Finally selected a Content Management editor component - TinyMCE. I've also finally put in a news post creator that will eventually replace the index page, once I figure out what to do with the links from index.htm that I haven't got linked elsewhere. If you're interested in TinyMCE, please see their project website. I have a lot of work to go with the CMS, tons of back-end PHP that has to be glued in here and there, and then lots of security checks and authentication. I at least managed to move the authentication over to encrypted passwords and usernames, but I'd like to put in lots more error and exception checking to prevent scariness from the user side.

I'd also like to modularize the archive Python scripts so that I don't have duplicate scripts, and maybe they can read from a config file to let the sysadmin of the site insert their own paths, etc. As much as I need this to work for me at the current time, I'd really like to keep it modular so that if (when) I have to do this again, it's easier, and I can even share my code. Who knows, maybe someone else will find my hodgepodge of scripts useful. My main reasons for doing it myself are that a) I understand what is going on inside and out, b) I can fix it if it breaks, and c) nothing else quite fits my niche. I'm fanatical about following web standards (xhtml and css, please) and having clean code. I don't need a database back end for my tiny site, and I like the accessibilty of what I had in place before, so it was more logical for me to extend it. I'm trying to keep performance in mind at all times, by minimizing file reads and maximizing caching of content. Although I'm sure there will be lots of room for improvement in this area, given my relative [lack of] coding prowess, I'm doing my best and as I learn better methods I will implement them. Given enough time, this might end up a viable CMS solution for others besides myself.

-Jay