|
Vector and Raster Technology in Joomla CMS |
Author: Chris Price
Copyright © A3webtech 2008-12-01
This article may be republished if the link at the end stays intact
Vector and Raster Technology in Joomla CMS
In the old days, the 90's, raster technology - the use of a single
layer as a solution for all visible publishing tasks - was king. Those
days are long gone and vector technology rules now. Vector solutions
comprise layers of data, and this is the way all modern graphics, web
pages, CAD applications, marine charts, printing jobs and much else is
done.
Understanding the difference between vector and raster technologies is vital for both graphics and web page code.
Raster graphics
To explain: raster graphics are single-layer files that comprise a
2D description of the data. Two dimensional files - up / down and left
/ right - are a 'flat' technology that has no depth, and has x-axis and
y-axis data only. Three-dimensional technology, or 3D, is a more
complete solution that includes depth, ie a z-axis as well. This
approach can be applied to more or less anything visible, and is of
interest to us for graphics and web page code in particular.
Starting with gfx (graphics): in the 90's it was only possible for
mainstream applications to use two dimensions. 3D applications were
expensive and unusual. Therefore at that time, and then into the early
2000's, it was accepted that 2D information was as good as it gets, for
practical purposes. That all changed around 2002 and and these raster
solutions became obsolete. Or more correctly, were overtaken by the
availability of vector solutions in the mainstream markets.
In gfx today for example, Photoshop files are seen as a basic solution
and not acceptable for full commercial use. This is because they are
just simple 2D raster files. They cannot be scaled, so they are no use
for full commercial use such as variable size print jobs. Such files
cannot be used except at the size they are supplied, as they cannot
scale. As a practical example, if you want to use your logo in a
large-scale print job, or on the side of an advertising blimp, you
can't. If it were scaled up it would just look like a bad jpeg.
You will need a vector graphics file, which can be scaled to any size.
An example is an Abobe Illustrator .ai file, which is therefore a level
above Photoshop. This may conflict with the popular opinion of
Photoshop being the ultimate gfx app - but unfortunately the truth is
it's just a basic tool now, professional work often demands a much
better application.
Raster-based web page code
The same thing applies to web page code, whether on hand-coded
sites or on database-driven CMS websites. The old, 90's method was, if
you like, a 'raster' approach: everything was on a single layer. This
is a crude and obsolete way to code pages now. Its use is typified by
tables and cells for the layout framework.
Around 2002 this method became outdated and layer-based page code
took over. This vectorised approach uses layers (divs) and CSS to build
the page structure. Having a third axis means that the page code is an
order of magnitude better, and there are huge advantages. Just as you
cannot use crude raster gfx for many print jobs, crude raster-based 2D
pagecode is long outdated for the modern Internet.
SEO for CMS
Vector-based web pages have big advantages in accessibility and SEO
for example. Just in SEO, these layer-based pages are so far in advance
of flat pages (those using tables) that a site using them has massive
advantages. And as in the situation where Photoshop is erroneously seen
by the popular media as the top gfx application, in web page authoring
many see Dreamweaver as the ultimate tool. However, web authoring
applications such as SiteSpinner were using layer-based pages
exclusively, years before Dreamweaver had ever heard of such a thing.
Joomla's handicap
This is why Joomla CMS is now handicapped, as it is still struggling
with old 90's technology here. By 2002 table-based layouts were
obsolete. By 2004, div-and-table temporary compromises such as the one
Joomla uses were finished. The page code layout it uses became obsolete
ages ago, and so changes are long overdue. This is the single most
vital change that needs to be made to Joomla, and beside this all other
requirements seem much less relevant.
It's true that skilled developers can mitigate this to some extent,
by clever template coding. However, the effects of tables in the code
can never be entirely eliminated and it's time they went. Even a
remnant of this method left in a corner somewhere wrecks the project,
as progress is effectively halted. Once tables have gone completely
then the Joomla project will move forward faster and more efficiently.
Joomla 1.5 has comprehensive overrides available to template
coders. Using these mean that a tableless layout can be implemented via
the template, and an example is the Beez template. However this
approach tends to result in a very simple and lightweight template, as
too much is having to be done by the template coder. It's not a bad
thing for SEO, of course, if a template is lightweight - but what if
you need a full-feature one with 30 collapsible module positions and 10
built-in colour variations?
Almost anything can be plugged in or overridden in Joomla. This is part
of the tradition, and one of the many reasons it is such a powerful
machine. But there is a limit - at what point do you draw the line and
say enough is enough? In theory, taking this to extremes, it wouldn't
matter what the core did as long as you could plug something in.
There are two areas where it is reasonable to state that core
functionality cannot be successfully augmented or overridden, and those
are ACL and code layout. ACL needs to be a core function because plugin
solutions cannot be said to be 100% successful. Correct code layout
needs to be a core function because, again, plugin solutions can only
go partway toward fixing the problem.
Imagine what would be possible if Joomla had a core tableless code
layout scheme. You'd be able to get templates that had, in addition to
the usual features, built-in source ordering controls. Now that's what
I'd call progress. You might not see that as significant but in terms
of SEO and accessibility (best seen as the same thing in any case),
that's a massive leap forward.
It's correct to say that a developer can do almost anything with
Joomla - but that isn't really the point of the project in many
peoples' view. What is
the point is what the users can do with it - the webmasters who have to
work with it. If functions are available to the average webmaster then
the application succeeds; if they are not, and are only there for
developers, then you have an entirely different beast. That wouldn't be
Joomla and it wouldn't be as successful.
Why the Joomla 1.5 series was introduced without fixing the code
layout issue is hard to understand, since in many ways J1.5 is
incompatible with the older version and therefore a major rewrite took
place. How the basic foundation changes that are needed were excluded
is a bit of a mystery - but that's open-source for you. Roll on Joomla
2.0! Luckily, Joomla is such an incredible multimedia publishing tool
that it compares well with the best of them. However, the future looks
ominous unless radical changes are made, as it's hard to support steam
age technology in the modern world.
Vector Rules - RIP Raster.
A3webtech are SEO for CMS specialists and consult on all aspects of website technology. You can find more resources at www.a3webtech.com .
|
|
Vector and Raster in Joomla
