First impressions of Typo
Initially based upon a desire to explore Ruby on Rails beyond its famous 15 minute presentation, I have selected Typo for my blog software. Having spent a small amount of time working with it in my test environment I have come to the conclusion that it is more than sufficient for this site.
While it is early days for Typo, I have been impressed with the simple administration interface that it provides. There are a number of interactive elements such as the drag and drop controls for the side bar content that are an improvement over systems that I have used in the past. Having had my fair share Javascript experience, I find myself appreciative of the effort that goes into constructing this type of functionality for the web. Looking into the system a little further however highlights the use of Javascript libraries such as Prototype and Script.aculo.us to deliver some key parts of this functionality. These libraries seem to have some affinity with Ruby on Rails, which I think is another reason why Rails seems to be getting the attention that it is. Beyond the simple development structure that it puts in place, the developers appear to understand the needs of their users to construct interactive sites in an efficient manner. By aligning themselves with interactive web functionality made easier through these Javascript libraries the association between Rails and Web 2.0 is enhanced to a point that should ensure Rails’ continued growth to the detriment of other web platforms over coming months. Whatever really happens, this is certainly a space to watch as other platforms begin to emulate Rails.
Back on the Typo front though, I think it is worthwhile to point out that the theme support for Typo is also reasonable on first approach and that there are a number of pre-built themes that are worthwhile looking over at typogarden.com for those of you who are interested. Be careful however, some themes only provide support for trunk releases of Typo. My suggestion, as I have done here, is to use a basic theme that supports the latest stable release before exploring trunk versions.
