I'm working on a web application in Codeigniter. I'd like to integrate the functionality of my application with a CMS so that site admins can easily update the site (about pages, blog, etc). Is this easily done with PyroCMS or another Codeigniter-based CMS? Will I need to drastically restructure my existing app?
From my own experience integrating an app inside Expression Engine I can say that a CMS changes the way you usually work with CI. So be prepared to make some adjustments. Every CMS will come with it's perks and differences. It shouldn't be a big problem though.
If you want to use PyroCms take a look at this doc first:
http://www.pyrocms.com/docs/2.0/developers/creating-custom-modules
If you're looking for alternatives, there are a lot. It seems almost everyone working with CI has made it's own.
Here are a few:
http://www.ionizecms.com/
http://www.halogy.com/
http://codefight.org/
http://www.getfuelcms.com/
Also make sure you check out CI Bonfire, it's not a CMS but does help you when you start up a new project with a basic admin wrapper, which is sometimes more useful than a CMS:
http://cibonfire.com/
This was answered a year ago and answered well, but my support guy has forwarded me a few emails from users asking about this page.
When people talk about Content Management Systems they often suddenly get the idea of rigid backends where you applications have to follow specific rules. While PyroCMS certainly has a few conventions you are free to build your modules just like they are a CodeIgniter application, on the frontend or the backend.
If you want to use Models, Controllers, Views, REST API's, SOAP, whatever the hell, then you can do that.
But, we also offer some awesome tools to make building modules CRAZY-fast. Hate writing CRUD? Well don't bother. Using the Streams API you can leverage the build in "Custom Data" system we use to rock out chunks of interface for you.
Using PyroCMS for your application is certainly not "hacking it into a CMS", this is the exact use-case it was built for.
If you have an existing application, while you can't "put PyroCMS into your app" you can certainly convert your application to a module easy enough.
The simplest way of doing it is to write your models around the CMS' database. Host the CMS at a subdomain with authentication for your admins. (admin.mysite.com) or something and then use the same database to power your front-end for your site.
Is it the best approach? Probably not.
Will it work? Yes.
You will probably find it hard to expand vertically & add new features if you're relying on a 3rd party CMS for data entry & backend.
Related
I am setting my own software development company and I have to choose how to organize our work. We will have to develop website and web applications in general in the near future and I would like t organize the workflow in the way we don't loose more time then needed on development process.
My concern regarding the above, is to take one of the tons of PHP existing CMS out there and use it as a base for all the coming projects or take a Laravel CMS such as OctoberCMS, or similar and use it as a base project. The former gives me more choice, because there are many CMSs with a lot of modules and templates ready to use, the latter would be a great base either for small websites and also for more complex web applications, being Laraval a MVC framework it is ready for developing more complex web applications, but offers less functionality and modules (for example OctoberCMS provides a not very easy CMS tool for editing pages, which would be not suitable for my customers).
I would like to hear your suggestions and thoughts.
Thank you
I kinda had the same trouble months ago, and I ended up choosing the framework option.
After months developing and using Wordpress-based solutions for my clients I noticed that the start up of every single project was very fast (easy to install, lots of materials available for free or cheap) and enough satisfactory, but the hell arrived every time there were some more-than-little modifications (logics and design).
Using a framework with a pattern like MVC (I use Yii) may be more difficult at the beginning, but write, debug, and organize your code is far more fluid and satisfactory, on the long run. Even a module (cms) can be easily extended or rewrite with lesser effort than packed CMS solutions like Wordpress.
So, summing up: upvote for framework option.
I made the decision to switch from WordPress being my defacto platform for new projects when Laravel Framework v4 was released, much for the same reasons mentioned by #SomethingWicked. I also have a fundamental issue with Matt M. and WordPress Core development team, that WordPress is an Application Platform. It is not, it is a Content Management Platform. Purely because it takes too many liberties in making assumptions (biased to blogging and content management) for the user.
I am also a firm believer in the 12-Factor App (http://12factor.net), which WordPress makes very difficult, neigh impossible, to adhere to.
I am currently working with Zend Framework and I am extremely happy with it. What I want to know is at what kind of requirements it is better to use CMS's like Joomla or Drupal.
