If you need a website, then at the planning stage you need to decide what is best to use to create it – a CMS or a framework. So let’s figure it out.
Let’s draw parallels between site building and construction.
Looking towards CMS, it is similar to choosing a ready-made apartment, which is already partially furnished. It is already possible to call in and live quite comfortably, provided that you have precisely chosen the option that suits you. After you have stopped in, you can continue to complete the apartment by installing the furniture you need. And everything would be fine, but only until the moment when you realize that something starts to displease you in the apartment and you need redevelopment. It is then that you will face all the difficulties associated with this process.
It also happens with CMS, after installing it, you immediately get a ready-made website of the desired structure, with a visual part and an administration panel. There are quite a lot of CMS:
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WordPress;
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Magento;
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Joomla;
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Drupal;
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OpenCart;
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Shopify, etc
If we take the main advantages of using a CMS, then they are as follows:
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A large number of free CMS options;
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Installing a basic CMS takes minutes and does not require programming knowledge;
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Simple setup;
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To expand the capabilities, you need to install the appropriate plugins.
Therefore, if you have a low budget or do not have it at all and at the same time you need a simple site, then a CMS is what you need. You can install and configure it yourself. Of course, it is desirable to have at least a small budget, then it will be possible to connect specialists who will help with the setup and do it better.
After installing the CMS, you get a ready-made website with the necessary basic functionality. The administration panel has a graphical interface, thanks to this, the site can be managed without programming knowledge. If the owner lacks the basic functionality, you can expand it by installing the necessary modules – plugins. Plugins allow you to organize search on your site, set up SEO optimization, organize import / export of commodity items, and many other options.
And all would be fine, but only the load on the site increases or there is an acute need for specific functionality, difficulties immediately begin to arise with the flexible configuration of the CMS. A significant part of the installed plugins are shareware, and to expand their capabilities, you need to switch to a paid plan.
These are the main disadvantages of CMS:
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Low speed of work;
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Complexity and high cost of customization.
So, everything is fine with the CMS until you need to customize it completely for yourself. This process requires a competent approach, it is expensive and slow. Therefore, if you are initially planning a website with specific functionality, or your business has grown beyond the CMS, then it makes sense to look towards creating a website on a framework.
What we have when working with the framework is, in fact, building a house from ready-made blocks. At the initial stage, a frame is created, which is then filled using ready-made structures. At the same time, these ready-made structures have already been tested and guarantee quality.
By developing a website on a framework, you can initially do exactly what you need. The most important thing is to initially determine the basic functionality and describe it in the terms of reference as detailed as possible. You also need to decide on the design of the future site or web application. Next, it is best to move according to the Agile methodology – breaking down the development into small stages.
The main advantages of sites on the framework are:
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High speed of work of sites and web applications on the framework. Only the necessary functionality will be used on the site.
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Flexibility of customization and development of additional functionality;
The result of development on the framework will be a high-performance, competitive site with wide functionality.
Most popular PHP frameworks:
The main disadvantage, as such, is the need to know a programming language or to hire programmers.
Summing up, I would like to note that when choosing a framework or CMS to take as a basis, it is important to remember the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches listed above. If you have a small business or you just go online, you can use the CMS. In the case of a medium or large business, I think it would be more expedient to immediately develop a site on a framework. Because the needs for the functionality of big business go far beyond off-the-shelf systems.
