Web Directions South 2008, Sydney Convention Centre, September 26 11.45am.
Presentation slides
Session description
When I was introduced into the role of managing web projects, I naively believed a Content Management System would solve all my problems. Growing my little empire of content authors I had little idea of what was to come- before I knew it I had created a monster.
I went searching for a white knight to slay this monster and was tempted by the delights of custom builds, agile development, and ruby on rails. And off I went following the trail of breadcrumbs into the forest eating them as I went, but then oh, how do I get back to my old friend CMS? Hmmm.
This session will help you know how to make the choice between the sweet delights of custom builds and the faithful workhorse CMS. How to get them to play nice, grow gracefully, and present together as a seamless front-end user experience.
About Diana Mounter
Diana Mounter combines her 10 years of experience in graphic design, IT, database management, and marketing to approach web project management creatively and with a fine-toothed comb. In her role at the Local Government and Shires Associations Diana designs, coordinates, and supports the Associations’ many websites, giving her experience working with both a CMS and custom build applications. A notable example is the success of the 2008 Cultural Awards website, which allows council officers and artists to showcase their cultural projects online.
This year she has introduced her enthusiasm of the web further into this sector by co-founding the Local Government Web Network. The network is designed to promote learning amongst government web coordinators, with the aim of improving the quality of Council websites for the benefit of their communities.
" ["post_title"]=> string(47) "Diana Mounter - Custom V CMS - don't take sides" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(1032) "Web Directions South 2008, Sydney Convention Centre, September 26 11.45am.
When I was introduced into the role of managing web projects, I naively believed a Content Management System would solve all my problems. Growing my little empire of content authors I had little idea of what was to come- before I knew it I had created a monster.
I went searching for a white knight to slay this monster and was tempted by the delights of custom builds, agile development, and ruby on rails. And off I went following the trail of breadcrumbs into the forest eating them as I went, but then oh, how do I get back to my old friend CMS? Hmmm.
This session will help you know how to make the choice between the sweet delights of custom builds and the faithful workhorse CMS. How to get them to play nice, grow gracefully, and present together as a seamless front-end user experience.
Web Directions South 2008, Sydney Convention Centre, September 26 10.45am.
Presentation slides
Session description
The new era of web applications has introduced to us a number of frameworks designed to aid in rapid development. But, no matter what your preferred language, finding a suitable framework is not usually an easy task.
In this intensive 2 hour session you’ll hear from several developers who’ll discuss which frameworks they chose, why they love them; why they hate them, and gain valuable insights to help you choose the right tools for your job. We will focus primarily on Rails (Ruby), Joomla! (PHP), Struts/Spring (Java) and Django (Python).
Expect to hear discussion ranging from framework features & tools, development speed, source management, bug tracking, collaboration, interoperability, performance, scalability and deployment, as well as recommendations on how to hit the ground running.
Panelists
- Lucas Chan
- Don Brown
- Tim Lucas
- Andrew Ediie
- Malcolm Tredinnick
The new era of web applications has introduced to us a number of frameworks designed to aid in rapid development. But, no matter what your preferred language, finding a suitable framework is not usually an easy task.
In this intensive 2 hour session you’ll hear from several developers who’ll discuss which frameworks they chose, why they love them; why they hate them, and gain valuable insights to help you choose the right tools for your job. We will focus primarily on Rails (Ruby), Joomla! (PHP), Struts/Spring (Java) and Django (Python).
A presentation given at at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.
Session description
Whoever you are, if you're writing JavaScript, there's some aspect of your development that you would love to change if you had the chance. But the reality is you'll never find yourself working in this ideal environment: dealing with legacy browsers, platforms and content management systems will be your constant as a developer. Patrick Lee is going to show you some tools and techniques that will help you make your peace with this fact.
This session will explore how you can find ways to do the cool stuff you really want to do with JavaScript whilst working in the real world. And you won't even have to sell your soul in the process.
About Patrick Lee
Patrick was involved with entrepreneurial web pursuits before joining News Digital Media in what now seems like the distant past. When tasked with deciding his job title he jokingly suggested JavaScript Ninja. The title stuck and that's now what the business cards say.
Patrick spent some time being an engineer when he really wanted to be a philosopher. Somehow the little scripting language with a soul, that we all misunderstood, is a happy medium.
A presentation given at at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.
Whoever you are, if you're writing JavaScript, there's some aspect of your development that you would love to change if you had the chance. But the reality is you'll never find yourself working in this ideal environment: dealing with legacy browsers, platforms and content management systems will be your constant as a developer. Patrick Lee is going to show you some tools and techniques that will help you make your peace with this fact.
