Are we seeing a decline in member numbers or engagement lately? I’m getting the feeling that things have slowed down.
Good day everyone,
I’m currently developing something quite ambitious and wanted to reach out to our UNACMS community — especially those who aren’t PHP developers but are entrepreneurs, creators, and problem-solvers exploring self-hosted and open-source solutions.
Over the years, my own experience has shown that while there’s an endless supply of software and platforms out there, most of them end up taking us down the same road — reinventing the wheel or starting over from scratch.
Now, with AI tools rapidly changing how we build and create, it might seem like open-source systems like UNA are becoming less relevant. But in truth, AI comes with its own challenges and costs. The real magic happens when we combine the stability of open-source foundations (like UNA) with the adaptability and automation of AI-driven development.
That’s what I’m working toward — an AI Full Stack Development App for UNACMS, starting with:
- Automated import/export modules for system and data migration.
- Refactoring automation to help developers clean, upgrade, and maintain code more easily.
- Tools designed to help non-programmers and community builders customize and extend UNA without deep technical knowledge.
Before I go too far, I want to hear from you —
- Would this be something useful for your UNA projects?
- What features or pain points would you want this AI-assisted toolkit to solve first?
- Should we open a collaboration or early testing group?
I believe UNA still holds enormous potential — especially when we start bridging it with modern AI workflows.
Looking forward to your thoughts, feedback, and ideas!
— Chris Buys
Developer, AI Full Stack for UNA CMS
We’re currently running a large UNA installation, and our /storage directory has grown to over 400 GB. After reviewing the structure, it seems that much of the content may be old or unused media (timeline uploads, resized/cached images, temporary files, etc.).
We recently figured out how we can migrate the storage to a CDN-style external drive, which will make scaling and performance management much easier.
However, before we do that, we’d really like to clean things up properly — removing or archiving unnecessary files to avoid syncing a bloated library.
Before taking action, I wanted to check with the community:
- Has anyone here cleaned up or archived old media files from UNA before?
- Is there a recommended approach or script to detect orphaned files (not referenced in the database)?
- Could someone help clarify which /storage sub-directories are safe to clear (cache/temp, etc.) and which are essential for site operation?
- Are there any UNA utilities or third-party tools for safely pruning timeline photos, videos, or older uploads?
We’ve already successfully mounted additional drives to handle space growth, but would like to take a more structured approach before moving to CDN storage.
Environment details:
- UNA version: 14
- Hosting: VPS
- Approx. total storage: ~400 GB (mostly media)
Any insight, tools, or real-world examples from others who’ve tackled this would be greatly appreciated! 🙏
Best regards,
Chris Buys
Hey everyone,
I just wanted to share a few thoughts as UNACMS 15 continues to evolve. I’ve been using UNACMS long enough to see both its power and its pain points — but also to recognize just how ahead of its time the platform really was when it started. UNACMS has always been about freedom, flexibility, and full ownership — something very few systems, even today, truly offer.
Where UNACMS already shines
The modular design, privacy-first approach, and strong foundation in community structure still make UNACMS stand out compared to many modern competitors. Platforms like HumHub or NodeBB have focused on simplicity, while SaaS options like Circle or Tribe emphasize looks and integrations — but UNACMS remains one of the few that gives you full control over data and functionality. That’s its biggest advantage.
Where UNACMS can push even further
- Developer experience: Some steps have already been made here, but a more guided dev flow (like a CLI tool or built-in API explorer) would help new builders dive in faster and compete with the ease of developing on open-source frameworks like Yii2 or Laravel.
- Modern UI/Frontend: UNACMS’s interface has improved a lot, but a cleaner, Tailwind/Vue-style frontend layer could really bring it on par with today’s sleek, mobile-first community platforms.
- API & Integration layer: UNACMS’s REST API is strong, but expanding toward GraphQL and tighter external integration (for example, with Directus or Matrix for chat) could make UNACMS the “central brain” of multi-platform ecosystems.
- Migration & portability: The built-in backup tools are useful, but having full JSON-based export/import (modules, users, content) would make UNACMS far more reliable for agencies running multiple deployments.
- AI readiness: Many platforms are starting to integrate AI — not just for chatbots, but for translation, moderation, and workflow automation. Even a light integration layer here could help communities grow smarter without losing control of their data.
Final thought
UNACMS’s strengths are already in place — the structure, the modularity, the freedom. The key now is refinement and positioning: making the platform just as easy and beautiful to use as it is powerful under the hood.
Thanks to Andrey and the team for keeping UNACMS evolving. The groundwork for something truly next-level is already here, and UNACMS 15 feels like the moment to bring it all together.
Regards
Chris
We recently implemented an NFS Server + Client setup, which successfully expanded our disk space without downtime — and the change is permanent. It’s been a real lifesaver under the circumstances.
That said, I do have a technical question for the UNA team or anyone with experience in this area:
As we know, CDN and external storage solutions (like AWS S3, Azure Blob, or other CDN vendors) are commonly used to handle media files and improve performance.
In our case, the platform wasn’t originally configured to separate /storage or media directories to an external source. Given that, what are the odds or best practices for migrating an existing UNA site — already in production — to use external or CDN-based storage instead of local disk?
I understand this wasn’t the ideal setup from the start, but now that the system is stable again, we’d like to explore more scalable and performance-oriented options going forward.
Any guidance, examples, or recommended steps for doing such a migration safely would be greatly appreciated.
Best regards,
Chris
I recently ran a page speed test and noticed that my mobile performance score was quite low — the site feels a bit slow and not very responsive on smaller screens. I’m curious how others have handled similar issues.
Have you made any specific tweaks or found effective settings (like minify/aggregate or image optimization) that improved your mobile load time or layout responsiveness? Any advice or examples would be appreciated!
Hi everyone,
I hope you’re all doing well. I wanted to apologize for my recent silence and lack of participation in the community discussions. I’ve been offline for some time due to connectivity issues, which made it difficult for me to respond or stay active.
I truly appreciate the patience and understanding from everyone who engaged in the topics I started or contributed to. I’m now getting back online and will be catching up on the discussions as soon as possible.
Thanks again for your understanding — I’m glad to be back!
Best regards,
Chris
@Jerome Mingo When I add a new data item, it blank out the field and give me this error message