Concrete5 is a PHP based CMS that is used to build block based websites in a very fast way. Compared to other CMS like Drupal or Joomla, it contains a more complete and intuitive set of features out-of-the-box while keeping it simple for site builders, content editors, marketers and developers. There are several features that can be plugged in via add-on modules besides the core features provided. The content management is based on blocks, which makes it easier for content editors to edit each individual piece of content of every page. One of the key features of the Concrete5 CMS that gives it an advantage over other Open Source PHP based CMS solutions is the in-context editing which allows content editors to drag and drop pieces of content in every page and edit them individually without switching the context (i.e. without leaving the page you are viewing).

Concrete5 is very straightforward to install; it checks if all the requirements are met before proceeding with the installation process. If something is missing just check it and reload the installation page so requirements can be checked. After all requirements are successfully checked and the database is created by hitting the “Install” button it creates all database tables needed without need of any additional steps. Finally, it returns the administrator credentials with an automatically generated password which can be changed on the dashboard.

Site builders and content editors will find it easy to manage content and layout through the in-context editing. Content editors can easily add new pieces of content to the pages through blocks.  For certain blocks a WYSIWYG editor will appear so content editors can easily give format to text and add images and other media components to the content. Concrete5 also provides an intuitive interface to add forms to the pages which requires no coding to create custom forms for questionnaires, surveys, etc. It also comes with a built-in version control so content editors can revert to a previous version if they make a mistake. The systems provides a Users and Groups management feature which allows creating community sites and also allows the site administrator to control users permissions by setting access grants in the group that they belong. Reports and Statistics features are provided out-of-the-box as well which allow site administrators and marketing teams to keep track of the activity of users through the site.

For developers, the underlying structure of Concrete5 is very flexible and the system relies on the ADODB Database Framework which is used to manage interactions with the database in an efficient and organized way. The use of this underlying framework also makes it possible to migrate to other databases like PostgreSQL, however MySQL is recommended due to its large use without any problems reported. The system is implemented using a MVC pattern design which makes it easy to add special application logic without affecting the presentation. In addition, a powerful API is provided which allows creating several components programmatically such as users, pages, blocks and block types, administration settings, etc. It also allows to front-end developers to create custom themes and easily define regions where dynamic content generated by blocks can be added.

There are several more built-in features available in the software package, which would require a bit more explanation — so they are out of the scope of this blog post which purpose, is to give a general overview and first impressions of this tool. Concrete5 is very intuitive compared with other CMS tools and requires almost no prior knowledge in order to start building a site and adding content. However, as with any piece of software, it does not come with all the features that one would like it to have, but one can expect it to be flexible enough so developers can implement the desired features in the future. One of the limitations of Concrete5 is that it provides a few access control features to manage basic permissions for users and to enable more complex access grants such as creating/updating/viewing/deleting permissions over the different site elements such as page types and block types it has to be explicitly specified on the site configuration file with PHP code. There are several other settings that can be configured through PHP definitions that should be configurable from an advanced section in the administration dashboard. The CMS started as commercial software but it has been recently released as Open Source software so community of developers is small but it seems to be increasing rapidly. There are a few add-ons that can be found in the add-ons marketplace to extend functionality; however, there are some add-ons that you still have to pay for in order to use. Although Concrete5 allows registering users and assigning them to groups, it is not suitable yet for building community sites due to the limited features available for users management, especially regarding to permissions. The following screenshot shows the In-context editing feature of Concrete5.




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