This session will explore how you can find ways to do the cool stuff you really want to do with JavaScript whilst working in the real world. And you won't even have to sell your soul in the process.
" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(11) "patrick-lee" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2008-07-21 01:29:41" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2008-07-21 06:29:41" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(57) "http://westciv.com/webdirections08/resources/patrick-lee/" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [3]=> object(stdClass)#119 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(428) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "8" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2008-02-12 00:03:24" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2008-02-12 05:03:24" ["post_content"]=> string(3718) "A presentation given at Web Directions North, Vancouver Canada, January 31 2008.
Presentation slides
Session description
Content management systems have all but replaced the former art of publishing static HTML pages. From letting clients edit and add content, to content like calendars and forums that defy the “page” convention, dynamic interactive websites keep visitors coming back. At some point your website goes beyond just a site filled with HTML pages and actually becomes a full-fledged web application.
From these features, we extract three stages of content management — simple content management, beyond the blog, and building your own web application.
We’ll cover some of the products and approaches appropriate for each stage — Wordpress, MovableType, Expression Engine, Drupal, and Ruby on Rails will all be familiar terms when we’re done. As well, we’ll explore the following concepts:
- the challenges of designing for dynamic systems: the need to think about template and interaction design
- choosing open source: can you afford to choose an open platform?
- the wild world of plugins and modules: get new functionality “for free” and what that actually means
- frameworks vs. products: the build or buy decision
Whether you have some experience with content management systems and are simply looking for new tools you can add to your repertoire, or if you’re trying to decide on the software you’ll implement when building new sites, this session will provide a solid grounding in the options available to suit your needs, budget, and level of technical expertise
About Boris Mann

A bona fide infovore, Boris co-founded Bryght in 2004 after convincing two of the world’s best Drupal developers to help build Bryght’s solution for turnkey online communities.
Boris is one of the founding organizers of Northern Voice, one of the first North American blogging conferences, now heading into its 4th year. He also is active in many developer communities, helping put on BarCamps and the Open Source CMS Summit on multiple continents.
Although Boris does all that CEO stuff at Bryght, his knowledge of user communities and the intricacies of online publishing also keeps him knee-deep in development and design architecture. He’s inspired by the team of people he works with and is driven by a passion to create “web tools everyone can use”.
A presentation given at Web Directions North, Vancouver Canada, January 31 2008.

Content management systems have all but replaced the former art of publishing static HTML pages. From letting clients edit and add content, to content like calendars and forums that defy the “page” convention, dynamic interactive websites keep visitors coming back. At some point your website goes beyond just a site filled with HTML pages and actually becomes a full-fledged web application.
From these features, we extract three stages of content management — simple content management, beyond the blog, and building your own web application.
" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(16) "wdn08-boris-mann" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2008-04-10 00:21:23" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2008-04-10 05:21:23" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(56) "http://www.webdirections.org/resources/wdn08-boris-mann/" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "4" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [4]=> object(stdClass)#120 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(25) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "2" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2007-09-29 20:51:23" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2007-09-30 01:51:23" ["post_content"]=> string(1749) "A presentation given at Web Directions South, Sydney Australia, September 28 2007.
We're sorry, but slides and podcast for this presentation are unfortunately not available.
Session description
Many of the today’s leading and most innovative websites are now running or developed using open source software and tools. This talk aims to provide an insiders look at the growing array of open source software driving today’s leading websites.
What is open source software and how can I use it to improve our website design, development and management effort? What open source tools are today’s leading website designers and publishers already using? What’s popular now? What’s emerging? This talk takes you under the hood of some the world’s leading websites to see what makes them tick. And what open source software, tools and platforms they’re using to deliver better online services.
About Paul McCarthy
Paul McCarthy is interested in innovation and the rapidly emerging global digital services economy. He is Manager, Strategic Projects with the NSW Department of Commerce, Government Chief Information Office and adviser to Australia’s peak interactive media industry group: AIMIA. Formerly, McCarthy was co-founder of The Digital Media Group Ltd, a financial software company and IBM’s Asia Pacific Multimedia Centre based in Sydney.
A presentation given at Web Directions South, Sydney Australia, September 28 2007.
Many of the today’s leading and most innovative websites are now running or developed using open source software and tools. This talk aims to provide an insiders look at the growing array of open source software driving today’s leading websites.
Web Directions South 2008, Sydney Convention Centre, September 26 11.45am.
Presentation slides
Session description
When I was introduced into the role of managing web projects, I naively believed a Content Management System would solve all my problems. Growing my little empire of content authors I had little idea of what was to come- before I knew it I had created a monster.
