When I first had the idea of starting a blog I of course went looking at some of the open source blog systems out there. I had previously worked with a few of them for client projects so I was already familiar with pMachine, WordPress and Serendipity but I also checked out some of the smaller ones. HotScripts was a decent source for finding a solution as was SourceForge. I actually spent quite a bit of time on this; installing a program, running it through its paces, evaluating, repeat.
While going through that process I started mapping out what my blog was going to be. Of course there was going to be the blog side of the site but I also decided I wanted a place to, well, brag about my work (I’m really proud of what we do at StreetWise) as well as an area to release some of the code I write.
A little background, I’d always wanted to be a part of an open source project; I’m a big fan of the open source ideology and always on the lookout for new code. It’s really one of the better benefits of working in php; there’s a lot of it. Just checkout hotscripts or sourceforge and you’ll see what I mean. In addition to that; there’s phpclasses.org; now that’s a site worth checking out for some cool code (if, well, old code). Not to mention the plethora of other developers out there releasing code and providing guidance.
Anyway, while I was checking out the blog systems another requirement came into play; joining a project. This immediately put pMachine out of the running since it’s not open source so I started checking out the communities of WordPress and Serendipity.
Both WordPress and Serendipity are pretty stable and have thriving communities. Almost too thriving and stable; there doesn’t seem to be very much I could contribute that would make any kind of lasting difference. I have a great deal of respect for both but if all that’s left to do is write plugins and themes; well I’m just bored with the idea really.
So what the hell, "Why not write my own?", I thought.
I’ve already written a few for some clients before and at the base it’s really just CRUD work with a bunch of bells and whistles anyway. Plus, if I write my own I get to sharpen my skills, have a blog topic and have more code to release.
BTW, since I'm writing this before I've actually written the system, I'm currently using WordPress as a blog system. To be honest, I do like it. If I wasn't a programmer I would probably use it full time too; but since I don't teach; I do 😊