>> <cfif IsDefined("article_id") and neq "not_present">
The second condition isn't defined properly, it should be more like
<cfif IsDefined("article_id") and article_id neq "not_present">
>> I need something that accounts for it either being completely absent OR
>> being defined as being blank
What do you mean by "blank"? Do you mean the value of "article_id" is
literally the string "not_present"
ie <cfset article_id = "not_present">
... or that it's value is an empty string
ie <cfset article_id = "">
