SkyBlueCanvas A Lightweight CMS Written in PHP

SkyBlueCanvas v1.1 Stable Official Release

Sun, 1 Feb 2009 02:41:01 GMT

Richmond, VA - The SkyBlueCanvas Development Team has announced the release of version 1.1 Stable of the SkyBlueCanvas Lightweight content management system (CMS). The new version includes several updates including better performance, improved Search Engine Optimization tools and support for the TinyMCE and FCKeditor WYSIWYG text editors.

New Site of the Month Feature

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:12:01 GMT

Starting in 2009, the SkyBlueCanvas development team will select a site each month that uses the SkyBlueCanvas Lightweight CMS. Sites will be judged primarily on the aesthetics of the design, but consideration will also be given to innovative customizations through the user of Ajax and custom modules and/or fragments.

SkyBlueCanvas passes 10,000 Downloads

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:12:01 GMT

I am very happy to announce that on November 21, 2008, just 8 months after it's official release, SkyBlueCanvas passed the 10,000 downloads milestone. I am extremely honored that you and so many others have expressed interest in my lightweight CMS. So allow me to say "thanks" for your continued support.

Philipp Freidl Joins SkyBlueCanvas Dev Team

Mon, 24 Nov, 2008 17:13:01 GMT

The SkyBlueCanvas Development Team is happy to introduce our newest member - Philipp Freidl. Philipp is a student of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at UT Graz in Graz, Austria.

SkyBlueCanvas Passes 5,000 Downloads

Fri, 1 Aug 2008 17:27:01 GMT

August 1, 2008 marks an exciting milestone for SkyBlueCanvas. As of today, SkyBlueCanvas has surpassed 5,000 downloads. This is an exciting milestone especially since SkyBlueCanvas was only officially released on March 28 of this year. The software is downloaded an average of every 36 minutes. The timing of reaching this milestone is a great time to share some more exciting news.

Steve Fister Joins the SkyBlueCanvas Dev Team

Thurs, 31 July 2008 13:57:01 GMT

SkyBlueCanvas is happy to announce that a new developer has joined the development team to help with Developer Documentation. Steve Fister, an e-Learning Architect and Web Developer working in New England for TIBCO Software, Inc. headquartered in Palo Alto, CA.

Todd Crowe Joins the SkyBlueCanvas Dev Team

Thurs, 31 July 2008 11:50:01 GMT

SkyBlueCanvas is happy to announce that a new developer has joined the development team. Todd Crowe, formerly a developer for NetScape and AOL will be joining the team to help with the PHP architecture and programming.

SiteVars Plugin for SkyBlueCanvas Lightweight CMS

Tues, 15 July 2008 19:45:01 GMT

Announcing a new plugin that allows you to reference PHP variable values in your articles and HTML templates is available for SkyBlueCanvas.

SkyBlueCanvas v1.0.3.2 Now Available

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:03:01 GMT

SkyBlueCanvas v1.0.3.2, with several bug fixes and a few new features is now available.

Support for Google Gadgets

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 00:00:01 GMT

SkyBlueCanvas can now support Google Gadgets via the existing Plugin API and Gadgets extension written by Scott Lewis, the developer of SkyBlueCanvas.

New Plugin API

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 00:00:01 GMT

SkyBlueCanvas just became more flexible with a new plugin API. In fact, there are two plugin APIs. A traditional Observer Pattern call method and an inline call method.

SkyBlueCanvas v1.0 Official Release

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 00:00:01 GMT

Scott Lewis, an independent developer located in Richmond, Virginia has announced the official release of SkyBlueCanvas v1.0, a lightweight, zero-configuration content management system (CMS) for small business and personal websites. SkyBlueCanvas was designed specifically for those projects where more robust systems like Joomla are too much horsepower.

A New Milestone for SkyBlueCanvas

Sat, 30 May 2009 17:11:21 +0000

I have just completed the coding for SkyBlueCanvas version 1.2. The new version is an important milestone for the lightweight CMS because it is the first version to fully implement i18n (internationalization) support, the MVC (model view controller) design pattern and a lightweight ACL (access control list) to support multiple users and access permissions.

