8 ms·

Ospari: PHP based Blogging software that can use Ghost themes

32 points by techvibe2 13y ago

techvibe2 13y ago
By our first post on HN some users criticized us that we call Ospari open source but no one can see our code or download Ospari. We worked hard and released the first version today.
wyck 13y ago
You need to write some documentation if you want to get anyone interested.
- techvibe2 13y ago
  Thank you. Yes I would write detailed documentation.
- robzienert 13y ago
  Tests would be good, too.
  - ryan-allen 13y ago
    WordPress is doing pretty well with no tests!
    - wyck 13y ago
      WP has tests, they are not perfect but they exist. http://unit-tests.svn.wordpress.org/trunk/ http://unit-tests.svn.wordpress.org/trunk/ https://github.com/10up/wp_mock https://github.com/10up/wp_mock
    - camus2 13y ago
      Wordpress has zillion of tests.WP real problem is its architecture but since its authors want to support legacy PHP versions it's not going to change.
freshyill 13y ago
Somebody explain why this is necessary. Ghost is open source. Why not just uses Ghost? It also uses Ghost themes.
- dangrossman 13y ago
  To run Ghost, you need a server to host it on, and enough knowledge to set it up and manage it. You need some level of sysadmin skills just to understand the install instructions. A PHP application can be dropped on any $2/month shared hosting account over FTP. That's the extent of the installation, and the host will support it for you. Even cheap unmanaged shared hosts will troubleshoot setting up PHP code for customers. Ghost can only be set up by people that frequent sites like HN. A PHP app can be set up by anyone. That's why over 40 million people use WordPress where maybe 20k have used something like Jekyll.
  - mattkirman 13y ago
    While not quite the same as having FTP access Ghost do offer hosted blogs from only $5 per month. Anyone that can set up a WordPress.com blog should find Ghost just as easy.
    - jbeja 13y ago
      Ok, but not everyone can pay Ghost hosting plan, since "$" is not the default and official currency in every country.
      - mattkirman 13y ago
        The Ghost Foundation is a UK organisation and I can assure you that USD is not the default currency here. If they're willing to make the effort to accept USD, I'm sure there are plenty of bloggers able to make the effort to pay using it. Regardless, USD is the de facto standard for SAAS payments (whether this is good or bad is a discussion for another time). If you can't pay in USD then you'll find a substantial proportion of services unavailable to you.
  - 13y ago
RealGeek 13y ago
Could you post few screenshots of the admin panel? A functional demo of admin panel would be even better.
- techvibe2 13y ago
  Here is a quick screen short http://awesomescreenshot.com/04e2brbo81 http://awesomescreenshot.com/04e2brbo81 We a basic and clean admin interface. Ospari uses Markdown. You have a live preview as you type and everything is auto saved.
  - techvibe2 13y ago
    Follow us on Twitter @Ospari for updates. We would post more detailed docs in the next days.
citricsquid 13y ago
Quick feedback: Don't commit vendor packages to your repository, make use of Composer (http://getcomposer.org http://getcomposer.org). Separate out your application core from the public folder, that way you don't need to rely on your web server for security: if someone uses nginx your set up leaves them vulnerable. Look into MVC, you have logic and display mixed together.
- Schlaefer 13y ago
  > Don't commit vendor packages to your repository, make use of Composer But make sure you have a complete package for enduser (if you believe it's ready). This is very important esp. for PHP audience: download, unzip, upload, see "Hello World". Automate this early, it will pay off fast.
- techvibe2 13y ago
  You are right. The application does not belong to public folder. My goal is to make installation as easy as possible. Just copy the code and start to blog. Another reason is, that you can't easily run the application in subdirectory for example /blog/ if put the application code behind public folder. Composer is a good Idea, but with first version we wanted to deliver one single package for the end users. We would use composer for the next releases.
  - citricsquid 13y ago
    If you absolutely cannot separate out the public portion of the application from the core -- which should be possible because even the worst shared hosts allow for folders above public_html -- then you'll need to use a PHP solution for protection the files. For example if you define a constant in index.php and then check for that constant in included files you can prevent access, eg: defined('BASEPATH') OR exit('No direct script access allowed'); From https://github.com/EllisLab/CodeIgniter/blob/develop/application/controllers/Welcome.php https://github.com/EllisLab/CodeIgniter/blob/develop/applica...
    - techvibe2 13y ago

