Book Review: Managing and Customizing OpenCMS 6

This is a review of the book Managing and Customizing OpenCms 6 by Matt Butcher and published by PACKT Publishing.

OpenCms Content Management System Overview

OpenCms is a popular CMS (Content Management System) software based on Java and XML technologies. The OpenCms site has a good description:

OpenCms is a professional level Open Source Website Content Management System. OpenCms helps to create and manage complex websites easily without knowledge of html. An integrated WYSIWYG editor with a user interface similar to well known office applications helps the user creating the contents, while a sophisticated template engine enforces a site-wide corporate layout. As true Open Source software, OpenCms is completely free of licensing costs.

OpenCms is based on Java and XML technology. Therefore it fits perfectly into almost any existing modern IT infrastructure. OpenCms runs in a “full open source” environment (e.g. Linux, Apache, Tomcat, MySQL) as well as on commercial components (e.g. Windows NT, IIS, BEA Weblogic, Oracle DB).

OpenCms stands out by its strong repository management system aided by its VFS (Virtual File System) and a powerful revision control system. It provides an offline mode where you can develop and test before publishing it. OpenCms has a powerful workflow management system for managing the total process of document publication. OpenCms is primarily targeted for enterprise CMS deployments.

Review of Managing and Customizing OpenCms 6

The subtitle of the book clearly states its purpose: “A pratical guide to creating and managing your own website with this proven Java/JSP-based content management system”.

The 244 page book uses lots of screenshots to take you through the basic tasks in setting up OpenCms, from installing it to customizing it for your purposes. It is very visual in nature.

The first chapter is very informative. It starts with a good description of content management system and description of important keywords like workflow and publishing. It then goes on to classify content management systems based on target medium, size and model which I think is a good way to put it. It classifies OpenCms as a web based CMs for medium-sized organization and is based on provider-consumer model. Provider-consumer model is what is followed by most corporate websites. There are specific content-writers or providers. The consumers are everyone else who visits the website. This is in contrast to community model of CMS like Digg or to some extent Slashdot.

The book identifies the core advantages of OpenCms as:
1. Advanced but non-intrusive permissions and templating
2. Flexible model for publishing and workflow
3. Strong community support and backed by professional support from Alkacon Software GmbH.
4. Robust module system which allows easy extensibility
Overall the first chapter is exceptionally informative.

The book then goes into the minutae of installing the software. It not only takes you through the details but also provides you with a brief troubleshooting guide while installing and manual installation process too. Personally I think this chapter could have been more concise but I am sure there are people who like such details.

The book does a commendable job of explaining the OpenCms workplace, virtual file system, workflow and then takes you through the day to day administration tasks in details.

Unfortunately it doesn’t cover the customization capabilities through custom modules in details. I think it would be an extremely valuable addition to this book. To keep the same size I would rather reduce some unnecessary screenshots.

It does however covers in some details the templates and OpenCms tag libraries. I would still like more meat in chapter 6.

What I think is missing from this book is details on some common things we all like to do in a CMS like setting up a poll or survey or integrating a blog. That would mean covering more of available custom modules and actually providing some useful custom modules. While it may be considered outside the scope of the book, I think such value additions will make the book much more useful and also lead to more widespread adoption of OpenCMS, which in turn will hopefully lead to better market for the book.

As an architect I was expecting some discussion on the scalability and performance of OpenCms and recommendations on platforms and hardware requirements. I suspect the VFS may have a scalability impact in large enterprises as it is database bound instead of being disk bound like common file systems. I would also have loved to see a pro and cons analysis of VFS.

Conclusion
Overall I think this book is a good value addition not only to those who decided to use OpenCms but also those who are evaluating several content management system softwares for adoption in their organization.
This book is targeted for CMS administrators and content publishers.

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of the book by PACKT Publishing for review.