SkyBlueCanvas in the Media

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 03:52:35 +0000

SkyBlueCanvas has received some nice media attention in recent weeks. So I thought I would write a quick post to link to the sites that have been kind enough to give us some attention. All of these sites as well as the entire open source community are funded in large part by donations and sponsor ads and affiliate programs. Please support their sites and their sponsors.

Fragmentor Plugin for SkyBlueCanvas

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 01:19:46 +0000

Fragmentor is a plugin to be used instead of or alongside the default Fragment Plugin in SkyBlueCanvas. Fragmentor provides template and fragment developers an alternative and much more flexible syntax for loading dynamic content views (fragments) into SkyBlueCanvas web pages. Since the plugin uses a different syntax from the default fragment plugin, it will not conflict with it. With Fragmentor, you can pass an arbitrary number of key=< value pairs of data from your article text or template file.

Editable Sidebar Content Hack

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 00:27:48 +0000

A few nights ago, Steve Fister, one of the SkyblueCanvas Development Team Members posed the question again and offered a few ideas on how to pull it off. After thinking about Steve's suggetions, I realized that this is actually quite easy to do. In fact, with Steve's idea, you can add an editable text block anywhere on a web page. What's more, with a little SkyBlueCanvas Skin Magic, you can build page-specific text blocks, so if you want a different block of text to appear on different pages, you can do it with this trick.

MyVars String Replacement Extension

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 07:28:25 +0000

The new MyVars extension allows you to create custom search variables/tokens that will be replaced with the values you specify when your web page is rendered in the browser. This feature can be helpful when you want to be able to easily change bits of informatin such as phone numbers, emails, web page URLs or image paths. You set the value once, and it is displayed anywhere in your site you choose. If the value changes, you only make the change in one place.

Converting Themes for SkyBlueCanvas

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:14:19 +0000

One of the most common questions we are asked is how to convert existing or stock HTML templates to work with SkyBlueCanvas. In this article I will guide you, step-by-step, through the process of adapting any existing skin to work with SkyBlueCanvas. This process, once you understand the fundamentals, usually takes about an hour - sometimes even less. In fact, the skin we will use in this tutorial took only 30 minutes.

Why and How SkyBlueCanvas is Free

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 01:41:55 +0000

When I first built SkyBlueCanvas, I was a freelance web designer and developer. For seven years I struggled to make ends meet working on small projects that were not very profitable. I knew there had to be a way for me, and the thousands of other independent web professionals, to make a living working on the limitless number of small projects out there. If you are a freelance designer or developer, you know what I mean.

Creating Menus in SkyBlueCanvas v1.1

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:58:40 +0000

When you create a new page in SkyBlueCanvas, a menu item is already created for you. In fact, there is not really a menu item to create because the system assumes, by default, that if you have created a page, there should be a menu link for. I mean, how else would anyone find your page if there is not link, right?

Upgrading to SkyBlueCanvas v1.1

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 15:31:31 +0000

Upgrading SkyBlueCanvas is simple because all of the files that are editable are contained in a single directory: /skyblue/data/ When you upgrade to a new version of SkyBlueCanvas, you simply need to make a copy of this directory, install the new version following the instructions on the Installation page, then copy your data file back into /skyblue/data/.

SkyBlueCanvas v1.1 RC1 Skins Explained

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:18:54 +0000

If you have used an earlier release of SkyBlueCanvas and are now upgrading to v1.1 RC1, you have probably noticed that the skins are a bit different. Normally, I would not want to make a change with as much impact on existing users as this one, but the change was really necessary. This article will explain the underlying concepts of the new skin format and the API hooks at your disposal. For users of older versions of SkyBlueCanvas, your existing skins will still work. There are some minor caveats to this that I will explain later on.

SkyBlueCanvas - A Lightweight, Open Source CMS written in PHP

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 07:47:32 EST

{plugin:fragment(teaser)} SkyBlueCanvas Lightweight CMS is Free Software! SkyBlueCanvas Lightweight CMS is an open source, free content management system written in php and built specifically for small web sites. The entire site you are viewing is a demonstration of the SkyBlueCanvas lightweight CMS. SkyBlueCanvas is custom-built for those instances when more robust systems like Joomla, WordPress and Drupal are too much horsepower. SkyBlueCanvas makes it very easy to keep the co

