or collaborate using just their web browser<br />
* limits on what contributors can and can't do can be precisely defined<br />
* site layout, style and menus are unaffected during content editing work<br />
* content is unaffected during layout, style and menu modifications<br />
* standards and changes for layout, style and menus are applied universally<br />
* site mapping, indexing, site search and menu generation is automatic<br />
* web feed (RSS) syndication of content is usually automatic<br />
* media (images, audio, video, etc) presentation and management is easier to implement<br />
* member only features are easier to implement<br />
* member participation features are easier to implement<br />
* better for sites with many frequent changes, community and media features<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* can be more work to set up for a simple site<br />
* fine tuning the look of individual pages and elements is difficult and limited<br />
* CMS systems have their own menus and logic which users must understand<br />
* one or more people must act to administrator the site and any other users<br />
* requires specific software to be present or added to the web server<br />
* your site will depend on the continuing availability and suitability of that specific software<br />
* CMS software will require occasional security maintenance and updating<br />
* usually requires some setup and configuration of a database on the web server<br />
* places greater processing demands on the web server <br />
* backup and recovery is more complicated when a database is involved <br />
* customization requires more specialized and less common skills<br />
* poor for relatively static sites with few changes and a single maintainer<br />
<br />
'''Explore the CMS options at:'''<br />
* The website [http://www.cmsmatrix.org CMS Matrix] allows you to compare features on approximately 100 different CMS solutions. The "Search the Matrix" feature allows you to filter the list according to the features that you need for your site.<br />
* The website [http://www.opensourcecms.com Open Source CMS Systems] allows you to demo 40-50 LAMP-based Portals(CMS) and review the comments left by other visitors. ("LAMP" is an acronym for 'Linux-Apache-MySql-PHP' software.)<br />
<br /><br />
'''---Listed below are details for some CMS packages that churches use to build and maintain websites.'''<br /><br/><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://plone.org Plone®]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE: ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Plone is a ready-to-run content management system that is built on the powerful and free [http://zope.org Zope®] application server. Plone provides a system for managing web content that is suitable for project groups, communities, web sites, extranets and intranets. Zope is a full web application environment using its own transactional object database and programmed in the full featured, object oriented, [http://python.org Python] scripting language. The project was started in the year 1999.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' It is easy to create events, news items, new documents, photos, and other files. It uses both HTML and an easy to use Structured Text for those who are unfamiliar with website design. It has many add-on products that extend features available. It has a very flexible security/permissions structure which allows people and groups with different roles to have control over different aspects and different parts of the site. Plone can manage custom content types. Plone delivers excellent compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508]). It can be set up to run on many different types of web servers (Linux, Windows, Mac, BSD etc.) A large developer community, and commercial support is available. <br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Plone will generally require a specialized web host or virtual web server due to its use of [http://zope.org Zope] rather than Apache, PHP and MySQL. It is resource-hungry on the server. It requires over 75 MB RAM dedicated to your site which tends to cost from $15 to $40/month. It will require much more learning by the webmaster about how to back up the custom database, how to combine with Apache for speed and web access logs, etc. For more insights, see http://plone.org/documentation/faq/is-plone-for-me<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.firstunitarianportland.org/ First Unitarian Church of Portland]<br />
*[http://www.nwuuf.org/ Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
*[http://www.spindletopuu.org/ Spindletop Unitarian Church]<br />
*[http://www.uufws.net/ Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem]<br />
<br />
To try it out, create your own free site at http://www.objectis.org/ or create your own account at a Plone-based community site like http://plone.org/ For more flexible production hosting, you might look at http://interlix.com, or http://quintagroup.com<br />
<br /><br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://drupal.org Drupal]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Similar to Plone® but implemented using more standard [http://www.php.net/ PHP] and [http://www.mysql.com/ MySQL] resources. Originally developed for 'community' participation web sites where everyone in the community is able to contribute content. Today the program is being used for a wider range of uses, including online press ([http://progressive.org/ The Progressive], [http://www.theonion.com The Onion]), academic sites, media libraries, and galleries. It can be used both for sites with very limited access (just a few authors) or by a very expansive community of users and authors with different privileges. The project was started in the year 2000.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Easy to create news items, single author and multi author documents, audio & video posts (podcasts), galleries (image collections), etc. The base program is highly compliant with both general [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). Many theme templates and lots of additional modules are freely available from the central Drupal community site. Common modules include kits which can be use to create custom content types and views. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using a choice of tunable editors. Regulation of user roles and privileges is very adjustable. Editing experience and viewing experience can be customized for different users. Content categorization and use of categorization is both flexible and pervasive. Technical support is available through an active user community on Drupal's community support site. A dedicated Drupal commercial hosting service option is available ([http://bryght.com/ Bryght Community content hosting]).<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Many of the contributed modules are not that reliable. The rapid advance of the Drupal core program (about one major version update a year) makes it easy to find your site is reliant on modules that are not getting updated. Administration is done through same interface as is used for general site viewing (rather than a purpose specific back end interface). Strict enforcement of design and coding creates requirements that may pose difficulties for some trying to make customizations. Building a multi featured site requires the selection, installation, and maintenance of many third party modules. <br />
<br />
'''Features:'''<br />
* Number of user logins: at least one, but an unlimited number may be created<br />
* Registration: May be set to "anyone may register", "anyone may register, but must be approved by admin", or "no one may register". Various modules available to extend these options.<br />
* Separate file/page logins: no, everything is handled via a single login interface<br />
* Approx setup time: First time user, about 1/2 - 1 day. Experienced user, about 15 - 30 minutes.<br />
