The​ ​Need​ ​for​ ​a​ ​CMS  There​ ​is​ ​currently​ ​a​ ​market​ ​gap​ ​for​ ​a​ ​Content​ ​Management​ ​System​ ​that​ ​is​ ​more  powerful​ ​than​ ​a​ ​personal​ ​publishing​ ​system​ ​like​ ​WordPress.​ ​Whilst​ ​Drupal​ ​does​ ​have​ ​a  large​ ​following​ ​and​ ​is​ ​a​ ​powerful​ ​piece​ ​of​ ​software,​ ​it​ ​can​ ​be​ ​difficult​ ​to​ ​extend,​ ​and​ ​is  poorly​ ​designed​ ​in​ ​many​​ ​ways.  Solutions​ ​and​ ​Opportunity  Leveraging​ ​an​ ​existing​ ​Framework​ ​is​ ​easily​ ​the​ ​best​ ​way​ ​to​ ​design​ ​and​ ​construct​ ​a  powerful​ ​and​ ​extensible​ ​CMS​ ​sometime​ ​this​ ​millennia.​ ​Having​ ​said​ ​that,​ ​probably​ ​the  best​ ​strategic​ ​Framework​ ​to​ ​align​ ​oneself​ ​with​ ​is​ ​Zend​ ​Framework.​ ​ZF​ ​is​ ​heavily  pushed​ ​by​ ​Zend,​ ​the​ ​company​ ​behind​ ​PHP,​ ​and​ ​therefor​ ​receives​ ​good​ ​press​ ​coverage  and​ ​awareness​ ​through​ ​their​ ​marketing​ ​and​ ​alliances​ ​with​ ​IBM​ ​among​ ​others.  At​ ​present​ ​there​ ​are​ ​three​ ​or​ ​four​ ​existing​ ​CMS'​ ​using​ ​Zend​ ​Framework​ ​that​ ​are​ ​being  distributed.​ ​While​ ​the​ ​quality​ ​of​ ​code​ ​of​ ​these​ ​varies,​ ​none​ ​of​ ​them​ ​really​ ​take​ ​the  approach​ ​of​ ​being​ ​anything​ ​much​ ​more​ ​than​ ​WordPress,​ ​which​ ​is​ ​of​ ​course​ ​competing  in​ ​a​ ​market​ ​that​ ​is​ ​completely​ ​dominated​ ​by​ ​the​ ​aforementioned​ ​package.​ ​Therefor  there​ ​is​ ​significant​ ​opportunity​ ​for​ ​a​ ​Content​ ​Management​ ​System,​ ​that​ ​while  providing​ ​the​ ​kind​ ​of​ ​tools​ ​necessary​ ​for​ ​a​ ​personal​ ​publishing​ ​system,​ ​is​ ​geared​ ​more  towards​ ​creating​ ​fully​ ​fledged​ ​modular​ ​style​ ​systems.  Dangers  The​ ​greatest​ ​danger​ ​confronting​ ​any​ ​system​ ​is​ ​figuring​ ​out​ ​who​ ​exactly​ ​is​ ​the​ ​target  market​ ​and​ ​trying​ ​to​ ​avoid​ ​being​ ​all​ ​things​ ​to​ ​all​ ​people.​ ​This​ ​is​ ​a​ ​problem​ ​currently  faced​ ​by​ ​Drupal.​ ​While​ ​it​ ​is​ ​a​ ​powerful​ ​system​ ​and​ ​provides​ ​many​ ​great​ ​tools​ ​for  content​ ​creation​ ​and​ ​manipulation,​ ​it​ ​suffers​ ​from​ ​trying​ ​to​ ​be​ ​all​ ​things​ ​to​ ​everyone;  jack​ ​of​ ​all​ ​trades,​ ​master​ ​of​ ​none.​ ​Therefor,​ ​knowing​ ​exactly​ ​who​ ​the​ ​target​ ​market​ ​is  and​ ​what​ ​they​ ​expect​ ​from​ ​their​ ​system​ ​is​ ​vital​ ​to​ ​the​ ​success​ ​or​ ​failure​ ​of​ ​such​ ​a  system.  Target​ ​Market  There​ ​is​ ​no​ ​doubt​ ​that​ ​by​ ​far​ ​and​ ​away​ ​the​ ​largest​ ​market​ ​for​ ​a​ ​configurable​ ​CMS​ ​is  the​ ​medium​ ​to​ ​large​ ​web​ ​companies​ ​that​ ​need​ ​something​ ​more​ ​than​ ​WordPress,​ ​but​ ​a  system​ ​like​ ​Drupal​ ​gives​ ​headaches​ ​for​ ​being​ ​too​ ​rigid​ ​and​ ​poorly​ ​coded.​ ​These​ ​kind​ ​of  places​ ​are​ ​approaching​ ​clients​ ​where​ ​Open​ ​Source​ ​software​ ​is​ ​something​ ​that​ ​is​ ​on  their​ ​radar,​ ​so​ ​their​ ​own​ ​privately​ ​developed​ ​CMS'​ ​are​ ​slowly​ ​losing​ ​traction.  Concerns  When​ ​using​ ​an​ ​off​ ​the​ ​shelf​ ​CMS,​ ​there​ ​are​ ​a​ ​large​ ​number​ ​of​ ​valid​ ​concerns​ ​that​ ​a  company​ ​has;​ ​any​ ​CMS​ ​developed​ ​must​ ​meet​ ​these​ ​as​ ​a​ ​minimum 

