[Zope] Easier maintenance than through management iface?

[Paul Winkler]

On Thu, Dec 19, 2002 at 08:17:46PM +0100, Martin F Krafft wrote:
> I like the management interface, but I can't expect everyone at the
> lab to use it, nor can I really expect them to do either of ZPT or
> DTML. Ideally, I want to get rid of HTML for the end-user as a whole.
> I would like to provide templates for the main parts of the website
> and let authorized users maintain the data contained through forms via
> the web browser.
> 
> They should be able to do simple formatting (like in a Wiki), but they
> should not be able to influence the structure of the documents.

You have just described CMF.  Your skin(s) control the page layout
and user interface, and your users can write content in Structured Text.

> My first question is: does Zope provide such a framework? I looked at
> the CMF, but I didn't find what I was searching.

Yes you did, you just found more than you wanted. :)
Remember that CMFDefault (what you get if you install CMF
and create a "CMF Site")  is just an example implementation
... hardly anyone uses it as-is.  Look at Plone and at Nuxeo CPS,
they are both built on CMF and are intended to be ready to deploy.  
Pick the one that's closest to what you want to end up with.

> I need no member
> management (the authorized editors should be handled by Zope's ACLs),

You can have a CMF site use an existing user folder for its
membership source. And you can disable the "join" functionality
in the portal_registration tool.

> I need no forum-posting-comment thing,

you can turn that off in the portal_discussion tool. 
Look in the various tools in a CMF installation.
On each one, look at its Actions tab. Uncheck "visible" on anything
you don't need. Poof, it's removed from the CMF interface.
There are *lots* of things you can disable...

>  but I want full control over
> the structure and layout,

it's all in portal_skins.  The skins tool is very powerful.

> while giving the authenticated users full
> control over contents.

That's what CMF exists for.

I think you should check it out again, and if you change
your mind about it, ask questions on zope-cmf@zope.org.

-- 

Paul Winkler
http://www.slinkp.com
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