Welcome to SynaptikCMS Discussions!

[synaptikcms]

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To get started, comment below with an introduction of yourself and tell us about what you do with this community.

[akvariefisk]

Hi everyone,

My name is Erik and I'm from Sweden. I have a rather unusual passion for various types of CMS platforms across different programming languages. I can't code at all myself, so I usually refer to myself as a "copy-and-paste expert" ;)

Over the years, I’ve experimented with quite a few options—everything from CMS built on PHP, MySQL, ASP, and ASP.NET to static site generators with CMS support.

I find that SynaptikCMS offers a solution similar to Grav CMS, but it is significantly simpler while packing a lot of smart features under the hood. It’s so quick and effortless to get up and running locally.

The themes are really nice and clean, but unfortunately, they currently rely on Google Fonts. My suggestion would be to use Bunny Fonts instead, which would make them more GDPR-friendly right out of the box. Bunny uses the exact same implementation method.

preconnect fonts.bunny.net and fonts.bunny.net/css?family=dm-sans etc

Right now I am editing the themes my self to be running Bunny Fonts for me.

I’m really looking forward to seeing what the future holds for SynaptikCMS. Is there a roadmap available where we can check out what features are planned next?

[synaptikcms]

Hi Erik,

Thanks a lot for your feedback, it really means a lot. Comparing my CMS to an established CMS like Grav is... well it's amazing!

Great catch on the Bunny Fonts point. You're absolutely right, shipping with Google Fonts by default isn't ideal from a GDPR standpoint, especially when the whole idea of SynaptikCMS is to stay lightweight and respectful.
I'll switch the default themes to Bunny Fonts in the next theme update. Same syntax, zero performance impact, and one less thing for users to worry about legally. I will credit your suggestion in the release notes (congrats, you're officially the first contributor :) ).

About the roadmap, honest answer: I'm a solo developer and SynaptikCMS is still very young, only released about two months ago. I haven't published a public roadmap yet mostly because I'm still figuring out what makes sense to prioritize based on early user feedback like yours. I also didn't want to put dates on things and risk not delivering, since I work on this in my spare time.

That said, here are some ideas I have in mind for the coming months and beyond. Nothing is set in stone, and the order might shift depending on user feedback and obviously my schedule:

Short term:

• Thanks to your suggestion, migration to Bunny Fonts across all default themes will be a priority
• Improve and simplify the plugin system, and implement a plugin update mechanism
• Implement a theme update mechanism
• Admin UX polish based on early feedback

Mid term:

• Multi-user support with basic roles (admin, editor, author) so the CMS can be used by more than one person at a time
• Possibly an in-admin plugin directory so users can browse and install community plugins in one click, rather than having to upload zip files manually (not a priority yet, but a natural next step once the community grows)

Longer term:

• A one-click migration tool from WordPress and Grav for people wanting to switch over
• More granular role-based permissions on top of the multi-user foundation
• Maybe an official Docker image for people who prefer a containerized self-hosted setup.

On top of all that, and probably the most important part: I'll keep improving the core continuously, lightening the codebase wherever possible and optimizing for speed everywhere it makes sense (including in the official themes).
With every release, I try to weigh the pros and cons of adding more code, and I make sure a new feature genuinely earns its place. It is easy to fall into the trap of adding and adding more things, but my goal is to keep the core CMS footprint as lightweight as possible. Honestly, I initially did not plan on implementing a plugin system, but I figured it was the right way to keep the core lean while still letting the CMS grow: essential features in the core, everything else as an optional plugin.
Performance and simplicity aren't a marketing line, they're the foundation of the whole project, and I want SynaptikCMS to stay the kind of CMS you can install and forget because it just works and stays fast.

SynaptikCMS is a long-term project for me. I use it in production on my own sites and I have zero intention of abandoning it. I'll probably set up a proper GitHub Projects board at some point so people can follow progress in real time and suggest features publicly.

Thanks again for the kind words, the quality feedback and the concrete suggestion. This is exactly the kind of feedback that helps the project move in the right direction!

[synaptikcms]

NB: Also, your comment about being a CMS enthusiast really resonated with me, because that's exactly how this whole project started.

For years, I've tested countless flat-file CMS across different languages, always looking for the fastest, the most lightweight, and the most feature-complete at the same time (I'm totally obsessed with code optimization and page speed). I never found the one that ticked all the boxes for me. Some were fast but too bare-bones, some were feature-rich but bloated, some were beautifully simple but missing critical things for my personal usage.

So a few years ago I started building my own, purely for myself, with zero intention of ever releasing it publicly. It was just a personal tool tailored to my own needs and taste. But as it matured and I kept adding features while keeping the core tight, I realized it had grown into something genuinely usable. I started seeing its potential and it felt kind of stupid to keep it to myself when other people who love testing CMS solutions might actually enjoy it too. So I cleaned it up, wrote some documentation, and pushed it to GitHub.

When I look at the install size of SynaptikCMS next to WordPress or even Grav, and compare feature-for-feature what's actually usable out of the box, I'm honestly a bit amazed at what a lean flat-file architecture can achieve today. That's what keeps me motivated. Obviously, WordPress and Grav have decades of collective work behind them and cover use cases SynaptikCMS will probably never need to touch, so I know it's not playing in the same league. But on the specific niche of fast, lightweight, and feature-complete content-driven sites, I think SynaptikCMS holds its ground pretty well for such a small footprint. That's a big part of why I felt it was worth sharing publicly.

Getting feedback from someone like you, who has clearly tested a lot of CMS platforms and knows what they're talking about, is exactly the kind of validation that makes releasing it publicly feel worth it. Thanks for that.

[synaptikcms]

Hi Erik,

I've pushed update 1.3.3 with all themes updated to use Bunny Fonts instead of Google Fonts.
You are good to go now :)

[akvariefisk]

Thanks Dorian ;)

Looks great and the update worked fine to update on my local setup. Looking promising ..

Cheers
Erik