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The Nature of Kotti
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- Kotti is a software framework used to build websites and web applications.
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+ Kotti is a software system used to build websites and web applications.
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As a user, you don't have to know about the languages used, nor about the focus
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on browser or server programming described below. You just use a website made
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with Kotti. However, understanding the nature of the software will stimulate
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- an appreciation of its strengths and confidence in using it. Also, knowledge of
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- the general environment of website and web applications can help to demysify
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- new ways we all use software, from traditional desktop apps, to the many "apps"
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- available for the iPhone, Android, and mobile devices, to the web-oriented
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- systems like those built with Kotti .
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+ an appreciation of its strengths and build confidence in using it. Knowledge of
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+ the general environment of website and web application software can help you
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+ understand new ways we use software today, as compared to traditional desktop
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+ apps, and the many "apps" available for the iPhone, Android, and mobile
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+ devices .
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Websites and web apps come in so many varieties. Broadly, for the modern World
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Wide Web, several main development approaches are used:
@@ -40,13 +40,31 @@ Wide Web, several main development approaches are used:
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Kotti uses the second approach primarily, in its default configuration, but has
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the flavor of a combined approach, with the latest browser programming
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techniques used for parts of the user interface, and with the programming
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- language Python forming the heart of the system on the server. Kotti uses an
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- expressive programming interface to the database called SQLAlchemy, providing
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- the "secret sauce" for working intelligently with data.
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+ language ``Python `` forming the heart of the system on the server. Kotti uses
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+ an expressive programming system called ``Pyramid `` that forms a very good
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+ foundation. Kotti uses an interface to data called ``SQLAlchemy ``, that
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+ provides an intelligent way to work with a choice of solid databases.
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Kotti forms a great platform for extending with browser programming of advanced
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- graphics and presentation features, to allow a powerful combination of the
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- approaches described above.
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+ graphics and presentation features, combining the approaches described above in
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+ the construction of web applications that go beyond the traditional CMS.
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+
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+ Your Kotti-based website could be an out-of-the-box default site with just a
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+ few add-ons, or it could be a heavily customized site or web app. This user
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+ manual covers use of a default configuration, but should be useful for learning
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+ about any Kotti-based system.
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+
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+ .. Note :: What's the difference between a website and a web app? A website
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+ often appears as multiple pages, and may stress the presentation of
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+ static information, while including traditional web forms for
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+ accepting input from users. A web app in classic form will appear as
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+ a single page with displays that swap out for one another in place,
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+ working more like a desktop application on your computer. These
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+ distinctions need not be limiting; a Kotti system can be built that
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+ has multiple pages, some of which can constitute "web apps" on their
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+ own. One page might present text and images for a static document.
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+ Another might involve dynamic graphics, "rich" interactivity, and
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+ multiple screens that swap out.
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Design Goals
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============
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developers have years of experience in CMS projects and in the languages used
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in Kotti. The future looks bright for the adoption of Kotti for small and large
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websites, for internal company systems, for social media, and many other
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- niches. It is a capable CMS with high potential.
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+ niches. It is a capable CMS on its own, and forms a solid base for programming
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+ in the modern world of the web.
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Programmers of Kotti try to:
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@@ -66,22 +85,26 @@ Programmers of Kotti try to:
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* work collaboratively, using modern development tools, and
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* test the software continuously.
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- The design of Kotti has content storage as something like an outline or tree,
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- where content is nested in a meaningful way. This is the *natural * design
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- aspect. The Document content type is the most important part of this concept.
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+ The design of Kotti features content storage as something like an outline or
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+ tree, where content is nested in a meaningful way. This is the *natural *
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+ design aspect, for which the Document content type is central.
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+
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Documents are added to a Kotti website in the way word-processor documents are
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created on computers, but in the context of the web. Documents contain text and
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may include images, files, and links to other documents. Kotti's design makes
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linking documents to one another happen automatically as the site structure is
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- built. There are easy ways to make custom links between content items, or to
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- other websites.
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-
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- Reiterating the centrol role for the Document content type in organization, we
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- can describe a typical usage scenario. You add documents for each main part of
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- your website. You add documents within those. If your site has a deep
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- structure, you add documents within documents within documents to form a deep
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- nested structure. Everything else can be considered secondary for importance
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- in organization, because you store images, files, and custom content items
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- within documents as the structure unfolds during site construction. A given
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- document will have its own textual content, and will serve as the storage
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- location for the associated images and files displayed or linked there.
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+ built, document by document. There are easy ways to make custom links from
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+ documents to other content items, or to other websites.
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+
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+ .. Note :: A document, thus, does double-duty, presenting its own textual and
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+ graphical content, while serving as the storage location for the
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+ associated images and files displayed or linked therein. A document
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+ is linked to its parent document, and may contain any number of child
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+ documents.
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+ Consider a typical usage scenario for a fresh Kotti CMS website: You first add
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+ documents for each main part of your website. You then add documents within
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+ those. You may add documents within documents within documents to form a deeply
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+ nested structure. Other content types can be considered secondary for
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+ importance in organization, because you store images, files, and custom content
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+ items within documents as the structure unfolds during site construction.
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