QuickerSite v4.4: Introducing Page Media
In this exciting update, I'm thrilled to announce the release of QS44, which introduces the page media-feature. Adding images to any page is now a breeze, and the best part? It's fully responsive! Responsiveness has always been a challenge with the outdated CKEditor software. This new feature can be previewed here.
You can download QS44 directly from its GitHub repository.
Speaking of CKEditor, it's become a commercial product. We started using it back in 2006, under the name FCKeditor. After version 2.6.6, I transitioned to its successor, CKEditor. Interestingly, that trusty FCKeditor 2.6.6 still runs flawlessly on a handful of older QuickerSites I host.
The version of CKEditor used by QuickerSite (4.4.5) dates back to 2014, and it's never caused any problems. It was a reliable editor then, and it will continue to be for years to come. However, if we needed a new WYSIWYG editor today, we'd be stuck. None offer ASP Classic support for file uploads, which CKEditor did.
The CMS Landscape and the Rise of WordPress
The CMS landscape has drastically changed. Today, WordPress reigns supreme. This server hosts 200 WordPress websites alongside 300 QuickerSites. While QuickerSites are resource-efficient, WordPress sites gobble up processing power. My server bill has doubled since adopting WordPress!
While WordPress is free as a CMS, it has a surprisingly large server footprint. Even a basic WordPress installation with a few plugins consumes 100MB of disk space, spread across numerous files and folders. This grows significantly with plugins like WooCommerce, Astra, or Elegant.
This shift towards WordPress has pushed me to explore Apache/Linux servers. It's clear that Microsoft is phasing out ASP/VBScript anyway.
Looking Ahead: New Ventures and Continued Support for QuickerSite
Despite these changes, I'm fortunate to pursue my passion for web development as a web design professor at a nearby college. Using WordPress has sparked a desire to develop a similar platform with built-in multilingual support from the ground up. While WordPress is excellent for the US market, it falls short for European businesses and institutions when it comes to multilingual capabilities. I've heard positive things about Drupal (a Belgian product) in this regard, but I haven't had the chance to use it myself.
In the coming months, I'll be focusing on teaching and revamping my course materials, methods, and the tools I use. If these improvements benefit QuickerSite in any way, I'll wholeheartedly dive back into QS development.
New Opportunities and the Looming Threat of War
2025 brings new regulations for Belgian VAT-registered companies. The government wants to closely monitor invoicing activity to automate tax calculations and prevent fraud. Many companies are developing software solutions to streamline this process, and I'm considering creating my own ASP Classic solution. Development would likely only take a few weeks.
While these opportunities are exciting, they pale in comparison to the global conflict brewing between Ukraine and Russia. It's a conflict with worldwide ramifications, yet no one dares to acknowledge it as such.
The days between Christmas and New Year are a time for reflection and decision-making. While I always strive to achieve this, it remains a work in progress. Regardless, here's to a Happy 2025!
- nick6352683@yahoo.com says: (26/12/2024 18:49:08)Well said, I'm going to stay away from the political stuff...
That said, Drupal, not in its' core, but as a plugin uses Gutenberg as well. In fact, since I believe 2018, their team worked with the WordPress team to bring Gutenberg to Drupal - https://drupalgutenberg.org/ - https://www.drupal.org/project/gutenberg
The official White House website was built with Drupal, but Obama changed it to WordPress. Just understand that WP is amazing if you know how to tame it, and if you don't it will be your worst nightmare. With tens of thousands (not a typo) themes a plugins, and the 3-4 times a year of core updates, and constant new APIs under the hood, there is never a dull moment, or again, a total nightmare for those who want to know and test everything. It is almost a task similar to "reading the entire internet from A-Z". In 1997 I had foolishly bought a book that promised just that, and I was convinced that I will know everything and anything was available. Today, with their super computing powers even AI can't catch up...
Gutenberg is supposed to work within any CMS, at least that was their claim. If you one day decide to bring it to QuickerSite, you can try getting help at the WP's slack channels. If that happens I expect some issues that need to overcome, just to mention one major one: Gutenberg does not have a media uploader. If you hack into the gigantic Gut. code, updating will be a nightmare. Gutenberg since 2018 to the day, releases a new update every 2 weeks ! An impossible task for a one man band...
And for most people nowadays, a CMS without a page builder looks like a CMS from the Soviet era. It's like a flip phone vs smart phone.
One almost last thing - and I'm quoting here: "It's clear that Microsoft is phasing out ASP/VBScript anyway. " And yet, you still want to build new apps in Classic ASP?
