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Some notes from work..

Some thoughts from the early planning at P...


Clarification on the component model

We need to define the components with all their properties, relations and functions. Perhaps some patterns from the JSF model can be used.

How is Content stored in the repository? Same way as in View? Should we seperate the Content-objects from Areas until they are published? This is related to workflow and document process routines, I guess. Note that it is important to maintain a modifiable workflow in the tools. Some smaller business will require a 1-step towards publishing an article, larger enterprises will need an x-step process involving collaboration from several stakeholders (author, publisher, editor).


Area is a meta-wrapper for content which describes how the Content will appear live (online).

Different sorts of Areas include Site, Page, Frame, Category, and so on. Literally all sorts of seperating folders that show up in the site map.

Traditionally, an object in a CMS (an article) is defined with meta-data which defines the graphical View of the object. This is per MVC, wrong! A news-article is usually put in a news-folder. This adds meta-data to the object, saying "This object is part of the News-category.". This wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't directly connected to the View of the site. If you're article is independant of View, then how come it is lying in the news-folder? What if you want to publish the same article in another folder? You could fix it by inserting a reference, but that would be a hack.

TODO: Clarify the point above :)

An Area contains other Areas and/or a reference to Content (a content object. We used to call these components, but still haven't figured out a better name for them).


A Content object is independant of the view and the Area(s) in which it resides.

Typical content objects: Article, Post, Comment, Webshop-item, Announcement

Attributes: Privilegie[], Action[], MetaTag[], language, Text[], WorkflowStatus, Dates

Operations: search, syndicate, modify, publish, crudImage, crudText, , move, reference

Template (is applied through a renderer on a Content object, resulting in a live object. The result will typically be an XML-snippet, like HTML or WML, or perhaps pure text):

Types: Article (title, subtitle, ingres, main, images), ArticlePreview (title, subtitle, ingres, thumbnail)

Images

Types: Thumbnail, NormalImage, ResizedImage, Logo

Attributter: title, MetaTag[]


Text

Types: title, subtitle, ingres, preview, mai, date

Attributes: Text (er meta-data i seg selv)

Operations: Rename, edit, internationalize


Requirements

These could resolve in a couple of user stories that will affect the component model. We don't need to model stories for obvious and primitive CRUD operations, but nifty stories that are required by the uses.

Elaborate the use of modules and how we will combine Actions and Components. How many of the data object should be predefined?

Typical CMS features

User/privilege/credentials/DRM/group and role-management

User interface - Usability

Authoring/editing - Core functiona

Integration of content - The jig-zaw

Meta-data - Adding value to information

Work process - Gate-setting

Templates - The dresses of a CMS

Version management - Påliterlighet

Globalization - Internationalization (i18n)

Rendering (page-generation) - Dynamics

Searching - Searchability/Findability

Personalization - Portals

Privileges - Access to the CMS

Syndication - Sharing content

Cross-media-publishing - Variation of access


Typical roles:

Author - composes articles, posts pictures

Manger - Check, confirm and submit new content

Adminstrator - Manage users, groups, user settings and order of authorization

Web-desinger - Design web layouts, pictures and styles

Sys-integrator - System components, object linkings


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