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Digitalus: A Web CMS Built on Zend Framework

The Digitalus CMS aims to empower PHP developers to create content on a solid, simple and extendable content management system that is based off of the widely popular Zend Framework.

The Digitalus CMS is a relatively new CMS that was released a few months ago. Its focus is simplicity, but it has the potential to be great for developers who want to get a head start on their custom CMS designs. To put things into perspective, the word “simple” will be used quite often throughout this article’s entirety.

The Zend Framework is the engine that empowers Digitalus. Many of you might recognize the Zend name. It is a PHP framework that allows PHP developers to rapidly create powerful web applications and, in this case, content management systems. The Zend Framework is considered one of the best names in the PHP framework arena.

Knowing that Digitalus is being built with a solid PHP framework, we can now understand what this project aims to accomplish:

“The goal of the Digitalus CMS project is not to create the next best content management system. There are already hundreds of versions of that wheel. The goal was to build an extensible system that an experienced PHP developer could use to easily create custom, interactive websites that are straightforward enough for anyone to run.”

Digitalus Features

The Digitalus CMS does pack in some nice features that should be up for consideration:

Simplicity

The Digitalus CMS is broken into four main sections: site management, page management, navigation management and module management. Along with the typical homepage, this adds up to a simple and efficient end-user experience. Dead simple.

The administration interface is jaw-droppingly simple and this is encouraging when considering the varying amounts of knowledge that a client might or might not have at managing a Website.

Search Engine Optimization

Digitalus is capable of utilizing SEO friendly URLs. This is very valuable to those who want to entice Google Search users to visit their site. Quite a few PHP frameworks/CMSs make SEO friendliness more difficult than it should be, so this functionality should be welcomed.

Customization

The modular design of Digitalus means that the CMS can adapt and improve over time. End-users will appreciate this feature. Unfortunately, the modules exchange is not accessible on the Digitalus Website, but I am sure that there are plenty of possibilities to extend this CMS.

Open source

Once you go open source, why bother going back? The benefits here are clearly obvious.

Digitalus is a Simple CMS with an Odd Name

The Digitalus CMS should be an option for those developers who are looking to build a simple CMS. As the company has said, why reinvent the wheel? Most developers are realizing that it isn’t necessary to do that, and this is why Digitalus has a chance to grow.

While Digitalus doesn’t compare to the likes of WordPress or MovableType, it should be a good option for those who have experience with the Zend Framework. Again, simplicity is the main selling point for this project.

Regardless, Digitalus is something that we can see being considered by developers on a project by project basis. If someone is looking for a simple blogging platform, Digitalus is probably not the best solution. It might be possible to emulate this functionality with the “news” module, but there are probably better solutions.

The most disappointing thing about Digitalus is — oddly enough — the name. Well, then again, Drupal certainly doesn’t have me thinking about sandy beaches and smiling children either, but that project is doing quite fine from the look of things. Maybe lackluster names are a good thing.

This project could use some additional people — as noted by the lack of discussion going on in the forum — so why not give it a shot.

Check out the Digitalus CMS, and while you are there give the online demo a whirl.