WordPress and Drupal are not the only “heavy hitting” open source content management systems going around today. Symphony is a player too. Symphony is built in PHP and MySQL and built with the ability to create everything from simple websites to more complex web applications. Similar to what Drupal and WordPress have done, Symphony has been able to create a very modular, component type content management system that makes it easier for “non-coders” to put together screaming cool websites. Symphony is Open Source and licensed under the MIT/X11 License.
Create Your Own CMS
Symphony has done a very good job of creating an environment for you to create your very own CMS for whatever the occasion is. Rather than being told what types of content or structure you have, Symphony allows you to create that content and structure beforehand giving you the utmost customization. Symphony is a XML-based data engine so you have the ability to integrate many types of data into your website. For example a Twitter Feed.
Minimal, Clean Interface
The thing you will enjoy the most about Symphony is it’s simple, clean, and minimal admin interface. The developers behind Symphony were all about making it as simple to use as possible and they sure did a great job. Bulk editing is built in enabling you to manage multiple content pages with relative ease. And Jquery is used throughout the admin interface in order to create quicker, and more effective use of actions.
XSLT Templating Language
Symphony utilizes the XSLT templating language in order to create robust, highly flexible and customizable templates for your Symphony powered websites. This has been one of the more popular features for developers with the new Symphony CMS. Developers love the flexibility and the open code standards that it supports. XSLT is rule based a lot like CSS code giving the developer the ability to write reusable code called “Utilities” inside Symphony.
Before you try installing Symphony on your web server, here are the Server Requirements that Symphony needs to run properly:
- PHP 5.2 or above
- MySQL 4.1 or above
- An Apache or Litespeed Webserver
- Apache’s Mod_Rewrite Module or equivalent
See symphony-cms.com for more information and for download links for the Symphony CMS core and install files.
If it’s just a simple blog you need then stick with WordPress. But if you need to create a more complex website than Symphony is something you should look into. I don’t think you will be disappointed!
StickGrinder
February 19, 2010
Wonderful tip, Chase!
In a quick&dirty comparison between Drupal and Symphony, what do you thinks it’s worth to know?
When should I choose Symphony over Drupal in your experience/opinion?
Thanks a lot!
Chase
February 19, 2010
In my opinion I wouldn’t choose it over Drupal just yet. Drupal is still years ahead in terms of overall development. But if you have some extra projects that you are working on your own then it could be worth your time trying it out for 1 of your sites.
But as far as choosing it over Drupal, I wouldn’t go that far just yet.
StickGrinder
February 22, 2010
Thanks Chase. I spent my whole weekend reading about Symphony. The idea of using XSLT for templating purposes is enticing (and informatically correct). Also I loooove all that leverages open standards: this mindset allows knowledge to be less specific and more reusable. Still, technologies like XSLT apply to a broad range of application, since it focus on “what” not just on “how”. And that’s a super-valuable plus, IMHO.
Thanks a lot, bye!
Disslocated
April 28, 2010
Thanks for the info. I’ve tried a few CMSs looking for the right blend of simplicity and power. I’ll check out Symphony. (btw, typo in last paragraph: than > then)
James Morrish
March 18, 2011
I have to say that while Symphony is not perfect, it is always my CMS of choice. It is incredibly lightweight and flexible, and because you are in full control of the HTML you can easily produce elegant and clean HTML and CSS. Compare it to Drupal, which although allows you to customise your code, you end up fighting against it – using CSS to hide things you don’t want, and writing grotesque CSS like:
#webform-client-form-866 .webform-component-checkboxes .form-item label.option
So with Symphony you develop what you want and only what you want, but with Drupal you constantly have to reign it in.
WordPress is another great platform, but nowhere near as flexible as Symphony. WordPress is great for the lay-person – you can have it up and running in 5 minutes, choose a theme and start blogging without touching a single line of code. So if you are building a blog, in my opinion WordPress is the best platform.
But if you are building a site with a custom theme and custom functionality, in my opinion there is nothing better than Symphony.
2046
July 6, 2011
What are talking here guys?
“If it’s just a simple blog you need then stick with WordPress. But if you need to create a more complex website than Symphony”
How many complex pages were done by Symphony CMS compare to Drupal or WordPress? Symphony CMS is nice small and light framework but far from the Drupal and WordPress. It has way smaller community then the WP&Drupal and have only few basic plugins. There are no books about Symphony (the first one is on the way) all those aspects just points to one conclusion. It’s a promising CMS but incomparable with it’s “counterparts”.
I just like those comments like “you can do anything you like the way you want”..Ok, then how long it’ll takes to do it?
That’s why we have CMS here, not to bother with common stuff again and again, and again.
cheers 2046