The best CMS most people will never use...
July 17, 2015

The best CMS most people will never use...

Peter Fraterdeus | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

4

Overall Satisfaction with Plone

The slowprint.com public web presence has been on a Plone stack since SlowPrint started in 2007.
I also use Plone for other web properties, including my consulting at fraterdeus.com
As a content management system, Plone provides the ability to manage changing content requirements, for updating, adding new content, integrating a Twitter feed, etc.
  • Rock-solid technology stack. The python/Zope/Plone stack is as solid as anything else out there.
  • Highly customizable TTW, if needed, via the Zope Management Interface, or Diazo XSL-transform theme design.
  • Good support from core developers, lots of solid add-ons which address just about any needs.
  • Amazingly customizable workflow, permissions and security management.
  • Error messages are often cryptic, rising up with a traceback from deep in the system.
  • It's perhaps hard to control this, since add-ons will always bring uncontrolled elements to bear.
  • Perhaps some way to better visualize the source of the problem? End users should never see a traceback.
  • TTW design options. In fact, Diazo based theming is remarkably powerful, and there are many tools for TTW design, but to better integrate this essential part of web development would make for a more useful end product.
  • Positive in that we were able to launch a new site in a few days, mostly copying and pasting directly through-the-web from our old site.
Is there an experienced sysadmin to install and maintain the stack? If not, Plone is not a good choice. However, hosted solutions are available. It's important to have qualified and knowledgeable personnel available who are able to address development concerns. For end-users, and content managers, it's a great system overall. Publishing workflow, multi-level undo and rollback, etc make Plone very attractive in active publishing environments.

Plone Feature Ratings

WYSIWYG editor
9
Code quality / cleanliness
10
Admin section
8
Page templates
7
Library of website themes
8
Mobile optimization / responsive design
8
Publishing workflow
10
Form generator
8
Content taxonomy
10
SEO support
8
Bulk management
6
Availability / breadth of extensions
8
Community / comment management
8
API
10
Internationalization / multi-language
10
Role-based user permissions
10