Open Source CMS state change
The new release of Midgard 1.6, an open source CM framework, say developers, changes the state of the tool with major improvements and flexible features.
For example, say developers, the database and web sitesetup have been redesigned with the new datagard command-line tool.
The tool now also bundles the MidCOM component framework and Aegir administration tool to provide a powerful out-of-the-box Content Management Systemexperience.
Major features include:
- MultiLang support
- Unicode support by default
- PAM authentication support
- Apache2 module
- PHP4 module ready to use with Apache1 and Apache2
- New midgard-data including MidCOM 1.4.0
The MultiLang feature makes Midgard more flexible as it separates metadata from the current language of objects. It is easy to use with the new midgard-data package which allows server administrator to create or update databases to MultiLang very easily.
While Midgard has supported international character sets through the UTF-8 encoding since the Midgard 1.2.5 series, Midgard 1.6 is the first release where Unicode ships as the default encoding. This means that new Midgard installations can manage content in character sets like Russian, Japanese and Maori with zero effort.
PAM, or Pluggable Authentication Modules is a technology used on several Unix platforms like Linux and Solaris to enables systems to authenticate using some central authentication provider. PAM support in Midgard means that Midgard sites and applications can now authenticate with external systems like LDAP or Active Directory instead of using the local password storage.
PHP4 module may be configured with the old Apache 1.3.x or new Apache 2. Both modules have caching facilities which increase performance and reduce request time. These modules have also abilities to emulate the old mod_midgard Apache module which is now deprecated.
The revised Midgard-data package provides an out-of-the-box setup
complete with Aegir and Spider administration tools and the MidCOM component framework. Aegir is a comprehensive and powerful administration tool targeted at Midgardpower users. Spider provides similar administrative features in accessible way, allowing disabled users and simpler web browsers to manage websites. In addition to the Midgard applications, midgard-data also ships several command-line utilities including the yamp packaging scripts useful to Midgard application developers and the datagard Midgard database and virtual host setup tool.
MidCOM 1.4.0 is a full component framework which enables site builders to construct their web sites from ready-made and configurable site features, or components. All MidCOM components provide uniformal and localized ways for configuration and content management. The configuration system allows site developers to fully control the way the components behave, including their output templates and content structure and form field definitions.
For end-users the MidCOM system provides an intuitive "Edit this page"
interface for editing site content. Over 20 components shipping with MidCOM include a news listing system, event calendars, product order and shipping management system, phone book and a wiki online notebook.
www.midgard-project.org
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