About the SkyBlueCanvas Lightweight, Open Source CMS written in PHP

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:24:22 EDT

Why Another Content Management System? There is no shortage of available software packages to manage web sites . There are numerous, well-established content management systems available commercially and as open source software . Many of the available systems offer excellent support, mature development platforms, large developer and user communities and in some cases thousands of available third-party add-ons to meet almost every customization need. What there is a shortage of is we

Download PHP Themes, Extensions & Plugins for SkyBlueCanvas, the Lightweight Open Source CMS

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:27:05 EDT

Looking for SkyBlueCanvas templates? Visit the SkyBlueCanvas Templates Download page. Important Note Due to limited time, I am no longer supporting SkyBlueCanvas v1.0 extensions. All extensions listed below are compatible with SkyBlueCanvas v1.1 and newer only. Name Description Modified Version Type Tasks SkyBlueCanvas v1.1 Stable The SkyBlueCanva

Features of SkyBlueCanvas, the Lightweight Open Source CMS written in PHP

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 06:45:27 EST

Simple SkyBlueCanvas allows you, the site owner, to keep your site content fresh using the skills you already have. If you can use a word processor, you can write your site's text. You can upload your photos and other art work directly from your browser with a few clicks of your mouse (4 clicks to be exact). SkyBlueCanvas uses easy-to-understand menus, buttons, and forms to give you the power to change the text and artwork on your site. In most cases, it is just point, click, type and th

News About SkyBlueCanvas, the Lightweight Open Source CMS written in PHP

Sat, 10 May 2008 17:59:22 EDT

No description available.

SkyBlueCanvas Lightweight CMS Demo

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 12:01:04 EDT

[[page.redirect(http://demo.skybluecanvas.com/)]]

Contact SkyBlueCanvas, the Lightweight Open Source CMS written in PHP

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:48:22 EDT

No description available.

Installation Instructions

Sat, 10 May 2008 18:59:05 EDT

FTP Installation: Download the tar file and extract the contents into a folder on your compter. Log into your FTP account on your webserver and upload the SkyBlueCanvas code. Change the file permissions of /skyblue/data/ to 755 and apply the changes recursively to all directories and files in the /skyblue/data/ directory. When you log in to the Admin Control Panel, go to Admin > Settings > Default Info, and enter the info in the form. This will enable e

Plugin Example for SkyBlueCanvas, the Lightweight Open Source CMS written in PHP

Sat, 10 May 2008 19:09:08 EDT

Plugin API Method No. 1 SkyBlueCanvas has a very flexible yet simple plugin API. Actually, it has 2 plugin APIs for greater flexibility. The first API is almost identical to the API used by Wordpress and Joomla - both of which use the Observer design pattern. Calling an Observer plugin in SkyBlueCanvas is simple. Create a file named 'myplugin.php' and save it in /skyblue/data/plugins/myplugin.php. In the file, include the following code: global $Core; $Core->RegisterEvent('OnBefor

Template Example for SkyBlueCanvas, the Lightweight Open Source CMS written in PHP

Sat, 10 May 2008 19:10:52 EDT

[[page.redirect(http://blog.skybluecanvas.com/skybluecanvas-lightweight-cms/skybluecanvas-v11-rc1-skins-explained/)]]

Extension Example for SkyBlueCanvas, the Lightweight Open Source CMS written in PHP

Sat, 10 May 2008 19:12:34 EDT

SkyBlueCanvas Lightweight CMS Extensions The code below is the actual code for the Events manager for SkyBlueCanvas. As you can see, the code is short and simple. Most of the heavy lifting is handled by the Manager superclass. The HTML code that follows the sample PHP code is the input form for editing Events items. Init(); } function AddEventHandlers

Sample Plugin for SkyBlueCanvas, the Lightweight Open Source CMS written in PHP

Thu, 3 Apr 2008 15:04:25 EDT

SkyBlueCanvas Lightweight CMS Plugin Method No. 1 SkyBlueCanvas has a very flexible yet simple plugin API. Actually, it has 2 plugin APIs for greater flexibility. The first API is almost identical to the API used by Wordpress and Joomla - both of which use the Observer design pattern. Calling an Observer plugin in SkyBlueCanvas is simple. Create a file named 'myplugin.php' and save it in /skyblue/data/plugins/myplugin.php. In the file, include the following code: global $Core; $Core-

Gallery Example for SkyBlueCanvas, the Lightweight Open Source CMS written in PHP

Sun, 6 Jul 2008 18:53:08 EDT

SkyBlueCanvas Lightweight CMS Gallery Example This page is a demonstration of the SkyBlueCanvas Photo Gallery module. The SkyBlueCanvas Gallery module has built-in support for both the LightBox and ThickBox overlay plugins for jQuery. The example on this page uses the LightBox modal overlay for jQuery.

