Major topics
- Intro To CMS (an introduction to content management systems)
- History Of CMS (a timeline of content management technology)
- Cms Directories (listings of content management systems available across the globe)
- Cms Glossary (technical definitions of over 250 content management terms)
- Dita Glossary (definitions of fifty DITA-related terms)
- Interaction Design Glossary (definitions of IxD terms)
- Information Architecture Glossary (definitions of IA terms)
- Knowledge Management Glossary (definitions of KM terms)
- Taxonomy Glossary (definitions of Taxo, Onto, Classification terms)
- Master Glossary (definitions of all terms, with proposed terms)
- Cms Practices (research areas for content management best practices)
- Cms Products (listings of open-source, proprietary, and hosted solutions)
- Cms Vendors
- Cms People
- Cms Features
- Cms Resources
- Cms Blogs
- Other Cms Sites (other websites providing useful CMS resources)
Using the Wiki
Use Wiki Words for creating new pages. Using Cms Wiki has some policies and tips. Unfortunately, increasing spam from anonymous visitors forced us to limit contributers to registered users. Thanks to those anonymous visitors who erased spam when it appeared.Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
Perhaps the most difficult piece of Metadata for any Document? or Content Element is the abstract.
Prepared by a librarian or metadata specialist, the abstract is a summary or synopsis of a Work?.
The abstract is one of the top elements of the Dublin Core, along with Title, Creator, Creation Date?, etc.
Whereas a Subject Heading? can be chosen from a listing of approved headings, the abstract must be prepared manually by someone who has read the document? and understands the content and Subject Matter?.
This person must be a Content Specialist? or Content Expert or Subject Matter Expert? (SME?).
Related Terms: Dublin Core, Description?, Summary?, Keywords?, Metadata.
Abstraction Layer
Prepared by a librarian or metadata specialist, the abstract is a summary or synopsis of a Work?.
The abstract is one of the top elements of the Dublin Core, along with Title, Creator, Creation Date?, etc.
Whereas a Subject Heading? can be chosen from a listing of approved headings, the abstract must be prepared manually by someone who has read the document? and understands the content and Subject Matter?.
This person must be a Content Specialist? or Content Expert or Subject Matter Expert? (SME?).
An Abstraction Layer isolates a user from the inner workings of a complex process by presenting a simpler, perhaps more uniform, interface to the underlying tools.
Several abstraction layers play major roles in Content Management.
The ((TCP/IP)) protocol stack is perhaps the most important example. At the network layer, an IP packet can be sent knowing nothing about the underlying hardware layer - the physical Ethernet.
The Java? Virtual Machine is another fine piece of abstraction. Jave programs can talk to the JVM, knowing nothing about the particular operating system or physical hardware underneath.
The HTTP? protocol is a software and hardware abstraction layer that hides the particular workings of distant web servers.
XML, when used as a data transport mechanism, is an abstraction layer. It represents data drawn from files or from databases with no care for the particular storage mechanism in each case.
The World Wide Web? is perhaps the ultimate hardware and software abstraction layer, allowing the development of web applications running in a browser.Distant middleware and Web Services provide functionality with absolutely no concern for the physical network of computers below and their diverse operating systems.
The WWW forms a "co-operating system" that co-opts the standard operating systems. Applications need only interface with the abstraction layer.
Related Terms: Application Programming Interface, Object Oriented
Access Control
Several abstraction layers play major roles in Content Management.
The ((TCP/IP)) protocol stack is perhaps the most important example. At the network layer, an IP packet can be sent knowing nothing about the underlying hardware layer - the physical Ethernet.
The Java? Virtual Machine is another fine piece of abstraction. Jave programs can talk to the JVM, knowing nothing about the particular operating system or physical hardware underneath.
The HTTP? protocol is a software and hardware abstraction layer that hides the particular workings of distant web servers.
XML, when used as a data transport mechanism, is an abstraction layer. It represents data drawn from files or from databases with no care for the particular storage mechanism in each case.
The World Wide Web? is perhaps the ultimate hardware and software abstraction layer, allowing the development of web applications running in a browser.Distant middleware and Web Services provide functionality with absolutely no concern for the physical network of computers below and their diverse operating systems.
The WWW forms a "co-operating system" that co-opts the standard operating systems. Applications need only interface with the abstraction layer.
Access Control is the system of privileges and permissions that secures content and identifies who can read, create, modify, and delete content.
Access Permissions control the rights of authors, editors, reviewers, and users to create, edit, and review content.
Architectural information is a component of an information model; provides information on how content should be reused (for example, systematic reuse), guidelines for content formalization in a Document Type Definition (DTD) or template, where content is to be reused, and how it is reused (for example, locked reuse or derivative reuse).
Authentication establishes the identity of a site visitor.
Authorization is usually given to a "role" like writer, copy editor, graphics editor, etc. Then individuals can be assigned to roles to establish their access to the content.
Granularity? describes the fineness of access distinctions.
Transfer Music From Ipod To Computer is a feature of Transferpod.com.
Permissions can be as fine as individual files, or can be set at folder/directory levels. They can be as fine as every individual having different privileges.
Broader Terms: Permissions, Chinese Antique
Access Permissions control the rights of authors, editors, reviewers, and users to create, edit, and review content.
Architectural information is a component of an information model; provides information on how content should be reused (for example, systematic reuse), guidelines for content formalization in a Document Type Definition (DTD) or template, where content is to be reused, and how it is reused (for example, locked reuse or derivative reuse).
Authentication establishes the identity of a site visitor.
Authorization is usually given to a "role" like writer, copy editor, graphics editor, etc. Then individuals can be assigned to roles to establish their access to the content.
Granularity? describes the fineness of access distinctions.
Transfer Music From Ipod To Computer is a feature of Transferpod.com.
Permissions can be as fine as individual files, or can be set at folder/directory levels. They can be as fine as every individual having different privileges.
Related Terms: Authentication, Authorization, Identity Management?, Granularity? Accessibility
Accessibility is the measure of a web page's usability by persons with one or more disabilities hearing- or visual-impairment being the most important.
The Americans with Disability Act (section 508 guidelines) specifies a Feature Set? needed for compliance.
W3C?, the World Wide Web Consortium also offers web accessibility guidelines.
Bobby is a free portal that runs tests on a Web Site? to verify compliance with the accessibility guidelines.
Mark Pilgrim's Dive Into Accessibility is a tutorial site.
Do not confuse with Access Control.
ACID
The Americans with Disability Act (section 508 guidelines) specifies a Feature Set? needed for compliance.
W3C?, the World Wide Web Consortium also offers web accessibility guidelines.
Bobby is a free portal that runs tests on a Web Site? to verify compliance with the accessibility guidelines.
Mark Pilgrim's Dive Into Accessibility is a tutorial site.
Do not confuse with Access Control.
A Database? transaction that is ACID compliant is guaranteed to preserve the Referential Integrity? of the database.
If the transaction is completed, it means all the elements of a complex set of database changes have been made successfully. The transaction is said to be committed.
For example, two SQL queries that write a debit account and the corresponding credit account in an accounting database.
If even one of the parts of the complex transaction fails, all other changes are backed out (aborted). The SQL query statements are reversed. This is sometimes called Roll Back?.
Acquisition
If the transaction is completed, it means all the elements of a complex set of database changes have been made successfully. The transaction is said to be committed.
For example, two SQL queries that write a debit account and the corresponding credit account in an accounting database.
If even one of the parts of the complex transaction fails, all other changes are backed out (aborted). The SQL query statements are reversed. This is sometimes called Roll Back?.
ACID is an acronym for Atomic, Consistent, Isolation, and Durable.
Transactions provide a simple model of success or failure. A transaction either commits (i.e. all its actions happen), or it aborts (i.e. all its actions are undone). This all-or-nothing quality makes for a simple programming model.
The attributes of an ACID transaction are:
Atomicity
A transaction allows for the grouping of one or more changes to tables and rows in the database to form an atomic or indivisible operation. That is, either all of the changes occur or none of them do. If for any reason the transaction cannot be completed, everything this transaction changed can be restored to the state it was in prior to the start of the transaction via a rollback operation.
Consistency
Transactions always operate on a consistent view of the data and when they end always leave the data in a consistent state. Data may be said to be consistent as long as it conforms to a set of invariants, such as no two rows in the customer table have the same customer id and all orders have an associated customer row. While a transaction executes these invariants may be violated, but no other transaction will be allowed to see these inconsistencies, and all such inconsistencies will have been eliminated by the time the transaction ends.
Isolation
To a given transaction, it should appear as though it is running all by itself on the database. The effects of concurrently running transactions are invisible to this transaction, and the effects of this transaction are invisible to others until the transaction is committed.
Durability
Once a transaction is committed, its effects are guaranteed to persist even in the event of subsequent system failures. Until the transaction commits, not only are any changes made by that transaction not durable, but are guaranteed not to persist in the face of a system failure, as crash recovery will rollback their effects.
The simplicity of ACID transactions is especially important in a distributed database environment where the transactions are being made simultaneously.
Nusphere.
Transactions provide a simple model of success or failure. A transaction either commits (i.e. all its actions happen), or it aborts (i.e. all its actions are undone). This all-or-nothing quality makes for a simple programming model.
The attributes of an ACID transaction are:
Atomicity
A transaction allows for the grouping of one or more changes to tables and rows in the database to form an atomic or indivisible operation. That is, either all of the changes occur or none of them do. If for any reason the transaction cannot be completed, everything this transaction changed can be restored to the state it was in prior to the start of the transaction via a rollback operation.
Consistency
Transactions always operate on a consistent view of the data and when they end always leave the data in a consistent state. Data may be said to be consistent as long as it conforms to a set of invariants, such as no two rows in the customer table have the same customer id and all orders have an associated customer row. While a transaction executes these invariants may be violated, but no other transaction will be allowed to see these inconsistencies, and all such inconsistencies will have been eliminated by the time the transaction ends.
Isolation
To a given transaction, it should appear as though it is running all by itself on the database. The effects of concurrently running transactions are invisible to this transaction, and the effects of this transaction are invisible to others until the transaction is committed.
Durability
Once a transaction is committed, its effects are guaranteed to persist even in the event of subsequent system failures. Until the transaction commits, not only are any changes made by that transaction not durable, but are guaranteed not to persist in the face of a system failure, as crash recovery will rollback their effects.
The simplicity of ACID transactions is especially important in a distributed database environment where the transactions are being made simultaneously.
Nusphere.
Acquisition is the collection phase of assets for a CMS. Assets can be text files, images, audio or video files, or animations including Flash files. They can be XML documents coming from other servers, like RSS news feeds and Web Services.
During acquisition all assets need to be tagged and then stored in the data repository (in the database or file system or both). Digital Rights Management (DRM?) establishes the licensing requirements for all assets. Modern assets may be accompanied by Metadata with authorship, terms of use, etc. A sophisticated CMS helps to manage this metadata.
The CMSML Feature List has the following quantifiable facets under Acquisition:
Related Terms: Ingestion?
Active Server Pages
During acquisition all assets need to be tagged and then stored in the data repository (in the database or file system or both). Digital Rights Management (DRM?) establishes the licensing requirements for all assets. Modern assets may be accompanied by Metadata with authorship, terms of use, etc. A sophisticated CMS helps to manage this metadata.
The CMSML Feature List has the following quantifiable facets under Acquisition:
- Support for native filetypes.
- Multiple (block) file transfers, e.g., by secure FTP?.
- Conversion utilities (e.g., Word sections to XML "chunks")
- Rights management (detecting terms of use)
- Mandatory Metadata tagging (enforcement of semantics and structure)
- Ontology support, e.g., Dublin Core.
- Automatic Metadata extraction
- Auto Categorization
Microsoft's web application development Framework is called Active Server Pages or ASP. It is a part of the Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS).
Today it is incorporated in the .NET? initiative as ASP.NET.
Do not confuse with Application Service Provider.
Adapter
Today it is incorporated in the .NET? initiative as ASP.NET.
Do not confuse with Application Service Provider.
An Adapter is software that connects one application to another to exchange data and provide functionality, usually through an API (ApplicationProgrammingInterface) for each application program.
Most modern adapters use Web Services technology ( e.g., XML-RPC? and SOAP?), which is replacing the older CORBA and DCOM protocols for calling remote application services in a Services Oriented Architecture?.
When there is a conversion of the data format, adapters may be called converters.
Related Terms: Connector
Administration
Most modern adapters use Web Services technology ( e.g., XML-RPC? and SOAP?), which is replacing the older CORBA and DCOM protocols for calling remote application services in a Services Oriented Architecture?.
When there is a conversion of the data format, adapters may be called converters.
The administrator has the highest privileges - access permissions - in a Content Management System.
Administration is the implementation? and execution of all the Policy Rules? and Business Rules for the organization?'s content.
Affordance
Administration is the implementation? and execution of all the Policy Rules? and Business Rules for the organization?'s content.
Affordances are the characteristics of an object or device that present its uses.
The sharp blade of a knife affords cutting. Its handle affords gripping. Paper and pencil afford the possibility of writing and drawing. A doorknob affords opening.
The perceived sharpness of the blade is the affordance. The apparent fitness of the handle for our hand is the affordance.
If we put a doorknob in the middle of a wall, it suggests but does not (likely) afford opening the wall.
If we take away the blue color and underline from a hyperlink, it no longer appears to afford a jump in hypertext?.
Some writers suggest we still use affordance for merely perceived or apparent uses, even when these are not really available (afforded).
References:
Don Norman "The Design of Everyday Things"
Alan Cooper "About Face 2.0"
Related Terms: Design Pattern
Agents
The sharp blade of a knife affords cutting. Its handle affords gripping. Paper and pencil afford the possibility of writing and drawing. A doorknob affords opening.
The perceived sharpness of the blade is the affordance. The apparent fitness of the handle for our hand is the affordance.
If we put a doorknob in the middle of a wall, it suggests but does not (likely) afford opening the wall.
If we take away the blue color and underline from a hyperlink, it no longer appears to afford a jump in hypertext?.
Some writers suggest we still use affordance for merely perceived or apparent uses, even when these are not really available (afforded).
Don Norman defined an affordance as "the perceived and actual properties of the thing, primarily those fundamental properties that determine just how the thing could possibly be used." Alan Cooper? refined this definition by omitting "and actual", identifying perception as the crux of the problem. The whole point is that, through a combination of instinct and experience, we expect objects to behave in a certain way based on their appearance and we have very strong expectations if we've used an identical object before. If a designer violates one of these expectations, their user will suffer frustration every time they use the interface.
R. Howard UI Glossary
R. Howard UI Glossary
References:
Don Norman "The Design of Everyday Things"
Alan Cooper "About Face 2.0"
Agents are programs that are sent via Web Services connectors to reside in remote application servers. There they typically perform a task that requires real-time monitoring of some information. When conditions are right, they take some action, like buying a stock, then report back on the action they have taken.
If they sound a little like intelligent viruses, you can understand why their industry acceptance has been slow.
They are capable of continuous communications with any other Application Server via Web Services.
Aggregation
If they sound a little like intelligent viruses, you can understand why their industry acceptance has been slow.
They are capable of continuous communications with any other Application Server via Web Services.
Aggregation describes the collection? of assets in the first phase of a Content Management System.
Aggregation also describes the receiving (or consuming) of RSS or RDF feeds (news feeds or data feeds) by a CMS.
The producer of the feeds is called a syndicator (see Syndication).
Alignment
Aggregation also describes the receiving (or consuming) of RSS or RDF feeds (news feeds or data feeds) by a CMS.
The producer of the feeds is called a syndicator (see Syndication).
Alignment is a popular term with business technology consultants, and Content Management consultants are no exceptions. Aligning a technology product or service with the business needs obviously makes a lot of sense.
The problem arises when CM consultants act as if they understand the Business Strategy? as well or better than the business owners.
Most businesses and non-profit organizations can tell you what business they are in, but would be hard pressed to precisely define the many basic elements of their business strategy that would be needed to align the various elements of their Content Strategy, such as the Information Architecture? of their Web CMS.
References:
CM Pros - members locked content
Find "Alignment" on Foldoc |Google | One Look | Wikipedia
Analytics
The problem arises when CM consultants act as if they understand the Business Strategy? as well or better than the business owners.
Most businesses and non-profit organizations can tell you what business they are in, but would be hard pressed to precisely define the many basic elements of their business strategy that would be needed to align the various elements of their Content Strategy, such as the Information Architecture? of their Web CMS.
"Business/technology alignment, or just technology alignment, corrects terminology and assumptions used in business to better match those of technology and standards anticipated in the technology strategy and so-called technology roadmaps.
When technology is changing very rapidly in an industry, the aligning of business terms to the distinctions that the technology requires tends to dominate any enterprise taxonomy development effort. In such circumstances, consultants or specific technology training is usually required, as the organization lacks the internal skills or experience with the technologies that it is expects soon to be using."
Wikipedia
When technology is changing very rapidly in an industry, the aligning of business terms to the distinctions that the technology requires tends to dominate any enterprise taxonomy development effort. In such circumstances, consultants or specific technology training is usually required, as the organization lacks the internal skills or experience with the technologies that it is expects soon to be using."
Wikipedia
References:
CM Pros - members locked content
Find "Alignment" on Foldoc |Google | One Look | Wikipedia
The analysis of how visitors are using a Web Site?.
Related Terms: Metrics?, Click Stream?
Annotation
A generic term meaning the study of the impact of a Web Site? on its users. E-commerce companies often use web analytics software to measure such concrete details as how many people visited their site, how many of those visitors were Unique Visitors?, how they came to the site (i.e., if they followed a link to get to the site or came there directly), what Key Word they searched with on the site’s search engine, how long they stayed on a given page or on the entire site, what links they clicked on and when they left the site. Web analytic software can also be used to monitor whether or not a site’s pages are working properly. With this information, Web Site administrators can determine which areas of the site are popular and which areas of the site do not get traffic and can then use this data to streamline a site to create a better user experience.
Source.
Source.
An annotation is text that is associated with a document.
In the Xml Schema? definition, annotations provide for human- and machine-targeted annotations of schema components.
Related Terms: Notes?, Post It?
API
A comment attached to a particular section of a document. Many computer applications enable you to enter annotations on text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and other objects. This is a particularly effective way to use computers in a workgroup environment to edit and review work. The creator of a document sends it to reviewers who then mark it up electronically with annotations and return it. The document's creator then reads the annotations and adjusts the document appropriately.
Source.
Source.
In the Xml Schema? definition, annotations provide for human- and machine-targeted annotations of schema components.
API stands for Application Programming Interface.
Application
An Application Programming Interface is the set of calling conventions by which an application program accesses operating system and other services. An API is defined at source code level and provides a level of abstraction between the application and the kernel (or other privileged utilities) to ensure the portability of the code.
An API can also provide an interface between a high level language and lower level utilities and services which were written without consideration for the calling conventions supported by compiled languages. In this case, the API's main task may be the translation of parameter lists from one format to another and the interpretation of call-by-value and call-by-reference arguments in one or both directions.
Hyperdictionary.
An API can also provide an interface between a high level language and lower level utilities and services which were written without consideration for the calling conventions supported by compiled languages. In this case, the API's main task may be the translation of parameter lists from one format to another and the interpretation of call-by-value and call-by-reference arguments in one or both directions.
Hyperdictionary.
Application in a Content Management context is the most general term for a piece of software.
So a Content Management System (CMS) is an application.
A Web Application is a program that runs in a browser, generally working with a server and a database Back End?.
This is called a 3-tier application - the client/browser, the web application server, and the database tier.
A Rich Internet Application uses a special web client (not an HTML standard browser).
Narrower Terms: CMS
So a Content Management System (CMS) is an application.
A Web Application is a program that runs in a browser, generally working with a server and a database Back End?.
This is called a 3-tier application - the client/browser, the web application server, and the database tier.
A Rich Internet Application uses a special web client (not an HTML standard browser).
Broader Terms: Software?
Related Terms: Web Application, Rich Internet Application Application Portal
An application portal is a Web Site? that allows users to access application programs.
The portal challenges the user for authentication information - Username? and Password?, then maintains the identity of the user over multiple page visits, usually by setting a cookie?. This is called Identity Management?. See Single Source Of Truth.
The application portal typically reaches many parts of an organization and provides many services. It can include information, collaboration? tools like email? and forums?, a Search Engine, e Commerce?, etc.
Because it is often a very powerful server? with high scalability?, the application portal server is often used in the third - publishing? or delivery - phase in the Content Management System. The Creation and Content Management Proper? phases are done on separate servers.
Broader Terms: Portal
The portal challenges the user for authentication information - Username? and Password?, then maintains the identity of the user over multiple page visits, usually by setting a cookie?. This is called Identity Management?. See Single Source Of Truth.
The application portal typically reaches many parts of an organization and provides many services. It can include information, collaboration? tools like email? and forums?, a Search Engine, e Commerce?, etc.
Because it is often a very powerful server? with high scalability?, the application portal server is often used in the third - publishing? or delivery - phase in the Content Management System. The Creation and Content Management Proper? phases are done on separate servers.
Related Terms: BusinessPortal?, Identity Management? Application Programming Interface
The most important APIs for Content Management are those that allow a Web Server to become an Application Server by processing HTTP requests, searching the response object for programming code embedded there.
The earliest API was the Common Gateway Interface? that allowed processing of CGI scripts, usually written in Perl?. These scripts dynamically generated the HTML.
CGI was slow because it spawned a new process on the server to run every script. FastCGI and improvements to the popular Apache? Web Server like modPerl allowed multi-threaded processes that were scalable to large numbers of simultaneous hits.
Netscape and Microsoft then developed sophisticated APIs, NSAPI and ISAPI, that worked with their web servers. These allowed the creation of middleware called Server Page, an Object Oriented Design that embedded server-side scripting into HTML web pages.
This was a major step toward separation? of presentation and content, and it allowed web pages to become web applications.
Parameters are passed to the Web Application by attaching data in a Query String? visibly appended to the HTTP? request (using the GET? method) or by invisible data passed by the HTTP POST? method from elements inside an HTML? Form.
Application Server
The earliest API was the Common Gateway Interface? that allowed processing of CGI scripts, usually written in Perl?. These scripts dynamically generated the HTML.
CGI was slow because it spawned a new process on the server to run every script. FastCGI and improvements to the popular Apache? Web Server like modPerl allowed multi-threaded processes that were scalable to large numbers of simultaneous hits.
Netscape and Microsoft then developed sophisticated APIs, NSAPI and ISAPI, that worked with their web servers. These allowed the creation of middleware called Server Page, an Object Oriented Design that embedded server-side scripting into HTML web pages.
This was a major step toward separation? of presentation and content, and it allowed web pages to become web applications.
Parameters are passed to the Web Application by attaching data in a Query String? visibly appended to the HTTP? request (using the GET? method) or by invisible data passed by the HTTP POST? method from elements inside an HTML? Form.
An Application Programming Interface is the set of calling conventions by which an application program accesses operating system and other services. An API is defined at source code level and provides a level of abstraction between the application and the kernel (or other privileged utilities) to ensure the portability of the code.
An API can also provide an interface between a high level language and lower level utilities and services which were written without consideration for the calling conventions supported by compiled languages. In this case, the API's main task may be the translation of parameter lists from one format to another and the interpretation of call-by-value and call-by-reference arguments in one or both directions. Hyperdictionary.
An API can also provide an interface between a high level language and lower level utilities and services which were written without consideration for the calling conventions supported by compiled languages. In this case, the API's main task may be the translation of parameter lists from one format to another and the interpretation of call-by-value and call-by-reference arguments in one or both directions. Hyperdictionary.
The application server (often just app server or appserver) is the computer system where the applications programs are running, typically running them for client computers (originally dumb terminals or "thin clients," now usually personal computers) in a Client Server? architecture.
Applications can range from simple logins, collection of data like addresses for mailing lists, to full-blown eCommerce transactions.
A modern Three Tier? system - client/browser with the User Interface, Application Server, and Database Server? - replaces the classic Client Server? architecture.
The application server in this system runs applications we call Middleware.
When it runs applications, and even when it generates its pages dynamically, the web is now a Three Tier? system, with the Web Browser? as client, the App Server in the middle, and a Database Server? on the back-end.
When the delivery is separated from authoring and content creation, it has four tiers.
Related Terms: DatabaseServer?, Middleware, User Interface, Application Portal, Content Delivery, N-Tier
Application Service Provider
Applications can range from simple logins, collection of data like addresses for mailing lists, to full-blown eCommerce transactions.
A modern Three Tier? system - client/browser with the User Interface, Application Server, and Database Server? - replaces the classic Client Server? architecture.
The application server in this system runs applications we call Middleware.
When it runs applications, and even when it generates its pages dynamically, the web is now a Three Tier? system, with the Web Browser? as client, the App Server in the middle, and a Database Server? on the back-end.
When the delivery is separated from authoring and content creation, it has four tiers.
An Application Service Provider (ASP) is an organization that offers software-based services and solutions, including Content Management, over the Internet from a central, usually large, and highly secure data center with excellent Internet connectivity..
Many companies outsource? some or all of their information technology needs using an ASP.
The advantage of a CMS provided by an ASP is that all the equipment maintenance, data security, software upgrading, etc. is managed by the ASP, so customers can concentrate on managing only their content.
Do not confuse this kind of ASP with Microsoft Active Server Pages.
Approval
Many companies outsource? some or all of their information technology needs using an ASP.
The advantage of a CMS provided by an ASP is that all the equipment maintenance, data security, software upgrading, etc. is managed by the ASP, so customers can concentrate on managing only their content.
Do not confuse this kind of ASP with Microsoft Active Server Pages.
Approval in a Workflow system describes the acceptance by different users, usually different Roles, that allows the work to move to the next Role in the Business Process.
For example, writers may submit a story or article, an editor may then approve it, or send it back to the writer for more work, or off to a copy editor for proofing and fact checking. The editor may then send it to a graphics editor for layout, to the legal department for their approval, and eventually on to the publisher who allows the Content to move onto the website or to the printer.
Related Terms: Workflow
Architecture
For example, writers may submit a story or article, an editor may then approve it, or send it back to the writer for more work, or off to a copy editor for proofing and fact checking. The editor may then send it to a graphics editor for layout, to the legal department for their approval, and eventually on to the publisher who allows the Content to move onto the website or to the printer.
Used especially by the Information Architect, the structure? of an information system is analogized to the architecture of a building.
The analogy is profitable when comparisons are made to the planning, organization of parts, and technological requirements, including standards, that are used by architects to construct a building.
Content Management Professionals need to learn the comparable methodology needed to construct an information system.
References:
Lou Rosenfeld and Peter Morville, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web.
Archive
The analogy is profitable when comparisons are made to the planning, organization of parts, and technological requirements, including standards, that are used by architects to construct a building.
Content Management Professionals need to learn the comparable methodology needed to construct an information system.
References:
Lou Rosenfeld and Peter Morville, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web.
An Archive consists of earlier versions of Content or content no longer in use.
Archived content may be moved from the main database Repository into an Offline? store for performance reasons.
For a Weblog, the archive is generally all the posts earlier than the current displayed selection. For a Mailing List, it is a threaded display of messages, arranged by date or thread.
With today's vast hard drive memory capacities, many organizations are archiving everything as permanent institutional memory.
ASP
Archived content may be moved from the main database Repository into an Offline? store for performance reasons.
For a Weblog, the archive is generally all the posts earlier than the current displayed selection. For a Mailing List, it is a threaded display of messages, arranged by date or thread.
With today's vast hard drive memory capacities, many organizations are archiving everything as permanent institutional memory.
An acronym for Application Service Provider and for Microsoft's application development Framework, Active Server Pages.
Asset Management
In the context of Web Content Management, Asset Management usually refers to digital assets, and it is called Digital Asset Management - DAM?.
A very important set of assets is media - images, sounds, animations, movies. In this case the term is sometimes Media Asset Management? - MAM?.
USE - Digital Asset Management - DAM?.
Broader Terms: Content Management - CM?.
A very important set of assets is media - images, sounds, animations, movies. In this case the term is sometimes Media Asset Management? - MAM?.
USE - Digital Asset Management - DAM?.
Related Terms: Document Management - DM?. Attributes
Attributes are properties that can be assigned to a DITA element.
The common attributes available in DITA include:
Identity (id)
The DITA identity attribute is critical for retrieval or linking to other DITA content.
Content reference (conref)
The DITA conref attribute provides a mechanism for reuse of content fragments.
The conref attribute stores a reference, including a unique id, to another element.
The referenced element is processed to replace the referencing element.
Metadata (audience, platform, product, importance, rev, status, otherprops)
The metadata attributes can be used to modify the processing of the content.
Conditional processing
Conditional processing is the filtering or flagging of information based on processing-time criteria
Architectural (class, domains, DITAArchVersion)
DITA provides some attributes to provide type information to processors instead of qualifications or properties of content.
Miscellaneous (xml:lang, outputclass)
The xml:lang attribute identifies the language of a topic or content fragment. The outputclass attaches a classifying label to an element.
References:
Architectural Specification
Language Specification
Up to Dita Glossary.
Audit Trail
The common attributes available in DITA include:
Identity (id)
The DITA identity attribute is critical for retrieval or linking to other DITA content.
Content reference (conref)
The DITA conref attribute provides a mechanism for reuse of content fragments.
The conref attribute stores a reference, including a unique id, to another element.
The referenced element is processed to replace the referencing element.
Metadata (audience, platform, product, importance, rev, status, otherprops)
The metadata attributes can be used to modify the processing of the content.
Conditional processing
Conditional processing is the filtering or flagging of information based on processing-time criteria
Architectural (class, domains, DITAArchVersion)
DITA provides some attributes to provide type information to processors instead of qualifications or properties of content.
