With recent advancements, we can see that every technology has several alternatives for developers and businesses. This also applies to PHP, which has been surpassed by the latest substitutes such as Python, JavaScript, etc. Despite all these challenges, PHP has managed to cultivate and be the most-used server-side scripting language in the IT domain.
PHP is mostly famous for web development and building dynamic websites and apps. It provides ease of use, robust architecture, and versatility, which is the foremost reason it is grabbing the attention of a large community of developers.
PHP CMS development is one of the hottest trends in which businesses are keen to invest. Enterprises leverage PHP to streamline website development and a broad extension of plugins, themes, and tools to deliver users a great experience.
To learn more, go through the guide below on CMS development in PHP, including popular CMS platforms, required features, and steps to build a high-functional PHP CMS. Keep going:
What is a Content Management System (CMS)?
CMS is a software platform that allows developers or non-IT professionals to create, manage, and edit their digital content. It has become an essential tool in the current web development process, especially for people who lack technical proficiency. Custom CMS development in PHP facilitates users’ creation and publication of content on websites without any code.
A CMS consists of a GUI (Graphical User Interface), making engaging with the website’s content straightforward. Further, these platforms provide specific tools and templates that separate the content from the presentation, making the process of updating and maintaining the website’s structure and design easier.
It would be good to hire PHP developers who have extensive knowledge of PHP frameworks that can be used to build a proficient CMS.
WordPress is one of the popular CMSs built on PHP and is currently used by 62.7% of all websites. PHP’s dominance in the CMS market can also be recognized by noticing that it is accountable for 43.4% of all websites, representing 62.7% of the CMS market share online.
WordPress singlehandedly provides over 40,000 free themes and 45,000 free plugins for open-source CMS development. It covers over half of the market share (59.7%), followed by Joomla (6.7%).
Innovative Features of PHP CMS Development to Consider
When planning to develop a CMS function in PHP, it is significant to look for the right features to integrate into it. Be confident about must-haves in your mind, and then get started with the CMS development process. Here are some of them:
1. Content Management
This feature enables users to create, modify, and manage web pages efficiently. It can also manage blog posts and other multimedia, facilitating smooth content publishing.
2. Headless CMS Architecture
Headless CMS architecture helps users to separate content from presentation, enabling content delivery via APIs to different platforms like mobile and web apps, websites, and IoT devices, leading to higher flexibility.
3. WYSIWYG Editor
It represents the “What You See Is What You Get” editor, allowing users to format text and multimedia visually. They don’t need to have technical knowledge to use this, which makes content editing easier.
4. Multilingual Support
A PHP CMS must have some basic translation tools, facilitating websites’ serving to worldwide audiences. It supports diverse languages to improve the user’s reach globally.
5. Security Features
Custom CMS development in PHP can include essential security measures, such as SSL Support, password encryption, and basic firewalls, to protect data and maintain its integrity.
6. Version Control
This feature helps experts track changes in the content, resulting in easy rollbacks to older versions and a complete history of modifications for the record.
7. AI Integration into CMS
Integrating AI and ML features into PHP CMS assists in providing smart content recommendations, predictive analytics, and automated tagging. It enables optimized content strategies and higher user engagement.
8. Dynamic Content Personalization
This feature leverages collected user data, such as geolocation or browsing behavior, to deliver personalized content that improves conversion rates and user engagement.
9. Real-time Collaboration Tools
PHP CMS can connect seamlessly with email marketing tools, eCommerce platforms, and others to improve business operations and deliver the ultimate user experience.
10. eCommerce Functionality
It includes features like secure payment gateways, product catalogs, inventory management, etc., resulting in efficient operations in worldwide markets.
Also Read: How to Develop Apps Like Janitor AI: Cost and Key Features
Top Benefits of PHP CMS Development
CMS development in PHP facilitates businesses with various top benefits, from open-source availability to access to a large activity. Let’s get to know more of these here:
Open-source Availability
PHP is considered an open-source language, and various PHP-based CMS platforms, including WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, etc., are free to use. This removes licensing costs and enables developers to edit the code as required, resulting in customization and innovation.
