I'd love to see Movable Type expand options for managing content so I can manage a site, rather than a blog.

For example - I'd love for my "categories" to be true navigation - with the ability to select different templates for each. I want my journal category to display entries like a blog, but my category of "photos" to display thumbnails from photo albums, ordered by date, and my recipes to display entry lists ordered alphabetically. I'd also love to be able to post content to the category archive page - and to flexibly be able to include the lists of entries in subcategories within parent categories.

From what I can see by looking over friends shoulders, this sort of thing can be done with other CMS, like Expression Engine, but I'm too deeply invested in MT to drag everything over there...

I have no idea what this means to you. Elaborate?


It's not as transparent as it could be, but this trick still works perfectly, and isn't terribly different from what the "ideal" solution would be. It just happens on a different screen and all in one place rather than by editing each individual category's properties(which could actually be better depending how many categories you're dealing with).

Your various specific bits about how display should happen would then be reliant upon your making those templates different.


Like what? A single block of static content, or more?



Not following again.

God, I love feature requests like this. Its like someone is lobbing you a nice slow under handed pitch.

Ok, so you want Movable Type to help you manage a "site" huh? You are really going to like the next version of Movable Type, a project code named "Athena" which will be released in beta form in the not too distant future (seriously, stay tuned to the Movable Type News blog!).

Athena contains a number of features to help users manage sites easier. First, it has PAGES. Pages allow you to manage one-off pieces of content that you don't really want to appear in your archives. For example a lot of people like to maintain an about page. This is a perfect use of "Pages."

Also in development with Athena, but may not make the first release, but perhaps in a "fast followup release" (details and roadmap still being tweaked) is the ability to select specific templates to render your entries. This could easily be extended to register specific templates to render and display entries in specific categories. A feature idea I really like.

Thanks for thee great ideas and your devotion and support of Movable Type. The winds are changing for MT - I think you will be glad you stuck around. There is a lot of exciting and wonderful stuff being worked on.


Byrne Reese
Product Manager, Movable Type