Published by Deborah on 17 Jun 2005 at 07:42 pm
Geeklog
Oliver asked me to clarify why I gave Geeklog, Drupal, and Xoops a poor rating in my prior posts. I’ll start with Geeklog, listing the positives as well as the negatives.
I liked Geeklog’s layout. For one, I could post static articles without having to install a plugin. Geeklog offers hundreds of plugins that give your site added functionality. The older version allowed me to switch themes very easily.
However, customizing them to upload my logo was a chore. At the time, I had very little knowledge of HTML and none of CSS. After some fiddling, I was able to upload my logo and tweak the code so it would show. But the image was too small, and I couldn’t figure out how to change that.
Then I made the mistake of upgrading Geeklog on my server. The toggle to switch themes was gone. So, I searched the Geeklog documentation and found it useless. This made me Google for Geeklog tutorials. I found this link: MindFab.com - How do I change the default theme on my site?
I followed the procedures to the letter. Within 24 hours I was locked out. I tried editing the config.php file back to the original, with no result. By this time, I was so frustrated with the header bugs that kept appearing on my site that I wiped the software off my server.
I would not recommend Geeklog for newbies who have no knowledge of HTML. The code is so intertwined that one mistake can destroy your website. Read the complaints (and praise) at Opensourcecms.com and Geeklog Installation Forum.
Oliver on 18 Jun 2005 at 7:40 am #
Well finally we come back to the general statement that you should not go shopping in the city with a submarine. If you choose one of the most flxible systems (geeklog imho), You have to acknowledge that it might be the most complicated to setup.
You have to know what which system is for and how far the admin’s knowledge of certain things like HTML & CSS are required to run a system. We dont have a drivers license for CMS yet, but surely it would be good to have a “minimum skills”-list for each system at their respective hompages.
Deborah on 18 Jun 2005 at 9:30 am #
Geeklog’s main interface was very easy to navigate. The problem I had was customizing it, as did a lot of other people who posted complaints/questions. Yes, there should be a “minimum skills” list (as you put it) on the homepages of these CMS programs.
At the very least, they should include tutorials for novices. The documentation is too vague to be of any real use. If you have the patience, you can wade through the forums to find answers before you post a question. My questions were always answered, but the software was too unwieldy for me.