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ExpressionEngine

ExpressionEngine

Overview

What is ExpressionEngine?

ExpressionEngine is a content management system from EllisLab in 2002, a successor to pMachine Pro, a blogging system, which is written in object-oriented PHP and uses MySQL for data storage. ExpressionEngine is their flagship Content Delivery Platform.

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Learn from top reviewers

Flexible and Secure Web Content Management System

Rating: 10 out of 10
June 25, 2024
Vetted ReviewVerified User
We use ExpressionEngine as the web content management system for the majority of our website projects. We do work with other platforms from time-to-time, but ExpressionEngine ...
Continue reading
Tim Carter
Executive - Information Technology
Web Developer
Pedrera Web Development
ExpressionEngine15 years of experience

Great Product, Getting Better All The Time...

Rating: 10 out of 10
June 18, 2024
Vetted ReviewVerified User
ExpressionEngine is our go to solution for building custom websites. The native template engine uses a syntax that is simple to learn and comprehend, which allows our develope...
Continue reading
Verified user
Engineer
ExpressionEngine8 years of experience

EE - The Peak of CMS Functionality.

Rating: 10 out of 10
January 10, 2024
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
We use ExpressionEngine to create bespoke, powerful, and secure websites for our clientele. It allows us to create highly extensible sites that focus on the client's content, ...
Continue reading
Doug Black
C-Level Executive - Corporate
CEO (Chief Executive Officer)
tripleNERDscore
ExpressionEngine6 years of experience

Website development that's simplified and streamlined

Rating: 9 out of 10
January 18, 2020
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
ExpressionEngine has completely transformed the way we manage our website. This is our first CMS and it has been a life-saver when it comes to making instant updates or creati...
Continue reading
Verified user
Employee
ExpressionEngine1 year of experience

ExpressionEngine. One CMS to rule them all!

Rating: 8 out of 10
June 7, 2019
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
ExpressionEngine is taking care of the day-to-day content input and delivery from several departments within the organization. I recommended ExpressionEngine as an alternate/r...
Continue reading
Robert Bruce Goggins
Professional - Professional Services
Digital Designer
Digital Methods
ExpressionEngine5 years of experience

Solid, more flexible alternative to WordPress

Rating: 6 out of 10
June 21, 2018
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
I run a web agency which uses ExpressionEngine and Craft CMS for our small business and organization clients. Both are more refined, flexible, and powerful alternatives to the...
Continue reading
Ben Seigel
Project Manager - Marketing
Principal
Versa Studio LLC
ExpressionEngine12 years of experience

ExpressionEngine - the CMS of Choice

Rating: 9 out of 10
March 15, 2018
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
I worked at an advertising agency that used ExpressionEngine for all their client websites; it was their CMS of choice. All of the developers installed it, set up custom field...
Continue reading
Verified user
Employee
ExpressionEngine4 years of experience

ExpressionEngine, not the worst but not my favorite

Rating: 4 out of 10
February 20, 2016
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
My husband and I are software developers. We work for companies with websites built in Drupal, ExpressionEngine, Wordpress or any php based platform. There is one company usin...
Continue reading
Claudia Lorena Aguilar Ayala
Consultant - Engineering
Software Developer - Drupal, Rails, JQuery, ExpressionEngine, PHP, Coldfusion, MySQL, Rubymotion
Eaglepeak Consulting
ExpressionEngine4 years of experience

Great For Novices

Rating: 2 out of 10
February 19, 2016
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
We used ExpressionEngine to manage the CMS of one of our smaller sites. It was to be used by a team of writers to collaborate on various topics. They needed to be able to uplo...
Continue reading
Lauren Merka
Engineer - Engineering
Senior Software Engineer
Viumbe
ExpressionEngine2 years of experience

EE Above the Rest for Client UX.

Rating: 8 out of 10
February 19, 2016
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
We used ExpressionEngine as our primary CMS for building web client solutions. Most of these solutions were created with fairly large data architectures, giving full control t...
Continue reading
Verified user
Former Employee
ExpressionEngine4 years of experience

ExpressionEngine, Affordable Comercial CMS

Rating: 10 out of 10
February 19, 2016
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
We use ExpressionEngine as our enterprise CMS solution for the entire university. We host over 10,000 pages, support over 75 departments, train and manage over 200 editors, an...
Continue reading
Jim Wyse
Director - Information Technology
Web Services Manager
UMass Boston
ExpressionEngine9 years of experience

Get ready to commit some time!

Rating: 3 out of 10
December 28, 2015
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
ExpressionEngine was used by the marketing department who is the business unit responsible for the company's web presence. The only users in the organization were myself and a...
Continue reading
Verified user
Employee
ExpressionEngine2 years of experience

ExpressionEngine: A CMS Worth Checking Out

Rating: 5 out of 10
November 11, 2015
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
We used ExpressionEngine to run our news website. We took advantage of the CMS tools that ExpressionEngine offered and used many add-ons and modules to accomplish what we want...
Continue reading
Mike Griffiths
Professional - Professional Services
Owner
Mutual Designs
ExpressionEngine4 years of experience

ExpressionEngine is dream of any developer.

