Roller CMS keeps popping up every time I talk with Java folks who want a serious blog without giving up control. WordPress and Blogger are everywhere, which is great for quick starts. But if your stack is Java and you want your blog living inside your world, Apache Roller is still the best bet I have found. Sun runs its blogs on it. It speaks the same language as your apps. And it lets you decide where the line between convenience and control sits.
The problem to solve
Plenty of teams want a Java blogging platform that plugs into their app server, honors corporate auth, and does not feel like an oddball sidecar. Shared hosting is cheap. Still, many of us want to keep content close to our code and data, inside Tomcat or GlassFish, with LDAP and mail already wired in. The ask is simple. Multi user. Multi blog. Feeds that do not choke. Templates you can really own. A spam filter that works. And upgrades that are not a circus. Roller CMS ticks those boxes while staying familiar to Java developers.
Three quick walkthroughs
Case one: the solo developer on Tomcat
You drop the Roller WAR in Tomcat, point it to MySQL or Derby, and you are writing in minutes. Out of the box you get tags, categories, media uploads, Atom and RSS, and an editor that does not fight you. Themes are Velocity based, so you can tune layout and widgets with real templates instead of a mystery widget tower. Want a clean URL style, friendly titles, and automatic pings to Technorati and Google Blog Search. It is all there. For a personal dev blog that still sits inside your Java world, Roller is comfortable and fast enough.
Case two: the team blog with corporate auth
Roller can use container managed security, so GlassFish or Tomcat can front it with LDAP or single sign on. Map groups to Roller roles and you get authors, editors, and site admins without juggling yet another user store. Editors can approve posts before they go live. You can lock themes, standardize footers and analytics snippets, and keep a shared media folder. For teams who need review before publish and a clean audit trail, this setup feels natural. Your mail server sends comment notifications, and the spam filter plus moderation queue keeps junk in check.
Case three: the multi blog community
Roller shines when you host many blogs on one install. Each space gets its own authors, theme, and feeds, but you still manage everything from one admin console. Caching helps a lot for front pages and feeds. Put a connection pool in your app server, push static assets behind Apache httpd, and let Roller’s scheduler handle pings, search indexing, and entry cleanup. Add Planet Roller for aggregation if you want a front door that shows the best posts across the network. This gives you a tidy hub that feels consistent while keeping each blog independent.
Objections and replies
- But PHP hosting is cheaper. True for shared plans. If you already run Tomcat or GlassFish for your apps, the marginal cost of Roller is tiny, and you keep your stack consistent.
- Java is heavy for a blog. Roller is a standard web app with a database and a cache. Give it a sane memory limit, a pool, and it behaves. The scheduler and page cache take a lot of pressure off the database.
- Editing Velocity sounds scary. Themes ship ready to use. When you want custom layout, Velocity templates are readable and versionable. Your designers can work in plain text with includes and macros instead of a click maze.
- Spam will ruin my day. Roller ships with comment moderation, blacklists, captchas, trackback checks, and IP blocks. Learn its filters, keep moderation on for older posts, and you are fine.
- Plugins are fewer than WordPress. That is fair. On the flip side, Roller gives you solid core features, a simple page model, and Velocity toolbox hooks where you can add what you need.
What to do next
Spin this up today. Grab Apache Roller, deploy to Tomcat, and point it to MySQL. Set site name and mail. Create your first blog, then a second one to feel the multi blog flow. Turn on comment moderation, set your ping targets, and add Google Analytics. Pick a theme, then copy it to a custom theme and tweak header, sidebar, and footers. Add a few categories and tags. Publish three short posts to see feeds and archives fill up.
If you are in a company, wire Roller to LDAP through your app server and map groups to roles. Create an Editor role for the comms team and keep Admin tight. Back up the database and the uploads folder on a schedule. Turn on caching. That is it. You now own a Java blog engine that respects your rules, sits with your apps, and scales from one voice to a crowd.
When you want Java blogging with control, Roller CMS hits a sweet spot. Not flashy, not fussy, and very much yours.