Hi Everyone
I note there’s been some talk on the subject of cms alternatives and I thought it would be a good idea to find out peoples thoughts. If you haven’t been following the off topic thread started by Todd then you can find it in off topic: http://freewaytalk.net/thread/view/146246
Basically Todd was looking for something more polished, and I thought it would be good to know details of what everyone was looking for in a flat file CMS.
As you probably know I am doing a titanic visual change to the interface of WebYep plus a shed load of new functionality which has been funded by the kind donations from existing users (Thanks to all of them) but it would be good to know what others see as real visual and functional problems… It’s always good to hear peoples dislikes and frustrations and it will make it easier for me to think about what annoys people or what could be improved within WebYep.
Cheers for everyones time and candid thoughts… and yes even if you think its rubbish and you wouldn’t wish it on your worst enemy… that fine to as long as its constructive and I can get an idea of where people perceive the problems to be.
My polished comment was in reference to Pulse. Also, I’m looking for a WY alternative because it stopped working.
That being said WebYep does look dated, especially when compared to Unify which I think is a good example of an aesthetically pleasing, visually sharp, modern and useful UI in a lightweight app. Everything about Unify looks more professional. As do several of the examples Tim P. posted in the other thread.
I did see the WY mockup you posted here and I think it’s a great improvement. You’re moving in the right direction as far as I’m concerned. Thanks for all of your considerable work.
It is simply a pain and ever was. I can’t count the number of requests about tinyMCE and tinyBrowser (Text and Image). We need a click and play installing method.
Scriptaculous/Prototype
I can’t count the number of requests regarding “Lightbox” issues these days. JQuery is unfortunately the law and should be the preferred library as hard as it sounds.
The downside in general is, that people are more than often simply unable to create a proper basic page construction. As long they stupidly place items absolute, not one of the CMSes will play for them without pain and tears - independent of its polished skin and view.
I am (or was(will) a long and strong supporter of WebYep and I would like to keep it up as the “small” brother of a bigger solution. But I should see some beta (of the beta) these days to help you out for any further advices (needs) or even help. Cause currently I stopped to work with it and tell every requester that I wait for something new.
Meanwhile I developed an acceptable strategy for to use Freeway even with WordPress and I see some starting points between the “Heavy” and the “Light” CMS version.
Let me say it that way:
A modern WebYep should be one, that has the ability to work basically just on php (as it does) but should be extendable by a SQL (even light) later if there is the need for (functions, blog, new pages, navigation).
The extending with functions as if there would be no tomorrow is only an option if a user know what he does. I did it once and it took me so much time (the project still exists http://www.test.q-ring.de ).
I’ll support as much as I can - but regarding WY I need a very fundamental and base ground way to re-start as the small brother of WordPress perhaps.
Hi Thomas and Todd thanks for replying and yes I couldn’t agree more… WebYep was getting old in its looks and was in desperate need of a face lift.
Todd I would like to know a little bit more about the ‘it stopped working’ as I don’t know what that is ? cheers
The polished look of unify is what we are aiming for WebYep, so at least I hope thats a start in the right direction in terms of looks.
All the mockups have been converted into static html and most have now been integrated into the WebYep system… Thats took AGESSSSSSS!!! it was like a prison sentence with no parol!!! and I appreciate why Softpress haven’t upgraded freeways look that much… no joke it is a massive undertaking.
Thomas you will be glad to know that from the next release you will be able to choose which framework you want WebYep to use and WebYep will use that library.
The choice has been expanded to three. So if you want jQuery then WebYep will use that or Scripty if you prefer. On top of those two you will also be able to choose Mootools. You wont have to install anything.
The richtext editor is pre installed and working The preferred editor is now redactor with an image uploader pre configured so people won’t have to install editors. Although you will be able to use tinymce 4 and CKeditor if people wish.
The Longtext now has the mini menu installed and so has the gallery to style or add links within the textareas.
Date configuration is now done via the config file, so if you are in the US you can choose a different date layout (this is mainly used in the WebYep Comments action).
Lightboxs are pre installed and all will be consistent in there looks and of course if you choose one of the three libraries in the WebYep config action then that will trigger which Lightbox type will be needed.
