Central Applications

[Kemik]

Hello,

 

I'm creating a CMS where users sign up and they're given a subdomain with my CMS installed. They can then edit at will, users sign up, etc. I'm looking in to two options for managing the files for the CMS.

 

1. Store each CMS copy in it's own folder, database, etc. (Basically a whole cPanel account per CMS).

2. Store the files centrally. Possibly create seperate databases or do something else using one.

 

Option one will be harder to maintain and update. As if I make one update with the files I have to manually do each CMS. Option two is easier to maintain, however managing how the CMS gets it's site title, content, etc is harder as each user may have their own theme, logo, etc.

 

How would you advise I could do this? I'm not thinking about thousands of CMS installs, but possibly hundreds (100 - 300) if it takes off.

[448191]

Definitely option 2.

 

Store the library centrally, configuration and attributes decentralized.

 

Each user directory can have their own index.php, for example (an adaptation of what I use):

 

include '/home/you/Library/Backbone/Core/Settings.php';
Backbone_Core_Settings::init('/home/you/cms/config/cmsuser/config.xml');
Backbone_Controller_Front::run();

 

It would be easy to generate such a bootstrap dynamically.

[dbo]

Well I'm not sure I necessarily agree with #2 it sorta depends on what you're doing. If you're charging for this service users may want to take their CMS to a different host and if you're managing it centrally they won't be able to do that.

 

If you're not doing that then yes #2 will work fine and be much easier to manage.

[Kemik]

I need them to stay with me. It's a CMS that I coded and I don't want them taking it to another host. They wouldn't have file access anyway.

[dbo]

Then if that's your stand option #2 is absolutely the answer.

 

In my case I'd want it to be portable. I often tell people that while I'm a developer and what not that I'm not in the business of selling software. I provide technology to solve business problems and what you pay for is my time, not the software. So for me it's absolutely necessary that I'm able to cater to my client's needs. If they have a host they are already using they should be able to continue to do so. I certainly don't want to get in the business of hosting, etc. At the end of the day it's all about the client.

 

Just my 2 cents.

[Sorthy359]

i love your idea on allowing newbies create their own cms.it seems if your only planning for a few hundred cms's,its more of a test to experiment with(that and giving people a new way of doing something). im kind of a newbie but based off what i seen with other major scripts,this is how i would do it. store everything in one database. each time a user creates a cms, they would get a few db tables made with their own prefixes(while at the same time adding their user info to the main user table). you can allow them to edit their cms up to a certain point? like,html and css only..and let them choose&re-arrange features in their admin page.then all the small details. each user gets their own folder. each user gets a copy of any template they decide to use and edit and will is able to edit it in a text box? you could use version control. i would have php generated for each template for that.if a new version for a template comes out,they would be notified and can upgrade.

[Sorthy359]

i think in the future u should let users have a paid option.more upload space for images,flash,maybe files,etc, and more users they can have on their cms(e.g.,if they plan to have more then 600 users),the ability to automatically tie in their own domain(if u know how anyways),no ads,etc. for about $5/month. not to limit the free users really(that would be stupid. especially if your trying to gain popularity), but for hardcore users..