I went searching for a white knight to slay this monster and was tempted by the delights of custom builds, agile development, and ruby on rails. And off I went following the trail of breadcrumbs into the forest eating them as I went, but then oh, how do I get back to my old friend CMS? Hmmm.
This session will help you know how to make the choice between the sweet delights of custom builds and the faithful workhorse CMS. How to get them to play nice, grow gracefully, and present together as a seamless front-end user experience.
About Diana Mounter
Diana Mounter combines her 10 years of experience in graphic design, IT, database management, and marketing to approach web project management creatively and with a fine-toothed comb. In her role at the Local Government and Shires Associations Diana designs, coordinates, and supports the Associations’ many websites, giving her experience working with both a CMS and custom build applications. A notable example is the success of the 2008 Cultural Awards website, which allows council officers and artists to showcase their cultural projects online.
This year she has introduced her enthusiasm of the web further into this sector by co-founding the Local Government Web Network. The network is designed to promote learning amongst government web coordinators, with the aim of improving the quality of Council websites for the benefit of their communities.
" ["post_title"]=> string(47) "Diana Mounter - Custom V CMS - don't take sides" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(1032) "Web Directions South 2008, Sydney Convention Centre, September 26 11.45am.
When I was introduced into the role of managing web projects, I naively believed a Content Management System would solve all my problems. Growing my little empire of content authors I had little idea of what was to come- before I knew it I had created a monster.
I went searching for a white knight to slay this monster and was tempted by the delights of custom builds, agile development, and ruby on rails. And off I went following the trail of breadcrumbs into the forest eating them as I went, but then oh, how do I get back to my old friend CMS? Hmmm.
This session will help you know how to make the choice between the sweet delights of custom builds and the faithful workhorse CMS. How to get them to play nice, grow gracefully, and present together as a seamless front-end user experience.
Presentations about CMS
Podcasts, slides, videos and more
Diana Mounter — Custom V CMS — don’t take sides
Web Directions South 2008, Sydney Convention Centre, September 26 11.45am.
When I was introduced into the role of managing web projects, I naively believed a Content Management System would solve all my problems. Growing my little empire of content authors I had little idea of what was to come– before I knew it I had created a monster.
I went searching for a white knight to slay this monster and was tempted by the delights of custom builds, agile development, and ruby on rails. And off I went following the trail of breadcrumbs into the forest eating them as I went, but then oh, how do I get back to my old friend CMS? Hmmm.
This session will help you know how to make the choice between the sweet delights of custom builds and the faithful workhorse CMS. How to get them to play nice, grow gracefully, and present together as a seamless front-end user experience.
See the slides and hear the podcast »
Panel — Choosing the right web application framework
The new era of web applications has introduced to us a number of frameworks designed to aid in rapid development. But, no matter what your preferred language, finding a suitable framework is not usually an easy task.
In this intensive 2 hour session you’ll hear from several developers who’ll discuss which frameworks they chose, why they love them; why they hate them, and gain valuable insights to help you choose the right tools for your job. We will focus primarily on Rails (Ruby), Joomla! (PHP), Struts/Spring (Java) and Django (Python).
See the slides and hear the podcast »
Patrick Lee — One paper clip, a box of matches, and some JavaScript
A presentation given at at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.
Whoever you are, if you’re writing JavaScript, there’s some aspect of your development that you would love to change if you had the chance. But the reality is you’ll never find yourself working in this ideal environment: dealing with legacy browsers, platforms and content management systems will be your constant as a developer. Patrick Lee is going to show you some tools and techniques that will help you make your peace with this fact.
This session will explore how you can find ways to do the cool stuff you really want to do with JavaScript whilst working in the real world. And you won’t even have to sell your soul in the process.
See the slides and hear the podcast »
Boris Mann — The 3 stages of dynamic systems
A presentation given at Web Directions North, Vancouver Canada, January 31 2008.

Content management systems have all but replaced the former art of publishing static HTML pages. From letting clients edit and add content, to content like calendars and forums that defy the “page” convention, dynamic interactive websites keep visitors coming back. At some point your website goes beyond just a site filled with HTML pages and actually becomes a full-fledged web application.
From these features, we extract three stages of content management — simple content management, beyond the blog, and building your own web application.
See the slides and hear the podcast »
Paul McCarthy — Which open source tools are fuelling today’s leading sites?
A presentation given at Web Directions South, Sydney Australia, September 28 2007.
Many of the today’s leading and most innovative websites are now running or developed using open source software and tools. This talk aims to provide an insiders look at the growing array of open source software driving today’s leading websites.
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