Thursday July 06, 2006 06:00 PM
(America - Chicago)
add to your calendar

ThoughtWorks
651 W. Washington Blvd. Suite 600
Chicago , IL 60661
(312) 373-1000
Map address automatically

Say the words “content management” in the ears of nearly any Web
developer and they will likely frown and complain that most content
management systems are too complicated, difficult to setup, or not very
flexible. They have good reason to complain. Content management systems
are notorious for containing every feature, except for the kitchen sink!
Enter Radiant—a light-weight content management system designed from
the ground up to be simple to use, while remaining flexible and
powerful. It’s a content management system that has borrowed much from
Textpattern and MovableType while seeking to be more than a simple a
blogging engine.
Radiant features:

• The ability to arrange pages in a hierarchy
• Layouts that can be used to apply a common look to a Web site
• Snippets that are similar to partials or includes
• Pages which are defined in multiple parts (body, extended, sidebar,
  etc…)
• A custom tagging language (Radius: http://radius.rubyforge.org)
• Special page-oriented plugins called behaviors
• A simple user management/permissions system
• Several domain specific languages which make it easy to write plugins
  In his talk John will talk about the design and discovery process he
  went through while building Radiant and cover the guiding philosophies
  behind it. He will also demonstrate installation and setup from a Gem
  and talk about how Radiant can be extended. You will discover the joys
  of Radiant’s robust domain languages and revel in the ease with which
  you can create new content. He will also discuss how Radiant is being
  used on the new version of the main Ruby web site (http://ruby-lang.org)
  and explain how others are using it.
  John has been involved in the Ruby community for nearly 4 years now. He
  has broad experience in Web development and is also an accomplished
  designer. In 2004, John helped to found and organize the Chicago Area
  Ruby Group. Apart from programming, John enjoys spending time with his
  family, learning about art, studying history, reading fiction, and
  playing basketball. He is currently self-employed and lives in
  Harrisburg, PA.

After Hour Access

The building entrance on Desplaines will be open until 7. The elevators will be on until 7 as well so that people can get to the 6th floor. After that, please feel free to call Jake at 773/905-9102 and I’ll have someone get you.

Directions

Take the Washington exit off of 94/90. ThoughtWorks is at the corner of Desplaines and Washington.

Food

Pizza and Soda Pop will be provided for your eating enjoyment.