OK, so it's software. I'm a geek...

I've been trying to find a decent content management system. I've got a handful of websites to maintain for myself, and I assist others in maintaining theirs, plus I do this for a living and need to maintain some respectable comfort level with current tools and technologies.

One problem with maintaining websites is always how to get things out there. Aside from the design/edit/develop elsewhere and copy to publish, I want to have something live and in place to allow content changes to be reflected nearly immediately.

I've got an installation of eGroupWare, an installation of MediaWiki, some WebDAV tools and some in-place editors, and, of course, this b2evolution. I've tried phpBB, but it is a lot more geared towards communities and conversations than individuals. Similarly I've looked into the Slashcode, the code behind the discussion site Slashdot.

eGroupWare is a suite of tools that encompasses a variety of solutions to various needs. It integrates a couple e-mail clients (I use OpenWebMail), some trouble-ticket systems (I use BugZilla), news readers, a message board, and a couple of different methods of content management, including web logs and wikis. It's hard to turn this around into a website for review. The content management and site management tools in the suite had promise, but I haven't spent the time necessary to be able to get it to allow me to edit the content of my web directory on the sever.

MediaWiki is designed around the WikiWiki concept of open contribution. In the wiki world, anyone can join in and edit the content on the site; both changing what's been posted, and adding new content. I've secured it so that I'm the only one who can contribute (basically, no automatic joining--I'll receive an e-mail to authorize the addition of your requested account, which I'll probably not do...). The trouble with this method is that it's wrapped in the format and style of the wiki; the side menu is devoted to content generation and sharing, and not so much to my sites' intents.

This web logging software works great for a compromise between the wiki and a more controlled site. There are easy themes that can be designed and implemented, allowing for the look and feel I desire, and giving a fairly robust ability to add and edit content. The downside is that everything is keyed on time or order of entry, and not so much the ability to organize and coordinate the content as desired. The wiki has a better grasp on the organization, but a weaker ability to customize the site.

The bulletin board software hasn't met my needs in any case. I did offer it to a couple of sites I maintain for their uses, but it was too large even for their needs. The concept there is that a set of "subjects" can be created, under which the membership can create "topics" for which web log or wiki-like entries or discussions can occur. Again, its flexibility is its downfall; it offers a flowing content that doesn't fit a controlled site.

I'm now playing with the JBoss Portal Project. Looking at the user guides and sample sites, it seems that this content management system might be a better blending of both the dynamic on-line systems and the off-line develop and deploy methods. In addition to on-line WYSIWYG editing, it offers file downloading and uploading. It's Java based, running in an application server that should allow easy integration of servlets and JSP pages. Entire J2EE applications? Maybe, but they typically require redeployment often to the point of restarting the whole server.

I haven't done more than get it up and running, and changed the passwords of the default accounts. I looked briefly at the default site and controls to edit it. Now I just need to find how to map the content of a website on the server so the portal can access the correct files.