Switching to TextPattern
April 15th, 2005
After weighing the pros and cons of all of the free CMS’ out there (Movable Type, TexPattern, WordPress amongst others), I have decided to move my v4 of this site to TextPattern. I’ll still try to stay up on the MT syntax, but I think I’ll also try to move future clients in need of a good CMS to TextPattern as well.
Some of the plugins for TextPattern look truly compelling, and I have been talking about switching for quite some time … well, thinking about it at least. The amount of rebuilding one has to do with TextPattern is noticeably lower as well. I also want to use Textile in my blog, and the MT implementation is a bit awkward.
Anywho, this transition will likely take quite some time, as I’m up to my neck in schoolwork and other projects right now. I’ve started the basic process of laying out the site in a more original manner, but I think it will be quite some time before I have the entire process done. I want to use this redesign as practice of how my workflow should progress. So, I’m doing this very formally, as if it’s for a client. Also, look for a flash-based portfolio site to move to DanielAndrews.com by the summer. I’m trying to separate the ‘wtmcgee’ thing from my business side, and it’s kind of hard when you use it as your business email.
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April 16th, 2005 at 2:12 pm
Just curious, what are the ways that MT isn’t meeting your needs? I’d love to give feedback to the MT team if there’s anything specific you think is missing.
April 16th, 2005 at 7:57 pm
Anil,
Thanks for checking in. Upon visiting your page, I realized who you are, and it’s very refreshing to see someone involved in a company take a personal interest in the happiness of their customers.
As far as the reason I’m switching - it’s really nothing against MT as it is for textpattern. I’ve been looking for a lightweight, open source replacement for MT for a while now, but wordpress didn’t match up in my opinion. So, with that said, I’ll just name some of the things I like about txp versus MT:
Easier syntax. I’ve been using MT for a while now, and while I’m no expert, I feel like I have a pretty good handle on a lot of the syntax to get what I want out of it. However, I’ve been looking for a simpler implementation of a CMS for some time now, and I feel txp is just that.
Uses mySQL. I wanted to use a CMS that used an actual database, versus the style MT uses. In the rare event of a system failure, it’s a lot easier to restore a database and a config file than it is to have the entire MT directory backed up.
Rebuilding. This is my main problem with Movable Type, and my assumption is that this directly relates to my above mention of the lack of a *true* database being used.
Again, I’m no expert so maybe MT offers some of the same things that txp does. But I’ve been looking for an open source cms that is a bit lighter for some time now, and with RC3 of textpattern on the horizon, I finally feel I should start making the switch. I really thank you for stopping by here … I’m quite surprised you found this post as quickly as you did, honestly!