Miscellaneous (xml:lang, outputclass)
The xml:lang attribute identifies the language of a topic or content fragment. The outputclass attaches a classifying label to an element.
References:
Architectural Specification
Language Specification
Up to Dita Glossary.
An audit trail allows administrators to review every action taken on a particular Content Element.
It archives every notification sent in the Work Flow.
An additional audit report for the Administration Dash Board is to review actions by individual authors and editors and see the most recent Work Flow items.
Authentication
It archives every notification sent in the Work Flow.
An additional audit report for the Administration Dash Board is to review actions by individual authors and editors and see the most recent Work Flow items.
Authentication works hand in hand with Authorization to provide Access Control.
Authentication insures that the current user is who he/she claims to be, challenging for a User Name? and Pass Word? entered over the web, preferably via a secure (HTTPS, SSL, encrypted) connection.
A VPN? uses a Digital Certificate and Digital Signature? to more accurately identify the user.
Traditional authentication methods rely on something you know, something you have, and something you are.
They can extend User Name? and Pass Word?, challenging for additional bits of known information, like mother's maiden name or the security code on a credit card.
Physical means of identification include smart cards, hardware keys, and biometric information like a fingerprint or retinal scan, etc.
Authorization determines the particular levels of access to different application services and information assets.
The whole process is called Identity Management? in the fields of Business Portal? and Enterprise Content Management.
Narrower Terms: Windows Domain Authentication
Authentication insures that the current user is who he/she claims to be, challenging for a User Name? and Pass Word? entered over the web, preferably via a secure (HTTPS, SSL, encrypted) connection.
A VPN? uses a Digital Certificate and Digital Signature? to more accurately identify the user.
Traditional authentication methods rely on something you know, something you have, and something you are.
They can extend User Name? and Pass Word?, challenging for additional bits of known information, like mother's maiden name or the security code on a credit card.
Physical means of identification include smart cards, hardware keys, and biometric information like a fingerprint or retinal scan, etc.
Authorization determines the particular levels of access to different application services and information assets.
The whole process is called Identity Management? in the fields of Business Portal? and Enterprise Content Management.
Broader Terms: Access Control
Related Terms: Authorization, Single Sign On?, Identity Management? Authoring
Authoring is part of the Creation/Collection? initial phase of Content Management.
Authoring must be as easy as possible so that content experts in an organization can directly enter their informaion, which will then be forwarded by a workflow system to others for copy editing, approvals?, and publishing?.
Authors must enter their content without any styling or formatting, yet they should be able to see the results of their work in the context of a final published page (a preview?).
Authoring tools include WYSIWYG editors that allow authors to view their work as it will finally appear, sometimes on Multi Channel devices or platforms.
Authors may also work in the word processing program of their choice and then expect conversion? tools like Word To Xml will prepare their content.
In the simplest early versions of a Content Management System, authors enter their content in simple text-only forms. The forms provide editable text areas for headline, subhead, byline, body copy, etc. All the styling is then done by a Content Template applied when the content is published.
Authority Control
Authoring must be as easy as possible so that content experts in an organization can directly enter their informaion, which will then be forwarded by a workflow system to others for copy editing, approvals?, and publishing?.
Authors must enter their content without any styling or formatting, yet they should be able to see the results of their work in the context of a final published page (a preview?).
Authoring tools include WYSIWYG editors that allow authors to view their work as it will finally appear, sometimes on Multi Channel devices or platforms.
Authors may also work in the word processing program of their choice and then expect conversion? tools like Word To Xml will prepare their content.
In the simplest early versions of a Content Management System, authors enter their content in simple text-only forms. The forms provide editable text areas for headline, subhead, byline, body copy, etc. All the styling is then done by a Content Template applied when the content is published.
Authority Control is another term for Access Control.
It determines what a user is authorized to access, e.g., a financial database or a subscription-only newsletter.
It depends on authentication of the user, typically by a User Name? and Pass Word? sent in the opne over the web, although this provides the lowest level of security.
Don't confuse with Authority File, which establish preferred term usage in a Controlled Vocabulary.
RT Access Control
USE Access Control
Authority File
It determines what a user is authorized to access, e.g., a financial database or a subscription-only newsletter.
It depends on authentication of the user, typically by a User Name? and Pass Word? sent in the opne over the web, although this provides the lowest level of security.
Don't confuse with Authority File, which establish preferred term usage in a Controlled Vocabulary.
RT Access Control
USE Access Control
Authority files list the Preferred Term for each concept in a Controlled Vocabulary.
In practice, they also may contain variant terms.
A Variant Term may be a synonym, an abbreviation, an acronym, a misspelled version of the Preferred Term, or any other term that a resarcher or Search Engine might like to use to find the concept.
Related Terms: Preferred Term Authorization
Related Terms: Authentication Auto Categorization
Related Terms: Auto Classification Auto Classification
Related Terms: Auto Categorization Automated Metadata
Related Terms: tagging, Keyword
In practice, they also may contain variant terms.
A Variant Term may be a synonym, an abbreviation, an acronym, a misspelled version of the Preferred Term, or any other term that a resarcher or Search Engine might like to use to find the concept.
Authority Files are lists of terms that are used to control the variant names for an entity or the domain value for a particular field. Examples include names for countries, individuals, and organizations. Non-preferred terms may be linked to the preferred versions...generally does not include a deep organization or complex structure. The presentation may be alphabetical or organized by a shallow classification scheme. There may be some limited hierarchy applied in order to allow for simple navigation, particularly when the authority file is being accessed manually or is extremely large...
Canadian Heritage Information Network
Broader Terms: Controlled Vocabulary
Canadian Heritage Information Network
Related Terms: Preferred Term Authorization
Authorization follows secure authentication of the user's identity.
It determines how trusted the user is, and establishes the resources the user will be allowed to access.
Broader Terms: Access Control
It determines how trusted the user is, and establishes the resources the user will be allowed to access.
Related Terms: Authentication Auto Categorization
Auto Categorization programs attempt to create categories for a collection of content objects by analyzing their text and finding common concepts to describe and sort them.
Broader Terms: Categorization
Related Terms: Auto Classification Auto Classification
Auto Classification programs attempt to classify content by analyzing their text and then assigning them to a pre-defined class.
Broader Terms: Classification
Related Terms: Auto Categorization Automated Metadata
Meta Data may be captured automatically at the moment of Creation of a piece of content for tagging.
For example, a CMS authoring program may capture the name of the author and time of creation automatically. Multimedia data captured automatically may include camera settings, times and geographical data of the shoot, cameraperson and editor names, etc.
The CMS editor might also prompt the author to select other metadata attributes from a Precoordinate? selection of values. Or request that the author prepare a text abstract, summary, synopsis, or description. But these are not easy to automate.
Automatic extraction refers to an application program that processes the data looking for metadata. This can be run by the editor upon creation of new content, or run in batch mode as new content is ingested into the CMS.
High-tech examples include audio/video streams that are converted to text on the fly for automatic keywording. The Keyword is attached to the media at the particular "frame" of image or sound, so later lookups by Keyword navigate to the exact moment in the program. The same can be done with pattern-matching for visual images.
Broader Terms: Metadata
For example, a CMS authoring program may capture the name of the author and time of creation automatically. Multimedia data captured automatically may include camera settings, times and geographical data of the shoot, cameraperson and editor names, etc.
The CMS editor might also prompt the author to select other metadata attributes from a Precoordinate? selection of values. Or request that the author prepare a text abstract, summary, synopsis, or description. But these are not easy to automate.
Automatic extraction refers to an application program that processes the data looking for metadata. This can be run by the editor upon creation of new content, or run in batch mode as new content is ingested into the CMS.
High-tech examples include audio/video streams that are converted to text on the fly for automatic keywording. The Keyword is attached to the media at the particular "frame" of image or sound, so later lookups by Keyword navigate to the exact moment in the program. The same can be done with pattern-matching for visual images.
Related Terms: tagging, Keyword
The CMS Community Wiki is a knowledge base for Content Management Professionals.
Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
Backup
Broader Terms: Enterprise Information System
Related Terms: Analytics, Metrics?, Reporting?, Dash Board, Score Card? BLOB
Related Terms: Work Flow, Business Process Breadcrumbs
Broader Term
Broader Terms: Enterprise Information System
Related Terms: Analytics, Metrics?, Reporting?, Dash Board, Score Card? Business Process
Major topics
- Intro To CMS (an introduction to content management systems)
- History Of CMS (a timeline of content management technology)
- Cms Directories (listings of content management systems available across the globe)
- Cms Glossary (technical definitions of over 250 content management terms)
- Dita Glossary (definitions of fifty DITA-related terms)
- Interaction Design Glossary (definitions of IxD terms)
- Information Architecture Glossary (definitions of IA terms)
- Knowledge Management Glossary (definitions of KM terms)
- Taxonomy Glossary (definitions of Taxo, Onto, Classification terms)
- Master Glossary (definitions of all terms, with proposed terms)
- Cms Practices (research areas for content management best practices)
- Cms Products (listings of open-source, proprietary, and hosted solutions)
- Cms Vendors
- Cms People
- Cms Features
- Cms Resources
- Cms Blogs
- Other Cms Sites (other websites providing useful CMS resources)
Using the Wiki
Use Wiki Words for creating new pages. Using Cms Wiki has some policies and tips. Unfortunately, increasing spam from anonymous visitors forced us to limit contributers to registered users. Thanks to those anonymous visitors who erased spam when it appeared.Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
Backing up files is the minimum way an organization protects itself against the loss of data in a system or computer crash.
Backup schemes today can be so sophisticated that a malfunction in a computer or network is barely noticed. Systems are described as Fault Tolerant? and redundant? when every critical resource, cpu, memory, storage, network, are all duplicated so there is no single point of failure.
Backup methods include:
Physical mirroring? of hard drives, plus regular transfers of data to optical or tape storage.
Synchronization of files?, across networks to different physical locations, and replication? of databases on remote servers.
In the unlikely case of the loss of a system, a new system can be restored from the backup files. This is called Data Recovery?.
Baked
Backup schemes today can be so sophisticated that a malfunction in a computer or network is barely noticed. Systems are described as Fault Tolerant? and redundant? when every critical resource, cpu, memory, storage, network, are all duplicated so there is no single point of failure.
Backup methods include:
Physical mirroring? of hard drives, plus regular transfers of data to optical or tape storage.
Synchronization of files?, across networks to different physical locations, and replication? of databases on remote servers.
In the unlikely case of the loss of a system, a new system can be restored from the backup files. This is called Data Recovery?.
Baked is a term of CM jargon that describes pages that have been generated by a CMS, perhaps even generated dynamically, but then moved to a static delivery server, which can serve them at high speed and high volume.
The terms "baked" and "fried"were coined by Ian Kallen when he creaed Salon.com in 2000.
A baked or static page cannot contain the kind of personalization required for Customer Relationship Management and other interactive services, however some sites use a CMS to publish baked pages that actually contain server-side code, such as ASP, JSP or simple SSIs, which are then parsed on the server to provide dynamic services such as personalization.
See the discussion on Static+versus+Dynamic+Publishing
Reference:
Bake, Don't Fry, by Aaron Swartz
Related Terms: Fried
Benchmarking
The terms "baked" and "fried"were coined by Ian Kallen when he creaed Salon.com in 2000.
A baked or static page cannot contain the kind of personalization required for Customer Relationship Management and other interactive services, however some sites use a CMS to publish baked pages that actually contain server-side code, such as ASP, JSP or simple SSIs, which are then parsed on the server to provide dynamic services such as personalization.
See the discussion on Static+versus+Dynamic+Publishing
Reference:
Bake, Don't Fry, by Aaron Swartz
"
Benchmarking is a structured approach for identifying the Best Practices from industry and government, and comparing and adapting them to the organization's operations. Such an approach is aimed at identifying more efficient and effective processes for achieving intended results, and suggesting ambitious goals for program output, product/service quality, and process improvement."
GAO
"
Related Terms: Best Practices
Best Of Breed
Benchmarking is a structured approach for identifying the Best Practices from industry and government, and comparing and adapting them to the organization's operations. Such an approach is aimed at identifying more efficient and effective processes for achieving intended results, and suggesting ambitious goals for program output, product/service quality, and process improvement."
GAO
Best of breed is a purchasing strategy for organizations that are willing and able to integrate applications from different vendors.
These organizations can buy tools that exhibit the highest level of performance in their class. Tradeoffs are the costs of integrating several systems and the need for multiple interface training. These tradeoffs may offset the benefits of having the best system in each individual area.
The opposite strategy of purchasing all applications from a single vendor puts the onus of integration on the vendor. However, it increases the Lock In? of the organization to the one vendor's products.
Best Practices
These organizations can buy tools that exhibit the highest level of performance in their class. Tradeoffs are the costs of integrating several systems and the need for multiple interface training. These tradeoffs may offset the benefits of having the best system in each individual area.
The opposite strategy of purchasing all applications from a single vendor puts the onus of integration on the vendor. However, it increases the Lock In? of the organization to the one vendor's products.
Best practices describe those methods of working that a Community Of Practice has found to have the most benefits and perhaps the best cost/benefit relationship.
They may include the use of specific tools known for their highest performance.
They may require a great deal of skill and/or training on the part of the practitioner.
Choosing Best Practices from among competing methods may be done with Bench Marking.
The CM Professionals community of practice is identifying areas for research on CM Best Practices, and have created a Design Pattern Template for use in reporting Best Practices.
Arranged in process order from the start of a content management project to conclusion, they are:
Getting Stakeholder Support
Making the Business Case?
Assembling the Project Team?
Content Audit
Alignment of Content Strategy to Business Strategy?
Controlled Vocabulary
Categorization
Information Structure?
Design for Reuse
Search?
Navigation
VisualDesign?
Use Case and Scenario
Training? a Contributor?
ChangeManagement?
Content Conversion?
Content Migration?
Metadata Tagging?
Roles-based Workflow
ProofOfConcept?
Scalability?
Deployment?
Content Life Cycle
Multichannel Publishing
Performance? Metrics?
Blog
They may include the use of specific tools known for their highest performance.
They may require a great deal of skill and/or training on the part of the practitioner.
Choosing Best Practices from among competing methods may be done with Bench Marking.
The CM Professionals community of practice is identifying areas for research on CM Best Practices, and have created a Design Pattern Template for use in reporting Best Practices.
Arranged in process order from the start of a content management project to conclusion, they are:
Getting Stakeholder Support
Making the Business Case?
Assembling the Project Team?
Content Audit
Alignment of Content Strategy to Business Strategy?
Controlled Vocabulary
Categorization
Information Structure?
Design for Reuse
Search?
Navigation
VisualDesign?
Use Case and Scenario
Training? a Contributor?
ChangeManagement?
Content Conversion?
Content Migration?
Metadata Tagging?
Roles-based Workflow
ProofOfConcept?
Scalability?
Deployment?
Content Life Cycle
Multichannel Publishing
Performance? Metrics?
There is no single "best practice" because best is not best for everyone. Every organization is different in some way--different missions, cultures, environments, and technologies. What is meant by "best" are those practices that have been shown to produce superior results; selected by a systematic process; and judged as exemplary, good, or successfully demonstrated. Best practices are then adapted to fit a particular organization.
American Productivity and Quality Center
American Productivity and Quality Center
Methods of performing a process or sub-process that have been identified inside or outside of the organization and which are validated, codified, diffused, and shared with others to encourage reciprocity and knowledge sharing.
U. Berkeley
U. Berkeley
The processes, practices, and systems identified in public and private organizations that performed exceptionally well and are widely recognized as improving an organization's performance and efficiency in specific areas. Successfully identifying and applying best practices can reduce business expenses and improve organizational efficiency.
General Accounting Office
General Accounting Office
Blog is short for a Weblog. A blog is a single web page with dated chunks of content called posts.
Posts are arranged in reverse chronological order so the most recent is always at the top. See Organizing Principles.
Each post has an anchor that allows a hyperlink to the specific post from anywhere on the web (a PermaLink). It may also contain a Track Back? link that allows other blogs to point to it easily with a simple Cut And Paste? operation..
The earliest blogs were annotated lists of hyperlinks visited by the blog owner.
The etymological root of "log" has nothing to do with logical or "ology." It refers to a tree log (a piece of wood) that was thrown over the stern of a ship. A knotted line attached to the log allowed an estimate of the ship's speed over the water. Similar knots in a weighted line allowed depth estimates, as in "mark twain." Since notes on speed and depth were made in a book by the ship captain, it became known as a log book.
Today's blogs are often journals or personal diaries and may contain few hyperlinks. They may be filled with political commentary. In a company setting they may be a work progress record.
Blog has also become a verb. Weblog has become "we blog." Writers have become bloggers.
Blogging tools automate the maintenance of the blog HTML. The blogger enters plain text and the tool generates the post. The tool may also make the blog searchable by visitors.
Some blogging tools allow arbitrary categorization of posts, making them more like a News Portal.
They all feature RSS Syndication using XML. News Aggregators? are programs that display the latest posts from any number of weblogs.
Millions of people maintain active blogs in what their fans call the Blogo Sphere?. Political blogs have become an important force in national and world politics.
DaveWiner? has hosted a conference called Blogger Con at Harvard University? attended by world-class bloggers.
Related Terms: News Portal
Blueprint
Posts are arranged in reverse chronological order so the most recent is always at the top. See Organizing Principles.
Each post has an anchor that allows a hyperlink to the specific post from anywhere on the web (a PermaLink). It may also contain a Track Back? link that allows other blogs to point to it easily with a simple Cut And Paste? operation..
The earliest blogs were annotated lists of hyperlinks visited by the blog owner.
The etymological root of "log" has nothing to do with logical or "ology." It refers to a tree log (a piece of wood) that was thrown over the stern of a ship. A knotted line attached to the log allowed an estimate of the ship's speed over the water. Similar knots in a weighted line allowed depth estimates, as in "mark twain." Since notes on speed and depth were made in a book by the ship captain, it became known as a log book.
Today's blogs are often journals or personal diaries and may contain few hyperlinks. They may be filled with political commentary. In a company setting they may be a work progress record.
Blog has also become a verb. Weblog has become "we blog." Writers have become bloggers.
Blogging tools automate the maintenance of the blog HTML. The blogger enters plain text and the tool generates the post. The tool may also make the blog searchable by visitors.
Some blogging tools allow arbitrary categorization of posts, making them more like a News Portal.
They all feature RSS Syndication using XML. News Aggregators? are programs that display the latest posts from any number of weblogs.
Millions of people maintain active blogs in what their fans call the Blogo Sphere?. Political blogs have become an important force in national and world politics.
DaveWiner? has hosted a conference called Blogger Con at Harvard University? attended by world-class bloggers.
Blueprint is a term of art from Information Architecture? that pushes the analogy with conventional architecture.
These website blueprints include the familiar Site Map?, but they may also show the complex plumbing and wiring (to push the analogy) of navigation systems and content syndication.
Blueprints can be drawn for the whole site or for a single page. Work usually begins with a blueprint for the home page.
IAs (Information Architects) often use white lines on blue backgrounds to present their blueprints. This emphasizes the underlying structure aspect of the work, separating it from the surface design. Design is the province of a Visual Designer?, not an Information Architect, although one person may be capable of both roles.
Like building plans with rooms and floors, blueprints can show the relationships between page components and groups of pages, they can show entrances and exit points for the users, and they help to identify large sections that are essentially sub-sites with a common navigation pattern.
Blueprints can be drawn on pencil and paper, but sophisticated IA's use diagramming tools like Visio and Omni Graffle?.
See the Jesse James Garrett? diagram at User Experience.
Related Terms: SiteMap?
Book Building
These website blueprints include the familiar Site Map?, but they may also show the complex plumbing and wiring (to push the analogy) of navigation systems and content syndication.
Blueprints can be drawn for the whole site or for a single page. Work usually begins with a blueprint for the home page.
IAs (Information Architects) often use white lines on blue backgrounds to present their blueprints. This emphasizes the underlying structure aspect of the work, separating it from the surface design. Design is the province of a Visual Designer?, not an Information Architect, although one person may be capable of both roles.
Like building plans with rooms and floors, blueprints can show the relationships between page components and groups of pages, they can show entrances and exit points for the users, and they help to identify large sections that are essentially sub-sites with a common navigation pattern.
Blueprints can be drawn on pencil and paper, but sophisticated IA's use diagramming tools like Visio and Omni Graffle?.
See the Jesse James Garrett? diagram at User Experience.
When one of the delivery channels for content is traditional print publishing, an important function is to format the output with pagination, indexes, tables of contents, lists of tables and figures, etc.
This is called Book Building.
Bottom Up
This is called Book Building.
In software, "bottom up" design looks at all the details needed and builds individual functions, procedures, or objects to accomplish them.
In database design, it adds tables and fields as needed, with no master plan.
For the Information Architect and in Content Management, "bottom up" refers to collecting all the content with a Content Audit or Content Inventory, then making room for everything in an ad hoc manner, depending on the content tools being used, such as website navigation, search engines, etc.
The opposite, Top Down design looks at the big picture first to arrange content in its natural context.
References:
LittleIA, IAWiki
Wikipedia
Related Terms: Top Down
BI
In database design, it adds tables and fields as needed, with no master plan.
For the Information Architect and in Content Management, "bottom up" refers to collecting all the content with a Content Audit or Content Inventory, then making room for everything in an ad hoc manner, depending on the content tools being used, such as website navigation, search engines, etc.
The opposite, Top Down design looks at the big picture first to arrange content in its natural context.
References:
LittleIA, IAWiki
Wikipedia
Business Intelligence (BI) describes a number of applications and technologies for collecting, storing, analyzing, and reporting - providing fast access to data and content to help enterprise managers make better business decisions.
It is a fancy name for management reports. BI Tools aim to help management discern trends or detect patterns, thereby deriving insights and drawing conclusions about customers, products, services or competitors.
Specific tools are called Analytics - online analytical processing OLAP?, Metrics? - statistical analysis, Forecasting?, and Decision Support Systems? DSS?.
BuzzWords? include the Executive Dashboard?, or simply the Dash Board, or sometimes the Score Card?. These screens provide at-a-glance indicators of the health of the enterprise.
Behind the screens, elaborate calculations may be performed on vast amounts of mission-critical and often real-time data on business activity.
Historically, the data was drawn from the main database as an SQL query, manipulated with some math to turn raw data into screen indicators - sometimes as simple as red for danger and green for healthy, more usually tables or graphs with historic, expected, and actual values.
Recently, with so many Legacy Databases? running behind so many proprietary applications, the challenge has been to extract, transform (with Data Cleansing and Data Conversion? tools), and load the legacy data into a Data Warehouse? (still another Data Base? optimized for management reporting queries). This warehouse in turn might be divided or transformed into a special Data Mart? for specific management reporting purposes.
A Data Warehouse? and all its data manipulations is sometimes too slow for modern managers, who want Real Time? reporting. CORBA and DCOM technologies provided connections to remote applications that access databases and return information in Real Time?. However the data was usually still highly proprietary, and the data formats were dense and unforgiving, designed in days when slow networks and limited storage demanded terse data schemas.
Today Web Services, connecting to applications via lightweight protocols like SOAP and Xml Rpc?, can provide the same Real Time? data to the Business Intelligence application programs. BI programs are being ported to Web Services very rapidly. IT departments can now concentrate on writing the adapters and connectors in XML that facilitate combining Off The Shelf? reporting products.
Narrower Terms: DataMining?, Queries?
It is a fancy name for management reports. BI Tools aim to help management discern trends or detect patterns, thereby deriving insights and drawing conclusions about customers, products, services or competitors.
Specific tools are called Analytics - online analytical processing OLAP?, Metrics? - statistical analysis, Forecasting?, and Decision Support Systems? DSS?.
BuzzWords? include the Executive Dashboard?, or simply the Dash Board, or sometimes the Score Card?. These screens provide at-a-glance indicators of the health of the enterprise.
Behind the screens, elaborate calculations may be performed on vast amounts of mission-critical and often real-time data on business activity.
Historically, the data was drawn from the main database as an SQL query, manipulated with some math to turn raw data into screen indicators - sometimes as simple as red for danger and green for healthy, more usually tables or graphs with historic, expected, and actual values.
Recently, with so many Legacy Databases? running behind so many proprietary applications, the challenge has been to extract, transform (with Data Cleansing and Data Conversion? tools), and load the legacy data into a Data Warehouse? (still another Data Base? optimized for management reporting queries). This warehouse in turn might be divided or transformed into a special Data Mart? for specific management reporting purposes.
A Data Warehouse? and all its data manipulations is sometimes too slow for modern managers, who want Real Time? reporting. CORBA and DCOM technologies provided connections to remote applications that access databases and return information in Real Time?. However the data was usually still highly proprietary, and the data formats were dense and unforgiving, designed in days when slow networks and limited storage demanded terse data schemas.
Today Web Services, connecting to applications via lightweight protocols like SOAP and Xml Rpc?, can provide the same Real Time? data to the Business Intelligence application programs. BI programs are being ported to Web Services very rapidly. IT departments can now concentrate on writing the adapters and connectors in XML that facilitate combining Off The Shelf? reporting products.
Broader Terms: Enterprise Information System
Related Terms: Analytics, Metrics?, Reporting?, Dash Board, Score Card? BLOB
A Binary Large Object is a database entry that is a huge amount of data describing a non-text object - like an image or media file (audio, video, animation, etc.)
A Database that can store such objects is sometimes called an Object Database?. Early versions were used to store large amounts of content, even text, when they exceeded the capacity for the normal text datatypes.
A modern Relational Database? can store huge text objects, and many can store a BLOB.
A BLOB may have associated Meta Data stored elsewhere but internally it lacks structure?.
BPML
A Database that can store such objects is sometimes called an Object Database?. Early versions were used to store large amounts of content, even text, when they exceeded the capacity for the normal text datatypes.
A modern Relational Database? can store huge text objects, and many can store a BLOB.
A BLOB may have associated Meta Data stored elsewhere but internally it lacks structure?.
Business Process Modeling Language is a form of XML used to describe a Business Process, which breaks down some aspect of a business into discrete steps, or actions, or events, that are followed in the process.
Web Services use BPML to communicate the Work Flow of a Business Process.
Work Flow tools create status reports and notifications (usually by email) to managers who are monitoring the Business Process.
The Work Flow Management Coalition (WFMC) has developed a related markup language called Wf-XML (Workflow XML).
Broader Terms: XML
Web Services use BPML to communicate the Work Flow of a Business Process.
Work Flow tools create status reports and notifications (usually by email) to managers who are monitoring the Business Process.
The Work Flow Management Coalition (WFMC) has developed a related markup language called Wf-XML (Workflow XML).
Related Terms: Work Flow, Business Process Breadcrumbs
Breadcrumbs are a simple form of navigation back up the Drill Down Path? to the enclosing folders (directories) and finally the Home Page.
The term comes from Hansel and Gretel, who left a trail of breadcrumbs to find their way home. Breadcrumbs indicate a web page's location within the structure of the website. They work best for sites with a strong hierarchical structure.
For example, this page is in the Glossary section, which is just below the Home Page for CMS Wiki.
So Bread Crumbs for this page would look like:
Home > Glossary > Breadcrumbs.
Breadcrumbs were first used in CNET and Yahoo websites, and are sometimes called CNET-style navigation. They are also called Topic Paths?.
Separators between levels may also be colons (:) or slashes (/).
Separators should not be "pipes" or vertical bars (|) which imply that all the items are on the same level.
A major site udsing colon separators is the DMOZ Open Directory Project. See the Content Management Category as an example
Broader Terms: Navigation
The term comes from Hansel and Gretel, who left a trail of breadcrumbs to find their way home. Breadcrumbs indicate a web page's location within the structure of the website. They work best for sites with a strong hierarchical structure.
For example, this page is in the Glossary section, which is just below the Home Page for CMS Wiki.
So Bread Crumbs for this page would look like:
Home > Glossary > Breadcrumbs.
Breadcrumbs were first used in CNET and Yahoo websites, and are sometimes called CNET-style navigation. They are also called Topic Paths?.
Separators between levels may also be colons (:) or slashes (/).
Separators should not be "pipes" or vertical bars (|) which imply that all the items are on the same level.
A major site udsing colon separators is the DMOZ Open Directory Project. See the Content Management Category as an example
Broader Term
The Broader Term is the parent of the Preferred Term.
It's one level higher in the Hierarchy? relationship of the Thesaurus. It is a container to the contained PT.
Related Terms: Preferred Term, Variant Term, Narrower Term, Related Term, Use, Used For, Scope Note
BT
Business Intelligence
It's one level higher in the Hierarchy? relationship of the Thesaurus. It is a container to the contained PT.
Business Intelligence (BI) describes a number of applications and technologies for collecting, storing, analyzing, and providing fast access to data and content to help enterprise managers make better business decisions.
It is a fancy name for queries and management reports.
BuzzWords? include the Executive Dashboard?, or simply the Dash Board, or sometimes the Score Card?. These screens provide at-a-glance indicatiors of the health of the enterprise.
Behind the screens, elaborate calculations may be performed on vast amounts of mission-critical and often real-time data on business activity.
Historically, the data was drawn from the main database as an SQL query, manipulated with some math to turn raw data into screen indicators - sometimes as simple as red for danger and green for healthy, more usually tables or graphs with historic, expected, and actual values.
Recently, with so many Legacy Databases? running behind so many proprietary applications, the challenge has been to extract, transform (with Data Cleansing and Data Conversion? tools), and load the legacy data into a Data Warehouse? (still another Data Base? optimized for management reporting queries). This warehouse in turn might be divided or transformed into a special Data Mart? for specific management reporting purposes.
