Back again, for a small update before I try to stop procrastinating on the computer.
During the weekend, I was kind of dead in posting here because I was working on my Content Management Script called Xcms. Written in PHP, Xcms would be a very simplistic but powerful CMS based on the following ideas:
- Content is separated from presentation.
- Content is stored in a DBMS.
- Every page can be fully templated.
- Since the script just takes care of information input and output, the presentation can be totally controlled by the user. (Kind of similar to above)
- Easily usable. Simple markup.
- Small, fast….secure.
- Something else goes here.
Basically, Xcms would take the ease and flexibility of a Wiki, revise the linking structure, create an organization scheme, and add a user login system.
Why am I doing this? Take any of those big name CMS solutions out there today…like PHPNuke, Mambo, and phpWebsite and try to use those on a site might normally be based on a collection of HTML pages. It’s ugly. All of these scripts are extremely bloated in features, and are very difficult to customize (the difficulty lying in getting rid of a lot of uneccessary features). Why can’t there be something as easy as a Wiki or a blogging system (like Wordpress) rolled up into a basic CMS script? Many people are talking about using Wordpress as a CMS…in fact, I’m kind of doing that with this site. However, Wordpress is not meant for creating a web site.
So, I made a bit of progress in the script again. Now, I’m using CVS to control my source, and I got rid of the hooks on to phpBB’s template libraries in order to use a better solution: Smarty. My only gripe with Smarty is the filesize. I want a small script–Smarty is over 100Kb.
Today, I’ve been looking up more information on Neural Networks. I plan to conduct some research in Neural Networks over the summer, either independently or at a university. My brain is in a bit of a whril right now.
Recently Read: Lone Wolf and Cub Manga Vols 1-4.
2 Comments
I noticed your mention of phpWebSite and I wanted to add: that phpwebsite has been designed with the non-technical user in mind and even though it has more features than a typical blog, it is easy for the user to “turn off” in the “control panel” any and all unwanted features.
Because this is still in beta, and because it is supported as an Open Source, University-based product, this project is “cutting edge” and holds promise for those users who want an easily-customizable CMS.
phpWebSite Manual is one volunteer’s effort in providing support for this emerging Open Source community.
Just my 2 cents,
Robb Doyle
a satisfied phpWebSite user
Hi Robb,
I’m kind of surprised that I’m getting outside visitors to this site, but thanks for posting a comment.
I recently set up phpWebsite on this server to just give the script a whril (after I posted my rant above). Admittingly, I see your point about it being “easy for the user to “turn offâ€? in the “control panelâ€? any and all unwanted features.” I thought that was something nice about the script. Also, I see how the script could be easily customized through the selectable themes although it would take some time to create a new theme and hack it to one’s satisfication (which is the approach of other scripts such as phpBB).
Now, I can’t give a good opinion about phpWebsite since I’m not well informed about the script. However, from my quick experience, I see disadvantages in its linking structure. Creating a simple page called Test, the link to that page is:
…/phpwebsite/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=2&MMN_position=2:2
The url does not seem to have any relevance to the page I am viewing. MMN_position looks cryptic. Also, when I am creating pages in phpWebsite and I want to link to other pages that I have already created, is there an easy way to do that? Or must I find the page and copy its url in the form that I have posted above?
While phpWebsite is a very powerful script, and in the right hands, fantastic web sites can be created, the script (in my opinion) does not make it any easier for an average user with an average web site to create and organize new pages (*in comparison to creating static html pages and uploading them).
In contrast, a wiki or even wordpress, facilitates the process of creating content to the point that I could learn how to use the script in less than 5 minutes. Also, the urls of wikis and most blogging scripts are logical. Any article on wikipedia.com can be access with a WikiWord that appends to the url. This current page has the permanent link:
http://mikexstudios.tenchiintokyo.org/archives/2004/05/24/xcms-and-neural-networks
which states exactly what the page will be about.
Thanks for posting. I apologize for any errors in my description of phpWebSite. I should take a look at the script more closely.
Quick Edit: I see that you are a pretty active member in the phpWebSite community. I’m honored to have you here.