Plz help me chose weblogware

torpedo · 2006-01-08 13:51:27

I have read quite a deal about blogware reasent days. …but reading isn’t allways knowing. My future weblog will probably have this characteristics: …I write daily so it will be used.

much txt. few or no images
many long (~1 full page) articles of (hopingly) long term interest
search and index is vital
reader comments
some news and short term debate

Please help me understand this. …here comparing primarily Wordpress, b2evolution, Textpattern and SPIP (links below). All free.

1. A rather serious review stated that Textpattern make it easier to cathegorise text compared to WordPress. Why is that (correct?) ?

2. Is there any problem with bugs, upkeeping and /or installing any of thiese applications?

3. How many mySQL-db’s is nesessary to get full blogware power?

4. Which is the “strong side” (or weakneses) in this software
http://textpattern.com/
http://wordpress.org/
http://b2evolution.net/
http://www.spip.net/en

5. Is there any other tool that should be regarded according to my needs (above) ?

6. Is the comments function in thiese applications good enough, or is it better to install some free php-forum?

7. Where is the magical limit where the choice should fall on generic site tools as Drupal?

/m

Jeremie · 2006-01-08 13:58:40

Forget SPIP, it’s not web standards compliant.

torpedo · 2006-01-08 14:06:15

Is it likely that SPIP will impove?

Any comments on other Q’s?

Jeremie · 2006-01-08 14:24:36

Not likely. The core dev are anti standards (don’t ask me why, I still don’t understand it.).

I don’t not b2. I know and like and use TXP, quite nice. WP has a huge reputation, but I don’t like its community so I didn’t test it extensively.

TXP can do the job with you thought.

lokimann · 2006-01-09 02:28:07

Check these guys out.

http://www.opensourcecms.com/index.php

They have fully functional installations of most of the blog systems (and gallery systems) that you can administer . These aren’t demos, they are real installs that you can play with. They refresh the systems every 2 hours.

Have fun,
Jeremy

marknumberm · 2006-01-09 03:52:05

Well, most of us are here because we like textpattern. I have worked with WordPress as well, though, and I would say that txp’s biggest advantages are that 1) it’s easier to customize and use as a not strictly blog cms and 2) the community is better.

Some advantages of WordPress are that 1) you can assign individual articles to as many categories as you like without any plugin, 2) WordPress has trackback built in (though some don’t think of that as an advantage.)

In answer to your number 3, you only need one db for either WP or Txp.

I would say that txp’s commenting functionality is generally better b/c the preview function does a good job keeping out spam. It’s also more customizable.

torpedo · 2006-01-09 10:38:31

To Lokimann: No offence, but I hate that “…you can play with”. I like to produce txt and thoughts, not “play pc”.

To Marknumberm: Is it possible to point out any “best area” for WP and TxP ?

Does TxP produce blogs that can be seen in all browsers?

Is TxP developing right now? I think that the best blogware choice also must be somthing to grow with… A plattform that stay compatible and can let the weblog evolve.

TNT · 2006-01-09 11:54:15

To torpedo:

1. no offense, but Lokimann meant that you could try both CMS’s at that site. It means that you can experience the usability of both systems, without having to install it yourself on your own server.

2. I understand your questions, but maybe you should just surf around the Txp-site (.com, .net, .org). There you will get a good glimpse of how Txp is developing and what the possibilities are (at least I did). In the end, the choice for a CMS is highly subjective. I chose Txp, because it felt like the right CMS for me. Like Jeremie says, Txp can do all the things you want. But the same goes for Wordpress.

Bottom-line: the question is not functionality, the question is how comfortable you will be using Txp (community, semantics). For me, Txp was a (far) better choice than WP. For you, it could be different.

Sencer · 2006-01-09 12:03:00

To Lokimann: No offence, but I hate that “…you can play with”. I like to produce txt and thoughts, not “play pc”.

Please tone down your responses. If you want to make an informed decision, there is no way around either making your own experiences or contracting/hiring someone to spend the (at least) tens of hours involved in doing such a comparison. There was an article on sitepoint.com (where IIRC authors are actually being paid) that tried comparing a handful of weblog-packages, that by the time it appeared was outdated, and where some people stated that it supposedly had “inaccuracies” w.r.t to some software. Doing a fair comparison is very hard. In reality choices often come down to sympathy, which is as subjective as it can get. Hence the advice from Lokimann is the best advice you can get – don’t hate it.

From the necessities you mentioned, I believe most of your available software-choices will offer the functionality you need to create your site.
If you take the time it takes to learn how to use textpattern, I believe it will be easier to accomplish your goals, and easier to maintain afterwards (i.e. maintenance updates of the software etc.).

Does TxP produce blogs that can be seen in all browsers?

This is a very odd question. Textpattern is a server-side software. It generates the outputted html-pages according to how you template it. It’s up the person doing the site and design whether the site “appears in all browsers”. Textpattern will not get in the way and it helps you (with forms and pages) to achieve a consistent look across the whole site with little tweaking necessary when you want to make changes after the fact. And yes, textpattern also gives you the freedom to shoot in your foot, if you so desire.

Is TxP developing right now? I think that the best blogware choice also must be somthing to grow with… A plattform that stay compatible and can let the weblog evolve.

