brecksblog README

What is brecksblog?

brecksblog is simple blogging software written in PHP that you can run on your own domain.

How do I install it?

1. Put index.php in the directory where you want your blog to be.
2. Make the directory writeable.
3. Run index.php. Done!

What makes brecksblog different from other blogging software?

brecksblog is fast and simple. brecksblog is 1 file and does not use a database. It is less than 600 lines of code. This one file includes not only the app itself, but a one click installer and updater.

Who is it for?

For people that want to get started blogging fast, or experiment with a lot of blogs. You can create a new blog in under 60 seconds. You can create 10 new blogs in under 10 minutes.

What are some alternatives to brecksblog?

Wordpress, Tumblr, Posterous, Blogger, Blogspot, Typepad and Movable Type, to name a few.

Do I have to know how to code to use brecksblog?

No. However, if you know HTML, CSS, and/or JavaScript, you can get even more out of brecksblog

What are the requirements?

You need PHP and Apache with mod_rewrite for it to work.

Benefits

• Easy. Even your mom can use it (mine does)!
• Productive. Simple software forces you to focus on what's important in blogging: content.
• Extendible. Change the theme. Add markdown. Add javascript. All of these steps take a few seconds.
• Reliable. Has held up without a hiccup on some high traffic sites. Open source and small file size means anyone can fix or extend it.
• Painless. No complicated database. Only one file.

Features

• No login needed. Just use your password each time you edit a page. Counterintuitive, but pretty fun.
• Create multiple blogs fast. Just make one folder per blog.
• Drop markdown.php into your blog folder to easily add markdown support.
• Stores all data in one text file (bbdata.php). No database needed.
• Easy to write, edit, and delete posts. Easy to chang CSS, footer, header, etc.
• Just a few hundred lines of code. Easy to extend and modify.
• Simple, clean layout. Easy to change CSS.
• Easily change the layout or add analytics, etc.
• Works great under loads (so far).
• Easy 1 file install.
• Easy 1 click updates.
• No clutter! No comments, etc., (but you can add them easily using disqus or intense debate)
• Easy to add real time stats.

Known Issues

• File permissions. Your file permissions have to be set correctly. Make sure the directory is writeable during install and index.php is writeable if you want to use the updater.
• Mod_rewrite. You need mod_rewrite enabled for it to work.
• Untested. This software has not been thoroughly tested. Unit tests on various platforms coming soon.
• Password. If someone guesses your password, they can change your posts and settings.
• Things that may break it: posts with the same timestamp or name. Having lots of posts. Getting lots of traffic while editing.
• No backups. There is no system yet to auto backup your posts and settings. This will be added.

How do I get help?

Contact the admins through github or breck7 at gmail.com.

Who contributes to brecksblog?

Breck Yunits(breck7), Doug Tyler(dougwt), Tyler(chacha)

License

Released under the MIT license.

Todo

• integrate similar posts

• allow for more theme/style customization.

• make it more user friendly

• themes, real time stats, comments, user manual

• improve default styling and ui

• Get it under 500 lines.

• Reduce long lines to under 80 characters.

• Generate sitemaps for Google?

• Auto submit to blog search engines?

• Test file locking issues and weaknesses more(security issues?).

• haml support?

• sass support?

• unit tests

• internationalization

• Plugin architecture. Make it easy to include external Javascript plugins/ libraries for:

backup/autosave(etherpad like) wysiwyg comments