Stories from the Front5 Years of Plone in Production

Stephen BollingerWeb Services Librarian, F.D. Bluford Library

North Carolina A&T State University

About MeGopher (Get off my lawn, etc.)HTML Since 1995™“Library” SchoolDotCom “Consultant”Information Architect Hired GunPublic LibrarianAcademic Librarian

About My Work

Plone ExperienceCapital Area District LibraryBegan Development in July 2006 (v2.1.3)Launched in November 2006 (v2.5.1)Relaunched in June 2007 (v2.5.3)Upgraded in December 2007 (v3.0.3)

North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State UniversityBegan Development in May 2010 (v4.0b1)

•Launched in August 2010 (v4.0b4-ish)•Currently Running v4.0.4

You’re in the Army NowWhat a Veteran Would Like to Tell His Rookie Self

Lessons Learned the Hard Way

Don’t OverreachBackup, Backup, BackupControl is OverratedThe Care & Feeding of End-Users Is a Tricky ThingIt Takes Years to Learn a ToolContent Is EverythingReuse, Reuse, ReuseThere Is Help Out There

Image Credit: Dirt Road ©Ian Munroe http://flic.kr/p/6x4VJH CC BY 2.0

Pyrrhic VictoryWhen Your Reach Exceeds Your Grasp

The Dangers of Overreaching

Can You Support It, Long-term?The Shifting Sands Underneath Your FeetYour Credibility With Your End-Users“Gee Whiz” vs. Mission CriticalKeep It Simple, StupidThe Right Tool for the Right Job

Don’t Burn Your BridgesBackup, Backup, Backup & Backup Again. Then Try a Restore.

Why Restore Is So Important

Your Site Is Sick & You Don’t Know for How LongCan It Be Fixed Without a Restore?How Well Does Your Server Administrator Understand Plone?What Do You Stand to Lose?Will Your Users Understand?Do You Have Redundancy Available?Disaster Planning & Recovery, Off-Site BackupsUltimately, It Doesn’t Matter Unless You Can Restore

RETREAT!Why Control Is Overrated & Technology Alone Cannot Save You

Must… Not… Micromanage…

Our Workflow Collapsed:Managers Did Not Use the System Often EnoughContent Moldered in the Queue

When Somebody Finally “Went Rogue”:It Was an Approver/ManagerIt Only Happened Once in 4 Years

Supporting the TroopsA Bumper Sticker Isn’t Enough

More Than TrainingBe Careful Sharing Your Pain

Your Users Will Rebel If You Bad-Mouth Your CMSYou Are There to Support Them

Make Your Developer(s) (& Yourself) Interact With Your UsersThey Will Tell You What Isn’t WorkingEmpower Them to Help Themselves & Their Peers

Make Help Easy to FindEncourage Them to Cooperate, Share & CollaborateTrust Your Users

Image Credit: ©Mike Gifford http://flic.kr/p/o8jSA CC BY-SA 2.0

Confessions of a VeteranIt Took Years to Get Here

Enough With the SlidesLet’s Go Behind The Scenes

Plone Wishlist

I Appreciate Everyone’s Hard Work. Plone Is Vastly Improved. But It Would Be Really Nice to Have:

Robust RSS 2.0 In/OutA Safe Way to Delegate Control of Select PortletsThe Ability to Reuse the Same Static Text PortletA Better Backup Story for Windows Plone

THANK YOU TO:Windows Installer Creators/Testers/MaintainerSunburst Theme & Deco.gs Creators/Testers/MaintainersPloneFormGen Creators/Testers/MaintainersWebLionEnfold SystemsProduct/Add-On Creators/Testers/MaintainersPlone IRC Channel/Google GroupsEveryone Involved in the Plone Community

Thank YouQuestions & Answers

©2011 Stephen Bollinger Except Where NotedThis Presentation Is Licensed CC BY-SA 2.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/