You down with WP or the EE?
There are two platforms that I currently use for web development, WordPress and Expression Engine. And each one has very specific functions that serve different purposes depending on the project as a whole. But aside from the differences, there are some similarities. Here are a few:
- Fairly easy to install to a LAMP server
- Runs from a MYSQL database
- Provides end-user with easy to navigate CMS
- Extendable via plugins/add-ons
- Good integration of PHP and Javascript
- Can be styled with custom CSS
That may sound like these two platforms are actually very similar. But let me assure you, they are quite different. There are several things to consider when deciding between these two platforms – how complex will the site be / how customized is the design approach / is the desired functionality available via plugins / is there a need for a customized CMS / will you need to create more than one blog feed / and there are still yet more considerations. I’m only going to go into detail on two.
Wordpress provides a great basic CMS for blog posts along with some customized options per your selected WordPress theme. But beyond that, unless you’re a pretty serious developer, you got what you got.
You can potentially get the desired CMS functionality buy choosing the appropriate theme. And for the most part, WordPress themes are fairly affordable. Another option would be to have a developer help you with a custom theme. Obviously, this cost would be substantially higher. Additionally, making changes to a WordPress theme is no task for the faint at heart. Make sure you are well versed in PHP and know your way around the WordPress file system or you can blow stuff up fairly quickly.
So what if you wanted to add more dynamic content to your page template to be updated via a CMS? Then you need to take a serious look at Expression Engine. Now there are other platforms by which to get this done. One option is LightCMS which is a web-based CMS plugin for a custom developed site. Admittedly, I don’t know much more about the LightCMS platform. But if you’re looking to stick with a server-side installed product and like working with MYSQL, then I would push Expression Engine every time. Here’s a tiny example of what the CMS looks like on the backend.
This is from a web project that I’ve worked on for a daily devotional site. You can see that I was able to add custom fields like a scripture reference, web links, author’s name and there are several others not listed here like twitter and facebook profile information as well as file upload options. So, this is a blog post format. But I needed the ability to add much more dynamic content than simply a title, text, categories and tags. And I didn’t have to go out hunting, hire a PHP developer or change my theme to do so. It’s a few simple steps built right into Expression Engine. A customizable CMS is one of the top options to consider when looking into this platform.
Now let’s consider your needs for one or more blogs. If you’re just launching a fairly basic site that only needs to provide a platform for one simple blog feed, then WordPress is a strong choice. But let’s say for example that you’re a multisite church with more than one campus. Or perhaps you have certain ministries that are very active that you want to highlight. What if you’re a non-profit engaged in multiple large projects that in and of themselves are fairly newsworthy. Then you may have a need to provided separate blog feeds for each one of these entities. For example in the case of the multisite church, each campus may have it’s own blog within the context of the church’s website with the ability to tailor the CMS for that blog for each individual campus. In this scenario, Expression Engine is a no-brainer. WordPress does have some limited functionality that allows you to create what it calls multiple sites by “creating a network.” But the work is a bit cumbersome and does require a little bit of server administration to make it happen. Expression Engine at it’s core is designed for this very thing.
One more thing. WordPress is free. Expression Engine requires the purchase of a license ranging in price from $99 – $299 depending upon your licensing requirement.
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