New Instance without Starter Site

[Matthew Montgomery]

What is the correct way to bring up a new instance of dotCMS without the starter site data? I found the following thread discussing replacing the included starter.zip with a manually minimized one. Is this still the only way to go about this?

http://forumarchive.dotcms.com/Obtain-minimal-installation-td5134512.html

I am trying to do this with 2.0.1.

Thanks!

--
Matthew

[Chris Falzone]

The starter.zip contains more than just the starter, it also contains the base system roles and widgets and all that as well.  So this is why you have to have the starter site.

The best method is to let it build the starter site, then create a new host and delete the starter host if you no longer need it.   You could do this then export a new starter.zip from it, the problem with is, it is only good for that version and would need to be upgraded an maintained as new versions are released.

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[Matthew Montgomery]

That is what I was thinking. Thanks Chris.

[Jason Tesser]

There is a lot in what you are asking> Many things are on the docsite. ie... for the java and plugin stuff I would read here http://dotcms.com/docs/latest/DevelopmentAndPlugins

Maybe also poke around here http://dotcms.com/docs/latest/BuildingWebsites

For webdav http://dotcms.com/docs/latest/CSSJSEditingWithWebdav and http://dotcms.com/docs/latest/BulkUploadFilesViaWebdav

The starter has a number of examples, themes and widgets to get you going.  There is usually no need to fully delete it but you can. I would just create a new blank host.  Make it the default. Point DNS at it. Then start building folders etc... That is what most people do

Thanks,
Jason S. Tesser
Director, Support Services
dotCMS, Inc.
T: 305.858.1422 x7003
http://twitter.com/dotCMS
www.dotcms.com

On Tue, May 14, 2013 at 6:27 PM, <misa...@gmail.com> wrote:

Would love to hear some feedback from the community.

Very little guidance on this basic task ! How to create a website from scratch using new/blank dotCMS hosts.

* I'm using the Community edition - so no ability to create new hosts using existing hosts as template.

* dotCMS provides no choice of "starter".zip files - i.e minimal-version vs. full-version.

I've tried creating a new host and have downloaded the "HelloWorld" bootstrap "starter" theme.

Created home/index.html - linked to a basic Template and Containers - but the css/styles do not look like they're working.  Images and css/classes are obviously not being found.

I love the idea of driving website design using "structures".  The relationship framework is powerful.

But WHY so little information/tutorial/resources on how to create a website from scratch using dotCMS ?

I'm beginning to think that the only way is just to rename the starter host - and replace/edit as needed.

But if I'm going to make use of the MultiTenant/host abilities of dotCMS - it would be good to find a step-by-step example of how to build a website from scratch/blank-host - using existing "starter" themes like bootstrap, foundation or yaml.

I'll write the documentation just need a hand with best practice and figuring out how dotCMS resolves CSS paths and file-assets/resources ?
What's buried in the database as "assets"... and what's stored as regular files - accessible via Hosts/Folders-WEBDAV access ?

Hope there are some tutorials, resources out there ?

Plug-ins, Java Development, WEVDAV access, file-based javascript and css development is no problem for me.

But I'm finding the learning curve for doing these things within dotCMS containers/widgets/file-assets is way too steep !

I can tinker and reformat the existing starter website.

But I'm miles away from where I should be given the time I've invested - to creating a new website from scratch using dotCMS.

Help !

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[Falzone, Chris]

You might also poke around at:  http://learndotcms.com/

Michael has a book there, even though many of the examples are in 1.9, there is still a lot of relevant information on how to build sites.

Also, the conference is coming up, if you can swing it it would be a great way to jump start your dotCMS experience:  http://dotcms.com/conference/2013/

Pretty much the best way to learn dotcms is just do as Jason mentioned: create a blank host and start building a site.  If you have specific questions you are welcome to ask here on the message board or jump in the IRC Channel.  We are pretty helpful when there is specific question:  http://dotcms.com/community/irc-chat.dot

--

Christopher Falzone

Interactive Developer

A Q U E N T

Digital, Creative, and Marketing Talent

aquent.com

cfal...@aquent.com

[Jason Tesser]

You can start over. I would download a theme from http://dotcms.com/themes/ and edit it. Them upload to your new host via webdav under the directories application/themes http://dotcms.com/docs/latest/Themes

Then just create folders and a page/template. 

On Wed, May 15, 2013 at 10:28 AM, <misa...@gmail.com> wrote:

The BuildingWebsites links on the dotCMS documentation pages all start with the starter website.  Maybe I'm wrong - but I think it would take me less time/effort to start with blank host and basic theme like HelloWorld bootstrap - rather than try to remove the features I don't need from the full-featured starter website ?

[Falzone, Chris]

Structures are global, not necessarily associated with any one host.  They can be saved to a host, but that doesn't stop them from being used on other hosts, more for permissions.

The contentlets are specific to the host or folder they are saved on.  Usually that is the host that the structure is saved to unless the structure has a "Host or Folder" field, then the user can choose the host or folder to save the content to.  However, that doesn't mean you can't pull Host A's content on Host B, again it is more for permissions.

So in other words, no you don't have to create separate structures for each host .. but you can if you want to. Up to you.

Templates and containers always live under the host they are created under.  But again, you can use a template from Host A for a page on Host B, and Templates created on Host B can parse containers that live on Host A.  So you shouldn't need to recreate the templates and so forth.  However, the CSS/JS/Images/Etc might have to be copied from Host A for everything to work properly.  

Hope that helps clear some things up for you.

On Wed, May 15, 2013 at 10:36 AM, <misa...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thank you Chris.

I appreciate the response.

Maybe I just need more time.

I'm going down the path that you describe now:  blank host + simple theme -> new default website.

I'm curious.

If I'd like to leverage existing structure/field/widget-container functionality. Like Blogs,   News,    Products,   Media etc.

Do I have to somehow reimport these structures and associated containers into my "new" blank website.

OR Can I reference them, in place, from the default website ?

Maybe that's why my new host is not rendering/looking the way I'd expect.

Some of my initial test pages - are referencing structures/templates and containers from the default/starter website.

I'll stick to studying the starter website and trying to duplicate that parts I need into my new host.

Thanks

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[Falzone, Chris]

> Still not quite sure which Filter controls the folder and default name of landing page ?

This is controlled by the Vanity URL called "CMSHomePage".  

I haven't worked with Themes yet so I cannot provide much insight to them.  Since they just came out this week, you probably won't find much on them yet, still too new.  But I think the hello world theme is a bare-bones example right?

Maybe I'll do some research and make a blog post on creating a site from a blank host using a theme.  If I get some time.  I've been out of the front-end dev business long enough now all these new fangled responsive design frameworks are foreign to me.

On Wed, May 15, 2013 at 10:49 AM, <misa...@gmail.com> wrote:

Yes - Thanks...

I was thinking the same thing.

Still not quite sure which Filter controls the folder and default name of landing page ?

But I created a /home/index.html page -> using template that references the new starter (bootstrap HelloWorld) theme I uploaded via WebDAV.  This all worked fine.

I figure I can control the CSS container structure - header, footer etc. by editing the static files - and uploading/overwriting via WebDAV - refresh and repeat.

Maybe I'm wrong - if you see my attached screenshot above - I thought the default HelloWorld theme - would have more to it ?

Probably something silly I'm missing.

I'll keep working on it.

Thanks

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