Websites using TXP being updated by clients - your opinion?

nabrown78 · 2009-01-28 21:10:18

Hey Bloke those look like some excellent plugins I wasn’t aware of – thank you so much!

This is the best forum ever.

masa · 2009-01-28 21:37:59

Bloke wrote:

For example, if a client really hates the way you have to jump between the Image and Article tabs to add an image to an article,…

Concerning the jumping between tabs, I have a tip to share:

I bookmark the most-used Textpattern tabs in a separate bookmark folder called for instance “XYZsite Editing”. I typically have “Write”, “Articles”, “Images” and “Categories” in there. Now in Firefow and Safari (not sure about IE Win) you can choose to “Open all in tabs” to open all of them simultaneously in a single browser window.

While not ideal, since it adds another layer of tabs, it’s much quicker to switch between them, and of course you can keep the article you’re working on open all the time while performing other tasks elsewhere – clients like it, too.

Last edited by masa (2009-01-28 21:43:38)

flamenco · 2009-01-28 21:42:19

nabrown78 wrote:

Hey Bloke those look like some excellent plugins I wasn’t aware of – thank you so much!

This is the best forum ever.

NA,
You’re right. This forum is clearly the best! You mean you don’t like Affront Page?

In the sites I make I end up with Tiny editor most of the time, and sometimes FCK. Tiny seems to satisfy most, as it’s more or less similar to the dreaded Microsoft Word, so if the TXP plugin for that is good, training should be quite easy if it’s needed at all.

Of course, when they get it they start making lots and lots of tables with it, and then start whining when the page not only looks horrid, but horrors, it doesn’t look like it did in the editor??!!! Oh, the humanity!!!

I’m going to try to stick with TXP. Though there’s some terminology and schemes to learn, I’m not finding anything stupid, and that’s saying something – I almost always do, even with my fave systems.

flamenco · 2009-01-30 04:58:14

As you all predicted, the light finally went on!!

The problem was simpler than I thought… I was trying to use the default template that comes with the system, and trying to shoehorn my content into it, and getting incomprehensible results. I wanted to understand how that template worked, which is great in principle. I was also reading the various tutorials.

Instead, I finally just stuck my template and CSS in there, and started banging away. Assign to a template here, generate a tag there, stick it in the template, bing bing bada bing. Within about 5 minutes I had the thing sort of working, and now I’m almost ready to publish my very simple site!

I figure that now I can figure out how forms work, custom fields, plugins, and all that crazy stuff at my leisure. Then I can make fancy sites. Then, as I like to do, I can eventually help out newbies.

This really illustrates how differently people learn and work.

I have to say, if not for all of your encouragement and ideas, I was very close to opting out. So this really shows the power of a good community. In fact, I think you may have saved me from trying to learn Drupal!!?!! (not that Drupal’s bad, it’s great, but definitely an ouch-worthy learning curve!).

I thank you all again!!!!!!

johnstephens · 2009-01-30 05:15:34

I’m glad we saved you from Drupal. ;) Drupal looks like a good option for sites that need to do every possible thing, but for most sites I think using Drupal is like using an Atom bomb to clean your room. I only tested Drupal for a short time though, and it could have un-evolved into something easier to deal with since then.

I like to remember what Barry Schwartz said: “There is a tradeoff between capability and usability. In prospect, capability seems way more important than usability. In practice the reverse is true.”

On the other hand, I’ve found TXP nimble enough, and extensible enough, to get a lot of jobs done, if you’re willing to be creative and inquisitive. But the developers don’t shove it down your throat— the core is very light and agile. I think that’s why Textpattern doesn’t require constant updates like WordPress and others.

Textpattern’s forms are sweet. They works like server-side includes. Put your discrete snippets of reusable code into forms, and use the <txp:output_form /> tag to bring them in wherever they are needed. Forms can contain dynamically generated content using Textpattern tags, or static content such as plain text.