A Data Warehouse? and all its data manipulations is sometimes too slow for modern manageers, who want Real Time? reporting. CORBA and DCOM technologies provided connections to remote applications that access databases and return information in Real Time?. However the data was usually still highly proprietary, and the data formats were dense and unforgiving, designed in days when slow networks and limited storage demanded terse data schemas.
Today Web Services, connecting to applications via lightweight protocols like SOAP and Xml Rpc?, can provide the same Real Time? data to the Business Intelligence application programs. BI programs are being ported to Web Services very rapidly. IT departments can now concentrate on writing the adapters and connectors in XML that facilitate combining Off The Shelf? reporting products.
Narrower Terms: DataMining?, Queries?
It is a fancy name for queries and management reports.
BuzzWords? include the Executive Dashboard?, or simply the Dash Board, or sometimes the Score Card?. These screens provide at-a-glance indicatiors of the health of the enterprise.
Behind the screens, elaborate calculations may be performed on vast amounts of mission-critical and often real-time data on business activity.
Historically, the data was drawn from the main database as an SQL query, manipulated with some math to turn raw data into screen indicators - sometimes as simple as red for danger and green for healthy, more usually tables or graphs with historic, expected, and actual values.
Recently, with so many Legacy Databases? running behind so many proprietary applications, the challenge has been to extract, transform (with Data Cleansing and Data Conversion? tools), and load the legacy data into a Data Warehouse? (still another Data Base? optimized for management reporting queries). This warehouse in turn might be divided or transformed into a special Data Mart? for specific management reporting purposes.
A Data Warehouse? and all its data manipulations is sometimes too slow for modern manageers, who want Real Time? reporting. CORBA and DCOM technologies provided connections to remote applications that access databases and return information in Real Time?. However the data was usually still highly proprietary, and the data formats were dense and unforgiving, designed in days when slow networks and limited storage demanded terse data schemas.
Today Web Services, connecting to applications via lightweight protocols like SOAP and Xml Rpc?, can provide the same Real Time? data to the Business Intelligence application programs. BI programs are being ported to Web Services very rapidly. IT departments can now concentrate on writing the adapters and connectors in XML that facilitate combining Off The Shelf? reporting products.
Broader Terms: Enterprise Information System
Related Terms: Analytics, Metrics?, Reporting?, Dash Board, Score Card? Business Process
A Business Process is an abstract idea that describes some aspect of a business in terms of discrete steps, or actions, or events, that are followed in the process.
The idea is that an identifiable process can be broken down into small steps.
Work Flow is a tool used to analyze a business process. Work Flow tools create status reports and notifications (usually by email) to managers who are monitoring the Business Process.
Business Process Reengineering (BPR?) critically examines, rethinks, and redesigns mission-delivery processes and subprocesses to make a business more efficient.
BPML is a Business Process Modeling Language.
The Work Flow Management Coalition (WFMC) has developed a related language called Wf-XML (Workflow XML).
Related Terms: Work Flow, Business Process Modeling Language
Business Process Management
The idea is that an identifiable process can be broken down into small steps.
Work Flow is a tool used to analyze a business process. Work Flow tools create status reports and notifications (usually by email) to managers who are monitoring the Business Process.
Two types of syntax are used in naming business processes. For high-level processes, the syntax is "object-action" using a noun form followed by a verb form, where the verb takes the form of a present participle (ends in "ing"), e.g., "Product Ordering." For lower-level processes, the syntax is "action-object," where the verb takes the form of an imperative or command to do something, e.g., "Identify Product."
Source
Source
Business Process Reengineering (BPR?) critically examines, rethinks, and redesigns mission-delivery processes and subprocesses to make a business more efficient.
BPML is a Business Process Modeling Language.
The Work Flow Management Coalition (WFMC) has developed a related language called Wf-XML (Workflow XML).
Business Process Management (BPM?) uses Work Flow tools and Business Process modeling tools like BPML to manage and monitor business processes.
A Business Process is an abstract idea that describes some aspect of a business in terms of discrete steps, or actions, or events, that are followed in the process.
The idea is that an identifiable process can be broken down into small steps and managed. The steps are identified and tracked, with either specified people or applications processing the information at each step and reporting it to Business Intelligence tools, like the Executive Dashboard?.
Related Terms: Business Process, Work Flow, Dash Board, Business Intelligence, Enterprise Content Management
Business Process Reengineering
A Business Process is an abstract idea that describes some aspect of a business in terms of discrete steps, or actions, or events, that are followed in the process.
The idea is that an identifiable process can be broken down into small steps and managed. The steps are identified and tracked, with either specified people or applications processing the information at each step and reporting it to Business Intelligence tools, like the Executive Dashboard?.
Business Process Reengineering (BPR?) critically examines, rethinks, and redesigns mission-delivery processes and subprocesses to make a business more efficient.
A Business Process is an abstract idea that describes some aspect of a business in terms of discrete steps, or actions, or events, that are followed in the process.
Business Process Reengineering is a modern version of time and motion study, an analysis of the efficiency of labor on an industrial assembly line. BPR? studies the efficiency of
management.
BPML is a Business Process Modeling Language.
Related Terms: Business Process , Business Process Modeling Language
Business Rules
A Business Process is an abstract idea that describes some aspect of a business in terms of discrete steps, or actions, or events, that are followed in the process.
Business Process Reengineering is a modern version of time and motion study, an analysis of the efficiency of labor on an industrial assembly line. BPR? studies the efficiency of
management.
Time and motion study is analysis of the operations required to produce a manufactured article in a factory, with the aim of increasing efficiency. Each operation is studied minutely and analyzed in order to eliminate unnecessary motions and thus reduce production time and raise output, which increases productivity . The first effort at time study was made by F. W. Taylor in the 1880s. Early in the 20th cent., Frank and Lillian Gilbreth developed a more systematic and sophisticated method of time and motion study for industry, taking into account the limits of human physical and mental capacity and the importance of a good physical environment.
Encyclopedia.com
Encyclopedia.com
BPML is a Business Process Modeling Language.
Business Rules are the policies of the business, especially in a form that can be enforced in application software like a Data Base? or a Content Management System.
Sometimes referred to as Business Logic.
In addition to rules for maintaining the Referential Integrity? of tables in a Data Base?, Business Rules may be enforced by database triggers that notice a condition and then execute a Stored Procedure? to enforce the rule.
Business rules today are usually enforced in the middle tier of a 3-Tier?client/middleware application server/database server system. That middleware might be a specialized tool like a Personalization engine.
Related Terms: PolicyRules?
Sometimes referred to as Business Logic.
In addition to rules for maintaining the Referential Integrity? of tables in a Data Base?, Business Rules may be enforced by database triggers that notice a condition and then execute a Stored Procedure? to enforce the rule.
Business rules today are usually enforced in the middle tier of a 3-Tier?client/middleware application server/database server system. That middleware might be a specialized tool like a Personalization engine.
A business rule is typically referenced in conjunction with personalization engines. Business rules determine which users are delivered a specific type of content. Business rules typically use a Broadvision or ATG supplied interface to match content with user groups. A sample business rule: any user working in the high-tech industry should see content related to new Web technologies. Business rules can be stored in a database (Broadvision) or file system (Microsoft, ATG) and are evaluated at run-time by a personalization engine.
The CMS Community Wiki is a knowledge base for Content Management Professionals.
Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
Caching
Cascading Style Sheet
Related Terms: Content Template, Content Element, Document Management Concept
Major topics
- Intro To CMS (an introduction to content management systems)
- History Of CMS (a timeline of content management technology)
- Cms Directories (listings of content management systems available across the globe)
- Cms Glossary (technical definitions of over 250 content management terms)
- Dita Glossary (definitions of fifty DITA-related terms)
- Interaction Design Glossary (definitions of IxD terms)
- Information Architecture Glossary (definitions of IA terms)
- Knowledge Management Glossary (definitions of KM terms)
- Taxonomy Glossary (definitions of Taxo, Onto, Classification terms)
- Master Glossary (definitions of all terms, with proposed terms)
- Cms Practices (research areas for content management best practices)
- Cms Products (listings of open-source, proprietary, and hosted solutions)
- Cms Vendors
- Cms People
- Cms Features
- Cms Resources
- Cms Blogs
- Other Cms Sites (other websites providing useful CMS resources)
Using the Wiki
Use Wiki Words for creating new pages. Using Cms Wiki has some policies and tips. Unfortunately, increasing spam from anonymous visitors forced us to limit contributers to registered users. Thanks to those anonymous visitors who erased spam when it appeared.Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
Caching is a process of saving a copy of something (a web page in the case of ContentManagement) in a fast server closer to the requesting agency than the originating source server.
For example, a web page may be created dynamically (generated) by middleware on a Web Server or an Application Server. This dynamic generation may be a relatively slow process, limiting the number of requests (Hits?) that can be responded to per second.
A Caching Server? keeps a copy of the dynamic page, either in a huge RAM memory or in a very-fast-access hard disk enviroment capable of serving millions of hits per minute.
Note that the cached version is not easily customized or personalized. Some fast delivery servers may integrate personalization into a small part of a page whose content has largely been cached, after deployment/publishing from the authoring/creation server environment.
This blurs the distinction between Caching Server? and Application Server. Adding a Content Element at the delivery server is "late binding" of the Content Object?. Multiple application servers may be involved in an N Tier? architecture, and these last minute content objects may be application componenets coming in as portlets via Web Services.
References:
Wikipedia
Related Terms: Performance?
Card Sort
For example, a web page may be created dynamically (generated) by middleware on a Web Server or an Application Server. This dynamic generation may be a relatively slow process, limiting the number of requests (Hits?) that can be responded to per second.
A Caching Server? keeps a copy of the dynamic page, either in a huge RAM memory or in a very-fast-access hard disk enviroment capable of serving millions of hits per minute.
Note that the cached version is not easily customized or personalized. Some fast delivery servers may integrate personalization into a small part of a page whose content has largely been cached, after deployment/publishing from the authoring/creation server environment.
This blurs the distinction between Caching Server? and Application Server. Adding a Content Element at the delivery server is "late binding" of the Content Object?. Multiple application servers may be involved in an N Tier? architecture, and these last minute content objects may be application componenets coming in as portlets via Web Services.
References:
Wikipedia
Card sorting is a low-technology solution to the problem of organizing categories as a first step toward an Information Architecture.
After developing a set of index cards labeled with some important type of content, or perhaps an important activity or function, the cards are brought to different groups of future users.
A team watches and takes notes as the users sort the cards into logical groupings. These become the candidate categories for the information design.
In an open card sort, the users create their own categories by grouping the cards into piles or arranging them in a hierarchy. In a closed card sort categories are predefined.
References:
Card Sorting: A Definitive Guide, by Donna Maurer and Todd Warfel
Broader Terms: Categorization
After developing a set of index cards labeled with some important type of content, or perhaps an important activity or function, the cards are brought to different groups of future users.
A team watches and takes notes as the users sort the cards into logical groupings. These become the candidate categories for the information design.
In an open card sort, the users create their own categories by grouping the cards into piles or arranging them in a hierarchy. In a closed card sort categories are predefined.
“Card sorting is a great, reliable, inexpensive method for finding patterns in how users would expect to find content or functionality.”
Source
Source
References:
Card Sorting: A Definitive Guide, by Donna Maurer and Todd Warfel
Cascading Style Sheet
Cascading Style Sheets are the preferred way to add styles (fonts, sizes, colors, spacing) to web documents.
They use two new standard tags to markup content, <span> and <div>, with class or id attributes that point to definitions in the style sheet.
Thus all your sub-headings might have a class="subhead" attribute and you define the properties of the subhead class in the style sheet. Now if you ever change the properties of class "subhead" all the subheadings in all your web pages using this style sheet are automatically changed together.
Compare that to going back and editing thousands of font tags.
XSLT works with an advanced form of CSS to style XML documents that are converted to HTML.
References:
W3C CSS Home page
Wikipedia
CSS Tutorial
Stylesheet Guide
Related Terms: Dynamic HTML
Categorization
They use two new standard tags to markup content, <span> and <div>, with class or id attributes that point to definitions in the style sheet.
Thus all your sub-headings might have a class="subhead" attribute and you define the properties of the subhead class in the style sheet. Now if you ever change the properties of class "subhead" all the subheadings in all your web pages using this style sheet are automatically changed together.
Compare that to going back and editing thousands of font tags.
XSLT works with an advanced form of CSS to style XML documents that are converted to HTML.
"Style sheets describe how documents are presented on screens, in print, or perhaps how they are pronounced."
W3C
W3C
References:
W3C CSS Home page
Wikipedia
CSS Tutorial
Stylesheet Guide
Categorization is the process of dividing up a particular part of the world (or the whole universe) into divisions that are as mutually exclusive as possible, and possibly can be divided into hierarchical structures. These divisions are characterized as concepts. The process can be called conceptualization. The concept names provide us with a vocabulary for discussing the world.
Categorization began in earnest with the work of Aristotle. Plato had coined the new term "Ideas," which were concepts in a non-material realm that controlled their poor copies in the material world. The Platonic Idea of a circle was perfect. Material circles only imperfect approximations.
Aristotle criticized his teacher, and argued that his Ideas were merely generalizations - abstract concepts arrived at by finding common elements in many similar material things. Thus the ideal circle was an unachievable perfect version of all the real circles we perceive in the world. He argued that the ontological existence of Ideas was merely in human minds.
When the concepts are shared among a Community Of Discourse?, it makes intelligent discussion possible for the part of the world described. Without concepts, we cannot discuss, let alone understand, the world.
An important categorization is the division of the natural sciences into disciplines - physics, astronomy, biology, etc. - by Francis Bacon in the early seventeenth century.
An Ontology is a shared conceptualization. In Philosophy?, there is an implied commitment to the existence of the concepts. In Artificial Intelligence, the concepts need to be "formal," that is machine readable. In Linguistics?, "shared" emphasizes the consensual nature of concepts (as words in some human language), merely conventions of the Community Of Discourse?. The part of the world described is called the "domain." A Web Ontology Language (OWL?) is a machine-processable set of semantics that allows the descriptions to be communicated between humans and their agents, application programs.
The Semantic Web is an Ontology that uses the Resource Description Framework to define all objects (resources) by means of statements about their relations to other resources.
Aristotle's original categories are still the rough basis for modern library categories (like the DeweyDecimalSystem).
Categories are often expressed as a Taxonomy, emphasizing hierarchical relationships (BT and NT), or a Thesaurus, including lateral relationships (RT).
Auto Categorization programs attempt to create categories for a collection of content objects by analyzing their text and finding common concepts to describe and sort them.
Classification is a related activity, the sorting into predefined classes (perhaps categories) of an assortment of objects (e.g., library books).
Related Terms: Classification, Taxonomy, Ontology, Community Of Discourse?, Faceted Classification, Semantic Web
CCMS
Categorization began in earnest with the work of Aristotle. Plato had coined the new term "Ideas," which were concepts in a non-material realm that controlled their poor copies in the material world. The Platonic Idea of a circle was perfect. Material circles only imperfect approximations.
Aristotle criticized his teacher, and argued that his Ideas were merely generalizations - abstract concepts arrived at by finding common elements in many similar material things. Thus the ideal circle was an unachievable perfect version of all the real circles we perceive in the world. He argued that the ontological existence of Ideas was merely in human minds.
When the concepts are shared among a Community Of Discourse?, it makes intelligent discussion possible for the part of the world described. Without concepts, we cannot discuss, let alone understand, the world.
An important categorization is the division of the natural sciences into disciplines - physics, astronomy, biology, etc. - by Francis Bacon in the early seventeenth century.
An Ontology is a shared conceptualization. In Philosophy?, there is an implied commitment to the existence of the concepts. In Artificial Intelligence, the concepts need to be "formal," that is machine readable. In Linguistics?, "shared" emphasizes the consensual nature of concepts (as words in some human language), merely conventions of the Community Of Discourse?. The part of the world described is called the "domain." A Web Ontology Language (OWL?) is a machine-processable set of semantics that allows the descriptions to be communicated between humans and their agents, application programs.
The Semantic Web is an Ontology that uses the Resource Description Framework to define all objects (resources) by means of statements about their relations to other resources.
Aristotle's original categories are still the rough basis for modern library categories (like the DeweyDecimalSystem).
Categories are often expressed as a Taxonomy, emphasizing hierarchical relationships (BT and NT), or a Thesaurus, including lateral relationships (RT).
Auto Categorization programs attempt to create categories for a collection of content objects by analyzing their text and finding common concepts to describe and sort them.
Classification is a related activity, the sorting into predefined classes (perhaps categories) of an assortment of objects (e.g., library books).
A CCMS is a Component Content Management System.
The term Component Content Management was used by Author IT for its corporate tagline for some years and was used by Bill Trippe in a February 2005 report.
Check In Check Out
The term Component Content Management was used by Author IT for its corporate tagline for some years and was used by Bill Trippe in a February 2005 report.
"Component content management systems provide truly flexible reuse, with components at any point in the content hierarchy easily created, updated, managed, combined, recombined, and linked. But CCMS technology is also significant because it enables organizations to adopt reuse over time, because CCMS provides the tools for ongoing refactoring and conversion of content."
BillTrippe, Gilbane Report White Paper
BillTrippe, Gilbane Report White Paper
Checking out a piece of Content puts a file lock on the content so someone else does not change it before the current user's changes are saved. A good system tells a new user who has the content, and provides means (email, IM/Chat?, phone numbers) to contact the current user to release it. They also have administrative override privileges to seize content.
Some systems allow two or more users to change content, but they must then provide an easy way to reconcile differences. This can be done by color tagging different authors versions, or by a sophisticated "diff" comparator program. The best difference reconciliation is always done by a human editor.
Chunk
Some systems allow two or more users to change content, but they must then provide an easy way to reconcile differences. This can be done by color tagging different authors versions, or by a sophisticated "diff" comparator program. The best difference reconciliation is always done by a human editor.
Chunking is dividing information into sections that can carry a meaningful semantic Tag of Metadata (or possibly a style tag).
Chunking divides information into small enough sections that they can be comprehended and remembered easily. A chunk may be the smallest element for indexing.
Another name for a chunk is a Content Component, though this sometimes refers to an element with interactive functionality.
A Content Element may contain a Content Template with smaller chunks. So a chunk or element need not be "atomic," unbreakable into smaller elements.
Chunking is sometimes called segmentation.
RT Content Element
Classification
Chunking divides information into small enough sections that they can be comprehended and remembered easily. A chunk may be the smallest element for indexing.
Another name for a chunk is a Content Component, though this sometimes refers to an element with interactive functionality.
A Content Element may contain a Content Template with smaller chunks. So a chunk or element need not be "atomic," unbreakable into smaller elements.
Chunking is sometimes called segmentation.
RT Content Element
Classification is the sorting of things into pre-defined categories.
The best known classifications are perhaps libraries, where books are sorted into subject headings, and biological taxonomies, where living things are sorted into kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.
There are many well-known classification schemes, all very closely related to one another leading to great confusion in the use of their names.
Among them you will find Taxonomy, Thesaurus, Polyhierarchy, Multiple Hierarchy?, Faceted Classification, Topic Map, Semantic Network, Ontology, and the Semantic Web.
Auto Classification programs attempt to classify content by analyzing documents and then assigning them to a pre-defined set of classes, made by categorization.
Related Terms: Categorization, Taxonomy
COLD
The best known classifications are perhaps libraries, where books are sorted into subject headings, and biological taxonomies, where living things are sorted into kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.
There are many well-known classification schemes, all very closely related to one another leading to great confusion in the use of their names.
Among them you will find Taxonomy, Thesaurus, Polyhierarchy, Multiple Hierarchy?, Faceted Classification, Topic Map, Semantic Network, Ontology, and the Semantic Web.
Auto Classification programs attempt to classify content by analyzing documents and then assigning them to a pre-defined set of classes, made by categorization.
Forming, sorting, apportioning, grouping, or dividing objects into classes to form an ordered arrangement of items having a defined range of characteristics, relationships, and distinctive differences. Classification systems may be taxonomic, mathematical, observed, or inferred, depending upon the purpose to be served. The purpose of classification is to describe the structure and relationships of objects to each other and to similar objects, and to simplify these relationships in such a way that general statements can be made about classes of objects, thereby achieving economy of memory and ease of manipulation.
Univ. Vermont
Univ. Vermont
The standard technique for transferring computer output to optical disks has become a standard for publishing data to many other media and even digital web publishing.
COLD replaced the earlier technology "COM" (Computer Output on Microfilm), which should not be confused with Microsoft COM and D-COM (Component Object Model).
References:
Wiki
Resources
Wikipedia
[http://www.cmswiki.com/http://www.cmswiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=|]
Related Terms: Multi Channel Publishing
Community Of Interest
COLD replaced the earlier technology "COM" (Computer Output on Microfilm), which should not be confused with Microsoft COM and D-COM (Component Object Model).
References:
Wiki
Resources
Wikipedia
[http://www.cmswiki.com/http://www.cmswiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=|]
People sharing an interest who use one of the many community communications systems like a Forum, Bulletin Board, News Group, Message Board, Mailing List, List Serv.
See the discussion of these tools on the Forum page.
Community Of Practice
See the discussion of these tools on the Forum page.
A Community of Practice (CoP) is a group of professionals who aim to identify Best Practices and share their knowledge to improve their professional activities.
Wenger, McDermott, and Snyder (p. 76) describe four kinds of CoP with different strategic intents.
Helping Communities
Best-practice Communities
Knowledge-stewarding Communities
Innovation Communities
References:
Martin White on CoPs
James Robertson on an intranet CoP
Cultivating Communities of Practice, by E. Wenger, R. McDermott, and W. Snyder
A CoP on CoPs
Related Terms: Best Practices , Community Of Interest, Community Of Discourse?, Organizational Learning?, Knowledge Management
Competitive Analysis
Wenger, McDermott, and Snyder (p. 76) describe four kinds of CoP with different strategic intents.
Helping Communities
Best-practice Communities
Knowledge-stewarding Communities
Innovation Communities
A group of professionals, informally bound to one another through exposure to a common class of problems, common pursuit of solutions, and thereby themselves embodying a store of knowledge.
McKinsey & Co.
McKinsey & Co.
A group of practitioners involved in a common activity, albeit performing different roles. Essential characteristics of communities of practice are: 1) they are not defined by organizational mandate (e.g., the "org chart"), but rather by the ways people actually work together, 2) they involve many different roles, as opposed to a flat structure, and 3) they experience an ongoing flux of community members, who enter the community from the periphery and gain status as knowledgeable members through participation in the community of practice.
U. Colorado
U. Colorado
References:
Martin White on CoPs
James Robertson on an intranet CoP
Cultivating Communities of Practice, by E. Wenger, R. McDermott, and W. Snyder
A CoP on CoPs
In web content management architecture and navigation designs vary wildly across the Internet.
When designing a website, an Information Architect does a Competitive Analysis of successful competitors to learn their vocabulary, their information architecture, and navigation designs.
The purpose is partly to discover any industry conventions and important jargon.
The idea is that users of the new website will feel comfortable with design elements that do not depart widely from industry conventions.
Compliance
When designing a website, an Information Architect does a Competitive Analysis of successful competitors to learn their vocabulary, their information architecture, and navigation designs.
The purpose is partly to discover any industry conventions and important jargon.
The idea is that users of the new website will feel comfortable with design elements that do not depart widely from industry conventions.
"A site's information architecture issues can be riveting when the site is placed alongside its competitors."
Morville and Rosenfeld, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web
Morville and Rosenfeld, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web
Compliance describes the broad requirements for an organization to follow its Business Rules, which include internal and external (typically governmental but also industry-regulatory) requirements.
One very important requirement for a Content Management System is maintaining adequate Archives? of past content.
For legal reasons, an organization may be required to rollback? a website to show how it appeared at a specific time in the past.
Records Management provides a database to locate records, both paper and electronic. Digital images of records provide more powerful and economic Information Retrieval? than conventional paper file storage systems.
These records include the entire financial transactional history of the organization, but also its recorded activity with customers and employees - Human Resources.
With content defined to include an organization's email traffic and instant messaging, the problem of compliance has grown severe.
Sarbanes Oxley is federal government law requiring specific business and financial records be kept.
Related Terms: Records Management, Sarbanes Oxley, SOX?
Component
One very important requirement for a Content Management System is maintaining adequate Archives? of past content.
For legal reasons, an organization may be required to rollback? a website to show how it appeared at a specific time in the past.
Records Management provides a database to locate records, both paper and electronic. Digital images of records provide more powerful and economic Information Retrieval? than conventional paper file storage systems.
These records include the entire financial transactional history of the organization, but also its recorded activity with customers and employees - Human Resources.
With content defined to include an organization's email traffic and instant messaging, the problem of compliance has grown severe.
Sarbanes Oxley is federal government law requiring specific business and financial records be kept.
A Content Component is a chunk of content.
A content component may also contain a dynamic and interactive element that implements a Web Application.
For example, a login form may be implemented in a Content Block. And navigation elements are interactive content.
The term component has a long history outside of content management that influences its use in CM. In DCOM and CORBA, the distributed component is an object with code and data capable of providing a remote service by executing internal methods or procedures.
In the Page Generation? phase, a Content Management System dynamically assembles chunks of content into a full web page by executing server-side procedures for each chunk, which they often refer to as content components or objects.
Object Oriented Programming and Design also uses the term component to describe an object.
Major Enterprise Content Management system providers sell their systems as a collection of independently purchasable modules or components.
Bill Trippe coined the term Component Content Management and wrote a white paper on the CCMS.
Related Terms: Chunk, Content Object?, Object Oriented
Compound Document
A content component may also contain a dynamic and interactive element that implements a Web Application.
For example, a login form may be implemented in a Content Block. And navigation elements are interactive content.
"Components are the basic units of content management. Elements are the basic units of components."
Bob Boiko, CM Bible, p. 593.
Bob Boiko, CM Bible, p. 593.
The term component has a long history outside of content management that influences its use in CM. In DCOM and CORBA, the distributed component is an object with code and data capable of providing a remote service by executing internal methods or procedures.
In the Page Generation? phase, a Content Management System dynamically assembles chunks of content into a full web page by executing server-side procedures for each chunk, which they often refer to as content components or objects.
Object Oriented Programming and Design also uses the term component to describe an object.
Major Enterprise Content Management system providers sell their systems as a collection of independently purchasable modules or components.
Bill Trippe coined the term Component Content Management and wrote a white paper on the CCMS.
A compound document is one that is made up of independent subdocuments. These are typically created, managed, and stored separately, then dynamically assembled to form the Compound Document.
The CMS tool used to structure a compound document is the Content Template. A part of the Content Template is called a Content Block, which may contain a Content Element or another Content Template. Compund documents encourage Reuse of a Content Element.
Document Management systems have long dealt with compound documents. The most ambitious sytems were built on SGML? - Standard Generalized Markup Language?. SGML was a major tool for expressing the structure of a compound document in early DM systems. Today XML dominates. This structure is completely independent of the Presentation of the document, enforcing the Content Management mantra "Separation? of Presentation from Content."
Broader Terms: Document?
The CMS tool used to structure a compound document is the Content Template. A part of the Content Template is called a Content Block, which may contain a Content Element or another Content Template. Compund documents encourage Reuse of a Content Element.
Document Management systems have long dealt with compound documents. The most ambitious sytems were built on SGML? - Standard Generalized Markup Language?. SGML was a major tool for expressing the structure of a compound document in early DM systems. Today XML dominates. This structure is completely independent of the Presentation of the document, enforcing the Content Management mantra "Separation? of Presentation from Content."
Related Terms: Content Template, Content Element, Document Management Concept
Concept is one of the three information types specialized from the generic topic.
Element type: block?
The allowed sub-elements in the concept element are two, specialized from the topic and body elements:
concept
conbody
Related Terms: Document Management, Knowledge Management, Asset Management, Rights Management, Records Management, Customer Relationship Management, Learning Management? (e-Learning), Business Process Management, Brand Management? Content Reuse
Related Terms: Alignment, Business Strategy?, Content Audit, Content Inventory, Reuse Content Template
Related Terms: Contextual Inquiry, Contextual Navigation Contextual Inquiry
Broader Terms: Navigation
Related Terms: Local Navigation, Global Navigation Controlled Vocabulary
Related Terms: Document Management, Knowledge Management, Asset Management, Rights Management, Records Management, Customer Relations Management?, Learning Management? (e-Learning), Business Process Management, Brand Management? CORBA Narrower Terms:
Broader Terms:
Related Terms: DCOM Creation
Related Terms: Delivery Crosswalk
Related Terms: Semantic Web, Topic Map Custom Written Essays
Element type: block?
The allowed sub-elements in the concept element are two, specialized from the topic and body elements:
concept
conbody
"Use the concept topic to introduce the background or overview information for tasks or reference topics. The concept topic has the restriction that following a section or example, only other sections or examples are permitted as content."
"The <concept> element is the top-level element for a topic that answers the question "what is?" Concepts provide background information that users must know before they can successfully work with a product or interface. Often, a concept is an extended definition of a major abstraction such as a process or function. It might also have an example or a graphic, but generally the structure of a concept is fairly simple."
docs.oasis-open.org
Connector
"The <concept> element is the top-level element for a topic that answers the question "what is?" Concepts provide background information that users must know before they can successfully work with a product or interface. Often, a concept is an extended definition of a major abstraction such as a process or function. It might also have an example or a graphic, but generally the structure of a concept is fairly simple."
docs.oasis-open.org
A Connector is software that connects one application to another to exchange data and provide functionality, usually through an API (ApplicationProgrammingInterface) for each application program.
Most modern connectors use Web Services technology (e.g., XML-RPC? and SOAP?), which is replacing the older CORBA and DCOM protocols for calling remote application services in a Services Oriented Architecture?.
