Textpattern CMS

#1 2010-06-27 09:35:45

niccol

New Member

Registered: 2010-06-21

Posts: 9

General Questions

I installed textpattern a few days ago to have a look. I have developed sites previously with wordpress and drupal.

On first glance I really like the way textpattern works. But before going much further I’d like to ask a few questions:

1. How actively is textpattern developed. I see that the last post in the announcements is a year ago. I understand the development process and am not hassling. Limitted announcements can be because developers are doing nothing or because they are busy developing. Just wanted to get the forum opinion about this and the future of textpattern.

2. Is there an active ecommerce plugin? I see a couple of solutions but again they seem inactive and a bit incomplete. I am happy for the solution to be minimal because I really do not need bells and whistles but would look for something solid that I can modify to suit my own needs.

3. What else do I need to know? Any downsides?

I am a developer and have written mods for other open source projects so am not afraid of getting my hands dirty. Committing to first get familiar and then get expert with a new package is time consuming so I thought I’d ask the questions and see what replies I got.

Nick

#2 2010-06-27 09:55:19

Bloke

Developer

From: Leeds, UK

Registered: 2006-01-29

Posts: 11,942

Website GitHub

Re: General Questions

Hi Nick, and welcome.

How actively is textpattern developed.

Very. I’m one of the developers and I committed a change a few days ago. The lack of stuff in the announcements section is not a reflection of the development process (or lack thereof), it’s just that we’re doing stuff and don’t necessarily post that we’re doing it :-)

Please check the twitter feed (it’s at the top of the textpattern.com page), subscribe to the dev mailing list or monitor the Google code page for a more accurate reflection of what’s going on.

Is there an active ecommerce plugin?

The yab_shop plugin is the most complete one I am aware of. I know of a couple of side projects (I’m semi-involved in one of them) to develop this concept further so if you want the low down on this kind of thing, get in touch and I’ll see if I can connect you with the people who are looking at it.

What else do I need to know?

You need the Tag reference, the plugin repo (being redesigned right now) and imagination :-) With a side helping of we love txp for inspiration and txp tips for hints (along with this forum).

Any downsides?

It’ll fit most types of site you want to create, and there’s bucketloads of help on the wiki/forum/txptips for those tight spots. As a tool, it’s light, nimble and leans more towards site designers than bloggers, though it caters for both type of site. The ethos is to try and kep the core platform lightweight and flexible, putting particular emphasis on plugins for customisation.

It won’t make coffee for you, but you can always write a plugin <txp:nik_make_coffee /> to do so ;-)

Hope some of that helps and you enjoy your time with Textpattern.

Last edited by Bloke (2010-06-27 09:55:40)

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The smd plugin menagerie — for when you need one more gribble of power from Textpattern. Bleeding-edge code available on GitHub.

Txp Builders – finely-crafted code, design and Txp

#3 2010-06-27 10:37:00

niccol

New Member

Registered: 2010-06-21

Posts: 9

Re: General Questions

@Bloke

Thanks for that.

Yes, I am well aware of the ‘when when when’ mantra that appears on forums about open source projects (usually from people who don’t look at code at all let alone understand the complexities of developing and testing). I didn’t want to be one of the gripers but wanted to ask an open question – so thanks for the answer.

Yes, I had found yab_shop and will probably use it. Yes, there are aspects of it as it stands that I will be thinking of extending so its good to know that there is on-going work. I’ll ask first before diving in so as to avoid the awkward silences when I display my re-invented wheel :-)

Just a thought. You say, ‘The ethos is to try and kep the core platform lightweight and flexible, putting particular emphasis on plugins for customisation.’ Which I think is a great ethos. My only reserve about this is the example of the huge bloat of mods that drupal requires to actually do the job. In that case this ethos seems to have been taken to extremes and becomes tiresome for developers and really crazily difficult for non-programmers.

