Filed under: Umbraco for Designers
If you want to update your skills, and participate in a growing demand for accessibel dynamic design, Umbraco Open Source CMS is one way to do it.
I’ve had some experience with open source CMS systems as a designer. I’ll start by saying I’m very privileged to work in a tech-savvy environment at Ebita. This means I’ve been introduced to CMS the tech way. Aside from this I managed to install and customize the open source CMS system Umbraco basic wizard setup, without any interference or help from a developer. This means: It’s quite easy as I have absolutely no knowledge of web database integration. I have to start by saying all code is XHTML and CSS based. If you’re not familiar with this way of coding, you won’t be able to use Umbraco to it’s full extent. For more info check these links:
This should give you the basic idea of this way of coding.
I’ve made a list of obvious Design FAQ’s when encountering CMS.
Q: Is my design restricted in any way?
A: No. If you’re able to intelligently tweak your XHTML and CSS, there are no design/layout limits!
Q: Do I need database knowledge?
A: No. Everything is setup in the install wizard!
Q: What is XSLT?
A: XSLT is a way of displaying the information. It’s an XML based stylesheet language. It’s quite advanced, but quite powerful. If you understand XHTML and CSS, you should be able to tweak it for your needs. I suggest developer assistance when writing new XSLT commands.
Q: How can I host Umbraco?
A: Well, here it get’s a little tricky. To run Umbraco you need a webhotel with the following features:
- MSSQL
- ASP.NET 2 (modify rights on IIS_WPG for the web.config file)
The ASP.NET 2 feature is the one that makes hosting a little more expensive than your average €1,- webhotel with ‘everything’.
I suggest using the Umbraco recommended Fab-IT. Or if you’re a little tighter on budget you could use Needhost (in danish) or Buydomains. The latter I have no experience with, but the hotel has the features you need.
Q: Is there anywhere to get help if I’m stuck?
A: Yes. Umbraco has an excellent forum where you can post your problems, whether you’re a newbie or savvy. There’s also a Wikibook on Umbraco.
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