- EmDash Ain't There Yet
EmDash caught my eye when Cloudflare released it at the start of April. April 1st, no less. It is a simple content management system built upon the lovely Astro web framework. EmDash looked like a solution to some problems I encounter, those being that WordPress is too much to manage for simpler sites and is too complex for less computer-adept folks to manage. I love static sites, but a CMS is a must for people without much tech experience. A bespoke static site is also a much greater undertaking than an off-the-shelf offering.
WordPress and I get on as well as any developer can get on with WordPress. We might not be the best of friends, but we are amicable. However, I sometimes yearn for something simpler I can plonk in front of an older or less technically inclined client. Something that is easy to host, easy for people to update content on, and looks decent out of the box is the dream. Sure enough, someone who could barely manage their Mac managed to figure out EmDash. Hooray!
Unfortunately, EmDash isn’t ready for prime time. It is primarily AI authored, and that shows. Some UI elements overflow off the screen. Many features lack documentation or have documentation that is ambiguous in a way that only an LLM can manage. ‘Failed to publish. Failed to publish content.’ is an error as frustrating as it is vague. It also isn’t triggered by some unknown edge case, as I can replicate it with the CMS’ online playground.
There is no polish here, and it is an exercise in frustration. I can’t in good faith put EmDash in front of a client. EmDash will probably improve (it is only a month and a half old), but it isn’t fit for use yet. Far from it.