As with other CMS plug-ins, it is so easy to get lost in the vast list of directory. Especially if it is your first time using ProcessWire for your project. With that in mind, I have hand-selected a few modules that I find very handy and almost always use on for my projects.

Forgot Password

You probably will notice when checking on the admin login panel on ProcessWire that it does not display the forgot password function. It already has the module built-in actually, you just need to activate it by going to Modules > Forgot Password and install Forgot Password module. You can also update the password using APIs following these instructions.

Page Clone

When you are developing and testing a new website, nothing is more annoying than having to fill the mock data. At least it is in my case. So when I discovered that ProcessWire already had a module on its core to easily duplicate a page, I was very happy. To activate it, just go to Modules > Process and install Page Clone.

Admin Theme

Not that the default admin theme is bad or anything, it is way better than most CMS interface of some other platforms, but nothing is wrong for trying to adjust the admin look to yours or you client’s personal preference. There are a number of admin themes that you can pick here. Two of my favorites are Ergo and Teflon.
To install a new admin theme, create a directory called /site/templates-admin/ and place all of the themes files in there.

Thumbnail Cropping

I have to say this was the most waited function since the first time I played around with ProcessWire. You no longer need to create separate field for users to upload the thumbnail of main image. This module can be downloaded here.

Blank Profile

When you download and install ProcessWire it comes with a default template which is a great sample of how to create a website using it. If this is not the first site you are developing on ProcessWire, then using a blank profile allows you to go straight to business after installation.

Site Profile Exporter

Last but not least, the exporter module will allow you to export your templates and data to be used in fresh install of ProcessWire. This comes really handy when you develop the site on a testing server and need to move to production server.

Do you have your own favorite modules? Please share it here.

The post Quick Modules Checklist When Developing New Website on Processwire appeared first on Michael Sunarlim.

When it comes to using it as CMS though, I always struggle to justify it as the way to go. Despite its evolution in complying the demand, it is still far from perfect. In more than one occasion, client would come to me with very specific request to use WordPress to manage their website. If the website needs to come with a blog, then yes it is a good option, but sometimes it is only a company, personal or product profile which content needs to be manageable from CMS.

For years, I had been trying to find the right platform/framework with just enough features and functions to allow me to build a website without having to take more time on integrating it with the CMS. Then I found ProcessWire. Learning about for ProcessWire works was not the easiest, but all the time used has been very well paid off after a couple of projects built using it.

What makes ProcessWire a better CMS than WordPress? For starter, you can define your own fields to be used throughout the system. No plugins or custom functions required, which have always been a real turn off for me. I can list all the goods and bads between these platforms, but in short with ProcessWire you can set it up to go with your site’s structure, while with WordPress I feel it is more about adjusting your site to fit as a template.

So, why should you use it?

1. You prefer to build your own CMS but also knows the pain in making one
2. You hate the idea of installing half a dozen plugins to create that simple customization
3. You are not that good in making custom functions in WordPress
4. You prefer not to have all the long navigation items on the left side of the admin panel
5. You want to it to be super easy to change the template of the admin
6. You need to manipulate lots of images and they have to be easy to manage
7. You want to make sure the user will enter the right input into the fields
8. You do not need to change the front-end template (theme) that often or ever; update: I was referring to WordPress’ manage theme functions which is very rarely used
9. You like to explore new platforms
10. You have worked on a PHP framework and love it

No platform is perfect by all means, and I am pretty sure ProcessWire is not the only one that was built on the idea to make as flexible CMS as possible. But for me it is the first one that really clicked, and it is free! So, kudos to Ryan Cramer and thank you for building and constantly improving this great platform.

The post Why choose ProcessWire over WordPress? appeared first on Michael Sunarlim.