Part 1: Scaffold

Greetings! This is the "Building Blockenberg" blog, where I am showcasing my progress in building a decentralized content management (CMS) system. To fully demonstrate my product, I am writing this article within the system itself and developing it in an open and transparent manner.

So what distinguishes a CMS from a blog engine? Essentially, a CMS offers a more extensive platform for managing and publishing content, while a blog engine focuses specifically on managing a blog. Both have their own advantages and are used based on individual needs. The main difference between the two is the level of customization. Blog engines tend to have limited customization options, as the same application generates the blog post you're viewing. However, in our case, the primary system (traditionally referred to as the "admin") serves as the sole source for content creation and management. The CMS typically doesn't handle how the output is displayed, making it effortless to customize the output with templates or external clients. To put it briefly, a CMS offers more customization options. BTW, if you really don't care about customization and you just want to write blog, I ❤️ly recommend Mirror (https://mirror.xyz/).

Picture is worth thousands of words. The editing interface now looks even better - I added buttons and the ability to add pictures.

If the CMS does not have the capability to display the "public view" page, what are you currently viewing? This is one of the sample client applications I have developed. Not all publishing scenarios are the same, so I created minimalistic client applications that cater to two main approaches in rendering articles for readers.

The first approach is completely decentralized and resistant to censorship. The application does not rely on anything from the server hosting it (other than serving the files), and it can even function from a USB stick if necessary. Even though I live in a relatively free and democratic environment, I recognize the importance of unrestricted and uncensored publishing.

The second client version is intended for use with a regular business website. This version is rendered on the server, providing improved marketing performance and is fast even for users with slow internet connections. If you live in a democratic part of the world, I would consider this version as the default option.