Considering my current project it is a portal application. It is completely made from scratch in Zend. Then some fellow comes and comment that it rather implemented in drupal you could get plugins for the stuff you built by hard efforts.
So I need a guideline for how to choose between CMS and A Framework at the kickoff phase?
The question in your case is whether to use a ready made CMS or to create your own system using a framework. The right answer depends on the following:
budget
number of users you will have (long term performance concerns)
further maintenance
total number of details (bells and whistles) you want to provide on the site
implementation with third party/custom APIs
special/custom features that require high level of freedom (example: StackOverflow reward points and badgets)
As this is a question most of us face pretty often, here are cons and pros of a ready made CMS vs a framework:
Ready made CMS
Pros
faster start and development time if your project generally fits in what the CMS provides
available modules and themes
backed up by community, meaning that new features, bugfixes, support, tutorials etc. will be provided to you free of charge
unified set of standards - it's easier to continue working on an existing CMS site than to take someone else's custom application (this is relative, but the point is that in a site that uses an existing CMS most of the things/setup will be familiar to you while in a custom app the previous developer had more freedom)
security is something you do not need to worry that much as in a custom app
Cons
if your requirements are very specific, you will need to override the default workflow of the system; in some cases this can be tricky and will make you spend more time than to write your own
redundant code in modules/plugins
performance - a ready made CMS will rarely be as fast as a custom made application
not suitable for every large website (unless you fit in almost everything that the CMS provides)
steep learning curve in some cases (Typo3, Drupal)
Custom application
Pros
it's up to you to define the structure and the logic of the application
app design is made especially for the project you are working on - so there is no redundant code
freedom to do anything you want
Cons
expensive - in most cases you/your client will need much more money for a custom app
further maintenance will be harder
changes and modifications of the structure can be very time consuming
if you aren't using a CMF you will have to reinvent the wheel in some aspects
Bottom line
Spend a couple of days and learn something about the CMSs out there, such as:
Drupal - my first recommendation; good for medium to big websites; good community; medium/steep learning curve
WordPress - my second recommendation; good for small to medium sites
Typo3 - enterprise level system; pretty complex, combined with a framework which can be used standalone in projects
Joomla - I personally don't like it and do not recommend it because of amateur plugins, but it is popular
SilverStripe
MODX
Concrete5
I think that any bigger and serious project, which will have at least 1-2 programmers to take care of the system at all times, should be custom. Exceptions are only if it fits exactly in what an existing CMS offers already.
Hope this helps :)
Take a look at Difference between a CMS and a web-development-framework on StackExchange.com.
A CMS (Content Magagement System) is used to manage content on a website. It usually provides tools to make this task as easy as possible.
Examples of CMSes: Drupal, Joomla, DotNetNuke etc.
A framework is like a set of libraries / classes to build a web application. Many frameworks provide libraries for database access, templating engines etc. This way, you don't have to reinvent the wheel.
A CMS is often build upon a Framework.
Examples of frameworks: CodeIgniter, CakePHP, Kohana...
#Voles mentioned what CMS and Framework is
So your question is "guideline for how to choose between CMS and A Framework "
Want to build a Blog or a simple website ?
Go for Wordpress , Drupal etc.
Want to build next facebook or stackoverflow or app of your own which the current cms is hard for you to learn or is limited with the features?
Then go for some frameworks or custom made ones. Be sure that you know how to build it in the right way.
You can have a look into http://cmf.symfony.com/ also.
Hope that makes clear.
Apart from all pros and cons of CMS and Framework , According to me you need to study your requirement at the time of kickoff. List out the modules you want in your application. Now check that how many modules are available in CMS you know about like drupal , joomla , wordpress etc. and also check out that how much customization you need in this available modules as well as custom modules you may need to develop as per your requirement . And if you found out that with minimum customization you can use any particular CMS and than go for it.
But in case your application may very complex in nature than I suggest go for any MVC framework like Zend , Cakephp , codeigniter etc.
Yes one other thing go with any CMS or Framework that you well versed with it.
Framework is like a library by using this library we can develop new thing.
Whether CMS as name imply its an inbuilt source to manage the content.
Like wordpress we don't need to develop anything.
