CMS Rants
The #1 problem with all CMS systems on the market today, is that your data is entered into the CMS in some way and in order to make use of that data you need to make use of some custom API that can be confusing or require a learning curve. Also if you want to do anything complex with the data the system now requires you to write your own code to display the information how you like.
What good is CMS if it just holds your data, but does not help you do anything with it? If you have to code anything to work with a system, you might as well have written your own code to do what you want, you are not getting your moneys worth.
A CMS is not supposed to only be a system to input data and push it though some proprietary template you need to configure to get to work.
Rule #1 CMS is content management, Data should be separate from Design and Code, if anything other than Data is being entered in the CMS something is wrong. (ie. HTML or Code) This just means that a someone somewhere is being lazy, whether it be the developer or the content author.
Only with clean data can you expect to be organized and reuse the stored information in a useful manner.
Rule #2, Let people do their job. Design should be left up to the designers, content should be left up to the Content Authors, and code should be left up to the Developers.
A CMS should be a tool, not a crutch. If when you remove the CMS from the equasion your website should still be there! As the CMS is not a website, it is supposed to manage your content, not display your content.
Pasting a website into a rich text editor does not constitue a CMS, you might as well have just made the website from scratch and saved yourself the hassle.
A CMS will not make you more oganized and not help you better manage your data if you are not organized and structured your self.
The CMS will not clean up your data and make it uniform and consistent, that is the job of the content author.
CMS systems that rely on a tree structure are limited and inflexible to how data needs to be manipulated, and how sites need to be created. By using a tree structured CMS you then lock your code and website into the CMS, in other words you are hardcoding your website to that CMS solution. BAD!!!
Who cares about HTML validation in a CMS? HTML that works may not always be valid, there is a difference between broken HTML and Valid HTML. If I choose to use <b> over <strong> I am using a depricated tag according to the W3C, however I am willing to bet my life on the fact that the <b> tag will never seize to exist or function improperly. Likewise if a content author as an obscure reason to purposefully use invalid HTML the system should not try to correct the user, going after the saying, "The Customer is Always Right!" let the user do what they want to do.
Your data should be stored how and where you want it stored. That way if anyone asks you for your data it is always at your finger tips in a moments notice. Or if you choose to lock down and secure the files or DB where your data resides you can have that option. "It's your Data Use It When You Need It!"