The Idea
Before developing FreeWPS, building a new web publishing system was not even the idea. Originally, the goal was to customize existing content management packages for more widespread use. In fact, the idea for FreeWPS came from the frustation in trying to customize those packages.
And so, the Idea came about out of wanting to "build a better mousetrap", so to speak. The Idea was that the layout of your pages should be specifically what you want. The Idea was that you should not have to edit CGI scripts for hours, reading some TXT file, page after page, *ad nauseum*, to find the one setting you were looking for. The Idea was to make the administration easy, the page layout as custom as the webmaster wanted it, and the price should be FREE. Not a bad idea. And we're glad we thought of it. :-D
(Last updated on 9-12-2003)
The Features
FreeWPS has a number of unique features that are not found in other packages available today. Additionally, FreeWPS supports all the standard features required to have a worthwhile web publishing system. The following list demonstrates the clear superiority of FreeWPS:
Support for PHP (An open-source, multi-platform, server-sidescripting language)
Support for multiple database types:
MySQL (A fully-featured, open-source RDBMS)
PostgreSQL (Another fully-featured, open-source RDBMS)
Sybase (A commercial RDBMS)
Microsoft SQL Server (Another commercial RBDMS)
Oracle (The mother of all commercial RBDMS)
Support for HTML Templates (separates page layout from dynamic content)
Support for Cascading Style Sheets (both version 1 & 2)
Support for PHP Sessions (cookies are not required; see PHP docs for more information)
Support for Web-based Administration of Pages, Page Content, and Users
Support for Web-based HTML Editor (includes WYSIWYG interface with IE5+)
Support for modular feature expansion, which currently includes:
Pages/Content Administration (individual page settings and the HTML content of each page, page categorization, and extensive authoring/editorial features.)
Blocks Administration (formatted content blocks available for the left or right-hand column of a page, such as a menu, a web-poll, a search applet, etc.)
Images Administration (image files available in the Online Editor)
Users Administration (full control of user accounts, including group assignment, password reset function, add & delete users)
Website Configuration (customizable settings governing the operation of FreeWPS)
(Last updated on 8-5-2004)
The Point
The Point, then, is to equip FreeWPS to be more customizable that any other web portal available to date. The Point is that no other open-source PHP-based web portal package allows separate development to take place between PHP scripting and HTML coding. The Point is that no other open-source PHP-based content management system supports the breadth of WYSIWYG editing features that FreeWPS does. The Point is that FreeWPS has the most comprehensive attention to security issues of any web publishing system ever.
To put it simply, no other open-source web portal provides the use of HTML templates with the ability to retrieve and store page content/website configuration in an SQL database, which is The Point.
(Last updated on 9-12-2003)
