Best Blog Software

[kuau]

Dear MM: Sorry for the long silence but I went to the mainland for a bit and was involved in other crises. Can you believe this? My clients chose a calendar software that turned out to be a nightmare. The guy who wrote it was such a #$@!* jerk! I finally told him, if he wasn't going to help get it working, to refund the money. So he issued a refund without telling us (client still hasn't received it) and immediately, while we were all asleep (7 hour time difference), filed a DMCA complaint with the hosting company saying we were using his software without a license (that we had just purchased). The host by law had to suspend the account. So this guy was able to shut down all my client's websites in a matter of hours. I was able to recitify the situation, but I find it very scary that jerks out there can have so much power. Speaks very loudly for open source software. Geesh! Be forewarned.

In any case, now I'm back checking out CMS's. Thanks for explaining all those terms. You have a real knack for making tech-talk intelligible, which is a rare gift. Much appreciated.

I did download EE and am trying to figure it out. It looks as if it is mainly a blog engine (?). I finally found one of the css files in the database. Doesn't that make it more time-consuming to do design changes, than just ftp'ing the css file? I don't relish the thought of editing css in that little phpMyAdmin window as compared to on my 22" monitor in DreamWeaver. What is it you like so much about EE? Especially over Joomla.

Hope all is well with you. Ciao, e

[Medyman]

It looks as if it is mainly a blog engine (?)

A lot of people seem to have that impression at first. EE first started out as a blog engine, so there are remnants of that terminology throughout the documentation and control panel that give that impression. But it's really not a blog engine or at least not only a blog engine.

I finally found one of the css files in the database

Well, EE is a database-based system. Everything you create is saved into a database and called dynamically as needed. But you have full control over what that content/design is. So, you can create as many CSS files as you need. You could save them into ExpressionEngine and therefore the database. But what I usually do is ftp a CSS file into a separate directory on the server, and then in my EE templates, just call it like I normally would.

ExpressionEngine also as a feature to "save-to-file". Normally, the code for the templates is entered directly into the control panel via the textareas. But, with "save-to-file" enabled, EE saves the files as .php files onto the server. So you can ftp in, grap those files, change them and ftp them back up. So, you really can use your 22" monitor and Dreamweaver.

What is it you like so much about EE?

My great obsession with EE is how flexible it is. It really can be adapted to any implementation. I've personally built sites with EE that range anywhere from blogs to literary magazines to portfolio sites to image and video galleries to community sites. If you break it down, most sites fit the content model of a "blog" (i.e. small blocks of content such as a blog entry, or a image in an image gallery, or a new article on a news site) as far as posting.

Secondly, it's highly extensible. If there is something that EE can't do, I can easily code some PHP and have it done. All I need are basic PHP skills, which is all I have so I love that about EE.

Lastly -- and this is to quench my geekier side -- it's one of the most efficient code bases that I've seen. Also, the code produced by the templates is 100% standard's compliant. How? Because I enter the code myself.

With ExpressionEngine, I'm able to take whatever design I want and plug a CMS into it. With Drupal and Joomla, you really have to start with the CMS and build your site around it's capabilities. I think that's the complete opposite of what the experience of creating a website should be.

By the way, the CSS Styles gallery at Dynamic Drive...also run by ExpressionEngine

Especially over Joomla.

I think that comparision is unfair -- to EE as well as Joomla. They are both excellent products that cater to different markets. I have used both of these (plus many many more), so whatever I say is my own opinion based on experience...take it for what it's worth. I'm of the opinion that Joomla is made more for the layman. It's a great plug-and-play type of system where you have to do very little in the way of setting it up. EE, on the other hand, is a web developer's CMS. I develop EE for my clients, and then hand it over to them to add content. They're not actually building anything within EE. So, it really depends on your own skill set, what features you require, what level of control you want the end user to have, and how much time you want to develop in it. For me, the clear choice is EE because I'm in the business of building and design web based experiences -- not just spitting out template-based plug-and-play sites. But that's not to say that Joomla isn't a viable option for those that don't have as strict design requirements.

[Hanky58]

I like to use word press just cuz it is easy to setup for clients. With the 5 minute install you can have them running in no time.

[Medyman]

I like to use word press just cuz it is easy to setup for clients. With the 5 minute install you can have them running in no time.

And for blog, that's a perfectly viable object (which, I realize is the topic of this thread). But, I was speaking more in terms of full-site CMS systems. Though, WordPress can be altered to be used as a full-site CMS system.