My thoughts on 5.7 roadmap
Permalink 3 users found helpful
A few points:
1. I like the fact that you guys are now paying attention to the fact that there are more than "experts and end-users". I had to evaluate another CMS against concrete5 and came up with four categories:
User: The end user who uses the system... Most CMS' are customizable enough that the end-user can't tell the difference.
CEO editor: What you guys have had in mind for years. C5 is great here. (Though, honestly, I have some employees at some clients who say c5 is too hard and delegate... but that's probably more laziness than difficulty.)
Advanced editor: This is the guy who's somewhat technical and understands a data model but can't program. Theoretically, this is who needs to set up the website in your new model. Maybe the CEO's kid. I think this is where c5 falls down. ExpressionEngine (the CMS I was evaluating) allows you to create objects and then link the objects to each other with relationships. It allows you to create CRUDy interfaces via the GUI, for not just the editor (like composer, but much better), but also for end-users (like forms, but MUCH better). I think drupal is somewhat similar.
Programmer: This is the reason I chose c5 over EE.
I point this out so that you can maybe keep these roles in mind. I'm not saying you should copy EE, but the first step to fixing something is to figure out where it needs to be fixed.
2. I look forward to seeing a much better social/community version of c5. It hurts to use c5 for social sites. The profile and messaging are weak. Friends aren't friends (more like favorites). Usernames shouldn't be required... that's just silly.
Beyond that, integrated social logins would be great.
Also... I'd really like to see a customizable user admin page that can accept "plugins" (ie, packages' elements). For example, I created a site for a client that sells memberships / takes donations. The user admin page is important (they have a TON of attributes, which, BTW, is a pain to manage...), and I didn't want to send them to another page (which would force me to recreate user search, etc) to see what a user's transaction history is. So on the bottom of the user detail and edit pages, I have a transactions list table with a "add transaction" button (which opens a dialog box). This is just an ->inc(); (to make it easier when i upgrade).
3. What's the schedule for 5.7? It's already been 4(?) months since 5.6. You describe a lot of features, and a lot of internal changes at the same time. Unless this is more of a "sneak peak / launch" than a roadmap, I fear that we won't see any updates until Q3!
James
1. I like the fact that you guys are now paying attention to the fact that there are more than "experts and end-users". I had to evaluate another CMS against concrete5 and came up with four categories:
User: The end user who uses the system... Most CMS' are customizable enough that the end-user can't tell the difference.
CEO editor: What you guys have had in mind for years. C5 is great here. (Though, honestly, I have some employees at some clients who say c5 is too hard and delegate... but that's probably more laziness than difficulty.)
Advanced editor: This is the guy who's somewhat technical and understands a data model but can't program. Theoretically, this is who needs to set up the website in your new model. Maybe the CEO's kid. I think this is where c5 falls down. ExpressionEngine (the CMS I was evaluating) allows you to create objects and then link the objects to each other with relationships. It allows you to create CRUDy interfaces via the GUI, for not just the editor (like composer, but much better), but also for end-users (like forms, but MUCH better). I think drupal is somewhat similar.
Programmer: This is the reason I chose c5 over EE.
I point this out so that you can maybe keep these roles in mind. I'm not saying you should copy EE, but the first step to fixing something is to figure out where it needs to be fixed.
2. I look forward to seeing a much better social/community version of c5. It hurts to use c5 for social sites. The profile and messaging are weak. Friends aren't friends (more like favorites). Usernames shouldn't be required... that's just silly.
Beyond that, integrated social logins would be great.
Also... I'd really like to see a customizable user admin page that can accept "plugins" (ie, packages' elements). For example, I created a site for a client that sells memberships / takes donations. The user admin page is important (they have a TON of attributes, which, BTW, is a pain to manage...), and I didn't want to send them to another page (which would force me to recreate user search, etc) to see what a user's transaction history is. So on the bottom of the user detail and edit pages, I have a transactions list table with a "add transaction" button (which opens a dialog box). This is just an ->inc(); (to make it easier when i upgrade).
3. What's the schedule for 5.7? It's already been 4(?) months since 5.6. You describe a lot of features, and a lot of internal changes at the same time. Unless this is more of a "sneak peak / launch" than a roadmap, I fear that we won't see any updates until Q3!
James
