Platform and System
Hosting
Two hosts worth noting.
TextDrive
Wion is hosted by TextDrive, and will likely remain that way until TextDrive folds or I croak. As a happy VC-II member and owner of the Mixed Grill goodies (more accurately they have been merged into one powerful package), I have more domains, bandwidth, and storage capabilities than I know what I’ll ever do with (but I have some ideas).
For the rest of you, there’s certainly cheaper hosts with easier server-side administration (see next), but if you’re serious about Web publishing then TextDrive is the place to be. Don’t just take my word for it, have a look at TextDrive’s Hosting Features and Specifications to see for yourself.
Lunarpages
If TextDrive is more than you need (and it is for a lot of people) then I recommend Lunarpages a perfect host for anyone looking to own and operate their first Web site. it’s a cost effective solution with great support and their site administration features are easy to use.
Publishing System
The stuff under the hood.
Textpattern
This site is managed with Textpattern, arguably the best, free, open source content management sytem (CMS) available…and Textpattern Pro is on the horizon. Textpattern is ideal for those who already know a thing or two about standards development; it’s a clean canvas waiting for the limits of your abilities.
Plugins
As it is, Textpattern out-of-the-box is a marvel, but the Textpattern community produces some outstanding plugins that makes Textpattern untouchable in the open source CMS market.
Of course needed functionality is a very subjective thing, and I personally find some of the simplest plugins to be the most beneficial. For example, Ramanan Sivaranjan‘s rsx_plugins_list plugin simply produces a list of all the plugins a Textpattern site owner has installed; perfect for minutiae pages like this one.
The Plugin List
Following is the list of plugins I am currently using in wion.com:
- zem_contact 0.6 by Threshold State
- Flexible email contact/feedback form [active]
- ied_doArticle 0.2.1 by Yura Linnyk
- Amazingly simple, yet an incredibly useful plugin that allows you to add any piece of article anywhere by it's ID value and tag name. [active]
- rss_admin_show_adv_opts 0.2 by Rob Sable
- Automatically expand article advanced options. [active]
- zem_article_info 0.1 by Threshold State
- Word count and article link for article edit pages [active]
- rsx_plugins_list 1.0 by Ramanan Sivaranjan
- Display a list of plugins currently installed. [active]
- zem_prblock 0.1 by Threshold State
- Applies PR blocking to outgoing links, to reduce the incentive for comment spam [active]
- ajw_clean_feed 0.2 by Andrew Waer
- Extends Atom & RSS functionality to allow for /clean/feed/urls [active]
- rss_article_edit 0.1 by Rob Sable
- Add edit article links to your public site. [inactive]
- ied_plugin_composer 0.4 by Yura Linnyk
- Write and publish plugins easily [active]
- ied_hide_in_admin 0.1.6 by Yura Linnyk
- Hides fields in admin panel [inactive]
Production
Computer:
This site was orginally created with a Toshiba Satellite A70 Notebook running Windows XP. Hilarious, huh? The fan was like a jet engine, the keyboard like a trampoline, and there were ergonomic problems with ports and dials; but one thing for sure, the A70 was a thing of beauty for its time, with a deep-blue hood sporting a silver label, and a vivid screen that rendered everything beautifully.
Notice I write of the A70 in past tense. That is a story I have been meaning to tell, but for now let me just say Toshiba is retired. Since then I have been using a variety of laptops, not my own, until the arrival of my Apple MacBook Pro, which will then take pole position.
Code:
The PHP is all Team Textpattern, and the plugins are that of the respective developers, but the front-end development is all mine, originally hand-crafted with Notepad++ (and the Textpattern editor), but now TextMate since I’m MacBooked.
Graphics:
For the most part I have used Fireworks for all graphic work, but I’m giving overpriced graphic applications the finger and migrating to Gimp and Inkscape. I suggest you do to.
