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I initially wanted to write another update about the CMS project I've been working and whether or not I found WordPress to be the correct choice to go with. But I hate writing posts like that because generally, I'm just talking (typing) and not really letting my actions speak for themselves. I know that nobody is really impatient (yet) about this project, but I'm pretty impatient that there is still not a final product or at least something close to it. So instead of only talking about the CMS project, I will also like to talk about what will happen to IC once the CMS goes to beta and what will happen after that. I want to show you that I haven't been spending all my time looking for the right way to go with the CMS but that I have also been thinking and planning on what to do to IC with the CMS as well as what should happen to IC after the project is opened to beta.

CMS or WordPress?

First, I'll continue from the last post, which stated that I was going to shift my focus with the project to make it a WordPress plug-in rather than a stand-alone CMS. Well, while I was looking through how WordPress and its plug-ins work, I became aware of certain areas that WordPress was weak or lacking in. It was then that I got a "breakthrough idea" for the stand-alone CMS that I had already begun to build before the project's switch to WordPress. It was simple and entirely possible. It would allow me to complete the basic structure of the CMS rather quickly, giving more time to build the features of the CMS. So, I've decided to move the project back as a CMS instead of a WordPress plug-in.

I think it's a good move. Remember that, I'm not only making a CMS for random people to use. Once I'm finished with most of it, it'll become IC's CMS. IC is a heavily specialized website right now. Even with a program like WordPress which is flexible enough to be used by thousands (millions?) of websites throughout the Internet, I had fears that IC would have to scale back if it adopted WordPress. But with the plans I have for this CMS project work, then I'll have created a CMS flexible enough to be as specialized as IceCaves already is or as simple as it is when you first download it.

On another note, if you haven't noticed already, I'm not calling this "GlacialCMS" anymore. The project needs a name--a good one. But until we come up with one (or until you suggest one that's really cool), I'll just refer to this as a "project" or the "CMS" that I'm working on. While it's useful to some degree to have "CMS" in the name to make it self-explanatory, I would prefer not to have that in the "official" name for the CMS. Being self-explanatory is only a short-term boost. The best way to get known is build a product that people know is one of the best out there, and the name has nothing to do with that.

IC Under a New CMS?

Once the CMS goes into beta, I will begin work on converting IC to run on the new CMS. But that's not all! Around this time last year, IC had a layout revamp. We will likely need another one under this new CMS, not necessarily because of the new system, but because of the next step that I want to take for IC. During the process of shifting the site to the new CMS I will take the opportunity of having to recode the entire site and also work on re-branding IceCaves. Re-branding? It's basically me changing how IC fundamentally works. It's still going to be IceCaves, but the difference will be that it will put more emphasis on features that are at the core of the site and into features that are the most popular with the members. Generally, the site will focus more on features that are geared specifically for website designers, programmers, and webmasters, and the site will put more focus into building a community and its content that is generated by the users themselves, rather than what the site has now, which seems to be a site generated by IC (me) and by members that contribute to IC rather than to the other members. That might have been a confusing and possibly fragmented sentences, but here's an example of what I mean. New graphics and such, might be submitted and approved automatically rather than submit it for approval. There will be other changes, of course, but it's still not happening soon, so don't worry too much about it...yet.

What do you say?

That's what I think. What do you think? I know I was a bit vague, but is there anybody disappointed that I'm not going with WordPress anymore? Any name suggestions yet for a simple, flexible, and potentially powerful CMS? What kind of big and small things would you like to see changed when I work on re-branding IC? What do you think would make IC a bigger, better website?

| Posted by Haily | 3 Comments - Post a Comment! | 

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This week, in an article by Aashni of Enchant Me Not covers how to use CSS to set minimum and maximum widths and heights. The article also covers a couple of combinations you can implement into your designs to achieve certain effects. It's a really useful technique, so if you don't already know about these techniques, then click here and read on!

| Posted by Haily | Read Full Article - 5 Comments | 

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The purpose of this photography competition is to capture a well-composed photograph of a subject that is often unnoticeable, overlooked, or hard to find or capture. Of course, most of the entries might be of small subjects, but this could also apply to details that might also be often overlooked. I'm interested to see what some of you might submit for this. Be creative! Submissions will be accepted until July 13th, two weeks from today. Good luck to the entrants!

| Posted by Haily | 19 Comments - Post a Comment! | 

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Twitter offers several widgets for you to embed a timeline of your tweets in your website. But the problem with these widgets is that they are essentially inflexible boxes that can take up more room than needed. On top of that, the style of these widgets will likely clash with your website's design if it uses a different style than the widget.

