Is this for a commerical application? The documents module is very powerful - Anthony Glenwright has done a fantastic job of taking it to the next level when it comes to managing documents. I've used it in several instances and now that most if not all the 'file download' permissions problems have been rectified, I can focus on the documentation of it in a more succint and user friendly way.
Are these a mix of documents? PDF's and DOCs? Are there permission issues that need to be considered? Are there several editors/uploaders?
The documents module is great for displaying a list of the items, allow sorting, size, type, upload date and doc type, but is this all you need?
Is it just the cateory listing that makes you consider the repository module over the documents module? There are ways you can work with different modules to get to to where you want to go.
On another approach,I have personally used articles module from http://www.ventrian.com - I've built out 4 intranets using this module and it's been very one of the best approaches I've used. It's ability to manipulate how it's displayed and managed from a single location is great. But the ability to display a list of articles/documents on other pages and filter through the categories is what really appealed to me.
I've used the respository module but feel it's not really a 'commerical' option. There are nuances with it that stopped me from using it all together in a 'real business' instance. However, I hear there is a completely new build coming out - so if you went down that path you'd want to make sure it was upgradeable.. I've found in the past the some of these modules are not upgradable and for good reason.. they have had significant improvements and changes that stop it from being 'upgradeable' and I think that's perfectly fine but a consideration if you are using this commercially or with a high number of items that might need to be put in again. (and this is only my assumption based on the UDT and Forums module which have had this occur)
I suppose you need to be able to 'fine tune' your requirements and go for that 'pros and cons' list - like I do when things are close, but I have to say - in a commercial environment - the documents module wins hands down over the repository module in how it renders on the page, it's standardised download look and feel and the fact it is a true 'documents module' - not just having a multi purpose function as the repository module. The resposity module does that job very well too, just in a different space and I wouldn't ever put it into a commercial site for my clients but have put it into the more 'community and hobby' based sites where it does very well.
But maybe I'm biased too :-D - You could post the same question in the repository forum and get a totally different answer from different users.
I hope this gives you more to think about.
Nina Meiers
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