Zope

any questions about ZOPE

[Demaestro]

I noticed there was a closed thread pertaining to ZOPE. I thought since I work for a ZOPE devolpment house I would field any questions you may have about the ZOPE platform.

I would like to say that this is the biggest thing in Europe right now. Especially in Germany. Almost all goverment agencies over there are usng this platform for Content Management to save millions in licencing fees.

Zope runs with Python as the backend scripting language and supports up to version 2.1 currently, and is also set up to run with a PostgreSQL database. All of which are open source, no licences required.

Anyone who is playing around with ZOPE or a CMF (Content Management Framework) will quickly learn how Object Orientedly powerful this framework is.

Hundreds of free open source products are ready to install and all are configurable.

ZOPE will run on most any xLinux type OS and can uses an Apache host monster and the DNS takes very little to setup.

Any questions please post a reply. I would HIGHLY recommend anyone out there devolping sites to check it out. I can't image trying to use anything else now.

[edited by: Demaestro at 8:43 pm (utc) on Dec. 18, 2003]

[bcolflesh]

Good place to fool around with it:

freezope.org/

[nakulgoyal]

Yes. I tried using Zope almost an year back. It was indeed good. but then, my requirements changed. I am now using MT.

[bird]

I work with Zope for one project, and am trying to get more of those.

The main problem I'm having is that most documentation is somewhat outdated. Those folks develop the thing much faster than the others can update the manuals, let alone the books!

Many people will just use it as a content management system, and there are modules available (CMF, Plone, etc.) that make this even easier. For me, the real fun is in digging into the internals, where you find why it's called a web application framework.

[dragonlady7]

My boyfriend set up our webserver with Zope a while back. He had a blast fiddling around with it, but was continually frustrated by the lack of documentation. I had tremendous trouble because I couldn't understand it, from the user's standpoint, and it reduced me to actual tears on a number of occasions when I simply couldn't make it work. Because there was no documentation or help, and I couldn't understand why things I was used to with other server setups simply didn't work.

So, we dropped Zope, because it was simply too hard to keep up with.
We use MT now and I haven't had so much as a hiccup with it.
Perhaps if Zope had some kind of... help, or something... I personally hate it with a deep, abiding, and irrational dislike, but I'm sure my boyfriend will switch back to it in a second if he ever dumps me. ;) He really likes Python.

[prgill]

As a VERY NEW USER I am intrigued by names and labels. What is "zope" [not a French pronunciation of "soap"... I hope ;)] and what is MT? Thanks.

[bcolflesh]

Zope
zope.org/
"Z Object Publishing Environment"

MT
movabletype.org/

[Demaestro]

It is true that you can end up freaking out trying figure out what is going on with ZOPE because of the lack of documentaion.

However all you need to do is SSH around the ZOPE and go through all the files on disk. most live in the /zope/lib/python/Extensions or /zope/lib/python/Products You will find all the defs and you can follow the calls, all are made in python. With a python 2.1 book you can make any changes that you need.

One of the reasons that ZOPE is hard to keep up with documentaion is that you have to search the ZOPE.org site for the devolpers documentation (if they bothered to do any). Right now ZOPE is moving over to a Plone site so lots of stuff is hard to find.

But like bird says the fun of ZOPE is pulling open the hood, getting inside the good stuff and get your hands dirty. If you stay away from the Community Content Plone stuff you will find how easy shop sites and administrative backend coding are to do with this framework, and toolset.

[bird]

Perhaps if Zope had some kind of... help, or something...

It does. Sort of...
The basics can be found here: http://www.zope.org/Documentation/
But I'd recommend to buy at least one of the books. Look through several of them in a bookshop to find the one that best suits your purposes, as they tend to be written for fairly different target audiences. Zope is a bit hard to get a first grasp of, but once you're into it, there's no turning back.

If you want to keep your own development down to a minimum, it might be worth installing Plone ( http://www.plone.org/ ), which is a skinnable content management system on top of Zope. That way, you can let the programmers do the confusing stuff, and just enjoy the power.

And if you still stumble over something, just ask here! Telling from this thread, there are several people who will pounce on any Zope related questions and try to answer them.

I personally hate it with a deep, abiding, and irrational dislike, but I'm sure my boyfriend will switch back to it in a second if he ever dumps me. He really likes Python.

That last sentence tells me that you really don't want him to dump you. This guy's got taste! ;)

[edited by: DaveAtIFG at 5:43 pm (utc) on Dec. 19, 2003]
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