TXP vs EE

Ace of Dubs · 2006-07-17 20:50:41

This debate will rage forever and ultimately is a matter of preference. I am more interested in hearing the practical pros and cons of what each of these packages has to offer.

Personally, the open source and warm community vibe is what wins me over with TXP hands down, and I will be using it for the bulk of my work. But this doesnt mean that one day I wont use EE for a more complicated project that is out of TXP’s grasp. (Or maybe I am just infiltrating EE so I can rob all their good ideas and have our gang whip up some plugins..Muahahahhhh!)

Thats how I see it anyway

NyteOwl · 2006-07-17 21:06:45

There are a few features on the EE list that ould look good in TXP :)

hcgtv · 2006-07-17 21:08:12

Ace of Dubs wrote:

(Or maybe I am just infiltrating EE so I can rob all their good ideas and have our gang whip up some plugins..Muahahahhhh!)

Muahahahhhh!

running with scissors · 2006-07-17 21:31:04

i don’t know why you are trying to turn this into a pissing contest but i agree, txp has a bigger and more involved developer community. i’ve stated as such many times in the past. it is definitely one of its greatest strengths. however, your numbers don’t take in consideration that txp has been around since what, 2001? i think ee is going on 3 now. you will also need to factor in ee modules and extensions as well plugins as ways of extending the system. in fact most of the plugins listed on the pmachine site are developed by the community at large with links to additional plugins, modules, and extensions within the forums. plenty of sharing going on. i would say it is quite different from how you painted it. but i guess you have a perspective that needs to be maintained.

as far holding my own with other design firms/houses, i think we are doing just fine without having to worry about some imaged technological advantage;) sibley peteet design

hcgtv · 2006-07-17 22:13:56

Don, I presume.

This isn’t a pissing contest, sorry if you feel like it is, we’re just debating two different mindsets.

I’ve followed pMachine for many years, as I do many other projects, you can say I’m a connoisseur of Dynamic Web Apps. I actually ran a pMachine site for about 6 months, did a 14 day EE eval before it was launched. I decided to switch to an Open Source solution because I didn’t want to pay the price of admission for every domain I was planning on launching.

EE is a great application, I like the synergy of the CMS, Forum, Gallery and Wiki modules. I just feel I can do the same with Open Source apps.

Mary · 2006-07-17 22:34:53

i don’t know why you are trying to turn this into a pissing contest…

Hardly. Bert prefers to stick with open source software, you’re indifferent. No biggie. We all use what works for us for a given project.

I am more interested in hearing the practical pros and cons of what each of these packages has to offer.

How about trying it out yourself? :) That’s the quickest way to know what it can do.

I like it’s custom fields stuff, and parts of how the templating system works.
The tags are indeed “yucky” – ala Smarty: {exp:weblog:entries orderby="date" sort="desc" limit="100"}
Prefs are somewhat confusing in their layout.

I’ve tried to use it on more than one occasion, then gave up when I kept hitting roadblocks in what I wanted to acheive in different areas.

running with scissors · 2006-07-17 22:47:46

are you kidding? don has no idea how any of this stuff works. but that is funny:)

i think we travelled down the same road only to get to deferent destinations. i too have been looking at various dynamic apps, always looking for the holy grail of cms/publishing solutions and never truly finding it. pmachine, expressionsengine, textpattern, modx, symphony, mt, wordpress, jetbox, etc and not mention several custom solutions. of those txp and ee certainly distinguished themselves above the rest. and though ee is becoming my primary engine of choice, i still keep my big toe in the textpattern waters incase things change.

ee is far from perfect and i certainly have my gripes, but there is one thing that it has – accountability.

my apologies if this has somewhat derailed the discussion.

Last edited by running with scissors (2006-07-17 22:53:04)

Ace of Dubs · 2006-07-17 23:02:57

I actually have EE installed and am building a basic blog. So far I am loving some of the goodies it has to offer. The relationships between various articles and categories is a lot more intuitive and yes, unlimited and groupable custom fields is a BIG plus. But as Mary said, the admin can be a little cluttered at times. I dont like that I have to navigate 3 or 4 levels deep to get the tool/setting I need. The simplicity and elegance of TXP is one of its greatest strengths…

running with scissors wrote:

ee is far from perfect and i certainly have my gripes..

In the spirit of keeping this thread on track, I would like to hear what you love/hate about EE and TXP. The aim of this thread was to get a list of +‘s and -‘s so feel free to contribute :)

running with scissors · 2006-07-18 02:51:49

fair enough…

quick list of pros, some of which have already been mentioned:

+ unlimited custom fields – one of my favorite aspects of the system.
+ conditionals and advanced conditionals are quite powerful and another favorite.
+ custom sql queries – i’m far from a master in this area, but they have come in very handy.
+ multi user control panel access – limit what kind of access individuals have in the back-end.
+ stand alone entry forms for members.
+ flexible template structure – can be as simple or as complex as you need it to be.
+ search and replace
+ flexible category and sub category structure.
+ tag syntax – i actually like it. to me, it’s not to dissimilar to txp but then again, i’m not going to win any scripting awards.
+ integrated forum and wiki with an e-commerce module on its way.
+ excellent documentation.
+ commercial software – faster development, accountability, and reliability.

cons:

- its blogging roots still show through at times.<br />
- cost can be an issue for some projects. not as big of a deal now that they offer a free core option.<br />
- no hierarchical page structure – existing article entry structure can be confusing to clients.<br />
- to many system admin configurations can be daunting and we bit confusing, especially for novices.

