Content Management Systems Without The Need Of A Database

Yesterday, there was a post in my favorite forum, asking for a very simple cms that needed no database to operate and to be able to run on a very old server that supports an old PHP version. Personally, I don’t use flat file CMSs but maybe some people be in need for one. So, i compiled this list in order to help anyone searching for database-less content management systems.

LotusCMS

LotusCMS, previously named as ArboroianCMS is a clean and easy to learn cms. It features templates for both frontend and backend, WYSIWYG editor (TinyMCE), files management and basic editing of pages and menu. The admin panel lucks some speed though.

Pivot

Pivot is a full featured cms with focus on weblogs and journal sites. You can create many blogs that have their own urls, entries and settings from the admin interface and manage pingbacks, feeds and many aspects of the blog. There are also available extensions and themes for you to use. Pivot supports more than 30 languages and allows you to customize your blog from top to toe. Definitely suggested for advanced users but might scare amateurs.

SkyBlueCanvas

SkyBlueCanvas is not just another choice for a database-less cms. This is a state of the art CMS that I also suggest as well. It uses 2 WYSIWYG editors (wymeditor and TinyMCE) in the default download package, it allows you to totally customize your site and every aspect of a page. For example you can set the metadata of a page, choose if you want this page to be included in the feed and set a page as a child of another page. You can also set the page to load to a specific module or all of the modules. There are ready templates and modules to download from the main site and use for free.

pluck

Pluck, is one of the easiest systems around. It supports a lot of languages and you will learn to use it in minutes. There are some ready to use modules and you can build your own assuming you have a good knowledge of PHP. You can manage files and images through the Albums module and set the way each module is displayed and where. Pluck also provides a trash bin where you can keep your deleted pages and content in case you need to restore them. TinyMCE is also used here.

CuteNews

CuteNews is one of the most popular flat file CMS out there despite it’s difficult to understand philosophy. There are a lot of customizations that can be made to deliver original designs and functionality. CuteNews requires you to register the CMS in order to remove the “powered by” lines.

LightNEasy

LightNEasy comes in 2 flavors. One that uses SQLite and one that uses files to store it’s data. It produces static HTML or PHP files that make it extremely fast to deliver content. It uses a type of in-line editing with FCKEditor and everything is managed through a simple panel that appears when you click the “tools” icon. I would recommend this to anyone that wants a CMS which produces static files.

FlatPress

Reminds you of something? Yes, FlatPress is what Wordpress is but for the “flat files” world. It uses Smarty for templating, it supports plugins and widgets which can be positioned in a drag n drop style and allows you to add them on the number of bars (like sidebars on WP) available from your template. It uses a BBCode editor and can produce human friendly URLs too. Great tool and also suggested!!

Other CMS

Some other CMS that come into my mind are:

• JAF CMS
• CMSimple
• Skeleton

PageLime is a hosted sollution that some of you can also use.

Popularity: 12%

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