FearlessCMS Customization Overview

Introduction

FearlessCMS is designed to be highly customizable while maintaining simplicity and performance. This guide provides an overview of all the ways you can customize your FearlessCMS installation.

🎨 Theme Customization

Creating Custom Themes

The primary way to customize FearlessCMS is through themes. Themes control the visual appearance and layout of your website.

Key Features:

HTML Templates: Use Handlebars templating for dynamic content
CSS Styling: Full control over visual design
JavaScript: Add interactive functionality
Modular Templates: Break down templates into reusable components
Theme Options: User-friendly customization without code editing

Getting Started:

Creating Themes Guide - Complete theme development tutorial
Theme Development Workflow - Step-by-step process
Template Reference - All available variables and syntax

Theme Options System

Available Option Types:

Text: Simple text input
Textarea: Multi-line text input
Select: Dropdown selection
Checkbox: Boolean toggle
Color: Color picker
Image: Image upload/selection
Array: Repeating field groups

Example:

json
{
    "options": {
        "primaryColor": {
            "type": "color",
            "label": "Primary Color",
            "default": "#007bff"
        },
        "showSidebar": {
            "type": "checkbox",
            "label": "Show Sidebar",
            "default": true
        }
    }
}

Usage in Templates:

html

    {{#if themeOptions.showSidebar}}
        ...
    {{/if}}

🔌 Plugin Development

Creating Custom Plugins

Plugin Capabilities:

Content Processing: Modify content before display
Admin Integration: Add admin panel features
API Endpoints: Create custom API endpoints
Database Operations: Custom data storage and retrieval
Event Hooks: Respond to system events

Getting Started:

Plugin Development Guide - Complete plugin tutorial
Plugin Examples - Browse existing plugins

Built-in Plugins

Forms Plugin: Create and manage contact forms
Sitemap Plugin: Generate XML sitemaps
SEO Plugin: Meta tag management
Analytics Plugin: Basic analytics integration

🎛️ System Configuration

CMS Modes

Available Modes:

Development: Full debugging, detailed error messages
Production: Optimized performance, minimal error output
Maintenance: Show maintenance page to visitors

Configuration:

php
// In config/config.json
{
    "mode": "production",
    "debug": false,
    "maintenance": false
}

Getting Started:

CMS Modes Guide - Detailed mode configuration

File Permissions

Critical Directories:

sessions/ - Session file storage
content/forms/ - Forms plugin data
content/form_submissions/ - Form submissions
config/ - Configuration files
uploads/ - File uploads
admin/uploads/ - Admin file uploads

Security Best Practices:

Use proper ownership (web server user)
Standard permissions (755 for directories, 644 for files)
Avoid overly permissive 777/666 permissions

Getting Started:

File Permissions Guide - Complete permission setup

📝 Content Customization

Content Structure

Content Types:

Pages: Static content pages
Blog Posts: Time-based content
Custom Content: User-defined content types

Content Fields:

Title: Page/post title
Content: Main content (Markdown supported)
Meta: Custom metadata
Tags: Content categorization
Published Date: Publication timing

Template Variables

Page Variables:

{{title}} - Page title
{{content}} - Page content
{{url}} - Page URL
{{meta}} - Page metadata

Site Variables:

{{siteName}} - Site name
Fast and Fearless Content Managment - Site description
2025 - Current year
{{theme}} - Active theme name

Menu Variables:

{{menu.main}} - Main navigation menu
{{menu.sidebar}} - Sidebar menu
{{menu.footer}} - Footer menu

🎯 Advanced Customization

Modular Templates

Module Syntax:

html
{{module=header.html}}
{{module=footer.html}}
{{module=navigation.html}}

Benefits:

Reusability: Use components across multiple templates
Maintainability: Update components in one place
Organization: Keep related code together
Consistency: Ensure uniform appearance

Getting Started:

Modular Templates Guide - Complete modular system guide

SASS/SCSS Support

Features:

Variables: Define reusable values
Mixins: Reusable CSS patterns
Nesting: Organized CSS structure
Functions: Dynamic CSS generation

Getting Started:

SASS Theme Guide - SASS integration tutorial

Custom JavaScript

Integration Methods:

Theme Assets: Include in theme's assets/js/ directory
Inline Scripts: Add directly to templates
Plugin Integration: Load via plugins

Best Practices:

Progressive Enhancement: Ensure functionality without JavaScript
Performance: Minimize and optimize scripts
Accessibility: Follow accessibility guidelines

🔧 Development Workflow

Local Development

Install FearlessCMS locally
Configure Development Mode for debugging
Set Proper Permissions for file operations
Create Test Content for development
Use Version Control for theme/plugin development

Testing

Cross-browser Testing: Check in multiple browsers
Mobile Testing: Verify responsive design
Performance Testing: Optimize loading times
Security Testing: Validate input handling

Deployment

Switch to Production Mode for performance
Set Proper Permissions for security
Optimize Assets (minify CSS/JS, compress images)
Test Thoroughly before going live
Monitor Performance after deployment

📚 Resources

Documentation

Creating Themes - Theme development tutorial
Plugin Development - Plugin creation guide
Template Reference - Template syntax reference
Theme Options - Theme customization options
Modular Templates - Component system guide
SASS Integration - Advanced CSS development
CMS Modes - System configuration
File Permissions - Security setup

Examples

Theme Examples - Browse existing themes
Plugin Examples - Browse existing plugins
Nightfall Theme - Complete theme example

Community

GitHub Issues: Report bugs and request features
Discussions: Ask questions and share solutions
Contributions: Submit improvements and new features

🎯 Best Practices

Security

Input Validation: Always validate user input
File Permissions: Use proper ownership and permissions
HTTPS: Use secure connections in production
Regular Updates: Keep FearlessCMS and plugins updated

Performance

Asset Optimization: Minify CSS/JS, compress images
Caching: Implement appropriate caching strategies
Database Optimization: Optimize database queries
CDN Usage: Use content delivery networks for assets

#### Built-in Page Caching FearlessCMS includes a built-in file-based page caching system for public (non-logged-in) pages. When a public page is requested, the generated HTML is saved as a static file in the cache/ directory and served for subsequent requests for up to 5 minutes. This greatly improves performance and reduces server load. The cache is automatically cleared whenever content is updated via the admin interface, ensuring visitors always see the latest version of your site.

Maintainability

Code Organization: Use modular templates and clear structure
Documentation: Document custom code and configurations
Version Control: Use Git for all customizations
Testing: Test thoroughly before deployment

Accessibility

Semantic HTML: Use proper HTML structure
ARIA Labels: Add accessibility attributes
Keyboard Navigation: Ensure keyboard accessibility
Color Contrast: Maintain sufficient color contrast

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Happy customizing! 🚀

This guide covers the main customization options in FearlessCMS. For detailed information on specific topics, refer to the individual documentation files.