Apologies if this is totally off-topic or in the wrong place... but having looked at the "Where should I post X" node, I thought this would still be the best place to ask.
I'm currently looking to build some new web sites and I'm looking for some ideas in terms of how I might build and maintain the sites.
Up to date, I'd been using a custom-made system where I have some text files that are processed by a C program to make them into a fixed style of HTML. It was good because it made maintenance easy - I could just change the text file, run my program on the text file and the new HTML was generated and installed, no problems. The disadvantages were that I could not automatically change the underlying HTML (format) or the "look" of the program without rebuilding the C program. There was also no CSS code used which meant the sites were fairly "fixed" in their behaviours.
So now I'm looking for a new system. The biggest thing to decide is whether to go the custom-made route again (using HTML::Template for example) or to try something "off the shelf".
The requirements I have are basically these:
- Updates to content should be easily done, without any programming or major
changes in the software. If I want to add some extra text, I should be able to
edit a block of text and the "real" content should be easily updated.
- I don't want to have a "dynamic" content -style of site. I don't want to
have a web server running where the site is hosted; I would prefer to run a
program over the "content files" and then have a lot of HTML files that I will
upload to a host. In that regard, I'll probably run the site on my local PC
(Windows and 'static' files) and on a host (Windows or Unix).
- The system shouldn't be complicated to run/use. I should be able to update
the HTML, etc from running a program or doing something in a batch file. I
don't want to have to deal with MySQL, PHP, etc. I'd prefer to do things with
Perl scripts as that will be something I can modify/understand fairly well. I only have about 40 pages in the web sites anyway, so I don't really need to go the trouble of running databases, etc.
- I'm not totally sure of the... "style"... I want to use. Maybe have
template files that will be replaced with specific content... or maybe there's
a suitable perl-based "content management system" about, that automatically
updates breadcrumb links, sidebars, etc. Perhaps a (readonly) wiki is the way
to go? I've used UseMod wiki Ok in a couple of situations.
I've checked out a few of the perl script archives (hotscripts, codeproject, devshed, etc) but none of the content management scripts there seem suitable. I've similarly gone through Google, Kartoo, etc and haven't found anything much like what I want either.
So, if you have any suggestions on script archives to check or freeware/open source software I might try, I'd be pleased to hear about them... and very grateful.
Thanks for your help, folks.
John
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