EE - The Peak of CMS Functionality.
We use ExpressionEngine to create bespoke, powerful, and secure websites for our clientele. It allows us to create highly extensible sites …
Starting at $299 One Time Fee
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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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- Role-based user permissions (33)10.0100%
- Code quality / cleanliness (32)10.0100%
- Admin section (32)10.0100%
- Availability / breadth of extensions (32)8.080%
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$299.00
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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.
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.
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ExpressionEngine Technical Details
| Deployment Types | Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Unspecified |
| Mobile Application | No |
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 WYSIWYG editor and Code quality / cleanliness highest, with a score of 10.
The most common users of ExpressionEngine are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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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!
- Pros
- Cons
- Recommendations
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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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.
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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.
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June 07, 2019
ExpressionEngine. One CMS to rule them all!
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.
- 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.
- The only issue I have with ExpressionEngine is the cost of official support.
June 21, 2018
Solid, more flexible alternative to WordPress
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.
- 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.
- UI is still inferior to Craft CMS.
- Third-party add-ons are required for certain features that ought to be built in to the product.
- Vendor has fumbled support for its developer network.
March 15, 2018
ExpressionEngine - the CMS of Choice
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.
- 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.
- ExpressionEngine makes a ton of calls to the database, so caching is extremely important.
- ExpressionEngine has a learning curve when learning to set up templates properly.
February 20, 2016
ExpressionEngine, not the worst but not my favorite
- Simple admin interface for the end user.
- Generates clean markup for front-end theming.
- Not flexible enough to create a really custom website.
- Source control can be a mess since it's mostly database.
- Data migration even core updates or server migration are not easy to make.
- Is not an open source license.
February 19, 2016
Great For Novices
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.
- The blog tool was decent.
- Managing users was easy.
- It was difficult to alter functionality in the admin section. For example, we needed multiple-file uploading and in order to do this the templates had to be directly altered. This direct manipulation of templates makes it hard to upgrade the version without losing custom changes. Same goes for implementing custom file storage.
February 19, 2016
EE Above the Rest for Client UX.
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.
- 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.
- The one drawback I wasn't impressed by was that the entirety of all data - including templates (html / php / etc) was stored in the database. This made complications a few times.
February 19, 2016
ExpressionEngine, Affordable Comercial CMS
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.
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.
- 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.
- Running Local, Staging, and Production environments takes a bit of work.
- The Control Panel set up and theme are not great. We usually swap out the theme. Though once you become familiar and set up quick links, it becomes much easier to use.
- It can be a little resource heavy on large, high traffic sites without some additional caching.
September 30, 2015
ExpressionEngine is dream of any developer.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified 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 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.
- 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.
- Plugin, Module installation should be with ease. Upload as zip - install.
- Multisite function should be included with purchase and not be as separate module and restriction to 3 sites - it should be infinite.
August 29, 2015
ExpressionEngine can do it all... For a price.
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.
- 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.
- Big learning curve! In my opinion, ExpressionEngine is not really for the inexperienced, be it users or developers. Clients who aren't web-savvy have a hard time picking up the backend, and end up paying more for a custom front-end control panel to fit their project needs. Developers have to learn the templating language. It's not that complicated for someone who is experienced with HTML/CSS, at least, let alone a programmer, but still expect to spend weeks, if not months, learning all the ins and outs.
- It's not free or cheap. A license for the core ExpressionEngine software is currently $299 a pop. Premium add-ons can average between $20-$200 for their licenses, but there are also many add-ons that are free. https://devot-ee.com/ is the premier marketplace for ExpressionEngine add-ons.
- A relatively small user/developer community = above-average contractor rates. ExpressionEngine experts hard to find and do not come cheap, and understandably so. ExpressionEngine is a highly specialized and advanced CMS. Due to the price barrier, ExpressionEngine is nowhere near as popular as free WordPress or Joomla!.
- Poor software updating system. ExpressionEngine is NOT WordPress where you get pushed core and add-on update notifications, and apply them with a few clicks. Updating ExpressionEngine requires a developer who can manually go in, backup everything, upload specific files, and otherwise follow specific procedures that require time and expertise. Due to the changing and hazardous nature of the Internet, it's imperative to keep your software updated - so this makes ExpressionEngine not ideal for projects with small budgets.
