As I briefly mentioned on the Home Page, I've developed a new Content Management System (CMS) to run this web site. It's lightweight, self-contained, and super easy to set up and administer. I call it Light CMS. You can download it for free from GitHub.
Because Light CMS is self-contained, copying your site from one server to another also copies over all of your pages and posts. It doesn't need a connection to an external database like MySQL. Light CMS was specifically designed to be easy to set up. It requires a 30-second initial setup, done in a single, short setup page. But, despite being super easy to set up and administer, it has a ton of useful features:
- Self-contained: all content lives in a single SQLite database file, with no database server to set up. SQLite is a serverless, self-contained SQL database engine built into billions of devices and applications worldwide, such as iPhone and Android apps, web sites, and all major web browsers.
- Runs on ordinary shared hosting (Apache and cPanel) with PHP 8.4, and needs no command line.
- Browser installer: upload the files, then finish setup in your browser, protected by a one-time setup key.
- Pages, blogs and posts written in Markdown, with a formatting toolbar.
- Automatic menu built from your pages, with ordering, sub-menus and custom menu labels.
- Drafts, scheduled publishing and preview: see a page exactly as visitors will before it goes live.
- Three page layouts: Standard, Full width and Landing.
- Image library: upload once, use anywhere, and replace an image site-wide without editing a single page.
- File library for PDFs, Office documents, spreadsheets and ZIPs, with links that show the file type and size.
- Shortcodes for images, files, YouTube videos, cards, modules, sliders and forms.
- Reusable cards, modules and sliders to build pages without writing HTML, including an editable footer.
- Form builder for contact forms and newsletter sign-ups, with stored submissions, CSV export and spam protection.
- Email notifications that work out of the box, with optional SMTP for reliable delivery.
- Theme screen for the logo, colors, 49 Google Fonts, headings, header, top bar and footer, with no template code.
- Redirects with wildcards, added automatically whenever a page's address changes.
- Search engine ready: automatic sitemap, robots.txt, canonical links and social media preview images.
- An RSS feed for every blog, Light CMS enables you to create multiple blogs in the same web site, and each one is discoverable by browsers and feed readers.
- Analytics and verification: Built in settings for Google Analytics, Tag Manager, Meta Pixel, Search Console and Bing from just an ID, with your own visits left out.
- Secure by default: multiple admins, two-step login, password reset by email and HTTPS enforced.
- One-click backups and self-updating upgrades: download a single zip, and the database updates itself after each new version.
- Free and open source under the MIT License.
Unlike WordPress, or even Grav, there are no additional plugins that have to managed. That means fewer chances of an upgrade bringing down your web site, or external plugins adding potential security risks. All you need to build a professional web site or blog are included, right out of the box.
If you're interested in getting a new web site or blog up and running quickly, feel free to download it from GitHub.!