Plymouth State Looks At Wordpress MU
September 8, 2005 | 16 Comments
Plymouth State University’s IT department has relied heavily on PHP for web-based applications for a lot of years now. We employ multiple PHP developers and get really excited about well written PHP apps.
Recently a lot of us (see links in right nav) have been using Wordpress for blogging. It’s code and interface are clean. Since we’ve been so happy with it overall, we’ve begun talking about a campus-wide blogging solution. It would seem like a great service to provide all 17,000 users (alumni, faculy, staff, and students) with blogs. Initially, Casey and I were considering modifying Wordpress to handle multiple blogs and using this as a customized solution.
However, this plan is no longer neccessary. Wordpress MU is a multi-user version of Wordpress and solves most our needs. I’ve tested it out here at NoSheep! using *.blog.nosheep.net. Setup is as simple as you’d expect from these guys and the end product rules.
The following is all we need technologically to get this integrated in our environment:
- automatic blog creation for users who want one
- LDAP authentication, or
- SSO portal integration
I’m thinking less than 4 hours total investment of time to roll this out.
Once that is in place we just need to find a home for it and sell IT management on the benefits for our constituents. In fact, we’re thinking initially the server footprint should be lightweight enough that we can reuse an existing server. That makes this a $0 solution in hard costs. Just a little labor and we’re good to go.
The only concerns we still have are:
- When will this exit beta?
- Can we deploy a beta product to this large of a group?
- Will we need a support and training structure for this?
Tags: beta, blog, blogging, higher education, software, wordpress, wordpress mu
10 Steps to a Better Product Choice
August 17, 2005 | Leave a Comment
OK, so its kinda lame for me to just reproduce content, but I have somewhat good reason. Jon and I wrote up a policy recommendation titled “10 Steps to a Better Product Choice” that was never adopted. However, I still think this is a valuable policy, as does he. Recently he blogged it, and now I’m just rehashing.
10 Steps to a better product choice
The following steps are designed to be used in conjunction with normal project management procedures to ensure due process is given when considering technical solutions.
1. Determine initial user base and stakeholders
2. Determine requirements and dependencies (desired features, architecture, budget, etc.)
3. Re-evaluate user base and stakeholders
4. Repeat step 2 for new user base and stakeholders if necessary
5. Identify 3 or more potential solutions. Consideration should be given to what products are used in other similar institutions. Commercial, open source, and homegrown solutions should all be considered
6. Compare the delivered features of each potential solution against the defined requirements and dependencies and list any additional benefits
7. Estimate the implementation costs and timeline for each potential solution. Estimate ongoing costs including licensing, server upgrades, IT support, helpdesk, product upgrades, patches, etc.
8. Compile report including return on investment, costs, requirement/dependency fulfillment, and features
9. Choose the solution which best fits the requirements and dependencies
10. Implement the new product
Tags: implementation, policy, product choice, roi, software, software purchasing, solution, systems
ecto for Windows Blows
August 10, 2005 | 16 Comments
I’ve been using ecto on my Mac at home and at the office. Recently I got Ken setup with a WordPress site, and put ecto on his desktop for managing his content. I assumed it would be as simple as on the Mac and he’d really like it. A few days later he told me ecto was worthless and he didn’t like it. I thought he just didn’t get it.
I was wrong.
While out in Salt Lake I figured I’d use ecto on my PC laptop. The windows version of ecto is complete garbage. It crashes if you look at it funny, there is no technorati tag support, and the WYSIWYG editor is weak at best. ecto on the mac is not perfect, but the PC version is worthless.
My search begins for a Windows alternative.
Read some reviews from CMS Wire. Sadly they give ecto a 9/10 which is concerning for the others who all scored less…
Other PC desktop blogging options I’m going to try:
BlogJet
Thingamablog
WB Editor
w.bloggar
Update:
BlogJet, $39.95, doesn’t ping any services. Verdict: junky.
Thingamablog, crashes on open. Couldn’t even evaluate. Verdict: complete trash.
WB Editor: $19.99, doesn’t auto ping external sevices (technorati, etc.). Verdict: no good.
w.bloggar: Can’t edit previous posts. best potential. Verdict: sad.
There has to be something out there… Still searching…
Tags: blog, blogging, desktop blogging, ecto, mac, mac software, pc, software