But before Twitter began offering this widget, Twitter offered a much more flexible script that allowed you to embed your tweets. Though I admit, it's somewhat more confusing and less appealing to the average Twitterer, it's nonetheless the much preferred Twitter embed among web designers. And even though Twitter no longer promotes it, it still works!

| Posted by Haily | Read Full Article - 12 Comments | 

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Remember this last post where I talked about how great GlacialCMS will be and what it means for IC? Well, here's an update. Read on because this is important.

If you have been following my Twitter, you would have seen that earlier today I asked for thoughts about having GlacialCMS be a project to create a WordPress plug-in rather than a CMS built from scratch. After reviewing the responses, I'm thinking that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages here, and that I should go ahead with this idea.

But why? The obvious benefit from building GlacialCMS as a WordPress plug-in is the security and popularity of WordPress, which has just released WordPress 3.0. Another benefit is the time saved building the features that WordPress already offers. And WordPress already satisfies one of the things I had in mind with GlacialCMS, which was to create something that can be easily specialized to any specific website. Not only that, but while making GlacialCMS I was tackling issues and answering questions that have been answered already (pretty well, actually) with WordPress. Such include issues about user-friendliness, security, simplicity, and news and template systems. As a programmer, I accept the challenge, but you see, I'm also somewhat lazy and as I expect to enter university this August, I'm going to have to prioritize better. My time would be better spent adding to what WordPress already has to offer, rather than recreating portions of it.

The initial plans for GlacialCMS really got me excited. They were ambitious; they were my attempt at creating a simple and powerful CMS that would be built to be able to take on the role of IC's CMS but also that of any other website. In fact, the idea of GlacialCMS being a WordPress plug-in was one of the things I considered before initially announcing the project, but I liked the idea of creating something that would merge a system like WordPress with a powerful community system such as phpBB forums.

But nonetheless, in practically, I am thinking that GlacialCMS will be something much more powerful if it's a WordPress plug-in, which would emphasize on community management, and perhaps even add some CMS-like features to WordPress (this may even be a second plug-in). That said, it'll need a new name; I can't keep calling it GlacialCMS.

What about the idea, mentioned in the last update about this project, about IC going to open-source software development? I think it will still work. Perhaps, it will work even better now that it would include smaller-scale projects that wouldn't be eclipsed by something as large as what GlacialCMS might have been.

I'm personally not acquainted with WordPress (yet), so the idea of making a CMS out-of-scratch is not completely gone. I'll return to it if I find WordPress wasn't a good choice. I've already started building the original idea for this project, so I can easily continue from where I've left off if need be.

I'll be sure to make another update in the coming weeks to outline what and when you should expect certain features to be added to this project. I'm thinking I'll begin with a simplified community system and gradually update the plug-in with more and more features as I grow more accustomed to WordPress. I was thinking of doing something similar with GlacialCMS, so as to get it out sooner, instead of having it sit in the dark, untested (majorly) for months until it was "finished."

Anyway, regardless, what do you think about this? Is this a better move? Or are you not enthusiastic about WordPress?

| Posted by Haily | 20 Comments - Post a Comment! | 

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Our site history page has been updated a bit. It now describes more in detail the past two years that IC has been a web design community. I also grouped the current and past chapters into the years that IC has been up. Today's update is the addition of Years 3 and 4. We're currently in Year 5 (IC is 4 years old), and I can't wait until what we will accomplish this year is also soon added to this page. But for now, click here to read the new additions.

| Posted by Haily | Read Full Article - 60 Comments | 

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The votes have been set and tallied, and here are the winners! Each winner gets a trophy in their profile and a plug for their website in this news update. The first place winner wins two weeks of advertisement for their site! The competition requirements were to design a forum set based on an obsession. Congrats to the winners.

1st Place - Jenny - comp entry - windymill.skyness.org
2nd Place - James - comp entry
3rd Place - Frisby - comp entry - figmint.uuuq.com

It would also be appropriate for me to mention that the votes came pretty close. Jenny had 6 votes, James had 4, and Frisby had 3. So congrats everyone! Jenny will win 2 weeks (plus one day) of free advertisement for her winning entry.

| Posted by Haily | 5 Comments - Post a Comment! | 

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