An introduction to Silva

  The application

    Silva is a completely browser based publication system for creating
    publications for the web, paper, and other media. Content is stored in
    a clean and future-proof format (XML) independent of layout and
    presentation, suitable for use in multiple contexts.

    The most important functions are:

    - authoring tools for editing and managing the structure of
      publications, presentation of (dynamic) information from
      databases, import of content from word processing programs,
      exporting single documents and complete publications. 

    - organizational tools for support of editorial teams within separate
      areas of a Silva site, including workflow, built-in user roles that
      can be assigned per section, and versioning 

    - separation of content management, system management, and design

    - presentation control: design is implemented via HTML templates
      and stylesheets, following the principle of acquisition (or
      inheritance) where items in the current and underlying locations
      are presented according to a local style definition; this
      generic approach can be combined with custom pages where
      required.

    - search and index functionality for full text search and metadata
      based ordering.

  Some principles
  
    1. Content is stored in one location but can used in multiple contexts
       without duplication. Information is divided into discrete and
       independent information units, suitable for referencing (via
       hyperlinks).
  
    2. Content is structured in standard text elements such as headers,
       lists, and paragraphs without medium specific style information (e.g.
       typefaces, font sizes, and text justification), following an open
       standard (XML).
  
    3. The construction of the information tree should follow the internal
       structure of the organization. This allows responsibility to be
       distributed according to the existing hierarchy.
  
    4. With the same content multiple information structures can be
       created, such as an audience based offering which cuts across
       organizational lines. This is possible via placeholders ('ghost
       objects', aliases or symbolic links) that reference documents
       elsewhere in the matrix.
  
    5. Information with records (i.e. a mixture of set fields and
       document-style content) is stored in a structured format.
  
    6. Silva must facilitate integration and publication of data from
       other systems.
  
    A list of "Silva features":FeatureList is available, as well as a
    discussion of "Silva in an organization":InAnOrganization.
    <br />
    <br />

  Meta::

    Valid for:  Silva 0.9.3, Zope 2.6.2, Python 2.1.3
    Authors:    Hans Verster
                kit blake
    Email:      verster+daz.eur.nl
                kitblake+infrae.com
    CVS:        $Revision: 1.6 $ $Date: 2003/11/12 14:42:31 $

