aether cms

A modern, elegant content management system designed for developers and content creators who value simplicity and power.

LebCit

JavaScript

Aether CMS

A lightweight, file-based CMS built with vanilla JavaScript and LiteNode that generates blazing-fast static sites.

✨ Features

Content Management

File-based storage - Content stored as Markdown files with YAML frontmatter
Posts & Pages - Full support for blog posts and static pages
Categories & Tags - Organize content with taxonomies
Custom Pages - Create nested page hierarchies with custom templates
Rich Editor - Built-in Markdown editor with live preview
Media Library - Upload and manage images and documents

Theming & Customization

Theme System - Theme system architecture with template hierarchy
Theme Marketplace - Install themes directly from GitHub repository
Hook System - Extensible plugin architecture for developers
Custom Templates - Support for page-specific templates
Menu Management - Global navigation menu system

Performance & SEO

Static Site Generation - Generate ultra-fast static sites
SEO Optimized - Automatic sitemap, RSS feeds, and meta tags
Clean URLs - Beautiful, SEO-friendly URL structure
Image Optimization - Automatic image metadata and alt text management

User Management

Role-based Access - Admin and editor user roles
Secure Authentication - Argon2 password hashing with rate limiting
Session Management - Secure session handling

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

Node.js 18+
npm or yarn

Installation

Create a new project

npx create-aether-cms my-cms-site
cd my-cms-site

Install dependencies
```
npm install
```
Start the development server
```
npm start
```
Access the admin dashboard
Open http://localhost:8080/aether in your browser
- Default credentials: admin / admin

📁 Project Structure

aether/
├── content/            # Content storage
│   ├── data/           # Posts, pages, and settings
│   │   ├── posts/      # Blog posts (.md files)
│   │   ├── pages/      # Static pages (.md files)
│   │   └── custom/     # Custom pages (.md files)
│   ├── themes/         # Theme files
│   │   └── default/    # Default theme
│   └── uploads/        # Media files
├── core/               # Core CMS functionality
│   ├── api/            # REST API endpoints
│   ├── lib/            # Core libraries
│   ├── routes/         # Frontend routes
│   └── admin/          # Admin interface
└── assets/             # Static assets

🎨 Themes

Aether uses a flexible theme system with template hierarchy:

Template Hierarchy

Custom templates - themes/theme-name/custom/page-name.html
Content-specific - themes/theme-name/templates/post.html
Generic content - themes/theme-name/templates/content.html
Layout fallback - themes/theme-name/templates/layout.html

Theme Structure

theme-name/
├── theme.json           # Theme metadata
├── assets/              # CSS, JS, images
│   ├── css/
│   └── js/
├── templates/           # Core templates
│   ├── layout.html      # Base layout
│   ├── post.html        # Single post
│   ├── page.html        # Single page
│   └── taxonomy.html    # Categories/tags
├── partials/            # Reusable components
└── custom/              # Custom page templates

📝 Content Management

Creating Content

Posts are stored in content/data/posts/ as Markdown files:

---
id: "1234567890"
title: "My Blog Post"
slug: "my-blog-post"
status: "published"
author: "admin"
category: "Technology"
tags: ["javascript", "cms"]
createdAt: "2024-01-15T10:00:00.000Z"
---

# My Blog Post

This is the content of my blog post written in Markdown.

Custom Pages support nested hierarchies:

---
id: "1234567891"
title: "API Documentation"
slug: "api-docs"
pageType: "custom"
parentPage: "documentation"
status: "published"
---

# API Documentation

Documentation content here...

🔧 Static Site Generation

Generate a static version of your site:

# Generate with default settings
npm run build

# Custom output directory
npm run build -- --output dist

# Custom base URL
npm run build -- --base-url https://yourdomain.com

# Disable clean URLs
npm run build -- --no-clean-urls

Configuration Options

--output, -o - Output directory (default: _site)
--base-url, -b - Base URL for the site
--no-clean-urls - Use .html extensions instead of clean URLs

🔌 Hooks & Extensibility

Aether includes a hook system for extensibility:

// Add a filter to modify posts
hookSystem.addFilter("api_posts", (posts, req) => {
    // Modify posts data
    return posts.filter((post) => post.featured)
})

// Add an action after post creation
hookSystem.addAction("post_created", (post) => {
    console.log(`New post created: ${post.title}`)
})

🛠️ Development

Environment Variables

Create a .env file:

PORT=8080
NODE_ENV=development

API Endpoints

Content API

GET /api/posts - List posts
POST /api/posts - Create post
PUT /api/posts/:id - Update post
DELETE /api/posts/:id - Delete post

Media API

GET /api/media - List media files
POST /api/media/upload - Upload file
DELETE /api/media/:id - Delete file

Theme API

GET /api/themes - List themes
POST /api/themes/switch/:name - Switch theme
POST /api/themes/upload - Upload theme

File Structure Conventions

Posts: Use descriptive slugs (my-awesome-post.md)
Pages: Organize by hierarchy (about.md, contact.md)
Custom Pages: Use parent-child relationships for nesting

🚦 Deployment

Static Deployment

Generate static site: npm run build
Deploy the _site folder to any static host — here are a few common choices:

Node.js Deployment

Set NODE_ENV=production
Configure reverse proxy (nginx/Apache)
Use process manager (PM2, forever)

Environment Configuration

NODE_ENV=production
PORT=3000

📄 License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later (GPL-3.0-or-later) - see the LICENSE file for details.
It also uses third-party packages, primarily licensed under the MIT License and retrieved via npm.
Each dependency retains its own license, which can be found in the respective package folders under node_modules/ after installation.

🤝 Contributing

Hi there! 👋
Aether CMS is an open-source project maintained by one person (that’s me!), and I want it to be a respectful, inclusive space for everyone.

Please be kind and constructive in all interactions — whether you’re opening issues, submitting pull requests, or joining discussions. Disrespectful, abusive, or unhelpful behavior won’t be tolerated.

If someone behaves inappropriately, I may block them from the project and report them to GitHub if necessary. Let’s keep things friendly and welcoming for everyone!

How to Contribute

Fork the repository
Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
Open a Pull Request

Reporting Issues

If you see something off or just need to reach out, feel free to contact me via the Q&A category or by opening a new discussion in the Reports category.

This helps keep our Issues focused on bugs and features.

Thanks for being a good human 💙
— LebCit

📞 Support

Documentation: Visit Aether Docs
Issues: Report bugs
Discussions: Community forum

🎯 Roadmap

Scheduled Publishing
Search functionality
Advanced user permissions
Page caching with duration
Plugin system expansion
Comment system with moderation
Advanced SEO tools
Editor enhancements
New themes added to the marketplace
Simplify update system
And that’s just the beginning…