News & Updates

Version 2.0

Stacey version 2 is finally here.
It is a complete rewrite, involving some major new feature additions and cleanups to the codebase. Most of the work has been behind the scenes, to make the app is easier to work with for developers, but stacey sites are still created in the same way.

I have learnt a lot since v0.9 was released, about writing a php application, but also about how to abstract key areas to increase the flexibility of the system. The new version is the result of all the feedback and assistance of the users, so many thanks to everyone who got in touch or contributed their time to the project.

Notable new features:

1. Added a simple, but efficient templating language
2. Default rss feed
3. Allowance for infinite depths of hierarchy
4. More detailed documentation
5. Improved/extended handling of assets
6. Markdown parser for content files
7. Restructured php

Also, importantly, the new system is no longer limited to serving html. Your output could be xml, rss, atom, rdf or json.

I also have to thank two developers for making version 2 possible.
Firstly, Ben Schwarz for his help with the rewriting of the codebase (he started a rewrite of the project which eventually became Bonsai), and secondly, Ian Yamey for his invaluable help with the writing of the template parser and with the restructuring of the app.

The staceyapp website itself is also now running on stacey and you can view its source files at http://github.com/kolber/stacey-site.

The outcome of all this is stacey version 2. I hope you find it useful.

Download Version 2 →
or, Read more about it →

Stacey V2 Coming Soon

For the last few weeks I have been working on a complete rewrite of stacey. The focus has been to extend the basic ideals of the project (simplicity & ease-of-customisation) into a system that will work with larger-scale websites as well as portfolios.

This has meant the addition of a proper templating system, enabling the system the recognise unlimited depths of folders, recognise any file type and a general cleanup/refactoring of all the main classes and logic within the app.

If you want to try out the new functionality, you can check out the V2 branch on github.

I’m currently in the process of writing up the documentation for all the new features, so everything should be ready for an official launch sometime before Christmas.

Version 1.2 Released

This is a minor update which fixes an issue with the caching system that was introduced in v1.1.

1. If you were having problems with Stacey not recognising updates to your .txt files, v1.2 will fix this.
2. Additionally, I have made some modifications to the rewrite rules to stop stacey consuming urls that it doesn’t need to. This means stacey will ignore any requests for folders which sit on the same level as /app, /content, etc. So you can now have a full wordpress installation running from /blog without stacey interfering.

Version 1.1 Released

Updates

1. With this version support has been added for .mov, .mp4, .html & .swf files. This means you can now use Quicktime movies, Flash and Youtube/Vimeo videos within your site.
   The new asset variables are:
   @Video – Any .mov or .mp4 files attached to the page.
   @Html – Any .html files attached to the page. This is used to embed Youtube/Vimeo videos.
   @Swfs – Any .swf files attached to the page.
   @Media – Any .mov, .mp4, .swf, .html or image files attached to the page.
   The default templates have all been updated with examples using the new asset types.
2. The @Images partial now has access to a new variable @name, which is taken from the filename of the image and can be useful for setting short captions or alt text.
3. The @Category_Lists variable now has access to any variables inside the the category it is currently referencing within the loop. The partials within the third template have been updated to take advantage of this addition.

Video sizes

As .swf and .mov/.mp4 files require a fixed width and height, your files need to be named to a specific format (widthxheight.mov).

ie. ‘300x150.mov’ – where 300 is the width of the video and 150 is the height.

Including Youtube/Vimeo movies

Within your page’s folder, create a file named youtube-include.html (it can be named whatever you like as long as it ends in .html). Within that file cut and paste the embed code from Youtube.
ie.

<object width="425" height="344">
  <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8NzMsktBcmI&hl=en&fs=1&"></param>
  <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param>
  <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param>
  <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8NzMsktBcmI&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed>
</object>

Then in your page’s template, replace @Images with @Media.

Thanks

With this release the code behind the app has been cleaned up immensely. For this I have to thank stacey’s main Github contributors:
Justin Ridgewell – http://github.com/somedumbme91/
Ian Yamey – http://github.com/ianyamey/
BigEthan – http://github.com/bigethan/

Third Template Released

I’ve uploaded the third stacey template. This version gives an example of the potential layout uses for the thumbnails.

See it running here:
http://template3.staceyapp.com

and download it from here:
http://www.staceyapp.com/templates.html

Second Template Released

I’ve just added a second default stacey template. It runs the project list on the left-hand side and capitalises on the minimal elegance of Courier New.

See it running here:
http://template2.staceyapp.com

and download it from here:
http://www.staceyapp.com/templates.html

Running stacey on OSX

I have just added a tutorial to help get stacey running locally on Mac OSX 10.5 or higher. Check it out here: http://staceyapp.com/running-on-osx.html

Version 1.0 released

Version 1.0 is now officially released.

Things that have changed in v1.0:

1. The projects folder is now renamable
2. The projects folder can now be duplicated
3. Templates are now selected based off the name of the page’s .txt file
4. Project ordering is now reversed (which makes it much easier to add new projects to the top of the list)
5. Improvements to the caching system (which now also uses e-tags)
6. Cleaned up the .htaccess file to fix incompatibilities with some servers
7. Each type of page now has its own default fallback template

All the documentation has been updated, so that’s the best place to read about the changes in more detail.

You can get the new version here:
http://staceyapp.com/download.html

Or read about how to upgrade from v0.9x here:
http://staceyapp.com/upgrading-from-0.9x.html