BSDnexus.com

A new year brings with it new direction and new resolutions, and this year is no exception. For a long time I have endured a dissatisfaction, that of using another coders weblog software of various shapes, styles and guises. This of itself is not the issue since many people do this quite successfully. However, for me, as someone who codes with PHP, I feel writing a weblog is something of a milestone in PHP development and one I had never undertaken. 2010 is the year to change that!

Constant security fixes to mainstream blog software has discouraged me; Content Management Systems that are overkill with their default setups for my needs; the HORRENDOUS amounts of SPAM I have seen continuously grow - why was I bothering to put up with this?

Having heard much about CakePHP I began the break, ensuring I only employed the features and functionality I wanted and felt necessary. And so, here it is - the "slice of cake" blog. Its name pays homage to the underlying framework which has proved itself quite brilliantly. The included "bake" script even generates half the needed code as well as generic HTML views. Here's a list of what is already available:

• Blog posting
• Hidden future posts
• Comments
• User Management with roles
• Static pages
• Full RDBMS support (MySQL)
• A new themed template (easy to alter)
• A custom written CAPTCHA system
• W3C approved HTML and CSS
• Seperate CSS printing style

Forward facing, this CakePHP application is very stable and usable, but there is still much tidying to be done behind the scenes; but I am vested in it. This app will be a longterm project for me, regularly assessing its workings and adding new functionality where appropriate. I'm not convinced it would be worth a general release as it's probably easy enough to recreate in CakePHP, but I shall enjoy watching it evolve. My current thoughts are to include BBCode and Smilies.

Now, allow me to be honest - since this blog will be a process of code-evolution, it will invariably become broken at times, however, I will certainly be working flat out to ensure fixes are applied as fast as possible or that issues remain hidden from the forward facing frontends.

Having also recently begun the javascript journey, I will encompass some of that magic here where I see appropriate; though, let me stress now, I firmly believe javascript should enhance a website so my endevours will seek to ensure the site remains FULLY functional even if it's disabled.

If I sit and think about it, my blog functions because of the excellent extensive framework - with it doing most of the magic. However, seeing as it was I that employed the framework in the manor I chose, I feel it has given me a great sense of design control; perhaps in the same way as a builder doesn't care about how the wood and bricks are made for him, but it's his hands that take the materials and convert them into a building.

I would encourage anyone who works with PHP to write their own blog and certainly to investigate the CakePHP framework.