Rating: 10 out of 10
September 30, 2015
Vetted ReviewVerified User
The software's administrative features include admin logs, site membership, searchable (and search-and-replace) content forums, data export, a blacklist/whitelist module, SQL ...
Continue reading
Hercules Schonfeldt
Manager - Marketing
Sr. Manager Digital Technology
The Jewish Federations of North America
ExpressionEngine3 years of experience

ExpressionEngine can do it all... For a price.

Rating: 5 out of 10
August 29, 2015
IncentivizedVetted Review
Satdaya is a creative services firm that includes web development among our services. We recommend and use ExpressionEngine to our clients when their projects and IT needs req...
Continue reading
Lee Whitworth
Partner - Information Technology
Partner
Satdaya LLC
ExpressionEngine10 years of experience
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Reviewer Pros & Cons

View all pros & cons
Tim Carter
Web Developer
Pedrera Web Development (Marketing & Advertising, 1-10 employees)
Verified User
Engineer in Engineering
Marketing & Advertising Company, 1-10 employees
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Pricing

View all pricing

License

$299.00

Cloud
One Time Fee

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Demos

Entry Analytics EEDPX Demo

YouTube

EE Harbor's Transcribe Add-on Demo

YouTube

ExpressionEngine Demo of a Staff Section

YouTube

ExpressionEngine demo door Kees™ Internetbureau

YouTube

DevDemon's Channel Forms add-on for ExpressionEngine

YouTube

Solspace's Calendar Add-on for ExpressionEngine

YouTube
View more demos
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Features

Security

This component helps a company minimize the security risks by controlling access to the software and its data, and encouraging best practices among users.

10
Avg 8.1

Platform & Infrastructure

Features related to platform-wide settings and structure, such as permissions, languages, integrations, customizations, etc.

9
Avg 7.7

Web Content Creation

Features that support the creation of website content.

8.8
Avg 7.6

Web Content Management

Features for managing website content

9.4
Avg 7.4
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Product Details

What is ExpressionEngine?

ExpressionEngine is an open source content management system developed by EllisLab in 2002 as a successor to pMachine Pro, a blogging system, which is written in object-oriented PHP and uses MySQL for data storage. EllisLab closed in 2018, but ExpressionEngine is still available, as an open source CMS.

With CodeIgniter, an agile, open-source framework, web professionals can use ExpressionEngine to build websites and applications. The software is meant to be useful for companies of any size and private individuals as well, and to that end it is highly customizable, and implementation may vary. Like many content management systems, various add-ons will determine what the system does, though the core features are somewhat broader than similarly classed free offerings. The Multiple Site Manager allows a user to create and manage multiple sites from a single ExpressionEngine installation. Nexcess (a partner) provides a hosting environment for an ExpressionEngine-powered website.

ExpressionEngine Video

10-Minute ExpressionEngine Primer

ExpressionEngine Technical Details

Deployment TypesSoftware as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

ExpressionEngine is a content management system from EllisLab in 2002, a successor to pMachine Pro, a blogging system, which is written in object-oriented PHP and uses MySQL for data storage. ExpressionEngine is their flagship Content Delivery Platform.

Reviewers rate Role-based user permissions and Code quality / cleanliness and Content taxonomy highest, with a score of 10.

The most common users of ExpressionEngine are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Comparisons

View all alternatives
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Reviews and Ratings

(88)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

Reliable Performance: Many users have praised the product for its reliable performance. Several reviewers mentioned that the product consistently meets their expectations and performs well in various scenarios. Ease of Use: The ease of use is a common pro mentioned by several customers. Users appreciate how intuitive and user-friendly the product is, making it easy to navigate and operate without any hassle or confusion. Great Customer Support: Some users have expressed their satisfaction with the great customer support provided by the company. They have found the support team to be responsive, helpful, and efficient in resolving any issues or inquiries they had.

Cons:

  1. Quality Issues: Some users have experienced quality issues with the product, including defects and malfunctions. Several reviewers have mentioned receiving damaged items or products that broke shortly after purchase.
  2. Lack of Customer Support: Many customers have expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of responsive customer support. Several users have reported difficulties in contacting the company for assistance or resolving issues related to their purchase.
  3. Limited Features/Functionality: Some users feel that the product lacks certain features or functionalities they expected. Reviewers have mentioned specific features missing from the product, such as advanced customization options or compatibility with other devices, which have impacted their overall experience.

  1. ExpressionEngine is recommended by many users as a great and promising update in the CMS market. It is praised for being free, open-source, and supported by a helpful developer community. Users suggest exploring extensions in the market to enhance its capabilities.

  2. Improvement is needed in areas such as help and support, as well as managing SEO. Those concerned about security should consider alternative solutions. Reading the developer documentation thoroughly is advised, along with using EE Harbor extensions.

3.ExpressionEngine is suitable for creating different channels and effectively managing website content. It is favored by confident HTML and PHP developers seeking customization options. The platform is considered user-friendly and secure, with the ability to handle large data or databases through proper caching.

While some express concerns about the direction and progress of ExpressionEngine, many still regard it as a leading commercial offering. It is advised to carefully consider project requirements and customization needs when choosing between ExpressionEngine and other CMS platforms like WordPress or Drupal. The value of the EE support plan and the helpfulness of the community are also mentioned as factors to consider for web agencies.

