Create - On-site web editing interface

Create, from the Midgard Project, is a comprehensive web editing interface for Content Management Systems. It is designed to provide a modern, fully browser-based HTML5 environment for managing content. Create can be adapted to work on almost any content management backend.

Create.js is built on top for VIE, the semantic interaction library powered by Backbone.js. The widgets in Create.js itself are done with the jQuery UI tools.

Features

• Making RDFa-annotated content on pages editable
• Managing collections of content (add, remove)
• Local, in-browser storage and retrieval of unsaved content
• Adaptable connector for communicating with the back-end system
• Running workflows (approval, etc.) for content items
• Browsing and reverting content history
• Easy rebranding of the interface with some CSS

Integrating Create with your CMS

Please refer to the Create.js Integration Guide.

Future plans

• Adopt the Web Intents specification for better image and link handling
• Content annotation and auto-tagging with Apache Stanbol
• Wrapper for using Create inside Google Web Toolkit via VIE-GWT

Dependencies

• Hallo - distraction-free content editor (optionally, Aloha Editor or Redactor)
• VIE - editable RDFa library
• Backbone.js - client-side management of models, views, and collections
• jQuery UI - widget and effect library
• Modernizr - HTML5 browser compatibility library

Building Create

Use the supplied Cakefile to generate the merged JavaScript file for Create:

$ cake build

You can also generate a minified version (requires uglifyjs):

$ cake min

Read more

• Introducing the Midgard Create user interface
• Using RDFa to make a web page editable
• Midgard Create and VIE presentation in the Aloha Editor conference
• Proposal for using Create as the reference UI in Symfony CMF
• CreateJS integration module for Drupal

Discussion

• CreateJS Google Groups mailing list
• #iks IRC channel on Freenode

Similar projects

• Etch

Editor alternatives

The default rich text editor shipping with Create is Hallo, an MIT-licensed editing widget.

You can also use other editor options under their own licensing schemes, or integrate something else.

Using Aloha Editor

By default, Create uses the Hallo Editor. To use Create with Aloha Editor you need to:

• Download the latest version of Aloha Editor
• Extract the archive file and move the aloha directory into the create/deps folder -- check to have it like this: create/deps/aloha/lib/aloha.js
• For more information about using Aloha Editor see the Aloha Editor Guides

Using Aloha Editor with Create is covered by Aloha's FOSS License Exception:

Aloha Editor’s Free and Open Source Software ("FOSS") License Exception allows developers of FOSS applications to include Aloha Editor with their FOSS applications. Aloha Editor is typically licensed pursuant to version 3 of the General Afero Public License ("AGPLv3"), but this exception permits distribution of Aloha Editor with a developer’s FOSS applications licensed under the terms of another FOSS license listed below [MIT license is included], even though such other FOSS license may be incompatible with the AGPLv3.

Using Redactor

You need to acquire a Redactor license and include the editor JavaScript and CSS files into your pages separately. Then you can set Create to use Redactor for particular areas by using the redactorWidget editor option.

Running Unit Tests

Direct your browser to the test/index.html file to run Create's QUnit tests.

Unit tests on Node.js

You need Node.js and NPM. Then just run:

$ npm install --dev
$ npm test

Continuous integration

Create uses Travis for continuous integration. Simply add your fork there and every time you push you'll get the tests run.