Plone

I've moved my website to Plone, an open-source content management system, running on a Mac OS X Server sitting behind my main web server. The site looks pretty much the same as it has in the past, except that now you can post comments on the bottom of articles, either anonymously or by registering for an account.

Plone is a cool CMS with a ton of features and customizability. It's also pretty secure -- and I'm pretty fanatical about security. One feature that I really like is that Plone generates URLs that make sense (such as http://www.ps-enable.com/articles/how_to_split_a_server_part_1) rather than URLs that lack meaning (such as http://drupal.org/node/65199, to pick one at random). Another good point is that Plone is immune to SQL injection attacks, unlike most PHP-based systems. It uses Python and the Zope Object Database system instead. Because it isn't running in an Apache module, it can be moved off to a separate application server for better scalability. Is it as powerful as WebObjects? No, not by a long shot. It doesn't come close to the level of programmability that you get from WebObjects. However, it's a tool for a different job. Plone and WebObjects are like a hammer and a wrench -- each tool does a different job, and you should reach for the right tool when you need it.

I'm in the middle of a project right now where I'm transitioning a client's website from static HTML to Plone. They're tired of having to use someone outside their office to update their website, which (due to organizational reasons) usually takes four to six weeks and a lot of prodding. Instead, their PR person will be able to update their website from inside a browser without needing any special HTML skills.

How to Split a Server (Part 2)

This was finally put up on afp548.com, and nobody told me, so I couldn't coordinate posting it to my website as well. Anyway, you can read it (with graphics) at:

    http://ps-enable.com/articles/how_to_split_a_server_part_2.html

and post comments at the bottom, or you can read it (sans graphics) at:

    http://www.afp548.com/article.php?story=20060505093026351

Where part 1 of the series was about the general concept, part 2 gets into some of the details on how to do things.


--Paul