./ STORIN.NL \.

[BLOG] | [TEXT VERSION] 15 November 2024
Storin t'Kel                                                  2024-04-12
Chat and CMS Roadmap                                        version 0.55
Informative                                                         Blog

Table of Contents

    1.  Chat function to website
    2.  CMS Roadmap plans
      2.1.  HTML choice
      2.2.  CSS choices
      2.3.  Clean codes
      2.4.  Javascripts?
    3.  Afterthought
    4.  References


1.  Chat function to website                                       [top]

   So, I was in need of a project because I was bored. It has been 
   quite a while since I did anything truly SQL/PHP related but I 
   believed it was time to pick that up again and so I did it.[1]

   The script will be shared when I feel confident enough it is safe 
   and good enough. Having said this, my goals for this chat were to 
   create a simple chat function that runs on PHP and SQL, of which the 
   output is as clean as it can be. This means that my code should 
   always be 100% validated XHTML 1.0 Strict and CSS Level 1. It also 
   means that everything has to load fast, so I was in doubt in regards 
   to allowing other stuff like emoji's and BB Codes.

   In the end, after five minutes of contemplating, I decided not to 
   add BB Codes at all as it has no use anyway. What I then decided was 
   to allow emoji's but I didn't want to deal with <img src="bla" /> 
   tags within the HTML output. So instead I went for unicode[2]. This 
   meant that I would save kilobytes in rendering the HTML, it also 
   saves kilobytes of storage. I mean, if you're as minimalistic as I 
   am then such things are to be considered.

   Furthermore I decided to separate the CSS for the chat into its own 
   file. This should be an example that there is nothing wrong with 
   having a few different CSS files to cater to different functions 
   within a website. In this case the whopping 400 bytes of CSS is 
   separated from the enormously large site.css file, which has a 
   shocking amount of 838 bytes. I mean, for a simplistic site like 
   this we wouldn't need much more.

   So that's the end of this subject. Chat is now online. Enjoy!

2.  CMS Roadmap plans                                              [top]

   On to this subject. I decided a while ago that I want to create a 
   CMS that actually outputs clean codes and which creates files that 
   are fast and furious. Keep in mind that the development will take 
   quite a while as it is a project I will take on by myself. Expect a 
   year at the very least. For now this document focuses on the early 
   thoughts regarding this subject, do not expect a lot of details just 
   yet.

   My roadmap is as follows:

2.1.  HTML choice                                                  [top]

   My CMS, name still to be determined, will have a choice of XHTML 1.0 
   Strict and HTML5, using as much semantic tags as possible within the 
   HTML codes.

   My choice to offer this choice is based on personal beliefs versus 
   the future of webdesign. HTML5 is a living standard and XHTML is no 
   longer recommended by the W3C[3]. Let us face it, as much as I 
   promote the usage of XHTML, realistically I have been doing this for 
   decades and I flat-out ignored the 2009 reports regarding continuing 
   developing HTML and discontinuing the development of XHTML.

   Therefore HTML5 will be the valid choice, XHTML will be the 
   historical choice.

2.2.  CSS choices                                                  [top]

   Having said this, with XHTML 1.0 Strict also comes CSS Level 1 if 
   one truly wishes to work within the confines of such strictness.

   CSS 3 will be offered to work with HTML5 within the CMS.

2.3.  Clean codes                                                  [top]

   Understanding how simple I view these things, let me now discuss 
   something important by listing them:

   CSS Bootstraps?    : My ass!
   Code blobs?        : Hell no!
   Plugin Support?    : And ruin the good stuff? No!

   Readable code?     : Yeap, both Human and Machine readable
   Validated codes?   : Yes, no warnings, no errors, no info messages
   JS support?        : Nope

   So that's how simple it gets.

2.4.  Javascripts?                                                 [top]

   But wait, no Javascripts?

   Well, my hatred towards javascripts stems from the fact that people 
   use it to make page-breaking javascripts; you'd have to whitelist 
   such pages in your NoScript[4] addon in order to load the site in 
   question. Mastodon[5] is such an example, and why I won't join their 
   social media. There are many websites who hold similar views.

   So my CMS will not generate any JS at all within the HTML documents. 
   I am going to use JS functionally in the backoffice of the CMS. With 
   this I am talking about using CMS to click one button and then set 
   in motion an event to fill in the HTML code.

   An example is wanting to select a bunch of words and then clicking 
   on the <strong> button to make the text bold. The functionality of 
   JS is then purely aimed at that. The CMS would still work if JS is 
   disabled, but then you'd have to implement the codes yourself rather 
   than select and click a button.

   In short: Back-office of CMS has functional JS, but it won't break 
   the page if JS is disabled.

3.  Afterthought                                                   [top]

   This was a relative short post I wanted to write. The Chat part was 
   fun to make and, code aside, I doubt a lot will change.

   The CMS part is something that has been on my mind since recreating 
   this website into what it is now. I just want to prove to the world 
   that clean and readable codes can be achieved through a CMS, that 
   the codes can all be properly validated and that the results are 
   fast without having to use preload JS scripts to rapidly download 
   megabytes of content. So think of it as me fighting against the 
   world. :P

   Anyway, have a great day and enjoy it to the fullest!
   Storin t'Kel

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4.  References                                                     [top]

   [1]  https://www.storin.nl/chat.php
   [2]  https://www.unicode.org/emoji/charts/full-emoji-list.html
   [3]  https://www.w3.org/2009/06/xhtml-faq.html
   [4]  https://noscript.net/
   [5]  https://mastodon.social/