Nesta - a CMS for Ruby Developers

A file-based CMS for web sites and blogs, written in Sinatra.

Content can be written in Markdown or Textile and stored in text files (though you can also use Haml if you need to add some HTML to your pages). There's no database; write your content in your editor. Publish by pushing to a git repository.

Installation

Begin by installing the gem:

$ gem install nesta

Then use the nesta command to generate a new site:

$ nesta new mysite.com --git

Install a few dependencies, and you're away:

$ cd mysite.com
$ bundle

You'll find basic configuration options for your site in config/config.yml. The defaults will work, but you'll want to tweak it before you go very far.

That's it - you can launch a local web server in development mode using mr-sparkle...

$ bundle exec mr-sparkle config.ru

...then point your web browser at http://localhost:8080. Start editing the files in content/pages (see the docs on writing content for full instructions).

Support

There's plenty of information on http://nestacms.com. If you need some help with anything feel free to file an issue, or contact me on Mastodon (@gma@hachyderm.io) or Twitter (@grahamashton).

If you like Nesta you can keep up with developments by following @nestacms on Twitter, and on the blog.

Contributing

If you want to add a new feature, I recommend that you file an issue to discuss it before you start coding. I'm likely to suggest that we implement it as a plugin (to keep Nesta itself lean and simple), so you might save yourself some time if we chat about a good approach before you start.

-- Graham (@grahamashton on Twitter).