Microsoft Content Management Server 2002: A Complete Guide [Paperback]

Bill English (Author), Olga Londer (Author), Todd Bleeker (Author), Shawn Shell (Author), Stephen Cawood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 6, 2003

Praise for Microsoft Content Management Server 2002 "This is one of those rare books that you will read to learn about the product and keep re-reading to find those tidbits that you missed before. Need to know how to setup CMS? Microsoft Content Management Server 2002: A Complete Guide will tell you. Need to know how the information is being processed before the user views it? Microsoft Content Management Server 2002: A Complete Guide will tell you. A great book no matter what your experience level is with Content Management Server." --Gary Bushey, SharePoint Portal Server MVP "A concise and accurate guide to Microsoft's enterprise development tool for content-centric applications. An invaluable resource for any developer who wants to get the best out of Microsoft Content Management Server." --Ed Robinson, Lead Program Manager, Microsoft Corporation "Content management is a complex, multifaceted application area, and Microsoft's CMS Server is a complex product. This book sets out everything you could possibly need or want to know about CMS.The title could easily be The CMS Resource Kit since it will be an essential addition to the library of any IT professional or developer working on content management and Microsoft's CMS. " --Thomas Lee, Chief Technologist, QA Content Management Server (CMS) is fast becoming a vital content-management tool that helps administrators and developers handle the ever-increasing amount of content on their Web sites. However, an authoritative source of product information has been missing ...until now. Microsoft Content Management Server 2002: A Complete Guide is the first book that explains how to effectively unlock the power of CMS. Administrators and developers alike will learn how to enhance their Web servers' scalability, flexibility, and extensibility by using CMS features and API to manage content on the Microsoft platform. This thorough reference explains the product architecture, then shows you how to create and edit content and use the workflow. Topic coverage includes CMS administration and security, the Publishing API, deployment options, site configuration, and template development.A running example is used throughout the book to illustrate how important CMS features are implemented in real-world Web site development. Inside you'll find answers to such questions as: *Chapter 6: How do you customize workflow? *Chapter 10: How do you develop for Microsoft Content Management Server (CMS) 2002 using Visual Studio .NET? *Chapter 17: How do you establish user rights? *Chapter 22: How do you best deploy CMS according to your organization's needs, size, and resources? *Chapter 32: How do you publish dynamic data? Books in the Microsoft Windows Server System Series are written and reviewed by the world's leading technical authorities on Microsoft Windows Technologies, including principal members of Microsoft's Windows and Server Development Teams. The goal of the series is to provide reliable information that enables administrators, developers, and IT professionals to architect, build, deploy, and manage solutions using the Microsoft Windows Server System. The contents and code of each book are tested against, and comply with, commercially available code.Books published as part of the Microsoft Windows Server System Series are an invaluable resource for any IT professional or student working in today's Windows environment.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Microsoft Content Management Server (MCMS) may be relatively new on the Web-publishing scene, but it's very closely integrated with the Windows infrastructure and therefore an attractive option for many organizations. Microsoft Content Management Server 2002: A Complete Guide is both a tutorial and a reference in which the authors strive to explain the Microsoft Way of rising to the Web publishing challenge. You'll want this one close at hand if you're involved in setting up or maintaining a MCMS site. Preferably, you'll have read the chapters that deal with architecture and design--which collectively make up about half of this large paperback document--well in advance of installing the first MCMS component. Better yet, you'll have had the various members of your Web publishing team (network people, Windows administrators, database experts, and so on) read, ahead of time, the chapters that concern them.

This team-authored book uses a variety of strategies in communicating information to the reader. These include discussion of design issues (generally quite effective in making the reader think about the situation on his own site), narrative elucidation of procedures with frequent screen shots, and code listings (generally under-commented and therefore less useful than other elements). In any case, this is from-the-source documentation of an expensive software package. You'll benefit by having it around. --David Wall

Topics covered: How to install, configure, and use Microsoft Content Management Server 2002. Sections deal with the general architecture of MCMS, and its particular ways of facilitating page design, user interaction, and workflows. Integration with Visual Studio--the chief advancement in the 2002 version--gets lots of attention, as do security and user rights managements. The Publishing API (PAPI) is covered in greater depth here than anywhere else.

From the Back Cover

Praise for Microsoft Content Management Server 2002

“This is one of those rare books that you will read to learn about the product and keep re-reading to find those tidbits that you missed before. Need to know how to setup CMS? Microsoft Content Management Server 2002: A Complete Guide will tell you. Need to know how the information is being processed before the user views it? Microsoft Content Management Server 2002: A Complete Guide will tell you. A great book no matter what your experience level is with Content Management Server.”

—Gary Bushey, SharePoint Portal Server MVP

“A concise and accurate guide to Microsoft’s enterprise development tool for content-centric applications. An invaluable resource for any developer who wants to get the best out of Microsoft Content Management Server.”

—Ed Robinson, Lead Program Manager, Microsoft Corporation

“Content management is a complex, multifaceted application area, and Microsoft’s CMS Server is a complex product. This book sets out everything you could possibly need or want to know about CMS. The title could easily be The CMS Resource Kit since it will be an essential addition to the library of any IT professional or developer working on content management and Microsoft’s CMS.”

—Thomas Lee, Chief Technologist, QA

Content Management Server (CMS) is fast becoming a vital content-management tool that helps administrators and developers handle the ever-increasing amount of content on their Web sites. However, an authoritative source of product information has been missing . . . until now.

Microsoft Content Management Server 2002: A Complete Guide is the first book that explains how to effectively unlock the power of CMS. Administrators and developers alike will learn how to enhance their Web servers’ scalability, flexibility, and extensibility by using CMS features and API to manage content on the Microsoft platform.

This thorough reference explains the product architecture, then shows you how to create and edit content and use the workflow. Topic coverage includes CMS administration and security, the Publishing API, deployment options, site configuration, and template development. A running example is used throughout the book to illustrate how important CMS features are implemented in real-world Web site development. Inside you’ll find answers to such questions as:

• Chapter 6: How do you customize workflow?
• Chapter 10: How do you develop for Microsoft Content Management Server (CMS) 2002 using Visual Studio .NET?
• Chapter 17: How do you establish user rights?
• Chapter 22: How do you best deploy CMS according to your organization’s needs, size, and resources?
• Chapter 32: How do you publish dynamic data?

Books in the Microsoft Windows Server System Series are written and reviewed by the world’s leading technical authorities on Microsoft Windows Technologies, including principal members of Microsoft’s Windows and Server Development Teams. The goal of the series is to provide reliable information that enables administrators, developers, and IT professionals to architect, build, deploy, and manage solutions using the Microsoft Windows Server System. The contents and code of each book are tested against, and comply with, commercially available code. Books published as part of the Microsoft Windows Server System Series are an invaluable resource for any IT professional or student working in today’s Windows environment.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 1136 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional (November 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321194446
• ISBN-13: 978-0321194442
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,089,016 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #32 in Books > Computers & Technology > Web Development > Content Management

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must have resource but..., December 17, 2003

By 

Housten Heidi "reader, gamer, mum" (Stockholm, Sweden) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Microsoft Content Management Server 2002: A Complete Guide (Paperback)

There is a lot of excellent information in this book. I was just disappointed that there wasn't more depth in the areas of interest to me. I wanted more details, like when it comes to an upgrade path from CMS2001 - what are the limitations(for example: is there a maximum database size or channel count that the upgrade tool can handle?) or gotchas? What things have changed? However, there were only three pages on upgrading from CMS2001 in this 1000 page book.

As another example, there was some interesting sample code in the Tips & techniques section, but they didn't give a complete usage scenario of the bit that interested me, so I wasn't sure how to implement the sample that interested me.

I must say that I was impressed that this book was so thick yet not padded with the usual repetitive and excess verbiage. It is all good content.

This book is the most comprehensive resource I've found. I've been going back and forth between MSDN articles and the documentation that comes with CMS and this book covers everything, especially planning, much better. However, it still could have had more!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Poor Layout. Not for beginners., July 20, 2004

By 

Jallikundu (Columbia, MD) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Microsoft Content Management Server 2002: A Complete Guide (Paperback)

I bought this book to help my client evaluate CMS 2002. First few weeks with the book was agonising to read through. The author explains in verbose text about something and you have to read through it all coz you dont know what is fluff or where he might say something useful! I read through the documents that came with CMS 2002 last week and there is one called SiteDevl.chm which has a chapter on how to Use VS.net to create a CMS web site. I finished the whole chapter in about an hour creating my site simultaneously. Since I did a web site from scratch I had a better understanding how to use various CMS components! First read this help file before you buy this book.
I went through the first 286 pages of this book and was yet struggling. Then I read through this help file that comes with CMS which has 36 pages now the difference is like day and night! Since there are no other good book available you have to get this book just coz you odnt have a choice.
There is a new book written by Stefan Gossner from MSFT coming out soon. He is a regular contributor on CMS message boards on msdn. Seems very knowledgable. I havent got the book yet, I have reserved a copy when it is out.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Book needs more focus. Maybe OK for a beginner., January 13, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Microsoft Content Management Server 2002: A Complete Guide (Paperback)

First, a note on my background, since it may have increased my frustration with this book. I have been developing (ASP/COM, ASP.NET) for a long time, and have built numerous custom DB-driven content mgmt systems from scratch. So, I was hoping for a quick introduction of the CMS paradigm this product uses, followed by specific guidance on how to implement realistic sites with the product. Not what I got. This material might be more helpful to a traditional "webmaster" role (who knows just a little C#), but if you already understand concepts like templates and publishing workflows the book wastes a lot of your time.

The book does not need to be 1000 pages long:
- Code examples are often repeated throughout a section with only one line changed.
- Entire blocks of text are clearly copied and pasted from one section to another.
- The book spends inordinate time on topics that are not relevant to using the product, for example the material in Chapter 4 on project mgmt.

My other major complaint is that it is written more in the style of a manual (e.g. Now we are going to list all the properties and methods of a channel. Next, we do the same for a template.) rather than following a flow of how a site actually gets built and the types of pages one really needs to develop. Why is it not until page 853 that the topic of "what about content that is already in SQL Server somewhere" comes up? That is something one deals with all the time on real development projects!

Admittedly, some of my disappointment is more with the product itself rather than just the book. MS-CMS is apparently intended as a replacement for sites that just add new HTML pages whenever they add content. I thought the age of sites like that, where the data was not part of the overall enterprise systems, had ended several years ago.