Yes, it is. We have an open (for reading) development repository, where everybody interested in following development can check out the latest developments (see the Textbook Manual for more info).
We are currently developing on two branches, one is the stable 4.0.x release line (current release 4.0.3), which is mostly reserved for bugfixes and backwards-compatible improvements (like the comment-plugin API in 4.0.3); and an alternative branch (currently named crockery) which is going to be the next major release and will include several new features and improvements. When crockery is released a (well-tested) upgrade path for all content will be available – however an upgrade will be optional for existing sites, as we are planning to continue to maintain and support the 4.0.x line, even after the release of crockery.

alexandra · 2006-01-09 12:14:51

@torpedo did you ask the people of

http://wordpress.org/
http://b2evolution.net/

the same question as us here? if so, would you publish the links. I quite like to read their postings. Thanks.

Last edited by alexandra (2006-01-09 12:15:06)

torpedo · 2006-01-09 17:07:24

to TNT: I actually missinterpreted Lokimann as U noted. Observant, thanks for clearifying!
…otherwise I had missed that possibility at the mentioned site.

lokimann · 2006-01-09 17:28:19

No offense taken. Perhaps “play with” was a poor choice of words. Thanks for the clarification, TNT.
I hope that getting to experience the different systems will give you a good idea of what you will be comfortable using.

My vote is TXP!

hcgtv · 2006-01-09 17:32:35

torpedo,

The question of which dynamic site creation tool is better, is very hard one to answer.

I’m an admin on the opensourcecms site and I can tell you that not a day goes by where this type of question pops up and I try to steer the user towards their best choice.

It comes down to:
a) What kind of site do you plan on setting up.
b) What are your skill levels.
c) Where is it going to be hosted, what software is running on the server.

As far as creating a matrix of features, it’s very hard to keep updated. In other words it’s a moving target, you might of compared WP 1.5 but 2.0 just came out, etc.

All the Open Source tools available are a blessing to those that want to create their own sites. No tool is better, no tool is worse, they all have their niches they fill. Sure beats having to use Notepad ;)

-P- · 2006-01-09 18:09:41

<blockquote>hcgtv wrote:
It comes down to:
a) What kind of site do you plan on setting up.
b) What are your skill levels.
c) Where is it going to be hosted, what software is running on the server.
</blockquote>

Yes, I agree. This is what should be the starting point. And I speak here generally and just from my point of view. Nor I don´t know the skill levels for the thread starter.

But if were talking about the first visit to this wonderful geeky addictive journey of having a own homesite/weblog/whadever on the net I feel best way to start is to have a site from free service provider/ buy services. Once you get to know the system and become familiar with it (publishing content, customizing the layout etc.) then is a first time to consider about getting your own istallation.

What comes to what is the best weblogware, it is just like allready here noted. People here will most likely tell you that they prefer Textpattern. People @ Wordpress prefer Wordpres, Movable users like Movable etc.

There is no easy way out deciding what is the best. All of them most likely support publishing text based content, commenting etc. And if you want to stay up to date, upgrading of the system to improved versions is needed/recommended.
Which one is the best for you? Nobody than you can answer that, you have to test several different ones in order to know OR just bravely pick one and decide it is best for you since you chose it.

My own blog has been running on pLog, Nucleus, BLOG:CMS, B2, Wordpress, Movable Type and now with Textpattern. Not to mention those other about ten cms systems I´ve just tested.

But then again, I´m super picky and can´t make up my mind :D

Last edited by -P- (2006-01-09 18:14:08)

hcgtv · 2006-01-09 19:07:37

<blockquote>P wrote:

My own blog has been running on pLog, Nucleus, BLOG:CMS, B2, Wordpress, Movable Type and now with Textpattern. Not to mention those other about ten cms systems I´ve just tested.</blockquote>

About 4 years ago I setup an old Pentium machine with Linux and went through the download, install and test-out process for everything available. Back when I started, there wasn’t the amount of systems we have now, glad we have OSCMS now. A couple of years ago I settled on Nucleus CMS, it was simple, ran fast and I liked the templating system.

But I kept on trying out systems, old habits die hard. I now have a custom built home server running Debian and a laptop running WinXP with my own custom Apache, PHP and MySQL installs. Once Textpattern went stable, I tried it out, liked what I saw and I’m using it for any new sites I put up now.

So it’s a neverending process, the landscape is in constant flux, I wouldn’t want it any other way ;)

Textpattern CMS

Textpattern CMS support forum

#1 2006-01-08 13:51:27

Plz help me chose weblogware

#2 2006-01-08 13:58:40

Re: Plz help me chose weblogware

#3 2006-01-08 14:06:15

Re: Plz help me chose weblogware

#4 2006-01-08 14:24:36

Re: Plz help me chose weblogware

#5 2006-01-09 02:28:07

Re: Plz help me chose weblogware

#6 2006-01-09 03:52:05

Re: Plz help me chose weblogware

#7 2006-01-09 10:38:31

Re: Plz help me chose weblogware

#8 2006-01-09 11:54:15

Re: Plz help me chose weblogware

#9 2006-01-09 12:03:00

Re: Plz help me chose weblogware

#10 2006-01-09 12:14:51

Re: Plz help me chose weblogware

#11 2006-01-09 17:07:24

Re: Plz help me chose weblogware

#12 2006-01-09 17:28:19

Re: Plz help me chose weblogware

#13 2006-01-09 17:32:35

Re: Plz help me chose weblogware

#14 2006-01-09 18:09:41

Re: Plz help me chose weblogware

#15 2006-01-09 19:07:37

Re: Plz help me chose weblogware

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