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Technical Details

webgeno is a simple CMS where the entire website is stored in a single hierarchical XML file. This file is then broken up into individual pages and transformed into HTML using Python and XSL. The output is completely customizable by altering the XSL files that come with the system. Many other CMS systems (even ones that use XSL) require access to a server with a specific setup (PHP, MySQL, etc.). webgeno assumes nothing about the server except that it can serve plain HTML files. All website generation happens offline (as such it is not suitable for sites that require dynamic content). Once generated, it can be previewed locally and then uploaded to the web server at the user's convenience. Only a minimal amount of desktop software is required: Python + 4Suite. While a certain number of example templates are provided for HTML generation, knowledge of HTML and CSS is required for the user to be able to generate a uniquely styled site. To extend the system to add new types of content, users will require working knowledge of XML and XSL. Dan Wheadon has been using this solution for several years on his own websites (e.g. stakeout.sourceforge.net, arf.sourceforge.net, and students.ed.uiuc.edu/wheadon2) and has recently generalized it for public consumption.