I would like to introduce you to FuelCMS, a “a modular-based hybrid of a framework and a content management system. It’s developed on the popular CodeIgniter PHP web framework and allows you to create your models, views and controllers like normal and only use the CMS part when and if you need it.”

From the project’s forum we see 3 main reasons why they developed it:

1. “We like working with Codeigniter. Using a framework as our platform rather then a CMS gives us a greater layer of flexibility to make whatever the project calls for.”

This couldn’t be more true, CodeIgniter is just what we would expect from a framework. Having a CMS based on it, in a non-intrusive, well designed and flexible way is  great news for any web developer who uses CodeIgniter.

2. “We wanted the ability to really control the admin experience of our clients and provide them only the features they needed and not confuse them with terminology they may not be familiar with (e.g. plugins, modules, addons, mambots, etc). We stuck with “modules”.”

For our clients, technology is not a goal in itself, but a way to get what they want: solutions. This is part of what we can achieve with FuelCMS:  to deliver a high quality, scalable, maintainable and easy to use solution.

3. “Entering in website content by logging into an admin interface was not efficient for us, however was a necessity for clients. So we developed a way for them to do that, which would allow us to work alongside the framework and not take over it.”

Using other CMS’s APIs always gave me the impression of being forcing the CMS towards a very different direction from what it was initially conceived. I felt that I was making “workarounds” to get what I wanted and at the end, I just could not use those CMS for large scale solutions.

Now, Fuel CMS enables me to develop applications at different scales and feeling comfortable with it; because in the roots of it, we have CodeIgniter (which is the framework that I use for very custom applications).

Here’s the project website, make sure you take a look at it: http://www.getfuelcms.com