Reviews

(1-25 of 63)
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Flexible and Secure Web Content Management System

Rating: 10 out of 10
June 25, 2024
TC
Tim Carter
Web Developer
Pedrera Web Development (Marketing & Advertising, 1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
ExpressionEngine
15 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We use ExpressionEngine as the web content management system for the majority of our website projects. We do work with other platforms from time-to-time, but ExpressionEngine is our "go to". We like the flexibility to implement any design without a "default theme". We also love ExpressionEngine's longstanding track record on security. This gives us and our clients peace-of-mind after launch.
Pros and Cons
  • Excellent security
  • Flexible and customizable
  • Easy for our clients to use
Likelihood to Recommend
We use ExpressionEngine on websites of all sizes and types. A key benefit is that we typically only need to upgrade sites annually. This is due to ExpressionEngine's native security. When we deploy other web content management systems like WordPress, we have to perform monthly upgrades to avoid issues.

Great Product, Getting Better All The Time...

Rating: 10 out of 10
June 18, 2024
Verified User
Vetted Review
Verified User
ExpressionEngine
8 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
ExpressionEngine is our go to solution for building custom websites. The native template engine uses a syntax that is simple to learn and comprehend, which allows our developers to stand up sites faster, and easily maintain them over the long haul. ExpressionEngine includes a comprehensive set of fieldtypes that will meet the majority of needs for simple to complex content models. If not, there is an addon store with plenty of options to add functionality to a site.<br>
Pros and Cons
  • Easy to learn
  • Enables rapid development
  • Secure by default
Likelihood to Recommend
ExpressionEngine is particularly well suited for small to medium size brochure sites.

I do not currently recommend ExpressionEngine to clients for websites that require E-Commerce. Part of that is not wanting to be responsible for the cart, and checkout functionality that currently seems half-baked within the existing ecosystem.

EE - The Peak of CMS Functionality.

Rating: 10 out of 10
Incentivized
January 10, 2024
DB
Doug Black
CEO (Chief Executive Officer)
tripleNERDscore (Marketing & Advertising, 1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
ExpressionEngine
6 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We use ExpressionEngine to create bespoke, powerful, and secure websites for our clientele. It allows us to create highly extensible sites that focus on the client's content, the functionality that the client needs, and the direct business requirements for each client, all while providing a beautiful user experience (for both front-end and backend users) and the most secure CMS on the market.
Pros and Cons
  • Highly flexible content management system.
  • Incredible extensibility to provide any functionality needed.
  • The best CMS experience on the market.
Likelihood to Recommend
ExpressionEngine stands out as a robust and genuine content management system (CMS), distinguishing itself from mere page builders in the web development landscape. With a focus on flexibility and extensibility, ExpressionEngine caters to the needs of developers and content creators alike, making it a versatile solution for building and managing websites. One key differentiator is its commitment to being a true CMS rather than a page builder. ExpressionEngine empowers users to create and organize content in a structured manner, offering a sophisticated system for handling various types of data. For sites that truly care about the structure of their content and ensuring that they can optimize for SEO, EE is the #1 choice. EE also stands out as a pioneer in security among CMS platforms. The team managing this ensures there is a constant eye on what is both required as features, and needeed to keep it secure. Regular updates and a vigilant security team contribute to a robust defense against potential vulnerabilities, instilling confidence in both developers and site administrators. EE is best for users who want a very robust experience, a true content management system, and a secure site that can scale with them.

Website development that's simplified and streamlined

Rating: 9 out of 10
Incentivized
January 18, 2020
Verified User
Vetted Review
Verified User
ExpressionEngine
1 year of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
ExpressionEngine has completely transformed the way we manage our website. This is our first CMS and it has been a life-saver when it comes to making instant updates or creating/editing content across all of the different pages. We have specific templates designed to fit our brand, our products, and our wireframe.
Pros and Cons
  • Editor contains preview windows to check work before saving changes.
  • Each section has a WYSIWYG which instructs users on the dimensions needed for images.
Likelihood to Recommend
ExpressionEngine, for the most part, has a straightforward, user-friendly interface and is far more simplified than any proprietary software that I've used as a website administrator in the past. Sorting through the site structure and creating new pages is a fairly simple process. This CMS may be less appropriate for customers who require far more complicated templates (with a heavy dose of coding) to match their needs.

ExpressionEngine. One CMS to rule them all!

Rating: 8 out of 10
Incentivized
June 07, 2019
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
ExpressionEngine is taking care of the day-to-day content input and delivery from several departments within the organization. I recommended ExpressionEngine as an alternate/replacement CMS to my colleagues, and the organization as a whole, due to the need to migrate away from the existing CMS. ExpressionEngine resolved a number of issues, including usability, reliability, and consistency in regards to delivering content accurately, something the previous CMS did not.
Pros and Cons
  • Content is not constrained or controlled by set templates, unlike other CMS.
  • Gives you total control over the look and feel. You decide the design direction and what your visitors will see.
  • The UI is sublime. It's a pleasure to configure and work with.
  • The expandability, flexibility, and customization of the entire system is unsurpassed.
Likelihood to Recommend
ExpressEngine is suitable for almost all business websites requiring a robust, flexible, and totally scalable CMS. However, It is probably not suitable for basic or small personal blogs or similar.

