Re: K-12 CMS

Most CMS' can do what you're asking below.  Do you have a specific
platform you want it to run under?  LAMP?  Microsoft?  ASP, PHP,
python, etc?  The key to your first point is finding a CMS that has
some sort of wysiwyg editor integrated with the content entry fields.

My personal preference is Plone, which is written in python and runs
on top of a Zope server fronted by apache.  If you're looking for a
php solution, you might look at Typo3, Drupal, or some of the other
items listed on cmsmatrix.org.

Shane


On Mon, 06 Dec 2004 13:46:50 -0500, Jonathan Sherman
<jsherman-tKB/ydKiW2/[email protected]> wrote:
> Hello everyone,
> This is my first post to the list, so I apologize if this is an often
> asked question, or if I am missing pertinent information.
> 
> I work for a medium sized K-12 school district in Michigan.  We are
> looking for a CMS to replace our very limited home-grown CMS.  The
> primary need/use for a CMS at our organization is to provide Teachers
> and staff with the ability to simply and quickly post information to our
> website.  They need the ability to post information for "external use"
> (parents and students from home) and "internal use" (only accessible by
> staff/teachers, and not by the general public).  Our current home-grown
> system allows our staff to post content to our external website, but
> provides them with no method of customizing the look/feel of the data...
> as in they have no way to set the layout of the data... and are unable
> to make changes like: color, fonts, alignment, size, etc. etc.
> 
> We currently have one district level Programmer, who would be
> responsible for the primary HTML coding/customization and framework
> design of the CMS.  We also have a central "Web Master" who is
> responsible not for actual content, but is there to provide end user
> support and answer questions.  We then have our Teachers and Staff who
> are responsible for the actual content.
> Obviously, Open Source solutions are desired, since there is no
> direct/initial purchase price associated with them.  However, we are
> fully open to commercial solutions as well.
> 
> The features that we need foremost are:
> 
> 1.  Ease of Use.  This is by far the biggest consideration.  The
> Teachers/Staff need simple ways to post customizable content without
> knowing HTML... Drag & Drop interfaces are great.  The editor need not
> be within a web browser... however, 99% of our workstations are Apple
> Macintosh computers running Mac OS X (10.3).
> 2.  Discussion forums.  The ability for Teachers to create discussion
> forums/topics to interact and communicate with students.
> 3.  Online Calendars.  Many staff/teachers in the district want the
> ability to add and maintain calendars for public access within "their
> own" portion of the website.
> 4.  Online Tests/Quizzes.  The ability for teachers to be able to
> quickly and easily create simple tests and quizzes online would be a
> great feature.
> 5.  Surveys.  We often have need to survey parents and students, as
> well as our own internal staff.  A system that would allow Staff to
> simply generate surveys would be very well received.
> 
> Can anyone provide me the names of some CMS's that would provide these
> features?  I have looked at www.cmsmatrix.org, and I have a list of
> potentials, but I would really like to hear from people who have first
> hand experience.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Jonathan Sherman
> Network Manager
> Hudsonville Public Schools
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