I’ll be creating a new site very soon and I’ll also be maintaining it, so I’ve been thinking of using this opportunity to practice PHP. I am still at the ‘basic level’ of PHP and it really has bugged me out for several years now. I honestly think this project will be a good idea for it, because it will not require expert PHP but I think it could be the project that will allow me to change ‘basic level’ to ‘advanced level’. Or maybe between that…
With the numerous open source freeware available today, e.g. WordPress, Joomla!, Drupal and so on, you would think that there’s almost no point in creating a PHP website from scratch. I have become very familiar with these freewares and they all have their own unique way to manipulate the software in CMS development. They are also very ‘solid’.
The problem comes in when I have to start using third-party extensions, modules, plugins, etc. For example, last year I installed a third-party module in Drupal and it corrupted the database. I had to start all over again. With Drupal, sometimes the installation of a module exceeds its limit and all you get is a blank page after that. This sort of thing has never happened with Joomla or WordPress. However, the problem I face with Joomla is that there are so many commercial, partly commercial, and free extensions but they are all so ‘branded’. It’s not like Drupal, that allows the CMS developer to thoroughly brand the website. Joomla’s many extensions are also not compatible-friendly with each other, so you can’t update the core software if you want to continue using a third-party extension that has not been updated yet. The world has no choice but to wait for these developers until they are good and ready to update the free version.
The advantage of creating a website from scratch is that the developer understands it thoroughly. You know where it begins, where it ends, and everything from A-Z of the site. If something needs to be updated, you will know where to go and how to manage it. You don’t have to wait for third-party developers to have the latest features on your site. Best of all, the site is unique, and if you’re aware of file security hackers will have a harder time identifying the location or name of your configuration file. Unlike open source that is available for everyone including hackers, to explore. Let’s face it…it’s pretty cool to have a unique software that works the exact way you want it, and comes in your own brand name.
Disadvatage would be: extremely time-consuming!
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WYSIWYG! I'm a simple person trying to live the simplest life possible - it seems to be the most difficult thing to achieve! I'm an internet enthusiast and I've been a webmaster since early 2007. I like: blogging, developing sites using open source software, social media, computer games, '80s music, comedy & horror, animals, crunching on M&Ms peanut and Smarties!