Templates for SkyBlueCanvas, the Lightweight Open Source CMS written in PHP

Sat, 10 May 2008 19:10:29 EDT

Beautiful, High Quality Skins We highly recommend ThemeForest.net for high quality, beautiful HTML templates for as little as $10. We even have a tutorial on our blog to help you integrate the templates with SkyBlueCanvas. Read Converting Skins for SkyBlueCanvas . Free SkyBlueCanvas Skins These free SkyBlueCanvas-compatible skins were designed by Erwin Aligam of StyleShout.com and have been modified and are re-distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution. Ple

Gadget Example for SkyBlueCanvas, the Lightweight Open Source CMS written in PHP

Sun, 6 Jul 2008 18:54:40 EDT

Google Gadgets in SkyBlueCanvas Lightweight CMS SkyBlueCanvas now has built-in support for embedding Google Gadgets in your pages. Using the Gadgets Plugin, you can embed a Google Gadget anywhere on the page you like. The syntax for embedding the Gadgets is very similar to the SkyBlueCanvas Plugin syntax: { gadget : gadgetname } for inline Gadgets or, <--#gadget:name--> for comments Gadgets in your template HTML. Example: {gadget:weather}

Site Map of SkyBlueCanvas, the Lightweight Open Source CMS written in PHP

Mon, 7 Jul 2008 00:20:21 EDT

SkyBlueCanvas.com Site Map [[site.map]]

Forum for SkyBlueCanvas, the Lightweight Open Source CMS written in PHP

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 02:50:39 EST

[[page.redirect(http://forum.skybluecanvas.com)]]

How Joomla influenced SkyBlueCanvas, the Lightweight CMS

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:32:12 EDT

SkyBlueCanvas History I began using Mambo, the Joomla predecessor in 2003 while working as a freelance web designer and developer. I really liked the system but found that Mambo and Joomla were, on my smaller projects, just too feature-rich for my clients. The development of components, modules and templates was very easy for me, but the adminstration of the site was too complicated for many of the smaller web site owners for whom I was doing work. So in 2005 I decided to build a lightw

Open Source Development Team of SkyBlueCanvas, the Lightweight CMS written in PHP

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:17:24 EDT

The SkyBlueCanvas Development Team Scott Lewis (Founder and Developer) Scott Lewis is the creator of SkyBlueCanvas. Scott works as an Enterprise Content Management System developer in Richmond, Virginia, USA. Scott's background is in graphic design, though he does very little design these days. Scott started programming in 1998 with AppleScript and has 7 years of software development experience. In addition to SkyBlueCanvas, Scott is also a core developer on the WYMeditor Open Source Pro

Code Patches for SkyBlueCanvas, the Lightweight CMS written in PHP

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 10:53:54 EST

SkyBlueCanvas Code Patches This page lists recent patches to the SkyBlueCanvas code. Each patch includes installation instructions, the patch date and to which version of SkyBlueCanvas the patch applies. For PHPv4 Users If your web server is running PHPv4, you will encounter an error when trying to use the Skinner or Installer. The fix is very easy. Open the file /skyblue_root/includes/mvc/loader.php in a text editor, and delete the following code: class NoSuchFileException extend

RSS Feed for SkyBlueCanvas, the Lightweight Open Source CMS written in PHP

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 23:48:13 EST

[[page.redirect(rss/)]]

Preferred Hosting for SkyBlueCanvas, the Lightweight CMS written in PHP

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 08:36:24 EST

SkyBlueCanvas Preferred Hosting Provider If you have bought services from a few shared hosting providers, you have probably noticed that all providers are not created equal. Not every web site owner can be an expert on proper server administration and it is difficult to find good information about the correct configuration that allows the web site owner to install the software they need while maintaining the security and integrity of their web site. SkyBlueCanvas.com is hosted by Host

