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#1 2011-06-10 10:30:51
- Biofobico
- New Member
- Registered: 2011-06-10
- Posts: 8
Why Textpattern
The title says it all.
Why choose Textpattern over some other systems like Wordpress, ModX, CMS Made Simple, etc?
Im not a php ninja or a programmer type of guy for that matter. My skills are strong CSS/HTML knowledge, but above all im a designer, and as a designer i like to code my designs the way i design them and not be limited to some sort of CMS design structure if that makes any sense.
I know i will get biased answers here, but i really hope i can extract something out of them.
Thanks all for your time.
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Re: Why Textpattern
The tag system is excellent, as is the support in these forums and directly from the devs.
I think of it as a good middle ground between wordpress at the low end (cue flame war) and drupal at the high end. Flexible enough to do want you want for a small to mid-size site but not too overly complex.
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Re: Why Textpattern
- do you program the code (at least the CSS), too, or do you normally work with a programmer for all those matters?
- what do you like about other CMS supporting your way of designing/coding the design?
Last edited by jayrope (2011-06-10 11:30:45)
A hole turned upside down is a dome, when there’s also gravity.
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#4 2011-06-10 13:03:58
- Biofobico
- New Member
- Registered: 2011-06-10
- Posts: 8
Re: Why Textpattern
jayrope wrote:
Biofobico, when you design
- do you program the code (at least the CSS), too, or do you normally work with a programmer for all those matters?
- what do you like about other CMS supporting your way of designing/coding the design?
1. I code all my designs.
2. I didn’t really use any of them on real projects. I just grabbed one of my designs and tried to convert them into those systems.
MoDX i assume it’s similar to Textpattern with its own template system “language” and the forums there all a plus to get some issues answered.
Wordpress is a pain for me because the template system its contra-productive (for me at least) and having php messed with jquery and html its not eye friendly. The worpress codex is a goor resource, but i feel that the documentation, isn’t updated when the system is.
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#5 2011-06-10 13:15:49
- Algaris
- Member
- From: England
- Registered: 2006-01-27
- Posts: 535
Re: Why Textpattern
From what you’ve said I think you’ll love Textpatterns tag system. It allows you to achieve dynamic PHP like effects without having to use any PHP or javascript (unless you want to of course). The tag system is very much like XHTML so if you know that you should feel fairly at home with it.
http://textpattern.net/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Tag_Reference
A good place to start are these articles:
http://wion.com/articles/understanding-textpattern-building-blocks
http://wion.com/articles/textpattern-building-block-mechanics
Also I can say first hand the Devs, plug-in devs and community as a whole is very friendly and extremely helpful.
Last edited by Algaris (2011-06-10 13:18:48)
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Re: Why Textpattern
The good thing about Textpattern’s tag system is that it is very HTML/XML-like in nature. So if you already hand code a site but don’t really want to write with underlying php then it’s a very good fit and pretty logical to learn.
It does not have the initial wow factor on first install like, say, wordpress because it comes with a very basic unmodern theme, but coders that choose textpattern are going to use their own bespoke design anyway or at the very least choose an existing theme and modify.
You’ll want to keep the Textbook tag reference close to hand at first too – I personally use Coda for writing code so it’s integrated right into the IDE anyway as a downloadable book.
Last edited by philwareham (2011-06-10 13:26:57)
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Re: Why Textpattern
I’ve been playing around with WordPress pretty much since Matt released the first version. It is a a great system if you just want to set up a blog, pick out a theme, maybe add a widget or two and just go. I really can’t commend on the other CMS system because outside of these two and Movable Type, I have never done any work in them.
The reason I prefer Textpattern is that you can have as much control as you want but you don’t get end up a complex mass of PHP code to get it. Unless you are really thinking way outside the box, you won’t need any PHP at all. A lot of things that WordPress has added over the years like pages and post types, Textpattern has really done all along through Sections.
You don’t get the massive community that WordPress has but you do get a friendly and helpful forum, easy access to the developers, and a pretty stable codebase with some very powerful core features.
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#8 2011-06-10 14:43:25
- Biofobico
- New Member
- Registered: 2011-06-10
- Posts: 8
Re: Why Textpattern
philwareham wrote:
bq.
It does not have the initial wow factor on first install like, say, wordpress because it comes with a very basic unmodern theme
This is why i looked at Textpattern as a “minor” system. As a designer i eat with my eyes a lot and textpattern isn’t that appealing in this matter. Also when i ask around about the system, a lot of folks said that textpattern is outdated and the only ones using/caring for it are the elitist devs/users (not my words here).
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Re: Why Textpattern
Biofobico wrote:
… the only ones using/caring for it are the elitist devs/users (not my words here).
Join the elite.
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Re: Why Textpattern
Biofobico wrote:
a lot of folks said that textpattern is outdated and the only ones using/caring for it are the elitist devs/users (not my words here).
Elitist is such a funny word in English, but I am going to take that as a compliment.
philwareham wrote:
It does not have the initial wow factor on first install like, say, wordpress because it comes with a very basic unmodern theme
Actually, it depends on your definition of “unmodern”
As most of the stock pages’ code, this isn’t meant to be of utter beauty or a means to all ends, but rather as a live example of how one could take advantage of a few tags’ capabilities. – Robert Wetzlmayr
But you do have a point. In the early days of WordPress, so many people had no desire/how to change the default look so much that everyone on the Internet got sick of seeing Kubrick. Now you can change the theme in a couple of clicks. Just for fun, I have been working on a port of that into this. It still has a quite a bit of work to do, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to finish up and I am aiming for pretty much a simultaneous release.
I don’t know that the default template has to be the be-all end-all, but I actually do think something that really shows off what the templating system can do and would actively work as a teaching tool might be a good choice. My problem is that unlike Biofobico I have no ability at all to work from a blank canvas.
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Re: Why Textpattern
Wordpress, ModX, CMS Made Simple
Aimed at a different type of web publisher, too enterprisy for average sites, unaesthetic (respectively).
I have put all three of them in front of my clients, and I still maintain several ModX and CMSMS sites. They’re not terrible, but if you’ve ever rolled out ProcessWire, ModX’s resource tree looks comparatively like a giant pointless headache for the client. And CMSMS is just sloppy, once you start installing plugins with their own ideas of interface design. I spent much more time customizing CMSMS than I wanted to…
To say nothing of Joomla, Drupal, Pivot, SilverStripe, Concrete5, Frog, Wolf, and so on…
Now there’s some bias for you. :-)
This is why i looked at Textpattern as a “minor” system. As a designer i eat with my eyes a lot and textpattern isn’t that appealing in this matter.
“Minor” vs. “Major” is for CMS newbies, sorry. But it will cause serious regret. The default admin theme is incredibly easy to change — have you tried it?
Also when i ask around about the system, a lot of folks said that textpattern is outdated and the only ones using/caring for it are the elitist devs/users (not my words here).
Who cares what somebody else says? Software is a personal choice.
IMO if you are not looking for a “minor” system and you’re creating small-average websites, you’re probably making a mistake.
Last edited by maruchan (2011-06-10 16:13:55)
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Re: Why Textpattern
Hi
I create all my website design from scratch (phtotoshop) then convert it into XHTML/CSS then copy/past the code into Page and style tab on textpattern (upload also the images for the desired design) and finally insert textpattern tag to make all things work and the job is done!!!
I am not using other CMS because txp is my first entry into CMS world! and from that day i never found a reason to go elsewhere cause it feet all my needs and never found limitation that a plugin or some php code can handle!
I can say only one things! GIVE IT A TRY!!
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