The latest from Boxes and Arrows, is Managing the Complexity of Content Management, by Victor Lombardi.
This is a great overview of how to ease your pain when dealing with Content Management Systems (CMS). The article is a great read, and covers some worthwhile information.
Here is a quick breakdown of the ten lessons that have been drawn from real-word, successful CMS projects.
# Keep the team small. I don't buy into this one so much, as it might not be the case. This one seems very much like a "it depends" item.
# Don't try to fix everything at once. So true. This is dead on.
# Only build what you need. Again, dead on.
# Create an efficient information architecture. This is a tougher one. The key word here is efficient. Not perfect. Efficient. Which translates into fewer templates, or smarter templates.
# Show your content some love. Get a writer. Or a real editor.
# Hire bouncers as project managers. Yeah, firm and rigorous PM's help.
# Tightly integrate design and technology. By this he's talking about keeping your programmer and designer tightly coupled and talking. This does help a tremendous amount.
# Buy the Right Size. Don't buy an enterprise solution if you're a small shop. Duh.
# Design faster than business can change. And then learn to leap over tall buildings in a single bound.
# Get a second opinion. This is always helpful. You will end up getting tunnel vision and missing stuff. Always happens.