Extra CMS

A really good addition for PC would be to have a non-product based CMS (Content Management System) area, still using the wonderful categories/products approach configured in the admin area, but for categories and pages.

It could even be an add on product for wider portal development.

I'd buy it today!  I imagine it would be a relatively simple product too, as it would be far simpler than PC but offer a way of bringing more content to the wider PC stores (such as community areas).

cheers
Mark


Edited by MarkCoyle - 30-October-2006 at 4:03pm

Louis wrote: wouw!!! this is exactly what i'm looking for. Since PC3 is such a powerfull system, the only thing it lacks is a nice CMS function. The current 'manage content pages' area is already a good step in the right direction. A verry nice php based opensource cms is www.cmsmadesimple.org. Fully template based.

Have you had any luck integrating CMSMadeSimple with ProductCart? We use CMSMS and ProductCart as well but it seems to me that it would require in-depth customization of both software packages to allow them to use the same template and dynamic elements. Curious to see how you've approached this problem.

Greg Dinger wrote: We built a couple sites with CMSMS and I wholly agree that it's very good, and very easy.  We also built a couple sites with Expression Engine which while remarkably robust has a steep learning curve.   I'm not sure there is really the ability to integrate it with PC.  You've not only got the mix of ASP and PHP which use different engines and cannot easily share content, you have totally different mechanisms by which you would manage the header/footer stuff.   I'd just carefully implement your design and make sure the navigation allows convenient flow throughout the site.

That's been the major problem. It's quite unfortunate that there isn't a better solution, really. We love both products, but some clients just can't compromise with a hard-coded template. Some require dynamic ProductCart categories, shopping cart summaries, some dynamic content in the template that they need the ability to update, etc. It's just a nightmare, really. I actually just posted a blog about it @ http://www.ShawnBerg.com. I guess we'll continue on our existing path of turning away clients who require more advanced functionality that we can't provide. It's just quite unfortunate there isn't a better solution.