What did you learn by using Kirby, except using Kirby?
Except from learning how to use Kirby, what did you learn? Do you work different or think different? I do.
My background is that I used WordPress for 7 years so I compare much to that.
I don’t need a UI for everything
I was used to set up everything in the admin. It was just the way it was. I’m surpriced how much you can do without a user interface. I’m talking about blueprints, blueprint fields, config and even content.
It’s even more affishent in many cases to work with plain text. Bug free too (if not the text editor hangs).
Add what you need, instead of remove what you don’t
When using WordPress it has tons of stuff, in the admin and in the html output. To remove it you need to install a few plugins and still it’s hard to remove everything.
In Kirby it’s the opposite. We start with a clean slate and add what we want. If we want a sitemap, we need to add it, but it’s really simple in comparison.
When everything is perfect it’s easy to be perfectionistic
Because the html output is exactly what we make it, it’s easy to start fine tuning on the details. It takes a little longer but get so much better.
I even removed jQuery from my sites because I found out I did not need it.
Even a flat file system can have relationships
I did not know before that a flat file system can have relationships. I mean like, get every page that has the category hats.
Build stuff like lego
I have started to think about building stuff like lego. It’s easy to get lost in a function mess if you don’t separate things clearly. I also avoid to code too complex stuff. I prefer knowing what I’m doing, instead of having a complex code that I get lost in.
Dependecies is a bad thing
Before I often used like select2 but as soon as I do, I lose control. I may need to update it and it’s not exactly as I would do it. Often I only use 5-10% of the functions which mean it loads more than it needs to.
Nowdays, I often use really tiny stuff, or build them myself. Sometimes you can even win time by doing it yourself.
Read something related here.
The best trend to follow is no trend
Before I was trying to always learn the new stuff. I still do but I don’t always start to use it just because it’s new.
Kirby uses stuff that work and often have worked well for years. Now I usually do too.
Get as close as possible to the output
Before I was used to work with a layer that is used by another layer and it was quite some steps before the final code was rendered.
The output will always be html, js and css and Kirby always keeps close to that. Not many abstraction layers.
When closer to the output the chance of breaking things are lower.
I often have great ideas, but not often the perfect solution
I always have tons of ideas. What I’ve learned about it is that I’m great to see where things goes wrong or when some feature something is missing.
What I’m not so good at is to have a clear vision of the perfect solution. It takes about 5 people in a discussion to find it. Everyone brings something to the table but not a single one have the solution from the start.
What does that say? That it require some brainpower and that one person might not have that alone.
I’m not building a theme, I’m building a site
In many cmses there are themes. In Kirby there are not. There are templates, but that’s far from the same thing. I’m building a site, not a theme.
What is also interesting is that people don’t give up on Kirby Themes.
I’m dedicated to a software that is not my own
I usually only care of stuff that I make and that I own. Selfish, I know. But with Kirby I’m quite dedicated. To create plugins for it and have ideas at least. Maybe it’s because it’s great. Maybe it’s because it’s easy to discuss and affect the next version. Maybe it’s because it’s not something everyone uses. Maybe it’s because of the leader or the other crew? I don’t know.
To trust a cms is to trust the leader
A main reason why I use Kirby depends on that I trust @bastianallgeier . He is the product in a way, almost like his brain i driving it. If the project would change author from Bastian to Bill Gates, I would probably leave (sorry Bill).
Have you learned something except how to use Kirby?