Cross-platform Compatibility
You can develop a CMS function in PHP and run it seamlessly across different operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, macOS, and Unix. PHP is also compatible with top web servers like Nginx and Apache to ensure faster deployment across diverse hosting environments.
Community and Developer Support
PHP has dedicated support from a large global community via tutorials, forums, and documentation. This ecosystem facilitates users with easy access to troubleshooting resources and pre-built modules, improving the development process and addressing issues.
Responsive and Mobile-Ready
PHP CMS platforms emphasize responsive and appealing design, ensuring that a website looks and performs at its best on all kinds of devices, from smartphones to desktops. Providing this mobile readiness and responsiveness is significant for modern web standards and user experience.
Flexibility & Customization
PHP-based CMS provides higher flexibility, enabling developers to build bespoke solutions with custom themes, APIs, and Plugins. This offered adaptability makes it appropriate for different applications, from large-scale enterprises to blogs.
Cost-Effectiveness
The cost of developing CMS using PHP is lower than that of other CMSs. It is because of its open-source nature, abundant free or low-cost resources, and fewer infrastructure requirements. This is why it is preferred as a top choice for start-ups and small-scale businesses with constrained budgets.
Faster CMS Development
CMS development in PHP facilitates businesses’ faster processes due to its simplicity, reusable code, and pre-built CMS frameworks. Hire PHP developers can rapidly create, test, and deploy websites, alleviating time-to-market and overall development costs.
Popular Open-Source PHP CMS Platforms
Using PHP CMS development platforms makes the tedious process easier and faster for developers. Dynamic website development may have thousands of pages, and it is much simpler to streamline the entire process by leveraging the best PHP CMS platform. You can know about them below:
1. WordPress
WordPress is the most used and popular open-source CMS (content management system), strengthening a large number of websites globally. Initially, in 2003, it was known as a blogging platform, but later, it evolved into a versatile CMS for managing several websites, from eCommerce sites to blogs to professional websites. It offers an appealing interface, allowing users to develop, edit, and publish content without outshining technical expertise.
WordPress also includes a wide range of custom templates and themes to streamline the website’s layout and design. It supports a wide range of content types, including images, text, videos, etc. Moreover, it has simple SEO features to improve websites for search engines.
Pros
- Large and active community support
- Access to thousands of plugins & Themes
- WP Toolkit extension for the Plesk hosting platform
Cons
- Requires frequent updates
- Customization needs deep knowledge
- An easy target for hackers
2. Joomla
Joomla is considered one of the best PHP CMS platforms for building portfolios and blogging websites. It includes high-quality features and creates efficient blogs and dynamic websites. Joomla works well with limited versions of SQL, leading to easy database integration.
This PHP CMS platform can easily integrate the site with its hosting provider with a single click to create responsive websites. It comprises multiple designs and extensions to add extra features to any web application you are designing. Popular market players like Barnes & Noble, eBay, and IKEA have used Joomla.
Pros
- User-friendly and flexible
- Large collection of extensions
- Built-in support for multiple languages
Cons
- Smaller community and less popular platform
- Fewer pre-built templates
- Moderate learning curve
3. Drupal
Drupal is popular as a powerful and flexible platform for creating a wide range of websites, including personal blogs and complex large-level applications. It is an open-source PHP CMS that offers scalability, custom options, and a broad community of developers worldwide.
Unlike WordPress’s extended functionality with plugins, Drupal refers to its add-ons as modules, which comprise various features and other options. Several brands and organizations, including NASA, The White House, Harvard University, Tesla Motors, etc., have used Drupal to empower their online platforms and websites.
Pros
- Great for complex websites with high customization
- Manages large, enterprise-level websites
- Strong security features
Cons
- Limited themes compared to WordPress
- Steep learning curve
- Requires more technical expertise
4. TYPO3
TYPO3 is known as the best PHP CMS for developers because it can work on different operating systems, including Linux, Windows, FreeBSD, macOS, and OS/2. It is the most appropriate option for large-scale companies’ eCommerce platforms and portals. TYPO3 has ongoing support from an active community.
TYPO3 is a flexible proposition for users as it manages content and codes separately. It supports over 50 languages and comprises built-in localization. It is also easy to install, following just a few steps.