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.
- 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.
- I always seem to use a core set of modules (Structure, Matrix, Playa) when I build an ExpressionEngine site. It'd be nice if they were included in the core feature set. However, I'd hate to stop supporting the developers of these great plugins.
- As a new ExpressionEngine developer it was a little tricky to figure out the ExpressionEngine way of doing things. Coming from Drupal and WordPress, where the display was more married to the content, it took me a while to really get how ExpressionEngine handled everything. I haven't been a new ExpressionEngine developer for some time, so their documentation may well have changed in the past six years.
- I'd love to see an easier upgrade process. While upgrades aren't terribly difficult, they're enough of a hassle that I find myself wanting to put them off.
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.
- 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.
- ExpressionEngine would be even better than it already is if it had a page editor where you could see your page and edit the content on the actual page, some clients prefer this method when moving from online website builders.
- Although there are add-ons for backup, I would like to see a native backup feature for ExpressionEngine.
July 21, 2015
Beginner!
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.
- Ease of use.
- Similar or same menu selections that I'm used to using with other MS office products.
- It doesn't seem to be workable with Internet Explorer - that is fine now that I use Google Chrome.
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.
- 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.
- The upgrade process can be tedious if your site uses more than a couple of add-ons.
- Back ups must be managed manually or by a third party system/add-on.
July 17, 2015
ExpressionEngine review
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.
- 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.
- Query bloat: ExpressionEngine tends to run an excessive number of queries to generate content. This is due, in large part, to an inefficient database schema.
- Lack of third-party add on reviews: ExpressionEngine's extensibility is also a curse, due to a lack of official reviews of add ons. This can introduce bugs in the system that are difficult, at best, to squash.
- Reliance on outdated technology: While newer versions of ExpressionEngine have started to move away from CodeIgniter (almost entirely at this point), older installations still rely on the outdated framework resulting in a code base that does not take advantage of updated server software.
July 17, 2015
ExpressionEngine has potential
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.
- 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.
- System needs more hooks, especially for third party plugins. A lot of the plugins are so precise in their functionality that trying to do anything custom with them quickly becomes a chaotic mess and regular hair pulling.
- So bare minimum out of the box, that the cost of the initial purchase is sneaky as you'll spend a lot more on addons and modules.
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.
- 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.
- License - ExpressionEngine is a licensed product and has a license fee that comes with each install. Most of the additional first-party functionality that is available outside of the core ExpressionEngine install has a license attached. For large websites with a lot of functionality, software licenses for ExpressionEngine and third-party plugins as well can cause the price to exceed the budget of a client.
- Third-party Plugins Required - EllisLabs has been making strives in adding native functionality into ExpressionEngine that would have required third-party plugins in previous versions. They tread carefully not to punish plugin developers who are selling their plugins by building it into the system at no additional charge, however certain functionality like page organization for site navigation should be already included and more streamlined for the client.
- System Updates - Compared to other content management systems, ExpressionEngine is not the easiest when updating to newer versions. Its a manual process of copying, uploading and moving files. There is no "push-button" approach without purchasing a commercial add-on by a third-party developer. With the requirement of third-party plugins to be added for user experience, each system update will require a proactive approach by the plugin developers and the admin updating the system to ensure the plugins will work on future versions. Most admins will wait several months to ensure plugins and minor bugs are ironed out prior to updating.
We use ExpressionEngine as a CMS for our public website, http://bacterin.com. The biggest issue I have with ExpressionEngine is the lack of current documentation and third party module/plugin support. I find WordPress to be a much more simple solution to CMS with a much larger community. I do like how clean ExpressionEngine code is, but that simply can't outweigh the cons of the product.
- Clean Code Output
- Straight-forward CMS input
- Simple page management
- Session timeout/cookies suck
- Needs much more community
- Needs more current documentation.
