WHY??????

WHY DO YOU DO IT LIKE THAT

WHY DOES THIS EXIST - Built my own fw/toolkit even though I didn’t want to bc I’ve tried SO many fws/cms and they ALL felt cumbersome and unwieldy

Value of dw is that all the big decisions are made for you, you don’t have to spend time deciding which tech to use and they’re good pragmatic decisions made with a few key principles in mind (keep architecture and workflow simple, no build step, etc)

Why have we made the decisions we’ve made? Why choose these specific tools & libraries?

I’m so glad you asked:

why flyon?

• did a brief exploration of an implementation w/ just daisyui (because it’s lighter and “simpler” and the “normal” go-to choice for a lot of devs)…not ideal

  • concerned about accessibility issues
    • flyon built on preline
  • color contrast issues
  • daisy just feels incomplete compared to flyon/preline

• it feels COMPLETE

  • there are like a million ui kits out there but they don’t feel quite right, still a lot of rough edges that require time and effort to make them feel polished and professional
  • we’re grown up professionals with deadlines, and the whole point of using a ui kit is to have something that looks and feels COMPLETE and doesn’t need additional work to make it look nice and coherent. it should JUST WORK

• daisy is nice, basecoat is nice, but they’re not the right choices

• we need turn-key components that are ACCESSIBLE and COMPLETE feeling

• maybe daisy will be it one day, but it’s not it now

• basecoat/shad is nice, but too much involved to get the functionality we want

  • basecoat is sick and looks great by default, but it’s “headless” w/ minimal style and limited components (less pre-built stuff)
    • which is fine, but what we want here is pre-built components you can plug in and magically have a complete feeling thing that’s accessible (enough)

• https://flyonui.com/docs/getting-started/introduction/

• it’s built on daisy (decent aesthetic) AND preline (and iconify) … concern for “finished” looking aesthetics and more accessible (headless) components

• want to hear various 14yo’s criticism of flyon? check this out!

  • misc flyon reddit crit:
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/tailwindcss/comments/1jlnw7l/flyonui_v2_open_source_tailwind_css_components/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/tailwindcss/comments/1led4k0/flyonui_ultimate_tailwind_blocks_and_tailwind/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/sveltejs/comments/1g6cu3t/tailwind_css_components_library_for_svelte_flyonui/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/tailwindcss/comments/1g0dz95/open_source_fully_free_components_library_for/

Why node? It’s everywhere! (So many people have built integrations w services, easy pkg integration) Why node More secure on a vps (than php apps for sure) it’s easy to set up on your local env, everyone has it anyway also, re: node, we’re specifically using npm (cli) because it’s the “normal” way to do this. fuck using pnpm or yarn or whatever else.

why js/ts/node?

• ecosystem is HUGE, tons of people building stuff i can use for free
• it’s easier than it used to be (not ideal, but it works pretty well these days)
• fast enough processing, reliable architecture etc
• easy(-ish) turn-key functionality

for like 10 years DW was written with php and it was great. i hate typescript and swore i would NEVER use it, but here i am, using typescript for new apps…and loving it!

this toolkit was previously built on php (focusing on ease of deployment & dev workflow, but now node is really easy, MUCH easier to deploy w/ modern platforms, and older platforms [vps w/ hetzner, kh, do, linode, etc] is easy enough to set up too…modify for your needs)

TS is GREAT for AI

• you can write apps with this stack SO FREAKING FAST with claude & cursor

why astro? it’s fucking easy

• you want react components? You got it!
  • vue? svelte?
  • use anything you want!
• easy dev workflow, easy (enough) deployment story

Why Astro? CRUD apps with Astro? Don’t mind if I do! Clean organization & workflow, easy to understand , easy enough to make it what you need to be
Omg these components!
Astro components are great, super easy
Use anything else too! It works with everything! IT WORKS WITH EVERYTHING!!!!! it’s a little heavier than it used to be (php put the files on your server & run the install script) (lot more files now) … but it’s worth it! this functionality can be pretty complex and this is the best way (imo) to manage it

here’s a more specific breakdown - https://strapi.io/blog/building-faster-content-driven-sites-with-astro same vibes here - https://developeraryan.in/blogs/astro-for-react-devs/

sorry about all the files, btw that’s file-based routing, babee that’s just he way it is, grow up