Information is not static

Most information is ever changing, whether it is news, your products, or information about your organization. In a traditional website you usually rely on a webmaster to take the information your staff gives them and place it within your website. This added layer can often result in higher costs, misinformation, errors, and delays. The basic picture is that your website is never quite up to date and does not present your information in the same way you would.

Content Management Systems

Content Management Systems (CMS) allow those who create content to do so directly in the web application with no special tools or skills needed. This content can then be managed by work-flow, allowing those with the proper responsibility and authority to approve, edit, or reject content before it is made available to the public. These systems are used by major news organizations, corporations, and governments to present information quickly and accurately to those who need it. These systems have traditionally been very expensive, but there is now an Open Source CMS that is gaining world wide recognition. It is free, and yet as powerful as many systems costing thousands of dollars. This system is Plone.

Plone

Plone is an Open Source CMS that is built on Zope, also an Open Source system. Plone can run on Unix, Linux, Windows, and Mac. It is fully self contained, and can be up and running in very little time.

Plone is our specialty

Seven Tech Northwest specializes in CMS applications and sites built using Plone. We are directly involved in the Plone project allowing us to keep up to date on the technology and to insure the success and long life of the Plone project. It is only because of the existence of Plone that we started this business.

Ease of Use

Plone helps us build sites that can be maintained by just about anyone, without the use of specialized software. All you need is an Internet connection and a web browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Communicator, Opera or Mozilla. With these CMS based websites, content can be updated by interacting with browser-based forms. If you can order a book, participate in an on-line auction or send an email to Aunt Sally, then you know everything you need to know to maintain one of our websites.

Flexibility

That being said, we all know that there are exceptions to every rule. Perhaps you need something a little more complicated, such as a custom application or database connectivity in your site. We can do that, too. We have experience building custom applications for a wide variety of organizations - from state agencies to independent entrepreneurs. We would be happy to do the same for you. We also work with partners for hosting and development that enables us to help you with any project, regardless of the size or complexity.