I have a client with some quite specific needs. I normally build things to spec but they, quite rightly, want to see if there’s anything off-the-shelf rather than paying to have something built from scratch.
Here are the key requirements:
Multi-lingual
Create bespoke fields for different areas of the site (E.g. events, movies)
Advanced user management (create group of users and control which groups can access certain areas of the site)
Create XML feed of certain areas of the site
Visual user statistics in the main admin
It should be PHP/MySQL and the design should be completely customisable (full access to HTML/CSS) and not be WordPress. The client has had a bad experience with it and we don’t want to be reliant on loads of plugins. One or two well-tested ones are okay. It can be open source or commercial, we don’t care.
Any ideas? The Hero Framework looks good in terms of points two and three above but not sure about the rest.
This one has multi-lingual support and seems to do user management. http://ionizecms.com
As always, it’s hard to find something that checks all the boxes.
Drupal is the first thing that comes to mind given the second requirement. Everything else can either me achieved with contributed modules or custom module development. Though the big advantage of Drupal will be the fields feature that meet the second requirement which other CM[S|F]'s don’t really compare.
The major problem you’re going to run into with Drupal will be the learning curve for both you and the client. While the system is very powerful and flexible it is a behemoth from both a technical and UX perspective. None the less coupled with the combination of knowledge and contributed modules it is probably one of the most powerful and flexible open source platforms out there. This is especially true when it comes to 8 which is just about a complete reengineering of the system – something wordpress should learn from…
I can recommend the free and open source CMS called ocPortal. It offers a feature to create custom databases (called catalouges there) like movies and it already has many features like an event calender included. Of course it offers access to the CSS files via the admin center with change management and more. The user management system is flexible, you can add usergroups, you have a flexible warning/banning system, activity-based automated promotion and much more.
I use this CMS myself and I am excited about what the developers over there have created.
Drupal hands down…but be prepared to spend months (maybe years) mastering the damn thing it’s quite complicated and unusual in some of it’s solutions but flexible and highly extensible.
Thanks everyone. Someone has said Joomla can do this out of the box and is easier to learn than Drupal. Can anyone confirm this? Drupal looks interesting but perhaps I don’t have the time to learn it if it takes a few months.
Joomla, WordPress, they will all let you achieve what you want, to some degree. The best way to find out, is spend a week building the basis of your app in each WordPress, Joomla and Drupal. You will be much better equipped to answer this question yourself at this point.
Hmm, I would never use WordPress for this as it would require too many plugins. I was after something that would work out-of-the-box. I’ll look at Joomla and Drupal, thanks.
Drupal added CCk to core in D7 I think, you probably need a plugin to accomplish that in Joomla, WordPress has supported custom content types since V3, I think.
Regardless of the system you use, plugins are going to be required. Drupal, by design is very modular and will likely require the most plugins. Joomla has a component (mini-application) approach, which may result in less plugins but less flexibility, in my experience.
I hated drupal (still do) but when compared to the Joomla/WordPress experience i have had, I would choose that system, so my opinion at this point is probably bias
