Looking for a CMS (content management) Guide

[SelArom]

hi, I'm looking to create my own content management system in asp.net 2.0, but I was wondering if there are any good references for things to consider when building one? I don't need any asp.net tutorials or anything like that, just an analysis of the requirements and things to consider when building a CMS so I can have something to refer to as I'm working.

thanks a bunch!
-SelArom

 

[jjones]

Don't really have any suggestions other than you might want to download Joomla and take a look at its structure. That will at least be somewhat helpful.

 

[GundamSonicZeroX]

You can try Mambo. Personally I suggest learing HTML yourself. All my webpages have been coded from scratch.

 

[SelArom]

Originally posted by: GundamSonicZeroX
You can try Mambo. Personally I suggest learing HTML yourself. All my webpages have been coded from scratch.

heh fellas, I'm not looking for a CMS solution, I'm looking to build one myself. Looking at the structure of existing solutions is a good idea, but I'm looking for a more high-level overview of the CMS in general.

-SelArom

 

[Atheus]

Originally posted by: GundamSonicZeroX
You can try Mambo. Personally I suggest learing HTML yourself. All my webpages have been coded from scratch.

He's talking about writing a CMS in ASP, I'm sure he knows HTML...

OP: I'm doing bits of one right now, it's not hugely difficult, but there's not many tutorials out there as every system is so different. For example our CMS has quite complex image editing/management parts, but a different site might just have an "add image to news item" button and leave it at that.

 

[SelArom]

Originally posted by: Atheus

Originally posted by: GundamSonicZeroX
You can try Mambo. Personally I suggest learing HTML yourself. All my webpages have been coded from scratch.

He's talking about writing a CMS in ASP, I'm sure he knows HTML...

OP: I'm doing bits of one right now, it's not hugely difficult, but there's not many tutorials out there as every system is so different. For example our CMS has quite complex image editing/management parts, but a different site might just have an "add image to news item" button and leave it at that.

yeah I'm basically looking to make a site where people can add pages of content easily, maybe blogs, forums, etc, but REALLY simple. I'm just looking for a guide of what should be included and design issues (like storing in a database vs storing individual htm pages, etc).

-SelArom

 

[Atheus]

Originally posted by: SelArom

Originally posted by: Atheus

Originally posted by: GundamSonicZeroX
You can try Mambo. Personally I suggest learing HTML yourself. All my webpages have been coded from scratch.

He's talking about writing a CMS in ASP, I'm sure he knows HTML...

OP: I'm doing bits of one right now, it's not hugely difficult, but there's not many tutorials out there as every system is so different. For example our CMS has quite complex image editing/management parts, but a different site might just have an "add image to news item" button and leave it at that.

yeah I'm basically looking to make a site where people can add pages of content easily, maybe blogs, forums, etc, but REALLY simple. I'm just looking for a guide of what should be included and design issues (like storing in a database vs storing individual htm pages, etc).

-SelArom

Well I'd definately go for a database - it's so much easier and more flexible. Have an entry for each page (obviously) and maybe keep a backup of each one so there can be an option to undo an edit. You have lots of user input and file uploads etc, so security is a major concern - check/validate everything to avoid injection attacks and malicious uploads.

 

[SelArom]

Originally posted by: Atheus

Well I'd definately go for a database - it's so much easier and more flexible. Have an entry for each page (obviously) and maybe keep a backup of each one so there can be an option to undo an edit. You have lots of user input and file uploads etc, so security is a major concern - check/validate everything to avoid injection attacks and malicious uploads.

yeah thanks, validation of user input is something I definitely want to consider, but I don't know much about that kind of stuff. does anyone know of any control in asp.net 2.0 that can filter out this kind of stuff? like scripts and html from textboxes? I'd like to enable the basic ones like em, a, strong, etc...

-SelArom

 

[SelArom]

one of the things we covered in my software engineering class this past semester was developing a set of formal requirements, so that you have something to follow as you move forward in your development.

I would like to use this idea for implementing this system, as it is a pretty complex beast, and I want to keep things as organized as possible. What I would like to know then is this:

is there a formal mechanism (software, templates, etc) for itemizing these requirements? I know that I can use Use Cases and stuff like that, and I've got a little bit of practice with that, but I'm looking for something to keep track of the high level requirements and overview of the project. Should I just use a plain word file or is there a special way of storing this information?

thanks a bunch
-SelArom

 

[tfinch2]

Why reinvent the wheel? It's one thing to make a custom CMS to tailor to certain needs, but why waste time when a solution already exists?

 

[SelArom]

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Why reinvent the wheel? It's one thing to make a custom CMS to tailor to certain needs, but why waste time when a solution already exists?

1) because I don't like the solutions that are out there
2) because I want to learn
3) because I can

-SelArom

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: SelArom

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Why reinvent the wheel? It's one thing to make a custom CMS to tailor to certain needs, but why waste time when a solution already exists?

1) because I don't like the solutions that are out there
2) because I want to learn
3) because I can

-SelArom

Are you already seasoned in ASP.net?

 

[SelArom]

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: SelArom

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Why reinvent the wheel? It's one thing to make a custom CMS to tailor to certain needs, but why waste time when a solution already exists?

1) because I don't like the solutions that are out there
2) because I want to learn
3) because I can

-SelArom

Are you already seasoned in ASP.net?

yep, I'm just looking for

a) a high-level guide of things to keep in mind when building a CMS

and

b) a way to formally document my progress

-SelArom

 

[jjones]

Originally posted by: SelArom

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: SelArom

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Why reinvent the wheel? It's one thing to make a custom CMS to tailor to certain needs, but why waste time when a solution already exists?

1) because I don't like the solutions that are out there
2) because I want to learn
3) because I can

-SelArom

Are you already seasoned in ASP.net?

yep, I'm just looking for

a) a high-level guide of things to keep in mind when building a CMS

and

b) a way to formally document my progress

-SelArom

That's one of the reasons I suggest downloading something like Joomla. The code is well documented and you can see the logic in the way they built it.

 

[cw42]

Don't stop a man from wanting to learn.

I've been trying to make my own sort of CMS using PHP/MySQL. Not really all the successful so far because i'm having trouble with the PHP, but i'm learning.