PHPMaster.com has published the second article in their working with Fuel CMS series (part one here). This time he focuses on working with modules and creating self-contained blocks of reusable functionality.

In the previous article you learned about the basics of Fuel CMS: how to create views and simple pages. Most websites these days are not that simple though, they have a blog, a gallery, etc. In this part, I'll explain how Fuel CMS modules work and create a basic guestbook module to demonstrate.

He starts off by introducing the concept of a "module" and what kind of functionality that represents in the Fuel CMS ecosystem. Then he gets into the actual code, showing you how to create a model that connects to a "guestbook_comments" table and a controller to handle a request to "view" and "add" (save) them.

On PHPMaster.com today there's a new tutorial posted helping you get started with the Fuel CMS (not related to the Fuel PHP framework), a CodeIgniter-based content management system.

When you hear the abbreviation CMS, you probably think about Drupal, Joomla, and even WordPress. However, there are alternatives to those heavy hitters if you want something more lightweight or flexible. If you're look a simple administration interface, or integrate custom application code into the site, then I suggest exploring Fuel CMS. In this two-part series I'll discuss some concepts of Fuel CMS. In this part I'll talk about its installation and how to set up views. In the second part I'll talk about writing a Fuel CMS module.

This first of the two articles starts with an overview of the CMS, helps you get it installed (via github) and how to create some of the basics - a first page and a new view.

Tom Barrett has a new post that shares an opinion he has about WordPress and what it can be used for - that the popular software is more than just a blog, it's a PHP framework.

A software library is a collection of resources used to develop software. [...] A Software Framework is a software library with certain goals in mind [...]. Hopefully theme and plugin developers will be familiar enough with WordPress to see where I am going with this.

He mentions some of the similarities WordPress has with other PHP frameworks including the integration of hooks/filters/plugins, working with core files that are maintained by an external entity and that it's a full-functional CMS out of the box.

From this, I conclude that WordPress is a framework. It provides us with a library of resources that allow us to extend and specialize it into the site and CMS that we want.

On the WebInsightLab.com blog there's a new post with a long list (30 to be exact) of PHP-based content management systems besides WordPress that you could select from for your next project.

Yes, there are many CMS available for your website, most of them are Open Source. You can not only use them but may modify too according to your need but under GNU license. [...] Now move on to other PHP Based Open Source CMS, following list shows you 30 Open Source CMS besides WordPress which can be useful to build your website and manage your content.

Other content management systems that made their list include:

• Pluck
• Active CMS
• Automne
• concrete5
• Diem
• Dynamix

Each one on the list comes with a brief description of what it offers and where it comes from.

PHPClasses.org has posted their latest episode of their "Lately In PHP" podcast today - PHP 5.4.0 Will not Include APC, Is MODX CMS better than Wordpress? Top PHP Developers in Every Country.

PHP 5.4 beta 1 was released but APC is not going to be included at least in PHP 5.4.0. Manuel Lemos and Ernani Joppert discuss this and other happenings in the PHP world, like the adoption of more robust Continuous Integration methods to prevent shipping buggy PHP versions like what happened with PHP 5.3.7.

The podcast also features an interview with Bob Ray, an author and contributor to the MODX CMS platform project. You can listen to this latest episode either through the in-page player, by downloading it directly or by subscribing to their feed and getting this and past shows automatically.

On PHPClasses.org there's a new article talking about a CMS that's "designed with developers in mind" - MODX, technically a "content management framework".

If you have ever wrestled with trying to create a custom Web site using a CMS that made you jump through hoops to get the desired output, you should definitely check out MODX, a CMS framework designed from the ground up with Object Oriented Programming PHP developers in mind. Read this article to learn more about MODX CMS framework and how you can easily use it to build your own content management system customized to your needs.

The article introduces you to MODX and shows you (briefly) how the MODX manager works to help you create a site quickly and easily through simple configuration options and content creation. He also talks about "chunks", template variables, plugins/extras and xPDO - their abstraction layer for database connections.

As Lukas Smith mentions in his latest post, the Drupal project has made a switch to use the HttpFoundation component of the Symfony2 project as a integral part of their HTTP handling.

[...] The fact that Drupal8 will use Symfony'2 HttpFoundation component is huge, because it will make integration a breeze. Basically Symfony2 converts a Request instance to a Response. So if both Symfony2 and Drupal8 use the same Request and Response classes it means that creating a sub-request and handing the response from Drupal8 into Symfony2 (or vice versa) will require no conversion at all.

He also points out Drupal's use of the ClassLoader component will make integration even easier. This is great news for Symfony fans out there that have been needing to work directly with a Drupal install (or even those wanting to create new Drupal additions in the environment they're familiar with). You'll have to wait for Drupal 8 to get these benefits, though.

On PHPClasses.org there's a new post reviewing a book from Packt Publishing, "PHP 5 CMS Framework Development" (a second edition) by Martin Brampton.

In this review I focus on the changes between the editions of the book, which are brief and objective, since the core of the work remains the same and with the same quality. [...] In sum, I recommend reading this book to those looking forward to improve their skills in PHP, or intend to create new frameworks. To put it simply, a good book to read, and with new tricks to learn.

He (the reviewer, Alexandre Altair de Melo) briefly looks at these differences between the versions, with the largest being in Chapter 15 - the building of a sample application to apply all of the theory learned in the rest of the book. You can find more information about the book on Packt's website here.

Michelangelo van Dam has posted a new book review today about an offering from from Packt Publishing - CMS Design Using PHP and jQuery.

After receiving the book I started reading it. But right from the start the author displayed bad practices and mis-use of PHP. Reading the book from front to back, the author Kae Verens (@kae_verens) has confronted me with bad use of variables (like $a, $b, $c), bad use of PHP structures and a complete wrong approach of using JavaScript, where JavaScript should enrich an application instead of incorporating business logic.

In his "good" category fell things like the interesting variety of jQuery plugins mentioned and how the CMS example was broken up into easily digestible chunks. Unfortunately, most of the rest of the book falls into his "bad" and "ugly" category" including the structure of the application, the quality of the code and the lack of filtering/validation that was done on input.

On AppStorm.net there's a new tutorial posted showing you how to use the PyroCMS content management system (CodeIgniter-based) to set up a simple and easy content repository.

With a really nifty content-management system called PyroCMS, this needn't be something to worry about. In this article, I'll be showing you how to get PyroCMS installed on a LAMP web server and the basics of creating content and working with the highly-extensible system it offers.

They start with an overview of what PyroCMS is and some of the requirements you'll need to get it up and running. They walk you through the installation process including the database, server checks and permissions needs. They also help you customize it a bit for your site and set up some basic sample content.

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