July 07, 2015
ExpressionEngine - a CMS for all seasons
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
I use ExpressionEngine as a tool in my arsenal to provide web design and development services to clients. I've found that it is an extremely flexible and scalable CMS solution for a large number of web application needs. ExpressionEngine is a blank canvas upon which my clients can build their web-based marketing and business solutions.
- Flexible templating engine - ExpressionEngine makes no assumptions about what type of website or application you want to create. It does a good job of separating data from data presentation, allowing you to choose the front-end framework that works best for your/your client's needs.
- Robust community support - The ExpressionEngine community is very helpful. There are many resources for third-party add-ons and technical support answers.
- Forward-thinking architecture - Built on CodeIgniter, ExpressionEngine uses a well-documented and proven PHP architecture that is scalable and powerful.
- Third-party AddOns - ExpressionEngine's flexibility is also a drawback. Because it makes no assumptions about your web project, it doesn't offer every feature under the sun. Expect to increase your budget to accommodate the variety of third-party AddOns that really make it shine. Not everything is done well, and some functionality is best left for dedicated third-party solutions.
- Configuration - ExpressionEngine requires time and expertise to get an installation really dialed in before you can hit the ground running. There are a lot of configuration options, and adding third-party AddOns to the mix increases the amount of configuration. However, this is a good example of the power of the software. You have a lot of options and can really dial in security settings, software behavior, administrative access and so forth.
It was mostly used to create sub sites of each medical department.
- Customizable
- Independent subsites
- Easy to use and to learn (it took me a little bit to learn about this CMS and start doing my own plugins)
- The variety of plugins is not that big, besides the database is the best one in performance
July 01, 2015
ExpressionEngine: a solid CMS choice
We use ExpressionEngine almost exclusively for client web projects. We've built hundreds of sites on it and have appreciated its flexibility. Clients like it because it greatly simplifies content management on their website, with very little technical knowledge needed. We like it because of the professional community that backs it and because it doesn't dictate any predefined markup or styling. We can customize it to fit most client project needs.
- ExpressionEngine has a very good track record on security
- It doesn't dictate markup or styling or use predefined templates--100% of the outputted code is developer generated
- It is extremely customizable to fit a proejct's specifications
- Non-technical users find it very easy to use for managing their site content
- Performance can be an issue on complex pages--nested conditionals can result in slower load times
- A fairly powerful server is required to generate the many SQL statements in order to generate complex pages
- Many of the back end database tables are not normalized
- There is room for improving some of the base functionality (EE has done better with this recently--e.g. Grid)
- Corporate communication to users has historically been a mess
ExpressionEngine allows us to design the best solution for our clients with complete freedom. We can craft the best visual experience for the site's users without being confined to the CMS way of doing things. Ultimate flexibility.
It's reliable, extendable, and has been a core part of our business for years.
It's reliable, extendable, and has been a core part of our business for years.
- You design what is best for your client, and then build the dynamic features in. Other CMS products approach this backwards.
- It's easy for our clients to manage their sites, even on complex builds.
- It has a strong, helpful community of users and developers.
- Developing is fast and straight forward.
- Having common field sets that are independent of content channels would be a welcome change.
- It's control panel could use some streamlining and design updating.
- The process of updating the system needs over hauling.
June 30, 2015
ExpressionEngine: The BIG Reliable.
Here at Dative we build custom website solutions that will fit the needs of our clients both from front-end / back-end stand points. ExpressionEngine's biggest strength is the ability to add dynamic content tags into custom HTML markups. That's sounds trivial, but it allows our designs to be created unrestrained, while still being able to deliver fast page loads in a dynamic fashion.
- Flexible Templating
- Caching
- Custom Content Types
- Underlying framework based on codeigniter, could move to a more modern framework
- Could make use of Composer
- Better testing for add-ons.
March 08, 2015
EE stands for Exceptionally Excellent!
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use EE to manage our main company website as well as several other microsites. It is used be several departments, however, I would like for it to become the standard CMS of the company. EE allows me to quickly build websites that the business can easily update.
- My favorite thing about EE is the ability to easily create custom content input/edit forms that are easy for the business user to navigate and fill out.