* Custom scripts allowed: Yes; may create "modules" to extend system-wide functionality, or may inject PHP directly into a page<br />
* Custom templates allowed: Yes; may create a custom "theme"<br />
* Number of templates available: A very large number. Many are listed on the [http://drupal.org/project/Themes Drupal themes page], and most of those are free.<br />
<br />
'''Major benefits:'''<br />
* Extremely customizable<br />
* Very large community - if you want to do something with Drupal, someone else has probably already done it<br />
* Many modules available for extending the core system<br />
* Extremely lightweight; does not require much server space or bandwidth, and is compatible with a wide variety of browsers<br />
<br />
'''Major drawbacks:'''<br />
* Requires some time and effort to learn<br />
* Too many modules - it can be difficult to find, assemble and maintain the modules you need<br />
<br />
'''Demo:'''<br />
[http://opensourcecms.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=132 OpenSourceCMS.com Demo site]<br />
<br />
To login as the admin, add a new page, and edit that page:<br />
1. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/?q=user<br />
2. Login with the administrative password (username admin, password demo)<br />
3. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/node/add/page<br />
4. Type in the page title, and some body text<br />
5. If you want, feel free to play with the various options which appear when you click "Comment settings", "Authoring information", and "Publishing options"; you can also change these later, by editing the page. <br />
6. Click Submit<br />
7. You should see the new page, with a button to edit it, if you want.<br />
8. To see the page as it would appear to a non-administrative user, copy the URL for the page somewhere convenient, go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/logout , and then go back to the page URL.<br />
<br />
Note: OpenSourceCMS.com occasionally wipes its demos clean - do not save precious work there!<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
* [http://www.auuf.net/ Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.firstparishcambridge.org/ First Parish Cambridge]<br />
* [http://www.uumilwaukee.org/ First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee]<br />
* [http://follen.org/ Follen Church Society]<br />
* [http://rvuuf.org/ Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.uduuf.org/ Upper Delaware Unitarian Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.lifenowradio.org/ Life Now Radio... UU + Drupal, but a podcast...not a church]<br />
* If you google "church drupal" you can also find quite a few churches of other denominations using it. -An example using a number of good design principles can be seen at the [http://bethlehem-church.org/ Bethlehem Lutheran Church]. A collected listing of [http://groups.drupal.org/node/2700/ Church Websites running Drupal] has been collected in the Churches group at groups.drupal.org.<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://joomla.org/ Mambo/Joomla]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (both Mambo and Joomla use the [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Probably the most popular CMS. Listed together: Mambo and Joomla share a common design heritage. In mid-2005 the Miro corporation set up a "Mambo Foundation" in an attempt to exert more control via their ownership of the trademark. This was strongly resisted by the Mambo developer community, which left en-masse and are continuing their development using the name "Joomla". As these two programs continue development they are likely to become much more distinct and less able to share. Several web hosting services support installation through automated installation scripts or "one-button installs". It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The project was started in the year 2000.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Administration is done through a separate "back end" interface to avoid limitations of the "front end" interface used during normal site viewing and navigation. Administration interface has an graphic icon driven interface that makes use less intimidating for some. Theme templates and module extensions are easily loaded remotely since the interface accepts compressed modules remotely, transfers them, and unpacks on the server before loading them for use. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using the included editor. The popularity of the system has resulted in good availability of themes, extensions and experienced developers. Supports blogs, web feeds, multimedia, calendars, galleries, and podcasting through options and extensions. Administration interface and loose enforcement of constraints makes modification of theme templates easier than some other CMS.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Most new work seems to be taking the Joomla fork. User reviews of the fall 2006 update to Mambo show comparatively high levels of user dissatisfaction. The current Joomla 1.0 release seems stable, but is in need of revision to achieve compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). The 1.0 version still uses tables extensively for formatting non-table content. Improvements in these areas is a major objective of the 1.5 release of Joomla. The version 1.5 update will provide a major redesign and is progressing. (Release candidates 1, 2 and 3 became available on 7-24, 9-1 and 10-6 of 2007. The developers are anticipating a final release later this year.) Due to the large amount of base design and extensions built outside of standards, it is not clear how readily or thoroughly the design improvements will be achieved. In Joomla 1.0, the administration interface has been extended such that structure isn't always clear and some functions lack the clarity typical of the other sections. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br /><br />
''Mambo:''<br />
* [http://www.uuaa.org First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor]<br />
* [http://www.ucsummit.org The Unitarian Church in Summit (New Jersey)]<br />
''Joomla:''<br />
* [http://uucyf.org/ The Church of the Younger Fellowship]<br />
* [http://cms.plymouthuu.org/ First Parish Church in Plymouth]<br />
* [http://www.firstparish.org/ First Parish in Concord]<br />
* [http://rochesteruniversalist.org/ First Universalist Church of Rochester]<br />
* [http://www.jruuc.org/ James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Congregation]<br />
* [http://www.mmuus.org/ May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
* [http://swuucyruu.org/ Southwest District Young Religious Unitarian Universalists]<br />
* [http://www.tjuc.org/ Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church]<br />
* [http://www.uucj.com/ Universalist Unitarian Church of Joliet]<br />
* [http://www.uuventura.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura]<br />
* [http://www.uu-uno.org/ Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office]<br />
<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://contentor.net Contentor]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Contentor was designed for small to medium-sized web sites, typical of sites for/by small non-profit corporations or individuals. It was developed by a fellow UU, Earl Daniels.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.uuism.net UUism.net]<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://info.soholaunch.com/ Soholaunch]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary. Basic version is free of cost. "For 15 days, all of the full-version features will be turned on for you. After your full-version trial expires you can keep using all of the ProBase features forever for free, or you can purchase a full-version license and pick up where you left off with the advanced features." according to 3ix.org, but see [[Choosing a Web Hosting Service]] for one that offers the Pro version free<br />
