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Help with CMS Design

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  • 05-08-2010 6:17pm
    #1
    red_ice
    Registered Users Posts: 4,946 ✭✭✭


    Hey

    I have a bit of free time atm and i started working on a CMS system. Something that i can use as a backbone for all my projects and that i can expand on if needed.

    I've played around with osCommerce, zen cart and most recently Joomla. Ill be the first to admit, im not up to date with what the 'in' thing is in web technologies(they all do the same thing imo). However i can code. I've noticed, in particular with osCommerce, that the package is a nightmare for SEO.

    Could you guys recommend any packages that will run a site with ease?

    Im looking to start my own little CMS that will be focused on SEO with clean, well documented code. Its not for release, its just so i have something of my own that i can use over and over as a backbone.

    Cheers


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    #2
    fasty
    Registered Users Posts: 981 ✭✭✭fasty


    CakePHP is what I use. SEO friendly URLs, heavily focussed on MVC and pretty well documented. It's not really a CMS framework as such, more of a general PHP based web app framework but it really is the business.


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    #3
    Webmonkey
    Registered Users Posts: 9,579 ✭✭✭Webmonkey


    fasty wrote: »
    CakePHP is what I use. SEO friendly URLs, heavily focussed on MVC and pretty well documented. It's not really a CMS framework as such, more of a general PHP based web app framework but it really is the business.
    +1 I threw together an entire website/custom made CMS with it in just a week! - Just wish I discovered it earlier. It sure makes life easier.


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    #4
    red_ice
    Registered Users Posts: 4,946 ✭✭✭red_ice


    Ill give this a look, thanks for the heads up!

    Any other recommendations appreciated :pac:


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    #5
    tomED
    Registered Users Posts: 1,452 ✭✭✭tomED


    I'm kind of confused by the question to be honest.

    You have used osCommerce and ZenCart which are not built to work as CMS's and you've tried an open source CMS in the shape of Joomla.

    Now you want to build your own system that will work with ease - but you want us to recommend one??? huh????

    As the other guys have recommended, you could use a framework to set the basis of your CMS on if you want to build your own system. But this is purely coding your own CMS from scratch with the help of a rapid development framework.

    IMO there's no point in building a CMS nowadays when so many are freely available and constantly being developed and improved. Why not spend time getting to know an existing CMS and learn how you can make it work the way you want it to?

    Our company chose Typo3 as the basic CMS we use on all projects because of the flexibility it gives us know that we know the ins and outs of it in detail.

    Other companies prefer to have got to grips with Wordpress or Joomla for example. So why not fid the one you like most and learn how to tweak it rather than start from scratch on one?


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    #6
    red_ice
    Registered Users Posts: 4,946 ✭✭✭red_ice


    tomED wrote: »
    I'm kind of confused by the question to be honest.

    You have used osCommerce and ZenCart which are not built to work as CMS's and you've tried an open source CMS in the shape of Joomla.

    Now you want to build your own system that will work with ease - but you want us to recommend one??? huh????

    I dont see whats so hard to comprehend. If you read my post it says that id like more input on CMS options, examples such as cakePHP are perfect examples of things to look at. This way i can play around with them, see whats going on etc.

    tomED wrote: »
    Other companies prefer to have got to grips with Wordpress or Joomla for example. So why not fid the one you like most and learn how to tweak it rather than start from scratch on one?

    Because Im not 'other companies', i want my own cms. I have the time, id like to use it productively.


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    #7
    murphaph
    Registered Users Posts: 19,025 ✭✭✭✭murphaph


    Noobie question:
    Our CMS in work allows us to open the site in editmode and "grab" content boxes and move them up, down, left or right. How is this generally achieved? I'm thinking about trying to build a CMS for a website for my brother's business as a learning experience, to figure out how they work.

    Our site is based on tables within tables to "hold" content boxes, 5 columns wide in total. 2 outer columns are fixed width, 3 inner ones may contain content boxes that are 1,2,or 3 columns wide, depending on what we want in there. I guess the current location of a particular content block is stored in the DB and php goes and checks where it belongs when the page is being built, but how does a block get moved dynamically and how does the new location get into the db??

    The guy who developed the CMS is away at the moment so I can't ask him how it works, but is there a general way in which CMSs manipulate content (not talking about textkeys, forms or blocks, just the visual "grabbing boxes" stuff).

    I find it very interesting and I'd like to get a deeper understanding of them. Cheers!


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    #8
    tomED
    Registered Users Posts: 1,452 ✭✭✭tomED


    red_ice wrote: »
    I dont see whats so hard to comprehend. If you read my post it says that id like more input on CMS options, examples such as cakePHP are perfect examples of things to look at. This way i can play around with them, see whats going on etc.

    And that is exactly why I don't understand the question. It makes no sense at all and is completely contradictory...

