Wanted to make fellow Bloc users aware that Cushy CMS seems to have disappeared. I’m not sure if this temporary or permanent.
I used it yesterday morning - Sunday 09 December 2018 - to log on to my own site and make some changes. Today I intended to show a client how easy it would be for them to update their new Blocs-built site using the Cushy system. However none of my internet browsers can reach the site. It almost feels like someone threw a switch…
If anyone knows the Cushy CMS team, or has any info about what’s happened, it would be good to know.
I had the same problem accessing their site recently, but weirdly it later worked when I used a VPN. Almost like their server is blocking anybody from the UK.
We really need some better CMS options for Blocs with less messing about.
After a bit of digging around on the internet, I found the name of someone who says that he is still CushyCMS’s Chief Technology Officer. I’ve contacted him via social to ask what’s going on with their product. I see little point in preparing new Blocs sites for CushyCMS, if that system has ultimately been killed off.
But you’re right @flashman we need better CMS options for Blocs. I have clients who use the in-browser editing feature of Adobe Muse/AdobeBC on a regular basis. I’m not interested in developing fire-and-forget sites. I need to created sites that clients can update themselves, and then sync their changes back into my original file.
I just can’t see my typical clients wanting to pay $28 a month for a CMS and your experience hunting around the internet for somebody still involved with the project effectively makes it a non starter. Perhaps there are some Blocs users actively using Cushy, otherwise I would be inclined to remove it as an option in project settings.
There was a post yesterday on the forum from somebody having issues with October, just as I found myself, but leaving that aside (which you cannot ) it just didn’t seem like a viable option for clients when you have all that code in plain view for editing. Features are important, but so is the appearance and it’s hard to convince clients they should pay for a CMS unless it is clearly better than Wordpress.
SurrealCMS apparently has blog functionality coming before long, however it is untested with Blocs 3 as far as I know and I don’t think I’ve heard it mentioned more than once or twice on the forum in a couple years.
@DerekDigital I think it would be useful if you could detail some of the features you would like to see based on your experience with different client jobs. I know of one or two possibilities in the pipeline but developers need to know what is expected. If anybody else has any thoughts it would be great to hear.
One observation I would make is that there have been several posts lately about CMS issues and options, but this is actually a good sign. It means Blocs is being taken more seriously by designers, who are excited by the potential, but need a solid CMS to meet client demands. Once that capability is available it will be like one of those Steve Jobs “Boom” moments.
If it’s any help, after a quick glance it seems people are reporting similar occurrences over the last couple of days (Dec 4th thru 10th) on their Google Group. Those people are getting responses from “Simon - CushyCMS”. I’m not sure that minimizes your concerns however.
I’d like to create a CMS for Blocs, but I’d need to hire a dev to build and maintain it, which means if we ever roll our own CMS, it will be subscription based. I’m definitely going to go back over the CMS’s out there and add some new ones free/premium and also write some knowledge base posts on intergrating with them manually, as Blocs has a lot more flexibility regarding 3rd party integration.
I think hiring an additional developer to assist in solidifying and progressing the general app along in numerous ways, would instead allow a more rapid advancement of the core app and better serve the overall Blocs user base. Integrating and documenting various 3rd party offerings like you stated could be just one of the things adding additional help could provide and result in. I say that respectfully and with admiration for what you have achieved solo thus far. :–)
Thanks for this link @Blocs_User. I’ve left a note for Simon, but am not that hopeful he’ll either reply or come back with any constructive suggestions. If miracles do happen, I’ll certainly let everyone on this forum know.
I have invested an eye-watering amount of cash over the past 7 years to Adobe in order to use Muse and become a Business Catalyst partner, only for that company to tell me in April that they were killing both products.
In hindsight they did me a favour, because I found Blocs app. Every person who comes into my studio, regardless of whether they are a client or a creative, is shown Blocs. I love it that much! So I wouldn’t have any hesitation in paying a subscription for a an easy-to-use CMS module that hooks right into the app.
What would make my workflow easier is removing the current “phaffing” about that we all seem to be doing getting things to work.
Let’s use Blocs to continue creating great looking sites but if, at some point in the future, we can then provide our clients with a simple CMS that enables them to carry out basic text amendments or change photos etc., with minimum instruction, and for those changes to fly back into Blocs somehow, then you have an even more attractive proposition than the current great offering.
Bit of an update. Both Simon and Danial from CushyCMS contacted me overnight to assure me that were still alive and well, and everything with their system was fine. I think this is good news for us all.
They offered me a few suggestions to try and isolate the reason why I couldn’t connect to their site. This morning, using 4G, I managed to access my account on their site. Hoorah! So either my internet service provider - BT - or the kit that I use to connect to the internet is stopping me from reaching them. As this is happening both at work and at home, I’m going continue to do more tests until I find the common denominator that is the cause.
Yesterday I dug out some ethernet cables, and attached my MacBook Pro in my studio to the Apple AirPort Base Station. This created a physical link from my computer to the BT line. I still couldn’t access the CushyCMS site. Using Apple’s Network Utility, I can ping the site and trace the route. I simply can’t view the site in any internet browser using wifi or ethernet.
I carried out the same test at home, yesterday evening, connecting my MacBook Pro to a BT HomeHub with an ethernet cable. The result was exactly the same. So still a mystery as to why I am unable to connect to their site. The common denominator appears to be BT though.
I am using Vodafone with a 76mbps fire connection, but perhaps they are using the same basic infrastructure as BT. If this is affecting users from Scotland to Cornwall using different ISPs and equipment it’s just downright silly.
I can connect on my normal broadband connection if I use a VPN to hide my IP number and appear to be from a different location. Perhaps we’ve been banned…
