Build your own CMS with PHP and Mysql?

[arindamb]

I suppose more people here are having good skills on web design and developing and they can build their own cms with php & mysql but for sure, some could not do that and using CMS like wordpress, drupal to make their site.

From your experience, have you ever build your own CMS with php and mysql, you can integrate some frameworks into your cms to speed up your works and increase security for it?

 

[EpicGlobalWeb]

Yes I have built a custom cms for e commerce purposes and for blogging purposes.

Also security is mainly in the form fields. You can mess up an entire server with Sql injection just from manipulating forms. Its fun. There are other vulnerabilities such as screwing with url strings to take you places you don't have privelesges to be. WordPress is getting better their main problem is third party plug ins but as is for all platform based technologies who accept third party additions.

 

[Mike001]

I have built many CMS Systems. They are not that hard once you learn the basics of development.

The hardest thing about building a good CMS is the database aspect of the system. Most people think that you just slap together a couple of tables and populate them with some fields and that is it. That could not be farther from the truth. A good CMS system has an optimized and normalized data management system. It is written for one particular deployment and focuses on normalization for that deployment.

That is the reason that WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla and any many of the larger systems run so slow. They are good system architecturally, but their databases are trying to be all things to all users and you just cannot do that effectively. It is too hard to normalize when you never know for certain how certain aspects of the system will be used. That is their downfall. I must admit, they have gotten much better than they use to be.

And yes, many of the CMS system that I write for customers are based on a Framework. I base many of my sites on BootStrap, Foundation or Pure. It really depends on what I am trying to do with the site and what the customer requirements are.

My favorite is BootStrap by a long shot. It is very front end light and does so many things very well. With the changes coming out in version 4 it will even be better.

My training site, is a video CMS system that I wrote many years ago, based on BootStrap ver. 2, PHP, JavaScript and MySQL. The site itself needs to be upgraded but I just have not had the time. That will happen this summer.

I hope this helps.

 

[Marc van Leeuwen]

Marc van Leeuwen

Yes I agree with you that building a custom CMS is not hard but to make it friendly with users or full functions to use then it needs time or very long to complete. Also, you also need to care about other aspects as security and how to support it if it is used by your customers.

That's why more people went with Wordpress or other CMS platform that existed on the internet.

 

[EpicGlobalWeb]

I have to agree with you about BootStrap it really is a nice framework. Takes th majority of css (which I hate) out of the picture.

Its so easy to push out mobile-ready sites with it.

 

[smitexpert]

I don't agree to develop custom CMS. It's will highly cost and have many problem. I prefer to making a custom wordpress theme.

 

[Mike001]

Smitexpert,

I have developed probably close to 100 custom CMS systems for customer deployments, when everything is equal they do not cost anymore than deploying an out of the box CMS system. Now the key to having a good custom CMS system is having someone that knows and understands how to deploy for the web. That is where the challenge lies.

Most, not all, younger web developers today have learned on Joomla, WordPress and the many IDE platforms that are out there and really do not understand how to code. They are use to dragging and dropping items on a screen and believe that is how they code a web site. They could not be farther from the truth. If anyone has really looked under the hood of a Dreamweaver website it is full of bloat and improper coding techniques. Now, I will admit, it has gotten better over the last few years, but it is still no where near as good as a good coder, oh and by the way, a good coder is faster and designs much better sites than most of the those IDEs also. In my opinion Dreamweaver was one of the worth things that ever happened to web development.

I have found that designers and developers that rely on products like Dreamweaver do not really understand the coding process and the need to streamline and optimize their code. Now Dreamweaver has its place, but it is a limited place in a good developers tool set. There is nothing that beats the knowledge of understanding the code you are reading, knowing how to maximize the performance of the code and minimize the footprint of the code on the site.

Learn to code and you will see what I mean about the out of the box CMS. One size fits all, is the farthest thing from the truth in the world of commercial web development. But as long as people keep that philosophy, of one size fits all, people like me will never run out of work. I am called to fix more problems with the out of the box solutions and then eventually move them to a custom system, then you can imagine.

What is the most interesting, I have had many people / businesses move from an Out of the Box CMS to a Custom System. I have never had anyone move from a custom system to an out of the box system .... that says something right there.

Put it to the real test.

Design two exact system, with a professional web developer.

Same page count, same content, same graphics, same mobile responsiveness, same SEO optimization, same security.

The custom site will always be faster, more responsive, have much better security and easier to maintain than the out of the box CMS.

As I have said in many posts, WordPress, Joomla and the many other CMS systems have a place, they are well designed and well written for their intended audience. But they are by no means an optimized CMS system. Trying to be all things to all people just does not allow that. Too many plug-ins, too many security holes, and way too much bloat for a serious business system.

 

[EpicGlobalWeb]

"The custom site will always be faster, more responsive, have much better security and easier to maintain than the out of the box CMS. "

Not to mention like 40x less bulky and faster. WordPress is pretty resource-heavy with enough plug ins.

 

[Ron Killian]

Many years ago I spent way too much time learning PHP/MySQL. For ME it was a huge waste.

It all depends on what your goals are. If some one is looking to earn online (besides programming), then building something like your own CMS is most likely NOT a good idea. It can be a huge waste of time because there are so many ready-to-go solutions these days. They may not be perfect, but they can be perfect enough for some one to get started.

Just seems so many people think they need to, or should, or are encouraged to learn to code and build their own stuff. For many people they will just be losing precious time. Time they could have used to build a business.

I know the programmers have different views, which of course is fine, and no offense to any one in this thread or on the forum, just saying it's not a good idea for many people.

As always, my opinion.

 

[Mike001]

Marc,

I have to disagree, depending upon what you are looking for, a Custom CMS can actually be faster to complete than all the BS that you have to put up with using a Framework CMS. There are so many areas of a framework CMS that are not needed in most sites they tend to slow down the site, take away from the SEO, and are very bloated and slow once implemented.

Custom CMS's are normally much more user friendly as they are very direct in there management of user interactions and tend to be much faster and much more geared toward the type of site they have been developed for.

In the security aspect there is no real comparison between a custom CMS and a framework. When you are dealing with popular frameworks like WordPress, Joomla, etc, there are far too many security holes in those frameworks to even compare them to a custom CMS system. The popularity of the frameworks make them targets for hackers and as such they are difficult to keep the security patches up to date with all the add-on modules that are available. All the security patches that are released need to be tested against the more popular add-on modules and the time that takes, many of the patches are outdated before they are even released.

This is a debate that has been going on for years, but I tend to look at professional web developers and see the tendencies they are following. If the CMS frameworks were that good, or even acceptable in security and SEO, more professional developers would use them. After all they can save some time in development. That is just not the case, professional developers stay far clear of any type of CMS framework.

 

[Marc van Leeuwen]

There are so many areas of a framework CMS that are not needed in most sites they tend to slow down the site.

I understand and agree with you about this, and this is a disadvantage of using existed CMS.

The popularity of the frameworks make them targets for hackers and as such they are difficult to keep the security patches up to date with all the add-on modules that are available. All the security patches that are released need to be tested against the more popular add-on modules and the time that takes, many of the patches are outdated before they are even released.

But at least it is supported by a big community and that will help us to have patches or updates earlier.

After all they can save some time in development. That is just not the case, professional developers stay far clear of any type of CMS framework.

Not only developers, people are doing business online are needing framework CMS to make their projects finish faster, that's way more people like use CMS frameworks.