Patrick Shaw’s Weblog

It’s no surprise to anyone reading this here that NPower Seattle is a big fan of Plone, the open source content management system that helps us deliver huge features to our customers without building from scratch. As a matter of fact, I attended the World Wide Plone Conference a couple of years ago, have been on the circuit with Idealware talking about Plone (and other CMS tools) and recently send one of my senior web developers to the World Wide Plone Conference in DC.

Well - now some of that magic is going to be happening right here locally. Our friends and colleagues at ONE/NW are hosting the World Plone Day, and you should attend!

Here’s what you need to know about the event and how to sign up:

AGENDA

Speakers

• Jon Stahl, Plone Foundation Board President
• Sam Knox, ONE/Northwest Support Manager

Talks

Plone: How it helps you build great websites

A brief overview of what Plone is all about — led by Jon Stahl, Plone Foundation Board President

Plone for Content Editors: Learning and Teaching the Essentials

Plone is often touted as a great CMS for non-technical users because it is easy and attractive for content managers to add, update, and maintain content. While this is largely true, there are a number of essential skills that one must learn in order to become comfortable with all aspects of posting and editing content in Plone. Added to that, there are a number of ‘best practices’ to learn about writing for the web and using the Plone interface that can substantially increase the chances of a satisfactory experience with Plone. Sam Knox, Support Manager for the non-profit consulting organization ONE/Northwest, will present an end-user focused training with ideas and advice for both end-users and the consultants who work with them. If you are new to Plone, or are often engaged with those who are, this session is for you.

So that we have enough food & beverage, free swag from Google, and can tailor the talks appropriately, please RSVP.

LOGISTICS

World Plone Day
Friday, November 7th, 5:00 P.M. to 7:00ish P.M.
ONE/Northwest
1402 Third Ave, Suite 1000
Seattle WA
Directions at:
http://onenw.org/about/contact-us

RSVP at:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ndrYO87_2fwkvwtUq6z1BH_2fg_3d_3d

We’ve been implementing websites for nonprofits for a long time, and we’ve been using Plone as a CMS for about three years. It’s no surprise that over that three year span - our websites are getting better and better, Plone is getting better and better - and sites cost a bit more, too. Here’s some of the why:

When we first started, there was a lot we didn’t know - so - as we learned how to implement effectively in Plone - we wrote off a lot of our initial costs to that learning curve. Some of those items were true learning - we had to acquire skills in web hosting, in writing user agreements, in understanding the open source model and more.

But some of those costs were related to implementing hard designs - and that hasn’t changed!

Here are some things that we’re doing now:

• We test to make sure that your website renders well in IE6, IE7, and in Firefox. IE7 wasn’t out when we started, and Firefox was barely on anyone’s radar. Now we have IE8 on the way, the browser by Google (called Chrome) and Firefox 3 to get ready for.
• We implement one (if not two) analytic tools to make sure that you can measure site traffic
• We add additional tools that you can use, such as Plone Form Generator -a tool that lets you create forms for visitors to fill out and send to you
• We create "quick tip" documentation sheets to go along with our overall documentation
• We’ve implemented a cache scheme that makes your site render more quickly

And there’s a lot more. On top of THAT - our customers are asking for more, too:

• Deeply tiered permission structures so that board members, volunteers, and others can view restricted content
• Connecting to Salesforce.com databases to display and get information
• Expanded typography, using Flash and other tools, so that your website isn’t "stuck" using standard website fonts only
• Custom widget building, such as for a Resource Library, highly customized Calendars, stylized blogs
• Extended tools for tracking Search Engine Optimization

And there’s more of THAT, too!

We’re still able to implement highly affordable websites, if that’s what you want and need. We’ve recently helped a pair of customers move their old website (couldn’t edit them) to Plone, keeping much of their existing design. And we’ve had a few customers pick an already designed site (so the feature set and design didn’t have any moving pieces) and re-use with their own color scheme and content.

So - there are a lot of options. After three years (and just about 50 sites) - we’re excited about the future of Plone and how nonprofits can gain access to editing and posting content with it!

Helping you quickly enter and edit great content!

That’s it. Don’t get me wrong - Plone is HUGELY featured, and it integrates very nicely. But I think it is the printing press of the decade, if you get what I mean. When Martin Luther nailed his treatise on the church door in Wittenberg - it wasn’t the content of his note that was radical -it was that he was able to use the printing press to evangelize (no pun intended) his message:

The printing press is discovered and put into action in 1450. … Luther would have just been one more reformer in a small area if it had not been for the printing press. But thanks to the printing press, Martin Luther became the bestseller throughout the empire. He out-published all of his Catholic opponents. … He discovered the power of the press in ways that no one else had used it up to that point: everything from woodcuts being used in a polemical way, ditties and rhymes. He mastered this new medium; he used it to spread and turn what would have been a local affair into an international movement. ..

Plone can do that for you - but you have to have a communication plan, you have to know how to write for the web, and you have to know your audience. And (most of all) you need to regularly provide content updates to your website.

When you consider moving to a content management system such as Plone - make sure you START with an effective communication plan, that you identify the features of your website (NOT the visual design elements) that are most important, and implement your visual design in such a way that you further your goals, rather then just look pretty!

We’re in a changing world. The clunky CRT monitors of a few years ago are fading quickly - replaced by skinner flat panel monitors. Overall - that’s a good thing - they use less space and less energy and can be easier on the eyes!

