Ncaster 1.7.2 review

NCaster is content management system that features high customizability and flexibility. Ncaster project supports limitless custom

License: Freeware File size: 504K Developer: Nathan O'shea

0

NCaster is content management system that features high customizability and flexibility.

Ncaster project supports limitless custom fields, relational links between articles, caching, user levels, a WYSWYG HTML editor, XML feeds, article authentication, a plugin-based scripting language, and more.

Here are some key features of "Ncaster":
Modules: Modules in Ncaster are extremely easy to create, maintain, and edit.
Hubs: A somewhat different approach at related articles, this new method is vastly more flexible then a traditional relation system. It allows you to bind two articles together and use each others data on a single page. Hubs also act as a relation link, where you can list all related articles associated to a hub.
Powerful Custom Field Creation: Add an unlimited amount of custom fields. Choose from a single line field, multi-line box, ratio selection, or a custom drop-down list created before hand. Advanced filtering filters your results automatically based on your custom fields.
Build List Technology: Add an unlimited amount to custom fields. Control the number, appearance, type, and order in which you want your lists displayed. Choose whether to save to your database or to a text file.
Flexible Template System: Allows you to have full control over the look and feel of your site.
Cache System: Large sites demand speed, they need to load fast and feed out information to thousands. A dynamic system will just not cut it when it comes to the crunch, Ncaster uses a template caching system that is extremely fast (as low as 0.004) at storing, retrieving, and updating stored pre-rendered templates.
Staff System: Add or remove an unlimited number of staff members (four levels: Administrator, Editor, Agent, Guest). Each staff member has his or her own user profile.
Entity 2.0: Exclusive, versatile scripting language used in Ncaster templates. More clear and easy to use than php. Entity 2 is plugin based; new functionality can be added by just downloading new functions from the ncaster website.
WYSIWYG html editor: Features the raw essentials for posting articles. Can be disabled or enabled at any time.
Images: New to Ncaster is image resizing and image watermarking. You have the option to pick the transparent color, compression, and more.
XML Feed: Generate XML feeds. This allows other webmasters to use your content; a very effective way of advertising your site's content.
Search Engine Friendly: Some search engines do not index sites with dynamic content. Ncaster features some mod-rewrite code as well as short URLs.
Article Authentication - Each article posted by your members now can be authenticated before they appear on your site as published. This option can be disabled or enabled at any time.

Requirements:
Server: MySQL version 3x versions or above. PHP4 is a requirement. The latest versions of MySQL and PHP4, Linux operating system, and Apache web server are recommended.
User: A Java Script compatible browser (such as Netscape, Mozilla, Firebird, Opera, Internet Explorer) is recommended for the build list feature.

What's New in This Release:
RSS 2.0 support and custom field and field data creation when posting and editing articles.