Érico Andrei | https://ericof.com | @[email protected] | @ericof | Unlocking the Power of plone.distribution A Hands-On Guide (Not really) 

Érico Andrei | https://ericof.com | @[email protected] | @ericof | Your own Plone CMS Or how integrators use 20 years of collective work as the secret weapon to control a market / segment / vertical / geographical area 

Welcome to 2014 

The Case for Plone Distributions Érico Andrei https://maurits.vanrees.org/weblog/archive/2014/10/plone-distributions 

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Portal Modelo / Portal Padrão Thousands of Plone(?) sites Patching the s*t out of Plone, since 200x 

Welcome to 2023 

Major open source CMS support this case • Drupal distributions • Joomla Templates • TYPO3 Distributions Not invented here 

Easy, but not that easy > 20 years of smart people creating their own solutions • The logic to create a new Plone site is distributed • Browser view on Products.CMFPlone • Content in plone.volto, plone.app.contenttypes (Good luck updating that) • Translations in plone.app.locales • No clear contract • New site from Python Code? • No RESTAPI service 

Many examples in our family The old case of “replicating the site we developed for…” • SENAITE • Quaive • Portal Modelo • Portal Padrão • Portal Brasil • Vindula • Volto • Castle CMS • io-Comune • PretaGov: UK GDS • PretaGov: Digital.NSW • IA Solutions (IMIO) • Classic UI 

Reality Check? Maybe we are not really selling Plone CMS 

define: "Plone Distribution” Making sure we are on the same page • “A contract to create a new instance of a PloneSite” • Conventions about how create initial content • Provides a Python API and a RESTAPI • Use Cases: • Starting point for a new CMS project (website, intranet, headless backend…) • Automate creation of a new “instance" of an opinionated Plone “packaging" • Basis for a SaaS o ff ering of a “Plone-Powered” backend 

plone.distribution 

Making Plone Integrator-Friendly Or, at least, a fi rst step in the right direction • Distributions should be fi rst-class citizens in the Plone World • Converting plone.volto and plone.app.contenttypes “initial content” • Cleaning up existing codebase — “There should be only one way” • Plone 6.0.x: Add-on • Plone 6.1: Core package • Documentation should help integrators bring ideas to life 

Someone, ~2007 "Plone is a CMS, not a web-framework!” https://jazkarta.com/news/when-not-to-use-plone-and-why-you-might-consider-django-or-pyramid 

Érico Andrei, ~2023 "Plone is a platform, not a CMS” 

Marketing Plone, a sane approach Focus on market and segment, not on the common denominator • Plone Marketing is vector addition • Many directions • Agreement on the common denominator • Plone Marketing initiatives should target integrators • Each distribution will “talk" to their own target audience • Distributions should collaborate when possible • But client is king 

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Examples 

POC of a new distribution • "See how easy it is to create a ‘restricted access site with Plone’" • Beethoven Sprint • New Content Types: None • Example Content: Few collective.ploneintranet 

Base for public websites in Brazil • Target: > 1500 websites currently running Portal Modelo and Portal Padrão • Kick-o ff during Cerrado Sprint • New Content Types: Few • Example Content: Lots • Blocker: Theming with DSGov (Brazilian Government Design System) portalbrasil.(edu|leg|gov|jus) 

Demo for Volto Light Theme • "We need a showcase for Volto Light Theme” • New Content Types: None • Example Content: Many • Allow developers to showcase new blocks by updating the content, exporting it and committing. kitconcept.voltolighttheme https://github.com/kitconcept/kitconcept.voltolighttheme/ 

Personal Site / Blog • From idea to site: 6 hours • Scratching my own itch: ericof.com • Additional Target: Maurits • Features: • "About me” area • Blog • SEO-Friendly • Social Networking To-be-named 

How to 

pipx cookiecutter gh:collective/cookiecutter-plone-distribution 

Environment Variables All you need to know • ALLOWED_DISTRIBUTIONS • Limit which distributions will be listed during site creation • DEVELOP_DISTRIBUTIONS • Limit which distributions you could export content to 

FAQ 

Things that should be added to the docs But no one did that (yet) • A distribution is not a “policy package” • You do not need to have a GenericSetup pro fi le. • You can have complex forms for site creation • JSONSchema de fi nition • Best example is collective.plone.intranet • Entry points allow you complete control of site creation • pre_handler, handler, post_handler 

Next Steps & Challenges 

Content & Translations How to create a front-page in 45 languages? 

Types or not to Types Should we add features in a Distribution package? 

Improve content export/import It works, but I have questions 

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“I have a dream” Érico Andrei, 2023 

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Summary 

/ericof @ericof @[email protected] @ericof.com