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Are to planning to start a business website and you are torn between a CMS platform and PHP framework? Before finalizing finalizes the theme, layout, and other essential aspects, there are a few things you need to understand about website development. Most webmasters don’t know the difference between the best CMS platform and a PHP framework. When you have good knowledge of these two, it will help you make the right decision when building your website.
It is every business wants its website looking stunning and innovative. Uniqueness is what everyone wants to capture its audience and retain them as loyal clients. In this article, we are going to discuss the difference between CMS and PHP frameworks and advise you on the proper way to go when building a business website.
CMS stands for Content Management System, which is a platform that provides users or web owners with the ability to manage and update the content of your site easily. Once you have finished developing your website, all you need to do is log and manage your site. The best thing about CMSs is that you don’t need to depend on programmers or a PHP developer to make any changes to your website. If you are running a website using CMS, you can easily edit the text on a particular page, manage an e-commerce site, add new products, conduct inventory, pricing, and perform several other functions. Examples of CMSs include WordPress, Magento, Drupal, and Joomla.
When we come to PHP development, it is a user-written custom code, used to build full-fledged websites and web applications. The PHP framework is a combination of different frameworks that allows developers and programmers to add features and support. As a programmer, you can create modules and apps using core library functions. PHP also allows developers to build a custom website, where changes and management are done exclusively by a technical team. If you are a newbie and don’t have technical skills to run code, PHP may be overwhelming to you. Examples of PHP frameworks include Laravel, Zend and, CodeIgniter.
Differences in the Features
To make an informative final decision between the two, understanding the different features that help to build and run a website is paramount.
#1 Security
One of the most important aspects of running a website is its security, especially if you are running an e-commerce website. This is due to the private and sensitive information that the website holds. An attacker may decide to hack the website to acquire information about payment and other confidential information about customers. If they can penetrate your security, it may seriously harm your authenticity and trust and in the worst-case scenario collapse your business. Since most content management systems are open-source, anyone and gets a hold of code of even edit it. To boost your security if you are a CMS, you will have to use several security plugins, widgets, or extensions. This also requires you to look for plugins that are from reliable or trusted sources. Compared to websites build on CMSs, PHP frameworks are more secure since they are based on custom code making it difficult to penetrate their security. Additionally, most of the fireworks have built-in security features that protect websites from these threats:
- Cross-Site Scripting
- Cross-Site Request Forgery
- SQL Injection
When it comes to security, a business website run by PHP frameworks are more safe and secure compared to those that are hosted on CMSs.
#2 Flexibility
You need to understand that businesses that are run online are very different from one another and therefore require different features and functionalities. CMS has numerous built-in features and functionalities. However, the features are not so flexible and cannot be adjusted easily. The plugins and extensions are premade and have restricted functionalities. These plugins may also need custom development to make them adjustable to different business requirements. On flexibility, PHP takes the trophy.
#3 Upgrades
Another important aspect of running a business website is the ability to perform upgrades. The website needs to update itself with the latest code functions. This helps to secure your website when upgrades are performed regularly. Most CMSs perform regular updates which are very important when running an online business. As soon as you launch your website, it has to be upgraded to the latest version. Some of the common upgrades include:
- SEO support
- New plug-ins
- Security patch
- Advanced features
PHP frameworks, on the other hand, do not come up with frequent updates. They only provide updates regarding new features and others may go for long without performing updates but remain safe without any vulnerability. On upgrades, you can go for either, since both have their strongholds and drawbacks.
#4 User Experience (UX)
Another important aspect when you are running a business website is user-friendliness. CMSs are built with user management in mind. If you are using a content management system, you will have an easier time managing your web content. They make it simple for the site admin to update content without technical knowledge. Another plus for CMSs is their responsiveness where your website can be viewed from any size screen including mobile devices. When it comes to PHP frameworks, they don’t have a set standard on user-friendliness making them had to run or operate especially if you lack the technical experience. On user experience, CMSs take the day since you don’t need much effort to make your website friendly.
Conclusion
I hope that you are now well informed about what is the best software to use if you want to start an online business. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. On security, the PHP framework will do you justice since it’s not an open-source like CMSs which creates security loopholes different plugins used.
