Zikula Community

• **unknown user**
  
  

  • Rank: Registered User
  • Registered: Mar 16, 2002
  • Last visit: Sep 26, 2004
  • Posts: 43

  Posted: Sep 15, 2003 - 12:27 PM

  I'm rather committed to PostNuke, having tried Xoops and phpNuke, but I think there ought to be a forum for users to make comparisons and ask questions about other CMS scripts, their support, modules, templates, etc.
  
  I know that I spent hours researching this topic on the Internet, installed each of the scripts, played around with them -- and finally opted for PostNuke with great satisfaction -- but I really would have liked to have had access to more thoughts and opinions. OpenSourceCms.com is a nice source, but an early project.
  
  Perhaps PostNuke could post a comparison of itself to other CMS scripts. I think PN wins in the end, but that is, of course, each user's choice.
  
  I understand that PostNuke is not in the business of promoting other products or explaining the differences, but such a thing would help users understand PostNuke better.

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• **unknown user**
  
  

  • Rank: Helper
  • Registered: Mar 16, 2002
  • Last visit: Oct 21, 2009
  • Posts: 763

  Posted: Sep 15, 2003 - 05:38 PM

  Surely you jest!
  
  I know, stop calling you Shirley.
  
  If you give more thought to your suggestion. it might occur to you why it is not a practical idea to have any program's site for hosting such a forum. A neutral source like opensourcecms.com is a much better place for it overall.

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• **unknown user**
  
  

  • Rank: Registered User
  • Registered: Mar 16, 2002
  • Last visit: Sep 26, 2004
  • Posts: 43

  Posted: Sep 15, 2003 - 08:14 PM

  I don't know. Since I began looking for a content manager, I've come across at least 80, from bloggers to portals, from nukes to news publishers. It would be helpful to others if PostNuke could distinguish itself from the rest. For example, I'm using PN to run our school website as I have discovered it is perfect for our needs in establishing a dynamic community website (http://jlcomets.org). However, for our school newspaper, we use pMachine, a blogger, (http://jlobserver.com). It took quite some time for me to distinguish the strong points of each application.
  
  What is particularly frustrating is that so many sites refuse to have this as an open discussion. Yes, I found opensourcecms.com, but only accidentally, after having typed in a string of search words into Google. It currently sports but 15 reviews of questionable reasoning (did the coders write these?).
  
  Companies and organizations "pushing" their product helps the user to understand what is being offered. I must admit that I came across PostNuke about a year or two ago, but couldn't, after a brief perusal, figure out what it was. It was only after messing with Xoops, which I happened upon because there is an Invision Power Board module and I was interested in IPB, that I noticed PostNuke and phpNuke mentioned in one of those forums... To make a long story short, I ended up back at PN, tried it out and liked it. I could have saved quite a bit of time if I could have found something on this site that described PN in layman's terms.

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• markwest
  
  

  • Rank: Team Member
  • Registered: Mar 18, 2002
  • Last visit: Oct 21, 2009
  • Posts: 6606

  Posted: Sep 15, 2003 - 08:18 PM

  Such a place already exists. Take a look at http://www.opensourcecms.com where you can try out the various options available to you.
  
  -Mark
  
  --
  Visit My homepage and Zikula themes.

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• **unknown user**
  
  

  • Rank: Helper
  • Registered: Mar 16, 2002
  • Last visit: Oct 21, 2009
  • Posts: 763

  Posted: Sep 16, 2003 - 05:51 PM

  adamsmark

  I don't know. Since I began looking for a content manager, I've come across at least 80, from bloggers to portals, from nukes to news publishers. It would be helpful to others if PostNuke could distinguish itself from the rest.

  
  I'm not disputing the need for comparisons of programs. There sure are a lot of them and it would be helpful. The home site for any of them is not the place to find objective evaluations though.
  
  Read the descriptions of the programs on the sites for them, not just PN but Xaraya and others. You will find very little useful information and are far more likely to find puff articles. I like PN, and that doesn't blind me to its shortcomings. Its new description is more PR malarkey than truth. That's PN's site telling people about itself (and Xaraya's is the same way). How reliable are they going to be talking about other programs?
  
