PORTALS – GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS : There are many ways to organise a functional CMS (Content Management System) using existing Open Source CMS software such as Drupal (the one we use) and Joomla, which are the two most widely recognized and supported ones, although there are many more contenders in the area, many of certain value.
A first point for you to understand is that any CMS Portal is going to be a dynamic and fluid "Complex Adaptive System", since both IT (Information Technology) and the information you wish to provide are constantly on the move by their very nature. This includes the sites you have created or contemplate to create, and ours as well. This is unavoidable, and in fact, should be embraced rather than feared.
In a way, a CMS Portal is an event, rather than a “thing”. Actually, in truth, what we perceive as “things” are at any rate just “events” in slow motion. Fact is, the “things” we believe in are little more than the effect of the way we perceive and filter our perceptions through “Interpretation and Belief Systems” that have been externally programmed in us (think, society, schools, churches, media, parents, etc), or even in rare cases have been self-programmed in our “biocomputers”, rather than the expression of some inherent “stable” nature, or even of some stable ultimate reality. Such, in truth, do not exist.
PORTALS – EXAMPLE OF AN ORGANISATIONAL MODEL :
Considering what was just said, our current view of a simple yet effective CMS portal organisation follows. This is of course a simplified description, but we believe it delineates a fairly effective and easy to implement approach. You are welcome to emulate this structure if you wish to create a CMS Portal of your own, on a subject of interest to you. Of course, also feel free to modify it to suit, any way you wish..
Any person familiar with Drupal or similar CMS software should be able to create such a Portal for you, and you could of course decide to learn the craft and do it yourself.
However, if you wish so, SOS (SaveGaia Outreach Services & Support) could perhaps help you at very reasonable costs, provided we do not disagree with what you want to promote. For example, if you wish to promote smoking, fluoridation, dairy or “diet” products, violence, exploitation, aventurism or molesting people, we will have to pass. But if we agree to help you, help could be quite all-encompassing if you wished so, and depending on your budget. It could go from helping you select the right Domain Name and Hosting Service for you, to complete CMS Portal creation. Even possibly including Ghostwriting and complete Promotional Campaigns. Feel free to inquire about this following the links provided in [SOS] materials. Always remember that commercial solutions are fine, but that usually there almost always is an Open Source alternative available, often as good as or even better than the commercial solution. For example, typical consumers use Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Servers, and Microsoft Office suite, but most people capable of thinking independently don't. They use Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, both for their own PC Operating Systems and for their servers, and the Open Office suite. But of course what you actually use is up to you.
Understand, this is just a model, not Truth Revealed for All Times. If you were so inclined, you could chose to use or even create ex-nihilo a completely different one. When it comes to websites and even SuperSites, god-like privileges are yours to grab and exercise freely.
WHAT IS A CMS PORTAL? Fundamentally, consider your Portal site as a SuperSite" ("Super Web Site"). The function of this SuperSite is to bring websurfers and other interested parties to as many sub-sites and sub-sub-sites as you may find of use, each containing relevant information on a more and more narrowed subject or "niche". You might create and totally control these sub-sites, or use existing external websites as if they'd sub-sites of your own, even if they aren't.
As to DOMAIN NAMES, these can come in two forms: "subsite.yoursupersite.com" is one, the other being a separate full domain name, such as "myothersite.com". Both are recognized as independent sites by search engines, which is the important issue, if you want to make information widely available. Consider that it is possible that "myothersite.com" might be perceived as more authoritative than "subsite.site.com". However that option comes with the inconvenience of having to pay for one more domain name, plus also having to *remember to renew it* in time.
INTERNAL HIERACHICAL ORGANISATION : Unless you are a website jack-of-all-trades, a number of people will be involved with the endeavor. Consequently, to be efficient, the whole effort has to be organised along clear and well-defined as well as clearly understandable lines. This usually means hierarchically, going from “Owner” to “Anonymous Visitor”.