Also known as an adapter. When there is a conversion of the data format, connectors may be called converters.
Related Terms: Adaptor?
Content
Most modern connectors use Web Services technology (e.g., XML-RPC? and SOAP?), which is replacing the older CORBA and DCOM protocols for calling remote application services in a Services Oriented Architecture?.
Also known as an adapter. When there is a conversion of the data format, connectors may be called converters.
Content is the intellectual capital of an organization. It is information, separated from its presentation. Content is the information contained in, for example, a product brochure, a user manual, a web site, a Braille menu, or one of many other Information+Product types.
In Library Science, it is called the work, the basic information that all the copies (or physical instances of a work) have in common.
Bob Boiko on content...
Computers have only recently become ubiquitous in the world of information. Traditionally, computers have been tasked with handling data. As opposed to data, which is a fairly concrete term, information is a very vague term. Just about any communication (including data) can be described as information. For the purposes of this discussion, information will be taken to mean all the common forms of recorded communication: writing, recorded sound, images, video, and animations.
Content, stated as simply as possible, is information put to use. Information is put to use when it is packaged and presented (published) for a specific purpose. More often than not, content is not a single “piece” of information, but a conglomeration of pieces of information put together to form a cohesive whole. A book has content, which is comprised of multiple chapters, paragraphs, and sentences. Newspapers contain content: articles, advertisements, indexes, and pictures. The newest entry to the media world, the Web, is just the same; sites are made of articles, advertisements, indexes, and pictures – all organized into a coherent presentation.
With the evolution of the web site from Brochure Ware? to a provider of web-based applications and services, the new umbrella field of Enterprise Content Management defines content as more than just dosuments. They include services and application programs supporting e Commerce? and many other tasks.
Related Terms: Content Management , Enterprise Content Management
Content Audit
In Library Science, it is called the work, the basic information that all the copies (or physical instances of a work) have in common.
Bob Boiko on content...
Computers have only recently become ubiquitous in the world of information. Traditionally, computers have been tasked with handling data. As opposed to data, which is a fairly concrete term, information is a very vague term. Just about any communication (including data) can be described as information. For the purposes of this discussion, information will be taken to mean all the common forms of recorded communication: writing, recorded sound, images, video, and animations.
Content, stated as simply as possible, is information put to use. Information is put to use when it is packaged and presented (published) for a specific purpose. More often than not, content is not a single “piece” of information, but a conglomeration of pieces of information put together to form a cohesive whole. A book has content, which is comprised of multiple chapters, paragraphs, and sentences. Newspapers contain content: articles, advertisements, indexes, and pictures. The newest entry to the media world, the Web, is just the same; sites are made of articles, advertisements, indexes, and pictures – all organized into a coherent presentation.
With the evolution of the web site from Brochure Ware? to a provider of web-based applications and services, the new umbrella field of Enterprise Content Management defines content as more than just dosuments. They include services and application programs supporting e Commerce? and many other tasks.
An accounting of the information in an organization. It requires analyzing a representative sample of content materials, looking for similiar/identical information, as well information that is currently distinct, but that could/should be identical.
Preparing a Content Audit is probably the single most important step in preparing for implementation of a Content Management System, or the migration of content into a new CMS.
Basically it is a Content Inventory or Content Survey, simply an accounting or list all the current content assets, but auditing implies evaluation of some kind.
With physical assets it may mean spreading things out on large tables, pasting sticky notes or hilighting them with different colored markers.
Common practice includes listing each asset in a spreadsheet program:
Better practice would add:
Best practice might add:
Note that "audit" may also describe the Versioning and Version Control systems, which create an Audit Trail of content changes.
Related Terms: ContentAssessment?, Content Inventory
Content Block
Preparing a Content Audit is probably the single most important step in preparing for implementation of a Content Management System, or the migration of content into a new CMS.
Basically it is a Content Inventory or Content Survey, simply an accounting or list all the current content assets, but auditing implies evaluation of some kind.
With physical assets it may mean spreading things out on large tables, pasting sticky notes or hilighting them with different colored markers.
Common practice includes listing each asset in a spreadsheet program:
- the hyperlink if it is at a URL, otherwise its file or physical location
- the owners (creators, maintainers) of the content
Better practice would add:
- an evaluation of the importance of the asset
- some categorization or Meta Data that would allow grouping of content for collocation and Re Use strategies
- a matrix of items (products, services) and the types of content associated
Best practice might add:
- analyzing the content into Content Element chunks ready for Re Use
- editing similar content to create a Single Source? when possible for Re Use
- classification tools that allow an arrangement (taxonomy) of assets
- data scrubbing tools to find and correct anomalies
- validation tools to test the content (text, HTML, XHTML, XML) against standards
- conversion tools that produce compliant XML for a modern repository
Note that "audit" may also describe the Versioning and Version Control systems, which create an Audit Trail of content changes.
A Content Block is contained in a structured page that uses a Content Template..
A Content Block is often a <div> in HTML and XML.
Since a Content Block may in turn use a Content Template, there can be an infinite recursion of containers.
Blocks are sometimes called boxes or slots or a Portlet, when they may include a mini application (an applet or Flash).
When a Content Block contains a single piece of elementary content (a simple link, text, an image, audio, video, a piece of metadata like author, title, etc.), we call it a Content Element.
The Content Element, sometimes called Micro Content, encourages Re Use.
Related Terms: Content Template, Content Element, Page Architecture?
Content Element
A Content Block is often a <div> in HTML and XML.
Since a Content Block may in turn use a Content Template, there can be an infinite recursion of containers.
Blocks are sometimes called boxes or slots or a Portlet, when they may include a mini application (an applet or Flash).
When a Content Block contains a single piece of elementary content (a simple link, text, an image, audio, video, a piece of metadata like author, title, etc.), we call it a Content Element.
The Content Element, sometimes called Micro Content, encourages Re Use.
A Content Element fills a Content Block in a Content Template.
A Content Element is usually embedded in the template with unique delimiting Tags. All CM systems have developed their own unique tags. Generally they followed the tag style of their underlying application Frame Work.
Interoperability? efforts are directed toward tags that use XML-style delimiters and names that can be found in an XML namespace and an Ontology. The Dublin Core is the most widely used ontology.
Since a Content Block may be using a Content Template, there can be an infinite recursion of containers. These are sometimes called Portlets?.
When a Content Block contains a single piece of elementary content (a simple link, text, an image, audio, video, a piece of metadata like author, title, etc.), we call it a Content Element.
The Content Element encourages Reuse.
Editing a Content Element will change all its appearances. A new version of a Content Element for special use is called a Derivative. See Also Derivative+Reuse.
Content Element versioning and other Meta Data (e.g., scheduling information and usage permissions) can regulate Reuse.
A Content Element is sometimes called Microcontent.
UF Micro Content
Related Terms: Content Block, Content Template
Content Expert
A Content Element is usually embedded in the template with unique delimiting Tags. All CM systems have developed their own unique tags. Generally they followed the tag style of their underlying application Frame Work.
Interoperability? efforts are directed toward tags that use XML-style delimiters and names that can be found in an XML namespace and an Ontology. The Dublin Core is the most widely used ontology.
Since a Content Block may be using a Content Template, there can be an infinite recursion of containers. These are sometimes called Portlets?.
When a Content Block contains a single piece of elementary content (a simple link, text, an image, audio, video, a piece of metadata like author, title, etc.), we call it a Content Element.
The Content Element encourages Reuse.
Editing a Content Element will change all its appearances. A new version of a Content Element for special use is called a Derivative. See Also Derivative+Reuse.
Content Element versioning and other Meta Data (e.g., scheduling information and usage permissions) can regulate Reuse.
A Content Element is sometimes called Microcontent.
UF Micro Content
A Content Expert is a specialist in the subject matter.
The best Content Management System makes it possible for the Content Expert to enter content into the system with a minimum of learning and training.
It turns content exeprts into authors
Content Inventory
The best Content Management System makes it possible for the Content Expert to enter content into the system with a minimum of learning and training.
It turns content exeprts into authors
Content Inventory or Content Survey is simply an accounting or list all the current content assets. A Content Audit implies evaluation of some kind.
With physical assets it may mean spreading things out on large tables, pasting sticky notes or hilighting them with different colored markers.
Common practice includes listing each asset in a spreadsheet program:
Related Terms: Content Audit, Content Assessmant?
Content Management
With physical assets it may mean spreading things out on large tables, pasting sticky notes or hilighting them with different colored markers.
Common practice includes listing each asset in a spreadsheet program:
- the hyperlink if it is at a URL, otherwise its file or physical location.
- the owners (creators, maintainers) of the content.
Broadly speaking, Content Management describes a process that allows people to more easily create and update content, especially on their websites (Web Content Management).
Enterprise Content Management extends the concept to interactive or transactional content used in a Web Application, such as eCommerce, and to several related management problems, such as Document Management, Records Management, and Digital Asset Management.
When the Content (number of pages, images, etc.), and/or the number of Contributors?, grows large, a Content Management System (CMS) helps collect and create the content in ways that makes it easy to Re Use.
A CMS allows a team of contributors to work on the same pages without conflicting - Check In Check Out and Work Flow control).
A CMS adds Meta Data to the content, critical for Organizing Principles, Navigation, and Search Engine.
A CMS can schedule pages to appear and disappear at designated times, and archive the old pages with versioning and revision control.
Reuse of content means an item can be edited in one place and be published instantly in many places (Single Source Publishing). But it also means that the different versions of the content can be formatted properly for Multi Channel delivery, including the web (HTML and PDF), print, wireless handheld devices, and cell phones, as well as versions for different audiences - affinity groups, different languages, etc.
A SmallCMS is for single web authors working one or a few websites.
An EnterpriseCMS may control hundreds of thousands of pages on hundreds of websites with many dozens of contributors.
In between, the TeamCMS is for corporate departments and smaller organizations.
News Portal software (slash-alikes and the *nuke family) are a form of community CMS, as are weblog tools (usually for PersonalPublishing) and Wikis (usually for teams of collaborating contributors).
Some CMSs edit whole web pages, others edit a Content Template for a page including more than one Content Element. Both kinds may have Form Based? text editing, Source Editing? of the Markup Language, or a Wysiwyg Editor? (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) offering Visual Editing?.
Smaller CMSs tend to be Page Oriented? and store HTML (in a database or as files).
Enterprise CMSs use Content Template and store the Content Element as an information chunk in XML, usually in an RDBMS? or a Native Xml? database.
Some systems tag and store the information with RDF - Resource Description Framework - Meta Data for the Semantic Web.
The three classic phases of the Content Management Life Cycle are:
Content Creation includes Acquisition of content, Aggregation of syndicated content, and Authoring of new content.
Content Management Proper? includes Workflow, Information Design - IA, UI, Ix D, UX, Metadata, Approvals?, Repository, Transformations?, Localization?, Staging Server, Quality Assurance?, etc.
Content Delivery includes the Live Server? (possibly caching), Multi Channel Publishing?, and Syndication.
Aspects of Content Management that apply throughout the Life Cycle include Access Control, Business Rules, Backup, Analytics and Performance? Metrics?
References:
Choosing a Content Management System
History of Content Management Systems
Books on Content Management
Related Terms: Web Content Management, Enterprise Content Management, Document Management, Digital Asset Management, Records Management,
Content Management System
Enterprise Content Management extends the concept to interactive or transactional content used in a Web Application, such as eCommerce, and to several related management problems, such as Document Management, Records Management, and Digital Asset Management.
When the Content (number of pages, images, etc.), and/or the number of Contributors?, grows large, a Content Management System (CMS) helps collect and create the content in ways that makes it easy to Re Use.
A CMS allows a team of contributors to work on the same pages without conflicting - Check In Check Out and Work Flow control).
A CMS adds Meta Data to the content, critical for Organizing Principles, Navigation, and Search Engine.
A CMS can schedule pages to appear and disappear at designated times, and archive the old pages with versioning and revision control.
Reuse of content means an item can be edited in one place and be published instantly in many places (Single Source Publishing). But it also means that the different versions of the content can be formatted properly for Multi Channel delivery, including the web (HTML and PDF), print, wireless handheld devices, and cell phones, as well as versions for different audiences - affinity groups, different languages, etc.
A SmallCMS is for single web authors working one or a few websites.
An EnterpriseCMS may control hundreds of thousands of pages on hundreds of websites with many dozens of contributors.
In between, the TeamCMS is for corporate departments and smaller organizations.
News Portal software (slash-alikes and the *nuke family) are a form of community CMS, as are weblog tools (usually for PersonalPublishing) and Wikis (usually for teams of collaborating contributors).
Some CMSs edit whole web pages, others edit a Content Template for a page including more than one Content Element. Both kinds may have Form Based? text editing, Source Editing? of the Markup Language, or a Wysiwyg Editor? (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) offering Visual Editing?.
Smaller CMSs tend to be Page Oriented? and store HTML (in a database or as files).
Enterprise CMSs use Content Template and store the Content Element as an information chunk in XML, usually in an RDBMS? or a Native Xml? database.
Some systems tag and store the information with RDF - Resource Description Framework - Meta Data for the Semantic Web.
The three classic phases of the Content Management Life Cycle are:
- Content Creation
- Content Management Proper?
- Content Delivery
Content Creation includes Acquisition of content, Aggregation of syndicated content, and Authoring of new content.
Content Management Proper? includes Workflow, Information Design - IA, UI, Ix D, UX, Metadata, Approvals?, Repository, Transformations?, Localization?, Staging Server, Quality Assurance?, etc.
Content Delivery includes the Live Server? (possibly caching), Multi Channel Publishing?, and Syndication.
Aspects of Content Management that apply throughout the Life Cycle include Access Control, Business Rules, Backup, Analytics and Performance? Metrics?
Content managment is getting the right content to the right person at the right time at the right cost.
Gerry McGovern
Gerry McGovern
A CMS is...a set of business rules and editorial processes employed by people surrounding web content, designed to align online publishing efforts with organizational objectives.
Tony Byrne, CMS Watch
Tony Byrne, CMS Watch
We don't know of anyone who can be credited with the first use of "content management", but there is little doubt that it was Vignette who was the most responsible for the term becoming widely associated with web content management. This in spite of the fact that there were far more people "managing web content" using Microsoft and Lotus technology at a time when you could still count Vignette's customers on one hand. Content management is still associated with web publishing more than any other application. It is largely because web publishing is so different from other types of publishing that content management has come to encompass such a wide variety of functions.
FrankGilbane, Gilbane Report
FrankGilbane, Gilbane Report
References:
Choosing a Content Management System
History of Content Management Systems
Books on Content Management
A Content Management System (CMS) is a software tool designed to help content managers create, manage, and publish their custom essay content. The CMS uses a database to track the location of, and relationships among, content elements in a central repository or file system.
Broadly speaking, a content management system describes application software that allows people to more easily change and update content, especially on their websites (WCM). When the content (number of pages, images, etc.), and/or the number of contributors, grows large, a CMS helps collect, create custom essays, and aggregate content in ways that makes it easy to reuse.
A CMS allows a team of contributors to work on the same pages without conflicting (CheckInCheckOut and Work Flow control). It can schedule pages to appear and disappear at designated times, and archive the old pages with versioning and revision control.
Reuse of content means an item can be edited in one place - see Single Source Publishing - and be published instantly in many places. But it also means that the different versions of the content can be formatted properly for Multiple Channel? delivery , including the web (HTML and PDF), print, wireless handheld devices, and cell phones.
Smaller CMSs are for single web authors working one or a few websites. Enterprise CMSs may control hundreds of thousands of pages on hundreds of websites with many dozens of contributors. In between, there are Team CMSs (sometimes called Departmental or Mid-market Systems) for corporate departments and smaller organizations.
News Portal software (slash-alikes and the *nuke family) are a form of community CMS, as are Weblog tools (usually for personal publishing) and Wikis (usually for teams of contributors), like this site.
Some CMSs edit unstructured content, whole documents or web pages (usually HTML), others edit structured content, with a content template for a page and individual content elements (usually XML).
Both kinds may have form-based text editing, source editing of the markup language, or WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) visual editing. Smaller CMSs tend to be page-oriented and store HTML. Enterprise CMSs use content templates and usually store content elements as reusable information chunks in XML. Some systems tag and store the information with RDF - Resource Description Framework - Meta Data for the Semantic Web.
References:
The (Unfulfilled) Promise of CMS, Vincent Lombardi
Broader Terms: Enterprise Content Management, Enterprise Information Management?
Broadly speaking, a content management system describes application software that allows people to more easily change and update content, especially on their websites (WCM). When the content (number of pages, images, etc.), and/or the number of contributors, grows large, a CMS helps collect, create custom essays, and aggregate content in ways that makes it easy to reuse.
A CMS allows a team of contributors to work on the same pages without conflicting (CheckInCheckOut and Work Flow control). It can schedule pages to appear and disappear at designated times, and archive the old pages with versioning and revision control.
Reuse of content means an item can be edited in one place - see Single Source Publishing - and be published instantly in many places. But it also means that the different versions of the content can be formatted properly for Multiple Channel? delivery , including the web (HTML and PDF), print, wireless handheld devices, and cell phones.
Smaller CMSs are for single web authors working one or a few websites. Enterprise CMSs may control hundreds of thousands of pages on hundreds of websites with many dozens of contributors. In between, there are Team CMSs (sometimes called Departmental or Mid-market Systems) for corporate departments and smaller organizations.
News Portal software (slash-alikes and the *nuke family) are a form of community CMS, as are Weblog tools (usually for personal publishing) and Wikis (usually for teams of contributors), like this site.
Some CMSs edit unstructured content, whole documents or web pages (usually HTML), others edit structured content, with a content template for a page and individual content elements (usually XML).
Both kinds may have form-based text editing, source editing of the markup language, or WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) visual editing. Smaller CMSs tend to be page-oriented and store HTML. Enterprise CMSs use content templates and usually store content elements as reusable information chunks in XML. Some systems tag and store the information with RDF - Resource Description Framework - Meta Data for the Semantic Web.
References:
The (Unfulfilled) Promise of CMS, Vincent Lombardi
Related Terms: Document Management, Knowledge Management, Asset Management, Rights Management, Records Management, Customer Relationship Management, Learning Management? (e-Learning), Business Process Management, Brand Management? Content Reuse
The practice of using existing components of content to develop new content (See Information+Product); the process of linking to an element of reusable content. Content reuse is a primary building block in a Unified+Content+Strategy. In order to effectively reuse content, it must be properly structured (See Structured+Content).
Reuse describes a Content Element that can appear in more than one place in an Information+Product (e.g. website, a product brochure, press release, user guide).
Maintaining an element in just one place insures uniformity and accuracy wherever it appears, although it might require variant versions (See Derivative+Reuse).
Because style and layout are controlled by the enclosing Template, the same information appears to integrate into each use.
Note that a Content Element can be a complete templated object with many sub-elements, an RSS news feed, a graphic, or simply an HTML or XML fragment from a database.
SCORM? (Shareable Content Object Reference Model) is a proposed standard for reusing content objects in e-learning applications.
Content Strategy
Reuse describes a Content Element that can appear in more than one place in an Information+Product (e.g. website, a product brochure, press release, user guide).
Maintaining an element in just one place insures uniformity and accuracy wherever it appears, although it might require variant versions (See Derivative+Reuse).
Because style and layout are controlled by the enclosing Template, the same information appears to integrate into each use.
Note that a Content Element can be a complete templated object with many sub-elements, an RSS news feed, a graphic, or simply an HTML or XML fragment from a database.
SCORM? (Shareable Content Object Reference Model) is a proposed standard for reusing content objects in e-learning applications.
Content Strategy is the highest level strategic overview of content.
CM Consultants like to say that it must be "aligned" with the Business Strategy? of the enterprise.
It includes an analysis of the content you have (a Content Audit or Content Inventory) and an assessment of the content you need.
It includes a Needs Analysis? for the users of your content.
It becomes the basis for all decisions about content.
References:
IA Wiki
Broader Terms: Content
CM Consultants like to say that it must be "aligned" with the Business Strategy? of the enterprise.
It includes an analysis of the content you have (a Content Audit or Content Inventory) and an assessment of the content you need.
It includes a Needs Analysis? for the users of your content.
It becomes the basis for all decisions about content.
References:
IA Wiki
Related Terms: Alignment, Business Strategy?, Content Audit, Content Inventory, Reuse Content Template
A Content Template is the framework for a structured page. It is the structure for a Compound Document and a Page Architecture?.
It contains various blocks, or <div>s in HTML and XML.
Since a Content Block may in turn use a Content Template, there can be an infinite recursion of containers. These are sometimes called a Portlet.
A Content Block may also be a Content Component?, with an interactive Web Application, a syndication feed, or an eCommerce transaction.
When a Content Block contains a single piece of elementary content (a simple link, text, an image, audio, video, a piece of metadata like author, title, etc.), we call it a Content Element.
The Content Element, sometimes called Microcontent, encourages Reuse and Single Source Publishing.
RT Content Block, Content Element, Compound Document, Page Architecture?, Single Source Publishing
Content Versioning System
It contains various blocks, or <div>s in HTML and XML.
Since a Content Block may in turn use a Content Template, there can be an infinite recursion of containers. These are sometimes called a Portlet.
A Content Block may also be a Content Component?, with an interactive Web Application, a syndication feed, or an eCommerce transaction.
When a Content Block contains a single piece of elementary content (a simple link, text, an image, audio, video, a piece of metadata like author, title, etc.), we call it a Content Element.
The Content Element, sometimes called Microcontent, encourages Reuse and Single Source Publishing.
"Most publications specialists (print producers, Webmasters, and so on), are accustomed to creating publications directly. They lay out a publication and populate it with content by hand. They can change and tweak the layout and content until it satisfies them. In a CMS, publication teams do not create publications. Rather, they create the templates that create the publication. This level of abstraction is misunderstood or even resisted by publication specialists who prefer to create products, not systems." Bob Boiko, Content Management Bible, p. 227
RT Content Block, Content Element, Compound Document, Page Architecture?, Single Source Publishing
A Content Versioning System keeps dated or serialized copies of all the different versions of a piece of content. This allows the scheduling of content on and off the web.
It also allows Roll Back? of content (perhaps even the whole website) to a previous version. Old versions become an Archive of content.
Versioning also describes multiple versions of a piece of content, created for different purposes. A derivative becomes a new piece of content, and a version of the original.
Multilingual content managment systems maintain different language versions. These are called language variants in the Resource Description Framework.
Related Terms: Versioning
Contextual Browsing
It also allows Roll Back? of content (perhaps even the whole website) to a previous version. Old versions become an Archive of content.
Versioning also describes multiple versions of a piece of content, created for different purposes. A derivative becomes a new piece of content, and a version of the original.
Multilingual content managment systems maintain different language versions. These are called language variants in the Resource Description Framework.
A navigation system in which items are tagged with metadata that appears in the browser, so the user can navigate via the metadata linkage, such as keywords from a controlled vocabulary.
Contextual browsing and navigation are one possible interface for the Semantic Web. The browser interface would expose the various properties and relations stored in the Resource Description Framework (RDF)
Markus Nix has proposed a Contextual Browsing Language (CBL) - (PDF, in German).
Broader Terms: Navigation
Contextual browsing and navigation are one possible interface for the Semantic Web. The browser interface would expose the various properties and relations stored in the Resource Description Framework (RDF)
Markus Nix has proposed a Contextual Browsing Language (CBL) - (PDF, in German).
Related Terms: Contextual Inquiry, Contextual Navigation Contextual Inquiry
Contextual Inquiry is a form of User Reseach? that stresses site visits to observe users in their natural environment, as opposed to interviews or bringing the user to a laboratory setting for study.
It is a critical part of User-Centered Design, Usability studies, and the [http://www.cmswiki.com/http://www.cmswiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=UserExperience|]User Experience.
IA Wiki
PT - Ethnographic Research
Related Terms: UserCenteredDesign?, Usability, User Experience, User Reseach?
Contextual Navigation
It is a critical part of User-Centered Design, Usability studies, and the [http://www.cmswiki.com/http://www.cmswiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=UserExperience|]User Experience.
IA Wiki
PT - Ethnographic Research
Contextual Navigation describes Navigation links? that are included in the main content, inline in the text or in captions, or images used as links.
Links that appear on every page of a website, sometimes accomplished with a separate frame, especially along the top or banner of the page, are called Global Navigation.
Links that appear in a major section of the site (a subsite or microsite), usually along the left side of the page, are called Local Navigation.
IAwiki definition
Narrower Terms: Links?
Links that appear on every page of a website, sometimes accomplished with a separate frame, especially along the top or banner of the page, are called Global Navigation.
Links that appear in a major section of the site (a subsite or microsite), usually along the left side of the page, are called Local Navigation.
IAwiki definition
Broader Terms: Navigation
Related Terms: Local Navigation, Global Navigation Controlled Vocabulary
A controlled vocabulary (CV) or managed vocabulary is an attempt to limit the number of terms that will be admitted into a discourse in order to improve communication.
In Content Management a CV may be used to remove ambiguities by substituting a Preferred Term for multiple equivalent synonyms available. The Preferred Term becomes the key label used in organizing the content navigation and a Variant Term, while deprecated, may be used in the Search Engine to improve Recall? and Precision?.
Authority File are lists of preferred terms to Use in a Controlled Vocabulary.
A Controlled Vocabulary organized hierarchically, with a broader term BT and a narrower term NT for each entry, becomes a Taxonomy.
When you add related terms RT, it becomes a Thesaurus.
References:
Information Architecture, Rosenfeld and Morville, pp. 177-188
Bob Boiko on Managing Vocabularies (Real Video file)
Controlled Vocabulary.com
IAWiki on CV
What Is A Controlled Vocabulary? (Boxes and Arrows)
CV Guide
A Thesaurus Project/Bibliography
Related Terms: Thesaurus, Authority File
CMS
In Content Management a CV may be used to remove ambiguities by substituting a Preferred Term for multiple equivalent synonyms available. The Preferred Term becomes the key label used in organizing the content navigation and a Variant Term, while deprecated, may be used in the Search Engine to improve Recall? and Precision?.
Authority File are lists of preferred terms to Use in a Controlled Vocabulary.
A Controlled Vocabulary organized hierarchically, with a broader term BT and a narrower term NT for each entry, becomes a Taxonomy.
When you add related terms RT, it becomes a Thesaurus.
References:
Information Architecture, Rosenfeld and Morville, pp. 177-188
Bob Boiko on Managing Vocabularies (Real Video file)
Controlled Vocabulary.com
IAWiki on CV
What Is A Controlled Vocabulary? (Boxes and Arrows)
CV Guide
A Thesaurus Project/Bibliography
A CMS is a Content Management System. Today it most commonly means Web Content Management, sometimes called (WCM).
The CMS acronym is also used widely in other fields: in the academic community for a Course Management System, technology for e-learning in universities and corporate training centers. (In the legal community it stands for a Case Mangement System. In business it is for a Contact Management System, and for a Client Management System, it is generally known today as Customer Relationship Management CRM?.
Content Management must be distinguished from Document Management, Knowledge Management, Asset Management, Rights Management, Records Management, Customer Relations Management?, Learning Management? (e-Learning), Business Process Management, Brand Management?, and Enterprise Information Management?, sometimes called Enterprise Content Management .
Enterprise Content Management is a superset of CM that includes at least Web Content Management (WCM) and traditional Document Management.
When Enterprise Content Management includes many other functions, it is perhaps better called Enterprise Information Management?.
Broader Terms: Enterprise Content Management, Enterprise Information Management?
The CMS acronym is also used widely in other fields: in the academic community for a Course Management System, technology for e-learning in universities and corporate training centers. (In the legal community it stands for a Case Mangement System. In business it is for a Contact Management System, and for a Client Management System, it is generally known today as Customer Relationship Management CRM?.
Content Management must be distinguished from Document Management, Knowledge Management, Asset Management, Rights Management, Records Management, Customer Relations Management?, Learning Management? (e-Learning), Business Process Management, Brand Management?, and Enterprise Information Management?, sometimes called Enterprise Content Management .
Enterprise Content Management is a superset of CM that includes at least Web Content Management (WCM) and traditional Document Management.
When Enterprise Content Management includes many other functions, it is perhaps better called Enterprise Information Management?.
Related Terms: Document Management, Knowledge Management, Asset Management, Rights Management, Records Management, Customer Relations Management?, Learning Management? (e-Learning), Business Process Management, Brand Management? CORBA Narrower Terms:
Broader Terms:
Related Terms: DCOM Creation
The Creation phase is the first of three classic phases of Content Management -
Creation includes Acquisition of content, Aggregation of syndicated content, and Authoring of new content.
Broader Terms: Content Management
- Content Creation
- Content Management Proper?
- Content Delivery
Creation includes Acquisition of content, Aggregation of syndicated content, and Authoring of new content.
Related Terms: Delivery Crosswalk
The idea that Meta Data specifications can be merged.
In the Semantic Web, relationships between resources can be used to infer meaning. The Inference Engine? can use only the RDF relations, or learn to crosswalk between Meta Data formats.
In classification schemes (like library classifications), a classification crosswalk retrieves the codes from one system (like LCC) given the codes from another (like DCC).
Broader Terms: Meta Data
In the Semantic Web, relationships between resources can be used to infer meaning. The Inference Engine? can use only the RDF relations, or learn to crosswalk between Meta Data formats.
A table that maps the relationships and equivalencies between two or more metadata formats. Crosswalks or metadata mapping support the ability of search engines to search effectively across heterogeneous databases, i.e. crosswalks help promote interoperability
Canadian Heritage
Canadian Heritage
In classification schemes (like library classifications), a classification crosswalk retrieves the codes from one system (like LCC) given the codes from another (like DCC).
