Following on from some posts here and there today about a blogging system for RW, I’ve now put together a nice little solution using Poster 2, and to add in an element of “CMS”, I’ve also used Repository in conjunction with Poster 2’ds Markdown file facility.
Basic demo: Blog | RepoBlog
I’ve used Uikit as it includes some really neat stacks and options that work really well with Poster 2, in particular the image stack.
The blog header image on the list page and in the post detail are the same image, even though they are different aspect ratios. The image is referenced just the once in the Markdown file used to create each post. This has been achieved by clever use of the Uikit image and cover stacks. There are quite a few other nice touches that wouldn’t have been available with other frameworks.
If you wanted to use another framework it wouldn’t be too hard to switch things around.
I made this primarily for use on a client site, but if there is a demand for it, I’ll make it available (for free) via the Template Repo site. Leave a message below if you’d like access to it.
Also… Anyone familiar with Poster 2 will know about the Markdown file feature. Jannis is going to make an online editor at some point, so these MD files can be created and edited online, so bringing a full CMS element to Poster. In the meantime though I’d be really interested in hearing from anyone who fancies working with me to create a DIY editor.
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What about the following:
- you create for your clients the website including blog, markdown folder based.
- you create for your customer a free GitHub repository, which will automatically sync with the markdown folder on the ftp server.
- the customer then uses an online markdown editor, which is able to edit the GitHub files.
- as soon as the online markdown editor saves the file, it will be pushed to GitHub automatically (including versioning), and from there on automatically to the ftp server.
Too complicated?
Nice idea, but for 99% of users… Too complex.
For the client I started this little project for I’m confident they will be fine with Repo, if they choose to use this new blog system, or as they are on a management contract with me I may do it for them. Or, they might use one of my older CMS blog solutions.
It’d be nice to come up with online editor solution for RepoBlog, and I will put some more time in looking for it at some point. But for now, I’m happy with how RepoBlog works in itself, so I’ll just tidy it up and make it available as a freebie on TR.
I think I’m pretty much finished with this now. I’ve added in a few layout options…
- Regular. As per the first version done yesterday.
- Sidebar. Where the page is split in two, with categories etc. in a sidebar.
- Header. My fav, and inspired by an option in Alloy for Foundry (which itself is inspired by other blog systems), where the header image becomes a full width banner once you click into a blog post detail.
I’ve had a few requests via PM for a copy of it, so at some point this week I’ll make it into a freebie on the Template repo site, then post a link.
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Hej I could use a copy for some different experiments I am doing in exactly this regard.
Kind Regards
Kent
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Final edits and tidying up done and moved to the Template Repo site.
Demo here
I’ll make it available for free download in the next few days.
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I really like the look of the rounded corners and shadows.
Ya, it’s a pretty generic look for blogs nowadays, but I like it too.
I’m going to get a play with the layouts later, going to try for something rather different. Won’t be making whatever I come up with freely available, it’s for my own/client use.
Question for you @Jannis … Feature item with Markdown files. Can the layout of the featured item be styled separately to the other posts?
Theos featured item thing is only available with Flexbox layout. From there on, you’re only able to give it another design with custom CSS.
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I am using Flexbox, but in all honesty I’ e never used featured item nor really understood the min fex width thing. I’ll chat with you about that in messaging at some point.
I’ve reworked the sidebar layout, looks much better now and offers a very different P2 layout option, not to mention some clever UIkit stuff to get the image heights to match content sections.
Gonna add in the Search stack then call it a day. I’ve already spent far too long playing with this!
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