I dont like Gantry 5 and I will probably not use it anymore
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- Krx
- Sr. Rocketeer
- Posts: 174
- Thanks: 12
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Hello
After several attempts to try em, better to say force myself to use Gantry 5 templates,
I decided to stop using em on new projects.
I will also probably convert current ones with Gantry 5 into Gantry 4 ones.
I've spent a lot of my time with G5, read documents, read forums, read google
Reasons:
Gantry 5 pros:
- Very versatile template Framework
- Good for developers and programmers
Gantry 5 cons:
- Over-engeneered, not for regular users
- SLower to customize
- Much slower to deploy into website
- Higher impact on server resources (slower rendering)
I know that Gantry5 is present and future for Rocket Theme and that you dont have planns to develop new Gantry4 themes ,
but I simply dont like where this trend goes. Instead of making proces easier it gets more and more complicated.
Im not just a regular template user, I know my way around CSS HTML and PHP - Im doing it for earning my daily bread during last +17 years. In past I also programmed my own simple CMS php systems and did AS2 and AS3 Flash applications and games.
But even with my skills I find that using G5 for most of my websites is overkill and most important: it consumes too much time,
and it renders slow on many shared hostings.
Also, it's next to impossible to develop a website for client and leave it to them for maintenance.
Please dont get me wrong.
Cudos to your will to develop things and to follow trends.
This is just my conclusion after +6 months of attempts to use G5 for new projects.
I also debated about this with my coleagues, and majority of them agreed.
Best Regards -
The following users have thanked you: djSoft
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- Terp
- Elite Rocketeer
- Posts: 1720
- Thanks: 23
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Despite what the moderators and developers are predictably going to say in this thread, you are not alone, sir. Lots of us are jumping ship and moving away from Gantry 5.
Perhaps that's why the focus has been on Grav...to stop the bleeding when we all move on.
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- Grzegorz Wójcik
- Hero Rocketeer
- Posts: 271
- Thanks: 40
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Gantry 5 is ok. You have to go a long time to learn.
The particles in the projects should be as normal modules. Adding particles in the Layout in commercial templates is bad for beginners. I'm doing website for my clients use particles as ordinary modules. I do not want to teach customer Gantry5.
You can use Gantry5 only to the construction layout of the website. As Gantry4. - Last Edit: 7 years 3 months ago by Grzegorz Wójcik.
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The following users have thanked you: Damir
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- Cipo
- Hero Rocketeer
- Posts: 292
- Thanks: 0
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Interesting,
I have been using on and off the RT in past few years. Never really managed to understand all of it (maybe just a bit) but most of the time managed to get some stuff done. I like the concept of trying to get things easier (drag&drop, etc) but something is really missing: usability. All G5 (and related) is built for engineers who know how to code CSS and how things properly work. I had an interesting conversation with a friend who doesn't know anything and I was trying to teach him some bits to get around it. His simple questions make me understand even more that lots of stuff doesn't make sense and it is not user friendly.
Why you have "TOP", "HEADER" in there and why those names (yeah inherited from previous G versions .... ) but it doesn't make sense for someone new and not techy. We change some properties of a block in a particle, we were able to randomly pick some colors but we couldn't change the font size ! Again ..... why it has to be so complicated ? It is not intuitive not friendly although it wants to look so.
yeah you can read tons of doc but it helps to a bit, there aren't even simple tutorial that shows how to build a site from scratch using a RT templates .... I mean a real site. Maybe cos else someone will lose job opportunities ?
Anyway, probably a too big topic to be discussed here. I just have mix feeling, I want to run away but not sure where I could end up. Is WP any better as CMS ?
THX
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- wombat
- Rocketeer
- Posts: 53
- Thanks: 15
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Hi,
I have been a member here at RT for about 7 years. For about the last year and a half I did not really do anything in the way of websites. Just did not seem to have the time that I used to have. Although I am no Profi, I am quite good with css. When I started I had also made my own Templates. Unfortunately I am not that good at coding, and I joined RT because of the nice Templates AND the extensions they had, which were beyond my capabilities.