Related Terms: Semantic Web, Topic Map Custom Written Essays
The CMS Community Wiki is a knowledge base for Content Management Professionals.
Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
Customization
Major topics
- Intro To CMS (an introduction to content management systems)
- History Of CMS (a timeline of content management technology)
- Cms Directories (listings of content management systems available across the globe)
- Cms Glossary (technical definitions of over 250 content management terms)
- Dita Glossary (definitions of fifty DITA-related terms)
- Interaction Design Glossary (definitions of IxD terms)
- Information Architecture Glossary (definitions of IA terms)
- Knowledge Management Glossary (definitions of KM terms)
- Taxonomy Glossary (definitions of Taxo, Onto, Classification terms)
- Master Glossary (definitions of all terms, with proposed terms)
- Cms Practices (research areas for content management best practices)
- Cms Products (listings of open-source, proprietary, and hosted solutions)
- Cms Vendors
- Cms People
- Cms Features
- Cms Resources
- Cms Blogs
- Other Cms Sites (other websites providing useful CMS resources)
Using the Wiki
Use Wiki Words for creating new pages. Using Cms Wiki has some policies and tips. Unfortunately, increasing spam from anonymous visitors forced us to limit contributers to registered users. Thanks to those anonymous visitors who erased spam when it appeared.Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
Customization is a form of Personalization that allows individuals to tailor the content to their needs, for example making a weather report their top item.
Related Terms: Personalization
The CMS Community Wiki is a knowledge base for Content Management Professionals.
Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
Dashboard
Related Terms: CORBA, Web Services Delivery
Related Terms: Content Creation, Content Management, Work Flow, Baked, Fried Derivative
Related Terms: Reuse Designer
Related Terms: Model?, Model View Controller (MVC) Developer
Broader Terms:
Related Terms: Distribution
Related Terms: Content Management, Knowledge Management Document Object Model Narrower Terms:
Broader Terms:
Related Terms: Document Type Definition
Major topics
- Intro To CMS (an introduction to content management systems)
- History Of CMS (a timeline of content management technology)
- Cms Directories (listings of content management systems available across the globe)
- Cms Glossary (technical definitions of over 250 content management terms)
- Dita Glossary (definitions of fifty DITA-related terms)
- Interaction Design Glossary (definitions of IxD terms)
- Information Architecture Glossary (definitions of IA terms)
- Knowledge Management Glossary (definitions of KM terms)
- Taxonomy Glossary (definitions of Taxo, Onto, Classification terms)
- Master Glossary (definitions of all terms, with proposed terms)
- Cms Practices (research areas for content management best practices)
- Cms Products (listings of open-source, proprietary, and hosted solutions)
- Cms Vendors
- Cms People
- Cms Features
- Cms Resources
- Cms Blogs
- Other Cms Sites (other websites providing useful CMS resources)
Using the Wiki
Use Wiki Words for creating new pages. Using Cms Wiki has some policies and tips. Unfortunately, increasing spam from anonymous visitors forced us to limit contributers to registered users. Thanks to those anonymous visitors who erased spam when it appeared.Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
Dashboard is a popular buzzword for the main Business Process Management interface for an Enterprise Information System. Today it is usualy a web page, driven by middleware using Web Services to contact many applications and their databases.
It can perform queries and produce reports. In this respect it is functionally similar to the Data Viewer? and Editor of a Data Base? Management System (RDBMS?).
But it also can show a variety of pre-calculated queries, a small, defined set of key metrics that provide a quick evaluation of a project or process status, that show up as visible indicators.
It may also contain links to subsidiary management and reporting applications.
The Dash Board can perform queries and produce reports. In this respect it is functionally similar to the Data Viewer? and Editor of a Data Base? Management System (RDBMS?).
But it also can show a variety of pre-calculated queries, a small, defined set of key metrics that provide a quick evaluation of a project or process status. They can show up as visible indicators, red for troupble, green for OK.
The Dash Board may also contain links to subsidiary management and reporting applications.
A Dashboard has also been used in new versions of much more modest programs, such as accounting.
Also known as a Score Card?, cockpit, or Instrument Panel?.
Related Terms: ScoreCard?, Business Process Management
Database Backed
It can perform queries and produce reports. In this respect it is functionally similar to the Data Viewer? and Editor of a Data Base? Management System (RDBMS?).
But it also can show a variety of pre-calculated queries, a small, defined set of key metrics that provide a quick evaluation of a project or process status, that show up as visible indicators.
It may also contain links to subsidiary management and reporting applications.
The Dash Board can perform queries and produce reports. In this respect it is functionally similar to the Data Viewer? and Editor of a Data Base? Management System (RDBMS?).
But it also can show a variety of pre-calculated queries, a small, defined set of key metrics that provide a quick evaluation of a project or process status. They can show up as visible indicators, red for troupble, green for OK.
The Dash Board may also contain links to subsidiary management and reporting applications.
A Dashboard has also been used in new versions of much more modest programs, such as accounting.
Also known as a Score Card?, cockpit, or Instrument Panel?.
"Database-backed" describes web sites that keep important information in a database. They allow the web site to support information "transactions" with the user, with the results of all transactions stored permanently in the database. They allow a web site to have a memory. An organization can make its "institutional memory" available from any browser anywhere..
Every organization and business has a database, even if it's just a collection of written records. The magic starts when those records are stored in a powerful "relational" database management system that allows "relations" to be made between the data in records that might not have seemed related at first. Still more powerful databases are called Object Oriented. They provide very large containers for multi-megabyte media files and their accompanying Metadata. The containers can inherit properties from prototypes, simplifying design and Reuse.
And the really dazzling part comes when the database content is made accessible over the web (securely of course and with varying levels of permissions) to the many people inside and outside the organization who have an interest in the data.
Professor Philip Greenspun of MIT, along with Ars Digita (now the RedHat? CMS), has made the case for the database in his book "Database-Backed? Web Sites" and the more recent "Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing."
A major objective of the world's largest corporations is to combine all their databases into a central Data Warehouse?, from which information can be delivered to the web using a Content Management System. With the cost of databases and web servers so low, even the world's smallest enterprises can now afford their own "EnterpriseInformationSystem" and manage their enterprise over the web.
Related Terms: Middleware
Data Cleansing
Every organization and business has a database, even if it's just a collection of written records. The magic starts when those records are stored in a powerful "relational" database management system that allows "relations" to be made between the data in records that might not have seemed related at first. Still more powerful databases are called Object Oriented. They provide very large containers for multi-megabyte media files and their accompanying Metadata. The containers can inherit properties from prototypes, simplifying design and Reuse.
And the really dazzling part comes when the database content is made accessible over the web (securely of course and with varying levels of permissions) to the many people inside and outside the organization who have an interest in the data.
Professor Philip Greenspun of MIT, along with Ars Digita (now the RedHat? CMS), has made the case for the database in his book "Database-Backed? Web Sites" and the more recent "Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing."
A major objective of the world's largest corporations is to combine all their databases into a central Data Warehouse?, from which information can be delivered to the web using a Content Management System. With the cost of databases and web servers so low, even the world's smallest enterprises can now afford their own "EnterpriseInformationSystem" and manage their enterprise over the web.
Describes the validation and conversion of data imported from a Legacy System? DataBase into a Data Mart? or Data Warehouse?.
Related Terms: DataScrub?
DCOM
Microsoft's DCOM (originally a distributed extension of their COM - Component Object Model) was first known as Distributed Component Object Model. It was a network version of OLE? - Object Linking and Embedding.
More recently it is represented as an acronym for Distributed Common Object Model, making it more similar to CORBA - Common Object Request Broker Architecture.
Both DCOM and CORBA have proved difficult to develop for all but the most advanced software engineering shops, and the dream of distribution has been discouraged by problems of compatibility. Remote procedure calling has floundered on disagreements, from the called parameters and parameter data types, to even simpler problems like their standardized names and calling order. It has also suffered from firewalls blocking exchange of data.
Web Services is having much wider success, with simpler uses, based on XML-RPC and SOAP. Simple HTTP-based protocols have no trouble passing through corporate firewalls.
Broader Terms: DistributedServices?
More recently it is represented as an acronym for Distributed Common Object Model, making it more similar to CORBA - Common Object Request Broker Architecture.
Both DCOM and CORBA have proved difficult to develop for all but the most advanced software engineering shops, and the dream of distribution has been discouraged by problems of compatibility. Remote procedure calling has floundered on disagreements, from the called parameters and parameter data types, to even simpler problems like their standardized names and calling order. It has also suffered from firewalls blocking exchange of data.
Web Services is having much wider success, with simpler uses, based on XML-RPC and SOAP. Simple HTTP-based protocols have no trouble passing through corporate firewalls.
Related Terms: CORBA, Web Services Delivery
Delivery is another term for the third phase in the Content Life Cycle, where a CMS publishes the pages (serves them to website visitors or sends them to print production).
The delivery servers are sometimes called production servers, which is often confused with the production of content (usually called development) in the first Content Creation phase of the content Life Cycle.
Delivery servers are often caching servers, and they may only provide "static" versions of "Baked" pages that were generated from "dynamic" pages.
If the dynamic pages are served directly they are called "Fried."
Personalization of pages requires that Delivery be from dynamic servers.
Broader Terms: Life Cycle
The delivery servers are sometimes called production servers, which is often confused with the production of content (usually called development) in the first Content Creation phase of the content Life Cycle.
Delivery servers are often caching servers, and they may only provide "static" versions of "Baked" pages that were generated from "dynamic" pages.
If the dynamic pages are served directly they are called "Fried."
Personalization of pages requires that Delivery be from dynamic servers.
Related Terms: Content Creation, Content Management, Work Flow, Baked, Fried Derivative
When a master document needs to be changed in a way that would conflict with its use in Single Source Publishing, a Derivative must be created.
It is good practice to maintain Meta Data that relates the derivative to the original document.
Broader Terms: Single Source Publishing
It is good practice to maintain Meta Data that relates the derivative to the original document.
Related Terms: Reuse Designer
The Designer is perhaps the most important person in the creation of a Content Management System (the tool itself) and also the person that creates a website.
Among the many specialized sub-disciplines of Content Management we recognize many designers in charge of :
Related Terms: Developer, Information Architect
Design Pattern
Among the many specialized sub-disciplines of Content Management we recognize many designers in charge of :
- Visual Design?
- Interface Design?
- Navigation
- Interaction Design
- User Experience
Discovering patterns in Content Management is critical for identifying suitable Organizing Principles, recognizing contexts where content can be chunked for Reuse and Single Source Publishing, and helping content users to construct an adequate Mental Model or Mind Map? of the content.
Related to patterns in software that led to Object Oriented programming (OOP) - but not to be confused with Pattern Recognition?, a subdiscipline of Artificial Intelligence - the idea of a Design Pattern in Information Architecture is based on the work of Christopher Alexander? in traditional architecture back in the 1960's.
Alexander's A Pattern Language and The Timeless Way of Building taught us to parse architecture into familiar units that enable us to navigate a building, like entrances, doors, and doorknobs.
His formal idea of a Design Pattern describes it as a three-part rule, expressing a relation between a certain context, a certain system of forces which occurs repeatedly in that context, and a certain configuration which allows these forces to resolve themselves. It is not simply a proven solution to some problem in some context. And a bunch of patterns do not constitute "A Pattern Language."
Alexander's influence taught architects they were not free to change the many conventions in architecture without creating confusion in their visitors. This has been a strong lesson for User Experience engineers, who approve of innovation in Visual Design?, but are careful to test with User Research to see if the visual innovation has improved or damaged a new site visitor's ability to navigate.
Design Patterns are used widely by Java programmers and by those following Object Model Group? (OMG) methodologies like Grady Booch's Unified Modeling Language. See the classic book on design patterns by the "Gang of Four (GoF)".
The fields of Interaction Design, Interface Design?, and Human Computer Interface also make a great deal of use of Design Patterns.
One very important design pattern for a Graphical User Interface? (GUI?) is the Model-View-Controller scheme created by Xerox.
References:
A Pattern Definition (Alexander's method and terminology)
Website Patterns on IA Wiki
The Interaction Design Patterns Page
Victor Lombardi "Pattern Languages for Information Design"
Jenifer Tidwell - Common Ground
Sally Fincher - Pattern Gallery
GoF Design Patterns
HCI Design Patterns
CHI 2002 Patterns)
Groupware Patterns (on a wiki)
Martijn van Welie Patterns
Interaction Patterns in User Interfaces
UI Patterns Mailing List
Broader Terms: Information Design, Interaction Design, Human Computer Interface
Related to patterns in software that led to Object Oriented programming (OOP) - but not to be confused with Pattern Recognition?, a subdiscipline of Artificial Intelligence - the idea of a Design Pattern in Information Architecture is based on the work of Christopher Alexander? in traditional architecture back in the 1960's.
Alexander's A Pattern Language and The Timeless Way of Building taught us to parse architecture into familiar units that enable us to navigate a building, like entrances, doors, and doorknobs.
His formal idea of a Design Pattern describes it as a three-part rule, expressing a relation between a certain context, a certain system of forces which occurs repeatedly in that context, and a certain configuration which allows these forces to resolve themselves. It is not simply a proven solution to some problem in some context. And a bunch of patterns do not constitute "A Pattern Language."
Alexander's influence taught architects they were not free to change the many conventions in architecture without creating confusion in their visitors. This has been a strong lesson for User Experience engineers, who approve of innovation in Visual Design?, but are careful to test with User Research to see if the visual innovation has improved or damaged a new site visitor's ability to navigate.
Design Patterns are used widely by Java programmers and by those following Object Model Group? (OMG) methodologies like Grady Booch's Unified Modeling Language. See the classic book on design patterns by the "Gang of Four (GoF)".
The fields of Interaction Design, Interface Design?, and Human Computer Interface also make a great deal of use of Design Patterns.
One very important design pattern for a Graphical User Interface? (GUI?) is the Model-View-Controller scheme created by Xerox.
References:
A Pattern Definition (Alexander's method and terminology)
Website Patterns on IA Wiki
The Interaction Design Patterns Page
Victor Lombardi "Pattern Languages for Information Design"
Jenifer Tidwell - Common Ground
Sally Fincher - Pattern Gallery
GoF Design Patterns
HCI Design Patterns
CHI 2002 Patterns)
Groupware Patterns (on a wiki)
Martijn van Welie Patterns
Interaction Patterns in User Interfaces
UI Patterns Mailing List
Related Terms: Model?, Model View Controller (MVC) Developer
Developer is usually shorthand for a software developer. Developer is a more general term than programmer, implying project management and other tasks than mere coding.
Be careful assuming that development involves design. Many developers think themselves fully capable of designing the User Interface (UI) for their work, but this is often a fatal flaw in their products.
Define > Design > Develop > Debug > Document > Deploy
The Designer should be in charge of Visual Design?, Interface Design?, Interaction Design, including Navigation and any Web Application.
The Developer should be in charge of implementation?, only constraining the designer when there appear to be real technical difficulties in achieving a design.
The team of Designer and Developer should work with User Experience engineers who do User Testing. Usability sets the real limits to a Content Management System.
A Content Management System may have one developer or a whole team of developers.
Open Source CMS are created and maintained by a Developer Community?. These communities prefer not to referred to as "vendors," since their systems are not sold but are available on the Internet as a download? of Free Software. They usually call themselves simply "developers." Their teams rarely include a professional designer.
Related Terms: Programmer?, Designer
DHTML
Be careful assuming that development involves design. Many developers think themselves fully capable of designing the User Interface (UI) for their work, but this is often a fatal flaw in their products.
Define > Design > Develop > Debug > Document > Deploy
The Designer should be in charge of Visual Design?, Interface Design?, Interaction Design, including Navigation and any Web Application.
The Developer should be in charge of implementation?, only constraining the designer when there appear to be real technical difficulties in achieving a design.
The team of Designer and Developer should work with User Experience engineers who do User Testing. Usability sets the real limits to a Content Management System.
A Content Management System may have one developer or a whole team of developers.
Open Source CMS are created and maintained by a Developer Community?. These communities prefer not to referred to as "vendors," since their systems are not sold but are available on the Internet as a download? of Free Software. They usually call themselves simply "developers." Their teams rarely include a professional designer.
"The three W's of the World Wide Web? might better be thought of as three U's - Useful, Usable, and Used.
It is quite easy to build a Useful tool. It's much harder to build a Usable tool. That requires User Research, User Testing, and Usability studies. But even if you build a Useful and Usable tool, whether it will be Used is out of the hands of designers and developers."
Bob Doyle
It is quite easy to build a Useful tool. It's much harder to build a Usable tool. That requires User Research, User Testing, and Usability studies. But even if you build a Useful and Usable tool, whether it will be Used is out of the hands of designers and developers."
Bob Doyle
DHTML (Dynamic HTML) describes a programming technique that depends on a number of technologies and different web standards to allow the delivery of Dynamic Content to web pages.
Where most dynamic content is prepared for delivery on the server side, DHTML allows content to be changed in the browser, depending on the actions of the user, without sending another Http Request? to the server.
DHTML is thus the basis for many interactive web applications in which the browser/client is enhanced with software that is executed in the browser. In client/server jargon, it allows a "thick client."
Java Script? (ECMAScript?) is the main programming language in the browser.
Besides changing the content itself, Java Script? can change style-sheet parameters to alter the appearance and position of the content on the page.
Although Macromedia's Action Script? for Flash? and Java can also run browser-side code, they are not considered DHTML. A Rich Internet Application also provides dynamic client-side interactivity, but it uses a proprietary client (not a standard web browser).
UF Dynamic Html
Related Terms: Document Object Model (DOM?), ECMA?, ECMA Script?, Interaction Design, Java Script?, Cascading Style Sheet (CSS?), Rich Internet Application,
Digital Asset Management
Where most dynamic content is prepared for delivery on the server side, DHTML allows content to be changed in the browser, depending on the actions of the user, without sending another Http Request? to the server.
DHTML is thus the basis for many interactive web applications in which the browser/client is enhanced with software that is executed in the browser. In client/server jargon, it allows a "thick client."
Java Script? (ECMAScript?) is the main programming language in the browser.
Besides changing the content itself, Java Script? can change style-sheet parameters to alter the appearance and position of the content on the page.
Although Macromedia's Action Script? for Flash? and Java can also run browser-side code, they are not considered DHTML. A Rich Internet Application also provides dynamic client-side interactivity, but it uses a proprietary client (not a standard web browser).
UF Dynamic Html
Digital asset management (DAM) systems support the storage, retrieval and reuse of digital objects within an organisation. DAM differs from Document Management and Content Management in its focus on multimedia resources, such as images, video and audio. DAM also has a strong focus on Digital Rights Management.
Digital asset management is extensively used by organisations that have a portfolio of digital content or other electronic resources, such as museums and libraries, as well as media and advertising firms.
Digital Certificate
Digital asset management is extensively used by organisations that have a portfolio of digital content or other electronic resources, such as museums and libraries, as well as media and advertising firms.
A Digital Certificate is used to encrypt secure access to web content and services, using the HTTPS? and SSL? protocols.
The Digital Certificate is installed on the Web Server or Application Server.
A Digital Certificate specifies the name of an individual, company, or other entity that owns the website content and provides its services, especially e Commerce?.
Credit card numbers and other private information are encrypted when sent over the web when HTTPS is used. A small lock icon appears in the browser to indicate that your transaction is secure.
A CMS should use HTTPS, minimally for the login page, to protect user identities and prevent access by intruders.
A Digital Certificate is issued and digitally signed by a Certificate Authority? (CA). A certificate's validity can be verified by checking the CA's digital signature. Also called digital ID, digital passport, public-key certificate, X.509 certificate, and security certificate.
Digital Rights Management
Narrower Terms:
The Digital Certificate is installed on the Web Server or Application Server.
A Digital Certificate specifies the name of an individual, company, or other entity that owns the website content and provides its services, especially e Commerce?.
Credit card numbers and other private information are encrypted when sent over the web when HTTPS is used. A small lock icon appears in the browser to indicate that your transaction is secure.
A CMS should use HTTPS, minimally for the login page, to protect user identities and prevent access by intruders.
A Digital Certificate is issued and digitally signed by a Certificate Authority? (CA). A certificate's validity can be verified by checking the CA's digital signature. Also called digital ID, digital passport, public-key certificate, X.509 certificate, and security certificate.
Broader Terms:
Related Terms: Distribution
The frequency or number of occurrences of some phenomenon plotted against an important measurement axis.
In science the most famous are the Normal Distribution? or Bell Curve?, in which about two-thirds of the occurrences are within one Standard Deviation? from the Mean Value?, and 95 percent within two standard deviations.
Some others are the Uniform Distribution?, Poisson Distribution?, and Maxwell Distribution?.
A Power Law? distribution lies behind many phenomena important in Content Management and Library Science.
The popularity of websites, according to the Google Page Rank for example, follows a Power Law?. The few biggest portals have more visitors than all other portals combined. The most popular blogs have more references in the Blog Roll? of others than all others combined, etc.
Particular distributions that describe the productivity of authors, the frequencies of citations and other library phenomena are the Bradford Distribution? and the Zipf Distribution?.
DITA
In science the most famous are the Normal Distribution? or Bell Curve?, in which about two-thirds of the occurrences are within one Standard Deviation? from the Mean Value?, and 95 percent within two standard deviations.
Some others are the Uniform Distribution?, Poisson Distribution?, and Maxwell Distribution?.
A Power Law? distribution lies behind many phenomena important in Content Management and Library Science.
The popularity of websites, according to the Google Page Rank for example, follows a Power Law?. The few biggest portals have more visitors than all other portals combined. The most popular blogs have more references in the Blog Roll? of others than all others combined, etc.
Particular distributions that describe the productivity of authors, the frequencies of citations and other library phenomena are the Bradford Distribution? and the Zipf Distribution?.
"The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is an XML-based, end-to-end architecture for authoring, producing, and delivering technical information. This architecture consists of a set of design principles for creating "information-typed" modules at a topic level and for using that content in delivery modes such as online help and product support portals on the Web."
Day, Priestley, and Schell, IBM Corporation.
Document Management
Day, Priestley, and Schell, IBM Corporation.
Document management systems (DMS) are designed to assist organisations to manage the creation and flow of documents through the provision of a centralised repository, and workflow that encapsulates business rules and metadata. The focus of a DMS is primarily on the storage and retrieval of self-contained electronic resources, in their native (original) format.
Note that while the definition of a document management system is very similar to that of a Content Management System, they serve different (and complementary) roles within an organisation.
More resources:
Broader Terms: InformationManagement?
Note that while the definition of a document management system is very similar to that of a Content Management System, they serve different (and complementary) roles within an organisation.
More resources:
- Is it DM or CM? - This briefing helps to dispell the widespread confusion in the marketplace between document management systems (DMS) and content management systems (CMS).
Related Terms: Content Management, Knowledge Management Document Object Model Narrower Terms:
Broader Terms:
Related Terms: Document Type Definition
The Document Type Definition (DTD) is used to validate an SGML? or XML document. DTDs are used to support and effectively describe XML file structures, providing the vocabulary and allowable structure of the elements in an XML document.
DTD is now superseded by the Xml Schema Document? (XSD?), which is essentially a DTD written in XML.
A DTD could not itself be validated by the same parser for XML.
Related Terms: Validation?, XSD?
DTD
Dublin Core
In SGML or XML, a formal description of the components of a specific document or class of documents. DTDs provide a formal grammar used for machine processing (parsing) of documents expressed in SGML or XML. A DTD description includes: The containers or elements that make up the document; e.g., paragraphs, headings, list items, figures, tables, etc. The logical structure of the document; e.g., chapters containing sections, etc. Additional information associated with elements (known as attributes); e.g., identifiers, date stamps, etc.
CSUN Dublin Core Glossary
CSUN Dublin Core Glossary
DTD is now superseded by the Xml Schema Document? (XSD?), which is essentially a DTD written in XML.
A DTD could not itself be validated by the same parser for XML.
The Dublin Core is a metadata element set. It includes all DCMI terms (that is, refinements, encoding schemes, and controlled vocabulary terms) intended to facilitate discovery of resources. The Dublin Core has been in development since 1995 through a series of focused invitational workshops that gather experts from the library world, the networking and digital library research communities, and a variety of content specialties. Source: Dublin Core Glossary of Terms.
The Dublin Core metadata standard is a simple yet effective element set for describing a wide range of networked resources. The Dublin Core standard includes two levels: Simple and Qualified. Simple Dublin Core comprises fifteen elements; Qualified Dublin Core includes an additional element, Audience, as well as a group of element refinements (also called qualifiers) that refine the semantics of the elements in ways that may be useful in resource discovery. The semantics of Dublin Core have been established by an international, cross-disciplinary group of professionals from librarianship, computer science, text encoding, the museum community, and other related fields of scholarship and practice. Source: Understanding Metadata: Using Dublin Core, By Dianne Hillman, Dublin Core Metadata Initiative.
Another way to look at Dublin Core is as a "small language for making a particular class of statements about resources". Source: Understanding Metadata: Using Dublin Core, By Dianne Hillman, Dublin Core Metadata Initiative.
Dynamic Content
The Dublin Core metadata standard is a simple yet effective element set for describing a wide range of networked resources. The Dublin Core standard includes two levels: Simple and Qualified. Simple Dublin Core comprises fifteen elements; Qualified Dublin Core includes an additional element, Audience, as well as a group of element refinements (also called qualifiers) that refine the semantics of the elements in ways that may be useful in resource discovery. The semantics of Dublin Core have been established by an international, cross-disciplinary group of professionals from librarianship, computer science, text encoding, the museum community, and other related fields of scholarship and practice. Source: Understanding Metadata: Using Dublin Core, By Dianne Hillman, Dublin Core Metadata Initiative.
Another way to look at Dublin Core is as a "small language for making a particular class of statements about resources". Source: Understanding Metadata: Using Dublin Core, By Dianne Hillman, Dublin Core Metadata Initiative.
Content that is assembled automatically to meet users' specific needs, providing them with exactly what they are looking for, when they are looking for it, and in the format they need. Dynamic content exists as a series of information objects, assembled on demand in response to user actions, requirements, or preferences.
Dynamic content can be provided to users of a web site, but it can also be provided to authors in the form of documents pre-populated with appropriate reusable content.
Dynamic content is often used to facilitate Personalization, Systematic Reuse?, and Collaborative Learning?.
Dynamic HTML
Dynamic content can be provided to users of a web site, but it can also be provided to authors in the form of documents pre-populated with appropriate reusable content.
Dynamic content is often used to facilitate Personalization, Systematic Reuse?, and Collaborative Learning?.
Dynamic HTML (also called DHTML) describes a programming technique that depends on a number of technologies and different web standards to allow the delivery of Dynamic Content to web pages.
Where most dynamic content is prepared for delivery on the server side, Dynamic HTML allows content to be changed in the browser, depending on the actions of the user, without sending another Http Request? to the server.
Dynamic HTML is thus the basis for many interactive web applications in which the browser/client is enhanced with software that is executed in the browser. In client/server jargon, it allows a "thick client."
Java Script? (ECMAScript?) is the main programming language in the browser.
Besides changing the content itself, Java Script? can change style-sheet parameters to alter the appearance and position of the content on the page.
Although Macromedia's Action Script? for Flash? and Java can also run browser-side code, they are not considered Dynamic HTML. A Rich Internet Application also provides dynamic client-side interactivity, but it uses a proprietary client (not a standard web browser).
Use DHTML
Related Terms: Document Object Model (DOM?), ECMA?, ECMA Script?, Interaction Design, Java Script?, Cascading Style Sheet (CSS?), Rich Internet Application,
Dynamic Publishing
Where most dynamic content is prepared for delivery on the server side, Dynamic HTML allows content to be changed in the browser, depending on the actions of the user, without sending another Http Request? to the server.
Dynamic HTML is thus the basis for many interactive web applications in which the browser/client is enhanced with software that is executed in the browser. In client/server jargon, it allows a "thick client."
Java Script? (ECMAScript?) is the main programming language in the browser.
Besides changing the content itself, Java Script? can change style-sheet parameters to alter the appearance and position of the content on the page.
Although Macromedia's Action Script? for Flash? and Java can also run browser-side code, they are not considered Dynamic HTML. A Rich Internet Application also provides dynamic client-side interactivity, but it uses a proprietary client (not a standard web browser).
Use DHTML
Dynamic publishing (also known as fried publishing) describes web pages dynamically generated by a CMS.
Fried pages must be served from the main Content Management ApplicationServer. This means they are slower to serve than pages created via Static Publishing.
But they then have the full power of personalization, localization?, and Multi Channel delivery made possible by dynamic pages.
See Publishing Models for a discussion of static versus dynamic publishing.
Related Terms: Static Publishing, Baked
Fried pages must be served from the main Content Management ApplicationServer. This means they are slower to serve than pages created via Static Publishing.
But they then have the full power of personalization, localization?, and Multi Channel delivery made possible by dynamic pages.
See Publishing Models for a discussion of static versus dynamic publishing.
The CMS Community Wiki is a knowledge base for Content Management Professionals.
Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
EAI
Broader Terms:
Related Terms: ERP
Major topics
- Intro To CMS (an introduction to content management systems)
- History Of CMS (a timeline of content management technology)
- Cms Directories (listings of content management systems available across the globe)
- Cms Glossary (technical definitions of over 250 content management terms)
- Dita Glossary (definitions of fifty DITA-related terms)
- Interaction Design Glossary (definitions of IxD terms)
- Information Architecture Glossary (definitions of IA terms)
- Knowledge Management Glossary (definitions of KM terms)
- Taxonomy Glossary (definitions of Taxo, Onto, Classification terms)
- Master Glossary (definitions of all terms, with proposed terms)
- Cms Practices (research areas for content management best practices)
- Cms Products (listings of open-source, proprietary, and hosted solutions)
- Cms Vendors
- Cms People
- Cms Features
- Cms Resources
- Cms Blogs
- Other Cms Sites (other websites providing useful CMS resources)
Using the Wiki
Use Wiki Words for creating new pages. Using Cms Wiki has some policies and tips. Unfortunately, increasing spam from anonymous visitors forced us to limit contributers to registered users. Thanks to those anonymous visitors who erased spam when it appeared.Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
The provision of a gateway between otherwise incompatible applications which provides means for converting one system's data formats into another's in order to facilitate information or data exchange.
Element
The term "element" is used widely (and arbitrarily) in content management. Several uses of the term are described below.
Element describes the parts of HTML and XML documents:
An element, sometimes referred to as a Content Element, is an unique, discreet chunk of content, one that deserves its own presentation section (Content Block) in a Content Template.
Elements are information containers that may contain other elements. Documents are comprised of a combination of container elements. For example, a book is comprised of chapter elements, that contain section elements, that in turn contain sub-section elements, etc. A date element might contain the following elements: day, month, year.
The job of the Content Manager? or Information Architect is to identify types of elements, so they can be grouped into classes with common properties, and a range of attributes or values.
Related Terms: Granularity?, Component
Enterprise Content Management
Element describes the parts of HTML and XML documents:
- e.g., the <head> and <body> elements in HTML
- in XML an element is a start tag and end tag plus anything inside the tags (ContentModel?).
An element, sometimes referred to as a Content Element, is an unique, discreet chunk of content, one that deserves its own presentation section (Content Block) in a Content Template.
Elements are information containers that may contain other elements. Documents are comprised of a combination of container elements. For example, a book is comprised of chapter elements, that contain section elements, that in turn contain sub-section elements, etc. A date element might contain the following elements: day, month, year.
The job of the Content Manager? or Information Architect is to identify types of elements, so they can be grouped into classes with common properties, and a range of attributes or values.
There are many definitions of the term "enterprise content management" (ECM). The general consensus, however, is that ECM systems encompass a number of the following elements:
Some definitions include more specialized tools (properly subsystems of the big CM system) such as:
Still more ambitious ECM definitions would include Portal applications, behind which the above applications would be found, as well as:
The Portal provides Identity Management? and a Single Source Of Truth, the permissioning system that controls access (single login) to the content and to the applications for the entire enterprise.
At present, the ECM market is evolving rapidly, and there are as many definitions for these products as there are vendors.
More resources:
Enterprise Information System
Narrower Terms:
- Web Content Management (WCM or WCMS)
- Document Management (DM as native filetypes)
- Records Management (RM indexing and retrieval)
- Digital Image Management? (documents and records > images)
- Digital Asset Management (DAM especially multimedia files)
- Archiving? (Offline Retention? or Destruction)
Some definitions include more specialized tools (properly subsystems of the big CM system) such as:
- Access Control
- Work Flow
- Collaboration Tools? (Authoring Systems)
- Library Services
- Search Engine
- Metadata Management? ( Classification and Taxonomy )
- Localization? ( Multilingual Versioning )
- Digital Rights Management
- DataWarehousing/DataMining
- Virtual Repositories?
Still more ambitious ECM definitions would include Portal applications, behind which the above applications would be found, as well as:
- e Commerce?
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
- Product Lifecycle Management? (PLM)
- Business Process Management (BPM)
- Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
- Enterprise Application Integration? (EAI)
- e Learning?
- Financial Services?
- Human Resources (HR)
The Portal provides Identity Management? and a Single Source Of Truth, the permissioning system that controls access (single login) to the content and to the applications for the entire enterprise.
At present, the ECM market is evolving rapidly, and there are as many definitions for these products as there are vendors.
More resources:
- Annual series of white papers on Best Practices in Enterprise Content Management from KM World magazine: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004,
- Enterprise Applications - definition of terms provided by AIIM covering the field of enterprise content management (and more)
- Global ECM market still likely to consolidate - Brice Dunwoodie reports on a recent Ovum report on the future of enterprise content management vendors.
- More vendor consolidation despite ECM market growth - IDM reports on a recent Meta Group report covering the future of enterprise content management (ECM).
- "ECM" -- Don't buy it - Jim Howard talks about the difficulties of implementing enterprise content management (ECM).
Broader Terms:
Related Terms: ERP
Enterprise resource planning describes a business management system that integrates many aspects of the business, including planning, manufacturing, sales, and marketing.
ERP typically includes business software applications for inventory control, order tracking, customer service, finance and human resources.
Today content is being appreciated as one of the enterprise's most valuable assets, and the new field of Enterprise Content Management has emerged.
The integration of ERP and ECM? has no clear name, perhaps the older concept of EIS? - an Enterprise Information System - will be broad enough?
Ethnographic Research
ERP typically includes business software applications for inventory control, order tracking, customer service, finance and human resources.
Today content is being appreciated as one of the enterprise's most valuable assets, and the new field of Enterprise Content Management has emerged.
The integration of ERP and ECM? has no clear name, perhaps the older concept of EIS? - an Enterprise Information System - will be broad enough?
Ethnography is a subdiscipline of Anthropology and Sociology that stresses qualitative research, as opposed to the more "scientific" quantitative research that measures specific behaviors, tests hypotheses, does statistics, etc.
The data from ethnographic research are not tables and charts, but in-depth interviews and stories that elicit behaviors. Ethnographic researchers immerse themselves in a culture (sometimes for years) and locate specific "informants" who can articulate their culture. They try to avoid pre-conceived "theories" and strongly emphasize the collection of observations that capture the knowledge, and that may lead to a hypothesis by induction.
Ethnographic methods in Knowledge Management, Interaction and Interface Design, and User Experience similarly try to immerse themselves in the behaviors of typical users. They often try to characterize a typical user in a Persona, which embodies the archetypal qualities that an information system architecture must respond to.
Information System designers capture specific behaviors in Use Cases, which are also called Scenarios.
Tacit knowledge is behavior or beliefs that are rarely articulated by the members of the culture, and must be discovered by the ethnographer. These behaviors may then be formulated and explained to the members to seek confirmation of the hypothesis.
The explicit capture of this implicit or tacit knowledge is sometimes the most important product of ethnographic research for knowledge managers.
Also known as Contextual Inquiry.
References:
A Synthesis of Ethnographic Research
Related Terms: Contextual Inquiry, Persona, Scenario, Use Case, Knowledge Management, Interaction Design
The data from ethnographic research are not tables and charts, but in-depth interviews and stories that elicit behaviors. Ethnographic researchers immerse themselves in a culture (sometimes for years) and locate specific "informants" who can articulate their culture. They try to avoid pre-conceived "theories" and strongly emphasize the collection of observations that capture the knowledge, and that may lead to a hypothesis by induction.
Ethnographic methods in Knowledge Management, Interaction and Interface Design, and User Experience similarly try to immerse themselves in the behaviors of typical users. They often try to characterize a typical user in a Persona, which embodies the archetypal qualities that an information system architecture must respond to.
Information System designers capture specific behaviors in Use Cases, which are also called Scenarios.
Tacit knowledge is behavior or beliefs that are rarely articulated by the members of the culture, and must be discovered by the ethnographer. These behaviors may then be formulated and explained to the members to seek confirmation of the hypothesis.
The explicit capture of this implicit or tacit knowledge is sometimes the most important product of ethnographic research for knowledge managers.
Also known as Contextual Inquiry.
"When used as a method, ethnography typically refers to fieldwork (alternatively, participant-observation) conducted by a single investigator who 'lives with and lives like' those who are studied, usually for a year or more." --John Van Maanen, 1996
http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~genzuk/Ethnographic_Research.html|Source]
http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~genzuk/Ethnographic_Research.html|Source]
References:
A Synthesis of Ethnographic Research
The CMS Community Wiki is a knowledge base for Content Management Professionals.
Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
Faceted Classification
Fielded
Folksonomy
Forum
Major topics
- Intro To CMS (an introduction to content management systems)
- History Of CMS (a timeline of content management technology)
- Cms Directories (listings of content management systems available across the globe)
- Cms Glossary (technical definitions of over 250 content management terms)
- Dita Glossary (definitions of fifty DITA-related terms)
- Interaction Design Glossary (definitions of IxD terms)
- Information Architecture Glossary (definitions of IA terms)
- Knowledge Management Glossary (definitions of KM terms)
- Taxonomy Glossary (definitions of Taxo, Onto, Classification terms)
- Master Glossary (definitions of all terms, with proposed terms)
- Cms Practices (research areas for content management best practices)
- Cms Products (listings of open-source, proprietary, and hosted solutions)
- Cms Vendors
- Cms People
- Cms Features
- Cms Resources
- Cms Blogs
- Other Cms Sites (other websites providing useful CMS resources)
Using the Wiki
Use Wiki Words for creating new pages. Using Cms Wiki has some policies and tips. Unfortunately, increasing spam from anonymous visitors forced us to limit contributers to registered users. Thanks to those anonymous visitors who erased spam when it appeared.Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
Faceted Classification is a sophisticated alternative to traditional classification schemes and modern web directories which put one item in only one place. Each book in a library has one call number and one correct location on a certain shelf. Each CMS website in the DMOZ Open Directory Project is listed in just one category.
Faceted classifications are based on the Colon Classification scheme of Indian library scientist S.R. Ranganathan developed in the 1930's. Ranganathan created a set of properties or characteristics or attributes of any subject, ideally mutually exclusive (orthogonal) and exhaustive (complete), which means that any object being classified could be assigned one of these properties, which he called a facet.
For example, color, fabric, and size might be three facets to classify a shirt. Possible colon classifications would be red:cotton:small and green:polyester:large.
The outstanding advantage is that the user can decide which property is most important, and buiild a hierarchy starting with that facet. Most hierarchies (taxonomies, etc.) have a fixed arrangement of containers. A dynamic taxonomy can greatly strengthen navigation schemes, allowing visitors to arrange the website contents their way.
Faceted navigation schemes lie behind websites like www.wine.com, where you can arrange the wine hierarchy by type, region, and winery, or by winery, then region, etc.
William Denton has written a step-by-step how-to for putting a faceted classification on the web. He refers to the faceted classification of Content Management Systems at CMS Review where you can rearrange the classification by facets.
References:
KM Connection on Facets
How to Make a Faceted Classification, William Denton
A Simplified Model for Facet Analysis, Louise Spiteri, via AIfIA
A Bibliography on Facets for the Web
Use of Faceted Classification, Heidi Adkissin
Faceted Classification Mailing List
Facets In Your Future, Bob Doyle
XFML, eXchangeable Faceted Metadata Language, Peter van Dijck
Ranganathan
Broader Terms: Classification
Faceted classifications are based on the Colon Classification scheme of Indian library scientist S.R. Ranganathan developed in the 1930's. Ranganathan created a set of properties or characteristics or attributes of any subject, ideally mutually exclusive (orthogonal) and exhaustive (complete), which means that any object being classified could be assigned one of these properties, which he called a facet.
For example, color, fabric, and size might be three facets to classify a shirt. Possible colon classifications would be red:cotton:small and green:polyester:large.
The outstanding advantage is that the user can decide which property is most important, and buiild a hierarchy starting with that facet. Most hierarchies (taxonomies, etc.) have a fixed arrangement of containers. A dynamic taxonomy can greatly strengthen navigation schemes, allowing visitors to arrange the website contents their way.
Faceted navigation schemes lie behind websites like www.wine.com, where you can arrange the wine hierarchy by type, region, and winery, or by winery, then region, etc.
William Denton has written a step-by-step how-to for putting a faceted classification on the web. He refers to the faceted classification of Content Management Systems at CMS Review where you can rearrange the classification by facets.
References:
KM Connection on Facets
How to Make a Faceted Classification, William Denton
A Simplified Model for Facet Analysis, Louise Spiteri, via AIfIA
A Bibliography on Facets for the Web
Use of Faceted Classification, Heidi Adkissin
Faceted Classification Mailing List
Facets In Your Future, Bob Doyle
XFML, eXchangeable Faceted Metadata Language, Peter van Dijck
Ranganathan
Fielded
A fielded editor uses a web-based form to enter the various structured parts of a piece of content.
The form contains fields for title, author, dateline, body copy, etc. Other fields accept associated metadata, such as scheduled publication date, expiry date, and access permissions.
To see the results of entering content, the author may be able to preview? the content as it will look on the published page. Or this may only be available to Editors and Graphic Designers at a later stage in the workflow.
A WYSIWYG Editor allows the contributor? to see the way content will look in the final presentation. A structured? WYSIWYG Editor, usually XML, has active/editable areas that correspond to the fielded ContentObjects.
Related Terms: WYSIWYG
Findability
The form contains fields for title, author, dateline, body copy, etc. Other fields accept associated metadata, such as scheduled publication date, expiry date, and access permissions.
To see the results of entering content, the author may be able to preview? the content as it will look on the published page. Or this may only be available to Editors and Graphic Designers at a later stage in the workflow.
A WYSIWYG Editor allows the contributor? to see the way content will look in the final presentation. A structured? WYSIWYG Editor, usually XML, has active/editable areas that correspond to the fielded ContentObjects.
Peter Morville of Semantic Studios popularized the term Findability to distinguish it from other elements of User Experience and Information Architecture.
The basic idea is that something can't be useful if you can't find it.
He also identified other elements like accessibility, credibility, desirability, and usefulness.
Peter's best selling O'Reilly book on the subject is called Ambient Findability.
References:
Morville on UXD
The Findability website
Boxes and Arrows - The Age of Findability
Broader Terms: User Experience
The basic idea is that something can't be useful if you can't find it.
He also identified other elements like accessibility, credibility, desirability, and usefulness.
Peter's best selling O'Reilly book on the subject is called Ambient Findability.
References:
Morville on UXD
The Findability website
Boxes and Arrows - The Age of Findability
Folksonomy
Folksonomy is a term invented by Thomas Van der Wal to describe collaborative categorization using a community tool for developing a controlled vocabulary of metadata tags.
Sometimes called tagsonomy, these terms have both been criticized because folksonomies and tagsonomies almost never have the hierarchical or tree structure of a normal taxonomy.
They are categorization schemes with flat structures, simple name spaces.
Lists of subject headings or simple authority files have more nesting of levels.
And they lack even the rudiments of a good classification scheme like synonym? control.
Their great value is that members of a community can use tags created by fellow members to classify their work, and members can suggest their own terms which get automatically added to the list of tags.
References:
Flickr
del.icio.us
Corante on Folksonomy
Adam Mathes
Broader Terms: Categorization
Sometimes called tagsonomy, these terms have both been criticized because folksonomies and tagsonomies almost never have the hierarchical or tree structure of a normal taxonomy.
They are categorization schemes with flat structures, simple name spaces.
Lists of subject headings or simple authority files have more nesting of levels.
And they lack even the rudiments of a good classification scheme like synonym? control.
Their great value is that members of a community can use tags created by fellow members to classify their work, and members can suggest their own terms which get automatically added to the list of tags.
References:
Flickr
del.icio.us
Corante on Folksonomy
Adam Mathes
Forum
A Forum, or Bulletin Board, Message Board, News Group, Mailing List and a List Serv are all examples of an online Community Of Interest.
The Content generated consists of all the members' messages to the Forum or other community communications system. True Content Management tools are scant, usually limited to moderating messages by editing or deleting them.
A community keeps track of its members. You may be required to join to access any forums or mailing lists. Registration is usually free. They may be supported by advertising on the site. Communities may offer space on the community server for members to have their own personal web pages. They may gather information about members in a database, which then can be searched to locate specific members.
A Forum or Message Board may use a web interface (unlike a List Serv, which uses email). They show "threaded" discussions (emails with responses to that email). The archive for a List Serv is usually a web interface to the threaded emails that result when a user replies to a specific email.
Some may include email addresses for all participants, so you can contact other members of the forum. Forums usually send nothing to your email address (unless you elect such a notification option). You visit them to see what is happening. The largest provider of forum web sites is Yahoo Groups (formerly eGroups.com). Some sites publish the number of subscribers. Because of the "network effect," sites with the largest number of members are generally the most valuable.
A News Group is part of the original Usenet, with recognizable domain names, like sci.lang.translation. They are available via the NNTP news protocol (the news server setting in your browser), or through web-based interfaces like deja.com, recently acquired by Google, which has the best multilingual support of any web search engine. Newsgroups may be completely open or moderated. Unmoderated groups are notorious for postings which may be completely off-topic (OT?) and add a lot of noise to these important information channels.
Many web users do not distinguish between a Forum, Bulletin Board, News Group, and even a Mailing List.
The List Serv broadcasts an email to a (generally anonymous) list of subscribers. If the sender does not include a return email address, the message is anonymous. For this reason, we think of a standard List Serv not as a community, but as an "anonymity." A Mailing List may optionally provide access to the member email addresses.
Related Terms: Bulletin Board, News Group, Message Board, Mailing List, List Serv
Framework
The Content generated consists of all the members' messages to the Forum or other community communications system. True Content Management tools are scant, usually limited to moderating messages by editing or deleting them.
A community keeps track of its members. You may be required to join to access any forums or mailing lists. Registration is usually free. They may be supported by advertising on the site. Communities may offer space on the community server for members to have their own personal web pages. They may gather information about members in a database, which then can be searched to locate specific members.
A Forum or Message Board may use a web interface (unlike a List Serv, which uses email). They show "threaded" discussions (emails with responses to that email). The archive for a List Serv is usually a web interface to the threaded emails that result when a user replies to a specific email.
Some may include email addresses for all participants, so you can contact other members of the forum. Forums usually send nothing to your email address (unless you elect such a notification option). You visit them to see what is happening. The largest provider of forum web sites is Yahoo Groups (formerly eGroups.com). Some sites publish the number of subscribers. Because of the "network effect," sites with the largest number of members are generally the most valuable.
A News Group is part of the original Usenet, with recognizable domain names, like sci.lang.translation. They are available via the NNTP news protocol (the news server setting in your browser), or through web-based interfaces like deja.com, recently acquired by Google, which has the best multilingual support of any web search engine. Newsgroups may be completely open or moderated. Unmoderated groups are notorious for postings which may be completely off-topic (OT?) and add a lot of noise to these important information channels.
Many web users do not distinguish between a Forum, Bulletin Board, News Group, and even a Mailing List.
The List Serv broadcasts an email to a (generally anonymous) list of subscribers. If the sender does not include a return email address, the message is anonymous. For this reason, we think of a standard List Serv not as a community, but as an "anonymity." A Mailing List may optionally provide access to the member email addresses.
An Application Frame Work is a set of tools for developing applications.
A CMS Framework supports development of a Content Management System.
Since most CMS products consist of web server Middle Ware that runs on a web application server (in front of a database server), a CMS Framework is usually identified with that middleware, like Microsoft's .NET and Active Server Pages (ASP), Sun's Java, J2EE, and JSP, PHP, or Macromedia Cold Fusion?.
A Framework may support multiple programming or scripting languages, or just the native language in which the Framework is written. Zope is a Framework optimized for CMS development written in the Python language for an Apache server.
Related Terms: API, Middle Ware, Content Management System
Free Software
A CMS Framework supports development of a Content Management System.
Since most CMS products consist of web server Middle Ware that runs on a web application server (in front of a database server), a CMS Framework is usually identified with that middleware, like Microsoft's .NET and Active Server Pages (ASP), Sun's Java, J2EE, and JSP, PHP, or Macromedia Cold Fusion?.
A Framework may support multiple programming or scripting languages, or just the native language in which the Framework is written. Zope is a Framework optimized for CMS development written in the Python language for an Apache server.
The Free Software Foundation (www.fsf.org - Creators of the GNU/Linux Operating System of which Linux is the more famous kernel) ironically recognize the right to charge for some uses as long as the software can not be "closed."
They say that:
"Free software" is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of "free speech," not "free beer."
"Free software'" refers to the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software.
More precisely, it refers to four kinds of freedom, for the users of the software:
A program is free software if users have all of these freedoms. When the FSF (Free Software Foundation) speaks of free software, they are referring to freedom, not price. Thus, you should be free to redistribute copies, either with or without modifications, either gratis or charging a fee for distribution, to anyone anywhere. Being free to do these things means (among other things) that you do not have to ask or pay for permission.
Excerpts from the GNU Public License (GPL) require that if you distribute copies of a (GPL) program, whether gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that you have. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the source code. And you must show them these terms so they know their rights. (GPL programs) protect your rights with two steps: (1) copyright the software, and (2) offer you this license which gives you legal permission to copy, distribute and/or modify the software.
Software is Open Source in the Free Software Foundation sense if it is freely distributable and modifiable by anyone.
See also Open Source and Open Source CMS
Fried
They say that:
"Free software" is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of "free speech," not "free beer."
"Free software'" refers to the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software.
More precisely, it refers to four kinds of freedom, for the users of the software:
- The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
- The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
- The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
- The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits. (freedom 3). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
A program is free software if users have all of these freedoms. When the FSF (Free Software Foundation) speaks of free software, they are referring to freedom, not price. Thus, you should be free to redistribute copies, either with or without modifications, either gratis or charging a fee for distribution, to anyone anywhere. Being free to do these things means (among other things) that you do not have to ask or pay for permission.
Excerpts from the GNU Public License (GPL) require that if you distribute copies of a (GPL) program, whether gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that you have. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the source code. And you must show them these terms so they know their rights. (GPL programs) protect your rights with two steps: (1) copyright the software, and (2) offer you this license which gives you legal permission to copy, distribute and/or modify the software.
Software is Open Source in the Free Software Foundation sense if it is freely distributable and modifiable by anyone.
See also Open Source and Open Source CMS
Fried is a term of CM jargon that describes web pages dynamically generated by a CMS.
Fried pages must be served from the main Content Management ApplicationServer. This means they are slower to serve than static or baked pages.
But they then have the full power of personalization, localization?, and Multi Channel delivery made possible by dynamic pages.
Related Terms: Baked
Fried pages must be served from the main Content Management ApplicationServer. This means they are slower to serve than static or baked pages.
But they then have the full power of personalization, localization?, and Multi Channel delivery made possible by dynamic pages.
The CMS Community Wiki is a knowledge base for Content Management Professionals.
Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
Global Navigation
Broader Terms: Navigation
Related Terms: Local Navigation, Contextual Navigation Glossary Links
Major topics
- Intro To CMS (an introduction to content management systems)
- History Of CMS (a timeline of content management technology)
- Cms Directories (listings of content management systems available across the globe)
- Cms Glossary (technical definitions of over 250 content management terms)
- Dita Glossary (definitions of fifty DITA-related terms)
- Interaction Design Glossary (definitions of IxD terms)
- Information Architecture Glossary (definitions of IA terms)
- Knowledge Management Glossary (definitions of KM terms)
- Taxonomy Glossary (definitions of Taxo, Onto, Classification terms)
- Master Glossary (definitions of all terms, with proposed terms)
- Cms Practices (research areas for content management best practices)
- Cms Products (listings of open-source, proprietary, and hosted solutions)
- Cms Vendors
- Cms People
- Cms Features
- Cms Resources
- Cms Blogs
- Other Cms Sites (other websites providing useful CMS resources)
Using the Wiki
Use Wiki Words for creating new pages. Using Cms Wiki has some policies and tips. Unfortunately, increasing spam from anonymous visitors forced us to limit contributers to registered users. Thanks to those anonymous visitors who erased spam when it appeared.Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
Global Navigation describes the Navigation links? that appear on every page of a website, sometimes accomplished with a separate frame, especially along the top or banner of the page.
Links that appear in a major section of the site (a subsite or microsite), usually along the left side of the page, are called Local Navigation.
Links that are included in the main content, inline in the text or in captions, or images as links, are called Contextual Navigation.
IAwiki definition
Narrower Terms: Links?
Links that appear in a major section of the site (a subsite or microsite), usually along the left side of the page, are called Local Navigation.
Links that are included in the main content, inline in the text or in captions, or images as links, are called Contextual Navigation.
IAwiki definition
Broader Terms: Navigation
Related Terms: Local Navigation, Contextual Navigation Glossary Links
Automatic generation of hyperlinks to the appropriate gloss from any occurence of a term in the text.
The CMS Community Wiki is a knowledge base for Content Management Professionals.
Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
Heuristic
Related Terms: User Interface
Major topics
- Intro To CMS (an introduction to content management systems)
- History Of CMS (a timeline of content management technology)
- Cms Directories (listings of content management systems available across the globe)
- Cms Glossary (technical definitions of over 250 content management terms)
- Dita Glossary (definitions of fifty DITA-related terms)
- Interaction Design Glossary (definitions of IxD terms)
- Information Architecture Glossary (definitions of IA terms)
- Knowledge Management Glossary (definitions of KM terms)
- Taxonomy Glossary (definitions of Taxo, Onto, Classification terms)
- Master Glossary (definitions of all terms, with proposed terms)
- Cms Practices (research areas for content management best practices)
- Cms Products (listings of open-source, proprietary, and hosted solutions)
- Cms Vendors
- Cms People
- Cms Features
- Cms Resources
- Cms Blogs
- Other Cms Sites (other websites providing useful CMS resources)
Using the Wiki
Use Wiki Words for creating new pages. Using Cms Wiki has some policies and tips. Unfortunately, increasing spam from anonymous visitors forced us to limit contributers to registered users. Thanks to those anonymous visitors who erased spam when it appeared.Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
A heuristic explanation is a productive way of understanding a process, despite the fact that it might not comprise the true or deeper explanation of what is going on.
In problem solving, heuristics are well-known suggested ways of attacking a problem, like a Rule Of Thumb? or Guide Line?.
Proceeding usually by Trial And Error?, a successful outcome is not guaranteed, but likely.
Related Terms: Interaction Design, Design Pattern
Human Computer Interface
In problem solving, heuristics are well-known suggested ways of attacking a problem, like a Rule Of Thumb? or Guide Line?.
Proceeding usually by Trial And Error?, a successful outcome is not guaranteed, but likely.
The Human Computer Interface (or Interaction) has been a major subject in Computer Science? since computers were invented.
It is the study of how people interact with computers, but especially the actual tools or widgets? that have been developed to improve the interaction, to reduce the learning curve for new computer users.
HCI defines a language for describing interface components, like "double-click to open the window," "click and drag the mouse to move the file into the folder," "empty the trash," "add the item to your shopping cart," and "download the song."
Some great moments in HCI were
The ACM, Associationfor Computing Machinery?, has a major SIG - Special Interest Group? called SIG-CHI (here computer-human interface).
Broader Terms: Usability
It is the study of how people interact with computers, but especially the actual tools or widgets? that have been developed to improve the interaction, to reduce the learning curve for new computer users.
HCI defines a language for describing interface components, like "double-click to open the window," "click and drag the mouse to move the file into the folder," "empty the trash," "add the item to your shopping cart," and "download the song."
Some great moments in HCI were
- The Graphical Interface? (which replaced the TextInterface).
- The Mouse? as a pointing device, replacing keyboard arrows.
- The invention of the Desktop Metaphor? with its Windows, Menus, Folder and Files, and a Trash Can? or Recycle Bin?.
- Multimedia computers, sound and moving images, including computer animation.
The ACM, Associationfor Computing Machinery?, has a major SIG - Special Interest Group? called SIG-CHI (here computer-human interface).
Related Terms: User Interface
The CMS Community Wiki is a knowledge base for Content Management Professionals.
Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
IM
Information Architect
Related Terms: InterfaceDesign?, Navigation Design?, Visual Design?. Information Ecology
Related Terms: EnterpriseApplicationIntegration? (EAI), Interaction Design
Related Terms: Information Architect, Content Manager?, Usability Expert?, User Experience Engineer, User Interface Designer, Visual Designer?
Major topics
- Intro To CMS (an introduction to content management systems)
- History Of CMS (a timeline of content management technology)
- Cms Directories (listings of content management systems available across the globe)
- Cms Glossary (technical definitions of over 250 content management terms)
- Dita Glossary (definitions of fifty DITA-related terms)
- Interaction Design Glossary (definitions of IxD terms)
- Information Architecture Glossary (definitions of IA terms)
- Knowledge Management Glossary (definitions of KM terms)
- Taxonomy Glossary (definitions of Taxo, Onto, Classification terms)
- Master Glossary (definitions of all terms, with proposed terms)
- Cms Practices (research areas for content management best practices)
- Cms Products (listings of open-source, proprietary, and hosted solutions)
- Cms Vendors
- Cms People
- Cms Features
- Cms Resources
- Cms Blogs
- Other Cms Sites (other websites providing useful CMS resources)
Using the Wiki
Use Wiki Words for creating new pages. Using Cms Wiki has some policies and tips. Unfortunately, increasing spam from anonymous visitors forced us to limit contributers to registered users. Thanks to those anonymous visitors who erased spam when it appeared.Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
InformationManagement? is a general term that covers all kinds of Content Management - Document Management, Digital Asset Management, Records Management, Knowlege Management?, Source Code Management?, and Digital Rights Management.
Long before Content Management came Information Management Systems and Information Technology (IT).
Instant Messaging is a sort of combination of a live chat room and email. In a chat room, everyone is typing and messages are seen as soon as the writer clicks enter or send. But IM is like email in that the message goes to another person (without any store-and-forward delays). Instead of address books, IM users have "buddy lists." Their IM client tells them which of their buddies are online now.
Originally a pure consumer service offered by AOL and Microsoft (MSN), IM is now being user in business environments, including Workflow notifications and manual task alerts.
Content Management systems struggle with the problem of capturing these messages (along with email and chat), adding metadata to them, and archiving them in the content repository.
Index
Long before Content Management came Information Management Systems and Information Technology (IT).
