68c04f530bb76c9c129d654561e727710ba2e922
[sview.git] / README.md
1 # sview : tiny PHP web framework
2
3 It is inspired by [a similar framework](https://github.com/arnorhs/ShortPHP) written by Arnór Heiðar Sigurðsson.
4 In the same spirit but more advanced and more complete, see also [nanoc](http://nanoc.ws/) - in Ruby.
5
6 sview is designed to organize essentially static websites.
7 It does not offer the features you would expect from a complete MVC framework -
8 actually, it has only the "V" part.
9 If you want a more demanding dynamic website, consider using an appropriate tool,
10 [Symfony](http://symfony.com/) for example.
11
12 ## How to use it ?
13
14 The file sample-website.tar.xz provides a basic but full website example.
15 Alternatively, here are some details about sview usage.
16
17 ## 0. Installation
18
19 In the following, I assume your website is located under http\[s\]://domain/topic/
20 and is named "website" (adapt to your case). For example, in https://github.com/blog/
21 domain = github.com and topic = blog.
22
23 Get the source code either with `git clone` command or using a zip archive.
24 Copy all folder contents in the website/ folder :
25
26 website/
27 a/
28 f/
29 site/
30 .htaccess
31 common.php
32 defaults.php
33 index.php
34 s.php</pre>
35
36 * __a/__ (for "assets") is the folder for CSS files, images and javascript codes.
37 I like to put them respectively in css/, img/ and js/ folders, but the choice is yours.
38 * __f/__ (for "files") is the folder for any downloadable (or browsable) file you may upload.
39 * __site/__ is the main folder containing all your website pages. Three are already there :
40 * _404.php_ : the 404 error page;
41 * _dl.php_ : a script to download binary files;
42 * _home.php_ : the specifications for the welcome page.
43 * __.htaccess__ : its main job consists in routing everything that is not a resource to the index.php file.
44 * __common.php__ contains shared variables and functions to be used by at least two different pages.
45 * __defaults.php__ defines default variables for any web page, like the title or javascripts block.
46 * __index.php__ contains your website template, which is rendered for any web page
47 (and filled with specific values defined in pages under site/ folder; anything can be customized).
48 * __s.php__ consists in the framework code, loaded at the beginning of index.php.
49
50 Now (online), in the .htaccess file, change the line `RewriteBase /` to `RewriteBase /topic`.
51
52 ## 1. Set default contents
53
54 Edit the file defaults.php with
55
56 * A global title to your website; this title can later be mixed with a more specific page-based title, or be replaced.
57 * A list of references to CSS stylesheets and pre-rendering javascripts, like `<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://cran.r-project.org/R.css"/>`.
58 We will see later how to refer to local stylesheets (under a/css).
59 * Some javascript code which will be loaded by default after every page loads (e.g. [jQuery](http://jquery.com/).
60
61 Each variable name is prepended with "b\_" to avoid potential conflicts with your own variables.
62
63 ## 2. Complete main pages
64
65 ### index.php
66
67 Complete
68
69 * The menu (at commented location)
70 * The banner (near the menu, if you want one)
71 * The footer (if you don't want one, just drop it).
72
73 You can also change the &lt;meta&gt; tags if needed.
74
75 ### site/home.php
76
77 The welcome page. You can choose a title ($s\_title) or use the default one
78 (by not specifying anything). Stylesheets and javascripts can be customized, ...etc.
79 Any default variable can be used to define a specific variable (prepended with "s\_").
80
81 ### site/404.php
82
83 Customize it; it is probably viewed more often than you think ;-)
84
85 ## 3. Write all other pages
86
87 All pages are under site/ folder, and you can nest them in any directory tree.
88
89 __Hint__ : if you don't want to load the main template, just end any site file with a PHP `exit` directive.
90
91 Now we will see how to access pages and resources (images, CSS, files, javascript).
92
93 ---
94
95 ## How to view a web page ?
96
97 The page at physical location site/some\_folder/mypage.php is viewed in the web browser at the URL
98 http\[s\]://domain/topic/website/some\_folder/mypage (thanks to URL rewriting defined in the .htaccess file).
99
100 Any page can be linked internally using the `r()` PHP function ('r' for "resource"), like in
101 the following : `<a href="<?php echo r('some_folder/mypage'); >>`. This function determines
102 the nesting level and output the appropriate path.
103
104 ## How to access...
105
106 _A CSS style sheet_ : its path is given by the following PHP function call
107 `r('a/css/name_of_the_file.css')` from within any site file (assuming you place all CSS files
108 under a/css/. They may be inside a nested folder structure).
109
110 _An image_ : same as above, with `r('a/img/name_of_the_image.xxx')`.
111
112 _A javascript file_ : same as above, with `r('a/js/name_of_the_file.js')`.
113
114 ## How to give a download link ?
115
116 Just use a regular link pointing to `r('dl/?f=name_of_the_file.xxx')`, anywhere you want.
117
118 ---
119
120 ## Usual workflow
121
122 Just add pages under site/ folder, and potential resources and files under a/ and f/.
123 All other files will not change a lot.