Mark, Greta and I (pictured from left to right) met today to discuss progress with Ultraversity's new Cohort 4 community / portfolio space. This is a new venture using the Plone 2.1 content management framework - configured 'out of the box'. We believe Plone has far more to offer than just managing content. Plone's major strength is the permissions and workflow model which underpins its operation. Understanding this rather complex model is a major feat in itself and probably demands a better user interface to be more useful. I dream of building a permissions model using a drag and drop Flash interface where users are moved into groups structured as Venn diagrams. Do Venn diagrams have any limitations?
Interestingly, Stephen Powell and I reflected on the complexities of Plone, and after some discussion, arrived at the conclusion that you can't have it both ways, simplicity and complexity, which sounds a bit daft. What I mean is - having a tool that can be understood and used by the masses, yet powerful enough to provide a solid set of permissions that is capable of niche and specific demands.
Richard Millwood
I suggest you don't give up yet. Excellent design can often overcome the conflict you talk about. A simple reminder, which told you what the permissions where for an object and why they where that way, would soon help us to learn the system. Then when you tinkered, you'd know what you'd done - simple expression-evaluation loop which underpins learning. The trouble is, you can't easily evaluate what you've done in Plone with regard to permissions except by a laborious method.
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