<br />
'''Installing:''' - Linux servers often offer one of these features that will install it with the click of a link or icon: Fantastico (cPanel), Installatron (cPanel, Plesk), 4psa (Plesk), CP Skins (cPanel), Helm<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Relatively easy to use and to set up. A non-tech person can learn how to add information to the site using a web browser and username and password. There are limited templates with the program, but there are forums that give information about creating customized designs.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Requires several steps for the editor to create a page - is not a wysiwyg tool. Does not allow for separate password protected folders for different editors of different areas of the site as might be needed for a large site. Might have limits that I'm not aware of as I've only used it for small sites. Experienced problems updating the software without having the content removed, but server had backup to restore it and forum gives instructions on how to correct the problem.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
[http://www.jpdwr.org/ Joseph Priestley District Women and Religion] - this site was set up by someone with moderate tech skills and instructions were created for volunteer site managers - uses a template that was provided plus their logo designed by a member artist<br />
<br />
[http://www.4stepscreativelearning.com/ 4 Steps Creative Learning Child Care Services] - this is not a UU site, but it demonstrates how a template can be edited for a new design - a real estate template was used, header photos were replaced, and colors were changed. The counter at the bottom is a free sitemeter - not a part of the Soholaunch program, but it shows that code can be added for other services.<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.oneworldhosting.com/support/website_builder.html SiteXpress Website Builder]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary. Free if you use a host service that offer the software (see link above).<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Offers more flexible design options than some other CMSs - many design elements available, not just full templates. User-friendly instructions for people with good web experience. Customizing options available (uploading your own header images).<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Limited to servers that offer it. More steps needed to edit than some other CMSs. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
[http://www.drchrisbell.com/ Dr. Chris Bell] - code for Sitemeter added as free service (not available with software)<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.phpwebsitemanual.com/ phpWebSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Free (GPL)<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Allows separate password protected areas for different site editors. Has a lot of forum features built in.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Set up does not contain user-friendly instructions; instructions are found elsewhere. Design flexibility is limited.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
[http://www.uusj.org/ Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice]<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://revoluution.com/products.php Revoluution Media CMS]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary - by arrangement with "Revoluution Media"<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' "Revoluution Media" builds web sites and provides CMS site software for a number of Unitarian Universalist entities. The vendor website claims its own CMS is "fully integrated and easy-to-use" and that it "will allow anyone to update the page content of your site- without resorting to a slow or expensive webmaster". The coding technologies visible on example websites include XHTML, CSS, PHP, and Javascript.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Vendor assistance and support. Vendor offers an integrated service package. The vendor has experience serving a number of other Unitarian Universalist communities. System can be optimized for a small user base.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Costs associated with vendor service. Dependencies associated with a single vendor solutions. System has a small user base to test system operation and to support addition and refinement of features.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://cmwdyan.org/ Central Midwest District Young Adult Network]<br />
<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://sourceforge.net/projects/tmakesite Thetaworld MakeSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' a custom open source license.<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' From the Project Page on SourceForge: Thetaworld MakeSite is an offline Content Management System for static pages based on PostgreSQL, Perl, Gedafe and web GUI. It supports Links Catalog similar to Yahoo, multi categories, pages, different publishing targets and online e-commerce shop.. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Relatively simple and efficient in operation.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is. Limited in features with little apparent prospect for evolution. No apparent maintenance since December 2005. Uses/Requires some less common (but publicly licensed) web components.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://palouseuu.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse (Moscow, Idaho)]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/ UU Web Template project]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE - at least for UU organizations (the [http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/license/license.txt license] says it is [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ Creative Commons by-nc-sa] but also "Any [non-UU] use requires permission." so that isn't clear....)<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' The term template may be a bit misleading. These file sets create a scripted (PHP) interface, a choice of two visual themes and a standard set of church web pages. It provides a user interface allowing authorized users to login to the site from any web browser. Once logged in, the authorized user can create content, perform basic maintenance, and extend the page and menu content without any web editing tools. New as of May 2006; the specs for future versions are being considered to improve it. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' The UU Web Templates are designed and prepared specifically for use by UU congregations needing to create a first web site and should allow a quick and low cost launch. The UU Web Templates can also be used as an add-on or for use in re-design of a site. The project is supported by fellow UUs so the community is limited, but shares a lot of common knowledge. There is an email list to communicate with the other users. The simplicity of the design allows the templates to function on both Linux/Unix and Windows web servers. The templates do not require the complexity of a database setup and maintenance.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' A limited selection of styles and color schemes are built into the design. Limitations on the degree to which a site can be extended. There is currently no support for "Web 2.0" features such as media, community/social networking and blogs. The constraints of a small community of users may create some difficulties in maintaining and growing the application. Unspecified problems have been reported.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.allsoulsbraintree.org All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church of Braintree]<br />
*[http://www.athensuuc.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Athens and Sheshequin]<br />
