About RAXCCM
RAXCCM (RAX Custom Content Manager) is the content management system that this website is using. It's currently not available to the public, but may be in the future if there is demand.
It is written entirely in (somewhat ugly) PHP, and took just under a week to get the basic functionality working. Two additional weeks were spent on administrative tools, usability, and features.
RAXCCM is probably better called a "Page Management System" than a CMS, as it primarily allows easy webpage generation, and lacks any method of managing media content. The user must rely on FTP and other old-fashioned methods for media uploads and management.
Appearance
RAXCCM uses a static, hardcoded template for its layout. Appearance changes and the number of columns (2 or 3 supported) are changeable through the use of different CSS files and graphics. The themes being used on the RAX website were created by FlashMint and can be had online for free.
Custom CMS vs. ready-to-use solution
Many probably wonder what the reasoning was for developing an entire custom CMS when plenty of free solutions exist. The simple answer to this is "bloat". Most open-source CMSes have taken on too many features in an effort to please everybody. For RAX, there was no need for most of the features, so when designing RAXCCM, they were intentionally left out.
It is written entirely in (somewhat ugly) PHP, and took just under a week to get the basic functionality working. Two additional weeks were spent on administrative tools, usability, and features.
RAXCCM is probably better called a "Page Management System" than a CMS, as it primarily allows easy webpage generation, and lacks any method of managing media content. The user must rely on FTP and other old-fashioned methods for media uploads and management.
Appearance
RAXCCM uses a static, hardcoded template for its layout. Appearance changes and the number of columns (2 or 3 supported) are changeable through the use of different CSS files and graphics. The themes being used on the RAX website were created by FlashMint and can be had online for free.
Custom CMS vs. ready-to-use solution
Many probably wonder what the reasoning was for developing an entire custom CMS when plenty of free solutions exist. The simple answer to this is "bloat". Most open-source CMSes have taken on too many features in an effort to please everybody. For RAX, there was no need for most of the features, so when designing RAXCCM, they were intentionally left out.
RAXCCM Feature-set
For
the curious, here's a list of functions in the RAXCCM system. All but two are common to all CMS systems though, so don't expect anything
special.
- Small size - RAXCCM files occupies less than 3MB of server space. (Content is stored in a MySQL database, which is not included in that value)
- Light and fast - RAXCCM leaves out resource-hungry indexing and media management systems. External solutions can be integrated via plugins if file management is needed.
- Easy
to use - Building a page is easy: Create a new page, then populate each
column with the content you want. Either add an existing content block
from another page, or create new content. HTML or WYSIWYG editing
supported.
- Recyclable content - Content blocks (called "Objects") can appear on more than one page. When you want to change the content, you just edit the Object and all pages where it appears will show the changes.
- Extendable - A basic framework allows for managing plugins and modifying object content during render. Other than that, there's no constraints or frameworks to work within. Each plugin includes PHP files with the interface and code needed to make it work. Basic RAXCCM functions are available via includes.
- Integrated download management - RAXCCM has a built-in download center, something that most other CMSes lack. Many offer basic directory systems for file distribution, but require users to create a proper page for their programs themselves.