Instant Messaging is a sort of combination of a live chat room and email. In a chat room, everyone is typing and messages are seen as soon as the writer clicks enter or send. But IM is like email in that the message goes to another person (without any store-and-forward delays). Instead of address books, IM users have "buddy lists." Their IM client tells them which of their buddies are online now.
Originally a pure consumer service offered by AOL and Microsoft (MSN), IM is now being user in business environments, including Workflow notifications and manual task alerts.
Content Management systems struggle with the problem of capturing these messages (along with email and chat), adding metadata to them, and archiving them in the content repository.
A "back-of-the-book" style A-Z index can be an important part of the supplemental navigation of a website. It complements a Site Map?, which plays the role of a book's table of contents.
An A-Z Index must be maintained manually as new pages are added to the site.
References:
American Society of Indexers
ASI Indexing SIG
Improving Usability with a Website Index, by Fred Leise
A-Z Indexes to Enhance Site Searching, by Heather Hedden
Broader Terms: Navigation
An A-Z Index must be maintained manually as new pages are added to the site.
"Web indexing means creating indexes for individual web sites, intranets, collections of HTML documents, or even collections of web sites.
Indexes are systematically arranged items, such as topics or names, that serve as entry points to go directly to desired information within a larger document or set of documents. Indexes are traditionally alphabetically arranged. But they may also make use of hierarchical arrangements, as provided by thesauri, or they may be entirely hierarchical, as in the case of taxonomies. An index might not even be displayed, if it incorporated into a searchable database.
Indexing is an analytic process of determining which concepts are worth indexing, what entry labels to use, and how to arrange the entries. As such, web indexing is best done by individuals skilled in the craft of indexing, either through formal training or through self-taught reading and study.
A web index is often a browsable list of entries from which the user makes selections, but it may be non-displayed and searched by the user typing into a search box. A site A-Z index is a kind of web index that resembles an alphabetical back-of-the-book style index, where the index entries are hyperlinked directly to the appropriate web page or page section."
ASI Indexing SIG
Indexes are systematically arranged items, such as topics or names, that serve as entry points to go directly to desired information within a larger document or set of documents. Indexes are traditionally alphabetically arranged. But they may also make use of hierarchical arrangements, as provided by thesauri, or they may be entirely hierarchical, as in the case of taxonomies. An index might not even be displayed, if it incorporated into a searchable database.
Indexing is an analytic process of determining which concepts are worth indexing, what entry labels to use, and how to arrange the entries. As such, web indexing is best done by individuals skilled in the craft of indexing, either through formal training or through self-taught reading and study.
A web index is often a browsable list of entries from which the user makes selections, but it may be non-displayed and searched by the user typing into a search box. A site A-Z index is a kind of web index that resembles an alphabetical back-of-the-book style index, where the index entries are hyperlinked directly to the appropriate web page or page section."
ASI Indexing SIG
References:
American Society of Indexers
ASI Indexing SIG
Improving Usability with a Website Index, by Fred Leise
A-Z Indexes to Enhance Site Searching, by Heather Hedden
Information Architect
LouisRosenfeld? and Peter Morville? define information architecture as follows:
The Information Architect is responsible for strategies to Chunk and Tag, for Content Template structures, forms for Content Element entry, Metadata collection, Reuse, Syndication and Aggregation feeds, and database models or schemas.
How all the information is represented in the content of the CMS is an architecture problem. This art of classifying information is sometimes called taxonomy, the division of things into classes and class-members. Class-members may themselves constitute a Class with their own Class-members.
An Information Architect often has a background in Library Science, where the task was to organize, index, and abstract the books in a library or documents in a bibliographic Information Retrieval? system.
The method included Classification and cataloging of a work under an agreed upon Categorization scheme, such as Subject Heading?, creation of an Abstract or Description, plus tagging with the usual Metadata - Author, Title, Date of Publication, etc., now all standardized in the Dublin Core.
Library Science goals or objectives were to allow users to find/locate books which had been collocated on a shelf or shelves of related books, so they could choose/select the best book for their needs, and then obtain access to the book by checking it out.
The difficult problem of displaying and navigating the arbitrary relations between physical books by placing them next to one another on shelves evaporated when information became digital and accessible over the Internet.
Despite dealing now with information bits rather than physical atoms ( Nicholas Negroponte? ) we still have the five basic objectives defined by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
Now arbitrary relations between documents, even at the level of the Content Element, are possible, but the near infinite flexibility poses the great challenge to the Information Architect, what User Interface will be useful, usable, and used?
Related Terms: Collocation?, Controlled Vocabulary, Library Science, Thesaurus, Enterprise Information Architecture
Information Design
- The combination of organization, labeling, navigation schemes and retrieval mechanisms within an information space.
- The structural design of an information space to facilitate task completion and intuitive access to Content.
- The art and science of structuring and classifying web sites, intranets and all other organizational information repositories to help people find and manage information.
- An emerging discipline and Community Of Practice focused on bringing principles of design and architecture to the digital and paper-based landscape.
The Information Architect is responsible for strategies to Chunk and Tag, for Content Template structures, forms for Content Element entry, Metadata collection, Reuse, Syndication and Aggregation feeds, and database models or schemas.
How all the information is represented in the content of the CMS is an architecture problem. This art of classifying information is sometimes called taxonomy, the division of things into classes and class-members. Class-members may themselves constitute a Class with their own Class-members.
An Information Architect often has a background in Library Science, where the task was to organize, index, and abstract the books in a library or documents in a bibliographic Information Retrieval? system.
The method included Classification and cataloging of a work under an agreed upon Categorization scheme, such as Subject Heading?, creation of an Abstract or Description, plus tagging with the usual Metadata - Author, Title, Date of Publication, etc., now all standardized in the Dublin Core.
Library Science goals or objectives were to allow users to find/locate books which had been collocated on a shelf or shelves of related books, so they could choose/select the best book for their needs, and then obtain access to the book by checking it out.
The difficult problem of displaying and navigating the arbitrary relations between physical books by placing them next to one another on shelves evaporated when information became digital and accessible over the Internet.
Despite dealing now with information bits rather than physical atoms ( Nicholas Negroponte? ) we still have the five basic objectives defined by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
- find/locate
- collocate/classify
- choice/select
- obtain/access
- navigate.
Now arbitrary relations between documents, even at the level of the Content Element, are possible, but the near infinite flexibility poses the great challenge to the Information Architect, what User Interface will be useful, usable, and used?
Information Design (ID) appears to be related to Information Architecture. Beth Mazur proffers that ID tends to focus more on presentation, while IA focuses more on structure. Others have suggested that IA helps people find information and ID helps them understand it.
Mission statements stress finding the structure? in unstructured? information, and transforming data into information.
But in JesseJamesGarrett's User Experience diagram, ID is the "skeleton" layer above the "structure" layer. It is colocated with Interface Design? and Navigation Design?, and the home of the Wireframe. It is just below the "surface" layer of Visual Design?.
For more information, see the Special Interest Group (SIG) of the Society For Technical Communication?. The SIG publishes the newsletter, Design Matters and have both an information design timeline as well as several definitions of the field.
References:
Information Design vs. Information Architecture
Do not confuse with Interaction Design (IxD).
Broader Terms: Design
Mission statements stress finding the structure? in unstructured? information, and transforming data into information.
But in JesseJamesGarrett's User Experience diagram, ID is the "skeleton" layer above the "structure" layer. It is colocated with Interface Design? and Navigation Design?, and the home of the Wireframe. It is just below the "surface" layer of Visual Design?.
For more information, see the Special Interest Group (SIG) of the Society For Technical Communication?. The SIG publishes the newsletter, Design Matters and have both an information design timeline as well as several definitions of the field.
"The field of information design applies traditional and evolving design principles to the process of translating complex, unorganized, or unstructured data into valuable, meaningful information.
The practice of information design requires an interdisciplinary approach which combines skills in graphic design, writing and editing, instructional design, human performance technology, and human factors."
STC ID SIG
The practice of information design requires an interdisciplinary approach which combines skills in graphic design, writing and editing, instructional design, human performance technology, and human factors."
STC ID SIG
References:
Information Design vs. Information Architecture
Do not confuse with Interaction Design (IxD).
Related Terms: InterfaceDesign?, Navigation Design?, Visual Design?. Information Ecology
Information ecology is a frequently used metaphor comparing our information technology, our texts, and all our information systems, including libraries, bookstores, the web, etc. as an ecology comparable to our natural environemnet.
See the comparable metaphors of Information Scent and Information Foraging of Peter Pirolli and Stuart Card
References:
Information Ecology, by Tom Davenport (1997)
Information Ecologies, by Bonnie Nardi and Vicki O'Day (1999)
Information Foraging
See the comparable metaphors of Information Scent and Information Foraging of Peter Pirolli and Stuart Card
References:
Information Ecology, by Tom Davenport (1997)
Information Ecologies, by Bonnie Nardi and Vicki O'Day (1999)
Information Foraging is a part of the popular metaphor that likens the search for information to the way animals search for food. Foraging and similar terms like Information Scent were coined by Peter Pirolli and Stuart Card of Xerox PARC in the 1990's.
Quantitative studies of what aids information foraging is to provide rich textual or visual clues in hyperlinks that allow the user to identify what the link will go to.
References:
Stuart Card
Jakob Nielsen
Peter Pirolli
Tanya Raybourn
Usability First
Information Scent
Quantitative studies of what aids information foraging is to provide rich textual or visual clues in hyperlinks that allow the user to identify what the link will go to.
References:
Stuart Card
Jakob Nielsen
Peter Pirolli
Tanya Raybourn
Usability First
Information scent is a part of the popular metaphor that likens the search for information to the way animals search for food. Scent and similar terms like Information Foraging and Information Patch? were coined by Peter Pirolli and Stuart Card of Xerox PARC in the 1990's.
A similar metaphor is the idea of an Information Ecology.
Information scent has been popularized recently by Jared Spool.
What it boils down to is providing rich textual or visual clues in hyperlinks that allow the user to guess what they will find if they follow the link.
There are many reasons for poor or misleading information scent.
Links may be poorly worded, mistaken, misleading, or generic ("more..."), .
They may be obscured by intervening navigation or advertising - symptoms called Navigation Blindness? or Banner Blindness? - or simply in the wrong place.
They may barely hint at the content - Iceberg Syndrome?.
References:
Iain Barker at Step Two
Stuart Card
Jakob Nielsen
Peter Pirolli
Tanya Raybourn
Jared Spool
Usability First
Integration
A similar metaphor is the idea of an Information Ecology.
Information scent has been popularized recently by Jared Spool.
What it boils down to is providing rich textual or visual clues in hyperlinks that allow the user to guess what they will find if they follow the link.
There are many reasons for poor or misleading information scent.
Links may be poorly worded, mistaken, misleading, or generic ("more..."), .
They may be obscured by intervening navigation or advertising - symptoms called Navigation Blindness? or Banner Blindness? - or simply in the wrong place.
They may barely hint at the content - Iceberg Syndrome?.
References:
Iain Barker at Step Two
Stuart Card
Jakob Nielsen
Peter Pirolli
Tanya Raybourn
Jared Spool
Usability First
Integration in Content Management usually means the inclusion in the Content Template of a Content Block that contains an interactive Component.
The Component uses a Connector to access interactive code, sometimes on a completely different machine from the Web Server. This Connector implements a Web Service?, which might return the number of items in inventory, for example, and then decrement the inventory if the page produces a transaction.
Enterprise Content Management includes the integration of many functionalities beyond content deleivery.
Narrower Terms: ApplicationIntegration?
The Component uses a Connector to access interactive code, sometimes on a completely different machine from the Web Server. This Connector implements a Web Service?, which might return the number of items in inventory, for example, and then decrement the inventory if the page produces a transaction.
Enterprise Content Management includes the integration of many functionalities beyond content deleivery.
Related Terms: EnterpriseApplicationIntegration? (EAI), Interaction Design
Interaction Design is the discipline of a new Community Of Practice. A member is called an Interaction Designer. (A currently proposed abbreviation for Interaction Design is IxD).
IxD has roots in product design, industrial design, HCI, user experience design, visual design, human factors, and other human center designed approaches for the purpose of creating products and services. Some of the key contibutors to the field include but are not limited to Alan Cooper?, IDEO, Frog Design?, and Bruce Tognazzini?, known as "Tog."
IxD is not completely limited to those products that have a digital quality to them. But the added intelligence of digital products allows for complex behaviors between product and service and humans that Interaction Designers specialize in.
One area of major interest in IxD is the rapid development and deployment of networked software systems, a Web Application or Internet Application?. Many of these run over the HTTP protocol where the Graphical User Interface? (GUI) components are rendered through a web-browser, but the data engine, and much of the brute intelligence of the system (even behaviorial) is left on a centralized Application Server.
A recent area of expansion in the design of web-based applications has been the advancement of the GUI side. Early technologies like Java Script? and CSS allowed for HTML to do more than just standard hyper-linking. Animated behaviors and layering allowed for more complex presentations, and even the progressive disclosure of navigation and content without the slow redraw that occurs between clicks and refreshes in a web browser.
Even this advancement is not enough. Issues arise that prevent many designers from using even these basic technologies effectively. The level of interaction richness (the aesthetic value in the interactions between machine and user, adding emotional and engaging qualities to the design) and the level of complex information display is still limited.
Old technologies have been enhanced, and new technologies have been created to take care of this. Macromedia with its marketing buzz phrase of Rich Internet Application has led the charge, with others touting CURL?, Java?, XUL, ((.NET)), XAML? (not yet released by Microsoft) and many more. All of these clients require an added runtime engine.
HTML wireframes are a tool of choice for Interaction Design. An HTML prototype is truly interactive and can link to wireframe designs for secondary pages. A "flat" Wire Frame built with paper and pencil, Photoshop, or Visio, is valuable but limited. Other tools include using Flash, Visual Studio, CAD-like applications, and other drawing tools. Even form-factor prototyping wtih foam is an invaluable tool when IxD is integrating device creation with interactivity.
References:
Interaction Designers.com
HTML Wireframes
Broader Terms: Information Design
IxD has roots in product design, industrial design, HCI, user experience design, visual design, human factors, and other human center designed approaches for the purpose of creating products and services. Some of the key contibutors to the field include but are not limited to Alan Cooper?, IDEO, Frog Design?, and Bruce Tognazzini?, known as "Tog."
IxD is not completely limited to those products that have a digital quality to them. But the added intelligence of digital products allows for complex behaviors between product and service and humans that Interaction Designers specialize in.
One area of major interest in IxD is the rapid development and deployment of networked software systems, a Web Application or Internet Application?. Many of these run over the HTTP protocol where the Graphical User Interface? (GUI) components are rendered through a web-browser, but the data engine, and much of the brute intelligence of the system (even behaviorial) is left on a centralized Application Server.
A recent area of expansion in the design of web-based applications has been the advancement of the GUI side. Early technologies like Java Script? and CSS allowed for HTML to do more than just standard hyper-linking. Animated behaviors and layering allowed for more complex presentations, and even the progressive disclosure of navigation and content without the slow redraw that occurs between clicks and refreshes in a web browser.
Even this advancement is not enough. Issues arise that prevent many designers from using even these basic technologies effectively. The level of interaction richness (the aesthetic value in the interactions between machine and user, adding emotional and engaging qualities to the design) and the level of complex information display is still limited.
Old technologies have been enhanced, and new technologies have been created to take care of this. Macromedia with its marketing buzz phrase of Rich Internet Application has led the charge, with others touting CURL?, Java?, XUL, ((.NET)), XAML? (not yet released by Microsoft) and many more. All of these clients require an added runtime engine.
HTML wireframes are a tool of choice for Interaction Design. An HTML prototype is truly interactive and can link to wireframe designs for secondary pages. A "flat" Wire Frame built with paper and pencil, Photoshop, or Visio, is valuable but limited. Other tools include using Flash, Visual Studio, CAD-like applications, and other drawing tools. Even form-factor prototyping wtih foam is an invaluable tool when IxD is integrating device creation with interactivity.
References:
Interaction Designers.com
HTML Wireframes
Related Terms: Information Architect, Content Manager?, Usability Expert?, User Experience Engineer, User Interface Designer, Visual Designer?
The CMS Community Wiki is a knowledge base for Content Management Professionals.
Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
JSR168
Major topics
- Intro To CMS (an introduction to content management systems)
- History Of CMS (a timeline of content management technology)
- Cms Directories (listings of content management systems available across the globe)
- Cms Glossary (technical definitions of over 250 content management terms)
- Dita Glossary (definitions of fifty DITA-related terms)
- Interaction Design Glossary (definitions of IxD terms)
- Information Architecture Glossary (definitions of IA terms)
- Knowledge Management Glossary (definitions of KM terms)
- Taxonomy Glossary (definitions of Taxo, Onto, Classification terms)
- Master Glossary (definitions of all terms, with proposed terms)
- Cms Practices (research areas for content management best practices)
- Cms Products (listings of open-source, proprietary, and hosted solutions)
- Cms Vendors
- Cms People
- Cms Features
- Cms Resources
- Cms Blogs
- Other Cms Sites (other websites providing useful CMS resources)
Using the Wiki
Use Wiki Words for creating new pages. Using Cms Wiki has some policies and tips. Unfortunately, increasing spam from anonymous visitors forced us to limit contributers to registered users. Thanks to those anonymous visitors who erased spam when it appeared.Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
This JSR recommends a Java API for Portlets.
Related Terms: Portlet
JSR170
"The Portlet specification will define a Portlet API that provides means for aggregating several content sources and applications front ends. It will also address how the security and personalization is handled.
Portlets are web components -like Servlets- specifically designed to be aggregated in the context of a composite page. Usually, many Portlets are invoked to in the single request of a Portal page. Each Portlet produces a fragment of markup that it s combined with the markup of other Portlets, all within the Portal page markup.
The Portlet specification will define the different components for Portal Computing, their interaction, lifecycle and semantics. These components will comprise -but they will not be restricted to-: Portlets, Deployment descriptor, Portlet APIs. In addition, APIs for vendor extensions, APIs for security, user customization and layout management will be considered.
Also, it will define the minimum set of possible window states for a Portlet such as normal, minimized, maximized, etc.-, the valid state transitions and Portlet modes (such as view, edit, help, configure) per markup language.
This first version of the Portlet specification will concentrate in the following design goals:
Portlets are web components -like Servlets- specifically designed to be aggregated in the context of a composite page. Usually, many Portlets are invoked to in the single request of a Portal page. Each Portlet produces a fragment of markup that it s combined with the markup of other Portlets, all within the Portal page markup.
The Portlet specification will define the different components for Portal Computing, their interaction, lifecycle and semantics. These components will comprise -but they will not be restricted to-: Portlets, Deployment descriptor, Portlet APIs. In addition, APIs for vendor extensions, APIs for security, user customization and layout management will be considered.
Also, it will define the minimum set of possible window states for a Portlet such as normal, minimized, maximized, etc.-, the valid state transitions and Portlet modes (such as view, edit, help, configure) per markup language.
This first version of the Portlet specification will concentrate in the following design goals:
- Client agnostic
- Support for multiple types of clients (multi-device)
- Simple Portlet API
- Support for Localization and Internationalization
- Hot deployment and re-deployment of Portal applications
- Declarative security (same as to the mechanism found in Servlet and EJB specs)
- Architected to support remote execution of Portlets."
This JSR recommends a Java API for a Content Repository.
A JSR-170 demo (Helpful when reading the spec):
http://jsr170tools.day.com
Apache Jackrabbit:
http:/jackrabit.apache.org/
Alfresco Open Source Enterprise Content Management System with JCR interface:
http://www.alfresco.com/
Nuxeo EP: Open Source Enterprise Content Management platform based on a JCR repository (currently Jackrabbit):
http://www.nuxeo.org/
Magnolia® - Simple Enterprise Content Management:
Magnolia has pioneered the use of the innovative JSR-170 standard as a base for content centric applications. Choice between an Open Source Community Edition and a commercial Enterprise Edition. Provides a unique combination of usabilty and enterprise strength. Magnolia is used around the world from governments to leading FORTUNE 500 enterprises.
http:/www.magnolia.info/
Related Terms: Repository
"The API should be a standard, implementation independent, way to access content bi-directionally on a granular level within a content repository. A Content Repository is a high-level information management system that is a superset of traditional data repositories. A content repository implements "content services" such as: author based versioning, full textual searching, fine grained access control, content categorization and content event monitoring. It is these "content services" that differentiate a Content Repository from a Data Repository.
Many of today's (web)applications are interacting with a content repository in various ways.
This API proposes that content repositories have a dedicated, standard way of interaction with applications that deal with content. This API will focus on transactional read/write access, binary content (stream operations), textual content, full-text searching, filtering, observation, versioning, handling of hard and soft structured content
Today, (web) applications have to adapt to every vendor's proprietary API to interact with content repositories. This has the negative effect of locking a large percentage of information assets in vendor specific formats, limiting access to information, impacting system evolution/migration, and availability of third party content management tools. This API will examine solutions to these and other issues deemed important by the expert group.
There is no easy way to integrate content-producer-applications (CMS) and content-consumer-applications (CRM, Personalization, Portal, etc.) independently of the actual underlying content repository. The expert group will examine solutions to this problem also.
The Content Industry has defined a number of specifications on a protocol level to exchange content (ICE, WebDAV, etc.). However, there is no specification on an API level that addresses the unique requirements of a Content Repository. As well, there exists no Content Repository centric standard that appears to address issues such as version handling, full-text searching, and event-monitoring in a coherent manner.
Of course, existing standards will be utilized/referenced for various components. For example, JMS or JTA will be used/referenced in this standard. Numerous existing standards/drafts (EJB, EMB, JDBC, JDO, XML-DOM, etc.) with a certain amount of overlap will be taken into account wherever possible. Never the less, none of the standards cover the full range of described issues around Content Repositories."
Java Community Process Org
Many of today's (web)applications are interacting with a content repository in various ways.
This API proposes that content repositories have a dedicated, standard way of interaction with applications that deal with content. This API will focus on transactional read/write access, binary content (stream operations), textual content, full-text searching, filtering, observation, versioning, handling of hard and soft structured content
Today, (web) applications have to adapt to every vendor's proprietary API to interact with content repositories. This has the negative effect of locking a large percentage of information assets in vendor specific formats, limiting access to information, impacting system evolution/migration, and availability of third party content management tools. This API will examine solutions to these and other issues deemed important by the expert group.
There is no easy way to integrate content-producer-applications (CMS) and content-consumer-applications (CRM, Personalization, Portal, etc.) independently of the actual underlying content repository. The expert group will examine solutions to this problem also.
The Content Industry has defined a number of specifications on a protocol level to exchange content (ICE, WebDAV, etc.). However, there is no specification on an API level that addresses the unique requirements of a Content Repository. As well, there exists no Content Repository centric standard that appears to address issues such as version handling, full-text searching, and event-monitoring in a coherent manner.
Of course, existing standards will be utilized/referenced for various components. For example, JMS or JTA will be used/referenced in this standard. Numerous existing standards/drafts (EJB, EMB, JDBC, JDO, XML-DOM, etc.) with a certain amount of overlap will be taken into account wherever possible. Never the less, none of the standards cover the full range of described issues around Content Repositories."
Java Community Process Org
A JSR-170 demo (Helpful when reading the spec):
http://jsr170tools.day.com
Apache Jackrabbit:
http:/jackrabit.apache.org/
Alfresco Open Source Enterprise Content Management System with JCR interface:
http://www.alfresco.com/
Nuxeo EP: Open Source Enterprise Content Management platform based on a JCR repository (currently Jackrabbit):
http://www.nuxeo.org/
Magnolia® - Simple Enterprise Content Management:
Magnolia has pioneered the use of the innovative JSR-170 standard as a base for content centric applications. Choice between an Open Source Community Edition and a commercial Enterprise Edition. Provides a unique combination of usabilty and enterprise strength. Magnolia is used around the world from governments to leading FORTUNE 500 enterprises.
http:/www.magnolia.info/
The CMS Community Wiki is a knowledge base for Content Management Professionals.
Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
Key Word
Broader Terms: InformationManagement?
Related Terms: Content Management, Document Management, Community Of Practice
Major topics
- Intro To CMS (an introduction to content management systems)
- History Of CMS (a timeline of content management technology)
- Cms Directories (listings of content management systems available across the globe)
- Cms Glossary (technical definitions of over 250 content management terms)
- Dita Glossary (definitions of fifty DITA-related terms)
- Interaction Design Glossary (definitions of IxD terms)
- Information Architecture Glossary (definitions of IA terms)
- Knowledge Management Glossary (definitions of KM terms)
- Taxonomy Glossary (definitions of Taxo, Onto, Classification terms)
- Master Glossary (definitions of all terms, with proposed terms)
- Cms Practices (research areas for content management best practices)
- Cms Products (listings of open-source, proprietary, and hosted solutions)
- Cms Vendors
- Cms People
- Cms Features
- Cms Resources
- Cms Blogs
- Other Cms Sites (other websites providing useful CMS resources)
Using the Wiki
Use Wiki Words for creating new pages. Using Cms Wiki has some policies and tips. Unfortunately, increasing spam from anonymous visitors forced us to limit contributers to registered users. Thanks to those anonymous visitors who erased spam when it appeared.Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
In content management, keywords are the metadata tags that classify a document into the system's categories.
In HTML web pages, a <meta> tag in the document <head> allows a number of keywords to be attached to the page, for use by a search engine.
In computer programming, keywords are the special terms of the language such as if, then, else, etc.
Find "Keyword" on Foldoc |Google | One Look | Wikipedia
Knowledge Management
In HTML web pages, a <meta> tag in the document <head> allows a number of keywords to be attached to the page, for use by a search engine.
In computer programming, keywords are the special terms of the language such as if, then, else, etc.
Find "Keyword" on Foldoc |Google | One Look | Wikipedia
Knowledge Management describes an organization strategy to get the knowledge of its workers out of their heads and into an information storage and retrieval system where it can be used and reused.
When workers leave an enterprise, their knowledge (information in their heads) goes with them. KM captures their knowledge in a form that can be shared with other workers and especially future workers. It externalizes Institutional Memory? and it aims to optimize Knowledge Transfer?, which means passing along skills.
Knowledge Management as a term was coined by management consultancies who wanted to differentiate it from Data or Information Management, the sphere of Management Information Systems (MIS) and the IT (InformationTechnology?) department. It has proved a popular concept in business schools.
Karl-Erik Sveiby, author of the first book on knowledge management (1990), distinguishes KM that is primarily Information Management, from KM that is People Management.
Information KM uses tools similar to Content Management (creation, acquisition, aggregation, data repository, metadata, version control, workflow, search), but the essential content is knowledge about business processes, best practices, expert systems, and controlled vocabularies, not mere content like brochures, articles, white papers, and website pages.
The knowledge collected in the data repository is called the knowledge base, or body of knowledge (BOK).
KM goes beyond Content Management with a strong emphasis on collaborative use of the base of knowledge. CM uses a Search Engine and occasionally indexing to facilitate navigation of content. But for KM, Search and Indexing are vital tools for their audience, the Knowledge Worker?.
KM can be the major source of content for a strong eLearning program implementing a Learning Management System.
Excitement about KM has waned as the difficulty of extracting worker knowledge (KnowledgeCapture?) has been understood. Moreover, when knowledge has been obtained, edited, and stored, it has proven very difficult for other workers to retrieve and use effectively, even when it is made easily accessible in online user manuals. Data Mining? of existing enterprise documents offered an automated way to collect knowledge. But the sheer quantity of such data is daunting, despite Auto Categorization and Auto Classification tools that add the metadata needed for Advanced Search? and Information Retrieval?.
Like many of the management buzzwords promoted as tools to increase enterprise productivity and increase competitiveness (ManagementByObjectives?, Enterprise Resource Planning, Business Process Management, Total Quality Management?, Business Intelligence), KM has had more failures than successes, especially at the enterprise level.
Nevertheless, there are many KM community organizations, some with impressive success stories to report, mostly case studies within departments that collaborate with modern groupware tools.
Knowledge mapping (see Mind Map?) diagrams the connections between knowledge resources.
The most useful form of Knowledge Mapping for an organization starts by modelling its core business processes. Once the sequence of activities in a process has been modelled, the model is synthesized with the results of a knowledge audit to show what knowledge, information (explicit knowledge) and skill are required in order to undertake each activity effectively. While explicit knowledge resources (information) may be mapped to activities fairly easily, mapping tacit knowledge requires a number of specialized techniques. The most prominent techniques include knowledge elicitation, knowledge codification and organizational network analysis.
References:
Karl-Erik Sveiby, What Is Knowledge Management?
Wikipedia
WWW Virtual Library on KM
KM World
KM Magazine
KM Pro
KM Resource Center
The nonsense of KM
Lynda Moulton on KM
Narrower Terms: ExpertSystem?
When workers leave an enterprise, their knowledge (information in their heads) goes with them. KM captures their knowledge in a form that can be shared with other workers and especially future workers. It externalizes Institutional Memory? and it aims to optimize Knowledge Transfer?, which means passing along skills.
Knowledge Management as a term was coined by management consultancies who wanted to differentiate it from Data or Information Management, the sphere of Management Information Systems (MIS) and the IT (InformationTechnology?) department. It has proved a popular concept in business schools.
Karl-Erik Sveiby, author of the first book on knowledge management (1990), distinguishes KM that is primarily Information Management, from KM that is People Management.
Information KM uses tools similar to Content Management (creation, acquisition, aggregation, data repository, metadata, version control, workflow, search), but the essential content is knowledge about business processes, best practices, expert systems, and controlled vocabularies, not mere content like brochures, articles, white papers, and website pages.
