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Intranet Documentation System with TYPO3
Many businesses today have developed formal management systems to control different aspects of their operations, for example quality, environment and health & safety.
One feature common to all of these systems is that they require procedures and instructions to be written and available to staff, and most will require various forms to be filled in and stored as records: as evidence of what has been done, and that can be recalled later. This is very important when an external assessment is being carried out.
In conjunction with the development of the business management systems has been a desire by many to reduce the overall amount of paper in their businesses. Many recognise that the volume of printed information circulating within their Organisation is vast, and difficult to manage in a way that allows quick location of a specific piece of information.
The development and availability of internet technology has resulted in an upsurge of Intranets within these Organisations. It is now relatively easy for someone with an understanding of the technology and HTML to create web pages, and implement a server to host them. As their experience (and software resource) increases they may also become able to produce graphics to enhance the site, and more complicated and functional navigation. The main drawback is that every page must be individually created and linked, or added to a menu structure, and often only the author, or ICT department have the skills to do it. Creation of new pages requires input from these same people. Also, if features such as discussion groups are required, another product would have to be aquired and 'tacked on', or written in-house if the skills exist. The management systems mentioned earlier are often extensive, often with many processes and procedures, work instructions, specifications, forms and external references, so the number of pages can be quite large. Managing and extending such a site is a time-consuming task.
Enter the Content Management System (CMS)...a form of Intranet site that is driven by a scripting language (for example PHP), where the pages are stored in a database and built by the server as a user requests them. More importantly, however, the site is managed through an interface that can be used by any authorised user. This means that those people who are given permission can add, delete or edit pages, and perform other site management tasks.
Of the available OpenSource CMS', TYPO3 (www.TYPO3.com) is undoubtedly the most powerful. It was conceived, built and developed by Kasper Skårhøj. Currently at version 3.5b4 (a public preview of the imminent release of version 3.5), it offers an unparalleled level of functionality and extensibility for those with the know-how.
Typo3 has all the features that an Organisation wishing to move their management systems online could need...
- Existing templates that can be used 'out-of-the-box' to get up and running quickly
- A comprehensive and highly flexible scripting definition language (TypoScript - developed by Kasper Skårhøj) that gives you the ability to develop a site with any look and feel you want, and any navigation style you require. TypoScript is used to build the templates that define the basic appearance and functionality of the site, into which the content is added.
- Extensive documentation...TYPO3 is probably one of the best documented OpenSource products around. The documentation is vital if you want to get the most out of the product, because its features, and TypoScript, require some study to grasp fully
- Many freely available extensions that can be used to extend the basic package. For example... - Discussions - News - Online shop - User management - and many, many more
- The ability for those with the technical capability to write their own modules to extend the functionality to exactly their own requirements
- A 'back-end' administration area that is simple to use to add new articles or pages, or edit existing ones
- Built in security tools to enable users to be allocated to groups, pages to be limited to certain groups, logins to be required etc.
- The ability to generate, manipulate and handle graphics and documents in many formats
- The ability to host more than one site in the same database
- A very active online community, accessible via mailing list or the TYPO3 web site. The list is populated by many highly experienced TYPO3 users, who are only happy to offer help to overcome a problem
Perhaps not the easiest CMS to install (there are several software packages that must be installed on the server if you want all the functionality), the rewards and benefits once everything is up and running are huge. TYPO3 can be made to look and feel exactly as you wish, has the ability to handle large sites with many hundreds of pages, and link out to external site and documents in a variety of formats. With a reasonable level of skill in PHP and an understanding of how TYPO3 works, you could write extensions to handle many management system features that typically generate paper records...complaints and subsequent actions, equipment & calibration, audit schedules and reports, environmental effects register and evaluation tool, objectives and targets, and many more.
TYPO3 also has features that enable business management system information to be available to all staff, but strictly controlled so that unauthorised changes simply cannot be made. It is possible to give control of content to users who are trained and authorised to manage their own areas. In this way the ownership of the system lies fully with those who are responsible for making it work and keeping it up-to-date, which enhances awareness and knowledge of the management system.
