Thread

Hello,

I have been developing websites for a few years, and have predominately used PHP and MySQL, in combination with Dreamweaver.  This has worked ok, but since PHP is server side, and Dreamweaver is not the most simple of tools, it makes development on ongoing maintenance of my sites very hard.

My basic site has user login/management, forums, photo albums, shop and news/blogs, which are integrated with some simplistic PHP code.

Someone has recommended to me, Expression Engine as a possible solution.

Here is what I want to do:-

1) Develop a website that can be easily achieved without coding, and tailor the site without changing any underlying PHP code.  If possible, using some form of visual development tool.

2) Have login, shop, forum and galleries natively integrated into the website (i.e. not using a set of disperate products glued together).

3) Be flexible and easy to change and maintain by end users if possible.

4) Data driven in places via MySQL.

Is there any material that can demonstrate how to achieve the above aims with the product set?

I am part of a charity, so I would assume a personal license would be sufficient.

Finally, my hosting is on Linux, which I assume is ok?

Kind regards,

Mark.

Hi, Mark, welcome to the forums!

1.  That is entirely possible without ExpressionEngine depending on your needs.  ExpressionEngine is extremely powerful and flexible so many people may never have to touch any programming; but if you need items outside of EE’s feature-set, then you may need to delve into the Development API to extend the software.

2.  No problem with EE.  The Simple Commerce module may suit your needs, and if not there are options such as FoxEE and aMember to extend the eCommerce experience.

3.  You can build the EE site to give your users flexibility and control over their own Web site - depending how far you need to take that.  A full on re-design for instance is likely going to be harder for users without HTML knowledge.

4.  Yes.

Yes, the personal/non-profit license is fine for a charity.

Linux is great!  Check out our requirements page.

You might also like to review train-ee.com and eescreencasts.com for some great tutorials.

Lastly, our demos can let you try EE before buying.  The hosted demo may be your best option so you can try out all modules.

And check out our Showcase for some great examples of EE driven sites.