8 Ways to Sunday

Some interesting insights on using WordPress as a general-purpose CMS.

(Props: Photo Matt)

The site is back in action after two days of down time. According to TextDrive support, someone was hammering my site with bogus traffic. The hits came from six different IP addresses and had no user-agent string (the part of an HTTP header that says what computer program is visiting the site).

I’m not sure who I might’ve pissed off enough to warrant a mini-DDOS attack. So far I’ve only been able to think of one possible culprit — a comment troll who may’ve been annoyed by my response to his claim that I’m a pathetic beggar for raising money for my mother’s health care.

Whoever the culprit, the site is back up for now. I expect to post further updates tomorrow.

After many moons in development, Textpattern is finally and officially “finished.” Debuting at version 4.0, it looks like a much more mature and feature-rich CMS than the one I tinkered around with about a year ago. TxP has sprouted a handful of new developers since going open-source, and its community now boasts a plugin repository, a wiki, and even a magazine.

I’ve been looking around for a Movable Type replacement to power my photoblog, and WordPress doesn’t quite fit the bill. Now that it’s all grown up, Textpattern might be just what I’m looking for. Once I can set aside some time, I’ll have to take it for another spin.

(Props: hicksdesign)

USC Annenberg’s Online Journalism Review just published a comparative review of popular weblog software. The article covers the most popular hosted services (think Blogger) and DIY web applications (like Movable Type). It also gives definitions of common blogging jargon and provides a handy comparison chart with a feature-by-feature run-down of the products.

If you’re just getting started with a weblog and considering your many options, or if you’re looking into changing platforms for your existing weblog, this is a good place to start for up-to-date and detailed information.

(Props: ProBlogger)

Updates

• 8/3/2005 @ 7:36 AM — Jay Allen of Six Apart has spotted a few errors in the comparison chart that accompanies the article.

Dr. Dave, author of the outstanding Spam Karma plugin for WordPress, has decided to create his own distribution of the open-source blog tool. Citing frustration with the handling of the development process by project leaders, he is independently distributing an altered version of WordPress with the next version of Spam Karma pre-installed.

Since WordPress is released under the open-source General Public License, Dr. Dave is completely within his rights to do this. Splitting off a separate version, or “fork,” of WordPress in this way has some serious drawbacks, however. The forked version won’t be officially supported in the WordPress forums, for one. Taking on the burden of support and maintenance for the fork may also consume so much of Dr. Dave’s time that he can’t further develop Spam Karma. On top of that, there’s the prospect of political turmoil and backlash within the WordPress user and developer communities.

That said, the prospect of a fork doesn’t bother me as much as the approach that was taken. Dr. Dave’s post announcing his intentions is snide — one might even say mean-spirited — in tone. Frankly, it all strikes me as a bit juvenile: “If you aren’t going to manage your open source project the way I like, then I’ll just take my marbles and go home!”

For my further thoughts on the fork and on the way it was handled, read my comment on Dr. Dave’s announcement.

Update

Posted 4/19/2004 @ 1:43 AM

Dr. Dave has posted a lengthy, and quite gracious and restrained, response to the concerns I expressed in my comment on his announcement. While I’m still a little uneasy about the direction he’s chosen to go, I do understand it better.

It’s important to clarify that based on his reply to me this is not a fork of WordPress. My impression is that the core WordPress files will remain relatively untouched, with the differences being mostly in the area of minor bug fixes and better Spam Karma integration. No word yet on whether SK2 will remain available for those who opt to use the official releases. My guess is that it will be, but installation may be more of a headache. See Dr. Dave’s comment, below, for further clarification on this issue.