We're looking for a powerful content-management system that is free, easy to install, and easy for users to manage folders and files with.

The CMS Matrix site is a great resource for comparing and contrasting content-management system platforms. Most seem to provide similar capabilities for end users to manage files and folders and Web page content. One that stands out for ease of installation is WebGUI . WebGUI is an open source content-management system written in Perl and distributed under the General Public License. There are installation packages available for Linux and Windows that contain all the components needed to successfully install and run the system. These packages install Perl, the Apache Web server, MySQL and the WebGUI software all at once to provide an operational site with very little hassle. The only downside to the Windows installer, called ZipNGo, is that the installation scripts are hard-coded for the C:\ drive. To install on another disk, you need to edit the collection of batch files used to install the software and the *.reg files that update the system registry. Source code distributions of WebGUI are available for those who already have Perl, Apache and MySQL installed. After installing WebGUI and logging on using the defaults provided by the opening home page, take the tour at DocFinder: 8140 for an introduction to the WebGUI content-management tools.

Blass is a network architect at Change@Work in Houston. Questions can be sent to dr.internet@changeatwork.com.