[Zope-CMF] CMF for intranets, CMF inside CMF etc

khoxsey@dotcast.com khoxsey@dotcast.com
Fri, 8 Feb 2002 09:15:49 -0800


Apologies for the shameless plug, but Carl Rendell and I just presented a
paper at Python10 on building intranets with Zope and CMF. We discussed an
approach for cataloging information within intranets, and created a
demonstration using the approach outlined.

The paper, presentation, and demonstration are all available on our website:
  Paper: http://www.smoking-gnomes.org/python10.pdf
  Presentation: http://www.smoking-gnomes.org/python10
  Demonstration: http://www.smoking-gnomes.org/intranet
  Website (as if you couldn't guess): http://www.smoking-gnomes.org

> Anybody got any hints/pointers on using CMF for building
> intranets? It is a perfect fit in my - so far limited -
> knowledge about it. But I can't figure out a way to
> satisfy the following structure
> 
> my.org
>    my.org/mydepartment
>      my.org/mydepartment/myproject/
>    my.org/somefocusgroup/
> 
> where each of these entries are CMF portal sites on
> their own, with a different group based access rights.

In our experience, there is no great need for multiple portals to satisfy
the structure, as folders will allow you to do all of the same things. The
main reason to have additional portals (Carl and I call them 'subportals')
is to have additional portal_catalogs to partition your metadata and
indexes. In our experience this is not often necessary, but it is possible
when needed.

> Also, the "my stuff" things at each portal/Members/member
> folder - it'll get to be a pain to manage if a user has to
> maintain his stuff in each and every portal separately.

Not really. For our intranet we created a 'Reference' product that allows
you to refer to a document in a different area of the site, allowing for a
capability much like symlinks in a unix filesystem.

> PS: I'm fighting for Zope against many supporters of
> systems-that-exist-only-in-powerpoint-but-cost-$1M!
> Apparently, the perception is that something that
> is open source and free can't be as good as very
> expensive stuff :-)

Been there, done that. Good luck.

Kent