Jekyll vs RefineryCMS?

Question

I know many Ruby users are using Jekyll but I wonder what the benefits that will bring over RefineryCMS?

Could someone highlights the differences and pros/cons for each.

Answer 1

I'm one of the core developers on Refinery CMS.

The architecture of each project is vastly different. Here's a few things Refinery CMS has:

• Web based interface (just go to /refinery to login and edit content)
• Visual content editing (but also supports editing in plain HTML)
• Stores it's content in a database (MySQL, SQLite, PostgreSQL - your choice)
• Suitable for non technical people to edit
• Supports Rails 3
• Supports localisation in 11 languages (and you can add your own)
• Support and docs: IRC, Google Group, Tutorials, API docs, Github repository

I can't be authoritative about Jekyll (maybe mojombo can answer) but it looks like:

• Static content editing
• Stores it's content in files
• Developer focused, not suitable for an end user to edit
• Markup based editing
• Will load slightly faster as the pages are static

I hope that helps weigh it up. It all comes down to your project requirements.

Answer 2

Well, jekyll is 100% static. All files are generated into static HTML. Jekyll is amazing for small sites that don't really need dynamic content. With jekyll you write the content in your own text editor.

I haven't tested RefineryCMS, but it is more like what you would think of as a content management system with data stored in a database managed through a web interface. If the site is going to be managed by non-tech people, I'll say jekyll is a no-go and that refinery is a better choice.

Answer 3

RefineryCMS is fully Rails 3.0 compatible and they offer great support over IRC. Furthermore RefineryCMS is a fully featured CMS with a localizable interface while Jekyl is not. It all depends on your projects needs.

Answer 4

The best thing to do would be to install them both and play. You will soon see they both serve two completely different purposes. Refinery is a CMS and Jekyll is a static site generator . Jekyll is not built for content management.