Textpattern Solutions: PHP-Based Content Management Made Easy

Textpattern is a powerful, PHP-based content management system that allows you to build pretty much any kind of data-driven website quickly and easily. It is very popular among designers and developers alike, and has an active community of users. Sound good? Well, you're in luck—this book shows you how to use every aspect of Textpattern to a professional standard.

Textpattern (and this book) appeals to two main groups of people:

Firstly, the web designer who has mastered the fundamentals of XHTML and CSS and wants to create sites that have fresh and dynamically changing information, but is not familiar with server-side coding and databases. Never fear—Textpattern enables you to integrate your XHTML knowledge, inserting dynamic aspects into your already solid site design.

Secondly, PHP developers who are looking for a content management system upon which to build additional functionality and want a hand with the design aspects of their site. Again, Textpattern fills in those holes.

The book leaves no stone unturned. It starts by introducing you to Textpattern and guiding you through its very simple installation process. After the core features of the administrative interface are explored, the book dives into building sites with TXP, using CSS, articles, forms, pages, and more to create fully customized templates.

Development follows next, looking at installing plugins and building your own custom plugins to further enhance your Textpattern-based site. The book concludes with several case studies to provide ideas and inspiration, including a weblog, an e-commerce site, and an online review directory.

In modern web development, there is a big focus on using frameworks and other reusable code to build up web sites, rather than writing everything from scratch. Textpattern is one such framework, allowing it's users to build up standards-compliant professional web sites using PHP, MySQL, and CSS, with only a basic knowledge of the underlying technology. It's also open source, so free to use.

It has become very popular, with tens of thousands of downloads to date, and is used on some high profile sites, such as that of Senator Ted Kennedy (tedkennedy.com.)

We are proud to present the first book dedicated to Textpattern development, written by 5 experts. It takes the reader right from the basics of the subject such as installation, right up to advanced subjects like writing plugins. It also includes case studies and reference sections.

Kevin has been working on the web for almost ten years, having started his career designing his first employer\'s website with Netscape and Notepad. He has spent the bulk of his design career working in-house as both a graphic designer and internal web developer. Coupled with years of freelance and agency work, Kevin has created dozens of websites for businesses of all sizes in an array of industries.

Robert has over 10 years of experience designing and developing web-based applications for small businesses up to Fortune 50 companies. From its early gamma releases, Rob recognized the power and flexibility of Textpattern. He has published over 20 Textpattern plugins and numerous tutorials. He also provides custom software development services using Textpattern as a development framework.

He lives with his wife Joci in Copley, Ohio, which is located between Akron and Cleveland. Rob and Joci love to travel together and continue to find new and exciting places to visit. Rob was born and raised in the Cleveland area and continues to be a painfully dedicated Cleveland sports fan.

Nathan Smith is a goofy guy who enjoys practicing and preaching web standards. By day, he works as an Information Architect / Interface Designer at Geniant.com. By night, he is finishing up a Master of Divinity degree via online classes from Asbury Theological Seminary. In 2005, he started Godbit.com as a resource to help the Church better understand how to utilize web standards, and blogs about design semi-regularly at his site SonSpring.com. He has been described by family and friends as mildly amusing, but is really quite dull.

Cody is a web producer for a technology company located in Boise, Idaho. When he is not working with client side technologies, Flash or interaction design, he spends time with his wife and son, enjoying a simple lifestyle in the Northwest. Cody has a passion for Christian theology and takes great pleasure in learning and studying God\'s word. His work and ongoing ramblings can be found at codylindley.com

Mary Fredborg is a member of the Textpattern development team (team.textpattern.com). For more than ten years she\'s been involved in various aspects of web development and remains keenly interested in learning new methods and technologies, as well as refining her existing knowledge and skills. These days you can often find Mary working on Textpattern itself, creating new plugins for it and providing technical support for users of varying levels of experience. She lives in Alberta, Canada with her amusingly crazy dog, who also happens to think the same of Mary.