- With EE, there is very little need for a WYSIWYG as you are able to easily target user inputted content with stylesheets. Making the site more consistent and avoiding the frustration WYSIWYGs can cause.
- The templating system is easy. You stick your CSS in a CSS template and your HTML in an HTML template. No zipped packages. No PHP to sift through to create a new look and feel of the site.
- I would really like to see the ability to customize how the content forms (channel entry forms) display. In other words, I would like to be able to hide certain fields if a certain field is equal to a certain value and create more specific validation based on what has been inputted in the form.
- I currently do not like how the channel entry form fields are ordered. A drag and drop interface would be much easier than inputting the sort number.
- The checkboxes in the channel entry forms are too easily checked, all you have to do is click within the checkbox area (which is easily done when scrolling).
February 25, 2015
An honest review of ExpressionEngine
I use ExpressionEngine for several websites that I have developed for clients and I have taken a couple of projects for existing EE driven websites that needed a front-end design refresh.
- It has an extremely flexible front-end templating system, unlike most of the other CMSs that I have used.
- The community is very helpful and supportive. You can almost always get an answer through the Stack Exchange or Ellislab discussion forums.
- The third party add-on developer are very talented and you can find an add-on for just about anything you would need.
- Since it is a licensed product and not open source, it is not as widely used as other CMSs. I believe this is a benefit because it creates a niche for the developer.
- It's also more secure because it's not targeted by hackers and malicious scripts as much as the more popular CMSs.
- Pricing - At $300 per site, I feel like EE should come with a certain level of built in support from Ellislab. They just recently made support tickets a separate membership cost ranging from $50 to $2000 per month, it simply not an option for me. I've had to seek support from the Stack Exchange community instead.
- There are some built in features that and enhancements that I feel are missing in EE. I almost always have to install a third party add-on like Structure to help with building and maintaining pages and navigation throughout the site. This should be a core feature of any CMS.
- The built in search function is not very robust. I usually have to buy a third party add-on to enhance this function.
- The pagination function needs improvement. It just doesn't work well and it's very limited in the options and styles that can be applied.
- A responsive back-end would be helpful. Many other CMSs have adopted this approach in the last few years.
- It's really difficult to update the core system and plugins with ExpressionEngine. There are third party plugins that make this process easier like DevDemon's Updater, but I feel like EE could follow the lead from Wordpress and make updates and installs a built-in system feature.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
I recommend ExpressionEngine as a CMS platform for my clients' websites when their content management requirements align with its core features or when EE's core features can easily be extended with the integration of third-party add-ons to achieve the clients' content management goals.
EE is supported by a team of developers and support professionals at EllisLab and the online documentation is easy to read, thorough and extensive.
The developer/user community is extremely helpful and there are many online community support channels including EllisLab support forums, the ExpressionEngine Answers channel at Stack Exchange. And there are tons of third-party training resources, tutorials and blogs related to ExpressionEngine.
There's also an official marketplace where third-party add-on developers offer their modules, plugins and extensions for sale or free download.
I personally love the platform because I can usually meet all of my clients' requirements with EE core and a few third-party commercial add-ons. And EE's modular architecture allows me to create my own custom add-ons if I need to.
EE is supported by a team of developers and support professionals at EllisLab and the online documentation is easy to read, thorough and extensive.
The developer/user community is extremely helpful and there are many online community support channels including EllisLab support forums, the ExpressionEngine Answers channel at Stack Exchange. And there are tons of third-party training resources, tutorials and blogs related to ExpressionEngine.
There's also an official marketplace where third-party add-on developers offer their modules, plugins and extensions for sale or free download.
I personally love the platform because I can usually meet all of my clients' requirements with EE core and a few third-party commercial add-ons. And EE's modular architecture allows me to create my own custom add-ons if I need to.
- Custom data modeling - you define your own content structure with custom fields and "channels" to hold your pages, blog entries, portfolio items, etc.
- Separation of presentation from content - you have complete control over how your data is displayed
- Product support - official support channels, community resources and helpful user/developer community
- Templating syntax is a little quirky for beginners
- Steep learning curve for creating custom add-ons
- Keeping docs updated, especially for add-on development