itBegins

What is an Application Framework?

An Application Framework like Zikula, is an application that runs on your web server and handles the running of your website for you. It provides you with an online administration panel to change your site, and handles the changes in the HTML code for you.

This is often confused with HTML editing programs like Dreamweaver, but there are few similarities. With Dreamweaver, you still have to edit each individual page yourself, whereas with Zikula most of the page construction is handled for you. For example, adding a news article in Dreamweaver might require you to create a new page for the article itself, and update the news index page on your site. With Zikula, you type your article text into an online form and the system handles the rest - creating the new article page and updating any related pages for you.

What are the Benefits?

The benefits of using Zikula are many, and it's hard to cover them all here. The important features are:

Online administration panel

This allows you to change your site with nothing more than an internet connection and web browser. You can update it from anywhere, and from any computer. Also, more than one person can have access to the admin panel, with access control. Your news reporters can have access to the news section, and no where else, while your technical administrator can see all the site settings.

Automatic Page Creation

Zikula handles the construction of every page for you. Not only does this ensure consistency of display, it reduces duplication. If you would like a new navigation bar in your header, you only have to edit one file and the changes are reflected everywhere.

Flexible and Extensible

You can easily add new features to your site. If you would like to offer downloads, then you install a new 'module' and suddenly a Downloads icon appears in your admin panel. This automatically provides download hit counters, added dates, categorization, searching and thumbnails. All you do is upload the file and type a description.

Best of all, it's free

While you can pay thousands of Pounds/Dollars/Euros for a solution like this, there are many, many free options that are just as good and just as reliable. The only costs are the initial set up and ongoing maintenance. That's where I can come in - as an expert on Zikula, in addition to having experience with other free systems and on custom built solutions you can have your own website, just like this with a minimum of effort.

The interface for day to day management of your site is self explanatory and easy to use. For a small retainer each month every other aspect of the site can be managed by myself or one of the team at itbegins.co.uk - taking a great load off your mind.

Why Zikula?

Following 5 years of experience in the web design industry, I have built up an extensive knowledge of the market. Having looked at the internal workings of many competing systems, it is apparent that Zikula is well ahead of its competitors. Additionally, my involvement with the Zikula team gives me a detailed knowledge of the system that few other consultants can match. Zikula's flexibility makes your task easier, as more is possible and my job simpler, creating custom solutions for my clients which are unlike any other.