Geek dinner notes

INTRO
	Who I am
	Find out who audience are

WHAT IS PLONE
	"cross-platform open-source framework for content management"
	Plone->Zope->Python->Operating System 'onion' model (n.b. other Zope CMSes: Silva, CPS)
	Aside on how great Python is (easy to learn; clean syntax; OO; flexible)
	Plone the Product vs. Plone the framework (i.e. default vs. customised installation)

FEATURES OF PLONE
	Easy to use CMS
		add/edit/rename/delete
		copy/paste/reorder
		kupu editor
	Custom Objects
	Skins and templates
	Add-on Products
	User/Group administration
	Workflow
	Granular Security
	Internationalised
	Built-in search and indexing
	Image resizing
	Nice URLs
	APIs (ftp, WEBDAV, XML-RPC, RSS)
	Extensible - imagemagick

HOW IS PLONE DIFFERENT
	Diagram of traditional database-backed site
		(web server, database, wrapper classes, templating)
	Scribble all over it to point out Plone differences
		(ZServer, ZODB+catalog, content types, ZPTs)

HOW TO USE PLONE
	(each section illustrated with a screenshot/code snippet)
	CMS
	ZMI
	Filesystem
		Content types (schema)
		TAL
		Skin methods (Python)
		Tools/external methods
	Command line debugger
	ArchGenXML

WHY USE PLONE
	Never do a CRUD site again
	Extensible (via Tools or External Methods)
	Rapid development (ArchGenXML)
	Active Community
	Constant improvement
	Killer apps:
		Multiple user, large content-managed sites
		Multilingual sites (LinguaPlone)
		Accessible CMS

WHY NOT USE PLONE
	steep (un)learning curve (precipitous!)
	lack of local knowledge (Cogapp and Hobo excepted!)
	resource hog (need dedicated server)
	Constant improvement
	Careful with:
		v.high traffic (need to add caching and clustering, but with this it can handle it - e.g. 2.5m hits/day for Icons launch)
	Not good for:
		v.small sites - tipping point
		v. large structured databases (>500,000(?) objects) - use a RDBMS instead. Plone is primarily good for *content* management

FURTHER INFO
	plone.org
	Definitive Guide to Plone
	Dive into Python
	Brighton Plone Users Group (three people so far! :)
	roddis.org

Q & A

Thassit!

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