Plugins without the plugin jungle: a whole blog with comments in one sandboxed script

Description and use

ForgeCMS lets you create plugins as two files in a Git repo that are automatically loaded in a sandboxed environment, eliminating the need for many WordPress plugins.

Problem

WordPress sites required many plugins, each with updates, security holes, and subscriptions, leading to maintenance overhead and hosting removal.

Outcome

A lightweight, sandboxed plugin system that eliminates the need for numerous WordPress plugins while maintaining extensibility and security.

Workflow

• 1. Create a plugin folder under plugins/ with plugin.sml and plugin.sms files.
• 2. Write plugin.sms in SMS language to generate SML output.
• 3. Add a line like Plugin { name: "guestbook" } to a page.
• 4. Push changes to the Git repo and reload the page; ForgeCMS reloads the plugin automatically.
• 5. Use the plugin spec to request new features or permissions via app.sml.
• 6. Optionally use AI to generate plugin files based on the spec.

Evidence

ForgeCMS sites are Markdown and small SML files in a Git repo. A plugin is just two more files next to the pages:

Source

A WordPress plugin is PHP with all the rights of your server. An SMS plugin only has the functions ForgeCMS hands to it:

Source

No file system, no network, no programs. Each call gets a budget of one million steps, 250 ms and 32 MB; an endless loop is stopped after about 10 ms of work.

Source

The AI writes the two files, you push them, reload the page, done.

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