But we’re in a world without a clear standard when it comes to sizing up your website. When you implement a new website, you’ll need to choose a size for your website that will meet the needs of most of your constituents. There aren’t a lot of terrific demographics out there to help, either - so this may very well be a bit of a guessing game for you. Do your stakeholders have older  CRT’s? Maybe in the 15 to 17 inch size? Perhaps they have one of the first flat panels - perhaps also in the 15-17 inch size?

But maybe they have a newer flat panel - more of the rectangular shape? Mine is like that - it’s a 19 inch monitor - but it’s long on the bottom (about 17 inches) and about 10 inches wide.  That means long-ish spreadsheets are dreamy to look at, while some websites seem to have a LOT of white space!

Here’s a quick grid to help you size up your website dimensions:

Page widths available (in pixels):

•     600 (suitable for 640×480)
•    720 (suitable for 800×600)
•    780 (just about suitable for 800×600)
•    840 (suitable for 1024×768)
•    900 (suitable for 1024×768)
•    960 (suitable for 1024×768)

Kudos to my senior website consultant Jesse Snyder for the research and to PE Ideas on Web Design for the details!

The folks at NTEN have turned out a survey regarding how nonprofits are using Content Management Systems. Since NPower Seattle uses Plone - I was delighted to see that Plone achieved high marks in Quality, Support, Usability and more.

You can download the entire study from the NTEN website  -free if you are an NTEN member.

A lot, it turns out - your designer can make choices in the design phase that can significantly reduce the ease in which search engines can find your site.

Search Engine Optimization is important -both during the design phase of your project AND after your site has launched.

During design, you’ll want your designer to understand how and when the use of tools such as Flash or AJAX may reduce the searchability of your site - and you’ll want to review those choices and measure the benefit: is it better to look great or is it better to be seen? This is a business choice that you should make before you approve your design!

AFTER the design phase - you’ll want to keep an eye on your keywords, the titles of your pages, and much more. There’s a terrific SEO Guide for Designers available at Web Designer Wall - it will take you all of 5 minutes to read - but a lot longer to implement!

PS - We implement Plone here at NPower Seattle - and I’m happy to report that Plone does a terrific job with “friendly names” and with other items mentioned in the article, such as managing your keywords!

We’ve been implementing Plone and Salesforce for the last pair of years - and I was thinking about my early days at NPower. When I began working here 5 years ago - there weren’t a lot of software options from the open source community that we thought were a good fit. Sometimes, it was because the software wasn’t ready. Sometime it was because the software was great - but there wasn’t any documentation. And sometimes it was because there didn’t appear to be a strong enough community to support that software.

That has changed a lot - and lately, I’ve been thinking about the different way some software is described - here’s a quick primer:

• Open Source: This is software that you can acquire and install and can modify the underlying code to make it do what you want. For example, Plone is open source, and Photoshop is not.
• Open Data Model: This has more to do with the vendor than the software - but when I think of “open” software, I think of if I can access and manipulate that software and if I can integrate it with other tools. For instance, both Plone and Salesforce have an open data model - they can exchange information freely (provided someone knows how to connect them, and we do!) without breaking a licensing agreement or paying an additional fee. Blackbaud products aren’t open - if you connect without purchasing an additional license, you void your contract.
• Open Pricing: This is admittedly fuzzy. But I think that if a vendor is selling a product, they ought to commit to a pricing structure, even if they best they can do is offer a range. Some tools are free or freely available. For instance, Plone is free to use (but probably not free to configure). Salesforce will grant you 10 licenses if you are a qualifying nonprofit - but you should probably find an expert to help you configure and import your data. And many Microsoft products are available for an administrative fee.

I’m pretty excited about the combination of all three of these “open” descriptions - some items are free or freely available, some are easy to integrate, and some are transparent about their pricing model. All told - this translates to good news for the nonprofit sector!

The folks at TechSoup continue to provide quick and salient information about web design - I’ve blogged about a lot of these - but a reminder almost always helps. The article (which you should read) mentions 5 Principles - here’s my favorite:

Design is not Art.

Art is about personal expression. It is about the life, the emotions, the thoughts and ideas of the artist. It matters very little what observers do; their activity is not required, only their appreciation. The practice of Art doesn’t require them. It is a necessary activity for the artist and the artist alone.

Creating a terrific design is hard work - but you can help your designer by providing:

• Your logo and your brand
• Your audience identification
• A color palette
• A sense of screen layout - top navigation or side navigation for instance

The more you provide - the better chances that a designer will deliver something on the mark!

We’ve standardized our website work in Plone, a terrific Content Management System. Out of the gate, Plone performs very well in search tests - but those are just the easy wins - the technology piece of helping your site be searchable, rather than the people piece!

The folks at Human Service Solutions have published a very nice (and pretty short - just 5 pages) article called SEO Fundamentals. (SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization), and I think it is a must read. Here’s a a great framing question:

If your organization’s mission has to do with environmental protection, are your target visitors most likely to search for “acid rain”, “save the forests”, “toxic waste”, “greenhouse effect”, or all of the above? Do you want to reach visitors who are local, regional or national in scope? These are considerations that need careful attention as you begin the SEO process.

You should read the entire 5 page article - it will take 10-15 minutes at the most! Implementing a strong search plan isn’t rocket science for most - just work to research, test, and then implement - and then do it all over again!

The team at Microsoft’s Office Live Small Business has a great blog posting on how to use the Contact page on your website. You should read it, and see how you measure up! Here are the salient points:

• Always list a physical mailing address
• List all appropriate phone numbers
• List at least one email address that is checked regularly
• Include a photo or map of your business
• If you have a blog, include a link to it
• List the events you attend or promote

One of the reasons we love using Plone for our website services is that we can give our customers access to editing their own contact page - that’s one step closer to using your website effectively!