chrisburton

# January 3, 2013 at 11:16 am

The biggest thing I like about Kirby is the Custom Post Types functionality without a plugin. And to call it onto your template you just do something like this `< ?php echo $page->cpt-name ?>`.

To create those custom post types, it’s as easy as writing text. http://cloud.chrisburton.me/Lury

So for the custom post type ‘description’, I would write this in my template:

`< ?php echo $page->description ?>`

Andy Howells

# January 3, 2013 at 11:17 am

That is pretty sweet, custom queries are my number one bug bear with WordPress.

chrisburton

# January 3, 2013 at 11:20 am

Updated previous post.

JoshWhite

# January 3, 2013 at 12:51 pm

I’ve been reading through the tutorials and what I can’t quite figure out is what is the advantage of Kirby to just a static HTML site you just update yourself? It appears as though you work through an FTP program to manage files and images so it seems like the same effort as a static site.

chrisburton

# January 3, 2013 at 1:05 pm

Well, for one, Kirby is a dynamic CMS just like WordPress but without all the bulk core structure that isn’t necessary. Think of it as an extreme anorexic WordPress structure. You also don’t need a database to handle your content like WordPress. For me, it has been able to do absolutely everything that WordPress can do but much much simpler. WordPress isn’t that easy when you want to do something specific. You either have to download a plugin that offers more than what you want or you have to build it yourself.

You can use FTP or the Panel (what you see in those screenshots above). There is a bonus. You can install Dropbox onto your server so your files sync. This allows you to make changes in Dropbox and when those changes are made, it automatically syncs to your server. So basically it doubles as an FTP and a backup system.

wragen22

# January 3, 2013 at 4:51 pm

@ chrisburton I think you’ll have to help me out here.. once again. :-/ I’ve been reading these kirby docs and just not getting it. Mainly around the templates ect. My current project is not in wordpress at the moment, but broken up into section ie. doctype.php, header.php, footer.php then in my index.php imported like so < ?php include("parts/doctype.php"); ?>. I then use different scss files imported into my “global.scss” file.

Thanks for the help here.

chrisburton

# January 3, 2013 at 4:58 pm

@wragen22 If you want to sign into GChat, I can help you quicker. Just message me and i’ll hear the alert. If you’re busy, let me know and I’ll write it up for you.

Your structure makes a little sense. Here is what I do for Kirby.

And for my menu it looks like this:

BenWalker

# January 3, 2013 at 10:07 pm

I’ve just spent the last few hours playing with Kirby and it is fucking amazing (pardon my French). In that time I’ve converted my wordpress blog’s templates to Kirby’s framework, including appropriate snippets and two types of blog post template, set up a blog structure (two in fact, since I used to have two blog streams on wordpress too) and set up the sidebar using markdown.

Seriously, I reckon I could launch it now and have a fully functioning site.

I have never (NEVER) had a CMS that was so intuitive to understand. I’m looking forward to playing with extending functionality via plugins!

To contribute to the thread ;-)…

@wragen22 – where you currently use php includes, consider placing those files into Kirby’s snippets directory. You can then call them in your templates using:

< ?php snippet('file') ?>

It still keeps those re-usable elements separate and in one place, while not depending on a particular path.

The way I would view templates is this: The templates are what get called to fit your content. The name of the text files in your content directory determine the template used. If you have a template named after a text file, then that is called, otherwise the default template is used.

An illustration:

You have a folder called home with a file called home.txt inside it (probably). In your site/templates folder you have a template file called default.php. If you have no other template files, that will be called when you visit the homepage. If you create a copy of default.php and call it home.php, that will be called instead (but only for files called home.txt). Try it and edit home.php.

If you haven’t used templates of any sort before, it might take a while to get used to what you’re doing. However, I really wish I’d learnt those principles on a CMS like this rather than WordPress, and I would urge you to persevere.

chrisburton

# January 3, 2013 at 10:24 pm

@BenWalker That’s great to hear. I’m one of those people that hate to use new products without extensive research and reviews from others but this was too good to pass up. I’m pleased that others are seeing the benefit of switching to Kirby from WordPress.

__

# January 4, 2013 at 12:05 pm

I checked out Kirby a few weeks back after @chrisburton mentioned it in another discussion. Looks neat. Straightforward, simple, I bet a lot of people will find it perfect. Seems it’s a good balance for people who don’t need a dead-simple “end user” interface, have some coding ability, and want to be able to easily “tweak” stuff.

I was talking with the author about a bug under php 5.4 where the markdown parser hangs. He said he figured out the problem and is fixin’ it. Until then, I haven’t been getting too deep into it, but I’ve been poking around and it’s nice.

Andy Howells

# January 4, 2013 at 12:18 pm

I’ve been playing today, it’s quite good. I think the panel is a must for client work though.

My aim is to see if I can get redactor.js running to help input content, that would definitely be the cherry on top.

chrisburton

# January 4, 2013 at 1:22 pm

@traq What was that bug you mentioned?

@andy_unleash If you check the blog on Kirby, there is a nice project management theme. You might be interested in it.

JoshWhite

# January 4, 2013 at 2:01 pm

Let me know if you get redactor added somehow – that would be awesome!

TheDoc

# January 4, 2013 at 2:13 pm

Alright, dammit, I guess I’ll have to try it out.

chrisburton

# January 4, 2013 at 2:47 pm

By the way, if you’re a student, there’s a discount on the license.

If anyone can get OpAuth working with Kirby for blog comments, I’d be thrilled!