Ok what I have had to dump: IE7 and below.
There was just to much modern css stuff that needs to be used and so I have had to forget about if WebYep looks ok in IE7 and below. it will probably function but it will look a bit of a mess. In IE8 certain subtleties wont be visible such as rounded corners. Although basically it looks similar. For people who must have WebYep working in IE7 then the old (1.7.3) WebYep system will need to be used.
Anyway it’s good to get some feedback from you both and if anyone else has any thoughts then let me know.
I contacted you once before about this problem and neither of us could figure it out. The client couldn’t log-in. It was working and then bam, it wasn’t. I upgraded him to 1.7.3 and was finally able to get the lock icon to open upon sign-in but the editable areas (controls) were still not visible. It’s as if he wasn’t signed-in. The host got involved and they couldn’t find anything wrong on their end either; no recent upgrade to PHP or the change to the server configuration. It got to be a waste of time and $ chasing false leads so it’s time for a change.
Todd
would like to know a little bit more about the ‘it stopped working’ as I don’t know what that is ?
Hi Todd I havent come across this before. If nothing changed, no artwork updates , no server upgrade, no php upgrade and the client didn’t do anything and finally the data folder on the server hadn’t been hacked then I don’t know what that is. I’ve never come across a site that just stopped working and everything was exactly the same as before.
Sorry I couldn’t help out.
Hi Daemon
I cant really tell when the next upgrade will be ready. It takes an enormous amount of time to do and this one isn’t just a small update, its a massive overhaul, but it is coming along and I will keep people posted.
All the best Max
Hi Todd
I just thought… did you download the complete site and tried running it through MAMP locally to see if you get the same problem.
If you did, then you could swop out the WebYep system for a new one and see if it unlocks and edits, if it doesn’t then its something in the html
You could also just create a new plain page with one webyep item in it and a lock to see if that unlocks and edits. If it does then I would add locks to every page and and see if every page has the same problem if they do, then I would look to see whats consistent on each of those pages.
Its the only way I can think of to narrow down the problem.
I did a very quick using one of your suggestions test and made some small progress. Currently the site uses a single login page for everything but when I put the login code on an individual page I’m able to login and see the editing controls. The problem is the editing controls are greyed-out; not clickable. Any ideas?
Hi todd if you copied the site locally and it works but not properly on the server then thats pointing to a server problem. I know you said that the server people said they hadn’t changed anything but if it worked before but not now then the big ugly finger of blame is starting to point at them and yes its sounds like a permissions problem. Can you email them and ask if you have full read & write permissions with no restrictions.
Up until 30 minutes ago I was in complete agreement with you but I was able to get things to work remotely. It seems the problem was a combination of cookies and caching. It took a lot of futzing about but it works, no server issues. Though it seems to be a very finicky balance when it comes to WebYep, browsers and cookies.
Max -
Do you have a tutorial for WebYep CMS? I need to add a CMS to my Freeway Pro site for a client to be able to update certain sections of the site.
I’ve been a long time fan of WebYep and just came across this thread. Just wondering if there was any progress on the updated version? I had a look at Unify and it is good looking. I know how WebYep works for me and I too would like to see the interface freshened up and of course integrated with the editor (something some people found difficult to add on to the the basic YebYep). I do like the “edit” panes in Unify -it looks a lot more user friendly. Hope you have some good news for us soon!
Hi trevor a lots happened since I wrote the original thread… basically the upgrade is done. The system has had a massive face lift and every edit window has been rewritten
styling is complete the redactor editor is permanently installed and light-boxes have been integrated. a new editor item has been added which allows you to add raw html
That is great news I am not seeing a thing on that link (Ipad) just a line of text!
Will look later on the IMac. Really looking forward to the New Web Yep - will it integrate into responsive sites with FW OK?
t5Oufo, it’s not a problem with the ipad. The video doesn’t start in Firefox. No problems with Safari or Chrome.
To see the video in Firefox, right-click on the center screen (below the line) and select View Video. Then select Open Video (with Firefox) or Save File (to your system).