My general understanding so far is that a Content Management System (CMS), like Drupal, could be the actualization of a Desired Outcome of understanding and/or knowledge – a means of positioning real data and information for viewer consumption, with a slight possibility of discussion/input. Once designed, installed, and functioning it’s a matter of keeping the content fresh and interesting.
A blog (WebBlog) is more a venue for dialog about various topics. Much like what I’m doing in this post — discussing the difference between CMS and Blog. I’m very new to Web Development, so my Blog postings should not be read as the “truth” and will most likely be edited over time. I’d hope that on my Blog, people will contribute useful information to share to aid in my understanding and to demonstrate their skill/understanding of various topics.
The eventual content within my CMS will be closer to the “truth” and will communicate usable information, facts and positions. My plan is to create various CMS sites that willl address my various interests: General Aviation, Ham Radio, GIS, Electronics, GeoCaching, Mom’s theater (Senga). I may even dabble in work-related content which would include: Domino, Lotus Notes, CRM, Mapping (Personal Brain), Camtasia and other applications.
Drupal, so far, has a really good web-site at www.drupal.org where it breaks everything done into manageable chunks. I’m inspired to actually read and understand stuff before immediately heading down the path of installation. The idea is to start off basic and work your way up from there.
This whole Web Development interest will definitely be a great project for GTD (Getting Things Done). You’ll see how I use principles of GTD into this project, among many others. Even if nobody reads this Blog, I’m still finding it useful to tease the associative ideas out of my head into a linear format that I can then start creating Projects and Actions around.