Template (and other alternate) Suggestions for a Magazine Project

twohawks · 2009-01-01 20:48:45

Hi Folks,

I am looking at TextPattern for a new project and am seeking some suggestions for templates to try out, and/or possibly other CMS’s I might should be looking at.

The Project is for adding a Magazine to an existing “school” website. (I realize I will need to reconstruct the website for integration, but hopefully I can make short work of it for whatrever CMS I choose…)

The Magazine will consist of:

articles by various authors
potential to include embedded pics, audio, or even a movie, maybe a small gallery for some articles
articles will be made downloadable in PDF format, with their accompanying audio/video addended media
there will really be no blogging or commenting, however, contrary to the administrators thinking now, I suspect later she may wish to allow authors to call upon other teachers for comments…
probably want to setup subscription emails
and I think later she’s going to need a private subscription area for access to materials not made available to the public, but to private subscribers.

I am looking at a number of CMS’s out there (what a pita, eh?). I have only deployed one so far (that would be Wordpress, not really a cms, but you know that already) and I cannot say as I really like it. Well, its okay for that client, but without a doubt I wouldn’t want to use it for a project description such as this one – its just seems a bit too limited and not well suited.

Although TXP may also have some limitations, I am compelled by seeing the features present in the TXPQ.com magazine, and then some of the other templates I looked at, collectively indicating the feasibility of supporting a project such as ours.

(As an aside it may help to know that I am a seasoned developer – older person who’s been in the game since the internet was practically only graduating from BBS’s in MIT, Palo Alto, and Berkeley [et al]. I have more than sufficient skills for x/dhtml, xml, php, database programming, advanced css, etc. scripting and coding – so I am comfortable building and hacking away to suit my needs. Put another way, lets just say that I am good enough to asked the stupidest questions without caring what anyone else thinks, ie., the eternal explorer who knows a bit, but doesn’t ever presume to know too much ;^)

QUESTIONS:

1) One of the concerns I have… I was hoping to use a CMS that utilizes more of a flat file system in tandem with an SQL database rather than something that stores all its data (pages and media) in the database itself. I know its a personal choice amoung dev’s; this is sort of a deal breaker for me personally. I read in some obscure places that TXP stores most materials in the database, but those are older articles, and there seemed to be one indication this may have shifted, but I didn’t really find an answer on the site here ….can someone please speak to this a little bit?

2) Considering your experience with ~similar needs (mag project and database storage considerations), what other CMS’s might you recommend looking at for this sort of project?

3) Assuming I test out TXP… considering (your experiences with) this sort of project, which of the listed templates might you recommend we try out? Although I did not look through them all, a quick gander suggests they each seem to support various unique features, i.e., not all support the same features (on the face of it anyway).

I really appreciate your considerations and feedback.
Cheers,

jsoo · 2009-01-02 00:45:02

I read in some obscure places that TXP stores most materials in the database, but those are older articles, and there seemed to be one indication this may have shifted

TXP indeed stores most things in the database, including article bodies and page templates. Image files are in an external directory, but are renamed “1.jpg” etc, then managed through the admin interface with whatever more usable names you want to assign them. CSS is in the database by default but is easy to keep externally. Javascript is not really integrated so that’s external. Downloads (PDFs etc) are managed through the database but live in a directory and keep their original names. Audio/video not really integrated.

Can’t really answer your other questions.

Bloke · 2009-01-02 08:55:54

twohawks wrote:

The Project is for adding a Magazine to an existing “school” website.

Hi twohawks. Magazine style sites are definitely possible in TXP and pretty easy to manage. The multi-users-working-on-articles approach works quite well and there are plenty of tools to help. You’ll be relying on some plugins for this to work for sure, but that’s the beauty of Textpattern. Install and enable one file and you’re away. It’s a very flexible and quick way of trying stuff out. And since you’re familiar with HTML and CSS, the XML-style TXP tag syntax will be a cinch to work with.

As jsoo says, the database is the heart of the system with the files stored as peripheral items managed from within the interface. This can either be a blessing or a curse depending on your stance. I happen to love it because backup/restore is pretty simple.

