Trizzle + MovableType =

crazy delicious? Well, hopefully soon. Today I started creating a new Trizzle Project website, using MovableType as a blogging/content management system for the site-a project which is win-win for me because it both improves the Trizzle site, and also helps me understand how MovableType works and what it's like for a developer using it to run a site.

Right now it's pretty slow going because I'm figuring out how how the CSS and tags work in the MT templates. One of the first things I did was have MT start using external template files instead of one stored in its (database? well, internally in any case) which works well, once you sort out the permissions problems. This is good because then I can examine and edit the template files in a text editor, instead of having to scroll around in a browser textarea, which is pure giznank.

The principal pain I'm experiencing now is having to rebuild my site every time I make a change. I'm one of those developers who, especially when I'm in just starting out, likes to make a few small changes and then see the results. With Mtype this means rebuilding the site, which takes a bit of time and involves several mouse clicks, and a visit to a small pop-up window which is easy to lose.

I wish MT had an option for a "developor" mode where changes made to template files would show up instantly in the site files, so you could just make an edit, then reload the web browser. Then once you actually wanted to put the site on the web, you could put it in "production" mode and build the site, which is more efficient for serving up files.

Obviously this would be a huge architectural change-because the site files couldn't be html while in developer mode, they'd have to be dynamic. It might be more development effort than it's worth.