*[http://www.cvuus.org Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
*[http://www.luuna.net LUUNA - Latino(a) Unitarian Universalist Networking Association]<br />
*[http://www.oaklandonuu.org Oaklandon Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.rutlanduu.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Rutland]<br />
*[http://www.secondparish.org Second Parish - Unitarian Universalist]<br />
*[http://www.uuacg.org Unitarian Universalists of Coastal Georgia]<br />
*[http://www.uucookeville.org Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cookeville]<br />
*[http://www.uucyakima.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Yakima]<br />
*[http://www.uufgc.org UU Fellowship of Greater Cumberland]<br />
*[http://www.uumuk.org The United Unitarian & Universalist Society of Mukwonago]<br />
*[http://www.uutryonnc.org Thermal Belt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://wordpress.org WordPress]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Designed principally for blogs, the basic package also supports standard web pages and a multi-level menu structure. It is easily extended through a "plug-in" interface to add support for podcasting and image galleries. Recent updates allow for a site that does not contain a blog on the opening page. Because of its popularity and flexibility, it is being used for multi-purpose and some general purpose websites. It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The WordPress product name is relatively new, but the product evolved directly from the b2 product which originated in 2001. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' WordPress is relatively easy to setup and understand. It is also a relatively mature and well maintained program. This has resulted in it being both very stable and web and accessibility standard compliant. The WordPress site provides extensive guidelines on how to improve and maintain accessibility. An extremely large collection of theme templates and plug-ins is available in the public domain and from custom developers. Themes are easily and quickly switched and customized from within the administrative interface. Non-blog pages and menus are relatively easy to create. The tabbed administrative interface opens on a dashboard which displays the system status and provides notices of upgrades from WordPress. Content is created and edited using an interactive WYSIWYG editor that allows tabbing between a formated presentation and direct HTML editing. The editor provides both auto-save backups during editing and spell checking. Edits can be saved to draft, or private, or published for public viewing. Its podcasting feed support exceeds those of other CMS offerings. It is common for web hosting services to supply their customers with a "one-button" installation for the WordPress application. A dedicated commercial hosting service option is available from [http://wordpress.com/ WordPress.com].<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' The program is designed and maintained to support the specific purpose of blogging. Congregations attempting to use it for broader purposes may encounter limitations (either immediately or in the future).<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://hunterdonuu.org/ First Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hunterdon County]<br />
*[http://www.ucmh.org/ Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/sermon/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Sermons]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/announce/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Announcements](uses the blog via e-mail function and a cron job to automatically post the announcements when they are e-mailed to the congregation. An auto-delete plug-in is installed so that only the current week's announcements are available.)<br />
<br /><br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/ CMS Made Simple]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' To get a simple CMS site up and start managing it is relatively simple. The product is described on its website as "simple enough to run family websites...." The standard installation provides a very friendly interface, a lot of guidance, explanations of CMS concepts, and such. This makes the product easier for the inexperienced to start working with. The CMS allows creation of web sites having good compliance with web and accessibility standards, but it does not enforce such standards. This CMS makes use of the preexisting SMARTY theme/template engine and the PHP and MySQL components. Work on this project began as a small in-house project in 2004. This is a relatively new product, with its first stable release being made available in 2006. It appears well regarded in CMS user and developer community. It earned added recognition in 2007 with a third place showing in the [http://www.packtpub.com/award/ Open Source CMS competition sponsored by Packt Publishing].<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' <br />
* very easy to make a hierarchical website<br />
* very nice administration interface, ordered by role and tasks<br />
* standard news module, RSS feeds, file and image managers, and WYSIWYG editor<br />
* module manager, allowing to download and install modules from the browser<br />
* many modules available<br />
* allows for different types of users with individual permissions, which is useful for allowing many people to edit portions of the site. <br />
'''Disadvantages:''' <br />
* inconsistent add-on modules (different ways of doing things)<br />
* lack of CMSMS functionality, a lot is borrowed from other OS software<br />
* WYSIWYG editor does not function very well. The formating is not consistent unless the content is created within CMSMS, and changes to the formatting do not apply consistently. The paste from Word function also does not function well. <br />
'''Update Dec. 2007'''<br />
With the release of Version 1.2.2 "Holetown" -- November 30, 2007 the WYSIWYG editor and other add-ons/modules have become more stable. The default editor is now [http://tinymce.moxiecode.com/ TinyMCE]. Pasting text from MSWord will remove formating except line breaks. The use of the word processer like buttons makes quick work of reformatting the content. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://bauuc.org/ Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/site/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin]<br />
* other denominations have congregations using it, but this Wiki is in need of more quality examples.<br />
<br /><br />
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[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]</div>JoyceDhttps://uuism.net/uuwiki/index.php?title=Content_Management_System&diff=7966Content Management System2007-12-08T15:42:42Z<p>JoyceD: /* [http://info.soholaunch.com/ Soholaunch] */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]<br />
<br />
== Content Management Systems ==<br />
<br />
A Content Management System (CMS) is a system used to organize and facilitate creation and maintenance of documents and other content (in this case for a web site). They are designed to allow many people to directly contribute to the process. Contributors sign on to authenticate and their activities are both assisted and restricted by the system. To manage this, a CMS isolates the actions and effects of content creation and maintenance from other elements (layouts, styles, menus, etc.). <br />
Both Wiki's such as this and blogging sites use Content Management Systems.<br /><br />
A more comprehensive description and additional details can be found at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system Wikipedia]. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* content can be added and maintained without "webmaster" skills<br />
* many people can contribute or collaborate using just their web browser<br />
