From notepad to content management: the evolution of a web publication
| Published date | 01 June 2002 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/03055720210473001 |
| Pages | 6-13 |
| Date | 01 June 2002 |
| Author | Peter Evans |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
From notepad to
content management:
the evolution of a web
publication
by Peter Evans, Managing Director,
Biblio Tech Limited
Keywords: Web sites, Design,
Information management,
Database management,
Knowledge management systems
Abstract: This article describes the evolution
of the medium sized (500 page) Biblio Tech
Review web site, from conventional
management methods to advanced content
management. The article covers design
considerations, authoring tools, database
publishing and content management
techniques. Problems and their solution are
described. The implications for digital
preservation are outlined. Diagrams illustrate
site architecture and database structure.
Phase 1: Early days 1997-2000
Concept
The initial concept for Biblio TechReview
1
(BTR)
was for a combined news and information
resource for the library automation industry and
librarians. A regular monthlypublication for news
was envisaged, with sectionsfor different types of
item ± business news, reviews and so forth.
The main focus was to be on the content once the
basic design of the site was established. A system
allowing fast creation of pages and automatic
features for managing site structure was required.
Maintenance of a fast growing and potentially
large site was a prime consideration.
Two products were considered as having both
good site management features ± automatic
navigation bar creation and asset management
systems ± MS FrontPage and NetObjects' Fusion.
Fusion was chosen because, although it was a
more expensive product, it had considerably
better site management features and did not
require special server side extensions.
The use of any authoring tool means that the
author is working at a ``distance'' from the real
code. The authoring tool has its own interface and
it generates the HTML code according to its own
rules. Fusion's site management tools are good.
Pages can be easily built and moved within the
overall structure with all links being maintained
automatically. Once the structure of the site was
decided ± a monthly summary page linked to
articles arranged in sections ± building the site
was very simple with the layout of individual
pages easily created as within a desktop
publishing environment.
Database driven pages
As well as the individual news items and reviews,
individually built as separate pages, there were
two sections with data derived from an Access
database ± the directory of suppliers and the list
of exhibitions. Fusion can build multiple
``stacked'' pages from a database by reading each
record and creating a separate HTML page for
each. The layout for each page is the same ±
Fusion fills in the data from the database.
The resulting web site was successful in its basic
objectives. The traditional publishing analogue
of a ``magazine'' was easy to use and still is, this
part of the design has not changed. Each month
the reader was presented with an ``issue'' ± a
dated front page with summaries of the articles
and links to the main details. An option given
within a ``section'' was to browse other articles
that might span several ``issues''.
This basic method of production proved very
successful for more than two years, but by then
there were a number of problems, mostly due to
the size of the web site and ambitious functional
requirements that began to outstrip the
capabilities of Fusion.
Problems
The first problems with producing the site came
from the increasing overall size of both the
HTML pages and the database. Once Fusion's
own internal database tried to organise a site of
more than 200 pages it slowed down
#MCB UP Limited, ISSN 0305-5728, DOI 10.1108/03055720210473001
6 Ð VINE, Volume 32 Number 2 2002, Issue 127
To continue reading
Request your trial