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Hi there, I run a small web design company that is looking for a cms solution to develop our websites in that is easy to implement and most importantly easy for our clients to maintain.

Our standard requirements are:
1. text and graphic pages
2. some galleries
3. forms
4. members log-in ability
5. products and or e-commerce (credit card payment gateways etc.)
6. news and or blogs
7. able to customize the look completely and not just use standard templates
8. able to customize the code if required (not very often)

We have tried a few different cms solutions around and have hit certain problems like being too expensive for single licence ($1000+), hosted solutions or lock downed code that restricts the flexibility to customize.

Do you think I have come to the right place and that EE may be the answer to my problems. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as we put on average 10-20 sites per month through the system.

Cheers

Paul

I think you’ve come to the right place, but the important thing will be what you think.  I’d highly advise you to try EE out before making a final decision- there are a couple of trial options.  In your case?  I’d probably do two of them- install ‘Core’- which is a limited version.  But the nice thing is, you can take a look at the files/code and get a feel for how it all hangs together.  (It hangs very nicely.)  It might also be worth skimming the devlopment docs as it sounds like you are interested in how easy it is to integrate custom code.

I’d also suggest the hosted trial- it will give you a look at the gallery and the forum, which Core doesn’t have.

Trying things out is going to be the best way to get a real feel for how EE works.  Now, let’s see if I can hit the specifics.

1.  Text/graphic pages- should be no problem.  You’re likely going to be using the weblog module for most of your content.  It’s very powerful and flexible- so you’ll be playing with custom field creation and display quite a bit.

2.  There is a gallery module, though depending on needs/preferences, some folks use the weblog module for this as well.

3.  There’s a standard tag for contact forms and tell-a-friend forms.  For greater complexity/flexibility, a lot of folks use Solspace’s Freeform module as well.

4.  Member login- no problem.  There’s a ‘frontend’ member login for folks who do not have access to the backend control panel.  You’re seeing the forum version of this in action right here- can login, edit password and descriptive info, can add custom member fields to hold additional member data.  Have the ability to pm members, send them emails through the system, ignore certain folks- etc.

5.  There isn’t a full blown integrated commerce system- though there is a simple commerce module- it integrates with paypal, basically by creating paypal links.  But to link to a full blown payment gateway will require custom work on your part at the moment.

6.  Sure- unlimited weblogs (think of them as data containers)- they can’t be used as a hosted blogging solution, but with unlimited weblogs, mulitiple category groups assigned to each weblog, and multiple categories assigned to entries, you have massive flexibility in how you structure your data.

7.  Yes- this is one of the reasons designers tend to love EE.  The standard templates are really just (x)html- and you plop in EE tags where you want the data output.  Very, very flexibile, very conducive to custom designs.  (The member templates and the forum templates aren’t as ‘everything goes’, so that’s where you’ll tend to spend time tweaking.)

8.  The script isn’t encoded and you’re free to hack/modify as needed.  However, EE is also built to enable custom modules and plugins- plus there are extensions that allow you to modify default behavior.  Sticking with modules/plugins/extensions rather than hacks makes upgrading easier.  Plus- if you’re using EE for a large number of sites?  It makes good sense to have your own little cluster of custom code that you add each install.  I have my ‘stock’ modules etc. I add to almost every install- and when I need new functionality, it’s usually worth it to build a module/plugin so I’ve got it handy to use whenever/wherever I need.

To sum- aside from needing a full blown payment gateway, it sounds like EE’s a good fit.  And EE has been used with a number of commerce systems, so that will be doable.  Just not ‘out of the box’.  But the best way to know whether it will fit your needs is to try it out.

That help?

Hi there, I run a small web design company that is looking for a cms solution to develop our websites in that is easy to implement and most importantly easy for our clients to maintain.

Our standard requirements are:
1. text and graphic pages
2. some galleries
3. forms
4. members log-in ability
5. products and or e-commerce (credit card payment gateways etc.)
6. news and or blogs
7. able to customize the look completely and not just use standard templates
8. able to customize the code if required (not very often)

We have tried a few different cms solutions around and have hit certain problems like being too expensive for single licence ($1000+), hosted solutions or lock downed code that restricts the flexibility to customize.

Do you think I have come to the right place and that EE may be the answer to my problems. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as we put on average 10-20 sites per month through the system.

Cheers

Paul

I run a small web design studio too and spent several months evaluating various CMSs before settling on EE two weeks ago. It’s the most flexible and easy to use system that I’ve come across.

To answer some of your questions:

1. You can create static pages easily using the ‘pages’ module or using regular weblog entries.
2. There’s a photo gallery module and you can also customise weblogs to work as photo galleries.
3. There’s a built in form module which handles all the back-end stuff, and I believe there’s a good third party add-on if you need something more powerful.
4. I haven’t created a members log in area yet, but I believe it’s possible.
5. There is an ecommerce module, but I believe it only works with PayPal.
6. The news/blog system is very powerful and completely customisable, and you can set up as many blogs as you need.
7. & 8. You have complete control over the design and mark-up and I’ve been able to customise it to do virtually anything.

I recommend sign-ing up for the 30 day trial - it’s the best way of testing the various features.

Hope this helps.

Fiona

I have been using EE for only two months and I have tried Joomla as well. But I can tell you that EE is the solution for you. I am loving it and I just imagine how life would be if I was never introduced to it. Try EE out and you will not regret. It is so easy to use.