Loosing Site

Google has launched Sites, a product developed from its 2006 JotSpot acquisition.

Designed for team based site building and collaboration, the application can be used to build intranets, projects spaces, on-line classrooms and generic web sites.

Welcome to Google Sites via kwout

Sites are built from combinations of:

• Web pages with WYSIWYG editing and version control.
• Dashboards composed of collections of gadgets.
• Dated announcements that act as internal blogs.
• File Cabinets used for storing and describing binary files.
• Sortable Lists.

Pages can be enhanced with gadgets that integrate with other Google services:

• Calendars
• Documents
• Picassa web slideshows
• Spreadsheets
• Spreadsheet Forms
• Presentations
• YouTube
• Google Video

Specialised gadgets help with navigation

• Table of Contents
• Recent Posts
• Recent Uploaded Files
• Text Blocks

Any standard gadget from the iGoogle directory can be embedded in a page, as can Google Mashups and bespoke gadgets built on top of the Google Gadget API.

Sites has a small collection of themes. Additional options give a more refined control over backgrounds, logos, color schemes and fonts. The visual appearance will be adequate for many applications, but will not be sufficiently distinctive for sites that require strong branding and highly distinctive visuals.

While Sites is best suited to intranet/workgroup use, the easy integration with other feeds and services makes it a platform worth considering for public facing content driven applications, particularly those that integrate data from a variety of sources.

Official Google Blog: Bringing it all together via kwout

Integrating well with Google Apps for Teams, Google Sites is in direct competition with Microsoft Sharepoint. It again uses a bottom up marketing strategy, allowing workgroups to introduce technical solutions linked via company email addresses.

RoopleTheme have released Tapestry, a very flexible theme for the Drupal content management system. The tableless design validates against XHTML and CSS specifications and also performs well in Accessibility Valet tests. When properly configured Tapestry will not only give sites good browser compatibility, but can also comply with Section 508 web accessibility guidelines.

Tapestry | A Drupal Theme via kwout

Tapestry comes with 20 pre-built styles that can be used as is, or used to provide a starting point for a custom style sheet. It also comes with a very flexible set of layouts for 2, 3 and 4 column displays.

2.2. Using Tapestry Sidebars | Tapestry via kwout

Even greater flexibility is given by the Block Theme module that site administrators can use to apply a custom themes to any block on the site.

2.3. Using the Block Theme Module | Tapestry via kwout

While the template itself gives an easy mix and match approach to site design, it also acts as a solid starting point for additional CSS development, inspiration for which can be taken from some of RoopleTheme’s designs for dooce and 43 folders.

Services | RoopleTheme via kwout

(CLARIFICATION: The 43 folders theme was created by RoopleTheme based on a design by Chris Glass.) 

Tapestry is open source, released under the GNU General Public License it is compatible with Drupal 5 and 6.

Today marks a milestone for the Drupal content management system as version 6 is released.

drupal.org | Community plumbing via kwout

Significant changes include:

• easier setup and installation
• drag and drop administration
• multilingual interfaces
• improved workflow handling through the use of actions and triggers
• OpenID support
• many improvements to theming
• enhanced security
• improved performance

Greg Knaddison has prepared a good screencast demonstrating some of the updated features.

New features in Drupal 6 (updated) | Mastering Drupal via kwout

For designers an important change is the introduction of .info files for themes, through which designers can define and control regions, features, stylesheets and scripts. This improves the separation between design and code, paving the way for smoother team interactions.

Work has already begun on drawing up a roadmap for version 7 with Dries Dries Buytaert’s definition of a killer containing:

• Better media handling
• Custom content types in core
• WYSIWYG editor
• Better performance
• Better tools to structure/organize content
• Basic Views like module
• Automatic upgrade functionality
• Improve node access system
• Better internal APIs
• Better external APIs (import/export, webservices)
• Usability improvements

Background information on this selection of features can be seen in Dries ‘ presentation on the state of Drupal at the Barcelona 2007 Drupalcon.

Clearspace is a well designed robust enterprise collaboration application from Jive Software. Out of the box Clearspace lives up to it’s name with a refreshingly uncluttered interface focused on the core tasks of communication and knowledge building.

The design has brought the aesthetics of social networking into the business community, with a relaxing use of space, profile pages, commenting, tag clouds and blogs. But beneath the surface is a pragmatic core.  Organization structures and hierarchies are represented, but they are also opened up easing communication across and between teams.

Architecturally Clearspace runs as a java servlet with clustering built into the design.  It is robust and scalable, capable of deployment to the largest organizations.

It is extensible through server side java plugins that can be embedded in the interface through a number of integration points. It works well with web services and also provides a range of outgoing feeds. This gives several strategies for smoothly combining Clearspace with other applications in your business by:

• using a Clearspace plugin as an interface
• implementing single signon
• embedding Clearspace feeds in third party portal

In addition to targeting Enterprise users with a per seat licensing model, Jive encourages adoption of Clearspace in small business by distributing free copies of the software for installations with up to five users.

On its own, a technical solution will not fix communication problems in an organization. However Clearspace will help improve communications where there is commitment to do so.

It’s almost too good to be true. With free web hosting, no ads and an incredibly slick interface Webnode raises the standards for combined hosting/editing packages.

webnode.com – overview via kwout

It boasts an impressive set of features suitable for personal web sites, but aimed squarely at small business users, with drag and drop e-commerce components for Paypal, Google Checkout and Worldpay.

webnode.com – create your website easily via kwout

The built in templates are an adequate starting point; with the system giving easy access to style sheets. More importantly, the templates themselves can be downloaded as an archive, edited and brought back into the system as a completely customized theme. (Web designers can now breathe a sign of relief, they still have a role.)

webnode.com – samples via kwout

Webnode have taken a very pragmatic approach that has made their system extremely flexible. They have streamlined the embedding of third party widgets and gadgets. With direct links to Google Gadgets, YourMinis and SpringWidgets, users are given a very clear and straightforward way to place and manage embed codes. The real beauty is that once your code is pasted you able to drag the embedded objects about the page as you would any other content with a simplicity that rivals Pageflakes.

There are some rough edges, with missing links to some documentation, and occasional delays while the servers catch up with their expanded audience. I’m sure the outstanding technical issues will be cleared up promptly.

My only concerns about the success of the application are connected to marketing. The site doesn’t speak about it’s own origins or credentials. It’s only by looking at downloaded templates that I was able to identify the developers as Czeck integration specialists Westcom. While the product is excellent, more effort needs to go into documentation, marketing, reputation building and public relations if its full potential is to be realized.