Thanks

#4 2010-06-27 10:58:11

jakob

Admin

From: Germany

Registered: 2005-01-20

Posts: 5,000

Website GitHub

Re: General Questions

I am a self-confessed txp evangelist and find it excellent for a variety of different kinds of sites but there are some things that are not so easy to achieve with txp out of the box and I think it’s only fair to mention them:

• unlimited sub-sections: you can use sections to divide information and categories to categorise information (also across sections) and with the help of some plugins you can add tagging functionality but you can’t get /long/urls/with/many/subsections. Most sites don’t need such deep hierarchies so it’s only rarely a problem.
• community-site functionality is a little limited out of the box. You can have multiple authors and with plugins you can give them more extensive profiles but more complex author functions (personal favourites lists, interrelationships, groups) and very granular edit/access rights for the backend are currently not possible without hacking. Hence things like forums or sites with subscriber functionality are easier to achieve with other software.
• you can search and filter by sections, categories and custom-fields (and tags with a plugin) but very complex searches and filtering according to multiple criteria simultaneously is limited using the standard functions. Again for most sites this is not an issue but for directory-type sites and the like with more complex multi-criteria search this is an issue. The plugins glz_custom_fields and smd_query can help here to a certain degree. Similarly complex article interrelationships require careful thought and preparation.

For most everything else txp is a nice tailorable platform that’s not as complex as drupal and not as dumbed-down as wp.

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TXP Builders – finely-crafted code, design and txp

#5 2010-06-27 12:00:57

Bloke

Developer

From: Leeds, UK

Registered: 2006-01-29

Posts: 11,942

Website GitHub

Re: General Questions

niccol wrote:

My only reserve about this is the example of the huge bloat of mods that drupal requires to actually do the job.

Yes, Drupal is an extreme example. I tried it for 10 minutes and ran away screaming.

If you look around the forums you’ll se that there are pet plugins that people always tend to install — zem_contact_reborn is a stock component of mine for sure, along with one or two others. But as TXP’s feature set becomes ever more powerful and flexible, there are fewer sites I find myself ‘having’ to have a certain plugin to achieve certain functionality. A lot of good ones have been rolled into the core, or something more general purpose has been implemented instead. At the other end of the scale, very complicated sites might require a lot of plugins or custom code. And that’s what we’re aiming for.

What we don’t want to end up with is a core that’s littered with features that 80% of people don’t use, or have very limited application outside basic page rendering. I’d far rather put a callback in the code and let plugin authors offer enhanced functionality — even for a seemingly ‘core-worthy’ feature such as inserting images from the Write tab — than try to put in something that’ll only benefit those users that make photo-heavy sites and 75% of others won’t use.

As jakob says, there are definitely things TXP lacks where other products are better suited — and some of those deficiencies may be addressed in the near future, or we may decide that it’s just better to let plugins take over. But it’s a balance and we have to work with what we have already, with an eye towards trends in web design, maintaining TXP’s stable reputation, meeting the needs of the existing user base and attracting people such as yourself to the platform. Any thoughts and methods to achive these goals are always considered.

Last edited by Bloke (2010-06-27 12:04:24)

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The smd plugin menagerie — for when you need one more gribble of power from Textpattern. Bleeding-edge code available on GitHub.

Txp Builders – finely-crafted code, design and Txp

#6 2010-06-27 13:41:48

niccol

New Member

Registered: 2010-06-21

Posts: 9

Re: General Questions

Thanks for taking the time to answer guys.

@Jakob Interesting and thanks for that. No product covers it all perfectly and often it is a case of picking the right tool for the job so you insights are taken on board with gratitude. So far those limitations are not major for my own business. Although forums are occasionally an issue.

@Bloke – Yup – it is a hard balance to find between core functionality and add-ons. You’ll never get it right for everyone. (But in future if you can remember that my particular demands are the most important then that will be greatly appreciated! Just joking) Having wrestled with Drupal I am a strong advocate of limiting add-ons and including stuff in core. Having wrestled with various ecommerce platforms I am a strong advocate of limiting core functionality and including stuff in add-ons. What can you do, eh?

Thanks again guys…