Be a Part of the Action, Help Me Build "Essay"

The theme you are seeing is "Amazonia"

Some of my other creations: Coders Junction and HomePage.

These other CMS creations are no longer being actively upgraded. I am replacing them with Essay.

I am always open to suggestions.

I finally got TinyMCE and elFinder talking again. I have found that what works on one system may not work on another. I've used both applications together for years in several projects I have designed. And TinyMCE has always been a problem. But, anyhow, they seem to be getting along now.

Okay, what I'm doing here is building a Content Management System (CMS). It will be safe, secure, easy to work with, and just a lot of fun to have around. And I am slowly getting there. I am usually a fast coder, but this project has slowed me down. And it's the usual stuff. Editor problems have been the biggest pain in the butt. And you wanna know how I finally fixed it? I went back to a tutorial I did at Coders Junction (my main site), copied a block of code and pasted it in, and voila, the sucker gave in.

Anyhow, as I said above, I am using TinyMCE version 8.9.1 and elFinder 2.1.70. I integrated elFinder with TinyMCE, and it handles all of the media. Images, videos, that kinda stuff. I am coding it in PHP 8.5.10 and PHP Data Objects (PDO). I am using MariaDB version 10.11.18 as the database. That version of MariaDB isn't the newest, but it is what my online VPS uses, and I didn't want to take the time to back up all the databases just to upgrade. Finally, I use WAMP as my home base server and it's running all of the same versions of everything I described.

Anyone can request that a feature be added by contacting me. I can't guarantee that the feature will be included in the build, but I will take a serious look at each and every one of them. Thus far, there are three that I added. Pages, Photo Gallery, and a Lightbox for the photo gallery.

If anyone wants to keep up with what's being done, you can look here.

Some Worthy Features

*Security Inactivity Timer: I have added an Inactivity Timeout. Here's how it works. If the admin is logged in and working on something, then suddenly has to leave the computer, the timer starts a countdown. When the preset time expires, the screen freezes and turns dark. There is a notice that pops up telling the admin that the timeout was reached and the admin's session is logged out. The admin can choose to either log back in or close the dark screen and return to the index page logged out.

I spent a lot of time perfecting this feature, and it is well worth the time I spent on it. I designed it to meet my need for security. I may add an auto-save feature to it so if the admin is working on something before suddenly leaving the computer, that work will be saved. I have tried a couple of ways to achieve this, but neither worked well enough to suit me.

*Admin Quick Editing: When the admin is logged in, an Edit and Reposition icon can be seen at the bottom of articles and blocks in the sidebars. When the admin clicks on one of these icons, a window will slide in from the right side of the screen. In that window is the article or block that was chosen to be edited. The admin completes the edits, clicks the update button, and closes the window. All without leaving the index page.

*Drag-and-Drop Repositioning: This feature allows the admin to reposition articles and blocks just by dragging them into their new position. To do this, the admin clicks the arrow icon. The right-side window will open. Inside the window are the small blocks that represent the blocks and/or articles. The admin left-clicks and holds the mouse button down and drags the block into its new position, and it is automatically saved. When done, the admin can close the window and refresh the index page.

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

*Theming System: I had some problems getting this one working as well as the other two CMS's I have designed. But it's running well now. The theming system lets admins design themes and offer them to other people who will be using Essay in the future. Members of an Essay site can go to their account dashboard and select the theme they want to use when logged in. Very soon, I will be creating some new themes here.

*Photo Gallery: This was a very easy project. The admin can use the media manager to create folders in the media library. Then go to the gallery builder and point to the folder they want to show in the gallery. Lightbox2 will automatically attach itself to each photo. The admin can assign the gallery to the menu or place a gallery on the index page.

*Page and Article Builder: If the admin decides to allow members to create pages and articles, then all a member has to do is go to one of the Builders and start working. There are two sidebars and center content in the Page Builder. They all use a WYSIWYG editor (TinyMCE). There is one drawback, though: all images have to be linked. Meaning they are stored someplace else, and the builder has to click the image icon in the editor and add the link address to that image to add it to the page being built. 

*The End Is Here? Maybe some of you followed along as I built this CMS. When I looked at the visitor counter this morning, it read 666. Is that an omen? I doubt it. But anyway, I'm finished with this creation. Or I thought I was. Now on to something new? Or maybe something old just getting redressed. I can tell you, since we know each other so well, my next creation is going to be repurposing MegaMenu and integrating it here. Then I have other creations in mind. So anyway, stick around if you want. I never know what I will get into next, and neither do you.

*The End Is Not Here: In making my decision earlier to wrap up this creation, I have rescinded that. I have, and I'm sure of it, decided that I am going to continue my work on "Essay" and make it into a full-fledged Content Management System (CMS). I'll continue to keep you informed about what I'm doing. The things I'm adding and the direction I'm taking "Essay". Stay Tuned.

What Has Been Completed?

The Article builder is up and running, but the styling sucked. I had to smooth that out.

Built a theme and I plan to get deep into it today. I'm starting with Crescent, my favorite. But a new project, and I have to start in the basement and work my way up with any theming system. That's just the way things work.

Sorted all of the files into the directories that I favor.

The Block builder will be used to add content into the sidebars.

Menu system. I use the best menu in the world. It has never let me down. And I can't for the life of me remember where I got it.

I've either finished a lot of this stuff or at least know where I'm headed with it.

Image by Markus Winkler from Pixabay

Stuff like this that has also been completed:

Seriously needed to finish the sidebars and general settings pages.

Needed to finish the theme system. I have one theme "Crescent" and will be completing another "Midnight". The admin sets the active theme in the settings dashboard.

Uploaded a lot of files today (Sunday 8-30-2026) that I finished up yesterday.

The place looked ugly for a couple of days, but you gotta start uploading files early in a project because what you design locally may need some adjusting when turned loose on the web.

You probably noticed a lot of entries about the theming system. I finally sat down this week and finished it. Themes can be edited, new ones created, and can be downloaded and shared.