We are looking to convert our site from a complex WCM to a flat file system possibly front-ended with Pinegrow. Our site is about 1000 pages, with lots of images. Can we continue to use Adobe Digital Asset Manager? Or, if we put the photos in an image folder, can we have sub-folders?
Hi there @GreatScot, Yep, sub folders not a problem! thats standard, as long as you reference that directory structure in your links.
So if you have a picture in you Kittens directory of cats in your images directory, the path would be
/images/cats/Kittents/mylovelykitten.jpg
etc. pinegrow would show you the path for all of these in Prop tab of all the images 
as For an Asset Manager, Im not sure, I dont use them, but I’m pretty sure someone with more experience of that will get back to you.
And well done! 1000 page site! Popping across to PineGrow, that should keep you off the streets for a while !
and which FFS are you considering using too? (thats flat file system , not an expletive btw! 
)
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Thanks for the info. We’re discussing building our ffs inhouse. We have a coder who thinks that should be straightforward. I’m a little nervous about it, but I like the concept in principle.
@GreatScot how do you currently use Adobe Asset Manager Manager in you web workflow? I use Adobe Bridge from time to time (when I remember it!). Mainly for tagging, organising and deleting duplicate of images. This means that I have used it to manage images for web projects and it serves it purpose for me just fine. So for example, buy stock photo and use Bridge to tag and move it from my downloads folder to my photo library > appropriate sub folder. Then open the image in Photoshop and do any changes and re-save under a relevant different name (more appropriate for SEO purposes). I then make a copy of it and move that to my project’s images folder/sub folder and add image in Pinegrow. Equally there are times when I just create or adjust image(s) in Photoshop and save them into my project image folder and don’t bother with Bridge, actually more times than I’d freely admit and then end up reversing the process re: Bridge and digital asset management, making a copy and moving it back to my image library! I don’t know if this is of any help but I just thought I’d add my info to the discussion.
@Rob that is a great suggestion. Bridge could help us with tagging and organizing along with the file folders. One thing that the Adobe Digital Asset Manager does is automatically creates multiple versions (sizes) of an image. It’s a real timesaver for delivering photos to various screen sizes.
Does Bridge do that or perhaps Pinegrow?
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I haven’t used adobe digital asset manager but producing the various image sizes sounds like a great facility. Honestly I don’t know if Bridge has that ability but I’ll check. You could create an action in Photoshop to save images at the different sizes but you have adobe dam to do that.
I no longer use Adobe products but there is a software from Serif called Affinity Photo that will allow you to create multiple versions of an image, do zooms and selection of a portion of a photo for multiple export. You can export PDF and image formats so say you wanted a jpg that is x4 zoom and a png that is x1 no zoom and a pdf version you can set that all up independently and press one button and all those versions get exported out. The program is only $50 USD too. For PC and Mac. They have another version that is more for web graphics that does same thing with exports… allows to section an image etc… export into multiple formats… Photo is for photo’s like what Photoshop can do and then Designer is more like what Fireworks used to be but on steroids.
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Thank you @Rob and @Terry44. Using a third party software is an option - I think even photoshop can automate certain functions. Some of our developers are of the opinion that creating multiple photo versions could be automated on the server. I’m not clear on how you can automate it to handle variable sizes of the original photo, but I guess if Adobe Digital Asset Manager can do it, they probably can too.
A plugin would be nice. The less we have to go outside the process the better. (Spoiled child alert).
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Hi there @GreatScot, sorry for delay there, My life threw me a few curve balls.
Anyway, yes, your devs are right you CAN have your server automatically deliver correct size images (after your server creates them for you! saves you even having to do all the resizing down this end)
here is a good example.
its a php script and you just add some @media resolution info to your site and add a line of javascript!
It is mentioned here,
along with some interesting stuff
Also, what flat file systems where you looking at? I had tried quite a few.
I really like the idea of them - in principle.
Which ones have you looked at, tried and are now thinking of using and why /why not with them?
thanks 
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@schpengle have you been having me on? and really you work in the industry! I bet you’re some professional programmer of some sort.
NO no, I stare a lot, look a lot, learn a bit, help people, retain very little, so save a lot in my browser history, then forget even the simplest of things and manifest nothing myself but like to help others too.
There! I’m quite proud (and somewhat dissapointed) by that quick summary of my input / 
Now, lets see if I can do a little something about my lack of creativity THIS year (and especially with PG 3.0) on the horizon
I will test it out from the iFools perspective. but…
"If you make something foolproof, someone will come up with a better type of fool*
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@schpengle don’t ever lose sight of creativity. I experimented with WordPress (no offence intended @Emmanuel) and it sucked the life out of my creative thinking and I said to myself “No, this is all wrong”, goes against everything I love about design and I’m really looking forward to getting this Chairty website out in the public, as I haven’t used a content management system, built with Bootstrap (although at first glance you wouldn’t know).
Content is important but when you make the website visually appealing and easy on the eye, it adds value to the content as websites should look outstanding and they should be enjoyable to browse, unless you just want a word document with awesome wording.
Thanks for the articles. I wasn’t aware that there are variations of flat file systems. Ours (demo) is a pretty simple homemade system - just a file folder directory on a server, with a Git repository for backup/tracking. Add an editor like PineGrow to give us Master Pages (templates), search and replace, and reuseable content blocks and we should have everything you would want from a bloated CMS - in theory.
One issue we’ve encountered is that Pinegrow takes a while to update when you are changing many pages at once. Not a dealkiller but a CMS/WCM would nornally handle that instantly.
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And, Keeping it live!
I’d like to create an actual Flat File E commerce site, to replace/ a wordpress one, or just for fun for a new one for myself.
but tbh, wordpress/woocommerce plugin/wootique theme is pretty difficult to beat! or any other theme for using with woocommerce, but it it would be nice to actually have that skill set in my tool belt (er…ok, so its scuppered by my lack of php at the moment, but I digress…)
but here is a rather nice into!
and this is quite a nice intro on Grav
interesting stuff eh?
Now, if only I was cleverer!
and here is thier gitter.im community chat
mmm … would it be worth looking into gitter.im as an alternative to slack? @matjaz ?
…and then, I must edit as I see they are moving to Slack!
pah! curses!
Well, at least I can still see and interact with the Gitter community. Slack simply blocks my older browsers from connecting, thereby limiting/denying access to those of poorer means and hardware in developing regions (like Wales!)
ah ha! well, in fact I do believe that @matjaz has already set up a http://gitter.im/pingrow community, as the name has gone, but alas I cant see it as its private, so here is a NEW One!
People, I give you the Pinegrow3.0 chat room!
on gitter
just so that I CAN USE REAL TIME CHAT AGAIN! oh yeah!
this one is public
so feel free to join it as well then i can continue to annoy people with buzz and confusion when 3.0 comes out
and if your on older hardware/browsers and cant access slack, well, now you can access this
woot woot!
and WOAH!! get some! how is this for a list of (unheard of, as well as popular) FlatFile CMS!’
and this has 3 nice lists of flatFile CMS’ too!
the previous one on GRAV mentions using Markdown, Yaml and Twig to createe pages.
I remember feature requests for TWIG before from PG users, so now can see why
and a bit trickier to track down, but hi looks FANTASTIC! - not sure how it would work on your size site, but check out
from