Hi Nick,

At York Museums Trust we are just starting an overhaul of our web
presence - including re-design of all trust sites.

We are going down the adapted wordpress route for a number of reasons -
but primarily it is to avoid lock-in with a custom CMS that would soon
be out of date.

Plug-ins are readily avaiable for basic functionality and custom ones
can be easily built.

Another benefit of Wordpress is its ease of use. Important when everyone
in a cultural institution is potentially a content creator.

Kind regards,
Martin Fell
Digital Team Leader
York Museums Trust

-----Original Message-----
From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Mike Ellis
Sent: 16 October 2013 12:21
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MCG] Benefits of custom-built CMS vs adapting
off-the-shelf - your experience?

Hi Nick

There's lots of debate to be had around this question (and thanks for
raising it!) but for me it normally (normally!) comes down to this:

- if the thing you're going to do is largely content management then I'd
go Open Source / existing CMS every single time. 
[ I'd also avoid Drupal like the plague - but I'm a Wordpress zealot and
readily admit it - so not entirely unbiased :-) ]

- if the thing you're going to do has large elements of "app-ness" to
it, then consider - but consider carefully - the bespoke route. By
app-ness I guess I mean: membership, ecommerce, integration with
in-house (ticketing) systems, other transactional stuff. 

As you've identified, the proprietary thing can be an absolute killer,
both in terms of cost, effort and future planning. As an agency we get
5-10 people coming to us every year who have had bespoke systems built
for them in the past and they've been horribly stung by agencies moving
on / focus changing / fallings-out / technology not being updated. We
won't touch other agencies bespoke CMS systems, and I bet we're not
alone in that - it's a very expensive, messy, uncertain business poking
someone else's code...

I think you'll find that almost all of the big OS CMS systems are
platform-like in operation nowadays, and the "bending to shape" that you
talk of is part of their DNA. I'm also pretty sure that you won't find
big increases in performance if you go bespoke - or not enough for it to
be worth the risk. Again, almost all CMSs that exist now have really
good cache mechanisms, or you can build in external CDN's or whatever. I
don't personally think this is a decision point worth spending too much
time on.

I'd spend a long time thinking about who is writing and editing your
content - what their tech skills are, how they work, how content flows
through you organisation - again in my experience it is very easy to
spend a lot of time thinking about the intricacies of perfect workflows,
content types, multi surfacing etc and in the end it comes down to "I
don't use the CMS because I hate the interface" ( *cough* Drupal
*cough*) - and that's then the whole point of a CMS out the window.

In short: go Open Source every single time unless you have a really,
really compelling reason not to...

cheers!

Mike

ps. happy to chat off-list if it helps...

_____________________________


Mike Ellis 

Thirty8 Digital: a small but perfectly formed digital agency:
http://thirty8.co.uk  

* My book: http://heritageweb.co.uk *




On 16 Oct 2013, at 11:54, Nick Sharp <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> Hi MCGers,
> 
> Firstly quickly wanted to introduce myself - I started at the 
> beginning of September as Head of Digital here at the Royal Academy. 
> Do get in touch to say hello!
> 
> I'm working on a website redevelopment project here, and I wanted to 
> canvass opinion on our technology choice. Our technology partners are 
> suggesting building a bespoke CMS (primarily using Ruby and other open

> source technologies), rather than adapting a CMS (like Drupal, for the

> sake of argument).
> 
> I've worked with both solutions in the past, but I wondered if any 
> MCGers had any thoughts based on their experience in this sector.
> 
> My concern is that, when I've worked with a custom CMS before - for 
> example, GOV.UK - it's involved a large internal development team, 
> something we currently lack.  I don't want to tie us into a 
> relationship with one supplier (as with proprietary systems of old), 
> but at the same time, assuming the language and technology are 
> well-supported by the developer community, a custom CMS will offer us 
> a lighter, more elegant solution.
> 
> Does anyone have any experience of making similar choices, or how it 
> has worked out for them?  Realise this is quite a broad question and 
> brings up loads of associated questions, both philosophical and 
> practical. But would be interested in your thoughts.
> 
> Couple of thoughts below:
> 
> Benefits of a custom CMS
> 
> * we can build exactly the right CMS for the RA, we don't have to bend

> an off the shelf product into shape
> * it will be faster, the database structure is optimised for the RA, 
> an off the shelf CMS database is designed for flexibility
> * we can design a more dynamic system, unconstrained by the particular

> usage model an off the shelf CMS would bring
> 
> Drawbacks of a custom CMS
> 
> * extending the system will require more in depth knowledge, currently

> not existing in-house
> * Could tie the RA into a difficult/expensive issue if technology 
> moves in a different direction
> 
> Benefits of an off the shelf CMS
> 
> * a community of developers exist that understand how to use it
> * can be extended easily to add functionality
> * includes robust code for handling classic content management tasks
> * powerful
> 
> Drawbacks of an off the shelf CMS
> 
> * upgrades to an of the shelf CMS could have unforeseen consequences 
> for the system
> * an off the shelf CMS represents a retrospective view of the trend in

> content management. In contrast we are trying to build a future facing

> approach for the RA.
> * might cost money to buy a licence on a recurring basis
> * the CMS design might go out of date, or be superseded by better
designs.
> * complex, lots of features are included which are not needed by the 
> RA
> * Could prove expensive to build and customise for RA requirements
> 
> 
> Thanks! 
> 
> Nick Sharp @emuroad
> 
> Head of Digital
> 
> Royal Academy of Arts
> Burlington House
> Piccadilly
> London  W1J 0BD
> 
> 020 7300 5803 | 07718 236871
> 
> www.royalacademy.org.uk <http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Royal Academy of Arts is a registered charity under Registered 
> Charity Number 1125383 and is also registered as a company limited by 
> guarantee in England and Wales under Company Number 6298947.
Registered office:
> Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BD.
> 
> 
> 
> The Royal Academy of Arts is a registered charity under Registered
Charity Number 1125383 and is also registered as a company limited by
guarantee in England and Wales under Company Number 6298947. Registered
office: Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BD.
> 
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