Expression Engine - I sing the praises

I used to pretty much try to talk clients out of using a content management system…and no, it’s not because I wanted to handle the site updates all by myself…  It was because after trying Joomla, Mambo, and a handful of other popular CMS options, I still found a few things frustrating to the point of not being cost-effective for me or my client:  the learning curve, design inflexibility, the learning curve, difficulty answering support questions, and the learning curve.  And then I met Expression Engine.

Don’t get me wrong, Expression Engine has a learning curve, too - but that learning curve was mine, and not my client’s.  Once I got over the mental roadblock of the word “weblog”, I, like every other developer who’s discovered EE, realized just how powerful and flexible the program really is.  Rather than work with a block model in the design (this chunk is for your header, this chunk is your navigation menu, this chunk is where your body text will go, and never the tween shall meet), I could put whatever I want, wherever I wanted it!

Most clients’ needs are covered with a basic EE installation - text additions and edits, file/image uploads, and online contact forms are included in their commercial version.  And because you can embed javascript in the site templates, other typical add-ons like image galleries, slideshows, accordion menus, etc are easy to add.  There are still a few quirks, but the pros still far outweigh the cons.

I’ll be the first to admit that I have yet to really tap into the potential EE has…I’m hoping to play with the Simple Commerce module that comes with it (an online store with no design requirements?  FINALLY) and I’m ready & willing to learn. Finally, a tool that’s worth every hour spent investing in it!  I anxiously await EE 2.0 to see where they’ll take it next.