So, that “CMS Portal” SuperSite has an "Owner". Presumably, that is you, or the head of your organisation. In IT Parlance, this is the "Head Admin" [Administrator], "Chief SysOp" [System Operator], "Head Honcho", etc. For all practical purposes, within the parameters and confines of the system considered, that owner is and should be the omnipotent "Supreme God". ;) Or, if you are so inclined, the equivalent of the “Presidium of the Supreme Soviet”.
Then you have the Admins or SysOps [System Operators], who are most probably by the nature of the beast going to be the technical people who make the thing work. These are the "Lesser Gods" (or Goddesses) or "Honchos".
Then you have the Admins or SysOps, Evangelists [the people focusing on a specific issue or subject and promoting it relentlessly], and finally the Mods [Moderators] for each sub-site, which are the ones that maintain each specific sub-site and make it work. These are the Local Gods and their cohorts (such as "Powers" and "Dominations") and messengers ("aggelos" or "angelos", in Greek, better known to us as "Angels" -- [beware of the Fallen Ones! ;) ]
PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS : As to the Portal or SuperSite your "Home Page", the one people see first, should be or a Welcome Page, or a Sitemap, or a combination of both. And, in turn, the general sitemap should link to the sitemaps or welcome pages for each of the sub-sites.
Since a complex Portal SuperSite can quickly become a bit confusing, it would be a good idea to be able to recognize at a glance what is what, where you are, and which version of a page you are looking at. This can be achieved easily simply by inserting a code on each page that just tells you that. This can be done conspicuously (everyone can see it), discreetly (you have to know where it is and what it means) or completely transparently (only Gods and perhaps [some of] their cohorts can see it.
A quite simple yet very effective way to achieve this result is to give each sub-site a three letters code that makes sense to you (for example HTG for "Health Thru Gardening"), followed by a post number (from 0000, which should always be the sub-site sitemap, to 9999. A unique address for 10,000 posts per Three Letter code should prove quite sufficient for your needs. ;) However, you could also use alphanumeric combinations too, like 0 to 9 followed by A to Z followed by a to z). This post or page number is followed by a version number (usually starting with 100) -- otherwise you'd soon not have the slightest idea of what post is which version of what -- unless you have a perfect eidetic memory, that is, that is, unless you are a computer yourself.
PRACTICAL EXAMPLE : For example for our own main portal site, we use the following codes. [HOW] and [BIN] are virtual codes, all the others are real codes. Each code is followed by a link to its own blog or site, if such a blog or site exists as such and in a form made available to the public at large.
HTG "Health Thru Gardening or 'Growing Your Own Food'." Existing blog:
http://healththrugardening.blogspot.com/2008/09/hc-site00-welcome-to-health-thru.html
HCS - HTG Community Services. Existing blog:
http://htgcommunityservices.blogspot.com/2008/09/hc-map00-sitemap-of-health-thru.html
SES - SaveGaia (or "Save The Earth") Educational System. Existing blog: -
SAM - SaveGaia (or "Save The Earth") Audio-Visual Materials. Existing blog: -
SEP - Savegaia Evangelism & Public Relations.xisting blog: -
SOS - SaveGaia Outreach Support & Services. Existing blog: -
LiT - Living Treasures. Existing Blog: -
TOP The Topanga Model. Existing blog:
http://topangamodel.blogspot.com/2008/12/sitemap-for-topanga-model.html
MVP - Model (for) Volunteer Programs. Existing blog: [ http://earthlingvolunteers.blogspot.com/
to be transformed into http:// modelvolunteerprograms.blogspot.com ]
FuR - (Models for) Fund-Raising & (Self-)Financing Your Non-Profit Endeavors. Existing blog: -
[HOW] What To Do, Why, and How To DO IT!
