b.cognosco

I'm a big fan of Conversant, the software that drives this weblog. It's a remarkably flexible application development platform for group publishing efforts, but if you've ever looked at the free version of Conversant you know that it lacks a number of features that we've come to expect from modern weblog software. Conversant was developed well before the weblog craze and the initial weblog implementation hasn't been updated in quite a while. That doesn't mean the advanced features aren't available. I've had access to lots of advanced weblog features - including really nice anti-spam, metadata, search, API support, multiple interfaces, and collaboration features - since I started using Conversant a couple of years ago. But those features have been locked up in a private beta of Conversant's Weblog II system. Now, Weblog II is available to everyone, including users of Free Conversant.

Weblog II is Finally "out There"

After years of private beta (man that's embarrassing to admit out loud), Macrobyte has finally released Weblog II, our 'next generation' weblogging system for Conversant.

Big, smart, easy to use.. and that just describes the lead developer behind it! Weblog II is even better than that!

(No, seriously, Weblog II is fully buzzword compliant. There's even a super-simple wizard for converting your old Conversant weblog to a Weblog II page.)

Greg said, "It's about time!" I agree. It's been like having a lazy, 30 year old kid still living at home with his parents. "Get out there and earn your keep, lazy bones!"

This is a very good thing. If you're looking for a solid, flexible, customizable weblog system that can grow to meet lots of publishing needs you could do a lot worse than Conversant.

Oh, one of the features of Weblog II is a pattern maker/installer - similar to the themes that other systems use, but capturing lots of complex formatting for Conversant's advanced features. There is a contest brewing for Conversant patterns that should help kick start a nice library of sexy, up-to-date, fully-functional looks for Conversant weblogs. Should launch in January. More as it develops.