Forum Moderators: phranque
...BLOSXOM is Perl code written as when the world was young, and Perl code had something to prove...Now with the imminent arrival of BLOSXOM 2.0, the script has developed "look at me! I can put my whole fist in my mouth!" extensibility.
...it works - well enough to have spawned over fifty extensions to the basic app, from automatic smartquotes to trackbacks to debian package tags.
It's blogging if blogging was a shell command - right down to its unpronounceable name.
Need To Know's review of Blosxom [ntk.net]. (Man, NTK wrote some GREAT soundbites on that one!)
I've got beta 2 running, both in dynamic and static.
...and it's Perl! This feels like a SourceForge version of MoveableType.
Bingo!
Yeah, though I don't quite grasp exactly what's going on, they have set up the "flavours [raelity.org]" as ways of writing different output on the same pass through the data. So, it will write several versions of html (one for older browsers was their example) and rss at the same time.
<added>
I found a mention of one mission-critical piece for converting a blog into a poor-man's CMS:
Blosxom 2.0 beta 4 is out. The biggest change is a sort() hook, allowing you to override the default sort routine when it comes to rendering items on a page. I used this in the Blosxom Plug-in Registry, sorting by category (aka path) and plug-in name.
Correct me if I'm wrong. (Did I overlook it?)
I'm going to play with it.
Oh, and another plus is that you are not REQUIRED to sport a "Powered By Blosxom" logo. That's really nice.
That's exactly what I've been exploring, MB. I'm finding references to ports to PHP and Python that might handle that. See: [revjim.net...]
Here's one that sourceforge has for apache:
[mod-blosxom.sourceforge.net...]
Looking at that now?! I´m not amused, rc ;-)
Andreas
Do stick around, we might need some help with your creation.
I see you're going for "weapons-grade" blogging, RC.
Sure thing. Take a gander at the sort_by_path plug-in [http://www.raelity.org/apps/blosxom/plugins/sort/sort_by_path.individual] for example. I use it in the Blosxom Plug-in Registry itself.
Sure thing.
Not blogging, I see this as being malleable enough to be able to piece together a CMS system out of it. I'm particularly interested in being able to publish and maintain static pages across multiple domains on the same server. MoveableType is being reassembled for site management rather than blogging on some sites. I've already been told that it (MT) could handle multiple templates across multiple domains, but that's about as far as I've gotten with it. But, to tell the truth, if I can stay perl-based I'd rather do so.
Does that mean you can change templates, headers, footers, etc. on a category-by-catergory basis?
"Movable Type 2.0 and higher is free for personal or non-profit use; it is not free for commercial or for-profit sites."
-and-
Starting with version 2.2, there are two storage options for Movable Type: Berkeley DB or MySQL
MoveableType: If you represent a business or commercial entity, please be aware that you will also be required to pay the $150 commercial license.
I guess it's a personal choice. Is MT worth $150 to you? It could depend on who's using it, i.e. if they aren't computer saavy, the formatting options make it easy to use.
I'm looking forward to integrating Blosxom into an ezine I'm developing. I like the lightness, and the straightforwardness of it. This will be a test drive for me, and based on my experience I will decide whether or not to offer it to clients (for updating author & artist portfolios).
publish and maintain static pages across multiple domains on the same server
Cool idea.
I don't want to take the time to learn Bloxsom to make a knowledgable comparison but the $150 for MT might be worth it just for the ease of use and tested reliability.
To further confuse the issue, here's the best rundown on blog software I've seen. [microcontentnews.com...]
I guess that sums it up for me. Blosxom seems to be thinking like I do (that's scary), and I'm primarily looking for something that I can grasp the concept of how it works without having to understand the minute details why it works. Like I said, I think I glimps a CMS system in there somewhere --one that writes static code.
straightforwardness
Agreed. MT has a lot of features - and complexity - that probably aren't needed for your straightforward application.
Bingo!
I found an old listing of the features that the earlier Version 0+4i had. I know the plugins address many of these, but, to cut to the chase, which ones do you see Blosxom 2 not doing any time soon?
And, what is RSS aggregation, make your own newsreader?
multiple blogs = yes
team blog = yes
blog search = no
templates = yes
multiple templates = yes
remote templates = no
categories = no
post via browser = no
post via desktop = yes
post via email = no
one click posting = yes
Blogger API = no
MetaWeblog API = no
spell check = no
draft = yes
post to future = no
extended entries = no
excerpts = no
daily archiving = yes
weekly archiving = no
monthly archiving = yes
individual entry archiving = yes
archiving by category = no
archiving by author = no
calendar = no
automatic permalinks = yes
ping weblogs.com = no
email notification = no
email entry = no
RSS generation = yes
RSS aggregation = yes
visitor comments = no
IP banning = no
registration = no
member profiles = no
two-step registration = no
access levels = no
polls = no
karma voting = no
timezone offset = yes
international dates = no
Yes, with Lucene and Google Site Search plugins.
templates = yes
multiple templates = yes
remote templates = no
Now that the template() hook has been added, a plug-in can grab templates from wherever it pleases.
categories = no
Absolutely, yes. A category is simply a directory. And Blosxom has sub-, sub-sub-, sub-sub-sub-, ... categories.
post via browser = no
PHPetal [http://www.jackbaty.com/apps/phpetal/] is just one way.
post via desktop = yes
NetNewsWire, for example.
post via email = no
Blosxthis and Blosmail [http://blosxom.com/contributed.shtml] to name two.
one click posting = yes
Blogger API = no
There was an XML-RPC interface, but it seems to have gone missing.
MetaWeblog API = no
Same here.
spell check = no
Expect a plug-in.
draft = yes
post to future = no
Expect a plug-in.
extended entries = no
Yes, via the seemore plugin [http://www.raelity.org/apps/blosxom/plugins/display/seemore.individual]
excerpts = no
Yes, via the seemore and foreshoretened [http://www.raelity.org/apps/blosxom/plugins/text/foreshortened.individual] plugins
daily archiving = yes
weekly archiving = no
monthly archiving = yes
individual entry archiving = yes
archiving by category = no
Absolutely, yes. [raelity.org...] for example.
archiving by author = no
Expect an addition to the whoami and fauxami plugins.
calendar = no
Yes, via the calendar plugin [http://www.raelity.org/apps/blosxom/plugins/calendar/calendar.individual]
automatic permalinks = yes
ping weblogs.com = no
Yes, via the ping_weblogs_com plugin [http://www.raelity.org/apps/blosxom/plugins/notification/ping_weblogs_com.individual]
email notification = no
email entry = no
How's this differ from the above-mentioned blogging by mail?
RSS generation = yes
RSS aggregation = yes
visitor comments = no
Yes, comments and trackbacks in combination via the WriteBack plug-in [http://www.raelity.org/apps/blosxom/plugins/input/writeback.individual]
IP banning = no
Use Apache's httpd.conf or .htaccess.
registration = no
Working on a plug-in to be used by other plug-ins.
member profiles = no
Working on a plug-in.
two-step registration = no
Same plug-in.
access levels = no
?
polls = no
After the registration plugin ;-)
karma voting = no
Expect a plugin.
timezone offset = yes
international dates = no
date_translate plugin [http://www.raelity.org/apps/blosxom/plugins/date/date_translate.individual]
Blosxom just works. It's really a thing of beauty. I'm having trouble getting anything else done right now. I keep getting drawn back to fiddling around with it.