See
http://optimalgardens.blogspot.com/2008/09/og-ovw01-overview-of-family-of-blogs.html
and:
LaC Lawn Crusade. Existing blog:
http://lawncrusade.blogspot.com/2008/10/sitemap-for-anti-lawn-crusade.html
OGa Optimal Gardens. Existing blog:
http://optimalgardens.blogspot.com/2008/08/welcome-to-optimal-gardens.html
PGa Personal Gardens. Existing blog:
http://personalgardens.blogspot.com/2008/09/personal-gardens-do-it-yourself-or-have.html
G4S Gardening or "Growing Food" For Survival. Existing blog: -
GRN Green Buildings - Green Living - Green Approaches & Tools Building Green & Living Green. Existing blog: -
NEA New Energy Alternatives. Existing blog: -
MoC The Magic of Composting. Existing sites:
http://biocomposts.blogspot.com/2008/09/bc-map-site-map.html
http://compostis.us/ , http://biodynamiccompost.com/
and see also
http://personalgardens.blogspot.com/2008/11/jean-pain-frances-king-of-green-gold.html
http://personalgardens.blogspot.com/2008/11/biomass-experiments-jean-pain-in-his.html
[BIN] Background Info
PIN Plants of INterest. Existing blog: -
PER - PROJECT EAT RIGHT. Existing site:
https://sites.google.com/site/projecteatright/Home/why-and-how
SCC Second Coming of the Crisis or, of the "Great Depression"). Existing blog:
http://secondcomingnews.blogspot.com/
Of course, we have a lot more material in existence, but this gives you a good idea of how the system works.
Ideally, and although this could be maintained manually, each page should have its own automated code that changes each time the page is modified. This code starts with the assigned Three Letters Codes, continues with the page or post number (for example 0000 to 9999), and ends with a page version number stating at 100 and going up one number to 999 each time the page is updated. This could be followed by an encoded date, giving for example the date for first publication, and the date of the last modification.
The Version Numbers 000 to 099 can be reserved for Alpha and Beta Versions worked on within your own Community. That is, these numbers are reserved for pages seen by and accessible only to "Internal Authorities" or "Honchos". For example, only Honchos at level L8 can see numbers under 040 in an 8 Levels Hierarchy. 050 could be made visible to level L7. 060 visible to level L6. 070 to level L5. 080 to level L4. And 090 to level L3. Depending on the level of advancement of the work and your own policies, if a number from 000 to 099 is assigned, the page should or could be invisible to the public. This allows for effective members and stakeholders input and collaboration until a page is ready for publication, without having to worry about the effect of an unfinished page on the general public.
L1 posts, is allowed, should perhaps always be ModL4-approved before being published, so to avoid spam, flames, and other unpleasant material. The could apply to L2 posts, or not, depending on your own policies.
Applying these rules, to take the HTG example, in the existing material, the sitemap page became [HTG-0000-100]+, the code self-correcting each time the text of a given page is finalized.
POSTING ORDER : Pages or posts in each of your sub-sites (in our case, pages originally posts in our blogspot blogs) should be organized in logical order. That is, oldest first, starting with Sitemap followed by Welcome or Intro, and not in blog order (newest first).
However each sub-site should have a blog attached to it, where any stakeholder and member can post external pages they find of interest. Such posts, of course, should appear in blog order, most recent first.
POSTING HIERARCHY : In an 8 Levels System of "Member Weight" going from L1 (Total Newbie] to L8 (the "Owner"), L1 could be "External Anonymous Contributor", and L2 "Registered Member" (with various levels of registration data provided, depending on your own internal policies). Trusted Member would be L3, Trusted Specialist L4, Moderator L5 and Sub-Site Admin or SysOp L6. Each, of course, can have increasing privileges and capabilities. L7 and L8 are reserved for the "Higher Gods", that is the Portal Super-Admins and the "Owner". The
"Owner" or any trusted person can by default become SiteAdmin L6 until he/she is replaced with genuine L6 personnel).
Even if this is obviously very hierarchic in nature (as any efficient Complex Adaptive System tends to be by its very nature), actual administration can be as "democratic" as you wish.
We hope this Model for CMS Portal Supersites might be of use toyou. Feel free to use it as is, or modify it in any way that suits you best.
Good luck with your endeavors!
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