Reading paths for CMS developers
This page is for developers who want to know what to read in which order. Pick the path that matches your goal; each says what you can do at the end. All pages of this section are listed in CMS developers: start here.
Contents
- The first day
- The first week
- Coming from another CMS
- Building a first site
- Going headless
- Going deep: the extension development book
- Learning in a course
The first day
About four hours.
- Exponential for CMS developers: the system in overview.
- Development environment: an installation running on your machine.
- The content model and Objects, nodes and locations.
- Templates and overrides for CMS developers.
- Caching for CMS developers, sections 1 and 7.
At the end you can explain the model, find the template behind a page, and know which cache to clear.
The first week
One topic a day, with your development installation open.
| Day | Read | Do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | the first day above | install, click through the demo site and the administration |
| 2 | Content classes and attributes, Choosing datatypes, Creating a content class | create a class with a full view template |
| 3 | View modes, Fetching content in templates, Relations and embeds | a list page with line views and paging |
| 4 | Sections, roles and policies, Users and registration, Siteaccesses and multisite | a members-only section tested with a test account |
| 5 | Layouts for CMS developers, Settings and INI for CMS developers, Extensions you will write | a landing page in the layouts editor; your settings in your extension |
At the end you can build the parts of a typical site and know where each belongs.
Coming from another CMS
Read the comparison first, then the model, then the migration guide if you are moving a site:
| From | Read |
|---|---|
| WordPress | Coming from WordPress, then WordPress and Exponential |
| Drupal | Coming from Drupal, then Drupal and Exponential |
| TYPO3 | Coming from TYPO3, then Other applications and databases |
| eZ Platform or Ibexa | Coming from eZ Platform or Ibexa, then chapter 16 |
| Anything else | Mapping content to Exponential, then Importing content |
Building a first site
In project order:
- Designing a content model and the Content model review checklist.
- Creating a content class, Rich text, Images and image aliases.
- Templates and overrides, View modes, Layouts for CMS developers.
- Translations and languages, Siteaccesses and multisite, URL aliases and routing.
- Forms and information collection, Search, Workflows and triggers, Cronjobs.
- Importing content, Site packages and installers.
- Performance, Security checklist, Accessibility, SEO basics.
- Deploying a site and the Project launch checklist.
Going headless
Headless delivery, The REST API, Content from PHP, then the application creators' pages (Application creators: start here).
Going deep: the extension development book
When the site needs code of its own, continue in Extension development. Its own Reading paths has a builder path (settings, templates, overrides, no PHP) and a PHP developer path; both start where this section ends. Designers on your team start at Designers: start here, and the template language has its own reference (The template language).
Learning in a course
The trainers' Developers course teaches the same ground in thirteen modules with exercises and quizzes; Exponential Layouts and Migrating to Exponential are courses of their own.
Related pages
- CMS developers: start here
- CMS developer FAQ
- Glossary for CMS developers
- Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.
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