Here I have tried to document the tools I would like to manage this website. I am currently using Dreamweaver 4 and this program ('kontent'), I would like to changeover to Linux and therefore I need at least the features that I have already and the additional features would be nice.
This could be requirements for 'kontent' or if the features can be provided by a big project such as or Quanta Plus or Nvu that would be even better.
- Tree view - I would like to be able to click on a file (HTML, SVG, JPEG, GIF, MATH, various XML based files, etc.) and for the appropriate editor to be started. Additionally this should allow files and directories to be created, deleted and moved using drag and drop. This is similar to using a file manager such as 'Konqueror' except that when these functions are done the relative links in the html files that link into the file being changed are optionally updated.
- Preview - I would like to be able to preview the site before any changes are uploaded to server. Ideally I should be able to check the site using different browser types to make sure it will work correctly for all users.
- Table view - In addition to the tree view it would be nice to have the option of a table of files, with optional columns to show title, meta attributes, etc. The reason for this is because I often forget to enter the title so this would be a quick way to check that I have entered the correct values for each page.
- Templates - I currently use dreamwaver templates for each page (this page for instance). I appreciate that the dreamweaver approach is quite specific but it happens to do what I need. I'm not necessarily asking an exact clone of DW but equivalent functionality, I have put some ideas here.
- Libraries - I currently use dreamwaver libraries, to generate chunks of webpage that need to go into several pages, see book adverts below. I appreciate that the dreamweaver approach is quite specific but it happens to do what I need. I'm not necessarily asking an exact clone of DW but equivalent functionality, I have put some ideas here.
- Table Of Contents (TOC) - currently 'kontent' generates one entry, containing title, for each page (see here). However it would be nice to add options for adding entries for headings or items marked with a special tag.
- Index - similar to TOC but in alphabetical order.
- RSS - generate xml file containing information about files on site (see here).
- FTP - It would be nice to see a tree showing the remote server files/directories and allowing files/directories to be dragged between local and remote. Also upload and download to allow files to be transferred to equivalent part of remote file structure. However for me the most important part is to have resilience because my ADSL link is quite flakey, for instance dreamweaver 4 FTP tends to lockup, so if it is not practical to develop a resilient FTP I would prefer a link to external FTP program.
- Automatic generation of files - I tend to use a lot of vector diagrams and also formulas. At the moment I use fireworks to edit a .PNG file, however I export this to .GIF form because it tends to be smaller. Under Linux I think I would edit it as a .SVG file but again .GIF is often smaller and more universally compatible with browsers. For formulas I would like to use an equation editor to exit in .MATH format and then publish in .GIF format. It would be useful if the site manager could generate and update these .GIF files automatically and it would be good if the FTP was intelligent enough not to upload the source files. In some ways it would be good to have two local trees, one for the source files (.SVG,.MATH) and another one for published files (.GIF).
- Navigation Generation - I use graphical navigation (see top of this page). At the moment, I draw them manually and construct the links, this is very time consuming for a large site, It would be good if this could be automated. Since each site is different I guess this would have to be done by scripting but the scripting engine would need hooks into the site manager, html editor and graphics editor.
- Check Links - This ability to generate a report to check that all relative links on the site are valid.
- Update Links - Where any large changes are made to the site such as changes to the structure of the site then it would be useful if all relative links are updated automatically.
- Database Support - I don't yet publish from a database but it would be good to experiment with MySQL.
- Scripting Support - I don't yet have any server side scripting but again I would like to experiment with PHP.
- Stability and resilience - This is the most important issue. As an example Quanta 3.2.1 locks up when I open Root folder.
- Ability to hack - I would like to have the option to modify the program and possibly contribute to the project in a small way. However I don't want to have to understand a massive program. I program that does to above things would be quite large enough enough for me to work on, I would not want to have to understand html and graphics editors as well (even if its object oriented larger tends to be harder to understand).
- Publish to PDF.
