How to begin
Comparing two Content Management Systems can be quite problematic. Everyone who is trying to find the best solution tailored to his/her needs, already knows that the first step in this selection process is to set some general requirements that we want our system to possess. After quick research of the open-source CMS market, I have found out that most of these platforms are quite similar at the first glance. Moreover, even such tools as cmsmatrix.org can have problems distinguishing one system from another. The aforementioned website has a lot of great things to offer but it definitely does not give us enough information that would allow us to make a final decision in the process of selecting the best cms.
At first glance
One good feature it offers is quite a comprehensive juxtaposition of available products with detailed specifications. Using this great facility, we can, for example, see that the eZ Publish CMS does not have the “Problem Notification” option. Looking at the name, one may think this option is about alerting the user about performed tasks. In fact, it is not. “Problem notification” is a mechanism that via e-mail communicates to administrators occurrences of all problems that users have encountered. Fortunately, MySource Matrix does have such an option and it works exceptionally well. Reading emails sent by the system has helped me to improve my solutions and implementations.
When there is a group of people who work on one website, it is good to be able to see who logged in last time to amend something on a given web-page. Again, MySource Matrix appears to be more helpful. Thanks to the “Login History”, we can see who logged in on a particular date and time and change a given page.
Editing content
Let us focus on editing content. The eZ Publish has a very handy feature, namely the “Clipboard”. This option allows publishers to easily cut and paste content from one area to another. After a careful examination, it seems that MySource Matrix lacks this option. Another eZ Publish feature allows us to import OpenOffice.org Writer documents directly into CMS. What is more, a user reading a particular text can then save it as a .pdf directly to his/her computer. After adding content, it is very helpful to have a tool that supports you in terms of spell-checking. You can type with your eyes closed if you use MySource, as it will automatically detect and underline all misspelled words. The eZ Publish, however, does not support this feature but it allows you to go back to previous versions of edited files. However, collaborative work seems to be easier when using MySource Matrix and its content locking (check-out). While it is true that the eZ Publish prevents simultaneous editing of files by two users, the locking option is not yet fully developed. Metadata schema applied for newly added content is also a feature of MySource Matrix.
Multi-lingual Content Integration
Using MySource Matrix for translating multilingual content may be a slightly longer process. Although this action can be performed by Matrix, the eZ Publish is an absolute winner in terms of managing multilanguage content. Thanks to its features you can easily create a translation to as many languages as you want. The system will manage everything for you, all you have to do is to know in what language you want to write. You do not have to worry about the design and url. The eZ Publish offers yet another feature, i.e. you can choose the language of the backend.
Website is about the design
MySource Matrix has been created to deal with designs. Applying layouts for your pages using this CMS is a pure pleasure. Using backend features, such as “Customisations” and “Paint Layouts”, you can easily manage your websites look. Using easy keywords, you can become a design guru. Changing and applying new layouts is very quick and comfortable. I would risk saying that MySource Matrix is the most powerful CMS when it comes to design. Unfortunately, there is no way to change your design using the eZ Publish backend. Although you are able to change bits in terms of displaying menu, footer and stuff like that, you do not have the controlling power.
Installation
Installing the eZ Publish is not difficult and takes about 10mins. A guided installation process will help you solve issues you may encounter as the eZ Publish prints a report with instructions on how to solve these problems; the only thing you have to do is just paste it into your ssh terminal. Unfortunately, installing MySource Matrix on a shared-hosting environment can be a mind-boggling task. However, after you mange to successfully instal the software, you will definitely be satisfied with the well-organised filed structure and the coding system. You do not need any documentation to find out how it works- it is that simple. Thanks to the Object-Oriented approach, understanding MySource’s behaviour becomes extremely easy, as well as adding new features and custom assets.
Manuals
If you like reading manuals, you will be happy to known that the eZ Publish has an extensive documentation. The eZ Publish developers made a big effort trying to compile all information about the development of their product. After installing the eZ Publish, you get a sample page that helps you to become familiar with the system. eZ Publish is also written in O-O php and the file structure is very well organised. The only thing that can cause problems is what they called “override designs”. This means that if you want to create your own layout, you have to “override” default layout.
Customization
Both systems are friendly in terms of developing new functionality. Both systems have been based on O-O approach and their role is to develop further and further. Some people say that it is a bad idea to build your applications on existing open-source software as it can be quite messy; they believe it is better to build something from scratch. I have to say that it is not true when it comes to these two Content Management Systems. For me, it is like saying “you need to build a computer if you want to use it”. Nowadays, we need frameworks to create new things. In the same way we need computers that are already on the market so we do not have to think about the making of it at all.
Conlusion
Open source CMS’es help you perform things in a smarter and faster way. Think about your requirements and try to suit a solution for you. Hopefully, this article helped you a bit.
About ez Publish:
eZ system was founded in 1999. The eZ philosophy of openness and information sharing is still the basic guideline for the company, employees and products. Today the company consists of 80 open-minded and talented experts from different nationalities, and has offices in Norway, Ukraine, France, Canada and Germany.
Clients: MySQL (Intranet), Zend, Swiss TV, Amnesty International, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Norwegian Telecom
About MySource Matrix:
Squiz is a privately owned company, founded in 1998 in Sydney, Australia. Squiz has an international network of offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Hobart and London that provide a local service to hundreds of clients across a broad spectrum of industries. Our MySource Matrix Content Management System is internationally recognized as best in class (Gartner).
Clients include Future Publishing, Warner Music, the NHS, the Australian Federal Government and Oxford University.
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