Pros
- Best suited for large, complex websites
- Custom content types and workflows
- Amazing multilingual support
Cons
- Steep learning curve
- A limited number of themes
- Complex setup & maintenance
5. OpenCart
OpenCart is another PHP-based content management system appropriate for eCommerce website development. It is an open-source platform for PHP developers, so they can easily use features to deliver users an intuitive user interface. This platform supports multiple languages and offers infinite product categories for popular accounts.
OpenCart is a well-featured PHP CMS platform with a wide scope for developers eager to build fully featured online stores.
Pros
- Large extension marketplace
- Multi-store support & custom themes
- Large community support
Cons
- Limited scalability
- Customization challenges
- Updates and compatibility issues
Learn More: Python vs PHP: Which One is Best for Web Development?
How to Develop CMS in PHP: Step-by-Step Guide to Follow
PHP CMS development process involves proper planning & evaluation, developing core functions, and quality assurance for smooth deployment. The steps below will give you a clear idea of how to develop a CMS in PHP. Have a look:
Discuss Your Specific Requirements
You must collect your specific project requirements while determining the type of CMS (eCommerce, blog, or portfolio). Decide on standard and advanced features according to your budget. Further, identify your end-users to ensure that they meet their technical requirements and proficiency. Deciding on these essential aspects will determine your process ahead, and you can plan it more efficiently.
Define Content Types and Functionalities
While planning a PHP-based CMS development, you must know about the content types you want it to manage. This will ensure that the CMS meets all the requirements and user needs. Moreover, CMS content types and functionalities comprise Media management, Blog posts, pages, search functionality, custom forms, comments and feedback, SEO tools, and analytics and reporting.
Set Up the Development Environment
Next, establish a robust development environment by installing a web server (e.g., Apache), code editor or IDE (PHPStorm, VS Code, etc.), and a database system (MySQL, etc.). You can also use tools like MAMP or XAMPP to simplify the process.
Moreover, other considerations for setting up the development environment will include version control, dependency management, local development environments, and environment configuration.
Create the Database
Integrating a precisely designed database is necessary while developing a PHP-based CMS. Create tables for content, users, and extra features while establishing relationships between tables and regularizing data for ideal storage. You can also improve this process with indexes and optimization, database migration, backup and recovery, scalability considerations, and others.
Develop Front-end Interface
Developing a visually appealing and user-friendly front-end interface is crucial for a content management system. It will work as a bridge between the CMS’s functionalities and your users. For this, you must create templates to display content and also use HTML, JavaScript, and CSS to design responsive pages easily.
Implement AJAX for dynamic content loading and smooth interaction, prioritizing cross-browser compatibility, responsive design, progressive web apps, and easy accessibility.
Testing and Deployment
Conduct a complete testing procedure to ensure the PHP CMS is bug-free and performing seamlessly. To make the CMS flawless, you can perform user experience testing, functional testing, performance testing, etc. For deployment, you need to choose a hosting server that supports PHP and the required database system.
Transfer your project files to the server and configure database connection settings while updating related configurations. Other considerations include CI/CD (continuous integration/continuous deployment), security measures, performance monitoring, and scalability.
In Essence,
PHP CMS development is a comprehensive process requiring full focus on crucial aspects, from initial planning to setting up the environment to deploying the CMS. Every phase, including database design, front-end design, back-end development, and testing, plays an important role in making the process smoother, faster, and flawless.
Following each and every step, Octal IT Solution is a top-notch CMS development company providing PHP-based content management solutions. Our qualified experts try every possible way to provide an exceptional experience to clients. Contact us anytime to ensure the best fit for your organization.
FAQs:
Based on your requirements, you can select the most suitable option between these two. Opt for an open-source CMS like WordPress if you want an easy setup and cost-efficient development. Otherwise, you can choose custom PHP CMS development for advanced features, higher scalability, etc.
To prevent issues, you can apply key measures such as XSS protection, SQL injection prevention, data encryption, secure authentication, and regular updates.
Yes, PHP is considered the best platform for CMS development because of its robust community support, compatibility, and the latest practices and better performance offered by frameworks like Laravel.
The overall cost of developing a CMS using PHP will depend on several factors, such as project complexity, development time, custom features, hosting, and post-launch support.