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CI or CMSs?
#1

[eluser]x386[/eluser]
Hello!
I am a web designer, and I recently "discovered" CI, and I say: It's amazing! As a web designer, I hate coding! I'd always use CMSs (e107 most of the times) to run my clients projects. Now, cause I want to use the benefits of CI, and I don't want to code anything myself (anyway, CI is a framework...) is there ready to use modules for common website features? I mean, "News", "Forums", "Download" section, and so on?

Sorry for my English!
Thank you!
#2

[eluser]Jesse B.[/eluser]
Hi x386,

CodeIgniter's sister program, ExpressionEngine, may be just what you're looking for. EE is written by the same nice folks that write CI, so you'll find that the philosophy of the software is similar. Many of EE's strongest advocates are designers like you, who are uncomfortable coders but still want a dynamic solution to sell to clients.

Also, the next major version of EE will be based on CI, so you will be able to combine the flexibility of CI with the robustness of a pre-built CMS.

Hope this helps!
#3

[eluser]Yash[/eluser]
codeigniterdirectory.com may help you
#4

[eluser]xwero[/eluser]
CI is a coding framework which means it makes it easier to write well structured applications. A CMS is a bunch of publishing applications that can share the same data like logins. So if you don't like coding you have to find applications that use the same authentication library and have a front- and backend.

If you hate coding CI is not the right tool for you.
#5

[eluser]x386[/eluser]
Thank you for your answers!

I don't really mean a complete CMS with bunch of features... I think CI calls it "Plugins" or "Helpers". for example, a News plugin with front- and backend... or a forum plugin. This my be used by many web developers or designers. No, I don't mean CMS. Since I knew CI, I hate all of them! Smile (now I'm going to rewrite my company's whole website with CI!) Also, in many situations, I have to code myself: Here's that CI helps me! At last, I love CI site Structure. It's very nice!

I couldn't try EE yet. During install process, gives me error that the email address i entered is not valid Sad I'm using Appserv and I'm trying to install it locally.
#6

[eluser]Colin Williams[/eluser]
CI helpers and "plugins" (the latter having been deprecated for a reason), don't necessarily work in the regard you just described.

The structure of CI takes you about as far as one controller, one model, and one view. When you start having multiple controllers, models, and views, you need to know how to engineer those relations yourself. Not trying to turn you off, but you still need to be a skilled programmer to build a solid CI application. And remember that CI is meant for applications, not necessarily Web sites.

I suppose it's a bit like needing a car, and opting for getting a package with a bunch of really great car parts. You can put it together yourself and make it exactly how you want, but you need to know how to put together a car from scratch. Maybe all you want is a car with a nice paint job and some 20" spinners. It's probably wiser to get a nice car then add those features on yourself.
#7

[eluser]x386[/eluser]
Thanks Collin! You mean I should code anything from scratch?

This seems very amazing: what do you mean "CI is meant for applications, not necessarily Web sites"?
#8

[eluser]Colin Williams[/eluser]
Right. You shouldn't code something like a CMS from scratch, or even on top of CI, if you "hate coding" and have a reasonable deadline to meet. If you just want to learn along the way and you have that luxury, then there's no better way to go than diving in head first. Go for it.

What I mean by not "Web sites" is that, say the local barber wants a 5 page web site that he can maintain himself. It doesn't make a lot of sense to start with CI, because you'd essentially be writing a CMS. It would make more sense to start with a CMS and customize it as needed (and no reason that CMS couldn't be CI-based, I just don't know that there's a really good CI-based CMS available quite yet). If, however, your area Board of Realtors came to you and needed a site where they could manage their agent's profiles, create custom listings, schedule showings, etc, that's more likely to need a bespoke application.
#9

[eluser]x386[/eluser]
Really thanks!

I think I should go to learn CI completely first... Coding with CI isn't that much hard, is it? As I saw, working with databases needs only a few line of code... anyway, thanks! ;-)
#10

[eluser]Colin Williams[/eluser]
I don't want to get too wishy-washy or sound like I'm lecturing, but you absolutely should think it's hard, because it is hard to do it best. Which is to say, you are only going to get back the effort you put into it. More effort = harder. And learning syntax is only part of learning to program. But again, CI is a great place to start learning because the codebase is well documented and easy to follow.

I guess my overall point with regard to the main topic of this thread is, if you need a CMS, get a CMS, not CI. And my secondary point or advice is, when approaching something new, always approach it as a difficult challenge so that you put your best effort toward it.




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