Rating: 
Summary: Too partial to the way Interwoven TeamSite is designed !!!
Review: the book is good as it presents a way in which website content is managed. the downside is it religiously follows how Interwoven teamSite is designed (understandable, as the author is the co-founder of the company Interwoven). all the proposed designs are too TeamSite'ish.
A better way to learn content management is look at various content managment products available ( vignette, teamsite, documentum....). that will give a more holistic picture on content management. Try some forrester research or Yankee group reports on content managementBy the way, there is quite a few differences between source code and web content management. the book highlights those and I being a project leader for content managment in my comapany agree to those differences.
Rating: 
Summary: Even at [a low cost ], Not Worth It
Review: This book can commonly be found used for [a low cost ]. I think that says a lot. Coming from an editorial and project management background, I found this book to be worthless. It's terribly written, the topics are covered in a very general way, and it ignores important topics such as information modeling. A much better book on the subject is "Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy" by Ann Rockley. However, Rockley's book goes beyond Web content management to include all forms of enterprise content (print, etc.). I plan to read Boiko's "Content Management Bible" next, which I hope will answer some of the questions I still have.
Rating: 
Summary: Perfect for the right audience
Review: This book has received both criticisms and accolades, and depending on one's perspective, both are warranted. The best way to determine if this book is for you is to answer the following questions: Are you in a large-scale web environment? Are you using Interwoven? Is content management your job? If you answered yes to two or more questions, then you'll find this book useful. The collaborative approach and the tool features described in this book satisfy the first two questions - the author has obviously chosen to illustrate collaborative content workflows that apply to large-scale sites, and the tool is Interwoven. To readers who work in such an environment and use Interwoven this book is worth its weight in gold. For the reader who has content management responsibilities, the principles and techniques that are presented can be scaled down and put to good use. What I like about the book is that the workflow and techniques, regardless of scale, answer some thorny configuration management and change control issues that are unique to web sites. While the traditional data center world, especially in mainframes, have mature and proven processes, they do not apply to the faster paced requirements of web sites. This is especially the case in web sites because there are competitive pressures, marketing initiatives and other drivers that demand fast changes. Yet, there are opposing forces, such as legal issues, corporate image and systems management processes that counterbalance the drivers. The workflow and techniques for content management that the author proposes shows how to achieve reasonable speed in deploying content, while exercising the necessary due diligence. I obviously like this book, but In can understand the frustration of some readers who had different expectations when they purchased it. I do highly recommend it to anyone who meets the criteria I cited above.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect for the right audience
Review: This book has received both criticisms and accolades, and depending on one's perspective, both are warranted. The best way to determine if this book is for you is to answer the following questions: Are you in a large-scale web environment? Are you using Interwoven? Is content management your job? If you answered yes to two or more questions, then you'll find this book useful. The collaborative approach and the tool features described in this book satisfy the first two questions - the author has obviously chosen to illustrate collaborative content workflows that apply to large-scale sites, and the tool is Interwoven. To readers who work in such an environment and use Interwoven this book is worth its weight in gold. For the reader who has content management responsibilities, the principles and techniques that are presented can be scaled down and put to good use. What I like about the book is that the workflow and techniques, regardless of scale, answer some thorny configuration management and change control issues that are unique to web sites. While the traditional data center world, especially in mainframes, have mature and proven processes, they do not apply to the faster paced requirements of web sites. This is especially the case in web sites because there are competitive pressures, marketing initiatives and other drivers that demand fast changes. Yet, there are opposing forces, such as legal issues, corporate image and systems management processes that counterbalance the drivers. The workflow and techniques for content management that the author proposes shows how to achieve reasonable speed in deploying content, while exercising the necessary due diligence. I obviously like this book, but In can understand the frustration of some readers who had different expectations when they purchased it. I do highly recommend it to anyone who meets the criteria I cited above.
Rating:
Summary: Much needed book on an important subject
Review: This book is an essential resource for anyone who manages web sites of any size or complexity. I purchased this book to research current practices in content management thinking it was applicable only to large sites. I found out that the information was as useful for small sites, including my modest personal site with approximately 20 pages and a few dozen download files. The book starts out with two parts devoted to context and basic mechanics of content management: Part I is a single chapter that discusses motivation for content management, and Part II consists of 7 chapters covering concepts and principles. While Part I is self-evident, Part II is a thorough look at all facets of content management from the definition of an asset through managing multiple web initiatives. Some highlights of Part II include: (1) clear definition of versioning and control mechanisms (in principle they are the same as those used in software configuration management for source code), (2)best practices for collaboration, which includes a well-defined cycle of submit-compare-update-merge and publish process, version snapshots and test cycles, (3)workflow processes that cover people, project, process and business factors, and (4) deploying content, which mirrors to a large degree IT practices for releasing code changes into production. I especially liked the way this aligns to IT operations best practices by treating the process in the same manner as a mature change control process, including roll-back procedures. Also valuable about this Part of the book is the frequent inclusion of checklists. Part III covers design and implementation of content management processes and tools. Here is where workflow, template system and deployment design is elevated from the discussion of concepts and principles in the preceding section into a working system. This part of the book also discusses future trends in content management. Appendices are in Part IV. Each is as valuable as the body of the book, but I particularly liked Appendix B-Workflow Design for Formal Hand Off Between Groups, and Appendix D-Basic Process Steps of a Best-Practice Content Management Process. This book addresses an important subject because managing content on even a small site is no small task. The authors provide a straightforward method, complete with case studies and checklists, to get a handle on what is probably the most difficult aspect of web site management. The writing is clear and the book is exceptionally well illustrated. It is also completely consistent with traditional IT and software engineering practices for change control and software configuration management.
Rating:
Summary: Sloppy book based on sloppy assumptions
Review: This book is based on the sloppy assumption that a website is somehow different from some other type of software project, that there are rules and methods that distinguish web pages from code. Thats false. Follow time-tested methods for revisioning and releasing software (which includes analogues for staging and releasing) and you will have a better understanding of release management. Better yet, let me boil it down for you since I have spent six years engineering at the world's busiest website: 1. Keep all html in a source-control system like SourceSafe or CVS. 2. Back this system up to tape periodically. 3. Allow users some sort of access to make changes to these files and commit the changes if and only if the resulting edits maintain the well-formedness constraints for the page (use any of the free HTML checkers for this). If you use a dynamic templating system, make sure your constraints bear this in mind. 4. Use your web servers configuration files to allow your production servers to also provide staging areas via different URLs. Use the staging area to check pages visually. These staging URLs can be blocked from outside view. 5. Use scripted release mechanisms to push your content out to multiple machines. Never host your content on one machine. 6. As long as you set up some simple constraints for your pages and enforce them through the edit and release cycle, you are good to go. 7. If you need more information, read about software revisioning. Thats it!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent understanding of WCM
Review: Well written book by one of the pioneers - good for technophiles as much as "technophobes". Can't wait for his next venture (Global Advantage)...
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