Expression Engine Anyone?

[davemcnally]

As you may know, I am currently developing my blog.

I am unsure which software to go with. Obviously one of the first that springs to mind is Wordpress. It's free and has some great features with good surrounding community.

I then came across Expression Engine from reading Veerle's Blog. After having a look around their site, it seems like a very powerful package with a lot more functionality than Wordpress. Pricing is quite cheap too so I wouldn't mind paying for it.

Does anyone here use Expression Engine or have any views on it?

Thanks :)

[ses5909]

I have considered expression engine and may give it a shot for a blog I am looking to start. I know Deron uses it so hopefully he can talk about it!

[deronsizemore]

Yeah, ExpressionEngine is great. I've never used Wordpress so I cannot compare the two (stayed away from it as I always heard you needed PHP skill to really get a lot out of it, and I don't).

You are right in that EE is very powerful. You are virtually limitless with it. Even the free "Core" system is great. I struggled with TextPattern for about a year until I found EE and have never looked back. It took me about a month or so to start feeling comfortable with EE, but it wasn't really overwhelming and I found it to be very intuitive.

Again, you are right as far as the community around it goes. Since the software is not open source, they have a dedicated staff on hand to help with support question, general questions, or anything in between. Any time I've had a problem and ask for help on the forums, it's within an hour I've got a reply from their staff.

You could argue the open source vs. non open source system forever, but for me, one thing I like about EE is that it is not open source, so I know anytime a new build is released or a new version is released and I upgrade to it, I know the site won't break because of various plugins added from the open source community.

If you have any questions, let me know.

[davemcnally]

Another happy customer then :)

I do have a question - What is the learning curve like for their template system? The design I am currently working on will be used with EE if I purchase it (which, at the moment I am likely to do) and I can code this into valid strict XHTML and CSS but how much more would I need to learn to adapt this into a working EE theme?

Thanks

[BPartch]

I have never used EE, so this is not a knock on it but, can I ask why not Wordpress.

It is pretty nice IMO (and I know very little php) plus it is free, great community support, tons of plug-ins to add features not included by default and the theme system is awesome.

[davemcnally]

I have never used EE, so this is not a knock on it but, can I ask why not Wordpress.

It is pretty nice IMO (and I know very little php) plus it is free, great community support, tons of plug-ins to add features not included by default and the theme system is awesome.

I have nothing but respect for Wordpress. I am not ruling it out simply because it is free, I would quite happily use a free solution. I like how Wordpress works, its simple and to the point.

I am merely exploring my options before settling on one. If I go for EE and it turns out not to be the package for me, Wordpress will be my choice of application.

So, in short, I have no reasons why not to choose WP, It's just nice to have some options and I already know how good WP is so it's just about time I got some thoughts on the other options available.

[deronsizemore]

Another happy customer then :)

I do have a question - What is the learning curve like for their template system? The design I am currently working on will be used with EE if I purchase it (which, at the moment I am likely to do) and I can code this into valid strict XHTML and CSS but how much more would I need to learn to adapt this into a working EE theme?

Thanks

I would suggest trying out the "core" version first instead of buying a license and then end of not liking it. Once you buy, no refunds. "Core" is free and you can easily upgrade to a paid version later.

I think the template system is fairly straight forward. It might take you a little time simply because it's a new system to get used to, but it's not difficult. Rather than me trying to explain it, here are some links to check out. It really tells you anything and more that I could tell you. Plus there are some video tutorials.

http://expressionengine.com/docs/#template_docs

http://expressionengine.com/tutorials/

I tried six or seven other CMS's before I found EE and I thought all of the previous ones I tried were just to difficult to understand, but when I started with EE it was just so much more straight forward than the others (or at least I thought). I didn't feel like I had to jump through hoops to get something done.

[davemcnally]

I just checked out those videos, seems really straight forward.

I may just download Core version and give it a go then :)
Thanks for the tips

[starfeeder]

We use expression engine on

Starfeeder.com (http://starfeeder.com)
and
Starfeeder* test (http://starfeeder.com/site/home) < experimenting

it is pretty solid and I like :)
There isn't much themes out there for EE though, I've searched for something quick and nice I could use to help my Dad with blogging. I've only found bart's fresh ee theme.

[davemcnally]

I decided to go with Wordpress in the end, simply because of the amount of plugins it has, the community that goes with it and the fact that I am already used to using the backend.

[deronsizemore]

I decided to go with Wordpress in the end, simply because of the amount of plugins it has, the community that goes with it and the fact that I am already used to using the backend.

Ahh BOOOO. :'"

[davemcnally]

Ahh BOOOO. :'"

If it's any consolation, EE was my second choice :rolleyes:

[deronsizemore]

If it's any consolation, EE was my second choice :rolleyes:

Ok good. I'm much better now. :bigsmile:

[armchaircritic]

I've been experimenting with EE, and from what I can see it is going to be very useful when managing a fully developed front-end site. But if you want to use it for commercial purposes then you have to buy a licence. I think if it was Open source then a great deal more self employed developers would consider it.

[deronsizemore]

I've been experimenting with EE, and from what I can see it is going to be very useful when managing a fully developed front-end site. But if you want to use it for commercial purposes then you have to buy a licence. I think if it was Open source then a great deal more self employed developers would consider it.

I've tried Open Source when I was using TextPattern and I like the fact that EE is not open source.

With TextPattern it was nice that everything was free but you had all these people developing add-ons and it seemed like everytime TextPattern updated to a new version there was always a problem with the add-ons not working after the update.

With EE, you don't have to worry about this. That's just one reason I like EE, and another big one is the dedicated support staff. With open source like TextPattern, they have support forums, but you're at the mercy of the forums. With EE, if you have a problem with something the EE support staff WILL answer it, and usually FAST.

Yeah you do have to purchase it but I think $99 is a small price to pay for a superior product. That's just me though. Different strokes for different folks. :bigsmile: