Curently as a release candidate, dotCMS 1.6.5 is shaping up to be feature packed.  While you may want to wait for the official release, there is no reason to wait on finding out what's new with dotCMS.

The new 1.6.5 version includes almost 200 improvements and fixes.  Highlights include:

• Widgets
• Major Performance Improvements
  • Now uses enterprise ready JBoss Cache.
  • Velocity Files cached in memory across cluster for speedier parsing.
• Simplified Configuration, Maintenance, Installation and Upgrades
• webDAV file access
• User Interface Improvements / Simplified Inline Editing
  • Less user confusion:  new user interface cleanly distinguishes content from widgets/dynamic pulls.
• PDF export
• Web Form Improvements
  • Online webform builder allows end users to create forms without knowledge of HTML.
• Other Improvements:
  • Google Maps Macro.
  • TinyMCE WYSIWYG upgraded to 3.1.
• Over 120 bugs squashed.

Redmond Developer: "Alfresco Software Inc. is taking direct aim at Microsoft SharePoint with the release of the Alfresco Labs 3 open source enterprise content management (ECM) system. The new version adds support for Microsoft Office SharePoint protocols, allowing Alfresco to serve as a fully compatible SharePoint repository.

Any organization using Microsoft Office can directly leverage the native Alfresco repository in the same way SharePoint repositories are used today, the company says. Alfresco President and CEO John Powell says organizations now have a choice of document repositories, even if they want to use SharePoint Server as a front-end."

Complete Story

Tim Wilson, the site editor for Dark Reading, recently posted an article about recent at the AARP.org website.  In the colorfully titled article, "Porn Operators Hijack Pages on AARP Website", Wilson interviews Jeremy Yoder of MX Logic about why AARP.org's site was vulnerable.  In brief, the explanation given is that the site deployed a number of Web 2.0 features including user profile submissions which the site didn't properly filter out JavaScript redirected code.  Yoder than explains that the site's security or lack of security was due to it using a custom or in-house built content management system.

The AARP site is particularly susceptible to this sort of multi-pronged attack because it appears to be driven by a home-grown content management system, Yoder says. "It appears to be a custom system that's missing some baseline-level security capabilities. This site is accepting JavaScript code submissions, which are something that most off-the-shelf content management systems would have no trouble blocking."

AARP may have fallen into the trap that snares many sites when they seek to add Web 2.0-type capabilities, Yoder explains. "They choose their content management system based on its features, without giving much thought to its security capabilities," he says. "That can be a big mistake, especially if you are a site with a lot of visibility that might make a good target, like AARP."

Organizations that seek to build collaborative capabilities into their Websites should consider using systems that have been vetted by others, rather than a custom system, Yoder advises. "An open source solution has the benefit of a community behind it," he says. "WordPress has absorbed a lot of attacks, but now it's a lot stronger because of it."

This article brings back a lot of memories on past discussions we have had here at CMS Report.  A couple years ago, I posted an article that focued on a SitePoint article titled, I Have Never Met a Boxed CMS I Like.  The SitePoint article argued that a custom CMS would be a better option due to the fact that boxed CMS, whether open source or propriety, are too generic to be of value.  I argued that boxed systems cost less in both money and time, yet offered you more features than a custom CMS could provide.  After my post, a number of people commented for and against boxed systems.  Ironically, no one really talked about whether custom or in-house CMS were less or more secure than boxed systems.

In the world of IT, two years can make quite a difference.  It was not long ago that most Web applications would promote their security as an added feature to their product.  However, I think as time has moved on we realize that a secure site is not a feature of a CMS, but a basic requirement of the application.  In this respect, I can't help but think Yoder is correct that boxed CMS, whether open source or I'll argue a well-supported propriety package, is likely to be more secure than a custom CMS.  I think Sepeck's comment still holds true to why an "out of the box" CMS is the way to go.

If you want to 'write your own' then you are going to want to be locking your customer into you as a solution. I have met more developers convinced that they knew more then 'those other guys' about 'everything important' that end up leaving the customer with a virtually unsupportable system or so completely reliant on them, that when they leave, the customer has to spend as much or more on fixing or upgrading their sites later.

The 'out of the box' systems exist to fill a need because no one person (or small team for that matter) can be an expert on everything (web, rss, mail, design, information architecture). No one person should be able to lock a customer into them as a solution. That doesn't build a healthy eco-system for their customers or themselves.

The more eyes you have on the code behind the CMS, the more likely there is for someone to catch a potential security vulnerability.  When someone does find a way to hack into your system, the more hands you have working on the code the quicker the issue will likely be resolved to provide a security patch.  It isn't always true that boxed systems are more secure than a custom in-house CMS, but I'll argue that the odds are in the favor of the boxed CMS.

Tavis sent an email to CMSReport.com asking me to take a look at WebGUI.  WebGUI is an open source content management system licensed under the GPL v2.

Hello, I wanted to send a quick note and see what it would take to setup a new CMS Focus category for WebGUI. (www.webgui.org) The community is extremely active and there is definitely plenty of buzz about new releases, the community, and the organizations who decide to adopt it.

WebGUI also powers cmsmatrix.org...

Thanks!

Tavis 

Let me first admit the obvious.  Up to this point, WebGUI has been offf my personal radar.  Taking a look at WebGUI's site, listed features, and community...I may need to correct the oversight.

Bitrix Site Manager may seem unassuming, but underneath this CMS lays a fantastic algorithm that drives this CMS' performance over almost all other existing CMS applications out there. It's most definitely the most cost effective Content Management system today.

Introduction:

Having worked extensively with open source CMS applications like Joomla, Mambo and Drupal, we've come to realize one universal fact. Microsoft does not like them. Ergo - Internet Explorer does not like them. Which eventually means that a majority of browser users find it difficult to work with user controlled content over the web, if the CMS installed happens to be a Joomla or a Drupal.

So for any online business, what is the true value of dollars spent on a CMS? Is a Free CMS really FREE? Should you ‘just go for whatever is available free or ‘Buy what makes sense'?

As owners of online businesses turn to using CMS applications for their needs, Bitrix's Revolutionary Site Manager revokes the age old theory that only content based businesses need to invest in a CMS. Now anyone can enhance the efficiency and usability of your website. And it's as simple as a 1, 2 and 3.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that Wordpress 2.6 is more than a blog and is quickly evolving into a full-fledged Web content management system.  While they're a little late, some of my competitors (CMS Watch, InformationWeek) also recently noted the trend of blogging applications such as Wordpress taking on more CMS-like duties.

I wish I would have expanded on my own thoughts about blogging tools continuing to add more CMS functions into their software.  However, I'm not so sure I could have written it better than Irina Guseva's post at CMS Wire.  She takes the story even further by asking whether the trend from blog to CMS is a good thing or not.

Ric Shreves of Water & Stone has written a report that ranks a number a number of Open Source CMS's as Leaders, Movers and Laggards based on their current market share.

You can view the report here.

Wordpress 2.6 was released just a couple days ago.  During the time I have covered Wordpress, I have always considered Wordpress more as blogging application and not really a full featured content management system.  However, ever since I installed Wordpress 2.5 on one of my sites, I can't help but think that Wordpress now rocks as a CMS.

If you haven't looked at Wordpress in the past year or so, I recommend that you do yourself a favor and take a look at what you may be missing out.

Below is a brief video tour of 2.6 prepared by Matt and company.