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Last post Author Topic: FlatPress blogging platform: flat text file stored, open source, freeware  (Read 28941 times)

Curt

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http://www.flatpress.org/home/
http://www.flatpress.org/home/blog.php
http://wiki.flatpress.org/
http://sourceforge.n.../projects/flatpress/

Blogging platform with no database required

FlatPress is a blogging platform that you can install and run on your own server or one that belongs to your ISP.  Unlike WordPress and some of the other industrial-strength systems, however, this one doesn´t require a database on the back end, since it stores all its data in plain old text files instead.

http://www.freedownl...no-database-required
-freedownloadaday

FlatPress is an open-source standard-compliant multi-lingual extensible blogging engine which does not require a DataBase Management System to work.

You don’t need MySQL because FlatPress stores all of its content on text files.

All you need is some web space supporting PHP4 (or later).

Features:

    * Standard-compliant (XHTML valid)
    * Plugin support
    * Widget system
    * Easy to customize with themes (powered by Smarty)

http://www.flatpress.org/home/
-flatpress

http://sourceforge.n.../projects/flatpress/
-download
click for 737x506 pixels:
2010-09-27_063245-1017.gifFlatPress blogging platform: flat text file stored, open source, freeware



Open source freeware.
« Last Edit: September 27, 2010, 10:15 AM by Curt »

nudone

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Re: FlatPress blogging platform: flat text file stored
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2010, 03:37 AM »
very interesting...

Tuxman

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Storing a (probably) high amount of postings, comments and trackbacks (?) in text files?
Poor server...

NoWhereMan

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hey, that's mine! :)

no trackbacks, and of course it's not designed for high-traffic web sites. It is meant for people who can't afford a MySQL DBMS on a cheap hosting.

Tuxman

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People who can't afford hosting with a DB are granted free access to WordPress.com, so what?

Tuxman

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(Oh, and have fun searching for certain strings there.)

skwire

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I think it (FlatPress) is pretty darn slick.  Much much easier to setup than a DBMS system.  I had it going in less than a minute.  Also, I'd venture to say that it's much easier to backup and restore, too.  Nice job, NoWhereMan.   :D

skwire

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People who can't afford hosting with a DB are granted free access to WordPress.com, so what?

I'd bet there are PLENTY of people that want to host their own site or domain on their own boxes but don't have the know-how to set up MySQL and such.  FlatPress offers a very nice alternative.

Tuxman

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Large code parts are derived from WordPress, am I right here?

Curt

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-save some time  and tell WHY you have decided to dislike FlatPress...
« Last Edit: September 30, 2010, 04:42 PM by Curt »

Tuxman

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Because flat-file storage for a blog is ridiculous.
Imagine the search procedure. Imagine the file size. Don't forget the server load.

Cpilot

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I think it's an interesting concept and uploaded it to play around with.
It does install pretty easy although I had a few errors, but it works as advertised.
I would imagine it could be useful under a few circumstances and quite easy for a total newbie to get their feet wet putting up a little blog and breaking into writing one for the first time.

Plus I just like the idea of some little guy coming up with an idea and making it happen.

40hz

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Large code parts are derived from WordPress, am I right here?

Probably not.

I'd guess, from the way it works, its much more likely to have gotten its inspiration from  Simple PHP Blog.

-------------

I downloaded and gave it a try this afternoon. Very nice project. Does a rather workmanlike job within its intended scope of use.

I can imagine several scenarios where something like this could be very useful. Especially as a quick "starter blog" engine. You could get something attractive up on the web quickly while you were deciding what mainstream CMS/blog solution you'd eventually end up going with. Perfect for an individual or small business to get a feel for what it's like to have a blog. (Hint: it's not all about the underlying technology. It's also about the effort and discipline needed to create interesting and useful articles on a regular basis. No piece of software can help you with that part.)

I like it!  :Thmbsup:



« Last Edit: September 30, 2010, 07:31 PM by 40hz »

Tuxman

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Large code parts are derived from WordPress, am I right here?

Probably not.
Sorry then. I quickly had a look at it, seemed known to me.

NoWhereMan

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People who can't afford hosting with a DB are granted free access to WordPress.com, so what?

What if I want to self-host? What if I want a custom theme? What if it's my own damn business? ;)

I think it (FlatPress) is pretty darn slick.  Much much easier to setup than a DBMS system.  I had it going in less than a minute.  Also, I'd venture to say that it's much easier to backup and restore, too.  Nice job, NoWhereMan.   :D
thanks :)

Also, the file format is quite human-readable. That's inherited from another flat file solution which was called SimplePHPBlog with which I fell in love with in 2005. The codebase was easy to read, but with simplicity in mind, which made it very hackable; but in the end it became difficult to maintain all the hacks, it wasn't very efficient with the use of resources, and plagued by many security bugs.

