[Zope] Plone bewilderment

[Paul Howell]

At 03:55 PM 2/10/2004, John Poltorak wrote:
>Well I have Plone installed now, but don't have a clue about how it all
>hangs together. It seems pretty overpowering.
>
>Where do I start trying to understand what is going on?

    Play, John.  At least "play" is what I consider it, because it is that 
fun to learn.
    Build a site using Plone that starts to include some of the 
functionality that you require.  Read through each of the howtos on the 
Plone site and try to use 5 or 10 of them, to see what they do for you -- 
doing so will give you ideas about what is possible in the world of 
Plone.  Twiddle with various options to see what they do, and whether you 
like the result.
    There will still be occasional moments of bewilderment, but try try try 
new things, and read read reread every piece of documentation you can find, 
both formal and in the list archives.  This is how the rest of the 
Zope/Plone community learns.  Read first, try four times, ask the list last 
when you are more sure of what the scope of your problem is, and what it is 
NOT.

    As an extra note, reconsider the earlier advice Tim offered you 
regarding the use of Plone2, Zope 2.7, CMF1.4.2, and Python 2.3.  This is 
NOT the so-called "bleeding edge".  There is stability in these products, 
and especially by the time (weeks) you have developed the Plone site you 
want, these will be the production-ready, stable products to 
use.  Virtually ALL of the products that you will want to add to your Plone 
site (like CMFBoard and others) are either ready for Plone 2 now or are 
being readied for Plone 2.  You will want to be in Plone 2 as soon as you 
get comfortable with Plone 1.  It's that good.

=Paul