Plone @ UW Oshkosh
Kim Nguyen, Administrative Computing
Bio
University of Waterloo BASc, MASc
Logo, flight simulators, mineral processing, document
imaging/workflow, financial risk management,
consulting, database replication
senior systems analyst (PeopleSoft, Oracle --> Plone)
UW Oshkosh web sites,
circa 2004
inconsistent look
aesthetically uneven
the priesthood of Dreamweaver and Contribute
no overall navigation
kludged search via Google
difficulty of updating; outdated content
What is Plone?
the biggest open source content management system
(CMS) - http://plone.org
Python, Zope, all major operating systems
powerful framework with lots of free modules
(“products”)
separation of content and presentation
What does Plone look like?
out of the box
our own http://uwosh.edu/ploneprojects site
Development Tools
ArgoUML, ArchGenXML
Python
the future is through the web (Dexterity, WorkflowEd,
PloneFormGen)
Why Plone?
all content creating, editing, organizing is THROUGH
THE WEB
dynamic housekeeping means less work for content
creators: navigation, search catalog, permissions
handling, RSS
approval process (workflow)
power to the people
open source - pragmatism & mission
What else can Plone do?
intranets
news & events
blogging
files
photo galleries
live search
versioning
keyword tagging
custom workflow
How did we choose Plone?
WIDA project, early 2004
review of alternatives, final recommendation, approval
rollout, and the test of time
Plone improvements & adoption
web services
Guerrilla marketing
carrot vs. stick
surveys
network, network, network!
showcase work: OIE study abroad workflow app
the coup: COB intranet
word of mouth
Amorphous Plone team
Media Services (unfunded): one staff & two interns
Academic Computing: system administrator
Administrative Computing: one staff & one intern ***
ResLife MIO: 2 plus 2 student employees
Student Tech Fee: one student employee
Reeve Union: four student employees
College of Business: one student employee
Spreading the love
informal lines of communication
http://uwosh.edu/ploneprojects
mailing lists (plone-users, plone-developers ****)
chat room
Slow Jogs
IT Training classes, user manual
Business models
everyone on their own
fully funded campus web team
Penn State’s WebLion team
our hybrid
Integrated Marketing
genesis of IMC
Plone is official
resourcing and control
campus web redesign project
Scaling up
300+ sites, more to come
server infrastructure
support infrastructure
software infrastructure - automation
participating in and giving back to the Plone
community
A new Plone initiative
business process efficiency
hug a tree today, or welcome to the 20th century
workflow application design tool
Lessons learned
intrapreneurship works
organic growth
happy customers = word of mouth
choose your customers
executive sponsors
articulate your vision
Opportunities
on campus: internships, project appointments, and full
time jobs
on your own: client facing, programming, graphics
design, hosting/server admin
see http://plone.net for providers