I just took a quick testdrive of the default install of XOOPS that I downloaded here.

I am looking to convert over from Mambo to something else do to my boss within the company wanting something better. I am hoping some of the people with good knowledge of XOOPS will be able to help me in figuring this out.

What we have right now:

Mambo core, with many custom scripts built to work with MSSQL and not mysql( this doesnt matter what we use for core, it doesnt use the core features at all).

Inventory area coming from the MSSQl DB
Contacts coming from MSSQL DB
Bank clients coming from MSSQL DB

all of these run under wrappers in Mambo so it look integrated into the site.

what we are lacking with mambo: Full integration, a scheduling calender system for employees to use for trips and daily tasks, better visual styles(a clean business look with out a lot of complicated coding to get it done).

Easy usage for department heads to use the backend for user deletion editing/articles/etc.


I think thats about it.


Thanks ahead of time for any information.

Doesn't sound like you have a run of the mill environment, so any information given is going to be pretty shallow. As you'd no doubt be aware XOOPS does not support any other DB other than MySQL, so you'll be on your own with MSSQL. As for full intergration XOOPS seperates design into templates for visual layout, and themes for visual presentation (eye candy) and are not hugely difficult to get the hang of.

One thing I will point out though is as much as I love XOops, I am not a big fan of the user/group management functionality, especially if you have a user base of more than 200 users. It's fine for administering 1 user at a time, but as soon as you need to administer in bulk it really works against you. So much so that I've used SQL statements directly on the DB to do what I want rather than deal with the XOOPS interface. I only mention this as you specified easy usage for department heads to be able to do this.

Thanks for the reply.

No this is not a small system we are running. I started using vbulletin a long long time ago back in early versions of 2. and quit with that when I started working at my current employer. I have spent about 4 months coding everything needed besides the core of Mambo, its only used for the visual templates and user login scripting thast about it.

Our userbase is slim right now, its been in Beta all this time and only myself developing/coding and 30 or so users testing and giving it heck to see if it breaks and work out bugs, just monday during my meeting I get the info that the higher ups do not want mambo being used for core nor want to spend another 6 months building a new core system custom for us. In the end we should have around 300 to 500 users to start the system. After a year or so we project to have fun company wide usage of over 1000. So due to that, user management/easy usage for them is essential.

If you have used any other cms system point in the direction of something to start with or just any ideas will be good for me.

Thanks and have a great day.

I use XOOPS in a company intranet setting. I agree with Brash on the user management side but there is the possibility to integrate with Active Directory wich I am assuming you have since your are an MSSQL shop (It would also work with any other LDAP directory that you may be using). You may find this post from Ackbarr to be very helpful in making that happen LDAP Auth.

I wrap a number of other apps into my intranet using Tiny Content and it works just fine. XOOPS is simple and clean and in the end it was much easier for me to understand than Mambo so I went with it. My users like it alot and I don't have any complaints.

The other point that needs making is that there are a number of people like Brash and Ackbarr that seem to understand the corporate/Microsoft environment very well and support is very easy to be had. While I have not had much interaction with them one on one I do refer to there posts and obtained all the info I needed with my searches on xoops.org. I can't say enough about the XOOPS community and for what it's worth, you should feel confident in your ability to get answers to any problems you may encounter...especially since you seem to have a good background based on reading your posts.

Seth_SD

Try test driving a few 'other' CMS systems out there

http://www.opensourcecms.com

I myself believe the XOOPS CMS can fullfill pretty much all your needs, but there are others worth investigating first. I have used PHP-Nuke for 3 years now, but with the security vulnerablities that pop up with it on a regular basis, to me it is not an easily manageable CMS where updates, patches etc. are concerned. I have also used Mambo, but IMO it is still too limited with the amount of addons etc. offered.
In the end, it is not your preference, but the end user on your website.
What does he/she need in order to get the full functionality from your website? What CMS is right for you and your user where management of said site and funcitonalities are concerned?..many very very good questions that only one can answer after they have fully investigated all possibilities.

Good luck in your quest!


mike