In December 2003 Dean Allen was about to release his cms Textpattern; a web writing tool for writers and wrote :
What’s all this, then?
Textpattern is a forthcoming system designed to simplify publishing on the web. It is intended to be very easy to use. Upon installation, only a web browser and a connection to the internet are required to publish and maintain a web site. Little technical knowledge is needed; those who wish to write on the web, but who are perhaps daunted by the learning demanded by markup languages such as HTML and XML and the presentation language CSS, may find Textpattern to be what they’re looking for.
The production of structurally sound, standards-compliant web pages is basic to its operation.
Creators of personal journals, images, web logs, periodicals, magazines, gossip, fiction and/or commentary of any form are those for whom Textpattern is ideal.
The hook?
There are many, but for a start: all the elements that make up a site published with Textpattern – code, layout, and content – are subject to a rich system of cross-categorization, with the goal of a simple but powerful way to control and customize the appearance of articles, links, comments, images and more, depending on the context of the page being viewed. What a stupid paragraph!
No, really, the hook is ease of use. And dynamic everything. And a built-in Googlesque search engine. And more.
When will it be available?
Soon.
What will I need to use it?
An account with a hosting company, or space on a server, that supports current versions of PHP and MySQL databases, and a registered domain name.
How much will it cost?
Textpattern is free of charge for personal use. Corporate licences will be available on a per-user fee basis.
I get none of this. Can you install it for me?
Yes. For pre-release testers this is available at no charge. After Textpattern is released, custom installation will be available for a fee.
What about plugins?
Anyone familiar with processing text via PHP functions can add features to Textpattern; these can be applied selectively or entirely to published pages.
