I am really trying to make sure I understand what I can do with EE before taking the plunge. I’m used to doing my own simple, hand-coded sites, and my main fear is that I’ll lose control of my sites using a CMS. Can anyone allay my fears?
For example, I like to add my own php contact forms to a page, with the processing code (incl. field validation etc.) on the same contact.php page. Can I still do this with EE?
And what about a page menu, with rollover images etc. Can I set this all up myself, with an images folder etc., and add in JavaScript where I need to?
I’m gradually working out how EE works, and it does look like the best thing around…From my reading of the User Guide so far, it really isn’t clear how using EE compares with hand-coding a site. An initial intro from this point of view would be recommended. (If nothing else, perhaps when I am up to speed, I’ll write my own blog entry about it!)
The beautiful thing about ExpressionEngine is the fact that it can be molded into whatever you desire. The explanation might be a bit simplistic, but the gist is you hard-code the site templates and “plug-in” whatever dynamic elements you so desire.
So yes, if you so desired, you could setup your own contact forms (although utilizing FreeForm would be my recommendation) directly in the individual template. As far as a page menu, that too is yours to enjoy.
I’m sure that someone will come along and be able to explain things far better than I. If you have any questions or points of clarification, feel free to ask them.
An interesting thing you can do with an EE template is turn on PHP processing in two different capacities. You can make it run the PHP before it runs through processing the EE Template code or after. So yes, you could put any kind of PHP in a template that you’d want. Although like Bluestrike2 said, I would use the FreeForm Module that Solspace made as it has everything you would need in a form handler.
Regarding JavaScript, yes you can add anything you want in a template.
Thanks both of you for your helpful replies. I suspected that was the case, but needed to ask.
If you don’t mind, I now have an even more basic question. I’ve just been reading the FAQ section, and it suddenly dawned on me that, each time you create a website with EE, you need to pay the $250 subscription license. Is that true? I had thought using EE was like using Dreamweaver (meaning that, once you’d bought the solftware, you can use it over and over).
If true, I guess it makes sense, but I’ll still admit I’m disappointed.
ExpressionEngine is a server-based solution; it’s not a development suite itself. One website, one license. Even then, it’s still quite a steal. Compared to other solutions, it has not only helped with productivity, but stress levels as well (lowering them, of course :D).
Thanks for clarifying that, Bluestrike. It makes sense, it’s just that I didn’t see it coming. I’ve been looking at EE in comparison with free offerings like Drupal and CMS Made Simple. I don’t really get how those others can be offered for free. Have you tried them? Is EE really so different? What do you see as the advantages of EE?
(PS I’m in Australia, and with the exchange rate crashing, the extra cost of EE is a little worrying…)
You also get a huge community and a stellar tech support team to back you up if you run into any problems. Just try the core (free) version of EE and you will be hooked. It’s what I ended up doing and haven’t looked back heh.
Before, I utilized Drupal & Joomla when necessary. When I discovered ExpressionEngine, I was in a similar situation: is it really worth the cost? After a good deal of research, I broke down and bought it. Spent a bit of time figuring it out, and its been love ever since.
I could bore you with detailed explanations of the benefits of EE and its flexibility, but at the end of the day, it’s really something you need to experience yourself. Download the Core version (free) and get busy. Eventually, you’ll break down and start implementing it in all your projects :D.
One thing I do want to mention to you is the community here: for any one company to offer the amount of information and support you’ll find here, the monthly service charges would be extraordinary. To say that you’ll find a wealth of information here would be an understatement. It is, without a doubt, one of the friendliest development communities around.
Aarem, I’m also in Australia and know how you feel heh. A couple months ago the Aussie Dollar was at around 95ish cents to 1 US Dollar. Now it’s down to 65 cents :(.
I’ve tried Drupal & Joomla and they are by far more complicated to get started with. After using EE now, I have cut my production time for clients websites by no less than 50%. That puts a lot more money in my pocket .
Thanks again, both of you, for your helpful replies. After looking at the free CMSs out there, I was not really very keen to take the plunge. EE certainly does look a lot better, and it’s good to hear that you agree. In the end, I guess it’s up to the client. If they want a CMS (from me, at least) they’ll just have to factor in this cost.
I see that it costs about $40-50 US to keep the license going each year (or at least to keep bing aboe to upgrade). How necessary is it to keep upgrading EE? Is it like WordPress, where—after a certain amount of time—if you have not upgraded you will not be supported (because the version is out of date)?
ExpressionEngine is a server-based solution; it’s not a development suite itself. One website, one license. Even then, it’s still quite a steal. Compared to other solutions, it has not only helped with productivity, but stress levels as well (lowering them, of course :D).
Actually, EE is licensed as “one installation, one license.” It’s easy to set up multiple sites; either domains, or sub-domains, and manage from one install. Even easier using MSM, which spreads features to each site.
ExpressionEngine is a server-based solution; it’s not a development suite itself. One website, one license. Even then, it’s still quite a steal. Compared to other solutions, it has not only helped with productivity, but stress levels as well (lowering them, of course :D).
Actually, EE is licensed as “one installation, one license.” It’s easy to set up multiple sites; either domains, or sub-domains, and manage from one install. Even easier using MSM, which spreads features to each site.
My apologies for the lack of clarity. Thanks for making things a bit clearer; I wasn’t even thinking of the MSM.
I see that it costs about $40-50 US to keep the license going each year (or at least to keep bing aboe to upgrade). How necessary is it to keep upgrading EE? Is it like WordPress, where—after a certain amount of time—if you have not upgraded you will not be supported (because the version is out of date)?
The license never expires. However, we only provide free updates to the version purchased for 1 year through a Download Account. This gives a person access to the latest version they own (1.x for example). We will support older versions, but the fix may be “upgrade to the latest release” in which case an active download account will be required.
Download Accounts can be renewed at any time, even after they expire, without penalty. So you can renew only when there is a direct benefit to you doing so.
ExpressionEngine is a server-based solution; it’s not a development suite itself. One website, one license. Even then, it’s still quite a steal. Compared to other solutions, it has not only helped with productivity, but stress levels as well (lowering them, of course :D).
Actually, EE is licensed as “one installation, one license.” It’s easy to set up multiple sites; either domains, or sub-domains, and manage from one install. Even easier using MSM, which spreads features to each site.
I was under the impression that you have to have one license per domain. But you could use the MSM to add on an extra 2 domains on top of the one you already have. What you are saying is that you could use EE on multiple domains as long as you own the domain?
Its one license per installation. So you could use the MSM to add 2 additional domains to a primary installation. That’s exactly what we do with our own sites. ExpressionEngine.com, CodeIgniter.com, and EllisLab.com all run from the same EE install using EE + MSM.
Note that the MSM is meant to power related sites since they will all share the same membership database.
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