Last edited by johnstephens (2009-01-30 05:16:56)

cnolle · 2009-01-30 22:56:49

My experience is mixed. I tend to use a variety of Textpattern, WordPress and Drupal for client work. In Textpattern, say a client wants to insert an image, it is straightforward for those of us who the system inside out, but for a client it looks weird when they see a bit of code in there. However, with a bit of training most of them have gotten used to it. I tend to switch between Textpattern for really heavy image based sites and WordPress for those less so and Drupal for those that are just, well, more complex. The slideshow options in WordPress are in my opinion simply not up to scratch, or at least I have never come across one that does what I want.

I suppose the learning curve for a client to use Textpattern successfully is slightly harder than say WordPress. One of the benefits of WordPress is the rather lovely admin interface and the TINYMCE editor, which also has its downfalls. It deletes HTML that it doesn’t like and if a client should copy and paste from Word all hell brakes loose. Out of the box WordPress is a bit more straightforward I suppose, but Textpattern is more capable and I find, more flexible.

However, most clients have gotten the hang of Textile quite quickly (sometimes to my surprise), but most of them come from Microsoft programs with shiny icons so even that can be a lot for them.

These are just some observations.

— Christian

Last edited by cnolle (2009-01-30 22:58:33)

flamenco · 2009-01-30 23:22:03

cnolle wrote:

My experience is mixed. I tend to use a variety of Textpattern, WordPress and Drupal for client work. In Textpattern, say a client wants to insert an image, it is straightforward for those of us who the system inside out, but for a client it looks weird when they see a bit of code in there. However, with a bit of training most of them have gotten used to it. I tend to switch between Textpattern for really heavy image based sites and WordPress for those less so and Drupal for those that are just, well, more complex. The slideshow options in WordPress are in my opinion simply not up to scratch, or at least I have never come across one that does what I want.

Christian,
Interesting points! As a plugin author, I assume that your coding skills are better than mine. Ability to rapidly make complex templates and solid features is usually my main concern, rather than an application framework. I’ve heard people touting Code Igniter and Cake as great app frameworks, as well as Ruby. I don’t know those at all.

Typically I’m using MODx for clients, which is absurdly easy for templating, has a decent community, middling documentation, solid number of plugins, and works pretty well for clients that may have some complex needs. One funny little drawback is that it’s a pain to build HTML forms with it, though I do it often, and it gives me some hours of pay. :) With Tiny in MODx, it’s fairly easy to insert/manage images, but it is true that it has a mind of its own. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to program an editor with so much Javascript and have it work in multiple browsers.

For “easier” clients, I tend to go with Wordpress, and to date I’ve squeaked by without giving any real training on it. It is handy having that auto-update stuff and thousands of plugins.

As I learn Textpattern, I’ll try to figure out where it will fit in my toolchest. I might just keep it for my own evil doings rather than for clients. I’m going to investigate the ecommerce angle, for instance – there’s a chapter in the book on that.

Most have a favorite system. I really don’t. I shop for CMS’s now and then. It keeps the brain well-stimulated. I still might give Drupal another try. ;)

Last edited by flamenco (2009-01-30 23:25:02)

babyben · 2009-02-02 18:59:26

lam_image_uploader is new to me, something that I could easily use right now!

Couple of great posts above.

Textpattern CMS

Textpattern CMS support forum

#13 2009-01-28 21:10:18

Re: Websites using TXP being updated by clients - your opinion?

#14 2009-01-28 21:37:59

Re: Websites using TXP being updated by clients - your opinion?

#15 2009-01-28 21:42:19

Re: Websites using TXP being updated by clients - your opinion?

#16 2009-01-30 04:58:14

Re: Websites using TXP being updated by clients - your opinion?

#17 2009-01-30 05:15:34

Re: Websites using TXP being updated by clients - your opinion?

#18 2009-01-30 22:56:49

Re: Websites using TXP being updated by clients - your opinion?

#19 2009-01-30 23:22:03

Re: Websites using TXP being updated by clients - your opinion?

#20 2009-02-02 18:59:26

Re: Websites using TXP being updated by clients - your opinion?

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