Recently while browsing the ThemeForest catalog for potential WordPress themes for a new project, i took a glance in the concrete5 section. I have known of concrete5 for some time now but never took any serious considerations about it. The reason for this was because it is relatively new and had a small community and themes were not “wowing” me . Normally these are not enough reasons for me to over look a web platform/CMS, but i was just learning WordPress at the time and i love(d) it. As such my interests in concrete5 got sidelined for a while. But now i am back!
Now that i don’t have any major time consuming projects, i can now take an in depth look at concrete5. So, i will begin with a question; what is concrete5 and what sets it apart from its competitors? Well to answer this question i went to concrete5’s website and read what they had to say about themselves (better to hear the word from the horses mouth). I started with their history and i must say that i was surprised by this main point; the platform started in 2003. So its a lot older than i had thought (imagine me referring to it as “relatively new”). I then learned that the creators built the platform with 3 main goals in mind, 1. Ease of use, 2. Flexibility and 3. Robustness.
So with the 3 principles in mind concrete5 was born. A content management system that is easy to use by anyone, you should not need any special training to use your concrete5 website. A platform that is flexible for use in any scenario, the intend usage sets the limitations not the technology. A robust architecture that is scalable when needed to handle large traffic volumes.
Of all these points, what had me the most is the focus on flexibility. As a web developer/designer this is what matter to me the most. I need a system that will easily adjust to my need for implementing new design ideas with matched functionality. In this series of articles i will attempt to convert a static HTML/CSS template into a dynamic CMS website.
In part 2 i will introduce the theme i will be using, then i will take it apart in preparation for conversion to a concrete5 theme
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