History
Replica originally started out as a simple CMS I had wrote years ago. The goal was to provide a simple way to manage content for clients that didn’t want to invest the time in more fully featured platforms like WordPress or Drupal.
Over time I’ve adapted it for my own needs, and has gone through multiple iterations. That said, Replica doesn’t try and reinvent the wheel. Instead, its more of a collection of features of other platforms I’ve used over the years.
Replica V2
Replica 2 is a complete rebuild. I’ve spent over 6 months studying and tearing apart various other platforms learning what works best and what doesn’t for the modern web.
It’s also a work in progress. I made the mistake of trying to make a content management system for everyone to use. Replica2 is built around the features I wanted for my site first and foremost. If you’re looking for a new platform for your site/blog/whatever, look elsewhere. Replica2 is open source, but it’s designed to only work with my workflow, and with A Life Well Played.
In the future Replica and this site’s codebase will be split and it will be turned into a proper Python package. Until then feel free to browse the codebase on github, open issues, make pull requests, and contribute if you see what you like!
Platform Features
Custom Post Channels
One of the best and most powerful features of WordPress is how extendable the post type structure is. Replica’s Channels builds on that idea, and makes it even more easy to use, especially from a developer’s perspective.
Notes Microblogging
Replica Notes combine the idea of twitter, with the customization of Tumbler, but powered with Markdown. Create timelines (or categories) to keep things organized, and even mark things as private or as drafts for internal use only.
Publishing Tools
Replica’s base theme Exile uses Opengraph tags with not editing needed. It also features various publishing tools to promote content like stickied posts and featured articles.
Simple Markdown Editor
By default, Replica’s content is all powered by markdown to make writing easy and painless. It also keeps the HTML clean, so you always know what to expect. For advanced styling, Content can also be written in HTML, or a mix of both.
Support for HTML code blocks & advanced theming
Replica support reusable code blocks that can be used inline in themes, or directly inside the editor using simple custom template tags such as:
{% partial 'header' %}The code blocks are editable in the dashboard, and feature a simple HTML markup editor.
REST API
Replica is also built with Django Rest Framework that supports a readable and writable API.
Designed to be serverless
Replica is tested on various hosting platforms. It supports traditional WSGI servers, cloud platforms like Heroku, and AWS’s server Lambda architecture.