My interest is in community websites and grassroots media power. Due to the low expense and interactivity of web publishing, as is well known, there are many possibilities for community-oriented sites without the need for full-time paid staff that Postnuke and perhaps other open-source systems have created.
As a content management system for community websites, Postnuke has many good features. However, I continue to stumble on the following:
1. The Postnuke code requires too much editorial supervision, or the editorial supervision is too difficult to disable. For many community sites, particularly in small communities, it would be very handy not to have to approve submissions before they are posted. Many of the calendar modules and the Yellowpages module require editorial approval before things are posted, and this is difficult to disable (at least for my level of PHP expertise).
2. It would be very handy to have a fully featured “author” field for story submissions. I am not talking here about administrators or users. What if someone wants to post a piece written by someone else, and give credit where credit is due?
3. How about a “tree” structure for Sections, Categories, and Topics, with a breadcrumb trail feature to show the user where he/she is? Even after some experience with PN, I find it difficult to navigate most PN sites.
What I would like to see are modules where a user posts and can edit his/her own stuff without the intervention of an editor or admin. Truly ideal would be a module in which a user could decide to make a submission, be presented with options such as Story, Opinion, Yellowpages Ad, Classified Ad, Banner Ad, Photo submission, etc. and be presented with appropriate and intuitive options all the way down the line to the POST button. Of course admin needs to have the option of moving, editing, and deleting, but let’s not mandate permissions in advance.
My ideal for a content management system would have a core of PN blocks, themes, languages, and user authentication. Admin could then choose modules and configure based on their needs, fears, and hopes.
Does anyone know to get THERE from HERE? Or am I asking in the wrong place? Thanks
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