* limits on what contributors can and can't do can be precisely defined<br />
* site layout, style and menus are unaffected during content editing work<br />
* content is unaffected during layout, style and menu modifications<br />
* standards and changes for layout, style and menus are applied universally<br />
* site mapping, indexing, site search and menu generation is automatic<br />
* web feed (RSS) syndication of content is usually automatic<br />
* media (images, audio, video, etc) presentation and management is easier to implement<br />
* member only features are easier to implement<br />
* member participation features are easier to implement<br />
* better for sites with many frequent changes, community and media features<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages of a CMS website:'''<br />
* can be more work to set up for a simple site<br />
* fine tuning the look of individual pages and elements is difficult and limited<br />
* CMS systems have their own menus and logic which users must understand<br />
* one or more people must act to administrator the site and any other users<br />
* requires specific software to be present or added to the web server<br />
* your site will depend on the continuing availability and suitability of that specific software<br />
* CMS software will require occasional security maintenance and updating<br />
* usually requires some setup and configuration of a database on the web server<br />
* places greater processing demands on the web server <br />
* backup and recovery is more complicated when a database is involved <br />
* customization requires more specialized and less common skills<br />
* poor for relatively static sites with few changes and a single maintainer<br />
<br />
'''Explore the CMS options at:'''<br />
* The website [http://www.cmsmatrix.org CMS Matrix] allows you to compare features on approximately 100 different CMS solutions. The "Search the Matrix" feature allows you to filter the list according to the features that you need for your site.<br />
* The website [http://www.opensourcecms.com Open Source CMS Systems] allows you to demo 40-50 LAMP-based Portals(CMS) and review the comments left by other visitors. ("LAMP" is an acronym for 'Linux-Apache-MySql-PHP' software.)<br />
<br /><br />
'''---Listed below are details for some CMS packages that churches use to build and maintain websites.'''<br /><br/><br />
<br />
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<br />
===[http://plone.org Plone®]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE: ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Plone is a ready-to-run content management system that is built on the powerful and free [http://zope.org Zope®] application server. Plone provides a system for managing web content that is suitable for project groups, communities, web sites, extranets and intranets. Zope is a full web application environment using its own transactional object database and programmed in the full featured, object oriented, [http://python.org Python] scripting language. The project was started in the year 1999.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' It is easy to create events, news items, new documents, photos, and other files. It uses both HTML and an easy to use Structured Text for those who are unfamiliar with website design. It has many add-on products that extend features available. It has a very flexible security/permissions structure which allows people and groups with different roles to have control over different aspects and different parts of the site. Plone can manage custom content types. Plone delivers excellent compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508]). It can be set up to run on many different types of web servers (Linux, Windows, Mac, BSD etc.) A large developer community, and commercial support is available. <br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Plone will generally require a specialized web host or virtual web server due to its use of [http://zope.org Zope] rather than Apache, PHP and MySQL. It is resource-hungry on the server. It requires over 75 MB RAM dedicated to your site which tends to cost from $15 to $40/month. It will require much more learning by the webmaster about how to back up the custom database, how to combine with Apache for speed and web access logs, etc. For more insights, see http://plone.org/documentation/faq/is-plone-for-me<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.firstunitarianportland.org/ First Unitarian Church of Portland]<br />
*[http://www.nwuuf.org/ Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
*[http://www.spindletopuu.org/ Spindletop Unitarian Church]<br />
*[http://www.uufws.net/ Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem]<br />
<br />
To try it out, create your own free site at http://www.objectis.org/ or create your own account at a Plone-based community site like http://plone.org/ For more flexible production hosting, you might look at http://interlix.com, or http://quintagroup.com<br />
<br /><br /><br />
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<br />
===[http://drupal.org Drupal]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Similar to Plone® but implemented using more standard [http://www.php.net/ PHP] and [http://www.mysql.com/ MySQL] resources. Originally developed for 'community' participation web sites where everyone in the community is able to contribute content. Today the program is being used for a wider range of uses, including online press ([http://progressive.org/ The Progressive], [http://www.theonion.com The Onion]), academic sites, media libraries, and galleries. It can be used both for sites with very limited access (just a few authors) or by a very expansive community of users and authors with different privileges. The project was started in the year 2000.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Easy to create news items, single author and multi author documents, audio & video posts (podcasts), galleries (image collections), etc. The base program is highly compliant with both general [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). Many theme templates and lots of additional modules are freely available from the central Drupal community site. Common modules include kits which can be use to create custom content types and views. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using a choice of tunable editors. Regulation of user roles and privileges is very adjustable. Editing experience and viewing experience can be customized for different users. Content categorization and use of categorization is both flexible and pervasive. Technical support is available through an active user community on Drupal's community support site. A dedicated Drupal commercial hosting service option is available ([http://bryght.com/ Bryght Community content hosting]).<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Many of the contributed modules are not that reliable. The rapid advance of the Drupal core program (about one major version update a year) makes it easy to find your site is reliant on modules that are not getting updated. Administration is done through same interface as is used for general site viewing (rather than a purpose specific back end interface). Strict enforcement of design and coding creates requirements that may pose difficulties for some trying to make customizations. Building a multi featured site requires the selection, installation, and maintenance of many third party modules. <br />
<br />
'''Features:'''<br />
* Number of user logins: at least one, but an unlimited number may be created<br />
* Registration: May be set to "anyone may register", "anyone may register, but must be approved by admin", or "no one may register". Various modules available to extend these options.<br />
* Separate file/page logins: no, everything is handled via a single login interface<br />
