Egg Freckles

Stacey is a framework for building simple websites.

The project is based around two core ideals:

• Separating textual content & assets from your HTML
• Keeping ugly PHP-style logic out of your templates

Stacey accomplishes this without a database, or installation files. Simply drag the application onto a web server with PHP installed and Stacey starts runing. “Content is managed by creating folders and editing text files.” Templates are generated by authoring HTML with a special set of tags. You have complete control over every piece of markup that is generated. All of the dynamic parts like breadcrumbs, navigation lists, and embedding images are handled for you automatically.

I start a new note in Stacey by copying the folder for the last note I have written. Each folder contains all of the note’s assets. Text can be written in plaintext, markdown, or HTML. Images can be .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, or .png. Stacey also supports videos, sounds and PDFs.

Each note’s folder receives a unique name and number. The number determines the note’s position in the blog. Older entries have a lower number. Newer entries have a higher number. The name determines the note’s URL (slug). Categories are notes separated into folders. The text in each note can be tagged with metadata including title and date. New tags can be created as needed.

I do all of my editing in VIM on the same server that hosts Egg Freckles. Some people sync what they write from a local computer using Dropbox or rsync. Because everything I write is in plaintext, I can edit from a Mac, Newton, or mobile phone.

Even though Stacey is old, and no longer being maintained, I still use it. I like that Stacey doesn’t use a database, and every edit I save is published instantly without pressing a button. I started Egg Freckles with the goal of writing a blog that looked like a Newton on a Newton. Stacey isn’t the only CMS I can use from my MessagePad, but it is the closest I have come replicating the Newton experince.