Open Source CMS Done Right

Okay...the time has come for me to formally endorse a content management system.

I have come across ALOT of content applications in the 7 years of developing on the web. I have even built some of my own from scratch.

In my career I have used Interwoven, Hot Banana, Web Side Story, Plone, Drupal, Post Nuke, and a host of smaller PHP and .NET applications.

About three years ago I came across an open source CMS that went by the name of Mambo. While at the time I was impressed with the functionality, i was not entirely sold on the ease of implementation and the community was somewhat fractured.

So I went on about my search and settled on some smaller open source program that did "just enough to get the job done".

Fast forward to about 6 months ago where I revisited Mambo. It appeared that the community had finally split into 2 camps...the new community calling itself Joomla. I decided I would take them out for a spin.

What I learned right away was that this new Joomla application was an unbelieveable improvement with a huge community of developers and users. Mambo was improved as well - but the community seemed to be lagging while Joomla seemeed to be thriving.

If any of you have experience directly with open source applications it is no secret that they are only as good as the community supporting it. Well, Joomla is the best supported application I have ever come across. The community is rich and the list of extensions run a mile long. Chances are good that if you need it, someone has developed it.

I have developed a handful of websites using Joomla now, and have to say that I cant imagine going back. I was recently asked to do some work in Hot Banana again and it was so painful to navigate and customize. Not to mention that its written in Cold Fusion...yuck

Implementing Joomla is easy once you understand how it works... and believe me, its worth it. You need no direct knowledge of programming to install it and creating templates is fun and easy. Joomla is a simple content management system that can "extended" to make it as complex as you need it to be. Think about Firefox and all its extensions and you will get a good idea of how Joomla works.

So I highly recommend Joomla when you decide to navigate the murky road of CMS. I have used my share of them and must tell you that it is heads and tails above all open source... as well as most commercial applications. So dont spend all your money on a proprietary CMS, instead donate to Open Source Matters (the not-for-profit responsible for Joomla) download the program and benefit from the community of thousands and the hundreds of open source extensions that Joomla offers

Its no wonder Joomla was awarded the best Open Source CMS for 2006. You should check it out!

Great Free Tool for Building Online Presentations

I have built alot of Flash presentations in my lifetime and they can be really effective at getting a point across, especially if you have a complex story to tell.

The problem was that developing those presentations either in house or outsourcing it to an agency quickly costs a lot of time and money. They were "nice to have" but always fell into the ever elusive "3rd Phase" when talking about our phased online strategy. No one ever wanted to commit the resources and budget to it.

Lately I have been marketing a lot of software and putting together an effective presentation whether it is in Powerpoint or Flash has become as important as ever. An online demonstration can help prospects a great deal when they are narrowing down their selection. The more info you can show them...the better.

So thats why I was very impressed when I came across this little tool called "Wink". Its extremely simple to understand and use...and the best part is that its free!

You can get up and running almost instantly. You just download the application, fire it up, and press play. It will immediately start recording your mouse movements and you can narrate by simply talking into your microphone. When you are done, you can add descriptions, pictures, arrows, sounds, interactive buttons, and even links to urls to help you further tell your story. It makes putting together an effective presentation quick and easy!

What do you have to loose? Go try it out!

9 Firefox add-ons I cant live without

First off - I am a rabid Firefox fan...not because its open source (I love that too) but because its a very thin application that you can build out and customize.

Being a marketer, I find that I have rapidly accumulated a ton of tools to help me with everything from search marketing, web design, usability, social networking, and competitive research. I have way too many to list in one article - and some are more of a personal preference than practical, but I thought it would be a good place to share my favorites... and more specifically those integrated with Firefox.

Web Developer 1.1.3

Its safe to say that I use this application daily. It is the ultimate companion for any website designer/developer. This tool is so versatile that covering everything it does would be impossible to do here -it could be its own article. If I had to sum up what I use it for mostly would be for its validation ability, real time style sheet editing, visual guides, and document control. Go here to see everything this awesome tool can do...

IE Tab

I no longer open up separate explorer windows for websites and applications that only support IE (i cant believe they still exist either...) Its also great for doing some quick browser testing. A must have if you are still forced to use IE every once in awhile.

FireFTP

I have grown very close to this add on. I used to use any number of free-ware applications to ftp files into my sites, but since integrating it into my browser - I have not gone back. Its a simple yet powerful tool for those people who have a handful of websites that they want to ftp files into and don't want to leave their browser to do it.

Rankquest SEO Toolbar and Search Status

The combination of these two add-ons are perfect for keeping track of your website and competitor websites in search engines. They offer pagerank and alexa rank in the status bar and one click access to an array of traffic details. If you want to get serious about SEO, these tools are absolutely required.

Colorzilla and Measure It

These little add-ons come in really handy when I am designing. I can click a small eyedropper or ruler in the status bar to easily get everything from website color values to pixel measurements of anything online.

Dictionary Search

If you are anything like me you probably aren't a walking resource library and come across words every day that you don't know their meaning. The cool thing about this little tool is that you can double click any word in a web page and instantly pull up its dictionary meanings in a small pop up window. Efficient!

Google Preview

This is a great little feature that adds a web page thumbnail to Google search listings. Its especially helpful for when you are doing multiple searches and need a quick visual to help guide your clicks.

Like I said, there are alot of others that I use - but these are the cool little ones that make my day a little easier. If you have some that you love share them here!

My next big project: Sugar CRM

Like everyone I am intrigued by open source products. I recently referred my co-worker to Open Office and he has a great post here about his experience.

Its amazing to me the power of community and how it ultimately breeds some of the best products we use everyday. I cant imagine what my life would be like without them...the most recognizable of them all being Firefox.

So I have come across an open source CRM application called Sugar. I plan to review this product in my spare time since customer relationship management is one of my larger interests. I work in salesforce.com every day and I have to admit that I'm curious to learn more about this free tool.

While I am sure that it will pale in comparison to its big brother, I am more curious to see what it is capable of than its limitations. It will be an interesting comparison at the least.

Stay tuned and i will have a full review of this application and how it compares to salesforce.com. If you have any experiences with it yourself or some tips to help me with this journey please feel free to post them or contact me. If you want to partner on a review let me know!