All about Ego

FAQ + how to

Why use Ego over another blog package?

Don't. There are plenty that are mature, user friendly, and well supported. Ego is none of that yet. If I haven't talked you out of it, the Template Toolkit is simply amazing for templating. This is the only blog I'm aware of based on it. It really does make some other templating languages seem lacking.

Catalyst means adding a new branch of the site with fresh behavior is often as simple as dropping in 10 lines of code. The development community behind these things is often doing much more serious applications than HTML web posts. You'll reap those gains if you want to add PDF, or image tools, or something else to your site that would normally take unpleasant piles of Java or C. It also means you can run your site as CGI, FastCGI, modperl, or modperl2. That is unprecedented in blogging and all but unheard of in web applications.

Perl means that you have the fruits of the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN) at your disposal. Thousands of modules to do anything you can imagine, from image manipulation to web spidering, just waiting for you to start cooking.

Why release it when it's so shakey?

Release early. Release often. The more eyes and hands on it, the faster it will improve. The more public the code is, the more pressure on the developer to make it right.

How do I get Ego?

You skipped a step, Speed Racer. Try installing Ego.

Why call it Ego?

Ego is simply Latin for "I." Somewhere along the way, "I" became a dirty word. The epitome of dangerous nonsense. Web journaling (blogging) is a perfect place to try to reclaim the word. It's also a good bit of facetiousness.

How do I contact the developer?

Write email to "apv," care of "sedition.com." Salient feature requests, code contributions, and feedback are tremendously appreciated.

Can I contribute to this project?

If you hack Perl, Catalyst, XHTML, or CSS, please do! Email address above.

I know WordPress a bit, where are the themes for Ego?

None yet. To write your own, edit the approrpriate files in the site's $ENV{EGO_CUSTOM} directory. If you hack one together and want to share it, please let us know.

I tried a first post but it's not showing up.

Check to see if the post's golive date is in the past and its takedown date is in the future. Posts can be put up for limited times. If right now is outside that time, the post won't show up.

How do I customize my site?

You can change layouts, CSS, and other display bits simply via editing files in the $ENV{EGO_CUSTOM} directory.

How do I add functionality to my installation of Ego?

For code plugins or data additions, please see the installed Perl/Catalyst library and the documentation for Catalyst. You'll have to hack in there. We may have a plugin library one of these days to make getting and sharing them easier.

How do I program in these templates?

The templating language is the Template Toolkit. It. Is. Awesome. It makes most other templating systems and languages seem quite emaciated. While, not always simple, it is entirely worth the effort to learn.

Macros... Extending "Site"...

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Why in the world would you choose tags of [[ ]]?

The default tags for Template Toolkit are [% %]. While they are excellent markers visually, they are a pain in the ass to type. Ours are very easy type and visually scan almost as well.