1	Use ASP.NET to Simplify Web Site Maintenance
2	Why Content Management? The Problem: With static pages, difficult to maintain consistency; creating and updating content is labor-intensive The Solution: Content Management Systems (CMS) address these issues by separating content from presentation. Content is stored in database, formatted and displayed on request
3	Content Management Options Low-End Systems (e.g., Web Logs, IBuySpy) are inexpensive, but offer limited flexibility, capability Mid-Range/High-End Systems start at tens of thousands of dollars per server. A complete implementation can easily total hundreds of thousands of dollars in software and consulting fees
4	Roll Your Own? A simple, homegrown system allows you to test the content management waters without spending a fortune You’ll get the code for our ASP.NET content management framework, and may modify or enhance it to meet your needs Demo
5	How Does It Work? Design goal: Low maintenance! SQL Server database stores content, user information Pluggable data access layer (cmsDB) allows use of other databases (Access, Oracle, etc.) Schema considerations Content elements in table columns? Use XML to simulate OODB? We chose hybrid approach: Best of both worlds
6	Content Object Model Take 1: Implementation Inheritance Overview Base content class knows how to load and save itself via object serialization Specific content types inherit from base class User controls handle display, editing Issues New content types require developer involvement Content in database is version-specific
7	Content Object Model (cont’d) Take 2: Generic Content Object Overview Implemented as collection of name-value pairs Single class can handle any content, without developer involvement Solves data versioning problem Tradeoffs No type-safety: Can’t make assumptions about nature of content
8	Object Serialization Overview Issues Not all .NET types support serialization Controlling serialization with attributes Generating XML-friendly HTML XML is case-sensitive (duh!)
9	Management Interface XML-based UI eases maintenance XML files describe edit pages Page generated dynamically at runtime Page saves values to content object, which persists self to database Single class handles all content editing New content types require only XML edit form definition and HTML display template No code changes required!
10	Workflow Role-based security Contributor, Editor, Managing Editor, Administrator Simple go/no-go approval Design supports more complex workflow scenarios
11	Presentation Layer Page Templates Templates enforce consistent look & feel Content inserted into placeholders at runtime User Controls Page templates implemented as user controls Data-bound controls display content Can be maintained by production staff; no programming required Caching