Simplicity is the key
With Midgard continually improving and in my mind getting complex in certain areas I believe we need to take a step back and look at usability, accessibility and adaptability. Sure Midgard has this in some areas but not from the end user point of view in my mind. There should be a centralized point for admins, developers, users (content editors) and visitors to go to. The user whatever type they maybe opens their browser agent goes to the site and logs in. Once logged in the user interface should look similar but altered by access levels they may have. By doing this it removes confusion and adds simplicity. Even at the point of installation of Midgard the user should be pointed to there browser (once they reach a certain point) to complete the rest as in Site Creation, site settings, etc. As well changing the user interface to be simple and easy on eyes . Realistically it doesn’t matter what is on the back end at this point. Whether it be Aegir, MidCOM, etc. this should be all transparent to the user. Focusing on usability, accessibility and adaptability for the end user will create an environment of simplicity, comfort and desire to want to use the application. In return you gain a bigger user base and community of developers. Which of course everyone wants.
I’ll put my hand up and now say, “sure I’ll do what I can to help in these areas”. I too want to see a great user base and community of developers. I want to see a simplified UI like WordPress. Yes they are different I’m not meaning that, refer to Bergie’s blog entry Comparing Midgard and WordPress.
Submit your comments and lets discuss this on here and/or on Midgard’s IRC channel.
January 5th, 2005 at 5:39 pm
I’ve been wanting to migrate to Midgard for some time - however, it is far more complex to setup than other , simplier , cms’s .
Having a simplier guide, focused to intermediate users - like NGOs, i think would go a long way.
January 5th, 2005 at 10:06 pm
Midgard CMS is entirely different then most CMSs out there. It’s a complete framework. Simpler guide in what way? More details please. Like NGOs, I don’t think I know NGOs.
January 6th, 2005 at 11:46 pm
FYI : NGO’s = Non Governmental Organisations (eg Red Cross).
I’ve been looking over a lot of other CMS’s for quite some time (off and on). Midgard has always stuck in the top 3 for me (with Cocoon and Mason - though I’ll be buggered if I’m diving into Perl or Java!!). But the site always left me somewhat confused as to how to get underway. I struggled with an OpenACS install on FreeBSD and Debian, so now that Midgard 2.0 is available I guess it’s time to dig in and try it (hopefully with better results than my OpenACS attempt - I would really like to stick with FreeBSD). With luck I’ll be successful and be able to apply it to a commercial use by the end of the year (and give back to the community).
Anyway, I agree with your comments from a conceptual standpoint. Once I get my fingers dirty with a Midgard installation I may have something more concrete to add.
January 7th, 2005 at 8:11 am
To date I have not launched a site using Midgard for production use. However I would strongly recommend to use Midgard. It’s by far superior then any other I’ve looked at and I’ve looked at so many. I won’t say it will not be a struggle in some form. Use my documentation I released on how to install Midgard on to a OpenBSD system. It should be very similar for you. If you don’t mind please modify the instructions and we can release it for specifically for FreeBSD. If you need anything or have questions let me know!