Make Money By Becoming a HostICan Affiliate

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 08:36:24 EST

Why We Give it Away When I first built SkyBlueCanvas, I was a freelance web designer and developer. For seven years I struggled to make ends meet working on small projects that were not very profitable. I knew there had to be a way for me, and the thousands of other independent web professionals, to make a living working on the limitless number of small projects out there. If you are a freelance designer or developer, you know what I mean. I decided to make SkyBlueCanvas open source

Bankston and Bailey, LLC - SkyBlueCanvas Site of the Month

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:35:57 EST

Site of the Month - April, 2009 Bankston & Bailey, LLC has been selected as the SkyBlueCanvas Lightweight CMS site of the month for April, 2009. Bankston & Bailey, LLC, located in Richmond, Virginia, are Central Virginia's premier designers and makers of fine custom furniture. They also design and build custom architectural elements (such as fireplace surrounds, raised panel wainscot, and built-in bookcases) as well as fine museum display cases. The Bankston & B

Perfect Nutrition, Inc. - SkyBlueCanvas Site of the Month

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:35:57 EST

Site of the Month - February, 2009 Perfect Nutrition, Inc. has been selected as the SkyBlueCanvas Lightweight CMS site of the month for February, 2009. Perfection Nutrition, headquartered in Los Angeles CA Perfect Nutrition Inc is a leading distributor of nutritional sport supplements, beverages and functional food products. The Perfect Nutrition web site was designed and built by the fine folks at Orange Coat, a top-notch web design company in Greenville, SC. Please check out their w

Get Involved In the SkyBlueCanvas Project

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:50:52 EST

From the Development Team Thank you for downloading SkyBlueCanvas Lightweight CMS. We are happy to be able to provide this software to you free of charge and we hope that you find it useful. We Need Your Help Open source software is community-driven and any open source project is only as strong as it community of users. The more users who get involved with supporting, promoting and expanding on the software, the better the software becomes because it is a collaboration of the talents

Editable Region Hack

Sat, 7 Mar 2009 15:31:21 EST

[[page.redirect(http://blog.skybluecanvas.com/skybluecanvas-lightweight-cms/editable-sidebar-content-hack/)]]

SkyBlueCanvas Web Business Resources

Sat, 7 Mar 2009 18:43:32 EST

The SkyBlueCanvas store is a comprehensive list of web business resources.

SkyBlueCanvas Search Page

Sat, 7 Mar 2009 17:59:26 EST

No description available.

New FormBuilder 0.2 for SkyBlueCanvas

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 03:57:50 EDT

Important: This is a Beta version of the new FormBuilder. The code has not been fully tested and should not be used on production web sites. You will also need to install this extension manually via FTP. FormBuilder requires an updated version of the Fragments Plugin. You will need to upgrade your existing Fragments Plugin with the version included in this package. Download FormBuilder 0.2 Beta Install the 'forms' Manager in /skyblue_root/managers/ Inst

Please Donate to SkyBlueCanvas

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 04:04:15 EDT

Help Support SkyBlueCanvas Development I know it is considered poor taste for an open source project to explicitly request donations. But why should this be? I have devoted 5 years of my time to provide you with a tool you can download, use and modify for free. In addition to offering the software for free, I also provide free support. If you like the software and find it useful, please consider making a donation of at least $10 to help support the future development - especially if you

SkyBlueCanvas Security Advisory

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:01:34 EDT

June 17, 2009 - SkyBlueCanvas Security Advisory A few days ago, it was brought to my attention that SkyBlueCanvas has a few minor security vulnerabilities (thanks, MaXe). Within 24 hours of becoming aware of the vulnerabilities, I issued a patch. However, it appears that the patch that I issued to close the vulnerabilities is causing more problems that it is fixing. I am advising anyone who updated to v1.1-r246b or v1.1-r246c, to revert back to v1.1-r246 (no "b" or "c"). We have

SkyBlueCanvas Site of the Month - July, 2009

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 07:50:39 EDT

Site of the Month - July, 2009 L'Ambre Company has been selected as the SkyBlueCanvas Lightweight CMS site of the month for July, 2009. L'Ambre Company is a website that promotes the L'Ambre Group line of Perfumes and provides information about the L'Ambre Group's business associates program for Belarus, Russian and Ukraine. The site uses a nicely customized version of the Eco Theme from ThemeForest.net . Previous Featured Sites Bankston & Bailey, LLC (April, 2009)