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In a market analysis PHP programmers determined the demand for PHP-programming – with surprising results.

The PHP programming language is the industry standard for websites, but it's often reduced to being the site's engine, while the cockpit is represented by content management systems (CMS), which promise users the ability to create and maintain websites without the need for PHP programming. In truth, technical maintenance costs for content management systems are often higher than the savings generated by the ability to manage content independently.

Wordpress and Joomla are two prominent content management systems. They and other CMS-systems are based on PHP. PHP-programmers working for software developer Bitpalast took a closer look at exchange platforms for PHP-programmers. They found that clients not only request frequent changes of Wordpress and Joomla websites, but also demand a Wordpress or Joomla installation during website development. Clients erroneously assume that they can avoid the need for PHP-programming in this way. The strong demand for Wordpress and Joomla programmers in exchange platforms proves that once a client uses a Wordpress or Joomla website, he is trapped. Technically, the systems are so complex that the client is unable to maintain them.

From the perspective of PHP-programmers many things could be done more easily and inexpensively without using a CMS. But clients' fears of supposedly costlier maintenance of websites without CMS, which would require the hiring of PHP-programmers for changing content, present a powerful deterrent. In reality, most coding and content updates can be implemented by PHP-programmers in a matter of minutes, since most change requests are rare and small in scope. By comparison, CMS updates and CMS-plugin problems are more costly. Both Wordpress and Joomla update their software at frequent intervals. Each of these updates can effectively decommission plugins. Data models, interfaces and source code change all the time. In this way a large German webhosting service recently forced numerous websites to perform a comprehensive update after deactivating PHP 4 and replacing it with PHP 5. Additionally, users often run unsafe plugins, providing easy targets for hackers.

The design effort for new Wordpress or Joomla websites is often higher compared to websites without CMS. A CMS requires that all pages generated within a website must match the system. PHP-programmers, however, can create the system in such way that it matches the pages. This leads to leaner and faster websites. The only case in which a content management system presents a sensible solution is a website that contains many pages which must be updated very frequently. Most websites don't have this requirement. After all, managing the content of a CMS-based website isn't free either. Employees must be paid for their labor.

Conclusion: Many clients voluntarily walk into the Wordpress-Joomla trap and demand a content management system, even though it creates economic disadvantages. Therefore, in addition to PHP, PHP-programmers must also be able to work well with Wordpress and Joomla.

Bitpalast GmbH
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D-14055 Berlin (Germany)

Interview partner: Peter Debik M.A.

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