●

paths 

be​ ​easily​ ​modified​ ​as​ ​close​ ​to​ ​core​ ​as​ ​possible​ ​without​ ​affecting​ ​upgrade 

● understand​ ​dev/uat/live​ ​environments​ ​and​ ​be​ ​able​ ​to​ ​move  data/plugins/design​ ​inbetween​ ​these  ● easily​ ​allow​ ​custom​ ​code​ ​to​ ​seamlessly​ ​be​ ​used  ● have​ ​strong/painless​ ​security​ ​and​ ​update​ ​procedures  ● diverse​ ​variety​ ​of​ ​deployment​ ​platforms​ ​and​ ​databases  ● scalable​ ​for​ ​load​ ​balancing  ● have​ ​thorough​ ​documentation  ● actively​ ​maintained​ ​and​ ​developed  ● be​ ​seen​ ​to​ ​be​ ​actively​ ​promoting​ ​the​ ​software​ ​and​ ​having​ ​a​ ​healthy  community  ● have​ ​transparent​ ​and​ ​justified​ ​design​ ​choices​ ​and​ ​a​ ​clear​ ​roadmap 

What​ ​actually​ ​to​ ​build​ ​then?  The​ ​question​ ​then​ ​arises,​ ​what​ ​actually​ ​should​ ​one​ ​build?​ ​Should​ ​the​ ​system​ ​be​ ​a​ ​full  fledged​ ​CMS,​ ​installable​ ​and​ ​usable​ ​out​ ​of​ ​the​ ​box​ ​with​ ​little​ ​to​ ​no​ ​setup?​ ​Or​ ​should​ ​it  be​ ​a​ ​loose​ ​coupling​ ​of​ ​existing​ ​ZF​ ​structures​ ​into​ ​a​ ​weak​ ​stack​ ​that​ ​can​ ​be​ ​quickly  setup​ ​and​ ​run,​ ​and​ ​ultimately​ ​be​ ​more​ ​configurable​ ​in​ ​the​ ​long​ ​run?  This​ ​also​ ​comes​ ​into​ ​bearing​ ​with​ ​the​ ​decision​ ​as​ ​to​ ​whether​ ​or​ ​not​ ​to​ ​run​ ​discrete  modules​ ​or​ ​to​ ​have​ ​a​ ​more​ ​generic​ ​node​ ​approach​ ​such​ ​as​ ​drupal.​ ​Certainly​ ​to​ ​have  nodes​ ​makes​ ​modular​ ​downloading​ ​far​ ​easier,​ ​but​ ​it​ ​does​ ​tend​ ​to​ ​move​ ​a​ ​lot​ ​of​ ​the  design​ ​of​ ​the​ ​system​ ​into​ ​the​ ​web​ ​interface​ ​rather​ ​than​ ​the​ ​filesystem.