There is an amazing versioning plugin out there by chriloi that allows you to manage your site as files and keeps your database in sync if you prefer to work that way. And I heartily recommend a plugin called rvm_css for keeping stylesheets as separate entities. Not only do your pages tend to load faster, you have the added bonus that the stylesheets are physical files while being managed from the TXP interface.

articles by various authors

TXP can do this by default and there are plenty of plugins to enhance the functionality depending on your needs. Out of the box you can flag articles as being in certain states (pending, for example) so others can approve, edit and publish them if that’s how you want to work. Or just give everyone the ability to publish their own stuff. Writing articles in Textile becomes second nature and it’s great.

potential to include embedded pics, audio, or even a movie, maybe a small gallery for some articles

Uploading files to the database is easy on a file-by-file basis, or requires a plugin for multi file uploads. Max file size is dependent on PHP settings. Large files will need to be uploaded separately (usually FTP) and added to the database from the Files tab of the interface, or stored on remote file sharing servers and accessed via a plugin.

Images, files and articles are separate entities in the interface but there are plugins to ease management that allow adding images and files directly from the Write tab. Galleries are fairly easy to set up and there a myriad solutions for that (usually plugins — take your pick).

articles will be made downloadable in PDF format, with their accompanying audio/video addended media

If you mean automatically, I don’t know of a plugin to do this (there is an old one called wan_pdf, though I don’t know its current status) or you can put one together easily enough in PHP.

may wish to allow authors to call upon other teachers for comments…

That’s cool, commenting works fine and the double-entry thing (preview then submit) means you won’t be spammed out of existence.

probably want to setup subscription emails

There’s a plugin for this (Postmaster) which works quite well. I’ve not tried the latest version.

and I think later she’s going to need a private subscription area for access to materials not made available to the public, but to private subscribers.

Using one or two plugins — mem_self_register and/or ign_password_protect — you can offer this functionality easily so users can self-subscribe to areas if you wish to allow this. You then lock away segments of the site via the password protect plugin which is a very neat bit of kit.

I don’t have experience with other CMS’, aside from trying them out and loathing them. Joomla, WP, Drupal. Bleurgh, just seemed too clunky and over-engineered to me. In comparison, the sheer lightweight nakedness of Textpattern — combined with the ability to turn it into a complete workhorse via the easy-to-install plugins — won it a place in my heart.

which of the listed templates might you recommend we try out?

I’ve not tried templates. There is a plugin (hcg_templates) for easing their installation and management. You’re better off getting input from other people that have used them. But by far the best thing about TXP — in a sense — is that it doesn’t really have a template as such. By looking at welovetxp and Let’s See Yours, Then you can see the variety of sites that can be created is wider than simply choosing another default WP theme and making a few minor changes to the colours.

But as a basis to work from, the themes are supported and offer you a great baseline to begin building. Textgarden is a useful resource.

Hope that helps a little.

Last edited by Bloke (2009-01-02 08:57:44)

twohawks · 2009-01-04 23:00:24

Sorry folks.. got a little side-tracked..

Thank you for that clarity on materials storage methods, Jsoo. That really helps.
I have to admit a little trepidation considering the method, but then I will know better once I have chance to do more investigation and then try a couple things out.

@Bloke: wow, thanks so much for that thoughtfully meticulous, and very informative, response. Gives me a lot to work with. This is very helpful.

My progress is very slow right now, but as I inch forward, if I find things to add, I will do so in this thread.

Cheers,

mattmikulla · 2009-01-04 23:38:06

I am working on a magazine style site right now.

Textpattern is a really simple, flexible, and powerful cms that you can make do anything assuming you have html and css skills. Throw in whatever magic like jQuery and you’re rocking.

You have total control of what and how content is output or displayed and where. The key is understanding the textpattern syntax for templating in combination with html and css. Things are getting better all the time around here.

You might want to look at the tag list to see nuts and bolts. For some tutorials TXP Tips is great.

twohawks · 2009-01-05 05:54:12

Thanks, Matt!

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#1 2009-01-01 20:48:45

Template (and other alternate) Suggestions for a Magazine Project

#2 2009-01-02 00:45:02

Re: Template (and other alternate) Suggestions for a Magazine Project

#3 2009-01-02 08:55:54

Re: Template (and other alternate) Suggestions for a Magazine Project

#4 2009-01-04 23:00:24

Re: Template (and other alternate) Suggestions for a Magazine Project

#5 2009-01-04 23:38:06

Re: Template (and other alternate) Suggestions for a Magazine Project

#6 2009-01-05 05:54:12

Re: Template (and other alternate) Suggestions for a Magazine Project

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