Solid, more flexible alternative to WordPress

Rating: 6 out of 10
Incentivized
June 21, 2018
BS
Ben Seigel
Principal
Versa Studio LLC (Internet, 1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
ExpressionEngine
12 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
I run a web agency which uses ExpressionEngine and Craft CMS for our small business and organization clients. Both are more refined, flexible, and powerful alternatives to the default to WordPress. Both allow development of custom, non-theme-based websites to fit clients' specific business requirements.
Pros and Cons
  • Wide range of fields types - allows collection and display of different types of information (date, image, multi-relation, etc.)
  • Security. Excellent security record, does not face hacking risk like WordPress.
  • HTML-agnostic templating system. Write whatever HTML, JS, CSS you want, and then integrate it into ExpressionEngine's templates.
Likelihood to Recommend
  • Upgrading from a previous ExpressionEngine build (v2 or v3).
  • Custom builds that aren't suited to a theme.
  • More complex needs than WordPress can handle natively.

ExpressionEngine - the CMS of Choice

Rating: 9 out of 10
Incentivized
March 15, 2018
Verified User
Vetted Review
Verified User
ExpressionEngine
4 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
I worked at an advertising agency that used ExpressionEngine for all their client websites; it was their CMS of choice. All of the developers installed it, set up custom fields and made it meet the client's requests, each site is fully customized for the client. We had a boilerplate set up that enabled us to set up a new install quickly.
Pros and Cons
  • ExpressionEngine manages content and users extremely well and with ease.
  • ExpressionEngine is reliable and scales for small websites to enterprise websites.
  • ExpressionEngine has a large community following and many reliable plugins.
Likelihood to Recommend
ExpressionEngine is a good option for a CMS for many people. It scales easily, is reliable and has plenty of plugins to extend functionality. I've used it on small websites and enterprise websites, receiving roughly 15,000 requests daily. It's easy for end users to navigate and easy to manage user roles.

ExpressionEngine, not the worst but not my favorite

Rating: 4 out of 10
Incentivized
February 20, 2016
CL
Claudia Lorena Aguilar Ayala
Software Developer - Drupal, Rails, JQuery, ExpressionEngine, PHP, Coldfusion, MySQL, Rubymotion
Eaglepeak Consulting (Non-Profit Organization Management, 1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
ExpressionEngine
4 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
My husband and I are software developers. We work for companies with websites built in Drupal, ExpressionEngine, WordPress or any php based platform. There is one company using ExpressionEngine for their website. They have forms, user registration, and data display.
Pros and Cons
  • Simple admin interface for the end user.
  • Generates clean markup for front-end theming.
Likelihood to Recommend
Dynamic validations or complex conditionals are hard to accomplish.

Great For Novices

Rating: 2 out of 10
Incentivized
February 19, 2016
LM
Lauren Merka
Senior Software Engineer
Viumbe (Internet, 11-50 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
ExpressionEngine
2 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We used ExpressionEngine to manage the CMS of one of our smaller sites. It was to be used by a team of writers to collaborate on various topics. They needed to be able to upload images and edit in an efficient manner. We needed a quick way to get a site up that had a built in blog tool and user management.
Pros and Cons
  • The blog tool was decent.
  • Managing users was easy.
Likelihood to Recommend
ExpressionEngine is better for a company that doesn't have a huge user base or any previously existing database/file storage in place. It's better suited for a company more novice than we are.

EE Above the Rest for Client UX.

Rating: 8 out of 10
Incentivized
February 19, 2016
Verified User
Vetted Review
Verified User
ExpressionEngine
4 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We used ExpressionEngine as our primary CMS for building web client solutions. Most of these solutions were created with fairly large data architectures, giving full control to various levels of [client] users to make changes to (and organize) data site wide. The biggest solution this offered was easy, quick, reliable content creation and editing for the user.
Pros and Cons
  • Content architecture. It's very easy to create highly customizable display of content in various pages and templates; equally importantly it's very easy for a user to create the content within these structures.
  • Features / Plugins. Out of the box EE is exceptional for a CMS, but when you add in some of the offered plugins from the EE community, the customization and usability reaches 5 star status.
  • Community. There is a huge, devoted community of power users who contribute to the CMS. Developers create and maintain plugins with full reliability and service. This cannot be said for other CMS's I've used through time.
Likelihood to Recommend
Honestly, from a UI/UX standpoint, EE stands at the top of the mountain. The usability and user interface is leagues beyond any other CMS I have used, which is what the huge appeal is for me. WordPress can leave you confused and uncertain with a very half baked UX. ExpressionEngine's level of detail and ease of use is impressive.

ExpressionEngine, Affordable Comercial CMS

Rating: 10 out of 10
Incentivized
February 19, 2016
JW
Jim Wyse
Web Services Manager
UMass Boston (Higher Education, 1001-5000 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
ExpressionEngine
9 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We use ExpressionEngine as our enterprise CMS solution for the entire university. We host over 10,000 pages, support over 75 departments, train and manage over 200 editors, and serve over 4 million page views per week. After evaluating many commercial CMS solutions, ExpressionEngine was selected for several reasons. First, it was far more affordable than other choices presented to us. Second, our in house skill set was in php development in a LAMP stack environment. Third, it is easily extensible, allowing us to develop custom solutions in house and not be reliant on only solutions provided by the vendor. Out of the box, ExpressionEngine is extremely flexible in regards of how you decide to display cont in the presentation layer.

