Choosing a CMS
After hitting some snags trying to get some sort of site management tool for work, I've now got some great stuff in the works. I'd already exhausted any possibilities of a well-designed, user-friendly ASP application and without a separate database, was getting to the point of just using a crude flatfile system. I know, I know, Movable Type (which powers this site) has a flatfile option, but it's also very flexible and works as either a CGI or PHP application. Yet, for some reason, there was this unwritten rule that the site had to use ASP scripting only. I say "was" because once I asked about using a PHP application and had a new database set up, suddenly the gates were flung open.
Perfect. Now I needed to find a suitable application. Capable of handling several users, very platform-friendly, had an intuitive user experience and most of all, little or no cost. Man, did I not know how many choices there were. From the start, I decided to look at open source systems only. That would not only lock the cost at zero, but would also provide a vast support and development community. So with that in mind, I started doing some research.
One of my first stops: opensourcecms.com. It had been a while since I'd seen just how many projects were in development. I remember discovering NewsPro and Greymatter back in 1999, then Movable Type back in 2001, and WordPress just last year. I had heard of PHP-Nuke and Drupal before, but having always worked with CGI, I never bothered to check them out. And yet, now there's so many options out there. So many to choose from, and where to start?
My first problem is that I base a lot on appearances. If it looks amateurish, it probably doesn't have what I'm looking for. If it looks like it's been well thought out, then it might be something I can work with. My other problem is that I'm not by any means a developer, in the sense that I don't create or tinker with application code. I guess I'm smart enough to figure things out if I have to, but I'm also dumb enough to do some damage on occassion.
What can I say, I come from a print design background. Yet I was learning web design far before most people even knew about the web. That right there should've put me so far ahead of the game. By now, I should know Java, JavaScript, Flash, CGI, PHP, ASP--you name it--forwards and backwards. But I don't. I should probably be able to create my own system using whatever method I want. But I can't. And not as in I cannot do it, but because I do not want to do it. I'm not a programmer, and never aspired to be one.
Now I've always said that web design is essentially a form of software design, and I think that's true still. Just like there are interface designers for applications you use everyday (like this browser), there are web designers. They make sure things function intuitively, scale and adapt properly and of course, provide an aesthetic for the end user. Ultimately, this was my only goal--to be a web designer. You know, make things look pretty and whatnot.
I used to think that a web designer and web developer could not coexist in the same body. And if they did, they couldn't possibly be worth a toss. Not until recently, that is. After reading Dave Shea's post CMYK (for those that do RGB) a while back, I began to realize that there are people out there who've done just that. Worked only in RGB, either starting out being a web or multimedia designer and progressing into hardcore programming or maybe the other way around.
So today, during a conversation with a co-worker, I realized something. I'd already surpassed how far I ever thought I would go with the whole web design thing. Right around the moment when I mentioned how I just look at the code and can anticipate how it'll look in a browser. I think if I were to ask any dedicated print designer to do that, they'd stab themselves in the head with their X-acto knives. Then they'd come looking for revenge.
I can tell when eyes start to glaze over as I mention CSS positioning or the differences between HTML and XHTML or fluid vs. liquid design. (Okay, maybe not that last one...I so don't want to ever discuss that again.) And yet, to me, this stuff seems so basic now.
Now here I am, dealing with PHP applications, tying them to a SQL server, setting up XHTML templates and adapting CSS to go with them. Why? Because that's what I have to do. I have to get things working, far beyond the point of making things look pretty. It's that feeling that you're just about in over your head, when the water is just below your nose. Yeah, that's me swimmin' with the web design shizzarks! Look at me go!
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