* Approx setup time: First time user, about 1/2 - 1 day. Experienced user, about 15 - 30 minutes.<br />
* Custom scripts allowed: Yes; may create "modules" to extend system-wide functionality, or may inject PHP directly into a page<br />
* Custom templates allowed: Yes; may create a custom "theme"<br />
* Number of templates available: A very large number. Many are listed on the [http://drupal.org/project/Themes Drupal themes page], and most of those are free.<br />
<br />
'''Major benefits:'''<br />
* Extremely customizable<br />
* Very large community - if you want to do something with Drupal, someone else has probably already done it<br />
* Many modules available for extending the core system<br />
* Extremely lightweight; does not require much server space or bandwidth, and is compatible with a wide variety of browsers<br />
<br />
'''Major drawbacks:'''<br />
* Requires some time and effort to learn<br />
* Too many modules - it can be difficult to find, assemble and maintain the modules you need<br />
<br />
'''Demo:'''<br />
[http://opensourcecms.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=132 OpenSourceCMS.com Demo site]<br />
<br />
To login as the admin, add a new page, and edit that page:<br />
1. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/?q=user<br />
2. Login with the administrative password (username admin, password demo)<br />
3. Go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/node/add/page<br />
4. Type in the page title, and some body text<br />
5. If you want, feel free to play with the various options which appear when you click "Comment settings", "Authoring information", and "Publishing options"; you can also change these later, by editing the page. <br />
6. Click Submit<br />
7. You should see the new page, with a button to edit it, if you want.<br />
8. To see the page as it would appear to a non-administrative user, copy the URL for the page somewhere convenient, go to http://demo.opensourcecms.com/drupal/logout , and then go back to the page URL.<br />
<br />
Note: OpenSourceCMS.com occasionally wipes its demos clean - do not save precious work there!<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
* [http://www.auuf.net/ Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.firstparishcambridge.org/ First Parish Cambridge]<br />
* [http://www.uumilwaukee.org/ First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee]<br />
* [http://follen.org/ Follen Church Society]<br />
* [http://rvuuf.org/ Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.uduuf.org/ Upper Delaware Unitarian Fellowship]<br />
* [http://www.lifenowradio.org/ Life Now Radio... UU + Drupal, but a podcast...not a church]<br />
* If you google "church drupal" you can also find quite a few churches of other denominations using it. -An example using a number of good design principles can be seen at the [http://bethlehem-church.org/ Bethlehem Lutheran Church]. A collected listing of [http://groups.drupal.org/node/2700/ Church Websites running Drupal] has been collected in the Churches group at groups.drupal.org.<br />
<br /><br />
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<br />
===[http://joomla.org/ Mambo/Joomla]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (both Mambo and Joomla use the [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Probably the most popular CMS. Listed together: Mambo and Joomla share a common design heritage. In mid-2005 the Miro corporation set up a "Mambo Foundation" in an attempt to exert more control via their ownership of the trademark. This was strongly resisted by the Mambo developer community, which left en-masse and are continuing their development using the name "Joomla". As these two programs continue development they are likely to become much more distinct and less able to share. Several web hosting services support installation through automated installation scripts or "one-button installs". It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The project was started in the year 2000.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Administration is done through a separate "back end" interface to avoid limitations of the "front end" interface used during normal site viewing and navigation. Administration interface has an graphic icon driven interface that makes use less intimidating for some. Theme templates and module extensions are easily loaded remotely since the interface accepts compressed modules remotely, transfers them, and unpacks on the server before loading them for use. Content can be edited in WYSIWG mode or HTML using the included editor. The popularity of the system has resulted in good availability of themes, extensions and experienced developers. Supports blogs, web feeds, multimedia, calendars, galleries, and podcasting through options and extensions. Administration interface and loose enforcement of constraints makes modification of theme templates easier than some other CMS.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Most new work seems to be taking the Joomla fork. User reviews of the fall 2006 update to Mambo show comparatively high levels of user dissatisfaction. The current Joomla 1.0 release seems stable, but is in need of revision to achieve compliance with [http://www.w3.org/ W3C] web design standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/ XHTML] strict and [http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ CSS]) and accessibility standards ([http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/ WCAG]and [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508 requirements]). The 1.0 version still uses tables extensively for formatting non-table content. Improvements in these areas is a major objective of the 1.5 release of Joomla. The version 1.5 update will provide a major redesign and is progressing. (Release candidates 1, 2 and 3 became available on 7-24, 9-1 and 10-6 of 2007. The developers are anticipating a final release later this year.) Due to the large amount of base design and extensions built outside of standards, it is not clear how readily or thoroughly the design improvements will be achieved. In Joomla 1.0, the administration interface has been extended such that structure isn't always clear and some functions lack the clarity typical of the other sections. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br /><br />
''Mambo:''<br />
* [http://www.uuaa.org First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor]<br />
* [http://www.ucsummit.org The Unitarian Church in Summit (New Jersey)]<br />
''Joomla:''<br />
* [http://uucyf.org/ The Church of the Younger Fellowship]<br />
* [http://cms.plymouthuu.org/ First Parish Church in Plymouth]<br />
* [http://www.firstparish.org/ First Parish in Concord]<br />
* [http://rochesteruniversalist.org/ First Universalist Church of Rochester]<br />
* [http://www.jruuc.org/ James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Congregation]<br />
* [http://www.mmuus.org/ May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
* [http://swuucyruu.org/ Southwest District Young Religious Unitarian Universalists]<br />
* [http://www.tjuc.org/ Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church]<br />
* [http://www.uucj.com/ Universalist Unitarian Church of Joliet]<br />
* [http://www.uuventura.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura]<br />
* [http://www.uu-uno.org/ Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office]<br />
<br />
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<br />
===[http://contentor.net Contentor]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE ([http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Contentor was designed for small to medium-sized web sites, typical of sites for/by small non-profit corporations or individuals. It was developed by a fellow UU, Earl Daniels.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.uuism.net UUism.net]<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
