[pmwiki-users] Meetup? Drupal?

Henrik Bechmann henrik.bechmann at sympatico.ca
Thu Sep 28 11:41:55 CDT 2006


Crisses,

Thanks for the overview!!

Crisses wrote:
> On Sep 28, 2006, at 9:08 AM, Stirling Westrup wrote:
>
>   
>> Yesterday I was at a local club meeting and some folks were talking
>> about setting up a CMS to manage a website for the club. It would have
>> the usual features of news and articles, but they were also hoping to
>> use it to replace meetup.com which they are currently using to inform
>> folks of venue and time changes (of which there have been many).
>>
>> I'm not exactly sure how that would be done in PmWiki, but I suggested
>> that we use it anyway because
>>
>>   a) I like it, and
>>   b) I figured it couldn't be too hard.
>>
>> I'm thinking that a good solution would use something like FASTData so
>> that folks could register for the newsletter and/or meeting updates
>> (with double opt-in) and use PmCal or similar to display event  
>> dates on
>> the site. Like meetup we'd also want user profiles and RSVP  
>> feedback for
>> meeting attendance. There was also talk about using the site to  
>> manage a
>> discussion list. Does anyone have any suggestions about best ways of
>> doing all this?
>>
>> Secondly, someone else suggested that we use Drupal instead, not  
>> because
>> of any particular familiarity with it (as far as I could tell) but
>> because its well known and has a large user base. I've never used  
>> it but
>> I've heard its hard to install and set-up and would like to hear the
>> opinions of anyone here who's used it. I'm not really interested in
>> trashing it, but I would like to have some (reasonably) objective pros
>> and cons to put forward before a decision is made.
>>
>> I've agreed to put together a simple demonstration site to show how it
>> might work under PmWiki and I'm interested in any advice folks have.
>>     
>
> My primary business is application installation, customization and  
> configuration.
>
> I've looked at a bunch of CMS systems.  Weighed their pros & cons.
>
> I rejected Drupal because I wanted a business directory once and  
> couldn't find a good module for it.  That really frustrated me.
>
> I rejected Joomla! (and hence Mambo) because, while their best  
> business directory ($99) was ok they have a set number of user groups  
> out of the box.  Extending to customizable user groups requires  
> breaking the package and comes with NO guarantees that other modules  
> (purchased or not) would continue to work after.  That went right  
> into the trash.  If ANYONE wants a license for a Joomla business  
> directory package I'd be glad to pass on the license at a  
> considerable discount and recoup my loss, since I never used it....
>
> I then went to Xoops.  I like Xoops.  It's not as pretty out-of-the- 
> box (Joomla is pretty!), but it's extensible, has multiple groups out- 
> of-the-box, tons of plug-ins, and I feel like it's a true free-OSS  
> package with the same type of giving community I experience with  
> PmWiki.  Their package is built with a basic core and EVERY feature  
> is a plug-in.  You opt to install the features you want.  All the  
> plug-ins are independent.  You don't have to break the core package  
> to add an extension (Joomla & oscommerce are guilty as charged!).
>
> I come back after that to PmWiki.  I love PmWiki and greatly look  
> forward to the day I can give out PmWiki instead of even Xoops to  
> paying clients, as a CMS, shopping cart, and otherwise.
>
> I think that FASTData is young, and in spite of how Caveman gushes  
> about how easy it is you're looking at more work than you think to  
> create the features you want at this particular moment.  I've been  
> working on http://www.similepedia.com for weeks now -- far outside of  
> my deadline -- because PmWiki is changing so rapidly right now and  
> I'm waiting on upcoming features to finish the package for my client.
>
> However, you may want to fall back on the stable version of PmWiki  
> and features that PmWiki does already have.  One forum package is  
> broken in the latest releases, but if you fall back to the latest  
> 2.1.x stable, you have forums there.  Other plug-ins you mentioned  
> are stable.  If you feel confident about doing user logins with  
> PmWiki, go for it, but if not I suggest hooking a tiny external  
> newsletter package manager in with something that manages using the  
> same data to log in with PmWiki.  Or have user logins separate from  
> their newsletter subscriptions.  A package I evaluated that looks  
> good for newsletter management is Koops mailing list -- looks clean,  
> small, just does exactly what it needs to to manage a mailing list  
> and opt-outs, and nothing more.  Simple to plug-in to a PmWiki  
> template.  That's all you need.  Heck, I'll probably hook it in to my  
> MySQL sign-on app (which works on the stable PmWiki) eventually so  
> that the mailing list & opt out ties directly in with user account  
> management.
>
> So, that's my professional recommendation(s) for you.  Check out  
> Xoops if you're not using PmWiki.  If you go with PmWiki, build your  
> PmWiki install around stable packages, and upgrade to something  
> fancier and with more features when the dust settles and Caveman has  
> time to put up some terrific code samples and document things better  
> for those of us still scratching our heads.
>
> Crisses
>
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>
>   

-- 

Henrik Bechmann
www.osscommons.ca
www.bechmannsoftware.com
Webmaster, www.dufferinpark.ca





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