The Content Management Possibilities Poster
Get a copy of the poster that launched 1000 projects!
This poster hangs on walls around the world. It has guided the thinking of countless new and
experienced content managers.
The poster contains the complete content management system model created by Bob and Chase Bobko Inc. It
has a full glossary at the bottom and shows the relationship between all of the parts in a CMS. The
poster is about 3 feet wide by 2 feet tall (90 cm by 60 cm). It was conceived by Bob, designed by Allen Matsumoto and brought to life by Shannon Kavanaugh .
For a closer view of the poster, check out this Microsoft PowerPoint presentation that zooms in on each
part of the poster (download it) .
Sorry, the poster is no longer available for online purchase.
Here is the glossary from the bottom of the poster.
Author
The human creation of original information. Authors draft and revise text and media
with their preferred tools.
Acquire
Receiving information that was authored outside your system. Information can be
acquired in the form of files or database records from elsewhere in the organization or from outside the
organization in the form of syndicated (i.e., commercially available) information in files or live
information feeds (e.g., news services).
Aggregate
Bringing disparate information sources into a single editorial and metatorial system.
Editors create stylistic and usage consistency. Segmentors divide the information into usable chunks
called components. Metators tag the components with meta data.
Metatorial Processing
The tagging of segmented information with meta-data to allow that information to be
automatically stored, found, and later combined into publications. Just as editors edit, metators metit.
Metators are guided in their work by a metatorial guide that details accepted metadata values and how to
tag each kind of component.
Extensible Markup Language (XML)
For the purposes of this diagram, XML represents all structured text-based content.
XML is today's best and most accepted form of structured content. However, it is not the first, last or
only way to structure content.
Convert
Changing the format and structure of information to match the accepted standards of
the content system. The process consists of stripping unneeded surrounding information (e.g., headers and
footers, unnecessary content, and unwanted navigation) then mapping the format and structural tagging to
the accepted standard-- in this diagram XML. The result is raw XML that is ready to be aggregated into
the system.
Administer
Setting the parameters and structure of the content management system. This includes
staff configuration where roles and access rights are set, metatorial configuration where the system of
metadata fields and lists is maintained, and system configuration where the structure and workflows of
the content management system are maintained.
Components
Content objects that divide information into useful, easily organized and accessed
chunks. Information becomes content when it is rendered into components. A component has internal
information (represented by <XML> in the diagram) and a set of meta information tags (e.g., author,
title, create date, etc.). The tags wrap and contain the information and provide a set of handles for its
use in the system.
Collection Services
The application logic and business services provided by a CMS that aid in the
collection of information and its transformation into content. Collection services aid specifically in
the creation, update, and deletion of content components, content files, and metadata resources (lists,
etc.).
Repository
The set of databases, file directories, and other system structures (e.g., system
registries and environment variables) that store the content of the system as well as any other data
associated with the content management system. Components and other CMS resources are brought into the
repository via the collection services and are extracted by the publishing services. The management
services provide an administrative interface to the repository.
Content Databases
The databases within the repository that hold the system's content. Content databases
can be standard relational databases where content components are stored in tables. Generally, each kind
of meta information will have a field in the table and there will be a single field for the internal
information of a component. Content databases can also be object databases where components are fully
represented as XML and are stored in a large hierarchy.
Content Files
File-based content in the repository that is not stored in a database. Media files
can be stored in a database but are more often stored as binary files and linked to database records.
Content files may also include proprietary office files such as word processing files and spreadsheets
that are meant to be handled as if they were part of a document management system, not a content
management system. Finally, content may be stored in one or more XML files that are parsed and managed by
the CMS services.
Control and Configuration Files
The on-content files that are managed within the CMS repository. These files consist
of:
- Staff and end-user data files and databases which hold information that is used for access and
personalization.
- Rules files and databases that hold the definitions of component types, workflows, and
personalization routines.
- Meta information lists and content index files and databases.
- Log and other control files and structures such as system registries.
- Scripts and automated maintenance routines.
Enterprise Data
The organization's data that is not stored in the repository but is used by the CMS.
Examples include ERP application data, user data, and other files and databases that are maintained
outside the realm of the CMS. Data from these systems is either read live from these data sources or is
loaded periodically from the source to a database within the repository.
Management Services
The application logic and business services provided by a CMS that aid in the
management of content and other CMS resources. Specifically, the management services let you create,
update, and delete the rules and scripts governing workflow, personalization, user rights and access,
repository maintenance and archiving and connectivity as well as the database and structures within the
repository.
Templates
Files that guide the creation of a publication from the content stored in the
repository. Templates include text and media that are passed directly through to the publication, as well
as calls to publication services that retrieve and format components and meta information for
publication. Templates include navigation- building logic as well as calls to services outside of the CMS
that integrate publications into a wider organizational infrastructure. Templates use either a
proprietary or open programming language to specify publication building logic.
Publishing Services
The application logic and business services provided by a CMS that aid in the
creation of publications from the content and metadata in the repository. The publication services
process templates, files and database records with the goal of marshalling the correct resources to
create a targeted publication. They also execute personalization, conversion and user access routines
that are called by particular templates. In the case of a dynamic publication, the publishing services
are invoked via a request from a browser and produce a single page. In static publications (static Web
sites as well as other publications) a staff member triggers the publication services that then produce a
complete publication.
Non Content Management Services
The application logic and business services NOT provided by a CMS that produce a part
of a target publication. These services generally provide eCommerce and enterprise connectivity software
and may also augment interactivity in a Web publication by providing collaboration or other software
intensive features.
Web and Application Server
The system software that allows communication between the CMS and a Web browser. The
Web server processes browser requests and either returns a static page or calls the CMS publishing
services that return a dynamic page. The Web server may include an application server that provides
caching, database pooling and other efficiency services that help the CMS scale and increase
performance.
Web Publications
The Web sites produced by a CMS. If they are dynamic, these sites are produced one
page at a time in response to user clicks. If they are static, they are produced all at once by the CMS
and served as HTML files. The sites are a combination of content components and meta information drawn
from the repository by templates. The sites can also include functionality drawn from non-CMS services
called in by templates and integrated into the content and navigation provided by the CMS.
Other Publications
Non-live Web sites and other publications produced by a CMS. These publications
include:
- Electronic publications that are static Web sites distributed on CD ROM as well as any other type of
CD ROM or network-based multimedia system. The CMS uses templates and services that can produce the sort
of text and media format and navigational structure that the electronic publication requires. Microsoft
Help, Adobe Acrobat and email files are examples of non HTML electronic publications.
- Print publications where the appropriate components and meta information are drawn out of the
repository and converted to the format that the print system expects. For example, templates and
conversion routines could create a MIF (FrameMaker) file that could then be delivered to a printer for
publication.
- Syndications that are sets of content components published for commercial distribution and reuse in
outside publications. The most useful format for syndication is XML but the most common format is ASCII
with a header that contains meta information for each syndicated component.
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