  There are also the issues of respect and bias. Many people would consider it bad manners to talk about other programs. I realize you are thinking about constructive and objective comparisons, but even those can break down into unthinking attacks and undue criticism of other programs. Some of the developers behind various forks worked on others and some know each other. It can be rude to talk about their efforts.
  
  Bias and prejudice will be more readily apparent on the home site of any program, as will defense of it by the developers and others. You can see an extreme example of this on the phpBB site in relation to threaded forums. That is a format and not even a specific program. Their minds are like steel traps, rusted shut.
  
  A neutral, third party site is the best place for such a comparison. People could indicate which programs they are familiar with and comments can be made on the best features of each. Furthermore, those features could be seen in action on that same site (like opensourcecms.com). "A picture is worth a thousand words."
  

  Quote

  
  Yes, I found opensourcecms.com, but only accidentally, after having typed in a string of search words into Google. It currently sports but 15 reviews of questionable reasoning (did the coders write these?).

  
  It wouldn't surprise me.
  

  Quote

  
  Companies and organizations "pushing" their product helps the user to understand what is being offered.

  
  The open source CMS products I've looked at don't do a good job of it. The people who write the descriptions just don't tell people what they want to know.
  
  Imagine if they described (analog) television (in the U.S.) to someone who didn't know what it is.
  
  Developer: it scans images at 525 horizontal lines of resolution and completely conforms to NTSC standards. It receives broadcasts in MTS and SAP.
  
  Person : But what does it do for me?
  
  Duster: It lets you see pictures and hear sounds of programs of all types, from fictional dramas to documentaries and live news.
  

  Quote

  
  I could have saved quite a bit of time if I could have found something on this site that described PN in layman's terms.

  
  None of the CMS sites I'm familiar with do that. Fortunately, there now exist some third party sites (like mine) that do.
  
  While you won't benefit from it in selecting a CMS, others can.

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• **unknown user**
  
  

  • Rank: Registered User
  • Registered: Mar 16, 2002
  • Last visit: Sep 26, 2004
  • Posts: 43

  Posted: Sep 16, 2003 - 06:51 PM

  Duster, let me quote this section of your reply:
  
  

  Quote

  The open source CMS products I've looked at don't do a good job of it. The people who write the descriptions just don't tell people what they want to know.
  
  Imagine if they described (analog) television (in the U.S.) to someone who didn't know what it is.
  
  Developer: it scans images at 525 horizontal lines of resolution and completely conforms to NTSC standards. It receives broadcasts in MTS and SAP.
  
  Person : But what does it do for me?
  
  Duster: It lets you see pictures and hear sounds of programs of all types, from fictional dramas to documentaries and live news.

  
  
  It's that final part that I think is missing. Perhaps someone needs to join the PN team, not to code, but to speak plainly. I won't beleaguer the point, but what you wrote just about sums it up.
  
  P.S. OK, one more point: check out http://forum.snitz.com/competition.asp; Snitz offers a simple product comparison.

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• Simon
  
  

  • Rank: Legend
  • Registered: Dec 11, 2002
  • Last visit: Oct 21, 2009
  • Posts: 11674

  Posted: Sep 16, 2003 - 07:16 PM

  Well if you would like to join, the door is always open ;)
  
  hammerhead AT postnuke DOT com
  
  It is needed, and was one of the things I joined up to do, but it got laid by the way-side due to other issues...
  
  --
  itbegins.co.uk - Zikula Consulting
  
  birtwistle.me.uk - Personal Blog
  
  
  Please read the Support Guide

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• **unknown user**
  
  

  • Rank: Helper
  • Registered: Mar 16, 2002
  • Last visit: Oct 21, 2009
  • Posts: 763

  Posted: Sep 18, 2003 - 11:48 AM

  adamsmark

  
  It's that final part that I think is missing. Perhaps someone needs to join the PN team, not to code, but to speak plainly.

  
  You really should open your eyes and pay attention. Someone already has.
  I wrote just about all my docs before I joined the pnCorps. I joined with the express purpose of improving the official documentation
  

  Quote

  
  P.S. OK, one more point: check out http://forum.snitz.com/competition.asp; Snitz offers a simple product comparison.

  
  No they don't. They only provide links to the sites of competitors. You provide your own comparisons.

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