Last edited by running with scissors (2006-07-18 02:57:48)

davidm · 2006-07-18 06:40:18

Actually I had posted a comparison a while back, having been both a Textpattern user since 2004 and an EE user since 2005.

Here is how the comparison looks, for me :

<blockquote> BETTER THAN TXP

multiple weblogs is very easy to set up (as good if not better than b2evolution or WordPress Mu in this respect)
conditionnal global variables (detail here)
custom variables is more powerful than txp (can choose type, and associate custom field group individually to weblogs)
integrated gallery is nice (but only available in paid version)
revisionning (utility of this might be discussed though)
rights management and user management (both backend and frontend, pretty granular control over permissions)
Built-in Private Messenging (can be useful for collaborative writing, as Jeremie often pointed out => Jeremie correct me if I am wrong) and mailing list

AS GOOD AS TXP

template groups are akin to sections (but same “problem”, categories cannot be hierachically placed under template groups)
sub-templates akin to forms
tags are easy and readable, templating is as good as textpattern, so is standard compliance.
plugins are called via tags : e.g can be placed in template and you can pass parameters in a very similar way

NOT AS GOOD AS TXP

not opensource (but now, free core)
urls are not as flexible and search engine friendly as txp (based on path info. To EE users : yeah I know, can be tweaked with rewrite rules, but more complicated)
admin is ugly and way too heavy (though better laid out than before)
fewer plugins (under 90, most of them adding limited features…)
modules are very late and scarce (forum and galery were long overdue… and feeling lonely !)
</blockquote>

zem · 2006-07-18 07:04:39

+ Trackbacks

I’m a bit puzzled as to why people keep counting this as a pro (and its absence from Textpattern as a negative).

Trackback is 98% pure spam. And there’s no way to fix it.

It’s always been the case that Trackback support could be added to Textpattern with a plugin fairly easily. That no one has bothered, speaks volumes.

Ace of Dubs · 2006-07-18 12:02:10

Now this is more like it!

@david m

The full post in that thread is probably one of the best comparisons of CMS I have seen to date. Thx!

running with scissors wrote:

+ search and replace

Is this a global search/replace for multiple files?

zem wrote:

Trackback is 98% pure spam.

Holy crap on a stick! I had no idea the problem was that bad. Looking at it this way, no trackbacks is more of a feature than an omission.

hcgtv wrote:

Muahahahhhh!

Eeeeeexcellent! (said in Mr. Burns fashion)

I am still interested in hearing more comparisons, but from my own limited experience with both packages I can honestly say that if there is one feature of EE that simply MUST be implemented in TXP, it is their handling of custom fields. I never liked that TXP fields are always visible, even when not relevant to the content and I’m sorry but for anything other than a basic blog, ten of them is just not enough. Coming in at a close second would have to be the advanced conditional tags (the ability to nest more than three levels deep), particularly some elseif would be awesome, and probably not too difficult to make as a plugin…

The custom field issue is huge, and not as easily solved. I am curious how (or if) Team TXP is planning to address this shortcoming…

running with scissors · 2006-07-18 14:25:36

Is this a global search/replace for multiple files?

you have the ability search and replace specified blocks of info throughout your site in various ways: by section entry titles, section fields (body, extended, etc.), and templates/template groups. has come in very useful at times.

Trackback is 98% pure spam.

easy to turn on or off as you see fit.

hcgtv · 2006-07-18 14:59:24

Very good comparisons, nice thread.

One thing that has struck me as odd about EE is the ever increasing complexity of the admin section. I remember trying out a 1.0 version and the admin area was a thing of beauty, heck I kept linking to it from the project I was involved with. Then over time it’s gotten so busy that it’s gone away from it’s roots of being a simple CMS application.

I know EE has a lot of features but Rick and Paul really need to take a step back and make the admin area feel less complicated, bring it back to the simplistic look of the pMachine days for 90% of what users deal with on a daily basis. It’s just way too complicated to add an article, I can imagine the training of new clients these days.

As Textpattern revamps it’s admin area, I hope it stays simple, no matter how many features are added.

Sencer · 2006-07-18 15:20:09

(edit: removed)

Last edited by Sencer (2006-07-18 15:48:58)

Textpattern CMS

Textpattern CMS support forum

#16 2006-07-17 20:50:41

Re: TXP vs EE

#17 2006-07-17 21:06:45

Re: TXP vs EE

#18 2006-07-17 21:08:12

Re: TXP vs EE

#19 2006-07-17 21:31:04

Re: TXP vs EE

#20 2006-07-17 22:13:56

Re: TXP vs EE

#21 2006-07-17 22:34:53

Re: TXP vs EE

#22 2006-07-17 22:47:46

Re: TXP vs EE

#23 2006-07-17 23:02:57

Re: TXP vs EE

#24 2006-07-18 02:51:49

Re: TXP vs EE

#25 2006-07-18 06:40:18

Re: TXP vs EE

#26 2006-07-18 07:04:39

Re: TXP vs EE

#27 2006-07-18 12:02:10

Re: TXP vs EE

#28 2006-07-18 14:25:36

Re: TXP vs EE

#29 2006-07-18 14:59:24

Re: TXP vs EE

#30 2006-07-18 15:20:09

Re: TXP vs EE

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