Understanding Contribute Publishing Services

By itself, Contribute enables business users to update their Web sites. Contribute Publishing Services manages all those business users and all their modifications within a given site. For site administrators, CPS provides the flexibility of controlling individual access while specifying what that access allows on a per-group basis. Moreover, you'll have much more control over the review process. (This is a major advance, because submitting a draft for review was strictly voluntary before Contribute 3.) Finally, CPS makes a log available for all Contribute-related transactions, including indicators for which documents were edited, published, or sent for review. With this log, you can create reports in whatever format is needed to maintain your own accountability.

One of the most powerful aspects of CPS is the way it leverages an existing network's infrastructure. In addition to working with a wide range of Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) application servers, the CPS User Directory service partners perfectly with network user directory systems based on Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) or Microsoft's Active Directory protocols. Moreover, all email notifications can be handled through a single network mail server instead of relying on client mail connections.

CPS is a J2EE server application that is accessible through most Web browsers. As a J2EE application, it requires a Java application server. CPS comes complete with a Macromedia JRun 4 server when installed in its integrated configuration. The integrated version can be installed on Linux, Macintosh, and Windows servers. If your organization already has a J2EE application server in place, you can also deploy CPS to work with your existing system. The user interface is a Web-based Macromedia Flash application that is constructed with Macromedia Flex. You will need Flash Player 7 to view the interface.

CPS is essentially a compendium of Web services. A Web service is a software application, accessible through an Internet address, that uses standard XML messaging to pass information back and forth. It's significant that CPS is based on Web services because the application architecture lends itself to integration and customization.

Tip

If you have server-side programmers on your staff, you can also take advantage of the CPS exposed application programming interface to automatically deploy pages, trigger site indexing, or produce reports.

The three key Web services included in CPS are as follows:

• User Directory service. The CPS User Directory service manages connections for all users accessing the site. The User Directory service takes the place of the connection key system, in which users authenticate themselves with files individually supplied by the administrator. By centralizing the authentication procedure with the User Directory service, the Contribute administrator gains much more control over user access; users can easily be reassigned to a different role or removed entirely, if necessary. The CPS User Directory service gathers names from existing network directory servicesboth LDAP and Active Directory protocols are supportedor from an XML file. The XML file might be managed through a built-in user interface or coded directly.

• Email Notification service. The Email Notification service built into CPS represents a huge leap forward in managing the approval process. A single SMTP server is declared to handle all email notifications, which alleviates the need for each individual user to supply his or her own outgoing mail server (as well as opening the door for enhanced centralized tracking). Through CPS, you can determine whether to notify all users when a draft is assigned to them and/or notify the users when previously sent drafts are published, reassigned, or otherwise changed in status. The Email Notification system ties into the User Directory service and displays a list of current users available for review submission.

• Log service. Just as important as connecting users or implementing an approval process is the tracking of site activity. The CPS Log service maintains an ongoing Contribute-related history, including the creation, modification, publication, and deletion of site pages; in all, 15 different events are recorded. The log also provides a date-and-time stamp, lists the files affected, and indicates the personnel involved (including email links). The data, presented in an HTML page, can be sorted in a variety of ways and printed directly from the browser or saved to disk. Because the information is output in a standard comma-separated values format, it's easily modified for use in other standard office software for creating databases, spreadsheets, or reports. The Log service settings allow you to set the size of each log (in kilobytes) and the number of logs to archive.

Because CPS typically installs on a server rather than your own system, the requirements are platform dependent. For Windows systems, the following servers are supported:

• Windows 2000 Server

• Windows 2003 Server

• Windows XP with Service Pack 1 or greater, powered by an Intel Pentium processor or equivalent

The Macintosh OS X Server is also supported when running OS 10.2.8 or 10.3.x versions.

Both Windows and Macintosh require a minimum of 400MB of disk space and 256MB RAM, although 512MB RAM is recommended. Supported J2EE application servers include

• Macromedia JRun

• IBM WebSphere

• BEA WebLogic

• Sun ONE

Perhaps the key requirement is security. Because CPS maintains authentication information for its users, it's best to install the software within a firewall-protected network. Consult with your organization's network information technology group to make sure that CPS is installed following the proper security protocols.