I've built a couple production sites based on the AD content repository. It has been my experience that the 'CMS UI' is really a developer's and sys/dba administrator's interface, rather than something a client's daily production managers will use.
There is lots of extraneous detail that a production manager doesn't need. But a developer, when debugging his repository design, finds very convenient to have everything be in one place. An admin, when needing a quick, 'root' sort of access to the content repository, to correct something, or grant/revoke user privleges to the CR, also finds this interface useful.
Our solution for the production-level manager's needs (a limited, simplified set of steps regarding a specific few content types) has been to build a very lightweight framework (a 'wizard') that allows the person to move through each step. The ATS form-manager makes this something of a breeze, and it is still eminently customizable.
As for categorization, we've tried a couple options. One is to use the simple, flat 'keywords' functionality. The other thing you can do is define a "Category" content type. This works well -- you can use cr_item_rels to connect the categories, and the content items they taxonomize. As well, since they are content items, you can add extra attributes to them, so that you have a richly detailed category description.
It is hyperbole that the 4.x TCL content repository is so flawed. It has proven successful on both a multimedia content site (WGBH) and a very large ecommerce catalog site (Worldbank), and certainly other projects which I haven't been involved with. Of course the next version will be improved, but it's always better to get something written and functioning than waiting for perfect nirvana-code.
Regards
