TemplateBlocks & LIME:VC appear to be the two latest entries on the block.  TemplateBlocks uses a segmented design that holds the “pieces” of each design template in a set/template so that a collection of objects are the template (e.g. CSS, JS, HTML bits and pieces).  It greatly speeds things up by allowing the user to merely naming a page, adding some content, then selecting which template to use (template being used in the appearance realm).  The only difficulty that I’ve noticed is implementing customized script, but the basic items are included and it works fine as long as you are familiar with .htaccess or not maintaining many virtual instances on your apache install.

The TemplateBlocks Admin Panel is probably the strongest element to the application.  It is well organized and very simple to use.  The only criticism I have is that the template sets are all displayed together – if you have a set named “Default” – when you go to the blocks page, ALL of the objects from every template set are thrown in the mix.  It would be helpful if the assigned attributes were marked or sorted by which template they’re associated with.

I’ve emailed with Makis (the developer of TemplateBlocks) on several occasions, he is always willing to listen and assist – which is a great asset to the application.

LIME:VC is a very new development that works along the same lines, but the goal was to provide an extremely light-weight framework that would help the back-end developer create front-end content quickly.  It’s not CMS-oriented like TemplateBlocks, it’s slightly more manual, but it’s equally as easy to setup and use.

Louis Stowasser (developer) is the primary on the project, and has been working to implement plug-ins – a CMS plug-in exists at the moment.   By developing the add-on components as plug-ins, it frees up the developer to “customize” an install instance so that each instance isn’t dragging around dead weight or utilizing/committing server-resources that are not needed to make the application run. It’s programming  follows the Model-View-Controller design pattern to ensure clean code & reduce redundancy.

Keep an eye on LIME:VC in the future, it appears to be an upcoming trend as far as how applications may be made in the future using 3.0 technology (instance/object-based functionality that encompasses only the required applications to build out an instance of the LIME).

Products like WordPress, Joomla, etc… have been used for years as a make-shift framework to help expedite website production, but along with all the dead weight/luggage, comes an entire array of site variables.  Variables as which plugins are compatible with which version of the product (as it upgrades frequently), and how will upgrades effect customizations of the current instance.

If you can, download and try both TemplateBlocks & LIME:VC, and install them.  You’ll be pleasantly surprised how easy they both are to work with.   Using a framework will free up time to focus on the code more than the orchestration of building the actual pages.  More importantly, a framework will only effect the items that are implemented – separating the business layer logic – and not jeopardizing functionality during an upgrade/update.

Related Posts:

• Beam It All Over The Place, Scotty {www.getdropbox.com}
• Replace Your Home Phone With Skype For $6.95 per month (Yes, Really).

The first 2 gigs are free and you get referral credits (an extra 1/4 gig if someone refers you & the referrer gets the same added credit up to an additional 3gb).

After you’re using your account you’ll notice a VERY manageable dashboard when you log into the site – displaying a recent history of your actions – even as detailed as which file was updated on which pc. This is great for maintaining the latest version on every pc that is utilizing a file. After all, why bother installing something like this if it isn’t keeping the versions the same(?).

Related Posts:

• A Tale Of Two Template Engines – How Frameworks Speed Up Development
• The Top 10 Best FREE Image Editors On The Web
• Replace Your Home Phone With Skype For $6.95 per month (Yes, Really).
• How To Fix Your Sucky Website With Minimal Effort

Yes, it’s possible… You can actually replace your home phone with Skype. We have 6 pc’s in the house anyways – so we installed the software on one of the pc’s to manage the phone software. Ironically, it was not as hard as I thought it would be. Getting straight answers out of the customer support people is quite another story. So maybe this post will fill in any of the missing pieces.

To begin your adventure of unlimited home phone service for $6.95 a month, you will need:

1. A phone – I bought one off Ebay that was actually 2 phones in the package with the software & encrypted instruction booklet.

2. A Skype Account.

3. A personal computer that you do not mind leaving on 24/7 (if you have strong reservations about this , then you can purchase a phone that can work directly from your cable modem/fast DSL line… ).

4. Lastly fast internet (cable modem, fast DSL)

Skype software is available on their website. The software to connect the phone to the Skype software is included with the phone. Mine is a GE phone, and the disk was included in the package. It was all wizard driven – no goof-ups… not sure if that means it’s goof-up-proof, but it worked as it was intended to I believe.

The phone i purchased ‘can’ manage a regular phone line & the Skype internet phone line. I do not have a land line any longer, so it works out well to answer/place calls with the Skype button on the phone.

The Skype account is free to sign up, but to use the extended features cost a little more. Before you get flustered, remember that Skype works in three parts. The first part is the computer software – which anyone can use for free to place a ‘computer call [with mic and speakers or headphones]‘ to another pc only, the second being unlimited outgoing to land-line numbers, and third is an online number where you can receive unlimited calls from anyone in your country (in my case USA). The pricing is not broken down conveniently, but knowing how the service works will help. To use my Skype handsets, I needed the software installed, unlimited outgoing calls, and an online number so people can call me.

The pricing is ‘odd’ in my opinion, the outgoing unlimited calls to handsets is $2.95 a month (all prices are at the first quarter of 2009), the online phone number/unlimited incoming calls is sold quarterly for $12. the subscription period is monthly, quarterly or yearly on outgoing, but only quarterly or yearly on the incoming/online number. (so $4 per month for incoming calls & online number and $2.95 per month for the unlimited outgoing calls to landlines.

So, with my Skype account setup, my software installed on my pc, my outgoing call account purchased, and my incoming/online number subscription, I plugged in the phone base to the cordless phones. It automatically found my buddy list in the pc software (on both phones), I picked up the base unit and called my cell phone (it worked) and vice versa – it worked both ways.

The call quality is better than my Verizon cell phone. Is as good as my brother-in-laws Timewarner broadband phone, and for $6.95 a month I can be a little forgiving if anything ever does happen. We can now cut down our cell phone usage from 1400 minutes to 700 minutes per month (saving us roughly $60 [almost a full year of our new Skype phone service]).

This was a good endeavor- bridging the technology gap from pc/broadband to land line phones. Especially saving me $720 a year.

Related Posts:

• A Tale Of Two Template Engines – How Frameworks Speed Up Development
• Beam It All Over The Place, Scotty {www.getdropbox.com}
• Don’t Miss a Thing – SMS + Email