ExpressionEngine's affordability and flexibility have allowed us to continually enhance our web presence and use the system to build several stand alone web applications.
Pros and Cons
  • Extremely flexible and extensible
  • Fabulous user and developer community on Twitter, Facebook and Slack Chat.
  • Wide range of third party add-ons that solve many challenges. Ranging from calendars to special field types.
  • Cost of entry is extremely affordable compared to other commercial solutions.
  • Runs on any LAMP server setup. Though, larger installations will require something with more horsepower. We run on a load balanced, 3 server setup.
Likelihood to Recommend
It functions well for a small blog, a catalog site, or a large high traffic site. Some notable sites are Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Garmin, and Pizza Hut.

Get ready to commit some time!

Rating: 3 out of 10
Incentivized
December 28, 2015
Verified User
Vetted Review
Verified User
ExpressionEngine
2 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
ExpressionEngine was used by the marketing department who is the business unit responsible for the company's web presence. The only users in the organization were myself and a few others in the marketing department. The others had access only to post and edit entries in certain areas of the site, where I had access to, and was in charge of all areas of the site and further development. It was used regularly for news releases and updating content.
Pros and Cons
  • It has very specific user-access controls. You can create custom categories of user access and assign users to any of them. It has the capability to grant very specific access to virtually any area of the site. Assigning new users and deleting old users is very easy as well.
  • The ability to customize the CMS is probably the most robust feature. No site is exactly the same and the live version shouldn't feel like a template. ExpressionEngine makes sure you are in charge of exactly what you need.
  • More and more, there are developers creating great new modules that add higher functionality and customization. Installing and removing modules is very easy.
Likelihood to Recommend
If a particular site is going to be developed and managed by the same person, I would recommend. Specifically in in-house roles. Otherwise, learning ExpressEngine code is very time consuming in order to just get something up and running. When selecting ExpressEngine, you should ask yourself if this is something that will be utilized for years to come. In my opinion, the learning curve is so high, it really is a commitment for using long-term.

ExpressionEngine: A CMS Worth Checking Out

Rating: 5 out of 10
Incentivized
November 11, 2015
MG
Mike Griffiths
Owner
Mutual Designs (Internet, 1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
ExpressionEngine
4 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We used ExpressionEngine to run our news website. We took advantage of the CMS tools that ExpressionEngine offered and used many add-ons and modules to accomplish what we wanted to do. The entire organization was based around the development of the website that was powered by ExpressionEngine. Without the CMS tools, we would not have been able to easily publish our content.
Pros and Cons
  • ExpressionEngine offers a customizable publishing tool. Each channel can be customized for its specific needs.
  • ExpressionEngine offers simple APIs that allows for many add-ons to be developed.
  • ExpressionEngine's short codes make it easy to accomplish advanced coding tasks.
Likelihood to Recommend
Do you need a tool that will allow your client to publish their own content?
Do you need a tool that will allow the client to create custom publishing fields?

ExpressionEngine is dream of any developer.

Rating: 10 out of 10
September 30, 2015
HS
Hercules Schonfeldt
Sr. Manager Digital Technology
The Jewish Federations of North America (Furniture, 201-500 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
ExpressionEngine
3 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
The software's administrative features include admin logs, site membership, searchable (and search-and-replace) content forums, data export, a blacklist/whitelist module, SQL and extension manager, which are all tools that come standard with this content management system. In fact, Expression Engine is equipped with the full complement of management elements we looked for in CMS software.
Pros and Cons
  • We noticed extensive capabilities in the area of user management. The application allows for multiple administrators so that work can be spread out through multiple resources at a company rather than bottlenecking with the web developer.
  • ExpressionEngine has gained a significant following through its high level of customization and ease of use. The interface is straightforward and offers easy access to both front-end and back-end editing. Because this CMS software is open source, you get the best of both worlds. You can add to your website’s functionality through the use of PHP, which means the functionality you desire from a website is easily within reach. For the non-technical user, you can simply work on your site from a simple front-end interface with a simple navigation.
  • For functionality and flexibility, ExpressionEngine content management system software is a versatile option for operations large and small. It has obviously extended its reach to many professional websites, which is evidenced on the front page of their product site.
  • ExpressionEngine has a thriving community base filled with veteran CMS users who can help you with questions through the community forum. For the programming-savvy individual, you have access to a developer portal complete with documentation, forums and tips for increasing your knowledge of the software.
  • Very powerful CMS. Expressionengine can be thought of as a database, where you create your collections and tables and define all sorts of fields for them. Then you can gather the information in this collections any way you want and show it on front-end or at the backend.
  • EE very easy to setup. For a site that is based on eCommerce/ Articles / News this CMS is excellent.
Likelihood to Recommend
This is the best CMS on a market for developers. Turn your eCommerce or News Siet project to a winner with Brilliantretail module and simple plugins. Anything can be accomplished without breaking your neck! No project will be brilliant without ExpressionEngine. Devot-ee is the place for all plugins needed to accomplish any project your client desires.

ExpressionEngine can do it all... For a price.

