If you are a client, or a colleague, you probably have heard me talk about Bricolage -- the industrial-strength content management system. If you're a client of mine, you probably know why I talk about it (in fact, you're probably using it every day). And, if you're a colleague, you've probably wondered what the hell I was going on about. Well, I figured it's about time that I explain why some people claim that "Bricolage is quite possibly the most capable enterprise-class, open-source application available."

Rather than write at length about client requirements that keep me coming back to this capable, free and open-source software platform, I'm just going to capture some typical scenarios that come up -- case studies if you will -- and how they're easily accomplished in Bricolage. This is not to say that they can't, or couldn't be accomplished in other content management systems, but simply serves to expose how it is done by the bricoleurs.

Today's lesson: Permissions 101

(Or how to set-up basic permissions to limit a group of users to a certain group of assets, or categories.)

The typical scenario goes like this:

• I have a group of users (let's call them "Bloggers") that I want to limit to a certain set of assets, or categories
• I'd like to limit them to the creation of "Blog posts" (the asset)
• And I'd like to limit them to creating those assets in the /blog/ category

Bricolage is well suited to running large sites with thousands of stories and hundreds of categories (or several sites, with thousands of stories, and hundreds of categories) and potentially many languages -- think World Health Organization, or Grist. These site often have a large number of users that need access to certain things, but not others -- or are allowed to perform certain tasks (editing, proof reading) but not others (publishing, or developing templates, etc.).

Permissions, though confusing as hell, is one of the areas where Bricolage really shines. For a general overview, just have a scan through the Bricolage Security Guide. And, if you want to know more, just read it another five times. ;-) In short: it doesn't get more fine-grained and sensible than this, once you get your head around the concepts.

However, reading about permissions is one thing (and that thing is boring), and seeing them in action is another thing entirely. So, for your viewing pleasure, I've put together a couple of five-minute screen casts on Bricolage permissions 101. I've also typed up some quick notes on the steps I took and I've put them on the Bricolage wiki. And, if you're still curious, you can always go mining in the mailing list for permissions gems.

So, back to our scenario above: Bloggers (user group) need to be able to create blog posts (element type group) in the /blog/ category (category group). This is actually quite straightforward and only took about 10 minutes to set-up from beginning to end. Here's how:

• Bricolage permissions 101, Part I (5 minutes)
• Bricolage permissions 101, Part II (5 minutes)

Let me know if you have any questions. And keep your eyes out for the next installment in the journey of a self-appointed bricoleur.

In January, while checking out the Independent Press Association’s conference in San Francisco, Matt Thompson and I put our heads together to explore some ideas about extending the work of progressive publications — namely magazines — online. Matt’s background as a journalist and producer at Independent World Television (now called The Real News) led to many conversations about short online mini-documentaries; my background working on online campaigns had me focused on a compelling story and e-mail acquisition. And, we both struggled with some basic questions about the challenges for traditionally print-based publications as they struggle with how to deliver their content online.

On that trip, I had the opportunity to meet with the Publisher of Mother Jones magazine Jay Harris and Bruce McCurdy the General Manager for Mother Jones online (many thanks to Jason Mogus for putting us in touch). At that meeting, we discussed their then upcoming issue on the Last Days of the Ocean. It was a powerful magazine that digs deep into the issues that are ahead of us thanks to climate change. At that meeting, Jay and Bruce presented me with a design challenge: how can we increase the impact of this magazine using the Internet?

Matt and I met shortly after that meeting to brainstorm and document some creative approaches. Two weeks later Matt and I delivered a proposal back to the folks at Mother Jones magazine. And the result of that proposal — thanks to the legendary effort of Matt as the day-to-day producer and Laura Shapiro the design lead at Mother Jones (and the support of many other people at Mother Jones and here in Toronto) — is the Ocean Voyager experience. I encourage you to check it out, invite your friends, and let us know what you think.

If you’re interested in some of the thinking behind this campaign approach and looking at some of our early mock-ups of the idea, I’ve attached the propsal and slides to this post. What I’m most interested in is your ideas on how to improve, evolve, or re-mix this idea for other types of organizations and campaigns.

Your first assignment is to visit Ocean Voyager and sign-up for the experience.

Then your second is to report back here after five weeks and tell me what you think. Where does it succeed? Where does it fail? Is it a strategy that you could put to use in your organization? On one of your campaigns? In your classroom?