CMS with a Brand New Name: Tinker?

I’ve been wracking my brain about coming up with a name that epitomizes what this CMS is and what it does, and it seems like every synonym to the word simple or easy or clear has been taken. In my mind, much like Yury said the other day in class, people shouldn’t think about managing anything, but rather, that when they see their site, editing isn’t an extra step. If they are logged in, the changes they want to make are available right then, not on some other admin screen. And the fact that this will be built primarily for static or semi-static sites indicates to me that most changes will be only quick edits and simple updates. Lastly, the interface is fun and unique, and working in the system seems almost whimsical in its simplicity. Thus, I (for now) have decided on Tinker. I’d love to hear your feedback.

On the technical end, I’ve built in a lot of the auto-install process for Tinker, and so it is ready for some early alpha-phase testing. If you want to check it out on a site of your own, you can download the files and upload them to your server. The process for getting it running is pretty simple:

1) upload the Tinker folder to your public_html (or otherwise web-facing) on your web server

2) Add the line:
<?php include(“tinker/core/init.php”) ?>

to the bottom of your HTML’s <head> section

3) Navigate to the tinker folder in your web browser and go through the setup process.

IT’S EASY. Also, try out the image uploader, which you can find in the image button in the toolbar. You will have to set your images folder on the admin page to make this work.

And finally, here’s my schedule:

Today April 14
Ensure file structure is robust (can move around without breaking)
Make first alpha version available

Monday 4/18
Develop more finely-tuned Look and Feel prototypes
Alter login and server management for more secure account management
Thursday 4/21
Establish way of saving drafts of in-progress editing
Start observed user testing
Monday 4/25
Create versioning system
Apply final styles of Look and Feel
Post project to KickStarter

Thursday 4/28
Rough draft of paper complete
Release beta version
Install CMS on my mom’s site
Start to develop demo/distribution site

Monday 5/2
More user feedback on latest version
Make further progress on demo site

Thursday 5/5
Final paper complete
Launch demo site
Release final beta

Monday 5/9
Final presentation