As CMSes go, Tux CMS isn't a wimp. Even though it's still young, it's got a lot of big boy features, more of which are being added daily in our very active Subversion repository. Time to talk about a few of them, which, used in tandem, provides an interesting new look at uses of Tux CMS: a notification system, a global preference system, dynamic URL structuring, and dynamic posts, pages, and blocks. Not only that, but soon to come are a highly-extensible administration utility, and a Core and Module installation framework. Used together, you not only have a powerful CMS, but also an appealing application platform.

All of the above listed features of Tux CMS are module-accessible. Theoretically, therefore, it is possible to create an entire web application, capable of doing very sophisticated (or perhaps just very specialized) tasks that only the most content-specific CMSes are capable of handling, built on top of Tux CMS, and fully integrated into its UI.

Modules are free to create new database tables at will, so any new types of content can be managed there. Application-specifc settings can be handled via the Tux Preference System-- Tux CMS itself uses the preference system for all of its configuration, so it should be powerful enough for most applications. Notifications represent an innovative way of getting in touch with users and site administrators, one that both Tux CMS and any additional applications can tap into, and an on-the-fly dymanic URL scheme makes it very easy for applications to create syntaxes to fit their needs. But the real power comes with the addition of dynamic posts and pages.

With this new feature, applications can first make database queries, and then format their output, which will then be displayed directly in a Tux CMS page, as if it had been written by the user, providing an unparallelled level of user interface integration. Couple that with complete UI integration on the admin side, and you just might have something worth looking at. 

Hey everyone, just thought I'd let you know I just created a mailing list for anyone who's interested in testing and then providing feedback on Tux CMS. The list is (coincidentally enough) available for posting at tux.testers@blogwithtux.org. Interested? You can signup for the list!

The Tux CMS project is very pleased to announce its first official public release, version 0.1 (codenamed "Kickstart" ). This PHP content management system, in development for over two years, provides a wide array of features, strong support for current web standards, and an easy-to-use administrator interface.

This 0.1 release marks the beginning of what we hope to be a long line of Tux CMS releases. Although the project is still in its relative infancy, it is already quite robust, and has a feature set comparable to that of some of the early releases of WordPress 2 (http://www.wordpress.org). From small- to medium-sized personal blogs and websites, to large corporate websites, Tux CMS can handle whatever you can dish out.

For more information on Tux CMS, visit the Tux CMS website at http://blogwithtux.org. You can download this release from the Tux CMS download page, http://blogwithtux.org/download, or from the SourceForge File Release System.

Keep a lookout for future developments in the Tux CMS project, there are bound to be some good ones!

Well, as I move to fix yet another stupid mistake on my part , Tux CMS 0.1 RC3 has just gone live, and it seems to be the most stable candidate yet.

With any luck, I should be making a final release of 0.1 within the next week or so. Keep your fingers crossed, and enjoy! 

A number of popular open source web applications (among them Drupal, Typo, and phpMyAdmin) have recently joined a new effort, GoPHP5, which aims to set the date of death for PHP 4 support at February 5th, 2008. Tux CMS is now joining this initiative.

As of February 5th, 2008 (I know, a long way off, but hey, it's still a goal), Tux CMS will no longer pay any regard to compatibility with PHP 4, and will begin to accept PHP 5-only features into the codebase. The minimum required version for Tux CMS will become 5.2.

It's exciting people, clap!

Howdy, everybody. Just posted up a copy of Tux CMS 0.1 Release Candidate 2, which should fix a few bugs that occurred with page redirection, and should also fix support for PHP 4 (slighty oversight there ). Enjoy!

Just thought I'd give a quick update on what's going on with Tux CMS 0.1 and the in-development 0.2.

The release candidate has been surviving very well under stress testing, and I think it's as close as it's going to get to release quality. I have made one minor bug fix, but not enough to warrant a new release candidate before release (it only addresses automatic redirection to the installer). I still need to do some tests on PostgreSQL and the JSON drivers, but if they pass, it should be good to go.

In the meantime, I've been doing a bit of work on the next version, Tux CMS 0.2, which has been progressing steadily. Already-implemented new features include draft support, the ability to have multiple blog pages, page ordering, a powerful new module system, and (as a result of the new module system) the ability to use different posting languages, ie, Markdown, Textile, etc. This is sure to be one heck of a release!

Great news, everyone! The first release candidate for Tux CMS 0.1 is now available. That means, if no serious bugs appear in this release, it is the final release of the first version. Give it a try and see how you like it!

There's nothing I hate more than comment spam-- it really rubs me the wrong way. Today, this website got hit with quite a deal of it.

