Hi, I'm shopping around for a CMS for a client of mine. He has a business and wants his clients to be able to log in and view their own separate section of the site. For example, he wants to send reminders and other user-specific info to one user only, WITHOUT anyone else being able to view it.

Does XOOPS do this? Does it have the functionality to set permissions on items so only certain users can see them?


ALSO, how easy is it to add content pages in XOOPS? I tried the demo at opensource cms and there was no option to type in a new page...unless I'm a dunderhead and missed it.

FINALLY, is it possible to make custom templates for XOOPS???

Thanks and I'm THIS close to using this CMS if can do the things above!!!

Hi Chellycat,

It's tough to recommend XOOPS to someone without getting very deep into their actual needs. In my experience, XOOPS has made it very easy to get websites up and running, with the best and most helpful support community. I would suggest looking through the module repository to get an idea of some of the functionality you can add to the base XOOPS package.

However, I will comment on the following:

- Permissions: You can create any number of "groups" of users and assign certain content to only those groups. For instance, you can have pages that are only viewable by registered users, or anonymous users, etc.

You can send "private messages" to your users as well, to communicate individually. You may want to see if there's a communication based module to do more of what you need in this area...again, check the module repository. I don't use the messaging features much...

Though I don't use the modules, you may be able to use the wf-channels or wf-sections modules to create sections of your website content only for specific groups of users.

- To add content: You can add custom "blocks" of any content you wish that can be positioned in any of 5 places (left column, right column, center-left, center-center, center-right).

Additionally, you can add a content module to display content as an actual module would display it, instead of in a block (more versatile..). There are a variety of content modules: Content, TinyD, FreeContent, etc.

- Custom templates: In my experience, being able to modify template files in XOOPS has been a lifesaver. You can create your own "Theme" for the overall look of your site and paste in the XOOPS code to create your personal Theme files. For most of the modules, if not all, you can modify the individual module templates to create the look you want.

Check out the recent site I did here:http://www.aisforantiques.com.

I used a totally custom designed theme, along with a ton of other little modifications. The only content that's being managed on this site is the "news" section, and the "inventory" gallery. Additionally, XOOPS makes it very easy to make changes. If I want to add a newsletter, or a custom block for "recent advertisements" or anything else, it's a simple task.

Anyway, sorry to be long-winded...hope the above helps...

JC

Wow, thanks for the long and speedy reply!! :) The instant message system sounds really nice, I think that could work well for what my client is looking for, but I'll have to ask him for more specific details on what he is looking for.

Your antiques site looks really nice. The only thing I'm confused about is adding the content. I don't understand the concept of the "blocks" system. Is each page a block (for example, "About Us" , "Services", etc) or is the menu itself a block?

Also, are you saying that the base XOOPS package doesn't come with any way to add content and the only way to add it is to install a plug-in module? Do the plug-ins work with the latest version of XOOPS?

Thanks for your help!!

Hi,

regarding use of Modules - see here

Alan

Regarding Content and Blocks, here's some quick notes.

You can always add content to XOOPS by adding a "custom block". That's the easiest way to add text or html and position it on your site.

The Content modules allow more versatility for custom pages, text, etc...so that you can call up specific content by a web address, for instance. On the A is for Antiques website, I used a module called Multimenu to allow me to link to pages in the Content Module. When you click the "about us" link, it takes you to the custom content I added to the content module.

Blocks - you can add a custom block and have it appear on any page in any of five locations. On my site, I have an "About us" link in the main menu. That link takes the visitor to the content I added in the Content module (Content version .5), as mentioned above. In addition to the "About us" content, all sorts of different blocks are visible on that page as well.

The Main Menu is a block (from the Multimenu module), the random images under the Main Menu is a block (from the XoopsGallery module), there's a scrolling marquee (Marquee module) and a couple of other custom blocks in the right column. And in the center block of the main page is a custom block with the big picture, underneath it is the "recent news" block that comes from the News module, etc...

Each module will have a number of blocks that can be used with it - the News module has a recent news block, a news by topics block, etc. You can use all of them or one, or none of the blocks, and you can position them wherever you wish.

If you'd like specifics as to exactly what modules I used on that site, let me know.

Not all modules are compatible with the current version of XOOPS, since it's so new. Looking and searching through the forums for compatibility is the best way to get information as to which modules work (...asking questions helps, too).

Take care...

JC