    CakePHP isn't a CMS package, nor "package" of any sort - it's a development framework that was built to help speed up development of PHP web applications. So don't waste your time looking into it if you don't understand what a framework is.

    You are saying you want to build your own CMS in one breathe and then the next you are looking for suggestions on "packages".

    If you plan to build your own, why are you looking for CMS options??
    red_ice wrote: »
    Because Im not 'other companies', i want my own cms. I have the time, id like to use it productively.

    How long have you got exactly?

    To build anything anywhere near the standard of Joomla, Wordpress or Typo3 will take months to develop. Unless you plan to do the most basic of basic CMS's it's going to take a lot of time.

    But why reinvent the wheel?

    There's a reason why most web developers have chosen a CMS of choice to use - whether that be one that they spent years developing themselves or off-the-shelf ones that are freely available.


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    #9
    tomED
    Registered Users Posts: 1,452 ✭✭✭tomED


    murphaph wrote: »
    Noobie question:
    Our CMS in work allows us to open the site in editmode and "grab" content boxes and move them up, down, left or right. How is this generally achieved? I'm thinking about trying to build a CMS for a website for my brother's business as a learning experience, to figure out how they work.

    It's done using a mix of Ajax, Coding Language (PHP, ASP etc) and a database. Pretty close to what you are trying to explain.

    The actual moving is done with Javascript and uses AJAX to talk to the DB to let it know it's current sorting order.

    Again like with CakePHP there is a few different JavaScript frameworks you can use to do this quickly and with ease - prototype or jquery come to mind.

    Here's an example : http://www.michelhiemstra.nl/scripts/jsportal/index.php


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    #10
    Evil Phil
    Registered Users Posts: 7,468 ✭✭✭Evil Phil


    murphaph wrote: »
    I'm thinking about trying to build a CMS for a website for my brother's business as a learning experience, to figure out how they work.

    Buiild it by all means but don't deploy it, as you've said yourself you're new to this and there are a lot of gotchas in web development that a newbie wouldn't think of. That being said, you could use on of the existing CMS products out there instead and simply manage the site for him. However, do get it designed by a design company or freelancer, unless you've got design experience yourself.


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    #11
    red_ice
    Registered Users Posts: 4,946 ✭✭✭red_ice


    tomED wrote: »
    CakePHP isn't a CMS package, nor "package" of any sort - it's a development framework that was built to help speed up development of PHP web applications. So don't waste your time looking into it if you don't understand what a framework is.

    A web based application... such as.. something that might help manage content?

    tomED wrote: »
    You are saying you want to build your own CMS in one breathe and then the next you are looking for suggestions on "packages".

    If you plan to build your own, why are you looking for CMS options??

    Research? To see whats out there? Theres a number of reasons why i would like to see what options are out there. You would have to be very impressed with yourself to think that you have the best system out there, to be that cocky and assume that theres no other, more suited product to your needs.
    tomED wrote: »

    How long have you got exactly?

    To build anything anywhere near the standard of Joomla, Wordpress or Typo3 will take months to develop. Unless you plan to do the most basic of basic CMS's it's going to take a lot of time.

    But why reinvent the wheel?

    There's a reason why most web developers have chosen a CMS of choice to use - whether that be one that they spent years developing themselves or off-the-shelf ones that are freely available.

    I have as long or little as i want to build this. I never said i wanted to build something to the standard of joomla, wordpress or typo3. Just because you choose to do it one way, doesnt mean i have to. As i said, i've played around with certain systems, i didnt like them, i feel i can make my own one.

    I have loads of PHP scripts already made that i have worked on over the years that i coded on my own. They work, and I understand them. Id say i have something for almost everything i would want in a system that would run a website. They just need to be put together.

    That in mind, should i just not bother to try make something that might be worth my while? Could you give me one good reason why i should skip a chance to further my knowledge on a subject?


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    #12
    murphaph
    Registered Users Posts: 19,025 ✭✭✭✭murphaph


    Evil Phil wrote: »
    Buiild it by all means but don't deploy it, as you've said yourself you're new to this and there are a lot of gotchas in web development that a newbie wouldn't think of. That being said, you could use on of the existing CMS products out there instead and simply manage the site for him. However, do get it designed by a design company or freelancer, unless you've got design experience yourself.
    Thanks guys, wrt the above...my bro doesn't really need a website. his business is based on passing trade mostly but it couldn't hurt (I am NOT a graphic designer but I can build a clean, tidy and professional site for him by hand using HTML and CSS that will work in all browsers.) I have to edit sprites etc. in work with photshop when we're creating new skins for our site so I can make clean basic logos (he hasn't got a logo or anything for his business) etc. and if he wants something "flashier" I can ask one of the graphic designers here to help with that.

    I wouldn't deploy anything that wasn't appropriate or looked in any way amateur though. Cheers again.


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