Framework are the creator of CMS , CMS is basically a Content Management System which focuses on content managing where everything is perfectly setup for you with few lines of code and logics ur website or small app can be developed
Whereas in framework its deeper than CMS everything you have to write from scratch or use existing library which is generally used for making big app. Hope this would help
As far as I know, CMSs and MVCs are web application frameworks with coding libraries. CMS is way easier to use for beginners, as it has its pre-made functionalities available, so you will not need complex coding. I found useful information in Wiredelta's article, maybe this will help for you as well: https://blog.wiredelta.com/cms-mvc-framework-comparison/
Difference
CMS: A content management system (CMS) is computer software used to manage the creation and modification of digital content (content management).
Framework: A web framework (WF) or web application framework (WAF) is a software framework that is designed to support the development of web applications including web services, web resources, and web APIs.
A Framework offers a basic web application structure with a set of tools, to let you build your own web application, or even a CMS.
How to choose between them?
I have been working for many years with different open source CMSs (Much with CMS Made Simple, Prestashop. A bit with Drupal, Wordpress) and frameworks (Much with Symfony, a bit with Zend Framework).
My conclusion is:
If your requirements can be fulfilled with features of an open source CMS, and there are only a few custom requirements, use that CMS
If your requirements are complex and/or more custom, use a framework
Problems when using an open source CMS
Plugins often don’t provide all features you need
Community plugins
Have limited features. If you want to extend the features, you end up copying or modifying plugins, making them harder to update
May not be compatible with other plugins or even with the CMS version you have
Harder to debug since it's not the clean code of your team
May not be fully for free and come with additional costs
You spend a lot of time on searching and evaluating plugins
Own plugins
Limited CMS features (eg. missing dependency injection) may lead to unstructured coding
When your plugin gets more big and complex, you may start to ask yourself, why not having used a framework from the beginning
High learning curve, depending on the documentation, technologies used, and how many architectural rules you have to follow
Highly dependent on community
You may not get a fast answer or solution from the community
You may have to debug deep into hardly-to-read plugin or CMS code
Own fixes make updates difficult
Usability
Admins may get overwhelmed about default features, and may generate more support tasks for the developer, where a simple content editor for the admin would suffice
We are building a custom application using LAMP with P being PHP. We also need to have CMS to manage various aspects of the site. The two options for the CMS are
Build a complete custom CMS from scratch
Extend an existing open source CMS to fit our needs. This way we can use some of the features out of the box and others we will build ourselves.
I would like to get your feedback on the following
What are your experiences with option number 2?
Which CMS would you recommend that we can further customize and extend for our use?
What are the best ways to integrate a custom application with other external CMS?
I really like the MVC approach for a CMS (you did mention extending), and PyroCMS is built on Codeigniter. It might not (out of the box) serve all of your needs, but easily could. Its worth a look, at the least.
A whole set of CMS are available nowadays, everyone with its own pros and cons.
I guess the first step in your case is to make a list of the features that you:
MUST HAVE
SHOULD HAVE
COULD HAVE
Once you have this list, you'll be able to compare the existing CMSs to see which one better fits your needs.
There's no a best CMS (otherwise everyone would use the same).
Said this, Joomla offers a powerful base system, easily extensible. But this is just my modest opinion. Right now, 4712 extensions exist for this CMS. If you still can't find all you need, it's possible to implement your own extensions (in terms of plugins, components and modules). See the developers section for more information.
I've recommended ModX in response to previous questions
It provides a nice clean framework which is simple to install and is easy customize.
For your situation I think ModX is a strong contender as it allows you to embed your own php code in your site using snippets - Bob's guide on snippets is a good overview. The snippets can be managed through the backend web manager and they can easily be dropped into any pages as required.
Larger applications can be setup as modules, this is similar to many of the other main stream CMS's, it's just that in ModX the web based control makes the management of the code a simple task.
We currently use MySource Matrix CMS for large projects, Wordpress CMS for small projects and Zend Framework for bespoke applications...
I'm not trying to confuse and compare a CMS to a framework, that has been done before :-)
I want to identify a few CMSs for review that have foundations in strong (preferably independent) PHP frameworks.
The only one I have looked at is SilverStripe CMS and Sapphire Framework.
We have many clients that have a CMS for internet and/ or extranet and then various other bespoke applications that are then integrated via various means to look like they're in the CMS.
