DaveNet: Tuesday, March 4, 1997; by Dave Winer.

Content Server Preview

Large dynamic sites with lots of authors.

That's been our goal since May 1996. Publishing systems for the web like the ones we developed for the print world in the early 90s. Design separated from content. Writers submit pieces via email or FTP. A consistent look for the pages. It should be easy for designers to change the look of a site without involving the writers.

Lots of writers, using the tools they like the best. HTML out of the way. Use it if you want to. Glossaries manage the links. A systematic approach to website management, leveraging the talents of geeks, artists and writers. And leveraging standards like email, FTP and HTML. Bigtime editorial software for anyone with a Mac and a web server.

The software is here now. A milestone is crossed. Hot damn!

A preview

A new term. Content Server. Find a Mac on your network that's underused. Run AIMS, NetPresenz, Frontier and the new Publisher suite. You need a Frontier-skilled webmaster to run the site, but you don't need to write scripts or templates to write for the site.

We're running one of this new breed of servers for Apple at the InternetWorld show next week in Los Angeles. It'll be a first. The first time a high flow site with lots of writers isn't stuck in a sea of static HTML-bound pages.

A preview for members of the Frontier community. It was worth climbing the learning curve. Now you've got a unique skill. If you're developing a site that lots of people will participate in, check this software out. It's a system that's going to build and grow. A new level. The next layer!

Brent's site

Brent Simmons of WorldWide Power and Light is working on the software on contract with UserLand. You can read the docs on Brent's site and download a beta. This is the software we'll run at InternetWorld.

http://www.wrldpwr.com/contentServer/

Go get it and let's have fun!

Dave Winer
Tue, Mar 4, 1997 at 6:23:23 AM