On developing Joomla Components-Like extensibility system with CI

[eluser]Daniel Peraza[/eluser]
Hi!, I have built some projects with Joomla! and I love the way extensions are integrated into the core CMS. They're very easy to install and customize and they don't interfere with Joomla's core features for content management.Joomla's extension portal offers lots of extensions ready to go, freeing the programmers of so many repetitive tasks, and leaving them ready to focus on what really matters.

However, I prefer to use CI for most of my projects, since clients often present very specific requirements that make customization unpractical, leaves some business logic out, or tends to be more time consuming than developing a whole new system from zero (though not actually, because CI always provides the basic structure). Also, I have already developed many sets of models-controllers-views that I often reuse to provide similar functionality across several projects.

So, what I would like to do, is to build a base CMS System like Joomla which provides me the basic framework for Content Management with all its capabilities: page CRUD, section or category management, etc... And to build an extension system which would allow me to upload a ZIP file with sets of models, controllers and views, to provide custom functionality, same way as Joomla! does.

I have read a bit about Modular Extensions, which so far, looks like the best way to accomplish this. But wiki page it's just too short and doesn't give me much info. So I write this post to hear your suggestions and to define more specifically what do I have to do, and how to do it.

[eluser]WanWizard[/eluser]
This is the idea behind ExiteCMS, a framework we're developing on top of CI at the moment.

It uses themes similar to Joomla, so with a bit of conversion any template out there can be used. But unlike Joomla we want to give developers complete freedom, and not force you into a straitjacket like Joomla does.

Everything in ExiteCMS is modular, including the entire backend. Need extra functionality? Write a module, install it, slap it onto a page. Done.

ExiteCMS comes with features common for 'corporate' applications, including support for multiple authentication sources, a full task based RBAC system with both group and role support, and a workflow engine.

You might have a look, ExiteCMS is open source (currently in alpha stage), we have a demo online that is updated with every repository commit. Check out the link in my signature...

[eluser]Daniel Peraza[/eluser]
Sounds great! but will it continue to be open source? How may I contribute?

[eluser]WanWizard[/eluser]
The framework itself will.

So will most of the 'community' modules, like a forum, blogs, etc. It has to replace our current version, which shows it's age, and suffers from the same problems as Joomla.
Some modules, especially those for company/commercial usage (think project management, invoicing, etc), will be released on a paid license only.

We're planning the first beta release in a month or so. Documentation on how to develop modules should be available by then as well. We're running behind on schedule, we're converting the code to use an ORM. Also, paid work goes first.

[eluser]Daniel Peraza[/eluser]
Does anyone else have another idea? I'd like to evaluate several options.

[eluser]InsiteFX[/eluser]
You could take a look at PyroCMS.

PyroCMS

InsiteFX