The knowledge collected in the data repository is called the knowledge base, or body of knowledge (BOK).
KM goes beyond Content Management with a strong emphasis on collaborative use of the base of knowledge. CM uses a Search Engine and occasionally indexing to facilitate navigation of content. But for KM, Search and Indexing are vital tools for their audience, the Knowledge Worker?.
KM can be the major source of content for a strong eLearning program implementing a Learning Management System.
Excitement about KM has waned as the difficulty of extracting worker knowledge (KnowledgeCapture?) has been understood. Moreover, when knowledge has been obtained, edited, and stored, it has proven very difficult for other workers to retrieve and use effectively, even when it is made easily accessible in online user manuals. Data Mining? of existing enterprise documents offered an automated way to collect knowledge. But the sheer quantity of such data is daunting, despite Auto Categorization and Auto Classification tools that add the metadata needed for Advanced Search? and Information Retrieval?.
Like many of the management buzzwords promoted as tools to increase enterprise productivity and increase competitiveness (ManagementByObjectives?, Enterprise Resource Planning, Business Process Management, Total Quality Management?, Business Intelligence), KM has had more failures than successes, especially at the enterprise level.
Nevertheless, there are many KM community organizations, some with impressive success stories to report, mostly case studies within departments that collaborate with modern groupware tools.
Knowledge mapping (see Mind Map?) diagrams the connections between knowledge resources.
The most useful form of Knowledge Mapping for an organization starts by modelling its core business processes. Once the sequence of activities in a process has been modelled, the model is synthesized with the results of a knowledge audit to show what knowledge, information (explicit knowledge) and skill are required in order to undertake each activity effectively. While explicit knowledge resources (information) may be mapped to activities fairly easily, mapping tacit knowledge requires a number of specialized techniques. The most prominent techniques include knowledge elicitation, knowledge codification and organizational network analysis.
OrganizationalLearning? and Institutional Memory? are powerful ideas. But only individuals know things, especially those in a Community Of Practice. The trick to successful Knowledge Management is putting vital information (or knowledge) at any individual's fingertips, a few mouse moves and key clicks away."
Bob Doyle
Bob Doyle
References:
Karl-Erik Sveiby, What Is Knowledge Management?
Wikipedia
WWW Virtual Library on KM
KM World
KM Magazine
KM Pro
KM Resource Center
The nonsense of KM
Lynda Moulton on KM
Broader Terms: InformationManagement?
Related Terms: Content Management, Document Management, Community Of Practice
The CMS Community Wiki is a knowledge base for Content Management Professionals.
Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
LDAP
Related Terms: Asset Management Life Cycle
Broader Terms: Navigation
Related Terms: Global Navigation, Contextual Navigation
Major topics
- Intro To CMS (an introduction to content management systems)
- History Of CMS (a timeline of content management technology)
- Cms Directories (listings of content management systems available across the globe)
- Cms Glossary (technical definitions of over 250 content management terms)
- Dita Glossary (definitions of fifty DITA-related terms)
- Interaction Design Glossary (definitions of IxD terms)
- Information Architecture Glossary (definitions of IA terms)
- Knowledge Management Glossary (definitions of KM terms)
- Taxonomy Glossary (definitions of Taxo, Onto, Classification terms)
- Master Glossary (definitions of all terms, with proposed terms)
- Cms Practices (research areas for content management best practices)
- Cms Products (listings of open-source, proprietary, and hosted solutions)
- Cms Vendors
- Cms People
- Cms Features
- Cms Resources
- Cms Blogs
- Other Cms Sites (other websites providing useful CMS resources)
Using the Wiki
Use Wiki Words for creating new pages. Using Cms Wiki has some policies and tips. Unfortunately, increasing spam from anonymous visitors forced us to limit contributers to registered users. Thanks to those anonymous visitors who erased spam when it appeared.Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is a open standard protocol for accessing directory services, such as corporate address books, across multiple platforms. LDAP supports TCP/IP, which is necessary for any type of Internet access. Because it's a simpler version of X.500, LDAP is sometimes called X.500-lite.
A CMS can access LDAP directories for Identity Management? and Access Control.
If other application programs use the same LDAP services, the organization has taken a step toward Single Source Of Truth.
Related Terms: Directory?
Library Science
A CMS can access LDAP directories for Identity Management? and Access Control.
If other application programs use the same LDAP services, the organization has taken a step toward Single Source Of Truth.
A typical LDAP server is a simple network-accessible database where an organization stores information about its authorized users and what privileges each user has. Thus rather than create a new employee an account on 50 different computers, the new employee is entered into LDAP and granted rights to those 50 systems. If the employee leaves, revoking all privileges is as simple as removing one entry in the LDAP directory. LDAP is a bit confusing because original implementations were presented as alternatives to Web and the relational database management system. Nowadays many LDAP servers are implemented using standard RDBMSes underneath and they talk to the rest of the world via XML documents served over HTTP.
Philip Greenspun
Philip Greenspun
The task of Library Science is to organize, index, and abstract the books in a library or documents in a bibliographic Information Retrieval? system.
The methods included classification and cataloging of a work under an agreed upon Subject Heading?, creation of an Abstract or Description?, plus tagging with the usual Metadata - Author, Title, Date of Publication, etc., now all standardized in the DublinCore?.
Library Science goals or objectives are to allow users to find/locate books which are collocated on a shelf or shelves of related books, so they could choose/select the best book for their needs, and then obtain access to the book by checking it out.
The difficult problem of displaying and navigating the arbitrary relations between physical books, by placing them next to one another on shelves, evaporated when information became digital and accessible over the Internet.
Despite dealing now with information bits rather than physical atoms, pace Nicholas Negroponte?, we still have the five basic objectives defined by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
The finding objective on the web has been largely reduced to the Search Engine, with Google? the market leader.
The other objectives are the main problem for the Information Architect or Content Manager?, who needs to use the right Organizing Principles.
References:
Marcia Bates "After the Dot-Bomb"
Related Terms: Organizing Principles, Information Retrieval?
Library Services
The methods included classification and cataloging of a work under an agreed upon Subject Heading?, creation of an Abstract or Description?, plus tagging with the usual Metadata - Author, Title, Date of Publication, etc., now all standardized in the DublinCore?.
Library Science goals or objectives are to allow users to find/locate books which are collocated on a shelf or shelves of related books, so they could choose/select the best book for their needs, and then obtain access to the book by checking it out.
The difficult problem of displaying and navigating the arbitrary relations between physical books, by placing them next to one another on shelves, evaporated when information became digital and accessible over the Internet.
Despite dealing now with information bits rather than physical atoms, pace Nicholas Negroponte?, we still have the five basic objectives defined by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
- find/locate
- collocate/classify
- choice/select
- obtain/access
- navigate.
The finding objective on the web has been largely reduced to the Search Engine, with Google? the market leader.
The other objectives are the main problem for the Information Architect or Content Manager?, who needs to use the right Organizing Principles.
References:
Marcia Bates "After the Dot-Bomb"
Library Services are tools for accessing and managing content.
They typically include Check In Check Out, Versioning, and Version Control.
These manage the Life Cycle of content from creation to delivery to archiving?.
They also may describe tools for taxonomy management, metadata, indexing and a Search Engine.
They might include access to Rich Media? (images and multimedia, including sound and video files). This is usually called Digital Asset Management.
Broader Terms: Content Management
They typically include Check In Check Out, Versioning, and Version Control.
These manage the Life Cycle of content from creation to delivery to archiving?.
They also may describe tools for taxonomy management, metadata, indexing and a Search Engine.
They might include access to Rich Media? (images and multimedia, including sound and video files). This is usually called Digital Asset Management.
Related Terms: Asset Management Life Cycle
Content has a Life Cycle of Creation, Review?, Approval, Workflow, Delivery and Usage? on the visible site, and then Archiving?.
Many CMS experts describe the three phases of Content Management as:
1. Content Creation (including Authoring, Acquisition, and Aggregation)
2. Content Management Proper (Workflow, Editing?, Approval, Staging?, Repository, etc.)
3. Content Delivery (Live Server - Fried or Baked, Publishing, Syndication)
Life Cycle emphasizes the diachronic ephemeral aspect of Content, where the Information Architect emphasizes the synchronic timeless aspects of a design.
Life Cycle has a long history in software development.
Related Terms: Creation, Content Management, Delivery, Information Architect
Local Navigation
Many CMS experts describe the three phases of Content Management as:
1. Content Creation (including Authoring, Acquisition, and Aggregation)
2. Content Management Proper (Workflow, Editing?, Approval, Staging?, Repository, etc.)
3. Content Delivery (Live Server - Fried or Baked, Publishing, Syndication)
Life Cycle emphasizes the diachronic ephemeral aspect of Content, where the Information Architect emphasizes the synchronic timeless aspects of a design.
Life Cycle has a long history in software development.
"Define > Design > Develop > Debug > Document > Deploy"
skyBuilders Life Cycle
skyBuilders Life Cycle
Local Navigation describes the Navigation links? that appear in a major section of a website (a subsite or microsite), usually along the left side of the page.
Links that appear on every page of a website, sometimes accomplished with a separate frame, especially along the top or banner of the page, are called Global Navigation.
Links that are included in the main content, inline in the text or in captions, or images as links, are called Contextual Navigation.
IAwiki definition
Narrower Terms: Links?
Links that appear on every page of a website, sometimes accomplished with a separate frame, especially along the top or banner of the page, are called Global Navigation.
Links that are included in the main content, inline in the text or in captions, or images as links, are called Contextual Navigation.
IAwiki definition
Broader Terms: Navigation
Related Terms: Global Navigation, Contextual Navigation
The CMS Community Wiki is a knowledge base for Content Management Professionals.
Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
Mailing List
Related Terms: Personalization, Localization? Multilingual
Major topics
- Intro To CMS (an introduction to content management systems)
- History Of CMS (a timeline of content management technology)
- Cms Directories (listings of content management systems available across the globe)
- Cms Glossary (technical definitions of over 250 content management terms)
- Dita Glossary (definitions of fifty DITA-related terms)
- Interaction Design Glossary (definitions of IxD terms)
- Information Architecture Glossary (definitions of IA terms)
- Knowledge Management Glossary (definitions of KM terms)
- Taxonomy Glossary (definitions of Taxo, Onto, Classification terms)
- Master Glossary (definitions of all terms, with proposed terms)
- Cms Practices (research areas for content management best practices)
- Cms Products (listings of open-source, proprietary, and hosted solutions)
- Cms Vendors
- Cms People
- Cms Features
- Cms Resources
- Cms Blogs
- Other Cms Sites (other websites providing useful CMS resources)
Using the Wiki
Use Wiki Words for creating new pages. Using Cms Wiki has some policies and tips. Unfortunately, increasing spam from anonymous visitors forced us to limit contributers to registered users. Thanks to those anonymous visitors who erased spam when it appeared.Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
The Mailing List is the major tool supporting a Community Of Interest. Content consists of the individual emails to the lists. This content is archived in a Repository that can be viewed by author, subject, date, and discussion thread. They are generally not indexed and searchable (except by Google, which searches every site). The most popular List Serv (mailing list server) today among CMS developers is the Piper Mailman, programmed in Python.
Mailing lists are joined by sending an email to the list server from the email account that wants to receive the list. Sometimes a standard instruction must appear in the subject or body of the message - to subscribe, to unsubscribe, or perhaps to subscribe to a once-per-day "digest" of the email messages. A digest reduces the number of emails (active lists generate dozens per day) to a single email with brief summaries (usually the subject line) of each email message.
Most list-servs will send you a required confirmation of the request to join (so that strangers can not join in your name). This confirmation contains detailed instructions on unsubscribing, getting the digest if available, etc. It may also point you to a website associated with the list.
There you can expect to find access to an archive of the lists past messages. If the archive is searchable, you will be able to locate messages on specific topics or that contain keywords. The list may also offer a FAQ, or Frequently Asked Questions?, with tips on how to use the Mailing List and its archive.
Related Terms: List Serv, Community Of Interest
Markup Language
Mailing lists are joined by sending an email to the list server from the email account that wants to receive the list. Sometimes a standard instruction must appear in the subject or body of the message - to subscribe, to unsubscribe, or perhaps to subscribe to a once-per-day "digest" of the email messages. A digest reduces the number of emails (active lists generate dozens per day) to a single email with brief summaries (usually the subject line) of each email message.
Most list-servs will send you a required confirmation of the request to join (so that strangers can not join in your name). This confirmation contains detailed instructions on unsubscribing, getting the digest if available, etc. It may also point you to a website associated with the list.
There you can expect to find access to an archive of the lists past messages. If the archive is searchable, you will be able to locate messages on specific topics or that contain keywords. The list may also offer a FAQ, or Frequently Asked Questions?, with tips on how to use the Mailing List and its archive.
A Markup Language is a set of tags that surround bits of content to indicate style or structure.
The first important markup language for content management was SGML?.
HTML was a severely limited form of SGML.
XML has added back a number of SGML features.
The mission of CMSML.ORG is to document the development of a markup language for describing and classifying content management systems.
CMSML.ORG is an outgrowth of a collaboration between OSCOM, the University of Washington iSchool CMS Evaluation Lab, and CMS Review.
Here is the Gilbane Report on Classification and Evaluation of Content Management Systems.
Here is the Feature Comparator that utilizes CMSML to compare Content Management Systems.
Here are instructions for a vendor or developer community to add a CMS to the CMSML database at CMS Review.
Mental Model
The first important markup language for content management was SGML?.
HTML was a severely limited form of SGML.
XML has added back a number of SGML features.
The mission of CMSML.ORG is to document the development of a markup language for describing and classifying content management systems.
CMSML.ORG is an outgrowth of a collaboration between OSCOM, the University of Washington iSchool CMS Evaluation Lab, and CMS Review.
Here is the Gilbane Report on Classification and Evaluation of Content Management Systems.
Here is the Feature Comparator that utilizes CMSML to compare Content Management Systems.
Here are instructions for a vendor or developer community to add a CMS to the CMSML database at CMS Review.
A Mental Model of an information structure is the mapping of that information in the mind of the user.
Sometimes called a Mind Map?, it contains the navigation strategy of the user.
If the user's Mental Model is in agreement with the actual site navigation structure, the site will have high usability.
Of course each user will have a slightly different Mind Map?. User Research can reveal these differences, and help the Information Architect improve the isomorphism between the real site and users perceptions of the site.
A Mental Model also contains the user's conception of what is going on in a web application. This may only be a heuristic conception, but as long as it helps the user, it is useful.
For example, it is helpful to think of putting physical files in folders when you click and drag a file icon across the Desktop Metaphor? and release the mouse over the folder icon.
Related Terms: MindMap?, Heuristic
Metadata
Sometimes called a Mind Map?, it contains the navigation strategy of the user.
If the user's Mental Model is in agreement with the actual site navigation structure, the site will have high usability.
Of course each user will have a slightly different Mind Map?. User Research can reveal these differences, and help the Information Architect improve the isomorphism between the real site and users perceptions of the site.
A Mental Model also contains the user's conception of what is going on in a web application. This may only be a heuristic conception, but as long as it helps the user, it is useful.
For example, it is helpful to think of putting physical files in folders when you click and drag a file icon across the Desktop Metaphor? and release the mouse over the folder icon.
Meta Data is descriptive data that is attached to an object (element) that allows a piece of Content to be more accurately indexed, retrieved, or processed.
It describes the content, and might provide optional information like a caption, abstract, or keywords for search engines. It could include a creation date, publication date, and expiry date.
XML elements are indexed by Meta Data that is described in a DTD or in the XML document itself, enabling other applications to interact with it.
Video data may include camera settings, times and geographical data of the shoot, cameraperson and editor names, etc. It could include copyright information and terms of use. Document Meta Data might include the full list of the Dublin Core ontology properties. It is usually stored in a relational database or an Object Oriented database (the CMS Repository).
Related Terms: Information Architect, Thesaurus
Microcontent
It describes the content, and might provide optional information like a caption, abstract, or keywords for search engines. It could include a creation date, publication date, and expiry date.
XML elements are indexed by Meta Data that is described in a DTD or in the XML document itself, enabling other applications to interact with it.
Video data may include camera settings, times and geographical data of the shoot, cameraperson and editor names, etc. It could include copyright information and terms of use. Document Meta Data might include the full list of the Dublin Core ontology properties. It is usually stored in a relational database or an Object Oriented database (the CMS Repository).
In general, the smallest pieces of content - a simple link, text, an image, audio, video, a piece of metadata like author, title, etc, the subject line of an email, an item in an RSS feed.
Micro Content is a Content Element when it is the sole content of a Content Block.
EricScheid? says there appear to be two definitions of the term floating
about.
1. Jakob Nielsen's
2. micro-publishing
References: Joi Ito description of Microcontent
PT - Content Element
Related Terms: Content Block, Content Template, Chunk
Middleware
Micro Content is a Content Element when it is the sole content of a Content Block.
EricScheid? says there appear to be two definitions of the term floating
about.
1. Jakob Nielsen's
- short text fragments which lead to larger content
- link titles, domain names, email subject lines
- a word or two, running up to a dozen words maybe
2. micro-publishing
- standalone content pieces, usually of a short nature
- blog posts, wiki nodes, amazon reviews
- anything from a sentence up to a few hundred words
- note: not pieces of content, but content pieces
References: Joi Ito description of Microcontent
PT - Content Element
Middleware is software that runs in the middle tier of a Three Tier? system of User Interface (Front End or Client), Application Server, and Database Server? (Backend).
Whereas web client software has a limited number of languages (generally HTML and Javascript, sometimes Java applets or Active-X Controls) and the Database is generally accessed via standard SQL, middleware languages and development frameworks used on the application server are diverse and many - notably Perl, PHP, ASP and .NET (Visual Basic, VBScript, C#), JSP, Java, C++, Tcl, Python, etc.
Be aware that your choice of a CMS Frame Work will be a commitment to a distinct software developer community. If you have developers in your organization already, make sure they buy in to your CMS selection.
Related Terms: Application Server, Database Backed, Database Server?, User Interface
Model View Controller
Whereas web client software has a limited number of languages (generally HTML and Javascript, sometimes Java applets or Active-X Controls) and the Database is generally accessed via standard SQL, middleware languages and development frameworks used on the application server are diverse and many - notably Perl, PHP, ASP and .NET (Visual Basic, VBScript, C#), JSP, Java, C++, Tcl, Python, etc.
Be aware that your choice of a CMS Frame Work will be a commitment to a distinct software developer community. If you have developers in your organization already, make sure they buy in to your CMS selection.
Model-View-Controller is a very important Design Pattern for a GUI?.
MVC divides any application's user interface, into three parts: the model, the view, and the controller. Developed originally by Xerox, it is simply another way of looking at the more traditional input, processing, output sections of any application:
Input -> Processing -> Output
Controller -> Model -> View
Separation? of View (presentation logic) from Model (application or business logic including data and code) makes the model more robust. A developer is less likely to "break" the model while reworking the view. This is similar to the CM mantra - "separation? of presentation from content." In an XML/XSLT environment, controller and view have their own XSL files.
In Web Content Management, the browser is the input and the main user GUI?, processing occurs in middleware that implements Business Rules, and output is the published content available via multichannel delivery methods.
In a Web Application, a more conventional interactive application is provided with the same browser providing the whole GUI for input and output.
In an Object Oriented design, the Model object is an abstraction of some real-world process.
References:
Wikipedia
Related Terms: Design Pattern, Object Oriented
Multichannel
MVC divides any application's user interface, into three parts: the model, the view, and the controller. Developed originally by Xerox, it is simply another way of looking at the more traditional input, processing, output sections of any application:
Input -> Processing -> Output
Controller -> Model -> View
Separation? of View (presentation logic) from Model (application or business logic including data and code) makes the model more robust. A developer is less likely to "break" the model while reworking the view. This is similar to the CM mantra - "separation? of presentation from content." In an XML/XSLT environment, controller and view have their own XSL files.
In Web Content Management, the browser is the input and the main user GUI?, processing occurs in middleware that implements Business Rules, and output is the published content available via multichannel delivery methods.
In a Web Application, a more conventional interactive application is provided with the same browser providing the whole GUI for input and output.
In an Object Oriented design, the Model object is an abstraction of some real-world process.
"The user input, the modeling of the external world, and the visual feedback to the user are separated and handled by model, viewport and controller objects. The controller interprets mouse and keyboard inputs from the user and maps these user actions into commands that are sent to the model and/or viewport to effect the appropriate change. The model manages one or more data elements, responds to queries about its state, and responds to instructions to change state. The viewport manages a rectangular area of the display and is responsible for presenting data to the user through a combination of graphics and text."
O Otips
O Otips
References:
Wikipedia
Multichannel Publishing means different versions of the content can be formatted for delivery in different physical "channels" like the web (HTML and PDF), traditional print, wireless handheld devices, and cell phones. Adobe calls it "network publishing."
The formatting is done using XSLT.
But another way to look at "channels" are different audiences or types of users which require a difference in the content, or perhaps only the presentation.
A major market differentiation is for multilingual versions of the content, which require Localization? (including both language translation and cultural modification of the content to suit the Locale?.
These are marketing channels, and in the extreme case of One To One Marketing? they require personalization of the content.
Broader Terms: Publishing?, Delivery
The formatting is done using XSLT.
But another way to look at "channels" are different audiences or types of users which require a difference in the content, or perhaps only the presentation.
A major market differentiation is for multilingual versions of the content, which require Localization? (including both language translation and cultural modification of the content to suit the Locale?.
These are marketing channels, and in the extreme case of One To One Marketing? they require personalization of the content.
Related Terms: Personalization, Localization? Multilingual
Multilingual websites can serve pages in a specific language requested by the browser. They must have translated/localized pages on the server for each language supported. The server must recognize the browser's language request.
Globalized websites attempt to server multiple cultures and languages with a single page.
Localized websites are completely customized to fit a local culture (a locale), which might distinguish Brazilian Portuguese from that in Portugal. It involves much more than language translation.
A multilingual CMS needs a workflow system that notifies localizers, perhaps in different countries around the world, of the existence of new pages that must be localized.
A multilingual shortcut is to provide links to "gists," computer-translated versions of a page. See Open Internet Lexicon.
Related Terms: Globalization?, Localization?
MVC
Globalized websites attempt to server multiple cultures and languages with a single page.
Localized websites are completely customized to fit a local culture (a locale), which might distinguish Brazilian Portuguese from that in Portugal. It involves much more than language translation.
A multilingual CMS needs a workflow system that notifies localizers, perhaps in different countries around the world, of the existence of new pages that must be localized.
A multilingual shortcut is to provide links to "gists," computer-translated versions of a page. See Open Internet Lexicon.
The CMS Community Wiki is a knowledge base for Content Management Professionals.
Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
Narrower Term
Related Terms: Global Navigation, Local Navigation, Contextual Navigation, Bread Crumbs, Frame Set?, DHTML News Group
Major topics
- Intro To CMS (an introduction to content management systems)
- History Of CMS (a timeline of content management technology)
- Cms Directories (listings of content management systems available across the globe)
- Cms Glossary (technical definitions of over 250 content management terms)
- Dita Glossary (definitions of fifty DITA-related terms)
- Interaction Design Glossary (definitions of IxD terms)
- Information Architecture Glossary (definitions of IA terms)
- Knowledge Management Glossary (definitions of KM terms)
- Taxonomy Glossary (definitions of Taxo, Onto, Classification terms)
- Master Glossary (definitions of all terms, with proposed terms)
- Cms Practices (research areas for content management best practices)
- Cms Products (listings of open-source, proprietary, and hosted solutions)
- Cms Vendors
- Cms People
- Cms Features
- Cms Resources
- Cms Blogs
- Other Cms Sites (other websites providing useful CMS resources)
Using the Wiki
Use Wiki Words for creating new pages. Using Cms Wiki has some policies and tips. Unfortunately, increasing spam from anonymous visitors forced us to limit contributers to registered users. Thanks to those anonymous visitors who erased spam when it appeared.Unlike many websites, we encourage self-promotion and product marketing. The idea is to build a resource for those looking for a CMS and for Cms Consultants and Information Architects that can help them select a CMS and implement their website.
In 2004 we founded CM Pros, the community of practice for content management professionals. CM Pros holds Summit meetings around the world where you can meet practicing content managers.
The Broader Term is the child of the Preferred Term.
It's one level lower in the Hierarchy? relationship of the Thesaurus. It is a contained to the container PT.
Related Terms: Preferred Term, Variant Term, Broader Term, Related Term, Use, Used For, Scope Note.
Navigation
It's one level lower in the Hierarchy? relationship of the Thesaurus. It is a contained to the container PT.
Navigation of content (browsing) is the primary means of using content.
An important alternative is searching? with a Search Engine, but Navigation Design? is the interactive control center of a website, and of the entire web.
Navigating a hierarchy? or taxonomy (think of the folders and files of a computer file system) is typically limited to moving up or down the branches (vertical navigation), one step or node at a time. With Tim Berners-Lee's invention of the web and its core technology of the Hyper Link?, it became possible to jump between the branches (lateral navigation).
Indeed, it is possible to jump to any other place - on the page, on the Web Site?, or on the entire World Wide Web?. TedNelson's original idea of Hyper Text? has been fully realized.
The Hyper Text Transfer Protocol? (HTTP?) makes this possible.
The banner area of a typical web page is the home of site-wide Global Navigation.
A vertical column (or panel), usually down the left side of the page, contains Local Navigation. It is usually called a Navigation Bar?, either Left Nav? or Right Nav?.
In a classic Three Column Layout?, the column on the right contains extra materials, like advertising.
The main content area of the page contains inline text and image hyperlinks, called Contextual Navigation.
Along the top or bottom of the content area there may be Bread Crumbs, which show the Drill Down Path? to the current page through the implicit folders structure of the site's Information Architecture?.
Global Navigation and Local Navigation should be kept in master files so they are maintained in a single place and changes propagate throughout the site. This can be done with a Server Side Include?, a Frame Set? with frames for the navigation panels, or DHTML with <div>s or <iframe>s.
Many possible arrangements of banner area and navigation panels are possible.
Here are 18 possible design templates, with Frameset code and DHTML code for each template.
Reference help.skybuilders.com
Broader Terms: Browsing
An important alternative is searching? with a Search Engine, but Navigation Design? is the interactive control center of a website, and of the entire web.
Navigating a hierarchy? or taxonomy (think of the folders and files of a computer file system) is typically limited to moving up or down the branches (vertical navigation), one step or node at a time. With Tim Berners-Lee's invention of the web and its core technology of the Hyper Link?, it became possible to jump between the branches (lateral navigation).
Indeed, it is possible to jump to any other place - on the page, on the Web Site?, or on the entire World Wide Web?. TedNelson's original idea of Hyper Text? has been fully realized.
The Hyper Text Transfer Protocol? (HTTP?) makes this possible.
The banner area of a typical web page is the home of site-wide Global Navigation.
A vertical column (or panel), usually down the left side of the page, contains Local Navigation. It is usually called a Navigation Bar?, either Left Nav? or Right Nav?.
In a classic Three Column Layout?, the column on the right contains extra materials, like advertising.
The main content area of the page contains inline text and image hyperlinks, called Contextual Navigation.
Along the top or bottom of the content area there may be Bread Crumbs, which show the Drill Down Path? to the current page through the implicit folders structure of the site's Information Architecture?.
Global Navigation and Local Navigation should be kept in master files so they are maintained in a single place and changes propagate throughout the site. This can be done with a Server Side Include?, a Frame Set? with frames for the navigation panels, or DHTML with <div>s or <iframe>s.
Many possible arrangements of banner area and navigation panels are possible.
Here are 18 possible design templates, with Frameset code and DHTML code for each template.
Reference help.skybuilders.com
Related Terms: Global Navigation, Local Navigation, Contextual Navigation, Bread Crumbs, Frame Set?, DHTML News Group
A News Group is part of the original Usenet, with recognizable domain names, like sci.lang.translation. They are available via the NNTP news protocol (the news server setting in your browser), or through web-based interfaces like deja.com, recently acquired by Google, which has the best multilingual support of any web search engine. Newsgroups may be completely open or moderated. Unmoderated groups are notorious for postings which may be completely off-topic (OT) and add a lot of noise to these important information channels.
Related Terms: Forum, Bulletin Board, News Group, Message Board, Mailing List, List Serv
News Portal
A News Portal is a specialized CMS that syndicates its headlines and stories into news feeds. The canonical news portal is Slashdot, with many copycat tools like those derived from phpNuke (PostNuke, eNvolution, Xaraya).
The News Portal categorizes stories into topics and allows Moderation? (karma) by users that decides on the ranking order of stories.
The standard news portal has three dimensions or categories into which stories are collected - Topics, Sections, and Authors. Each user can set up a profile that limits visible postings to only some of these sections, topics, or authors.
The Weblog or Blog is a personal subset of the typical news portal, generally with a single author and often no Topics or Sections.
We classify the News Portal, the Weblog, and the Wiki as what we call a Cms Lite?.
Related Terms: Content Management System, Moderation?, Syndication, Weblog
Notification
The News Portal categorizes stories into topics and allows Moderation? (karma) by users that decides on the ranking order of stories.
The standard news portal has three dimensions or categories into which stories are collected - Topics, Sections, and Authors. Each user can set up a profile that limits visible postings to only some of these sections, topics, or authors.
The Weblog or Blog is a personal subset of the typical news portal, generally with a single author and often no Topics or Sections.
We classify the News Portal, the Weblog, and the Wiki as what we call a Cms Lite?.
Notification in a CMS is an email generated when various tasks are completed, like creating a new page, entering an event, submitting a form, etc.
The notification email is often sent to a Role ma
The notification email is often sent to a Role ma