eZ publish 3.1: Take It For A Spin

You’ve heard about eZ publish 3.1, the latest version of the open-source Content Management System (CMS) from eZ Systems. You’ve also heard that it’s a lot different from version 2.2. How different? Well, in this tutorial we’ll see.

Let’s build a site using version 3.1 step by step, so you can quickly get a taste of the power under the hood in the new version.

Why eZ publish?

If your client wants to create a site that will help them build a community, with news, forums, mailing lists, current headlines, and an on-line store, then you should take a look at eZ publish. Check out a few sites powered by eZ publish here. eZ publish lets your customers maintain the content of the site, freeing you up to build ever cooler and more powerful features for them.

Advantages of eZ publish

• All editing and content functions are Web-based. Thus, distributed groups can work on the content of the Website without having to synchronize files or coordinate.
• Sophisticated time-based publish and retract requiring no admin intervention. Some CMS products will do this, but only at publish time.
• PHP-based open source -- you are free to modify the program as you see fit -- which can be both dangerous and powerful.
• Support for international Websites with content and layouts in multiple languages and formats.
• Lots of room to grow -- it has all the features of a full CMS – so it's hard to imagine outgrowing eZ publish.
• A powerful object-oriented template-driven rendering system makes it easy to customize your site exactly the way you want it.

Disadvantages of eZ publish

• Setup in the real world is complex. Unless you have root level access to a Web server on the Internet, it's very difficult to get a hosting provider to set up eZ publish for you. One exception is Marlabs, which has made a business of hosting eZ publish -- note that they support both 2.2 and 3.1.
• It will take a while to customize your site, especially if you're not a PHP guru.
• Documentation is extremely limited, especially for version 3.1.
• A rather steep learning curve. If you don't need the multi-user, Web based editing and management of eZ publish, I highly recommend the commercial product CityDesk by Fog Creek Software. There's a free introductory version that allows you to develop small sites, and the more powerful versions of the software are moderately priced.

2.2 or 3.1: What’s Your Poison?

The question is not whether to choose eZ publish, but which version will you choose: trusty version 2.2, or the fancy new version 3.1? It’s a critical choice that will affect your Website for years to come. Unfortunately, there’s currently no way to migrate your 2.2 site to 3.1.

Tried & True -- Version 2.2

Harry Fuecks' article, eZ publish: PHP's Killer App provides an excellent introduction to version 2.2 of the product, which offers these benefits:

• It’s functional straight “out-of-the-box.”
• It has a nice default layout, and caters for articles and headlines, discussion forums, mailing lists, user management, and even an on-line poll module.
• If you don’t like something, it’s a pretty straightforward process to code up your own modules to add to the functionality.
• It’s well supported by the user community, and the documentation is more mature.

Powerful & Complex -- Version 3.1

Version 3.1 has come out only recently, and it’s a lot different from version 2.2. In fact, in terms of actually getting your Website up quickly, it almost takes a step backwards. eZ publish 3.1:

• Doesn't provide a generic set of templates for the average user to start with.
• Focuses on the fundamental framework that a content management system needs, rather than “out-of-the-box” functionality. There’s no on-line poll built in here. But you could create a powerful one if you wanted to.
• Is based on an excellent object-based rendering model that allows for flexible, dynamic sites.

In the long term, version 3.1 brings critical improvements that will make it a great foundation for fully-featured, content-based Websites. Unfortunately, with little “out-of-the- box” functionality that made 2.2 so appealing, it’s a hard sell in the short term. But if you’re planning a large, complex site (or one that you hope will become so), version 3.1 has the power and flexibility to help your site develop over the years to come.

If you want an in-depth comparison of eZ publish 2 vs. 3, check out Sebastiaan van de Vliet's article, eZ publish Evaluation: Version 2 Vs. Version 3. If you want to be the judge of whether eZ publish 3.1 is ready for prime-time, keep reading.