Articles

My content management arsenal

1 July 2008

Jon Hick’s article on Expression Engine and Textpattern thrilled me, but I was most interested in the comments that followed. Content management systems are plentiful, and many are free, but choosing the right one can be difficult to say the least. Not only does it need to match the project it’s used for, you must also learn to use it!

Textpattern was my first, and I still love it for most projects. This site and my professional site both run on Textpattern. In a nutshell, it’s simple — most of the time I can have an entire site built out and running in less than a day. If I need something special, a plugin here and there usually does the trick. Or, since the database design is so easy to understand, I can add my own PHP if necessary.

For other designer/developers using Textpattern, here are a few plugins that you should not be without:

  • glz_custom_fields
    This plugin requires payment, but it’s absolutely worth it. It brings Textpattern into the realm of ExpressionEngine with limitless custom fields of almost any type: text input, select, radio buttons, or check boxes.
  • sed_section_fields
    Again, to emulate ExpressionEngine, this plugin allows you to associate custom fields with particular sections.
  • upm_image
    I love the way Textpattern manages images and this plugin allows you to output your images and associated data just about any way you like.

ExpressionEngine, for me, picks up where Textpattern leaves off. Limitless custom fields of any type per “weblog” (think of it as a site section) allows you to fine-tune your data and present it any way you like. Also, if the site requires user management or membership of any kind, I always turn to ExpressionEngine since it’s a built-in feature. All of the features that make it powerful also make it more complicated, but once you’re comfortable with ExpressionEngine, there isn’t much you can’t accomplish.

ExpressionEngine can do loads on its own, but one module I almost always use is Freeform. It makes forms a breeze to build and it also records all data to the database — nice.

I must admit, the one thing I don’t have is a good solution for e-commerce. Recommendations would be would certainly be welcome…