An introduction to Silva
The application
Silva is a completely browser based content management system for creating
publications for the web, paper, and other media. Textual 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, exporting 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 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.
Some principles
- Content is stored in one location but can used in multiple contexts
without duplication. Information is divided into discreet and
independent information units, suitable for referencing (via
hyperlinks).
- Textual 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Information with records (i.e. a mixture of set fields and
document-style content) is stored in a structured format.
- Silva facilitates integration and publication of data from
other systems.
