Thread

Hi there. I am looking for a new CMS I can use for our own site and for our customer’s websites.

I have some question marks over my head I would like to eliminate.

1. Is there a demo I can try without installing? Maybe here at EE? (v. 1.6 or 2 beta)
2. When will 2.0 arrive (one month, half a year or next year)?
3. Can I define a custom field* for use in my templates?
4. Is the newsletter module built in or do I have to plug it in manually?
5. Can I create (easily) password protected pages (and manage users in the back-end)?
6. Blog-System or CMS? Sometimes when I read here at EE it feels like EE is more for blogging purposes than content publishing like a CMS. What is it build for and its aim?
7. Can you tell me more about EE SEO capabilities? Besides friendly URL (like title, navigation names, description, alt and title attributes)

Ok – my last question 😊 Comparing to Wordpress: does the learning curve is higher in developing templates and for customers editing pages?

* For example I would like to show a different background image for each page. Or I want to define a different color for different sections (green for football, blue for swimming etc.).

I know some questions are mentioned briefly on the features specs, but I need some more infos 😉

Thanks a lot and best regards
suntrop

Hi, suntrop - welcome to the forums!

1.  No, you’ll need to install to try.  See our trial options.

2.  2.0 is out in Public Beta right now.  There is no ETA on the full release (2.1).

3.  Yes, but custom fields are assigned to channels (weblogs in 1.x) and then output in your templates. 

4.  The Mailing List module is included.  See EE 1.x Overview, and EE 2.0 PB License Options

5.  You would create templates that are restricted in viewing to particular member groups.  Members would login and have access as per their member group.  This is different than requesting a password, but works quite nicely.

6.  ExpressionEngine is a Content Management System that can run a blog.  See our Showcase.  ExpressionEngine’s focus is on general content management, and you define that content through the use of channels and custom fields.

7.  You might like to review this SEO series on some helpful tips on SEO with EE.

ExpressionEngine leaves the design and structure in your hands.  There is a learning curve, but that can be helped along by tutorials, docs, and third-party training sites such as train-ee.com and eescreencasts.com.

Please post back if you have any other questions.

Hi Lisa, thanks for your help.
It doesn’t feel good if you can not tell if a stable version is one month or one year from today. It does feel like a loosely supported open source CMS.

Can you please tell me more or give a link to “channels (weblogs in 1.x)” in EE? Since I am not familiar with EE this sounds now even more complicated 😉
To me – and my customers – it is important to make things fast and easy. So it would be nice to tell every article what picture to put in the background. I would be unhappy if I had to choose another template go somewhere else put in some text and go to the next section and … you know what I mean by fast and easy 😊?

Other question marks are terminated 😊 Thanks!

suntrop

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It doesn’t feel good if you can not tell if a stable version is one month or one year from today. It does feel like a loosely supported open source CMS.

EE 1.6.8x is rock solid. EE 2.0 is in beta.

Can you please tell me more or give a link to “channels (weblogs in 1.x)” in EE? Since I am not familiar with EE this sounds now even more complicated.

The best way to see how ‘channels’ work (channels in EE 2.0, weblogs in EE 1.6.8x) is to grab EE Core and give it a try. EE’s templates (not themes as in the WordPress world) are rather easy to set up and use (similar to PHP includes).

So it would be nice to tell every article what picture to put in the background. I would be unhappy if I had to choose another template go somewhere else put in some text and go to the next section…

Custom fields are easy to set up (they are assigned to specific ‘sections’ (weblog in EE 1.6.8x, and channel in EE 2.0, but effectively the same thing), including a field for photos (or anything else). It’s much more flexible than WP, and can be set up to work well for part-time users.

Hi Lisa, thanks for your help.
It doesn’t feel good if you can not tell if a stable version is one month or one year from today. It does feel like a loosely supported open source CMS.

Can you please tell me more or give a link to “channels (weblogs in 1.x)” in EE? Since I am not familiar with EE this sounds now even more complicated 😉
To me – and my customers – it is important to make things fast and easy. So it would be nice to tell every article what picture to put in the background. I would be unhappy if I had to choose another template go somewhere else put in some text and go to the next section and … you know what I mean by fast and easy 😊?

Other question marks are terminated 😊 Thanks!

suntrop

Suntrop, fyi, there was a major change in the “lingo” from version 1.68 to the new 2.0.

The old faithful term “Weblog” from v1.68 and prior is now called a “Channel” in v2.0.

i like to look at each weblog or channel as a database container of which there can be many. They are fed data from the fields of the assigned field group. take the tutorials at train-ee.com, that’s the quickest way to the “lightbulb moment” with EE.

As mentioned, channels/weblogs (same concept, just renamed) are simply data containers.  You create a channel, and you create the fields that will store the information, then each entry makes up your website content.

To me – and my customers – it is important to make things fast and easy. So it would be nice to tell every article what picture to put in the background. I would be unhappy if I had to choose another template go somewhere else put in some text and go to the next section and … you know what I mean by fast and easy ?

You would do this by using a custom field to set the picture, and making sure that the template is setup to call that custom field as needed.  I know this sounds somewhat scary, but it’s actually quite straightforward once you get into it.  train-ee.com and eescreencasts.com are excellent resources to get quickly up to speed with EE.

I’ve installed 1.6.8 and played a little bit yesterday. I’ll have a look at train-ee.com and eescreencasts.com tomorrow to get more in detail with it.

Besides the missing time planning for a stable version everything looks pretty good. I will get more in detail with the 1.6.8 and decide on that.

So, thanks for your help.