===[http://info.soholaunch.com/ Soholaunch]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary. Basic version is free of cost. "For 15 days, all of the full-version features will be turned on for you. After your full-version trial expires you can keep using all of the ProBase features forever for free, or you can purchase a full-version license and pick up where you left off with the advanced features." according to 3ix.org, but see [[Choosing a Web Hosting Service]] for one that offers the Pro version free<br />
<br />
""Installing:"" - Linux servers often offer one of these features that will install it with the click of a link or icon: Fantastico (cPanel), Installatron (cPanel, Plesk), 4psa (Plesk), CP Skins (cPanel), Helm<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Relatively easy to use and to set up. A non-tech person can learn how to add information to the site using a web browser and username and password. There are limited templates with the program, but there are forums that give information about creating customized designs.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Requires several steps for the editor to create a page - is not a wysiwyg tool. Does not allow for separate password protected folders for different editors of different areas of the site as might be needed for a large site. Might have limits that I'm not aware of as I've only used it for small sites. Experienced problems updating the software without having the content removed, but server had backup to restore it and forum gives instructions on how to correct the problem.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
[http://www.jpdwr.org/ Joseph Priestley District Women and Religion] - this site was set up by someone with moderate tech skills and instructions were created for volunteer site managers - uses a template that was provided plus their logo designed by a member artist<br />
<br />
[http://www.4stepscreativelearning.com/ 4 Steps Creative Learning Child Care Services] - this is not a UU site, but it demonstrates how a template can be edited for a new design - a real estate template was used, header photos were replaced, and colors were changed. The counter at the bottom is a free sitemeter - not a part of the Soholaunch program, but it shows that code can be added for other services.<br />
<br />
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<br />
===[http://www.oneworldhosting.com/support/website_builder.html SiteXpress Website Builder]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary. Free if you use a host service that offer the software (see link above).<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Offers more flexible design options than some other CMSs - many design elements available, not just full templates. User-friendly instructions for people with good web experience. Customizing options available (uploading your own header images).<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Limited to servers that offer it. More steps needed to edit than some other CMSs. <br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
[http://www.drchrisbell.com/ Dr. Chris Bell] - code for Sitemeter added as free service (not available with software)<br />
<br />
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<br />
===[http://www.phpwebsitemanual.com/ phpWebSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Free (GPL)<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Allows separate password protected areas for different site editors. Has a lot of forum features built in.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Set up does not contain user-friendly instructions; instructions are found elsewhere. Design flexibility is limited.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:'''<br />
[http://www.uusj.org/ Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice]<br />
<br />
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<br />
===[http://revoluution.com/products.php Revoluution Media CMS]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' Proprietary - by arrangement with "Revoluution Media"<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' "Revoluution Media" builds web sites and provides CMS site software for a number of Unitarian Universalist entities. The vendor website claims its own CMS is "fully integrated and easy-to-use" and that it "will allow anyone to update the page content of your site- without resorting to a slow or expensive webmaster". The coding technologies visible on example websites include XHTML, CSS, PHP, and Javascript.<br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Vendor assistance and support. Vendor offers an integrated service package. The vendor has experience serving a number of other Unitarian Universalist communities. System can be optimized for a small user base.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Costs associated with vendor service. Dependencies associated with a single vendor solutions. System has a small user base to test system operation and to support addition and refinement of features.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://cmwdyan.org/ Central Midwest District Young Adult Network]<br />
<br />
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<br />
===[http://sourceforge.net/projects/tmakesite Thetaworld MakeSite]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' a custom open source license.<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' From the Project Page on SourceForge: Thetaworld MakeSite is an offline Content Management System for static pages based on PostgreSQL, Perl, Gedafe and web GUI. It supports Links Catalog similar to Yahoo, multi categories, pages, different publishing targets and online e-commerce shop.. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' Relatively simple and efficient in operation.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' Unclear how much usage or support there is. Limited in features with little apparent prospect for evolution. No apparent maintenance since December 2005. Uses/Requires some less common (but publicly licensed) web components.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://palouseuu.org/ Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse (Moscow, Idaho)]<br />
<br /><br />
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<br />
===[http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/ UU Web Template project]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE - at least for UU organizations (the [http://www.firstunitariansociety.org/templateproject/license/license.txt license] says it is [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ Creative Commons by-nc-sa] but also "Any [non-UU] use requires permission." so that isn't clear....)<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' The term template may be a bit misleading. These file sets create a scripted (PHP) interface, a choice of two visual themes and a standard set of church web pages. It provides a user interface allowing authorized users to login to the site from any web browser. Once logged in, the authorized user can create content, perform basic maintenance, and extend the page and menu content without any web editing tools. New as of May 2006; the specs for future versions are being considered to improve it. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' The UU Web Templates are designed and prepared specifically for use by UU congregations needing to create a first web site and should allow a quick and low cost launch. The UU Web Templates can also be used as an add-on or for use in re-design of a site. The project is supported by fellow UUs so the community is limited, but shares a lot of common knowledge. There is an email list to communicate with the other users. The simplicity of the design allows the templates to function on both Linux/Unix and Windows web servers. The templates do not require the complexity of a database setup and maintenance.<br />
