Create a corporate directory

Tuesday 04 January 2011 12:25:30 am

Very generally, you'd make, or use an existing, content class to make an entry for each person. Then you would write templates to display the data in the way you need it to look. Searching can be integrated within the output templates.

Considerations before you begin:

Do you need any of these people to be able to log into the system? If so you need the content class to include the 'user' datatype.

Are they already listed in an LDAP database (MS Exchange or similar)? eZ allows integration with LDAP, but I'm not experienced with getting it to work.

Do you have a lot - say, over 50 - entries to add? If so you should investigate some sort of CSV/XML data importing. If you have a very large number you may want to check out eZfind, the 'industrial' search extension - but be aware it requires quite a bit more setting up than straight eZ Publish.

A bit of planning, and a bit of testing with sample data, can save you a lot of time later.

Paul Bolger

Thursday 06 January 2011 2:38:23 am

My feeling is that you should have another go at getting the LDAP integration to work.

The big problem for intranet type 'solutions' is getting people involved - if it involves another sign-in they'll just move on to something else, something more relevant to 'real work', even if using the intranet would improve their overall efficiency.

- And, if you get it to work properly it'll save a lot of maintenance time in the future.

Paul Bolger