Nick's Hotaru CMS Blog

I've been running Hotaru live on my site for about two weeks now. This is an established site that was built on Pligg and later SocialWebCMS for about two years before the recent change to Hotaru.

So how does it feel?

With any new program, there are a few kinks to be worked out, but on the whole, the Hotaru experience is one of complete control. The hardest work is, of course, the spam. Because I'm listed on dozens of Pligg lists out there, I get hit hard by spammers. Fortunately, with Hotaru, there's no pressure to zap them until I'm ready to do so. Sure, I have to sift through the notification emails to see if there are any legitimate submissions, but otherwise I can let them build up and blacklist them all in one hit, which I do once a day. So far, I've added over 100 spammers to the StopForumSpam database, so you won't have to deal with them when you set up your own Hotaru site.

Perhaps the most awesome thing about Hotaru is user permissions. You can, at any time, disable an individual's ability to search, comment, edit comments, post a story, or even login. If that sounds a bit severe, you can put their comments and posts under moderation, so you have to approve them before they get displayed on the site. This is a great way to keep trolls in check! Actually, all the options available are a bit overwhelming. For example, should you set all new members to "undermod", or just put their first post and comment in moderation? Should you restrict posting frequency to one every 10 minutes? How many comments should you allow per day? Those are just a few of the options available.

Another fantastic feature is how you can copy templates, CSS and language files to your own theme and they override the originals. I've customized 20 templates for my site and I don't have to worry about losing them when I upgrade Hotaru. The only niggle is I have to keep an eye on new plugin versions to see if I have to update my files at all.

There are a couple of problems with Hotaru. For example, it can be a bit weird going through the User Manager, trying to work out if users are spammers or not when their submitted posts are listed in the Post Manager and comments in the Comment Manager. There are also some sporadic bugs such as the occasional leftover "pending" posts after deleting a user, and the mysterious, disappearing Upcoming widget. These will all be sorted out in time, but right now, I'm more than satisfied with Hotaru CMS as a replacement for SWCMS/Pligg.