I think the most important WCMS element is WYSIWYG. If you look, for example, at this page:
http://www.devonmuseums.net/Mystery-object/Latest-News/1/
You will see a layout where the news item is to show the height of a mystery object. Note the triumph of form over function with the injudicious cropping and resizing of the picture by the WCMS. The end user can embiggen it to show http://www.devonmuseums.net/includes/thumb/phpThumb.php?src=/images/news/alanholdingmysteryobject.JPG&w=600&q=100 by clicking the embiggen symbol on the right hand corner, but this is not obvious.
The management interface for this WCMS does say that things will be cropped and stretched and suggests a "best size" but it is a designer holding sway over usability.
My point, one I want to make with vigour, is that there are two communities that a WCMS is for. The first is the author. It must be author friendly. The second is the surfer. It must be easy to use, the more so since we lose 20% of visitors with every click they must make.
Imagine being Totnes Museum and putting that good picture in with a real point to make, and then tearing your hair out in frustration because the beast will not play!
This WCMS is some sort of home brew, and is the reason why the Dartmouth Museum Association put http://dartmouthmuseum.org together - total lack of externally supplied WCMS usability and flexibility caused it to spend money it does not have, albeit a very small sum.
As a side issue, I feel we should campaign for the wider use of the non-word "Embiggen" I am of course, bordering in the insane.
Tim Trent - Consultant
Tel: +44 (0)7710 126618
personal blog: timtrent.blogspot.com/ - news, views, and opinions
personal website: Tim's Personal Website - more than anyone needs to know
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