>1. Can anyone provide a definition of 'Content' versus >an 'Application'?
You bring up a very interesting point here. For many portal vendors, the distinction between a portlet and a piece of content started off being quite clear. A portlet is a piece of code that runs on the server - and it may in fact read and show you some "content" - or even let you edit that content - that depends on the functionality of the portlet. As a portal implementor, I always thought I was clear on this, then as I worked with more clients I wasn't so sure anymore. This separation of content from application functionality was a distinction not made by many users. In portal implementations I've been involved with, many clients wanted portlets that were "nothing more" than a static HTML page. Furthermore, they wanted to be able to add a portlet for each piece of content that they wanted. In this case, from the user's perspective, every time they added a new "piece of content" on the page, they thought of it as adding a new portlet. As a result, the distinction has become blurred, even in the minds of "portal implementors". Some portlets are nothing more than an IFRAME linking to another HTML page, while others are actual pieces of code that read and write from a business application. In one case, we created a lightweight HTML editor that became a portlet on a plumtree portal server. Every time they wanted to add a new "area of content" on a community page, they would add a new "instance" of this portlet to their page. If they wanted to edit this content, they clicked on an edit button and would go into "edit" mode. The content itself was stored in a database, which the portlet read. In this case, you coudl say taht we created a lightweight content management system that lived in the portal as portlets. Don't know if that helps or adds to the confusion! -Riz ------------------------------ Riz Virk, (617) 905-3518 [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cambridgedocs.com -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Brian Hart Sent: Thursday, November 21, 2002 9:05 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [cms-list] Portal and CMS Integration 1. Can anyone share their experiences with Portal integration with a Content Management package? 1. Can anyone provide a definition of 'Content' versus an 'Application'? I'm from an applications background and often have difficultly clearly understanding what content is in terms of storage in a CMS versus applications that would be setup as .WARs in a J2ee application server, and/or "Portlets". thanks, Brian Hart -- http://cms-list.org/ trim your replies for good karma. -- http://cms-list.org/ trim your replies for good karma.
