The Universal Canvas

By Jon Udell

June 8, 2001

(The Universal Canvas :  Page 1 of 3 )

In this Article

The Universal Canvas Stuff Needs To Flow Ektron's eWebEditPro And eMPower

Now, a couple of weeks further along in the experiment, it's continuing to have that very useful effect. What prevents this from happening more often, I argued, is not a shortage of tools, but rather a shortage of storytellers who have the skills and inclination to weave a coherent narrative out of the conversations and documents that are the lifeblood of a project.

In truth, while I can and do maintain this project weblog with nothing fancier than ftp and a text editor, there is a tools problem here -- one that's being addressed by a growing number of content management systems. People usually think of a CMS as a big tool (like Vignette StoryServer) used to manage a big site (like ZDNet). Of course, relatively few sites operate on that scale. Lots of companies need help managing smaller Internet, intranet, or extranet sites. Many more such sites (like my project weblog) should exist, but don't. That need defines the opportunity for new CMSes.

What is "Content" Anyway?
The Web was adopted by millions of people because it is a thrilling combination of two familiar media -- publishing and broadcasting. It is like publishing because you read it as you would a book or newspaper. It is like broadcasting because you change channels by clicking. In those two media industries, the product is called "content," and content management systems for the Web are tools used to deliver that product through a new channel.

Companies not in the "content" business -- that is, most companies -- are often confused about why and how to be on the Web. A friend who ran the website for a health-maintenance organization once asked me: "We get 50,000 hits a week -- is that good?" Well, it depends. An HMO is not in the business of attracting eyeballs to its website. It's in the business of delivering healthcare services.

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