what software to use for a web site with mostly static content

Question

Hey dear stacklers,

my company is about to redesign and relaunch their website. It will be my part to implement it. My company produces a variety of photo products and wants to present them to the end user. Most of the ~50 sites will contain static content (such as text and imagery). The layout is a simple 2-column: header, content, sidebar and footer. There will be a deep tree structure represented by the sidebar-nav.

As I said, most of it will be static content. Still we will have some dynamic stuff like forms and maybe in the future a shop or an private user area etc. There is quite a lot of same layout, which might make a template system useful.

I have 4 years of html/css-expierence and about 2 of PHP-experience. I love jQuery and its ajax capabilities. I worked a few times with CMSs such as Joomla! but don't like it that much as it feels to bloated for a simple website like that and it reduces your flexibility regarding the design (at least for me, as I do not have ninja-experiences in any CMS). Also you do have to update every module for security reason and even then its not always save. We won't have much changing content (which would make a CMS a good choice), just a simple 'whats new' page.

I recently discovery CodeIgniter and literally fell in love with it. It makes life so easy when it comes to db interactivity, forms, dividing content from markup, handling errors and security etc. etc. It doesn't bring a good template solution but I came across Jérôme Jaglales 'Most Simple Template Library for CodeIgniter' and it looks pretty promising for me.

On the other hand: Is a framework like CI appropriate for a project like mine? I mean there won't be that much dynamic interface to be produced by the server - just a bit. So I could just stick to plain HTML/CSS/PHP/jQuery and do everything from null. But then again, I'd had to surrender all that nice classes and helpers CI gives me.

So why do I post all this here: I am not sure what way to go and thought I'll ask stackoverflow to inspire me and point me towards ideas I don't get on my own. What would you recommend in my situation? What technology should I use?

So any contribution is gladly appreciated!! Thanks a lot.

Answer 1

I would go with Wordpress.

A few quick reasons:

• Good template solution
• Tons of themes to get your layout started
• Handle user accounts
• Can add a shop or private user area
• Takes advantage of your HTML/CSS/PHP experience.
• Good plugins for forms
• One click plugin and WP core updating

I typically use Wordpress when creating a static (or mostly static) site since it's so quick an easy to bust out. For more dynamic custom sites I use rails.

Answer 2

You should for sure go for a cms. What cms is another question.. I think the best answer is to have a look what's there, and what you like working with! Have a look at OpenSourceCms and test a few of them! There will always be an issue with security and security updates, but that goes for all cms'es and frameworks (of course some are more secure and stable than other), and also for a complete "home made" solution!

If you are planning to have some shop later, I would at least found a cms that have this feature, or that have a module that gives this feature!

Answer 3

If you choose to seek an alternative to WP, I was surprised how many "lite" CMS tools there are out there. I've been researching them myself this month, and the following page has some good commentary: http://css-tricks.com/the-light-cms-trend/

Here's the short list I've generated: PageLime
PerchCMS
Concrete5
SurrealCMS
MODx
Webvanta
BusinessCatalyst (now part of Adobe)
WebSimplify
PixelSilk
SquareSpace
SiteMasher

Good luck!