Well, gave me plenty of motivation to do two things: a) write some basic comment spam protection into Tux CMS (posters are asked to answer a simple math question before posting their comment; logged in users can be exempt if the theme allows, which I decided Kubrick should not ), and b) upgrade the install at this address to the development version of Tux CMS 0.2.

Welcome to the future everybody.  

I know, I know, you've all been wondering: how exactly can I express my love for Tux CMS? Well, I've thought, and thought, and thought, and I think I've finally come up with a solution: Tux CMS T-shirts!

Starting now, at the glorious CaféPress.com, you may now choose from a variety of blogging-related t-shirts, featuring the Tux CMS penguin, and the URL across the shoulders on the back. Currently we only offer these shirts, but we eventually plan to have more (more shirt designs, buttons, magnets, mousepads, etc. and so on), so keep checking back! 

Hey y'all, exciting news! The beta of Tux CMS 0.1 is now available for download on SourceForge!

It's changed quite a bit since the alpha, with a good quantity of new features, along with numerous bug and security fixes. All database "magic" should work properly now, and I've even included a couple of new drivers: one for MySQLi, and a highly experimental one for Microsoft SQL Server.

There is one feature missing from the beta, and thereby also, the release when it's available: comment moderation and administration. The reason for this is two-fold: a) it is going to be a somewhat difficult system to write, and b) I would have to practically rewrite it for the next version thanks to plans for a new administration system. I hope it isn't too much of an inconvenience.

If you're upgrading from the alpha, be sure to use the alpha updater script, available for download from the downloads page. Enjoy!

Hey y'all, just letting you know that I just found a very severe security bug in the XML-RPC APIs (the systems that allow you to post to your blog from external blogging applications, like ecto or ScribeFire for Firefox). The file xmlrpc.php in Subversion revisions prior to 388 (which includes the public alpha) did not validate the password passed along from the blog client before granting rights to post or modify the blog. Therefore, anyone who knew what they were doing could quite easily post to your blog without authorization.

An updated version of the file exists in revision 388. In order for the file to function properly, however, your installation must be using at least revision 338 (otherwise, includes will fail). Current Subversion users need only to update their working copies, whereas alpha users are recommended to switch to a Subversion branch if possible. If a switch to Subversion is not possible, we recommend that you remove the file xmlrpc.php from the root of your site until the beta is released later this week sometime in the near future ().

As always, to checkout the latest copy of Tux CMS, run:

svn co https://tuxcms.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/tuxcms/trunk tuxcms

Tux CMS is nearing a beta stage, and after many weeks of work, should be available by the end of next week. In addition to the current work, I've prepared a series of documents that will pertain to some of the awesome new features that will appear in v0.2. These documents should be available online within a week or so as well in a private Subversion repository.

The big news today, though, is that you can try Tux CMS for yourself without downloading it! We have just setup a demo site, demo.blogwithtux.org, that automatically resets itself every hour, so you have completely free reign. It should say it on the home page, but if not, the username is "admin" and the password is "demosite" (provided someone hasn't changed it... if they have, it will be reset at the top of the hour, so check again later). Note also that an automated update from the Subversion repository is performed every night at midnight (Pacific Daylight Time, I believe), so you'll always know what you're using is the absolute latest. Of course, this can occasionally cause problems, so if you run into a bug, we ask that you report it to the Trac we'll be setting up shortly. Enjoy!

Well, we're pretty darn close to a usable beta. The code has changed a lot since the alpha, and I just recently completely redid the directory structure so that it now makes more sense (and is more apt to play nicely with other installed software: all files in the root directory, with the exception of the install dir, error.php, favicon.ico, index.php, and tb.php, are prefixed with "tux-". Expect a beta on the SourceForge site in about two weeks (to be safe).

Also, we recently migrated from CVS to Subversion (and I'm absolutely loving it ). To checkout the current development edition, do this:

svn co https://tuxcms.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/tuxcms/trunk tuxcms

Or, for the last revision before the Subversion move:

svn co https://tuxcms.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/tuxcms/tags/pre-svn/tuxcms tuxcms

Enjoy!

Hey all, welcome to the new home of Tux CMS, BlogWithTux.org.

We're kicking things off with a bang! Now available online is the first alpha of Tux CMS v0.1. You can download it at SourceForge's file release section. Currently it works with MySQL and PostgreSQL, and flat-file if you create the directory ahead of time (with the default settings, create a directory called 'localhost' in the root of your site). This behavior has been fixed in CVS, and the directory will now be created for you (note, however, that the Kubrick theme is not included in CVS, so you'll need to install that from one of the release packages).

Also, if you're curious, take a look at some screenshots of the installer when installing a flat-file driven site.

Anyway, welcome to the new site, and enjoy using Tux CMS!