Rating: 5 out of 10
Incentivized
August 29, 2015
Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Satdaya is a creative services firm that includes web development among our services. We recommend and use ExpressionEngine to our clients when their projects and IT needs require more flexibility than what most other content management systems can offer. D&D Technologies is one of those clients, and they have been with us and using Expression Engine since version 1.x! We have also built our firm's project management system with ExpressionEngine, and our software as a service venture, Eventida, also uses it.

ExpressionEngine is unique in that it allows you to build your own content structure to fit, manipulate, and output your information exactly the way you want. Its template structure is like a blank canvas - any HTML, any CSS, any Javascript, any PHP can be used within the templates any way you'd like. Therefore, it is a viable solution to many business problems that require managing and displaying information online.

Pros and Cons
  • Content structuring. You can set up channels and fields to hold just about any kind of information imaginable; text, images, videos, numbers, code, etc. You can structure this information any way you want and in any order. You literally create your own information database just the way you want it using a clear, easy online interface.
  • Template system. Utter freedom. Need I say more?
  • Exensible. There are a lot of add-ons, extensions, and other external modules that extend the core functionality of ExpressionEngine. Need a user management system? Check out the User module at http://solspace.com.
Likelihood to Recommend
It really depends on the scope and scale of the project in question, and not to mention its budget. As a creative services firm we analyze a projects informational needs and determine which solutions are best. We highly recommend ExpressionEngine for projects that have complex IT requirements and large budgets for both initial development and ongoing support.

Free yourself from convoluted CMS markup with ExpressionEngine

Rating: 10 out of 10
Incentivized
August 25, 2015
BS
Brennan Sang
Lead Web Developer
Trout Unlimited (Internet, 1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
ExpressionEngine
6 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
I use ExpressionEngine to build websites for several clients. For anything other than a very simple blog site, I recommend ExpressionEngine. With a few essential plugins, it's easy to train clients to use; the documentation is great and once you get the hang of the templating syntax, it's very easy to crank out custom sites quickly.
Pros and Cons
  • ExpressionEngine does a fantastic job in separating the content from the code, allowing you to build custom templates using only your own code and markup.
  • ExpressionEngine has great documentation. It's easy to find clear and concise explanation of all of the core features.
  • ExpressionEngine has a great module community. Many of the modules require a license, which will seem different from WordPress or Drupal, but many of these module developers also provide great customer service and support.
Likelihood to Recommend
For anything more complicated than a static four page site or a very simple blog, I'd always suggest ExpressionEngine. For the client, they will need to spend some money on the license, but for the developer, you'll save piles of time not wading through plugin code searching for classes and lines of code that are breaking your carefully crafted templates.

Powerhouse CMS great for ecommerce and large sites

Rating: 4 out of 10
Incentivized
August 19, 2015
RR
Rachel Rine
Web Designer/Developer
Madhouse Creative (Internet, 1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
ExpressionEngine
2 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
My company uses ExpressionEngine as an engine for our larger web development projects. It allows for a very custom experience and has an extensive library of modules and add-ons, making almost anything possible. We have quite a bit of experience using the product, so development generally goes quickly and we trust the product to deliver for our clients.
Pros and Cons
  • Large community base provides excellent support when needed
  • Extensive catalog of modules to expand capabilities as needed
  • Built in management of member profiles and permissions saves time
Likelihood to Recommend
For any project requiring a commerce module, this is a go to. ExpressionEngine is also preferred in situations where there are complex relationships between data and pages. In situations where the site is small, and the pages are relatively individual and not interconnected, a simple content management system tends to be more effective.

ExpressionEngine and why you should choose it as your next CMS

Rating: 10 out of 10
Incentivized
July 27, 2015
JT
Jeremy Troxell
Web Developer
Troxell Web Design (Marketing and Advertising, 1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
ExpressionEngine
6 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
I currently use ExpressionEngine for my business website, and as the primary CMS for my clients. It solves a multitude of problems. As a stable platform it allows me to build a very flexible website for my clients; EE (ExpressionEngine) is so flexible that I can build the entire site that is editable by the client or down to just the content. Feature wise EE has powerful plugins which can be installed giving the CMS even more capability. My clients love being able to go in and add/edit products, services, or even staff members to their sites. The language that EE uses is easy to learn and understand, what would take several lines in other languages can be accomplished with only one in EE. Security wise, I am able to develop roles so that I can assign only certain content to be editable by different people. Training my clients on ExpressionEngine is easy as well, if they can fill out a form, they can use EE. I will also choose ExpressionEngine as the CMS for myself, and my clients.
Pros and Cons
  • Flexibility is a huge aspect of ExpressionEngine, other CMSs lock you into certain ways your site must be built. You write the templates and write the way you want the website you are building to function with ExpressionEngine.
  • Creating editable content in ExpressionEngine is easy, allowing you to control and make your website more dynamic.
  • The plugins for ExpressionEngine are wonderful, I have never had a request for integration from a client that I can't find a plugin for ExpressionEngine.
Likelihood to Recommend
ExpressionEngine is a very powerful and flexible content management system. It can handle a simple small business website all the way to a large corporation's website. If you are a business with multiple websites ExpresionEngine can handle that as well with it's Multiple Site Manager. I think ExpressionEngine would be less appropriate for a global large scale business with a magnitude of sites with different regions and languages.

Beginner!

