Thread

Hi all,
OK, my predicament is this:

I’ve been given the opportunity for a job as a front end developer but the requirements is that I know/learn expression engine to a high level.

My problem is, I know how to edit current CMS systems, wordpress etc… to a certain degree but I get stumped when it comes to developing into a CMS system from a psd. I know fluent standards compliant XHTML & CSS.

I just need to know some indication of how hard and if I followed Ryan Irelan’s guide etc how long roughly would it take to learn EE?

Also, my php knowledge isn’t great, however I heard no php knowledge is necessary for EE.

Thanks,
James.

Hi James, welcome to the forums!

I’m a total PHP numpty but EE has enabled me to build complex dynamic sites without having to touch a line of code. You build up EE templates with plain old HTML/CSS and add EE tags for where you want your content to go. If you’re already fluent with HTML/CSS then you’re most of the way there so it’s really a case of digging in and learning the tag system which is nowhere near as complex as PHP or even Javscript! It took me just a couple of hours to grasp the logic.

I’d say get stuck in with Ryans tutorials, as soon as the lightbulb moment happens you’ll hopefully see a ton of possibilities open up in front of your eyes.

But like with any CMS it takes a short time to pick up, and a lifetime to master 😊

I myself was able to pick up EE in a few weeks, although I did have someone to help me understand the basics. There are a decent amount of resources out there, though, and the expression engine user guide is full of information: http://ellislab.com/expressionengine/user-guide/

As bluedreamer said, you don’t need PHP knowledge - instead of using PHP to accomplish tasks such as looping, grabbing information, and generating content, you use a series of expression engine tags embedded within your templates.

Here’s a great cheat-sheet I often refer to with some of the most commonly used tags: http://ellislab.com/expressionengine/user-guide/quick_reference.html

Furthermore, there are loads of free and commercial modules which greatly extend the power of the system. I’d recommend steering clear of the more robust modules, however, until you’ve familiarized yourself with channels, field groups, templates, and the other EE basics.

As far as how long it would take you to learn it, it’s really up to you and your experience, but you should have the basics down within a week or two of playing around with it. Nothing would stop you from learning it faster than that, though.

I know fluent standards compliant XHTML & CSS.

That and EE’s tags will get you very far.

I heard no php knowledge is necessary for EE.

More knowledge is better than less, of course, but I’ve been using EE since late 2003 and still don’t know how to spell PHP.

Many Thanks for all of your help.

I have decided to take on the job, they have provided me with the freelancer license to use to learn the basics then most likely in 2 weeks I’ll be thrown in at the deep end. Looks like I’ll have to read, read and read 8 hours a day and learn this thing in time.

Glad you made the leap Jay…

If you get stuck on something the chances are it’s already been discussed here so forum searching will reveal lots of solutions. Also keep an eye on http://eeinsider.com/tips as that site has a lot of helpful hints and tips.

And if you need help, probably quickest way to get responses would to be to throw a question up on Twitter with the #eecms hashtag (even if it’s just to link back to threads in the forum).