Splash of Style...Macs, Photography, Design, and other Passions

Textpattern

I have started to research a new CMS or blogging for one of my other web sites (DisDatDesigns) and have taken a fresh look at Textpattern.

I installed Textpattern twice before (for two separate blogs), but did not upgrade from the pre-release version until recently. I updated to version 4.0.2 and it appears that there are lots of changes.

My Textpattern 4.0.2 Observations

Separate text files are no longer needed for separate site ’sections’ - when I upgraded, the diagnostics page informed me to delete the three sections files I had on the server. Originally, the .htaccess file would also need to be manually edited to reflect each section. I am assuming it will be much easier now to set up sections or areas of a web site.
I panicked when I tried to view my web site, and the page was blank. Found out that the admin preferences was in ‘testing’ mode, so after changing it to ‘live’ my web site was back. Found the answer in the Textpattern FAQ
Comment expiration has been added; this is something that I cannot seem to find in a WordPress plug-in. You can also update the comment expiration to prior articles. I love this option in Expression Engine. The only problem I see right now, is when comments are disabled for an entry, there is no text message stating comments are closed. This will be something I will research. It could just be because my original design coding is based on older install.
There is an option to set the default (output) coding to Textile, line breaks, or none. This will not affect prior articles, and the setting can be changed for any new (or old) article on that page’s advanced settings. For WordPress, it appears to be all or nothing. I haven’t found a way to set different output coding for each article.
On the Content>Articles tab, articles can be selected very easily and batch deleted. There is also an batch option to change section and status. This means it will be so simple to change a collection of articles to hidden. WordPress doesn’t offer this option.
Comments can also be batch processed in the same manner as articles. This is very convenient for deleting spammer comments. But I have heard Textpattern includes very powerful anti-spam features.
Textpattern offers tools to import articles from other blogging programs, like Movable Type, B2, Blogger, and WordPress. Hmm, I might be tempted to convert Splash of Style to Textpattern someday.
Just like WordPress, Textpattern also offers link management. I miss this feature in Expression Engine. Textpattern also offers file and image management.
A option I didn’t notice in the pre-release is sticky articles. I also like that you can hide articles. In WordPress, I believe there is a sticky plug in, and there are options to save an article as private.
To discourage spammer comments, there is an option to use nofollow on comment posts. At this point, I don’t see a need to go that far, but in the future I like knowing it is available.
In the pre-release version, I remember I was a little frustrated with code editability, or lack of it. That is something I will be working with over the next few days. Hopefully, the code is a little more accessible for easier editing.

Textpattern Resources:

Textpattern Home Page - http://textpattern.com
Textpattern Resources - http://textpattern.org/
Textbook Wiki - http://textpattern.net/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
Textpattern Forum - http://forum.textpattern.com/
TextDrive Weblog - http://weblog.textdrive.com/

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There are 4 comments

Hi Debbie,

I’m not aware of a WP plugin for comment expiration either.

But as to output code flexibility, there is a plugin for WP called TextControl: http://dev.wp-plugins.org/wiki/TextControl which I think may be what you’re looking for!

I completely agree: I’d love to have a batch action for deleting or status-chage in WP. Can’t understand for the life of me why it isn’t already there!

As to the ’sticky’ feature: yes, there is the plugin (adhesive by Owen Winkler) for WP … but it now needs to be updated for compat with the upcoming WP version 1.6. I would really like to see the sticky stauts incorporated right into the WP code, the way it is in TXP.

Overall - as a devoted fan and user of WP - I have to say that almost too much is handled via plugins, and plugin management becomes a huge chore. I’d love to see more core functionality as provided by plugins integrated into the WP code itself. But then, no doubt, some people will complain of bloat.
Comment by Britta on November 18th, 2005
Interesting to see your comments on TextPattern and the comparisons with Wordpress. I’m a WP aficionado but experimented with TP earlier this year, where I drafted up one site using it.

Haven’t got back to it yet, so this is useful stuff.

Thanks.
Comment by Miraz on November 18th, 2005
Britta, I remember there used to be a plug-in for WP comment expiration, but somehow it just went away.

Oh and TextControl looks very interesting. I will have to check it out.

I also am not fond of having to hunt down plug-ins. I like all the functionality to be built in. Call me lazy!
Comment by debbieT on November 18th, 2005
Miraz, thank you for your comments! I am checking into a few more CMSs as well, and hope to post more of my notes.
Comment by debbieT on November 18th, 2005