geeky tutorials, tips, guides and reviews
Are you searching for a way to train or teach others, but modern content management scripts have let you down? If that is the case, you might check out eFront. This script provides one of the most in-depth ways I have seen to share your knowledge with your employees, co-workers or students.
Modules in Drupal let you extend, build and customize the core functionality of this content management system powerhouse. Chances are if there is something you would like to do with Drupal, somebody out there has written an add-on for it. If not, it is pretty simple to dive in and write your own. Here are 5 of the most installed Drupal modules out there in the wild today.
Continue Reading →
For many, Joomla is the prefect content management system for their websites. It can help you keep track of and organize your communities photos, audio or video. So, with that said – what extensions out there are the most popular for this script that seems to do it all? I decided to take a look.
Here are the top ten most popular ways to extend Joomla and give it more power:
Tired of dealing with databases when setting up a content management system on your hosting account? Wish you had a simpler alternative, that didn’t seem so complex? You might want to try out GetSimple. This XML based CMS is loaded with all the features every website needs, and that is it. If you need a simple way to mange a small website, it might be the best alternative out there.
No Joomla is not a board game, and I can promise you it has nothing to do with Robin Williams. Joomla is, in fact, one of the most popular CMS (content management systems) out there today. If you need a website backend that can do a little ‘bit of everything, then Joomla is the script you are looking for.
If you are looking for a powerful content management system with tons of bells and whistles, Drupal might be in your future. Equipped with tons of great features, it makes for the perfect way to get a CMS powered website up and running.
Looking for a wiki script for your next great web site project?
As somebody who’s built one from the ground up – I can tell you picking the right script for the job, is not an easy task to do. With a surprising amount of flexibility and power, BoltWire might be one of the easiest to use wikis out there.
It takes the cake when it comes to mixing the strengths of various script categories together. Is it a CMS? Is it a wiki? It is a little ‘bit of both.
Looking for a new way to manage your web site? GetSimple is the newest content management system to get my attention, and I have to say – it does look impressive.
Probably the one feature that got my attention the most is it doesn’t use mySQL to store information, or any sort of database at all. It does it through the magical wonderment of XML.
We don’t use mySQL to store our information, but instead depend on the speed and accuracy of XML. By utilizing XML, we are able stay away from introducing an extra layer of slowness and complexity associated with connecting to a mySQL database. Because GetSimple was built specifically for the small-site market, we feel this is the absolutely best option for data storage.
What are the requirements?
Even the documentation is light for it, with only six pages telling you everything you might need to know about how to get running with GetSimple. Filed in as “looks interesting, but really need to play with it” GetSimple looks simple enough to use, and friendly enough for everybody to enjoy.
Looking for an easy way to make your web site more mobile-friendly? If you are using WordPress, then I would highly consider checking out the WPtouch plugin.
It will automatically transform your WordPress powered blog into an iPhone application-like experience when viewed from an iPhone, iPod or Android phone. All your standard WordPress features are there too – including tags, archive, search, photos and more. Along with some cool ajax work and effects, you will be one lean mean mobile browsing machine.
Now where many mobile devices show some web sites just fine, other web sites might need a lightweight version that would be more friendly to the mobile web browsers out there. That is who and where this plugin for WordPress is aimed at.
You can pick up the WPtouch plugin at bravenewcode.com.
Looking to setup a new wiki, but don’t know which script you should pick up to do the dirty work? Many might say that MediaWiki is the best and the most popular, since it is what is used to run Wikipedia. However, there are some great alternative wiki scripts you might have (or might not have) even seen before.
DokuWiki – Aimed at creating documentation of any kind, DokuWiki is a standards compliant wiki with more than a few nice features. It has anti-spam controls, all the basic editing features, supports over 30 languages and has built in page caching for quicker page rendering. It also features a number of plugins and themes to try too.
BoltWire – A small and easy to use alternative wiki script, Boltwire is still able to deliver with surprising flexibility. The neat thing here is that it has database-like storage and retrieval of form input values. But no database! You can also restore a deleted page at any time, and customize ever site action from within the browser.
WikyBlog – So it is a blog and a wiki? Well I wouldn’t say it is both as much as it tries to fuse the best of both worlds. WikyBlog brings in the user friendly publishing characteristics of blogs, delivered with the easy to use wiki syntax. Designed with speed in mind, it is a groupware application that is a nice alternative to the more traditional wiki scripts out there.
WikkaWiki – I promise this wiki script has nothing to do with voodoo or magic. The WikkaWiki is a script that was forked from WakkaWiki. With speed, extendibility and security in mind, this wiki script deserves your attention. They are also working on better ways to integrate WikkaWiki into other content management systems like WordPress, SMF, phpBB and more.
PmWiki – Taking a different approach to content management, Pm wiki looks and acts like a normal web site. The only difference is that each page inside of the site has an “edit” link to make modification of the page easier. You can limit the editing to just one person, a team of people or the entire world. This script would be for people who want a web page, with some wiki-like features.
Which wiki script is your favorite? Is MediaWiki still the hands down winner to you? Would love to hear more about your own experiences with any of these top alternatives to MediaWiki.
Subscribe to our e-mail newsletter to receive updates.
Mitch Keeler is nothing more than your average Joe trying to leave his mark on the world though both his professional work and his online projects, articles, podcasts and more.
