I’ve done a bit more updating of the WebME code.

I realised I’d forgotten to add some code to create the first admin. That’s fixed now – just go to the admin area. If there are no existing admins, then the first attempt to login will create a valid user account.

You can insert images and stuff now through the FCKeditor in the Pages section. The file manager used is KFM.

When you create/edit a page, see the Advanced tab, where there are a number of options. You can set a page to be hidden from the navigation menu, you can set any page to be the front page, and you can also set a page to allow public comments.

The public comments thing is interesting, I think – I wrote it using a combination of AJAX and some verification tricks. On all the sites that it exists, I have not seen a single spam comment (but now that the challenge is out there…).

If you have logged in as someone who has Admin rights, then you can edit pages directly from the front end just by right-clicking on the page. Choose “Edit Page” and you’ll be able to write directly into the page. Right-click outside the editable area when you’re done, and choose “Save Changes and Reload Page”.

As usual, you can grab the code here: Webworks WebME SVN checkout. I think we’re just about at the point where a proper package will be useful. That will hopefully be provided tomorrow, depending on time.

And now for some news – I’ve been discussing making this into a free service with John (webworks‘ head honcho), and we’re going to go ahead with it. The idea is that you will create your own website on our hosting platform, get some basic services free, and will pay for extras if you want them (domain names, SMS services, etc), but there will be /no/ pressure – if you just want a simple website with an easy-to-use CMS, then that will be available for free. The great thing about this is that the system will be upgraded very often, with new services coming online as they’re finished, and you, as users, will have input into what gets worked on.