TEMPORARY readme file for MMSS (MakeMyStaticSite)
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Version 0.06

NOTE: The changes made for version 0.06 turned out to be a terrible
let-down; the new macros *worked* (eventually), but were incredibly slow
compared to the previous version.
As such, this version is being released as-is, so I can get on with
working on version 0.07, which will probably be coded quite differently
(but usage should be very similar to what was intended for this version),
whilst still having this to fall back on if *that* turns out worse...
The documentation has not been updated to reflect (most of) the changes,
and the makefile doesn't have the appropriate command for using the
config-file based macros (the command's commented out, you get to put it
in the right place yourself). In short, this release is NOT for public
consumption, it is for reference and posterity. END NOTE.

(more info is on the man-page)

 MMSS is a framework (*shudder*) for creating and maintaining a
vaguely complex website that is based purely on statically
served HTML (ie- no CGI, no PHP, no server-side scripting whatsoever).

 I made it because I felt I needed one, and even if there are other
packages that fullfill similar purposes, I couldn't be arsed to
find one and learn it.

 MMSS is distributed under the terms of the GPL, although I'm not
sure how software that has no actual binaries (OK, clipcode has
a binary but that'll be separate soon) can benefit from
that... Anyways, it has NO WARRANTY WHATSOEVER. If there's some
bug I don't know about, I'd be very interested to know about it
so I can try to fix it, but I won't accept responsibility if it
messes anything up for you (sorry, tough).

 MMSS uses (GNU) make, m4, perl, the "ftp-upload" program (also
written in perl), and a small program I wrote called "clipcode".
It is a bit kludgey in parts (some parts will break if you don't
heed the warnings), and initially, at least, is designed to
create the pages for *my* angelfire site- if you use it as it
is, then whilst your site won't end up with my *content*, it
will otherwise look very much like it. If you want it to look any
different, you'll have to muck about with all the m4 macros, sorry.
 --ADDENDUM: The work of breaking various things out into
   config files is progressing nicely, so you can now change
   colours and things easily...

Lovely features:
 -edit separate files for each "content box", using rudimentary HTML
  (such as P, A, B tags, etc)

 -edit a "layout file" for each page, describing the set of
  content boxes and their titles

 -edit "section navigation files" for each directory (section)

 -use the "target_spider.pl" script to generate some important
  stub files (only whenever you add a new file or rename one,
  not when you change them) - this is quite fast

 -just type "make", and it will first create all the HTML for
  content that has changed, and here's the cool bit,

 -it will then upload all that content that has been changed
  since the last upload!

 -cooler still, if the upload fails (for example, you're offline,
  or you give the wrong password, or the site's down, etc), MMSS
  *knows* that those files haven't been uploaded and remembers
  to try to upload them the next time!

 It's a *messy* system, and not newbie-friendly, but I'd say
it was extremely useful if you've got a lot of content to deal
with in a staticly served site.

Wherever the root of your document tree is located on your
computer, you will need to place symbolic links to the files
Makefile, template.m4, and target_spider.pl in the MMSS
directory (or you could just copy them across). I suggest
you *don't* set up your document tree in the MMSS directory
itself! MMSS comes with a *test* document tree in the directory
"test", with the symbolic links already made for it there.

You'll also need to create a whole bunch of other files
yourself, using the ones in the test directory as examples
if necessary. Sadly this is *not* a painless job at this
point, but most of these files you'll only have to write once.
You'll also need to install the command currently named "clipcode".

Currently, the source for the "clipcode" tool, needed by MMSS,
is included in the MMSS package, in the subdirectory "parsecfg".
To be able to use it, change to that directory, type "make", and
then copy the file "clipcode" to somewhere in your path (not the
MMSS directory, that won't work). You'll probably need to do
that as root. In future, the tool will be packaged separately,
most probably under a different name.

The MMSS page is at :
http://www.angelfire.com/super2/duologue/software/mmss.html
...which is part of the site that I wrote MMSS to maintain :)

 for more info, read the manpage:
   man ./mmss.9
 or if you've managed to install it somewhere, just
   man mmss

 Note that the man page was written using Wolfpack's manedit
program, which is generally good, but a bit buggy and introduced
some lame glitches into the file that I had to fix by hand. Pah!

Thanks for your interest in MMSS, hope it's of use to you!
  Tom Barnes-Lawrence (AKA Tomble)

