Archive for the 'Foss' Category

sNews - an easy and simple web publishing tool for non profit organisations

I’ve been keeping an eye on sNews for a while now, and have given it a good road test for use as a simple CMS (content management system) that will meet the needs of many voluntary and community organisations.

The choice of CMS to use for any nonprofit organisation should be always considered carefully. Will it meet your needs now, but also in the future as your organisation grows?

I use a wide range of open source CMS, depending on the needs of the group or client that I’m designing for. MODx is and always will be one of my favourites for all sites from simple right through to complex needs as it is very web developer friendly and works well for web standards and accessibility. Drupal and Joomla I still use, although more occasionally now.
The CMS listed above I generally work with for medium to larger sites with more complex needs or for database integration.
What about the tools I use for smaller and simpler websites that need easy content managing and updating features?
Wordpress is another ‘CMS’ which essentially is a blogging tool, although very able and adaptable to become a good viable CMS for an organisation and I am increasingly developing more sites with Wordpress as a base at the request of clients and increased usage and recent promotion in the non profit technology area here in the UK. Wordpress is a good tool, although to me, isn’t the only one that should be considered as a ’smaller’ CMS for organisations.
(CMSMadeSimple is another great easy to use CMS which I aim to review at some point in the future).

So why sNews?

Wordpress as I mentioned above is at it’s heart a blogging tool. Often organisations, especially small ones such as clubs and associations and other small service providers stretched to capacity with lack of time, are seeking a way to have an effective website that they can manage and update content easily. When I create a site, and give training on Wordpress for example, I often find that for a simple website I’m saying “you don’t need that functionality, that’s if you are using it to blog” or “remember to tick that box in that corner if you don’t want comments” and so on. To the average occassional content updater, Wordpress has lots of information to wade through in the administration panel.

To those who are ’scared of technology’ I want to be able to give them a site that they can intuitively be able to create their content easily and quickly without the need to navigate through lots of different menus and become confused if they click on the wrong area. It makes sense to use a tool which they can easily use 100 percent rather than having a tool which they will only use a small amount of it’s capabilities. Hopefully, also they will keep the site updated on a regular basis by adding new features and content. This is where the beauty and simplicity of sNews can really help the person who is designated to update the content on a website.

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MODx, the most promising CMS of the year!

MODx wins the Most Promising CMS of the year 2007! This is a great achievement for the MODx team! Congratulations!
Read the celebration news from the MODx team.

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Bristol Wireless technology travels far…

After a plea for help, Bristol Wireless has sent a laptop to Sarajevo to help a young civil war victim to enable him to turn his life around and help him gain the qualifications to find work. Read the story to see how they are using free and open source software to help Amir.

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Choosing and Using Free and Open Source Software - new guide available

Many organisations and charities are increasingly becoming interested in free and open source software (also known as ‘Foss’) and wanting to learn about the benefits it can bring to their organisation. But where do you go to find out more, understand what it all means and discover what is available to your group?

Nosi, the Nonprofit Open Source Initiative has launched its new primer for nonprofit organisations - Choosing and Using Free and Open Source Software. An essential guide which helps groups to understand more about open source technology.

On the Nosi website introduction to the primer guide, it says that:

“It includes:

• case-studies of nonprofits of various sizes that are using open source software,
• a process for evaluating whether or not open source is right for an organisation,
• a live feed of Social Source Commons FOSS toolkits
• and useful resources and information.

Written primarily in non-technical language, the Primer is accessible to a wide audience, including nonprofit managers with little hands-on technical expertise.”

The guide can be read on the Nosi website or downloaded for reading later. One of the features that I like about the guide is that it is presented in an understandable language, includes lots of helpful information and lists useful links to organisations that can support with training and support for your organisation.
Good to see my friends at M6-IT listed there too!

There are also exciting developments taking place here in the UK in this area too, with circuit rider projects developing support for Foss in the voluntary and community sector, and I hope to be reporting about those very soon.

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Modx makes it to finals - vote for it to win!

My favourite open source CMS has been nominated to be a finalist as the Most Promising CMS in the 2007 PacketPub Awards. Click on the image to find out more and vote for it to win!

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Easy ways to learn and understand GIMP

Lifehacker website posted a video tutorial for the excellent GIMP, which is an open source, cross-platform powerful alternative to photoshop. The video is part of a series of ten video tutorials by VN Tutor, covering the basics through to intermediate levels.

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Vote for Modx

If like me, you like MODx as the perfect choice for your CMS when designing, your help is needed. Nominations for Packt Open Source Content Management System Award began a few days ago.
First step is to nominate MODx as Most Promising Open Source Content Management System! Nominations end August, 31 and voting begins September 10.
Go ahead and nominate MODx! It takes less than 30 seconds.

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Toolbox of 100 open source resources and templates

Design Vitality’s post on 100 best open source design resources, templates and resources.

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Basebox launched - tools for non-profits

Spotted on the e-rider news today, was the announcement of the web launch of the latest edition of NGO-in-a-box, the BaseBox which looks like it will prove to be a great resource for not for small to medium sized organisations. Produced by Tactical Tech in association with Women'sNet, the BaseBox aims to make it easier to set up base, find the right software and learn how to use it. It comprises a whole range of reviewed open source tools and software helping organisations to be able to make informed choices on what to use, plus the important guidelines and information on how to use it all. The edition can be accessed online as a CD download in the coming weeks ahead, so it will provide a wealth of materials all in one place, which is great to be able to pass on to others when supporting them with their first steps into open source rather than having to tell them they need to download this and that. I'm going to be investigating this one more, could be a very useful resource...

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Do you Ubuntu???

This really made me smile. I was sent a link to this on the UK Circuit Riders e-list. Well, I know when I’m fixing machines….why doesn’t an MS install this smoothly.
Fabulous to see it and coming from a library. Yep, its a library with a neat little video showing just how easy it is to install Ubuntu. Love the music on the video clip and the article too. Need I say

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