Before we delve into XOOPS, let's ask a related question: what is a web-based content management system (or CMS)? Such a system is available to anyone with sufficient permission to access it over the Internet using just a web browser. And, this kind of system allows us to manage websites and web content such as text, images, sounds, videos, and animations. There is a wide array of content management systems, each hoping to fill some special need. The market is fragmented, and there seems to be little in the way of standards in the way content is served or managed. There are many open-source solutions and almost as many proprietary commercial solutions. However, a few of these systems stand out above the rest; XOOPS is one such open-source content management system.
So, why do you need a web content management system? One of the biggest advantages of using such a system is that it allows collaborative management of content. In other words, content can be added and changed by many different people, and granular permissions can be assigned to limit who can change and manage which content.
This book will show you how to use some common features of the XOOPS content management system. XOOPS is a fairly easy-to-use system and we will provide a tutorial‑type introduction to it.
In terms of the technology used, XOOPS is a set of programs written in PHP. Together, these programs allow you to manage content (such as text, images, audio, or video), which is stored on a web server, using a web browser.
A more formal definition of XOOPS, from the Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org), is:
"XOOPS is a content management system that allows administrators to easily create dynamic websites. It is a tool for developing small to large dynamic community websites. It is written in PHP and interfaces with a database such as MySQL."
What this means is that you can share your information with other employees, friends, and prospective buyers. The medium for sharing this information is the Internet.
XOOPS is released under the GNU General Public License (GPL), which gives you the right to use it freely, to modify it to suit your needs and then to redistribute it under the terms of the GPL. XOOPS is pronounced as "zoo'ps".
The name XOOPS is an acronym of "eXtensible Object-Oriented Portal System". The word "portal" hints at the original intent of the software as a portal system, but XOOPS is striving to meet the ideals of a true content management system.
The XOOPS Foundation is the umbrella group under which XOOPS is developed and maintained, and under which a number of teams are managed. Some of these teams are the following:
Core Development Team, responsible for the maintenance and further development of the XOOPS core code.
Module Development Team, responsible for the maintenance and further development of the XOOPS official modules that come with the full package.
Theme Design Team, responsible for running and supporting Theme Design and development for the XOOPS system.
QA (Quality Assurance) Team, responsible for quality-assurance testing of modules.
Documentation Team, responsible for the preparation and addition of introductory manuals, reference guides, tutorials, and technical documents.
Marketing and Communications Team, responsible for external marketing, communications, and visibility of XOOPS.
Support-Forum Moderation Team, responsible for helping the XOOPS community and new users solve common problems by ensuring that each issue reaches the appropriate team.
XOOPS Core Team, comprising team leaders of all the other teams, which is responsible for the "Big Picture", ensuring that the work of all the teams comes together to make XOOPS a more cohesive product.