Envolution CMS Vision and Roadmap

I. Preamble
This is a rough draft only, and is highly likely to change. It serves as a basis to lay down some technical aspirations, goals for the project and our Vision of the Envolution Content Management System.

II. Our Vision
Our Vision is to build the ultimate Content Management System. This new CMS is called Envolution, and will initially be based on the Postnuke 0.7x code base. We intend to greatly reduce the amount of core code, improve the Application Programming Interface and promote the infusion of ideas from the Community and Third-Party developers. From the initial screen, we want Envolution to be the easiest, most refined and configurable CMS in the market. A truly modular architecture combined with a rock solid core foundation, a powerful API and a well implemented Template system will undoubtedly accomplish this task. However, we also want to further simplify the entire process for Webmaster and Site Administration by providing an on-demand Help system, Wizards and first-class documentation.

We also want to involve the Community in every aspect of this project. For us to build something for the Community without their constant input would be nearly impossible. As a direct result, we want to have the most dedicated Community in the CMS market. We want to embrace the Third-Party developers, who we know, expand the CMS beyond its original power. They are a vital part of our project as well, and we will extend our support and assistance to realize the power of a true Open Source project. We want to stabilize the rapid growth tendencies of Open Source projects in order to save users from constant breaking of their sites because of incompatibility changes due to rushed code and/or no thought for backwards compatibility.

III. Our Goals
The following represents an overview of the goals of the Envolution Content Management System. Of course, they do need to be expanded upon and clarified further.

IV. Technical Overview
Here is a basic overview of what I would like to see implemented eventually for the Core System and the processes used.
Core System is basically the foundation, used to support the remainder of the modular system

V. Structure
The overall final structure for Envolution is based on logic and simplicity. It redefines the role of the Core, Modules, the Application Programming Interface and the directory file structure as well. These are explained in turn below.

The Core is redefined to be only the foundation of Envolution. Everything else is built and runs upon the Core. It loads further components to expand its functionality by loading first the Modules module, then the API module. After these are loaded, the core modules are loaded. These include db connectivity, sessions management, security and so on. All modules use the API system to communicate with each other via the Core. The core is simply the conduit connecting all of the modules in this type of setup.

Benefits of this setup will be realized both by our project and third-party developers. If someone wants to use an "EZCMS" type of Content Management system, it can be plugged in and replace the News module with no ramifications. The principal idea is a completely customizable/hackable system for any developer or Webmaster which requires no Core editing. This will not only makes things easier for them to install custom components, it will also make upgrades of customized systems much easier. It also promotes third-party development by reducing its dependencies on all put the bare essentials of the system.

The directory structure has been reorganized to promote a more logical placement of files, images and templates. This removes the problem of having these files scattered all over the file system plus allows them to be found easier by Webmasters. The illustration below demonstrates this, albeit it is only an incomplete example to show the structure only, it does not show all files that will be in the system.

web root/
config.php
index.php
cache/
[misc temp files]
docs/
license-gpl.txt
license-lgpl.txt
blocks/
whosonline/
credits.txt
readme.txt
modules/
news/
hacks.txt
readme.txt
images/
logo.gif
blocks/
whosonline/
bullet.gif
left-border.gif
yin-yan.gif
modules/
downloads/
label.gif
bullet.gif
star.gif
install/
help/
config.html
lang/
eng/
global.php
templates/
splash.tpl
language/
blocks/
whosonline/
eng/
global.php
modules/
news/
eng/
global.php
modules/
api/
api.php
adodb/
adodb-error.php
news/
adminapi.php
userapi.php
templates/
blocks/
whosonline/
default/
whosonline.tpl
modules/
news/
antithesis/
article.tpl
index.tpl
themes/
antithesis/
css.php
funcs.php
swapper.js

VI. Envolution Roadmap
This is a very broad roadmap for the Envolution project, listing each area to be addressed per each release cycle. This is very highly subject to revision, modification or outright change as the Envolution project professes.

Version	Major Changes	Notes
0.10	Encompass expanded, Installer rewrite, Enhanced Modules	Existing PN Bugs Fixed, PN code removal/cleanup, "Legacy" code removed,
0.20	New Core code, Introduction of the API	Enhanced/Refined, Compatibility Bridge
0.30	API final version, Module methods, Block methods	Compatibility Bridge, Enhanced Directory, Structure Changes
0.40	Security, Sessions, Users, Error Handling	First Major Milestone
0.50	Languages, New Admin System, Encompass Rewrite
0.60	Full Template System, Content Publishing, Sections, Advanced Installer	Second Major Milestone
0.70	Help Module, Downloads, Web Links, Reviews	Third Major Milestone
0.80	Advanced Admin Functions, API Refinement & Expansion, Remaining Modules Rewrite
0.90	Final Code Base, Testing, Final Touches, Refinements
1.00	GM Release
1.10
1.20

VII. Summary
As you can see, we have a lot of ground to cover in order to achieve the ultimate CMS system. Although there is much work to do, we as a Community can accomplish these goals and more with great efficiency through complete interaction.

If you have any ideas, thoughts, suggestions or input as to this document, please contact any member of the Envolution staff. We are always here to serve you and your opinion and thoughts do indeed matter.

Thank you for considering our product, we hope to see you as a member of our Community in the very near future.