What is Bricks Site Builder?

Bricks Site Builder is a Dynamic HTML (DHTML) layout tool that runs on Apache + mod_perl + Mason. It enables a web designer to quickly build assemblies bricks (dynamic components, such as images, or weblogs) using a web-based select-and-submit interface. A URI can then map to a number of assemblies that are then pasted together to build an object graph that is traversed to render an HTTP response.

The biggest benefit of using Bricks Site Builder is the ability to leverage the work others have done by using the bricks they've written, such as weblogs, photo-albums, etc. to create a kick-ass data-driven web-site. The downside is that Bricks isn't mature (though it works), that it forces a little bit of structure on the way a site is designed, and that, as of now, not many bricks have been written.

Is Bricks Site Builder right for me?

If your site is primarily informational - that is, it doesn't require the user to do much - or if you can't run Apache with mod_perl and Mason, then Bricks Site Builder probably isn't right for you. If, on the other hand, you can run the required software, and are want to run a data-driven web-site, it might be perfect.

What bricks come with Bricks Site Builder?

table	easy creation of HTML tables.
text	user-edited text
filelink	copy a file to the HTML output stream, allows for editing of that file
image	insert an image, allows for easy selection of that image from those available on disk
weblog	create a weblog directory, easily add new weblogs, has a drop-down listing of available weblogs
photoalbum	user selects a directory of images, and all images are placed in a photo album with thumbnails and a drop-down listing
photoalbumset	user selects a directory of directories, and all those directories become photo albums
next	a URI can map to multiple assemblies, such as a header, a weblog, and a footer. The next brick links the next mapped assembly so that multiple assemblies can be pasted together into one HTTP response.
fileselect	used by image, photoalbum, photoalbumset, and filelink to select a file on the server

I'm a programmer. Is it easy for me to write new bricks?

Absolutely. Take a look at bricks/standard/Mason/image for an example brick.

Where do I get it?

You can download Bricks Site Builder here.