32 points by techvibe2 13y ago

By our first post on HN some users criticized us that we call Ospari open source but no one can see our code or download Ospari. We worked hard and released the first version today.

wyck 13y ago

You need to write some documentation if you want to get anyone interested.

techvibe2 13y ago
Thank you. Yes I would write detailed documentation.
robzienert 13y ago
Tests would be good, too.
- ryan-allen 13y ago
  WordPress is doing pretty well with no tests!
  - wyck 13y ago
    WP has tests, they are not perfect but they exist. http://unit-tests.svn.wordpress.org/trunk/ http://unit-tests.svn.wordpress.org/trunk/ https://github.com/10up/wp_mock https://github.com/10up/wp_mock
  - camus2 13y ago
    Wordpress has zillion of tests.WP real problem is its architecture but since its authors want to support legacy PHP versions it's not going to change.

freshyill 13y ago

Somebody explain why this is necessary. Ghost is open source. Why not just uses Ghost? It also uses Ghost themes.

dangrossman 13y ago
To run Ghost, you need a server to host it on, and enough knowledge to set it up and manage it. You need some level of sysadmin skills just to understand the install instructions. A PHP application can be dropped on any $2/month shared hosting account over FTP. That's the extent of the installation, and the host will support it for you. Even cheap unmanaged shared hosts will troubleshoot setting up PHP code for customers. Ghost can only be set up by people that frequent sites like HN. A PHP app can be set up by anyone. That's why over 40 million people use WordPress where maybe 20k have used something like Jekyll.
- mattkirman 13y ago
  While not quite the same as having FTP access Ghost do offer hosted blogs from only $5 per month. Anyone that can set up a WordPress.com blog should find Ghost just as easy.
  - jbeja 13y ago
    Ok, but not everyone can pay Ghost hosting plan, since "$" is not the default and official currency in every country.
    - mattkirman 13y ago
      The Ghost Foundation is a UK organisation and I can assure you that USD is not the default currency here. If they're willing to make the effort to accept USD, I'm sure there are plenty of bloggers able to make the effort to pay using it. Regardless, USD is the de facto standard for SAAS payments (whether this is good or bad is a discussion for another time). If you can't pay in USD then you'll find a substantial proportion of services unavailable to you.
- 13y ago

RealGeek 13y ago

Could you post few screenshots of the admin panel? A functional demo of admin panel would be even better.

techvibe2 13y ago
Here is a quick screen short http://awesomescreenshot.com/04e2brbo81 http://awesomescreenshot.com/04e2brbo81 We a basic and clean admin interface. Ospari uses Markdown. You have a live preview as you type and everything is auto saved.
- techvibe2 13y ago
  Follow us on Twitter @Ospari for updates. We would post more detailed docs in the next days.

citricsquid 13y ago

Quick feedback: Don't commit vendor packages to your repository, make use of Composer (http://getcomposer.org http://getcomposer.org). Separate out your application core from the public folder, that way you don't need to rely on your web server for security: if someone uses nginx your set up leaves them vulnerable. Look into MVC, you have logic and display mixed together.

Schlaefer 13y ago
> Don't commit vendor packages to your repository, make use of Composer But make sure you have a complete package for enduser (if you believe it's ready). This is very important esp. for PHP audience: download, unzip, upload, see "Hello World". Automate this early, it will pay off fast.
techvibe2 13y ago
You are right. The application does not belong to public folder. My goal is to make installation as easy as possible. Just copy the code and start to blog. Another reason is, that you can't easily run the application in subdirectory for example /blog/ if put the application code behind public folder. Composer is a good Idea, but with first version we wanted to deliver one single package for the end users. We would use composer for the next releases.
- citricsquid 13y ago
  If you absolutely cannot separate out the public portion of the application from the core -- which should be possible because even the worst shared hosts allow for folders above public_html -- then you'll need to use a PHP solution for protection the files. For example if you define a constant in index.php and then check for that constant in included files you can prevent access, eg: defined('BASEPATH') OR exit('No direct script access allowed'); From https://github.com/EllisLab/CodeIgniter/blob/develop/application/controllers/Welcome.php https://github.com/EllisLab/CodeIgniter/blob/develop/applica...
  - techvibe2 13y ago