I believe it will be more productive and beneficial to have a common framework between these branches so they can be natively merged.
Hope this makes sense.
PS. I have used custom assets in MySource Matrix and specific modules in other CMS but you feel you are working for the CMS not the application you are building.
Have you looked at Expression Engine? Its built on top of the CodeIgniter MVC framework, and may provide a lot of flexibility for having parts of the site be managed content, and branching out into more application type stuff using CI when needed. Not free, but all my colleagues that use it, swear by it (so much so that I'll actually consider it for the next project that fits this profile). There are also add-ons for many of the commons problems you're likely to want to solve.
And while not PHP, the Django framework is also a nice cross between CMS and App Framework, with some really great features like DB Migrations, etc. I can honestly say that Learning Python made me a better PHP Programmer, and the projects I've done with django were fun and fast to code. Not to start a holy war, but I describe Django as Drupal without all the clutter (and yes I've worked with Drupal enough to respect and fear it at the same time ~ too much friction in the Drupal dev process for my taste).
Even if I didn't get clearly what you are looking for I was just searching for a CMS that is not bundled with a propietary PHP framework and it should also be fast, simple coded, ordered and flexible to extend.
After a lot of search I found OctoberCMS. It uses Laravel PHP framework and it's intended for wevdevelopers/programmers, may be in a future it will also support more WYSIWYG edition. Right now it's very fast and easy to extend via MVC implementations or plugins.
It has a nice code and structure to work as programmer. If you like to create content via HTML+CSS and you don't care about WYSIWYG, then this could be a great alternative.
It's a very different approach compared to other CMS bundles. I'm not saying it's better, just different.
With their slogans:
The PHP framework for web artisans
http://laravel.com
The platform that gets back to basics
https://octobercms.com
Have you tried Drupal? We have used it as a CMS and also integrated it with things like Microsoft Dynamics and UPS Worldship. It's pretty flexible like that.
I wouldn't call sapphire and independent framework for the simple fact you'll have a hard time finding many apps written in sapphire alone - sapphire pretty much is silverstripe. Theres also the issues of silverstripe using an ajax powered admin interface for much of its own functionality meaning you have to adhere to these to keep the same look and feel with the bespoke work you want to add.
I have a web application that needs to be built using PHP/MySQL. The application will require documents to be generated from data in the MySQL database. Such documents will be printed and/or emailed and user will be prompted to run a daily print/email job based on business logic.
This application functionality needs to be made available to individual users such that they can upload data, have the system prompt them as to whether letters/emails are to be generated. The site also needs to be able to support a bulletin board, online live training events and will have admin area as well.
Question: Should a hybrid solution be developed such that the data management (upload functionality, and letter production) be a separate part of the site that authenticated Joomla users can access? That is, the document management functionality would exist separately from Joomla, but be called from within it via a link in the Joomla sitemap. Alternatively, should custom modules be developed from within Joomla to accomodate the document management functionality?
Thanks so much for your input!!
Joomla could do the job for you but based on the amount of things you need that differ from a normal Joomla site I would use a framework to build from instead of a CMS. I say this because it sounds like you need a lot more than just a CMS and it can be more work if you try making Joomla do things it wasn't designed to do. In my opinion Joomla is for "web sites" and not as much for "web apps". Of course those terms have overlap but it sounds like you would be better off with a Framework to go off of instead of working around Joomla to get what you want. However if the site is already done in Joomla it may be less work just to make a Joomla add-on.
Since you have to use PHP I would definitely recommend CakePHP for your framework. As for an integrated forum try looking at the links in this post. If that doesn't work for you, try out Vanilla forums (vanillaforums.org) which are very clean and may be easier to integrate into CakePHP than some of the other PHP forums.
If you decide to use CakePHP, check out Cake Forge to see if you can find anything there to make your life even easier.
If you were to use Joomla, the upload functionality and letter production would be written as a custom component. You can write the component to make sure that the current user is authenticated before generating the documents. I would not develop this as a separate application alongside Joomla; it would be easier to write it as a component.
Many forums and forum bridges are available for Joomla, so that would be something you wouldn't have to write.
I'm not sure what kind of live event support you're looking for.