This morning, I’m reminded that the weakest link of a multi-publisher Web site is… people.
I’m restoring a site because another publisher accidentally overwrote the site’s Home Page, which orphaned the entire site. Of course, this happens when all your main pages for subfolders are named the same (typically index.html or default.htm) and the publisher uses an FTP client to upload files, which requires the publisher to pick the correct location for publishing.
It’s not the first time that’s happened, or that a publisher deleted too much stuff, or that one decided to get creative using MS Paint. I coordinate the efforts of about 30 publishers, so it probably won’t be the last time it happens, either.
Yeah, you can use user accounts, templates and CMS systems to restrict users’ access, and to an extent that works. But in my experience, every system has flaws — and people seem to find them. Even if they’re not trying… So, use the technology where you can to limit risk that someone will muck something up.
But the word of the day is: training matters. And backups don’t hurt either…