There's a lot of information there in the functional requirements specification. There's also a lot more information and interpretation needed to be able to build it into an application, but the important thing is that we have captured a list of the features that the client expects to see in the final system. In this case I am both the client and the software developer.

For the impatient among us
If you can't wait the six months or so that it will take to finish this series of articles in order to see what the finished Content Management System can do, check out these links:

• Powergames is a sample site designed to show off the capabilities of the system at http://www.touchdown.com.au/powergames/html/document-2.html.

• Aushealth is another sample site designed to show off the capabilities of the system at http://www.touchdown.com.au/aushealth/html/document-2.html.

• For a first look by Gartner Group at the finished Content Management System, visit http://www.touchdown.com.au/pdf/sitegarden.pdf.

• Touchdown Systems Design is a good place to visit at http://www.touchdown.com.au.

Coming up next
This month we covered the functional requirements specification for the content administration system. Next month we'll cover the functional requirements specification for the XML API. Soon, we'll also cover the functional requirements specification for the "content display" portion of the Content Management System. We'll also start to delve into the conceptual logic framework for the application. Excited? You will be.

Credits for this month go to Greg Patten for inspiring me to build my applications with Web browser based interfaces. Credit also goes to the software development team who worked with me on the development of the Content Management System: Chris, Anton, Simeon, Ben, Rod, and Brad. Awesome work, guys.

David Gewirtz is the author of How To Save Jobs and Where Have All The Emails Gone? For more than 20 years, he has analyzed current, historical, and emerging issues relating to technology, competitiveness, and policy. David is the Editor-in-Chief of the ZATZ magazines, is the Cyberterrorism Advisor for the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals, and is a member of the instructional faculty at the University of California, Berkeley extension. He can be reached at david@zatz.com and you can follow him at http://www.twitter.com/DavidGewirtz.