SPS Newsletter: June 2003

WELCOME TO THE SPS NEWSLETTER

This is the premier issue of the SPS Newsletter, a monthly update of news and events for the SPS user community. We're new at this, and we need your comments. Write us at sps-newsletter@clevernamehere.com.

NEW IN SPS

There has been a lot of development within SPS this month. Several new features are included in the latest version, 4.1.94:

- A better installer. The installer now builds the database schemas for you, and several permission glitches have been resolved.

- An improved sample site. The sample atlas site distributed with SPS had not been updated for over a year, and had fallen out of step with SPS development. It has been brought up to date.

- A mechanism for cacheing configuration files. This can dramatically improve the performance of the SPS administrator, especially on sites with large configurations. Read about this new feature in the manual, at
http://www.clevernamehere.com/sps/manual/faq/faq_21.html

- A plugin module, simpleSpider, to support non-SPS templates. This is described below, or read about it at

http://www.clevernamehere.com/sps/manual/template/simpleSpider.html

NEW PLUGIN MODULE: SIMPLESPIDER

For new users, the most daunting aspect of SPS is the templating system and the MODULE_COMPLEX. The architecture was designed to create a clean separation between design, content, and logic, as well as to work well with static pages. However, the syntax often requires a change in mindset, especially when users are used to writing dynamic pages in which the design and code are more tightly merged, as is the case with ASP, JSP, PHP, or ColdFusion pages.

SPS now includes a feature to allow these templating languages to be used within an SPS-managed site. Simply put, the new plugin module SimpleSpider allows users to create truly dynamic templates in an arbitrary language. These templates are "spidered" and converted into static pages on the staging site.

Since this feature is structured as a module, an SPS-managed site can have a mix of standard MODULE_COMPLEXes and SimpleSpider modules, allowing for a gradual transition to the standard SPS syntax. Naturally, the dynamic pages can query databases administrated via the SPS content administrator. Since changes made through the administrator are immediately visible, this is a good solution for environments in which previewing is important, for example, when administrators need to see their changes immediately without regenerating the site.

The SimpleSpider module is distributed with (and under the same license
as) SPS. It is fully documented in the manual, and includes a sample dynamic template and an example configuration module. We hope that this simple feature will greatly reduce the learning curve for SPS, and make the system useful to novice users much more quickly.

FEATURED SITE

Our featured site this month is Creative Capital's channel site, located at
http://channel.creative-vapital.org

The Channel is Creative Capital's online venue for funded projects, showcasing work by grantees in the visual arts, performing arts, emerging fields, and film/video arts. Here you can learn about artists, watch and listen to screenings, view still artwork, hear sound presentations, and more, plus get up-to-date news and find out about related events.

Creative Capital uses SPS to maintain all their content within a database, and to regenerate the site as needed. The site contains the work of hundreds of grantees and projects, organized by discipline, medium, topic, region, and year. Streaming media are also maintained through SPS, including audio, video, and animations. The finished site, launched just last week, contains over 1,600 pages, and is growing daily.

Creative Capital, a New York City-based nonprofit organization, acts as a catalyst for the development of adventurous and imaginative ideas by supporting artists who pursue innovation in form and/or content in the performing and visual arts, film and video, and in emerging fields. We are committed to working in partnership with the artists whom we fund, providing advisory services and professional development assistance along with multi-faceted financial aid and promotional support throughout the life of each Creative Capital project.

DOWNLOAD SPS

The latest version of SPS (currently 4.1.94) is always available for download at
http://www.clevernamehere.com/sps/dist/

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The SPS Newsletter is a monthly update of news and events
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