Why write yet another book on project management? The simple reason is that we still need to improve when it comes to web development and especially content management. The majority of the issues that I've experienced when it comes to delivering solutions with eZ publish, or any other web technology for that matter, have been issue of management. Rarely, has the technology been the issue. With eZ publish, the technology aspect is well covered; this puts an even greater emphasis on the importance of management and knowing how to successfully deliver projects on time, on budget with agreed function.
This book doesn't attempt to state the best way to manage projects; for each project, there are different challenges to be overcome and there's no one perfect way. What this book contains is a series of practices that have over time proved to be effective in delivering eZ publish-based projects on time and on budget. Not every part of the book is relevant to every project, and it is not always necessary to do things in exactly the order and in exactly the way described here. It is a series of techniques and practices that you can use to help you manage your projects.
The main reason I wrote the book was to share the lessons learned from the numerous projects that I was involved in and found what worked and what didn't when it came to eZ publish-based projects, and by doing so, to help others to improve their ability to successful deliver projects.
Chapter 1 examines the differences between traditional software development and content management and how that affects the way we approach content management as a discipline. We cover some of the myths that exist when it comes to web development and content management as well as the types of solutions implemented using content management systems. Finally, we look at the different types of websites and web applications to gain an understanding of the common types of websites and applications that have emerged over the past ten years.
Chapter 2 provides an overview of information architecture and design in relation to content management systems.
Chapter 3 gives you an overview of how eZ publish is structured and the key elements that are used in most projects.
Chapter 4 first helps you understand the requirements of an eZ project and then shows you how to plan your project through a project brief and planning workshop. It also covers how to deal with estimations and the issues that arise at this point of the project.
Chapter 5 covers how to specify the functionality of a website that is to be implemented in eZ Publish. The chapter covers the overall content model that identifies the key classes and their relationships to each other.
Chapter 6 explains the importance and purpose of a content model in eZ publish projects.
Chapter 7 helps you with planning a project (standard and staged approach) and teaches you the approach for pricing your project.
Chapter 8 covers in detail what's involved in risk management and how to apply it to eZ publish projects.
Chapter 9 provides a series of management techniques that are straightforward to apply and will go a long way to keeping your eZ project on track.
Chapter 10 helps you set up and configure your environments for eZ projects. It provides you with information on content population (automated and manual).
Chapter 11 helps you understand the different types of testing that are required for eZ publish projects.
Chapter 12 provides guidance on how to train users of the end solution including how to draft training manuals and run training sessions.
Chapter 13 outlines the most common areas of maintenance and support for an eZ project.
Appendix A provides a full sample specification of a project that brings together the elements outlined in Chapter 5.
This book is for people responsible for the implementation and management of eZ publish projects, and is ideal for people building sites for medium to large clients. If you're a project manager running an eZ publish web content management project and you want to learn how to run your projects more efficiently, or you want a better understanding of all the elements involved in eZ publish web content management projects this book is for you.
This is not an implementation guide or a book to learn eZ publish from—you will not be able to build a site by following this book. It is for people who have experienced eZ publish projects, or are considering them. Web developers new to eZ publish should read Learning eZ publish 3: Building Content Management Solutions first.
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