Post Archive
› May 13, 2004
MovableType 3 Developer Edition
Congrats to Sixapart on their release of MT3 - developer edition. The idea with this release (as outlined by Mena) is to support and encourage the development of 3rd party plugins - even before the system itself includes any significant feature updates. A new contest with cool prizes encourages plug-in development.
Will we be trying MT3 here? I'd certainly like to. I'd even invest some dollars into it, as I'm glad to pay for software put to such good use (I donated way back when as a show of support). Unfortunately the new pricing schema is based on the number of blogs and authors you need to setup. We have only 2 blogs (one for main site, the other for the resources page) but there are 32 authors. That's not even an option in the current pricing tables.
Perhaps more versions will be offered for oddball situations like the one we have here, but meanwhile here's what we face:
- Stay with the current install of MT (not too shabby, but I'd like to move on)
- Upgrade to MT3 but limit and rotate authors
- Upgrade to another system such as Textpattern or WordPress or something else
- Make our own homebrew CMS
So anyways, it will probably be a week or two (or more) before I have the time for a complete overhaul, so now is a good time to consider options. Any thoughts, recommendations, opinions, or suggestions are very welcome. Thanks to Bump for the info.
Comments
1. May 13, 2004 11:34 AM
2. May 13, 2004 11:40 AM
blakems Posted…
You can always try blogger, they have stepped up their efforts recently.
3. May 13, 2004 11:43 AM
Nate Posted…
Oh that's a good point, I forgot that Blogger allows multiple authors. I wonder how many can be added to a team blog?
4. May 13, 2004 11:43 AM
Derek Posted…
The ExpressionEngine is by far my current favorite. It has unlimited blogs, unlimited authors, no rebuilding, unlimited custom entry fields (the best feature!), expiration dates for posts, nested categories, and a whole lot more. The template system is fantastic, support is free and very fast, etc. All for the price of a measely 5 user license with the new waaaaaaay over-priced MT3.0 system.
5. May 13, 2004 12:02 PM
Nate Posted…
Mezzoblue dailies has link to MT3 vs ExpressionEngine, which looks like a worthwhile read on the subject.
6. May 13, 2004 01:41 PM
Anne Posted…
Nate, a team blog can be easily expanded and it can become as large as you want AFAIK.
7. May 13, 2004 03:15 PM
Nate Posted…
Don't have time to comment on this, but it's on the topic: http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/4870.
8. May 14, 2004 03:00 AM
Matt Posted…
WordPress also has sub-categories and "unlimited" custom fields now, too. I'd be happy to help you out with the transition, as would dozens of other WP volunteers.
Nate, in that post Tim seems to think people are complaining about paying for something. I don't see that, in fact most people are saying they'd gladly pay for MT and have donated substantial amounts in the past, but with the new licensing, much like this site, they don't fit in anywhere.
9. May 14, 2004 09:12 AM
Nate Posted…
I agree Matt. I think most folks were prepared to pay for MT 3, but not prepared for the blog/author/price relationship crazyness that seems rather arbitrary. If it were me, I would have made the commercial version start at $2,000 US dollars and go up from there, but kept the personal version at $45 and unlimited.
The weekend blog warriors were Six Apart's greatest asset - it's a shame they seem to have screwed that up. But, you never know, maybe they can figure out how to turn this whole thing on it's head, maybe even bad news can be good publicity.
Meanwhile, folks on the Textpattern forum have also got an MT post importer working
10. May 15, 2004 09:13 AM
yy Posted…
For me, the biggest thing about MT besides the software itself, was the community built behind it, in the form of plugin developments and support forums. I have no doubt that in the light of this pricing scheme that this will fade as people won't be able to afford it
11. May 17, 2004 12:21 PM
Adam Posted…
YY, I completely agree with you about the community. Having made the decision to move on to a different CMS, losing the MT community is one of my greatest disappointments. It is by far the most helpful, friendly, involved software user community I've ever been involved in.
WordPress is what I've chosen to move to from MT, in part because they seem to have a similar community spirit. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.
Simon Jessey Posted…
Since you have a large pool of talented designers and developers to draw from, I would think a home-brewed CMS was the answer. Failing that, I heartily recommend the excellent WordPress.