When it comes to coding, for 2025, my wish is for AI to become much better, becasue right now, unless you want some very basic stuff, and I mean VERY basic, AI really, REAlLY sucks at coding, although it gives you 80-90% of the correct code, so you can use the generated code to build on and fix the generated stupidity... - Pieter says: (27/12/2024 10:22:05)In the college where I teach, they stopped teaching coding. All they do is prompt their software solutions together. They learn to structure a solution rather than code it themselves. They use ai for that. Not sure what to think about that.
- nick6352683@yahoo.com says: (27/12/2024 18:16:05)Sad, and very stupid, on so many levels.
- Mik says: (28/12/2024 09:29:54)As always, interesting reading and about future considerations.
I have previously used Wordpress for my webshops for Luxafor.dk + 4 other languages. But it was simply too unstable and there were a lot of updates. So I now use Shopify. But this solution is not optimal either. We only sell B2B and therefore have challenges with the EU, Norway and the rectification of VAT numbers. If you want the platin-plated solution from Shopify, you have to pay about $2,000 per month.
You mention that the Belgian government is making indictments to avoid VAT fraud. I believe that it is an EU regulation, i.e. that it applies throughout the EU. I must at least state the correct VAT number of all customers on the invoice. If it is wrong, I have to pay VAT myself. :-(
So, an alternative to Shopify will be in order. B2B is a very growing market in terms of ecommerce.
Pieter you said many years ago, when you already predicted that the days of Classic ASP were numbered, that you would migrate QS to .NET. Is it completely wrongly remembered?
As you probably know, I'm a big fan of QS. I'm a huge fan. Therefore, I hope that in time it will be secured (Other platform) and that it will have a design "facelift" so that you use the entire screen.
I would also like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2025. - Pieter says: (28/12/2024 16:30:15)Hi Mik,
I'm moving away from rewriting QS in another language. WordPress is a better fit for our needs.
Down the road, I might develop custom apps for WordPress using ASPLite, similar to what I did on https://playground.iseral.be/asplite-framework
Hosting WordPress on a Windows Server lets you combine its rich editing features with ASP Classic scripting, much like we did with QS. ASP can connect to MySQL databases, allowing you to add custom tables to the WordPress database, just like many plugins do. This opens exciting possibilities for Classic ASP developers, as long as the technology remains viable.
On the invoicing front, e-invoicing through the PEPPOL network will become mandatory for all European companies in the coming years. In Belgium, it's mandatory from 2026 onwards. This is why many Belgian companies are looking for new invoicing tools.
Even invoices created in WooCommerce will need to be sent through PEPPOL. This presents a challenge since PEPPOL is not an open standard. Accessing it requires going through Access Points, which charge fees.
To be continued. - Sergio says: (08/01/2025 00:17:48)Hi Pieter,
I made this integration for Page Media (as per attached image), I made sure to display the name of the image file for each single image.
Naming the images with criteria I think it can be useful to have a short description of the images.
I changed this in page.asp:
medfstr=medfstr & "<div class=""" & pad4 & """><a title='" & left(medf,len(medf)-len(getFileExtension(medf))-1) & "' rel=""" & lightboxSAMPLE & """ href=""" & Application("QS_CMS_C_DIRECTORY_QUICKERSITE") & "/showthumb.aspx?maxsize=1920&FSR=0&img="
medfstr=medfstr & Application("QS_CMS_C_VIRT_DIR") & Application("QS_CMS_userfiles") & "pagemedia/" & iId & "/" & medf & """ class=""QSPPIMG"">"
medfstr=medfstr & "<img src=""" & Application("QS_CMS_C_DIRECTORY_QUICKERSITE") & "/showthumb.aspx?maxsize="&imgSize&"&FSR=0&img="
medfstr=medfstr & Application("QS_CMS_C_VIRT_DIR") & Application("QS_CMS_userfiles") & "pagemedia/" & iId & "/" & medf & """></a>" & left(medf,len(medf)-len(getFileExtension(medf))-1) & "</div>" & vbcrlf
- Pieter says: (08/01/2025 11:05:50)Very useful addition indeed Sergio. Thanks for sharing your code!
The more elegant way would be to add a proper capture for each picture. But that requires a new table and a more complicated datamodel and program flow. This is definitely the quick 'n dirty solution... The only issue I see is that you have to provide meaningful filenames for all pictures... Sometimes that can be tough.... - Sergio says: (08/01/2025 11:54:50)Yes Pieter I agree with you, it's a quick and dirty solution. Maybe a flag somewhere to show or not show image descriptions could be useful.
