Webber - Offline Web Content Manager

There are many cases where dynamic web page generation is not required, and where classic web content management applications are too much effort to install or to manage. To expose Domino servers to the web is also a security issue, especially for smaller environments. For these use cases, an offline content management tool is useful, and developing it as Notes application makes it user-friendly and easy to manage.

Webber operates by applying templates to content documents, both implemented as Notes documents. The content is formatted using Markdown, a simple document formatting language derived from the way plain text files are often formatted. Markdown is also used by openntf. Multi-level web page menus are dynamically generated. Additional files like .css files, PHP files, images, downloadable PDFs etc. can be attached to both the template and content documents and included resp. linked to in the HTML output.

The application is especially useful to manage and embed images into web pages as the images are saved as Notes document attachments and referred to within the Markdown code only via their ID number.

Extended features of Markdown are supported, like tables or integration of LaTeX formatted mathematical formulas via the KaTeX javascript library. In version 1.2, support of html Forms has been added, to simplify the generation of response or ordering forms. Version 1.3 added a captcha feature based on JavaScript code, which doubles as a web based mini calculator for maths training.

In 2025, a first version of AI support was added. Webpage texts now can be created via an AI API, either completely or partially. The function is AI engine agnostic as the connection URL, query template and of course API key can be configured via a Notes document. The feature has been tested with Mistral, but not with other AI engines yet.

There is only a very basic approval process implemented, and also basic versioning only, as those were not a requirement up to now. Edited but unprocessed pages are marked, though. The generated output package currently has to be deployed manually to the web server, e.g. via WinSCP or similar tools.

The developer would be happy to hear from any users about their experiences or additional requirements and would also be willing to provide a short how-to introduction via internet conference (if time allows). Contact me at js (at) yourstamps.de.