Now I come back and see Gantry 5, Particles and Atoms and needed to try and figure out how this all worked. Good, I managed it to an extent, but I also made a few posts about everything getting way too complicated, especially for new users. Answers that I got was that it is not so complicated, or that users who buy Templates or join Clubs have enough experience to use and understand them.
Since then I have seen posts from users who did not know how to upload or delete files using FTP, or users who did not know which files were Joomla files,and other users who did not know joomla basics. For the profis here at RT who do the designing and coding, it probably is very simple. They do this everyday.
The Particles here at RT, like they are now, are basically only good for static content. This is only my opinion, and I have not used all the particles that RT offers so some might be usable. If the content changes frequently, other joomla extensions are more often than not the better choice. Anyone who has installed a fresh joomla site and then gantry 5 and an RT Template without using the Rocket Launcher, has a site with no layout or design. There is no header, no modules, the menu is rather basic and at first look it does not look like a template is installed. Here everything first needs to set up in Gantry.
Granted, the possibilities with Gantry 5 are great, but also almost overwhelming. Instead of just going to my Templates to make changes or assign pages, I now have to first make these in the Gantry component, and then go to the Template manager. Instead of setting up a module like I want it, assigning a modul position and publishing it to show on the pages I want, I first need to create the module position in Gantry or try and create a new particle to do what the module can do. Once again, this allows a lot of possibilities, but is it really worth the extra work? Here the opinions differ, it is after all only a matter of opinion.
I am hoping now that GRAV is up and running, and the GRAV Template Club is up and running, that the RT team will now have enough time to do what they used to do. Create new and innovative Templates and add new and innovative features. The newest Template was somewhat of a disappointment for me, but it may also be that the RT Team felt pressured to release something. Unfortunately looking at the last 10 Template releases there was very little that was new and innovative. The layout changed a little, the colors changed a little, and some different particles were included, but basically they were all the same. - Last Edit: 7 years 3 months ago by wombat.
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- Cipo
- Hero Rocketeer
- Posts: 292
- Thanks: 0
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Hi Wombat
I agree with many things although I am less experienced than you and I understand less.
Setting up a site with RL after picking a them is quite simple and editing while adjusting to your needs is doable but there are so many little changes that everyone wants to do that are doable only after getting a hint in the RT forum ( great reosurces). That's the point: maybe everything is easier for some techy but it is very complicated cos at the end even to change a font you end up asking in the forum.
I read the documentation and I still need to ask basic stuff ... something is not right in the doc then.
Can GRAV be so much better ?
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- wombat
- Rocketeer
- Posts: 53
- Thanks: 15
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Hi Cipo,
If GRAV is so much better is also a matter of opinion and I am probably not really the person that should answer this question. I only checked it out rather quickly to see how it was.
It is light-weight and rather fast since it does not use a DB. Getting it set up and working is rather simple to do, and getting the first basic pages is also not much problem. If you want to use it, you should however know at least some basics about css, html, yaml, etc. etc. In my opinion it is not something for a beginner, but it could also be a good learning experience if someone wants to stick with it and learn by doing.
The documentation is okay, maybe even real good, but I did not go much further than setting up a few basic pages so I cannot say that much about this part. What I looked through was also easily understandable (at least for someone with a good understanding of the english language).
It is also made for "small to mid-sized sites", what exactly small or mid-sized is, is something that different people will give different answers to, but if I wanted to create something with just a few pages and mainly static content, GRAV "could" be my choice.
As far as the Particles for GRAV, there are quite a few. These I only glanced at and did not add any while "playing" so I can not say if these are good, or if they are easy to integrate into the site. The menu sort of creates itself depending on the folder structure and naming, but here I also did not go further so I cannot say if creating a complex menu which drops down or slides out is something that is easy to do.
It might be a good idea to check out the GRAV forums and see what is being talked about there if you do not have the possibility to install it on a test site or on a local setup to check it out. Or just check the documentation. I do not mean read it completely through, but skim over it. You could then get an idea of how it works and the reasoning behind it.
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