Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
executable file
·
135 lines (79 loc) · 7.24 KB

README.md

File metadata and controls

executable file
·
135 lines (79 loc) · 7.24 KB
Raw

Embeddable, lightweight PHP CMS.

Website "add-on" integration, while retaining the most important features of a modern day CMS: User login, file uploads, edit of content areas and page titles.

Can optionally use a database for content storage (MySQL, etc.) However, a database is not required, and nc-cms uses fast flat file storage by default.

Designed and maintained by Nathaniel Sabanski of NConsulting.ca. Licensed under the zlib/libpng license.

Some kind words from the community...

"I can't begin to describe to you what a life saver it is not having to rebuild an entire site on a CMS platform."

"Overall, a very quick way to start up a stable, dynamic site with minimal overhead!"

"Thanks for such a killer cms that is so simple.. great concept!"

Sample Website nc-cms Screenshot 1

Login nc-cms Screenshot 2

Editor nc-cms Screenshot 3

Integration Example

<?php require('nc-cms/system/start.php'); $cms = new NCCms(); ?> <!-- #1 Include CMS header. -->
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
	<head>
		<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
		<title><?php $cms->Title('home_title'); ?></title> <!-- #2 Allow website title editing. -->
		<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="<?php $cms->CSS(); ?>" /> <!-- #3 Include CSS. -->
	</head>
	<body>
		<?php $cms->ControlPanel(); ?> <!-- #4 Include CMS control panel. -->
		<div class="content">
			<?php $cms->ContentHTML('home_content'); ?> <!-- #5 Add editable content area. -->
		</div>
		<div class="footer">
			<?php $cms->LoginLink(); ?> <!-- #6 Generate login link. -->
		</div>
	</body>
</html>

Installation

  1. Use git clone https://github.com/gnat/nc-cms.git master or download a zip.

  2. Edit /nc-cms/config.php. Be sure to set all of the general settings. If you would like to use nc-cms's database support (optional), set NC_USE_DB to true and configure the database connectivity settings as well.

  3. Copy over your newly configured /nc-cms to your web server. Upload it to where NC_CMS_URL points to from your /nc-cms/config.php file. The root of your website domain is recommended (http://www.example.com/nc-cms/).

  4. If you're using database support, run /nc-cms/setup_database_mysql.php from your web server.

  5. Installation complete! Move onto the next section to integrate your first page.

Integration

Any web page file will work (.php, .html, .htm). If you would like to use it with an .html or .htm file, first convert it to .php by changing the file extension. (Also remember to change your internal links to .php where necessary.)

  1. To activate nc-cms on a page, insert the following code before your opening <html> tag. It is possible that you may need to change this path depending on where you've uploaded nc-cms.

     <?php require('nc-cms/system/start.php'); $cms = new NCCms(); ?>

  2. To enable "title editing", insert the following code inside your <title> tag. custom_name can be anything you like. Alphanumeric and underscore characters are supported. We personally recommend a naming convention of page_title (Examples: home_title, about_title).

    TIP: If you'd like another page to use the same title, use the same custom_name.

     <?php $cms->Title('custom_name'); ?>

  3. Include the CSS used by nc-cms: insert the following code inside of your <head> tag.

     <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="<?php $cms->CSS(); ?>" />

  4. When logged into nc-cms, this will enable the control panel to appear. Insert the following code just after your opening <body> tag.

     <?php $cms->ControlPanel(); ?>

  5. The following lines will place editable content areas. These will display any content assigned to the custom_name, and when you are logged in, will enable you to edit them. If the assigned content does not exist, a placeholder will be created automatically. Insert these anywhere in between your <body> tags.

    These editable content areas come in two flavours: HTML and string.

    The HTML content area is the most common. These areas can contain many paragraphs, images, headers, links and more.

    Create an HTML area like this:

     <?php $cms->ContentHTML('custom_name'); ?>

    The string content area is used for single lines of text. When used, these are generally placed inline between the header and paragraph tags themselves as per your convenience.

    Create a String area like this:

     <?php $cms->ContentText('custom_name'); ?>

    Again, custom_name can be anything you wish. I personally recommend a naming convention of page_content (Example: home_main, home_sidebar, about_contact, all_copyright etc.).

    TIP: If you would like to display the same content across multiple pages, use the same custom_name. This is useful for content such as copyright information.

  6. Login Link (Optional). You may want to place a link on the page for easy access to the nc-cms login page. If this is the case, use the following line of code:

     <?php $cms->LoginLink(); ?>

    Or even simpler:

     <a href="/nc-cms">Login</a>

Managing Content

  1. Visit the page you would like to edit (you will be re-directed here after login).

  2. If you created a login link, use that now. Otherwise you can get to the login page by visiting the /nc-cms directory directly (Example: http://www.example.com/nc-cms. If the login is a success, you will re-directed to the previous page in editor mode.

  3. You will notice two things after successfully logging in: A new control panel will appear at the top of your page. Depending on how many editable content areas you added during your integration, there will be a number of edit buttons scattered throughout your web page. Use these buttons to edit the section associated with it.

  4. Edit buttons will direct you to a content editor. Make your changes here and click save. If all has been done correctly, you should be redirected to your live page, with your changes applied.

  5. Logout! Logging out is essential for preventing unauthorized changes to your website by anyone using the same computer.

Upgrading

You may want to upgrade your version of nc-cms down the road.

  1. Back up your settings and content: FTP into your web server. Go to the /nc-cms directory and back up your /nc-cms/config.php file and /nc-cms/content directory.

  2. Delete the /nc-cms directory and replace it with the new version. Download the latest version of nc-cms. Remove the /nc-cms directory that is currently on your web server. Extract and upload the new /nc-cms folder to the former installation location on your web server.

  3. Re-upload your config.php file and /content directory to the new nc-cms installation. Replace as necessary.

  4. Upgrade complete! You can confirm your update by logging into nc-cms. The version number is displayed in the top-left of the menu bar. Remember, you may need to explicitly clear your browser cache after the update in order to see all of the changes.