Greymatter

Greymatter is a free, open source blogging software released by Noah Grey in November 2000. Greymatter requires no database; its only requirement is Perl support on its webserver. It features robust options and extensibility, with a focus on customization and user control. Its current version is 1.3.1.

Design

Greymatter is written in Perl. It is made to reside in the cgi-bin subfolder of one's website. The blog itself resides either on the main page of the server or in a subfolder. The archives reside in the main folder or in a subfolder, traditionally called "archives". The main, archive, and entry pages are written in HTML.

Source files

GM.cgi is the main powerhouse of the program and the largest file.
GM-Authors.cgi contains author information, which is now encrypted (as of version 1.21d)
GM-Banlist.cgi contains a list of banned IPs (usually comment spammers) which is editable through GM.cgi.
GM-Comments.cgi contains the subroutines not only for comment posting and viewing but also for searching entries.
GM-Config.cgi has information relating to user preferences and site information.
GM-Counter.cgi keeps track of the number of entries, archived entries (entries older than X number of days, specified by user, default 7), the "stay at top" entry which sits at the top of the main page, positive and negative karma votes, comments, opened entries, and closed entries (equivalent of deleted entries but can be re-opened at any time).
GM-CPLog.cgi contains raw HTML for the control panel log (optional feature, user specified).
GM-Entrylist.cgi is a list of all of the entries and information about each (time of post, author, and so on).
GM-Karma.cgi contains the subroutines for karma voting.
GM-Library.cgi contains the most used subroutines.
GM-Templates.cgi contains the user-specified templates for the site's HTML and the format of the entry.
GM-Upload.cgi is the script that enables users to upload files to their site through Greymatter to their archives directory.

Functionality

Greymatter is very fast because it is written in Perl and can manipulate many files at a time. However, there are some flaws which some users have take upon themsevles to fix (the code is open source).

Static pages

Greymatter creates static pages. Therefore, when an entry is edited, only the main page and the entry's page are rebuilt (not the monthly or weekly archive file). While static pages are arguably quicker to load for the user, it is time-consuming for the author to contstantly rebuild files. Also, by using static pages, at least twice as much space is used on the server as is needed (the entry files, .cgi format, as well as individual entry pages in HTML and weekly or monthly archive logs in HTML).

Besides this, sometimes rebuilding is impossible and leads to Greymatter timing out and showing a blank window (usually when there are massive amounts of entries being rebuilt, when rebuild All Files is selected).

Too many entries

While Greymatter saves entries with 8-digit filenames in the format XXXXXXXX.cgi, after 5,000 entries diagnostic mode will not work. This bug was fixed but shows that large numbers of entries hinder Greymatter's performance ability and were not truly planned for.

See also: Forum topic on the bug

Raw HTML

Raw HTML is included in Greymatter's original Perl source files. The developers discussed the idea of extracting the HTML used in the Greymatter front page's many tables, and a version was made, but was never popularized. This leads the Greymatter source files to be larger than necessary (mostly GM.cgi).

Usability

Because Greymatter is written in Perl, it needs to be chmodded before use. Though an experienced web guru or installer can make the installation in under five minutes, for a one-time install it is more work than many other programs available. It is advertised as being for novice or advanced users ^*. However, Greymatter does automatically try to detect web paths (though not usually successfully) and has many common defaults set.

Features

Greymatter's main features are that it is written in Perl, resides on your own server, and saves .cgi files of the entries (plain text format, though), as opposed to using PHP and a MySQL database as most blogging software use today. Greymatter has many mods which let users use emoticons and post current mood/music.

There is also an "entrymore" text which is displayed on the entry's individual page, allowing users to customize the summary which appears on the main page of the blog. Greymatter is easy to customize and is open source, allowing users to edit the HTML and/or Perl contained within. Many users have been known to edit the color scheme of the Greymatter user page (originally purple, yellow, and green).

Greymatter contains many variables within double curly braces (i.e. displays the subject). These variables let users completely customize the way Greymatter displays entries and also the layout of the page. While some variables are predefined by Greymatter, the and variables can contain anything from HTML to Perl.

See also: Full list of features

Mods and edits

Many users have edited Greymatter because it is open source. The best known mods are by Foshdawg for the 1.21 versions. The site also includes information on the set up of all of the cgi files Greymatter uses.

Popular mods and the most recent development to Greymatter have been made by Flipped Cracker and Linear. Hazelorb also implemented dynamic, Perl pages and was at one time working on a Java version, showing that Greymatter is extendable.

It has been suggested that Greymatter be rewritten in PHP using mySQL. Developers at the Greymatter Forums continue to create new mods and feature requests.

Future

As of February 2001, Greymatter is no longer being developed by its author, but is instead being maintained and occasionally updated by developers at the Greymatter Forums. A new version has not been released since March 2005 and development is not extremely active, though a core group is attempting a rewrite as Greymatter 2.

Noah Grey has no plans to resume involvement with Greymatter in any form. Originally he had said that future versions of Greymatter may not be free, and he may sometime release a commercial "pro" version Instead of a "pro" version, Grey has written an all-new PHP & MySQL-based CMS, [http://greysight.com/ Greysight, for license to commercial and private clients, available since May 2005. At this time, Noah is on indefinite hiatus from web development projects.

See also: Does Greymatter have a future?

External links

Greymatter website
Greymatter Forums
Greymatter information including user manual, installation guide, and FAQ.

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