I've been evaluating a number of CMSs over the last months. I've found the following problems with Aegir/Midgard which could exclude it as a solution. I really like the approach of Midgard and the community and I hope I'm wrong on some of these issues or that they are easily fixed. Please let me know.
1. The big problem - Inability to customise article input forms.
It looks to me like the database structure for articles was designed poorly from the start. The original admin interface had a bunch of fixed fields including three 'extra' fields. Aegir introduced parameters which inherit from the category that they are contained in. So this got around the limited number of fields in the articles table. There is also an events table in the db but Aegir doesn't seem to provide an interface for it. What Midgard needs is to abandon the old articles structure and replace it with a fully flexible content object structure that can be totally customised. I need to be able to easily create custom input forms - whether they be for articles, book reviews, events, media releases or whatever with definable radio buttons, select boxes with limited options, text areas etc. I realise I can work around this in Midgard by using articles and parameters and building my own interfaces but that means abandoning Aegir (or at least freezing it in time). The CMS with the best solution I have seen to building custom input forms for content is APC ActionApps. When you click on a folder in News & Articles in Aegir, then click on 'New' you should get the option to create a new content class or choose one of your previously created ones. At the moment, all you get is the ability to create a new article, the parameters of which are based on the category. These parameters are just text boxes with no ability to customise them at all. For example, I would want the posting dates and retraction dates on the main input page, not on the approvals page - after all, the person who posts an article knows when it needs to come down.
Tarjei said customised parameter input fields would be introduced in Aegir 1.1. Does anyone have the spec for the proposed fix? How comprehensive is it?
2. Lack of features in Example Site I have reasonable PHP skills but it would be a huge advantage if the Example site had heaps more features that nearly everyone needs. 'Email a Friend', 'Printer Friendly Version', 'Comment on this article' (with a checkbox on the article input form to turn on and off this feature', basic search engine, Forms etc. I know some of them are coming in the Member Add On but will they be built into the example site. I really think that it is crucial for the uptake of Midgard that it is relatively easy to roll out a fully featured site. All this code must be out there somewhere - is it just a matter of people donating it back into the project? Having this code is the difference between a month implementation and 3 months.
3. Speed of Aegir
I'm not sure if this is a server side issue or an internet connection speed issue but it is really slow. I saved the article edit page with all its libraries and it was about 250K. We have people all over the country on 56K modems so that is a really big page for them to download. I know we can turn off the rich text editor for them but I was wondering if at least some of this problem is server side which would be solved when we move to a production server rather than a small testing box. The old admin interface is really quick.
I couldn't really get my head around MidCOM as a possible solution for any of these problems so if it is, it would be great to know how I can test it. I've installed it but I just don't understand how to do anything with it. It really needs a basic tutorial.
Thanks James
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