If you’ve read any of my recent posts about issues with error logs and “garbage” pages being dynamically produced, you’ll know that we’re pinpointed a problem with Alloy that to fix will require the dev’s input. Of course, that won’t happen now, so it’s time to look for an Alloy replacement.
Any replacement MUST have the ability for the end-user to add blog posts via the browser. Over ans above that, a wish list…
The ability to have uploaded images automatically resized and optimised.
Taking point 1. a bit further, also cropping uploaded images to be pre-specified aspect ratio.
As well as the ability to uplaod a header image, the ability to also add images into the body.
Full body text formatting with some sort of in-browser editor.
Add add-on plugin/stack that will drop snippets of the last X posts onto another page.
Stacks Pro compatible, or an active dev that will make it compatible.
I think that’s it for now.
What can people suggest? It doesn’t have to be RW native, so long as it can be added to pages via a HTML stack.
As you may or may not know, Total CMS 3 is currently in beta. Before I release it, I do plan on building an Alloy blog import feature to help deserted users have a nice and easy path to a supported system.
That would be super handy, but plans for TCMS2 also?
My reluctance with TCMS has always been cost. My sites are at the budget end of the spectrum, I make my money hosting. So the cost of a licence could be 20% of my total cost. Plus, if I were to update my Alloy sites to it, that would be a substantial cost I couldn’t recoup.
That said, if there were an upgrade tool from Alloy to TCMS2, that could be a big swing.
I second everything you wish for. I loved alloy not only for its blog capabilities but also the embed and droplet functions. has always been the easiest and most simple way to enable non-tech clients to edit parts of their website.
It´s a pity that foundry-lovers are left in the dark today!
Agree. Alloy was lovely to use, and my clients liked it too.
It’s an enormous shame that Adam wouldn’t hand it over to another dev to take forward, if for no other reason to offer some sort of ongoing support to existing users. I’ve about 20 sites using it, so switching them to a new system is not something that can be done quickly.
I am currently looking for the best possible way to build a website with a blog and some cms feature requests. The ideal use case for foundry + alloy - but I do not want to build a new website with foundry 2 + alloy which are not supported anymore.
I think I´ll dive into source for the website and for the cms part 1LDs quick admin stack seems to be nice…
But what about the blog???
TCMS is overkill. the poster 2 stack is - as far as I am informed correctly (?)not designed for online editing via browser by the client - which would be a no go in this case.
(maybe I am wrong but the instacks documentation and demos etc. are horrible and always leave me with more questions than answers)
yes, very strange why he didn’t release the almost finished paid foundry3 update. he could have released a paid alloy update afterwards. I think there would have been more than enough interest. the elexir-community was very large.
in the meantime, the first versions of Stacks Pro and Elements would certainly have been available. and he could have developed it for both sides …
even if it is very sad - but we cannot change things. there are alternatives in the market and new options on both sides will certainly be available soon …
thank you for the suggestions. regarding my usual client, the pricing is over the top.
do you know if bloghandy is referring to the total number of blog posts for the ENTIRE blog? or to the number of blog postsPER MONTH? (“e.g. 5 Total Blog Posts”)
for most of my clients, blogging is more an option than a must. I guess, most of them wouldn´t be willing to invest a couple of hundred dollars per year for that
The problem with these solutions, IMO, is THEY host that files. At least, that’s my understanding. This is a no-no as far as I’m concerned. When someone else hosts part of your mission-critical infrastructure you will always be at their mercy.
No doubt there will be a chorus of disapproval for my suggestion, since ‘you can‘t go tampering with a developer’s code’ (even if they’ve sold you something that doesn’t work, and have now abandoned you), but I would attempt to fix the problem here. More specifically, I’d ask a friendly LLM to take a look at the code, and come up with a fix. I have various orphaned stacks that have been given a new lease of life, and had some major failings remedied, through some judicious hacks. (I’m not a Foundry user, but I‘d also add that all Foundry needs to be compatible with Stacks Pro is for somebody to port the theme, which is hardly a major undertaking.)