Rating: 6 out of 10
Incentivized
July 21, 2015
KL
Kelley Leonard
Managing Co-Owner/Marketing Manager
Glenlaurel Inn (Hospitality, 11-50 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
ExpressionEngine
4 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We use ExpressionEngine for our web site, our blog and all our web updates and management of in-house image and text changes. Since it's tied directly to the web site, so long as the web hosting company is up, we are able to log in and manage the site. We are able to log in anywhere in the world so long as there is Wi-Fi service so it’s not tied directly to a hard-wired system.


Pros and Cons
  • Ease of use.
  • Similar or same menu selections that I'm used to using with other MS office products.
Likelihood to Recommend
We didn't have any say in the software as it was tied to our web site developers and development of our site.

There's a Lot to LovEE about ExpressionEngine!

Rating: 9 out of 10
Incentivized
July 20, 2015
TR
Todd Richards
Director of IT
National Network of Estate Planning Attorneys, LLC (Legal Services, 1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
ExpressionEngine
6 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
National Network (aka NNEPA) is a national membership organization of estate planning attorneys. We needed a new members-only website to replace our seriously outdated website in which we made all of our updates manually. Already having significant experience with ExpressionEngine, it was an obvious choice for me as I knew it could handle the thousands of entries we already had, and the thousands more we would be adding. In addition to our large library of resources and training tools, it handles our member logins, event calendar and more. We will soon be adding a store so members can make their purchases online. The website will also drive a new front-end recruiting area to help grow our membership.
Pros and Cons
  • The number one thing that I think ExpressEngine allows for is its flexibility. I always tell people there isn't anything that it can't do and that proved true in this case as well. For instance, we needed a few levels of membership for providing access to different areas of the website and ExpressEngine handled this without issue. In addition, some of the library resources are accessible based on that membership group.
  • One of the things that I love about ExpressEngine is that it doesn't come with any expectations about your website look/feel/code. We created the layout and coded our pages, then plugged in the necessary tags.
  • ExpressEngine is a very secure system out of the box, and there are numerous tips and guides to help you further secure the back-end. That was an important feature for us.
  • The ExpressEngine community is probably one of the greatest strengths. There are so many great people involved who are willing to lend a quick hand or provide some advice to help out.
Likelihood to Recommend
For someone with a limited budget, it's hard to recommend ExpressionEngine simply because of the cost of the license and any add-ons just to get up and running. As a developer, the budget needs to be a certain amount before I can even consider ExpressionEngine - no matter how appropriate it is for the site. Besides that, I recommend ExpressionEngine for those who have a lot of content, have a need for a certain level of flexibility, or who have special feature requests. There are a number of ExpressionEngine add-on developers who are willing to help build (for a fee) custom add-ons to fulfill that need.

ExpressionEngine: The Flexible Content Management System.

Rating: 9 out of 10
Incentivized
July 17, 2015
JD
John Dezember
Web Developer
Cleveland State Community College (Higher Education, 201-500 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
ExpressionEngine
4 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
ExpressionEngine powers our college's main web site as well as online training modules, event and ancillary sites. ExpressionEngine's flexibility allows us to publish a variety of content types and designs to our web site and other internal systems. User control and access to manage, update, and approve content changes is also a great benefit.
Pros and Cons
  • ExpressionEngine has no preconceived ideas about how your content should look or what code is generated.
  • A robust template engine makes integrating designs and content a breeze.
  • The control panel can be customized to control what content managers have access to.
Likelihood to Recommend
ExpressionEngine can literally be used for any type of site, but for a very basic site with just a few pages or if the site will primarily be used for blogging, there are better tailored solutions.

Also, you will need a developer and/or someone very familiar with content management systems to install and configure the software. There is nothing like the "WordPress famous 5 minute install" that will give you visible results very quickly.

ExpressionEngine review

Rating: 10 out of 10
Incentivized
July 17, 2015
SK
Samuel King
Director of Web Development
eHouse Studio (Marketing and Advertising, 11-50 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
ExpressionEngine
8 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
eHouse Studio is a digital marketing agency that specializes in medium to large web site design and development. ExpressionEngine is our content management system of choice for these sites due to its ease of use, flexibility, and extensibility.
Pros and Cons
  • Extensibility: ExpressionEngine's core is extensible, allowing for third-party code to be modularized and installed. ExpressionEngine's community has a number of highly talented add-on developers that contribute to its pool of add-ons.
  • Flexibility: ExpressionEngine is tremendously flexible, allowing for a single installation to manage everything from static pages, to blogs, to full fledged eCommerce platforms.
  • Ease of Use: ExpressionEngine's control panel can be themed and its publish layouts customized, allowing for a very pleasant experience for our clients. This increases the likelihood of them actually using the platform which reduces the number of support hours we must provide.
Likelihood to Recommend
In my experience, ExpressionEngine is a perfect "middle-ground" CMS, well suited for sites that contain multiple types of "normal" content. For projects that either consist of minimal content types (a single blog, for instance) or those that require a more enterprise level publishing process, ExpressionEngine may not be the most suitable. Additionally, sites that contain a massive amount of data and require bleeding edge performance may want to look in a different direction.

ExpressionEngine has potential

Rating: 4 out of 10
Incentivized
July 17, 2015
CL
Chris Lagasse
Web Developer
Big Sea Design + Development (Marketing and Advertising, 11-50 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
ExpressionEngine
3 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope

ExpressionEngine was one of the alternatives that we used separate from WordPress. It was a product that we used at Big Sea when WordPress wasn't sufficient for the client's needs.