<br />
'''Disadvantages:''' A limited selection of styles and color schemes are built into the design. Limitations on the degree to which a site can be extended. There is currently no support for "Web 2.0" features such as media, community/social networking and blogs. The constraints of a small community of users may create some difficulties in maintaining and growing the application. Unspecified problems have been reported.<br />
<br />
'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://www.allsoulsbraintree.org All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church of Braintree]<br />
*[http://www.athensuuc.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Athens and Sheshequin]<br />
*[http://www.cvuus.org Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society]<br />
*[http://www.luuna.net LUUNA - Latino(a) Unitarian Universalist Networking Association]<br />
*[http://www.oaklandonuu.org Oaklandon Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.rutlanduu.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Rutland]<br />
*[http://www.secondparish.org Second Parish - Unitarian Universalist]<br />
*[http://www.uuacg.org Unitarian Universalists of Coastal Georgia]<br />
*[http://www.uucookeville.org Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cookeville]<br />
*[http://www.uucyakima.org Unitarian Universalist Church of Yakima]<br />
*[http://www.uufgc.org UU Fellowship of Greater Cumberland]<br />
*[http://www.uumuk.org The United Unitarian & Universalist Society of Mukwonago]<br />
*[http://www.uutryonnc.org Thermal Belt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship]<br />
<br /><br />
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<br />
===[http://wordpress.org WordPress]===<br />
<br />
'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
<br />
'''Notes:''' Designed principally for blogs, the basic package also supports standard web pages and a multi-level menu structure. It is easily extended through a "plug-in" interface to add support for podcasting and image galleries. Recent updates allow for a site that does not contain a blog on the opening page. Because of its popularity and flexibility, it is being used for multi-purpose and some general purpose websites. It uses the same PHP and MySQL components as most other CMS's listed here. The WordPress product name is relatively new, but the product evolved directly from the b2 product which originated in 2001. <br />
<br />
'''Advantages:''' WordPress is relatively easy to setup and understand. It is also a relatively mature and well maintained program. This has resulted in it being both very stable and web and accessibility standard compliant. The WordPress site provides extensive guidelines on how to improve and maintain accessibility. An extremely large collection of theme templates and plug-ins is available in the public domain and from custom developers. Themes are easily and quickly switched and customized from within the administrative interface. Non-blog pages and menus are relatively easy to create. The tabbed administrative interface opens on a dashboard which displays the system status and provides notices of upgrades from WordPress. Content is created and edited using an interactive WYSIWYG editor that allows tabbing between a formated presentation and direct HTML editing. The editor provides both auto-save backups during editing and spell checking. Edits can be saved to draft, or private, or published for public viewing. Its podcasting feed support exceeds those of other CMS offerings. It is common for web hosting services to supply their customers with a "one-button" installation for the WordPress application. A dedicated commercial hosting service option is available from [http://wordpress.com/ WordPress.com].<br />
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'''Disadvantages:''' The program is designed and maintained to support the specific purpose of blogging. Congregations attempting to use it for broader purposes may encounter limitations (either immediately or in the future).<br />
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'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://hunterdonuu.org/ First Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hunterdon County]<br />
*[http://www.ucmh.org/ Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/sermon/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Sermons]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/announce/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Announcements](uses the blog via e-mail function and a cron job to automatically post the announcements when they are e-mailed to the congregation. An auto-delete plug-in is installed so that only the current week's announcements are available.)<br />
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===[http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/ CMS Made Simple]===<br />
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'''License:''' FREE (distributed under [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ GNU General Public License])<br />
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'''Notes:''' To get a simple CMS site up and start managing it is relatively simple. The product is described on its website as "simple enough to run family websites...." The standard installation provides a very friendly interface, a lot of guidance, explanations of CMS concepts, and such. This makes the product easier for the inexperienced to start working with. The CMS allows creation of web sites having good compliance with web and accessibility standards, but it does not enforce such standards. This CMS makes use of the preexisting SMARTY theme/template engine and the PHP and MySQL components. Work on this project began as a small in-house project in 2004. This is a relatively new product, with its first stable release being made available in 2006. It appears well regarded in CMS user and developer community. It earned added recognition in 2007 with a third place showing in the [http://www.packtpub.com/award/ Open Source CMS competition sponsored by Packt Publishing].<br />
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'''Advantages:''' <br />
* very easy to make a hierarchical website<br />
* very nice administration interface, ordered by role and tasks<br />
* standard news module, RSS feeds, file and image managers, and WYSIWYG editor<br />
* module manager, allowing to download and install modules from the browser<br />
* many modules available<br />
* allows for different types of users with individual permissions, which is useful for allowing many people to edit portions of the site. <br />
'''Disadvantages:''' <br />
* inconsistent add-on modules (different ways of doing things)<br />
* lack of CMSMS functionality, a lot is borrowed from other OS software<br />
* WYSIWYG editor does not function very well. The formating is not consistent unless the content is created within CMSMS, and changes to the formatting do not apply consistently. The paste from Word function also does not function well. <br />
'''Update Dec. 2007'''<br />
With the release of Version 1.2.2 "Holetown" -- November 30, 2007 the WYSIWYG editor and other add-ons/modules have become more stable. The default editor is now [http://tinymce.moxiecode.com/ TinyMCE]. Pasting text from MSWord will remove formating except line breaks. The use of the word processer like buttons makes quick work of reformatting the content. <br />
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'''Examples:''' <br />
*[http://bauuc.org/ Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church]<br />
*[http://www.austinuu.org/site/ First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin]<br />
* other denominations have congregations using it, but this Wiki is in need of more quality examples.<br />
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[[Main Page]] > [[Websters]]</div>JoyceD