# Newspaper **URL:** \ **Category:** Radiant CMS\ **Created:** [March 26, 2007, 1:11pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newspaper/90145 "2007-03-26T13:11:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![braver](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@braver](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/braver)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 1:11pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newspaper/90145/1 "2007-03-26T13:11:23Z")
Greetings – I’m evaluating Rails-based approaches to publishing a newspaper. The difference with blog is that I’ll have to have many authors and the front page which is more than a single column. I’ll need to have several columns, and top and bottom pf the page, all fed from different categories. So far most sites I’ve seen are like WordPress – a single boring column of a single guy. Are there Radiant sites doing complex layout with several authors, and how do you manage that? Cheers, Alexy ---
**Author:** ![braver](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@braver](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/braver)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 2:56pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newspaper/90145/2 "2007-03-26T14:56:56Z")
On 3/26/07, Alexy K. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > So far most sites I’ve seen are like WordPress > – a single boring column of a single guy. That is because far most sites are blogs, not because their CMS is limited. With Radiant, your layout can be as complex as you make it. You can have as many authors as you wish and render their names above/below the articles appropriately. This is how I render the “news” column (3 most recent entries) on one of the sites I manage: ## Read more ... So, this is a proof-of-concept that any “category” (simply a branch in the content tree) can be rendered wherever you need. The rest is all information architecture, design and project realization in HTML and CSS. ---
**Author:** ![braver](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@braver](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/braver)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 3:04pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newspaper/90145/3 "2007-03-26T15:04:58Z")
Cool. So that’s Radius, right? Not to start any flames, but to compare – also came across Mephisto, which uses Liquid for templates. Is Mephisto suitable for a newspaper too, and how does it compare with Radiant? Cheers, Alexy ---
**Author:** ![braver](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@braver](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/braver)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 4:20pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newspaper/90145/4 "2007-03-26T16:20:15Z")
Alexy K. wrote: > Not to start any flames, but to compare – also came across Mephisto, > which uses Liquid for templates. Is Mephisto suitable for a newspaper > too, and how does it compare with Radiant? Mephisto is a better blogging engine. Radiant is a better CMS. Both can be used as blogging engines or content management systems, but they are both focused mostly on one or the other. – John L. [http://wiseheartdesign.com](http://wiseheartdesign.com) ---
**Author:** ![braver](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@braver](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/braver)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 4:37pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newspaper/90145/5 "2007-03-26T16:37:17Z")
On 3/26/07, Alexy K. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Not to start any flames, but to compare – also came across Mephisto, > which uses Liquid for templates. Is Mephisto suitable for a newspaper > too, and how does it compare with Radiant? Content in Radiant is tree-based - all your pages are children of other pages, with the exception of home page which is root. Therefore, you can have rich content hierarchy organizing articles in branches, but you can’t publish the same page under more than one branch. You can explicitly assign templates to each article, or let them inherit the template from their parent (default behavior). The killer feature (IMO) of Radiant is that pages can have multiple custom-named parts. There are also special types of pages: archive (adds blog-like dates to URLs), 404 not found, mailer … Some of them are distributed via extensions. In Mephisto, things are more flat. Articles are organized in sections, and you can have a single article appear in multiple sections. You assign layouts to sections. You can have blog-like dates in URLs (based on your preference); sections can also have custom URLs. The killer features of Mephisto are overview (who logged in last, when, what changed recently, new user comments), asset manager and theme manager. Articles in Mephisto can only have two parts: “extended” and main. Authors in Mephisto cannot for some reason enter their full name to be displayed, just their usernames. Radius is slightly better documented than Liquid - you can even open up a Radius reference straight in the admin interface. Liquid is more beautiful for people who don’t like XML-like templating languages. A recent enhancement to Mephisto enabled designers to code not only in Liquid, but in RHTML, Erubis or Haml. Both Liquid and Radius prevent potential malicious attempts - designers can’t execute Rails code. I agree with John that Mephisto is a better blog engine (comments overview and approval, Askimet integration, sections, theme manager) while Radiant is a better CMS (simpler interface, rich hierarchy, flexibility). Still, there are Mephisto sites that don’t look like blogs and Radiant sites that are blogs. It all comes down to your specific needs. ---
**Author:** ![braver](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@braver](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/braver)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 5:55pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newspaper/90145/6 "2007-03-26T17:55:41Z")
Here’s an example of a site with more complex layouts that we recently released: [www.grouptravelorganiser.com](http://www.grouptravelorganiser.com) It’s based off a quite extensively modified pre-mental radiant base, in desperate need for a move to mental and having the modifications ported over to the extensions system but I think it demonstrates the potential for more than just a blog site. Kevin On 3/26/07, Alexy K. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Are there Radiant sites doing complex layout with several authors, and > how do you manage that? > > Cheers, > Alexy > > * * * > > Radiant mailing list > Post: removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid > Search: [http://radiantcms.org/mailing-list/search/](http://radiantcms.org/mailing-list/search/) > Site: [http://lists.radiantcms.org/mailman/listinfo/radiant](http://lists.radiantcms.org/mailman/listinfo/radiant) – BN23 Search Limited is Registered in England Company Number: 5323555 VAT registration Number: 896 69 0062 BN23 Search Limited Temple Grove Compton Place Road Eastbourne East Sussex BN20 8AD ---
**Author:** ![braver](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@braver](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/braver)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 11:15pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newspaper/90145/7 "2007-03-26T23:15:09Z")
On 3/26/07, Mislav Marohniæ [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > I agree with John that Mephisto is a better blog engine (comments overview > and approval, Askimet integration, sections, theme manager) Does it mean Radiant as of now doesn’t have commenting engine? I intend to have comments under each article, and in fact am considering Slashcode and LiveJournal for the level of importance I attach to such dialogue… Would Radiant be able to manage that with perhaps more Rails plug-ins, or one would have to need an overhaul? Cheers, Alexy ---
**Author:** ![braver](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@braver](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/braver)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 4:23pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/newspaper/90145/8 "2007-03-26T16:23:15Z")
Alexy K. wrote: > The difference with blog is that I’ll have to have many authors and > the front page which is more than a single column. I’ll need to have > several columns, and top and bottom pf the page, all fed from > different categories. So far most sites I’ve seen are like WordPress > – a single boring column of a single guy. Radiant can present content in with any layout you like. Here’s an example of a slightly more complex variation on the two column approach: [http://noblecall.org/](http://noblecall.org/) – John L. [http://wiseheartdesign.com](http://wiseheartdesign.com)