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by radva42 3576 days ago
I can highly recommend grav: https://getgrav.org/ It uses Twig for templates, stores all data in files (Markdown) and the Admin panel is easy to extend with custom fields without writing code. Additionally there's an OK form builder, which can be used to build basic forms and perform basic operations (e.g. store data in files, send e-mails, etc.) but for anything more complex you would need to write a plugin.

I've written a few plugins for it, one specifically for creating albums and galleries for portfolios and I think that it's easy and a straightforward process.

2 comments

This looks like the perfect CMS for my next project. Any chance of you sharing albums and galleries plugin?
You may also want to check out https://octobercms.com
Well I built it for a client and will have to see if it's OK to make it open source.
My main complaint are the blueprints that are needed for forms. The syntax feels overly complex and the output is not pure markdown anymore (escaped markdown stuffed in to a single line at best).

Also I see the admin interface as not client-proof :), they'd get lost and mess it all up.

I agree with you. While I do not necessarily think that the syntax feels overly complex (it's just YAML) the entire blueprint tends to get hard to read and complex if you add a dozen elements and tabs.

IMHO blueprints are great for a few simple cases, but anything beyond that requires writing a plugin. And plugins are easy to create and integrate in the Admin panel.

And also the Admin panel can be made client-proof. Panels like Configurations/Themes/Plugins can be easily disabled for individual users.

Now, the hardest part would be the "Pages" section which gives too much control to the client and therefore the ability to mess up the structure of the site. This is something I am currently thinking about solving with another plugin which would allow the client to modify content, without modifying the structure of the pages.

But in general I think that the way grav handles media, assets and routing is awesome and I really enjoy working with it.

Kudos to the grav team :).

you are totally right and yes, media handling is beautiful :)