[thelist] Allaire Spectra Inquiry

[Ray Hill]

I'm getting ready to implement a content management system for 
my company's Intranet and corporate site, and Allaire's Spectra 
is currently in the lead among the software packages I've found.

Before I take the plunge, though, I thought it might be wise to 
see if anyone on the list has used Spectra in the past, and how 
well it served their needs.  In particular, I'm wondering:

1) How long did it take you to set up the system, from opening 
the box to the site being ready for use (assuming the content 
already exists).  Was it a matter of days, weeks, or months?

2) Is ColdFusion knowledge required to use the base 
functionality of Spectra, or only if you want to expand 
upon it (I have not yet used ColdFusion, but will be 
teaching myself as I go)?

3) How much of the functionality is built in to the system, 
and how much of it do you have to build yourself using 
ColdFusion?

4) Overall, have you found the product to be worth the price 
tag, or did you eventually ditch it in favor of an alternative 
solution?  If the latter, what was that solution?


Thanks in advance for your input!

--ray