ExpressionEngine was our go to for clients that needed a heavily robust site without default bells and whistles. These projects included a large number of different streams of data (blog, staff members, locations, news, departments) all with interconnectivity in a way that was quick to set up.

The primary downside to ExpressionEngine is that it is a bare minimum out of the box, and that it essentially requires third party extensions in order for it to be efficient. However, this is a plus when you want to clean up the bells and whistles in the admin to only the essentials that the client will eventually need.

I love the power of ExpressionEngine, but it's usually way more (less?) than we need for our projects, as it takes longer to set up the initial configuration. The handling of the theme is actually far more to my liking over WordPress, as literally every file you create is created for YOU, and not because the theme requires it.

Pros and Cons
  • Extremely robust. To be able to start from absolute scratch in the CMS and get it configured precisely to each individual client's needs.
  • Combined with Pixel and Tonic's Matrix and Playa addons alone, EE's channel fields become a whole new world of awesome.
Likelihood to Recommend
If you're looking for a quick product set up, and getting it out the door, this is not an appropriate system for you. However, if you have a large project with a lot of moving parts that can be resolved with the plugins and what they offer, this is an awesome solution.

ExpressionEngine - the Content Management System for Designers and Developers

Rating: 9 out of 10
July 09, 2015
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
620 Studio uses ExpressionEngine for both the company website and is the default content management system we use when building websites for other companies. It allows us the ability to design and build websites without any limitations to pre-existing templates or requiring us to build our HTML files just to take them apart again to fit into PHP templates; our code and designs stay completely intact. ExpressionEngine has the flexibility to create any type of website from the ground up; it's a giant box of sand with an arsenal of tools and I can build any type of castle I want for us and our client.
Pros and Cons
  • First-party and Community Support - ExpressionEngine has a large support base both from EllisLab, the maker of ExpressionEngine, and the vast community of users. Any challenges that arise during a project, there is either a third-party plugin or a solution already posted on a discussion forum.
  • End-User Experience - Every website we build is custom from the ground up; no two are alike. Each install of ExpressionEngine is built and organized to fit that specific client. With the use of custom fields, our clients can easily update and maintain their website while keeping the styling intact. Many systems will give one large WYSIWYG box and it's up to the user to ensure the styling of the content matches the page and branding. ExpressionEngine allows us to create a entry form guiding them through the process of creating or editing a web page. We can decide how strict or loose the content areas are based on the technical expertise of the client or website administrators.
  • Templates - The templates built into ExpressionEngine use native HTML for rendering. Within the HTML, we're able to inject their tags into our code to process the functionality. This makes moving our front-end code into the back-end quick and seamless. This is incredibly helpful for maintenance purposes as we find reading HTML is far quicker and easier to read and diagnose than PHP code.
  • Third-party Plugins - ExpressionEngine has a large community of module, extension and plugin developers to help solve any challenge. Custom fieldtypes can be easily installed for better user experience. Powerful add-ons for eCommerce and site searches developed by well-known and highly reputable companies ensure support is always available. ExpressionEngine does not suffer from an over-abundance of third-party plugins questioning the level of support especially with ExpressionEngine system updates.
Likelihood to Recommend
The two main factors for my suggestion to use or not use ExpressionEngine for a client are budget and scope. If the website is for a small three to five page website that is strictly informational and have a smaller budget, then I always recommend using a system like WordPress. Most of our clients are usually already on WordPress and ready to "graduate" to a larger system. They understand the need for a custom design and ease-of-use for site maintenance so recommending ExpressionEngine is easier as they will often have more budget available. Very rarely does a client request a specific system and trust our recommendations.

I did not give a ranking of 10 as there are some instances where other systems would handle the job better than ExpressionEngine; it's not the end-all-be-all. If a client is looking strictly for an eCommerce site, there are other systems that are better prepared for the task and will cut down on development time reducing the overall budget for the project.

ExpressionEngine is clean, easy to use, and easy to learn

Rating: 8 out of 10
Incentivized
July 07, 2015
RS
Rachael Swogger
Digital Marketing Strategist
Wojo Design (Marketing and Advertising, 1-10 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
ExpressionEngine
2 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We're a web design agency, and we use ExpressionEngine to help our clients keep an updated website full of content and images. Some of our team members set up the backend to adopt our design and development features, and some team members simply upload all of the website content and do some Q/A testing and editing. ExpressionEngine is great because it's easy to learn and easy to use once you learn it. Therefore, it makes it easy to get everything up on the site and enables simple collaboration and editing among team members and clients.
Pros and Cons
  • It integrates well with your design and development features, so all you have to do after setup is create the appropriate fields and enter content.
  • It integrates well with many different tools and plug-ins, so whatever you need in addition to ExpressionEngine features, there's a tool out there that will connect and work effectively.
Likelihood to Recommend
Some clients have a lot external plug-ins they want to use, so making sure all of those tools, or alternatives to those tools, can be easily integrated with ExpressionEngine is the first step. Another thing in question is who and how many people will be updating the site on a regular basis. ExpressionEngine is easy to use and learn, so it's the option we'll suggest to clients who will be updating their own site.
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