Posts tagged as: cms

Tagging is now working

I finished the coding for tags on this and the Ruby site. I even have a simple tag cloud in the navbar. These tags are still only entered by me, but I'll have user tags eventually. I keep coming back to Joshua Schachter's comment that tags are about memory more than categorization. I'm trying to lose that rigid relational database kind of thinking. Once I have a full Ruby based version of this site I'll be able to tie into other tag based sites. For now these pages are still static html that is recreated and upload to this server every time I make a new post. I'll watch the stats and see if anyone actually uses the tag pages.

Lots of balls in the air

I've got so many projects ideas that I think I should list them, if only to remind me of where I want to go:

• CSS: Redesign Darwinianweb.com site to use style sheets.
• Ruby: Amazon API based app to determine the best book on a given subject.
• Ruby on Rails: Rebuild the CMS for this blog from the current FoxPro code.
• Ajax: Google API based app using Google Maps.
• Ajax: A stripped down version of TiddlyWiki as a form of self-modifying page.

Time to start Ruby programming

I've been reading Ruby books for a week now and I'm getting antsy to do some coding. My way of learning a language is to pick a real target and then push my way through all the obstacles. That forces me to do the hard tasks, but keeps me from wasting time on features I'll never need. I know I've been saying that I want to use Ruby to run the CMS for this blog, but I want to hold off on that until I add enough features. For example, I still need to add calls to ping servers and tagging to this blog. It will be easier to just do that in FoxPro first, and not worry about the programming language at the same time. Besides, from everything I've seen, Ruby on Rails will be the best way to build a CMS with Ruby, so I'll wait until later to start that project. I'll pick an easier target for my first Ruby project.

I've had an idea for Amazon web service programming for a while that might make a good candidate. I'd like to build a "pick the best book on a subject" app. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but the general idea would be to enter a search term and have the app rank available books based on a set of criteria I develop. That will let me explore the Amazon database from the inside.

My first step will be to build a development environment. I could start by doing Ruby programming on my own computer, but that won't let you look over my shoulder easily. I could do the Ruby project on the server where this blog is hosted, but that brings up the security issue. Programming on the web in a new language always leaves open the possibility of security holes. I'd rather do my quick and dirty development in a separate location and then move them to a new server for production use. I also like the idea of a distributed environment for web development. It allows for better scaling and gives me more control later for rearranging the architecture. So my first task will be to build ruby.darwinianweb.com at a new host.

When I first started looking at Ruby I saw that there were some hosting sites that provided Ruby and Ruby on Rails installations at extremely low rates. They billed themselves as Ruby playgrounds, which is a great idea. I've been a programming language junkie for over 25 years, and the idea of playing with a new language is always a thrill. It looks like these hosts are aimed directly at that market.

Why I'd rather roll my own CMS

Just when I was feeling silly about building my own blogging CMS I found two posts that reminded me why I like to keep my data in my own system. David Weinberger recently completed the "upgrade from hell" with MoveableType and Scoble is throwing a hissy fit over Wordpress' RSS feed. This is why I don't feel comfortable with other people managing my data. I'd rather do the work upfront than get caught later in somebody else's database.

This brings up a key problem with web-based apps. When a desktop app fails or a major bug shows up, I can at least find some product or write some code to get to the data and transfer it to some other tool. What happens when my data is in a database on some server somewhere? Of course, you have to rely on remote hosting for lots of things. I don't want the hassles of running my own webserver at my house, but I keep a complete working mirror of any site I build, including all the supporting scripts on one of my machines at home. Once my blogging system is moved to Ruby/MySQL I'll certainly host it remotely, but it will still be running my code.

The average user has to rely on other people's code, and it will take years before that trust is solid. Yes, I know that people use remote blogging systems every day, but that is still the leading edge of users. Before we all move to web versions of Office tools, a lot of thought has to be given to recovery. I'm going to assume that any reputable host will keep back-ups, even though that has been proven false also. If users discover that upgrades and new "features" cause them to lose data, there could be a backlash that sets Web 2.0 back a few years. When Word fails, people may curse, but they don't give up on Windows. If a web version of Word fails, they may decide to take their data back where they feel more control.