That's why I started working on FP, with two friends. Now it's mostly only me.

SimplePHPBlog looks dead at the moment.

Large code parts are derived from WordPress, am I right here?
small code parts. the plugin system, and the formatting filters. Not much more. The plugin system should ideally be compatible, but in fact it isn't so much.

Because flat-file storage for a blog is ridiculous.
Imagine the search procedure. Imagine the file size. Don't forget the server load.
The search sucks, and I have suggested many times to rely on google, instead.
The average file size is small, since it's all text.
The server load is the Achille's heel, but it is meant for low traffic sites.

flat-file storage is much more ridiculous for a forum engine, which is what many time people asked me for.
On a blog you just read posts in a predefined order most of the time, and sometimes you add one post --this is not designed to support multiple users at a time for editing. Comments are supported, though.

Also, I don't think there are many flat-file solutions using a data structure designed for speed and low memory consumption for indexing

If your site does not match those requirements (being low traffic, non-multiuser) I am generally the first to suggest something else; PivotX is nice because it supports bot flat files both MySQL; otherwise there is WordPress, MovableType, etc. etc.

There is even an FP2WP exporter. You wouldn't believe people asked me for a WP2FP importer... which I finally wrote, not without some concerns. ("why would you do that??)

So it's not like I'm not concerned about performances ;)

I've been thinking about caching the front page and the last few posts. It is really free, thanks to Smarty. Someone could write a plugin to enable that;

IIRC it's just matter of
add_action('init', 'enable_cache');
function enable_cache() {
   global $smarty;
   // todo: add a check for the frontpage... / last N posts...
   $smarty->cache = 1;
}

I don't enable caching as a default because caching the frontpage is a little counter-intuitive for a end user ("hey, where is my post?")

bye :)
« Last Edit: October 02, 2010, 02:53 AM by NoWhereMan »

tsaint

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I think I fit your target profile.. I set up FP in my space on the net, so I could post an article or two every couple of days (maybe), with MYSELF as the target audience. A consideration for this strategy was that if I was discussing something I'd noted on my FP blog with another person, I could easily refer them to the post I'd made.
 Most of my posts are simply reminders/keep in view stuff about things that are interesting or potentially useful to me only, so the traffic/server load is negligible.
 And apart from the 1/2 hour spent searching to no avail for detailed intructions on how to change themes, FP was simple to install, looks fine and suits my purposes well.

mahesh2k

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Stacyapp is also flat CMS app.

It is suitable for static sites and is not made for blogging.

kyrathaba

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There's also QuickBlogger.

iphigenie

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flat files are super fast to browse - if the site doesn't change much, besides new posts, then flat files for a small site would always be way faster than anything dynamic. Might even be the case for a large site.

After all, whenever you try to do a high uptime, high volume site what is the first thing you do? turn as much as you can into flat files in a cache, so not everything is a meaty server hit...

kyrathaba

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Nice stuff.  Just uploaded Flatpress and installed, and in a few minutes had a couple entries pumped out.  Kudos to the developer!

Curt

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congratulations on your well-looking blog, kyrathaba :-)

Does 'Hardscratchian' have to do with scratch ?

urlwolf

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I still don't understand. Tuxman, you say performance would be worse. But I keep seeing flat-files blogging engines such as jekyll, hyde, et al. They all say performance is what defines them. They advertise these will survive a slashdot/digg  effect better than a DB-based system. What's the catch? 

kyrathaba

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congratulations on your well-looking blog, kyrathaba :-)

Does 'Hardscratchian' have to do with scratch ?

Thanks.

Hardscratch is the name of the small rural community in which I live.  Hence, Hardscratchian ;)

kyrathaba

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For any of you who may give Flatpress a try, there is a bug in the ReadMore plug-in.  I have fixed it, and the corrected file is attached to this post.  It should be placed in flatpress/fp-plugins/readmore/

kyrathaba

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For any of you who may give Flatpress a try, there is a bug in the ReadMore plug-in.  I have fixed it, and the corrected file is attached to this post.  It should be placed in flatpress/fp-plugins/readmore/

To elucidate, the plug-in, as it was in the install archive, didn't reliably cut off text where I placed the [more] tag.  I rearranged a couple of if/then blocks within this particular plug-in file, and now it works reliably.  Note that once you click the 'Read more...' link that is created by the placement of the [more] tag, your post will no longer be truncated until you clear the Flatpress cache or else click on your Home widget.

You can see examples of the corrected plug-in in use here, by taking note of the "Read more..." links at the bottom of truncated posts.