What in your opinion ...

[CGSS-CyberGeek]

Hi Everyone,

I have a question I wish to ask all of you. My question to you is "what in your opinion makes an exceptionally outstanding enterprise content management application written in PHP?" (This could be anything from software architecture, features, etc.)

I look forward to hearing everyone's opinions and answers. Thank you

[ionix5891]

I havent seen one yet that i would call "outstanding enterprise content management application"

sharepoint would be one but its no php so ...

[CGSS-CyberGeek]

I am not looking for a prebuilt application, I am just simply feature lists, architectural patterns, supported DBMS, etc.

[ionix5891]

I am not looking for a prebuilt application, I am just simply feature lists, architectural patterns, supported DBMS, etc.

I see

i dont think multiple rdbms support is important, in reallity most just stick to mysql

you definately want to use some sort of MVC approach

a capability to create "plugins" is a must

multi theme support as well

a front controller maybe with intercepting filters? and capability for more filters to be added??

try to make use of latest php5.3 features maybe? likes of wordpress really get dragged back by legacy support

[allspiritseve]

To start:
1. Complex associations between content
2. Flexbile access control/authorization system
3. Completely skinnable, including the back end.
4. A useable wysiwyg editor that is intuitive for most users. If that means having varied levels of editors, so be it.

[CGSS-CyberGeek]

Hi,

Thanks for your feedback. I found that your what you have said ionix is kind of self explanatory in my opinion (other then the support for multiple DBMS if it is a product, allowing the customer to choose which DBMS they want to utilize is something I find appropriate).

[CGSS-CyberGeek]

@allspiritseve: Can you explain more on what you mean about the "Complex associations between content". I am not 100% sure exactly what you are meaning, if you are able to explain more in depth that would be greatly appreciated.

[allspiritseve]

Well, for example, featuring content is a common requirement with CMS's. You might have a couple of pages that you want to feature in different areas on the site (typically just the homepage for smaller sites). Thus, each page should be able to contain 1 (or more) feature boxes which can contain as many featured items as needed.

[CGSS-CyberGeek]

Ah. Okay. I miss understood your initial "complex associations between content". Got it! Thank you Allspiritseve for the clarification.

[CGSS-CyberGeek]

Does anyone else have any comments and or opinions on this topic?

[rvdavid]

If you're looking to develop a CMS application from scratch, you should see what other already available CMS applications are actually doing.

Look at the feature lists of current CMS applications developed in PHP and other languages or even desktop CMS applications.

Also pay attention to what people are used to seeing and using in a CMS application and the current flow of operation.

Get a list of features of the existing apps out there, and cherry pick the best features to implement into your own.

Start with this as a base and then start adding new features of your own as your users demand them.

Feature sets is what matters to end-users not the way it's made, however, building your application (any application) so that it is easy to change and manage is key.

The MVC pattern lends itself well to such applications because it can be easily modularised.

HTH.

[CGSS-CyberGeek]

@RV David:

Yes, that is what we have done. Thanks!

[rvdavid]

@RV David:

Yes, that is what we have done. Thanks!

YW dude, good luck!