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I disagree.
There is a development that goes way back to the beginning of when the computer wa invented.
In the beginning only very few nerds had any chance of using it. They used machne code etc. Then over time it has become more and more simple to do more and more complex things.
For instance the leap from MS_DOS to more graphic operating systems and the windows tradition inspired by McIntosh OSs. That made people able to do more complex things.
The leap from hand coding to WYSIWYG is another of countless examples.
This happening all around us and saying that "this is so complex that only relatively few people have an interest in it (therefore it can be more complex and time consuming to learn)" that is exactly the same argument some people used about the computer in general. I remember the boss of IBM many many years ago said that the world demand for computers would never exceed 6.
People do want to make websites and have a webpresence. In 10 years, or even 5 years I believe that if we all come back to look at this tread, we will find that the world has moved (with or without Xoops) in such a way that interactive websites are much easier top set up than they are now, and the suggestions I made will surely be everyday and basic. SMF and other already today have these facilities, so I cannot really see how anyone can doubt that that is the direction we are all moving in.
Another aspect: How long do you suppose it took to make a simple webpage with a little text and 2-3 colors 20 or so years ago? It took quite a long time. Today there are so many WYSIWYGs that will allow you to make that in a matter of 1-2 minutes.
How long does it now take to get a functional XOOPS up and running with the 10 basic modules for someone that is new? I haven't tried it yet, but my best guess is several hours. I don't see how or why it is important to defend the right to have it take that long. I am convinced that in short time ( a few years) most if not all these CMSs will be far more userfriendly than now. They are already far more userfridly than they were a few years ago. XOOPS (at least ver.. 13) was very userfriednly, so I don't get the defensive attitude that "people are stupid if they want it faster, more automatic, or easier than it is now". That is the dirrection XOOPS is already going and hopfully will continue to go.
I know that people defend their powerbases. I have surely done this quite a few times myself. I was very good at hand coding HTML, so I didn't like WYSIWYGs and thought that there was nothing like real hand cosing because you have total control etc. etc. But eventhough I can still see the benefit of being able to handcode, it is of course a complete waste of time to do everything by hand when Dreamweaver and other programs do a great job.
@Damaster I didn't know that there were issues such at what you are hinting at, but I guess such isues are very likely to arise and I think they are also there for PHP nuke and all the paralel developments of that too.
However, SMF has come a long way since the last time I looked at them (about 6-12 months ago) so perhaps they are organizing themselves differently or? I hope XOOPS solves this because imo. XOOPS was the best and most userfriendly CMS at the time when I chose it (about 12-14 months ago).