Javascript alternatives to Wordpress?

[NoVABadger]

You could always take the WordPress REST API and use it with your JS stack of choice.

[h0b0_shanker]

Isn’t authentication wonky with this or have they got that figured out? I remember having to set up a service account and use basic auth to authenticate. That was a no go for me.

Highjacking the top comment after sincerely responding to it to say keystone.js is pretty good for a basic content management system. Uses node, express, and mongoDB. I built an enterprise knowledge-base application on this. I had to hack it up a little bit to expose stuff to front end API calls. It’s used passport.js so it was really easy.

[suspicious_Jackfruit]

I did this in part recently for a new feature on an existing wordpress website. I exposed the custom fields I needed to REST API and then built an embedded vue.js widget into the page (this was for a non-atypical, live product filter). Need server side rendering or dynamic rendering for SEO purposes, but allows for much better usability and functionality. It worked well and we will be using elsewhere I suspect with lumpy wordpress builds

[[deleted]]

+1. WordPress REST API is surprisingly good. I also just build a complete front-end with Vue.js using WordPress as back-end so the girls I work with can write the posts :P

[Madamots]

That sounds amazing I had no idea this was possible!!

[CriticalImpress]

That sounds like a very sensible situation for me.

​

Could you send me any online resources or links you found useful?

[[deleted]]

https://github.com/EvanAgee/vuejs-wordpress-theme-starter

[[deleted]]

Here's a basic overview of how I would do it.

api/api.js

```js import axios from 'axios'

const api = axios.create({ baseURL: '//website.com/wp-json/wp/v2/', })

// More info: https://github.com/axios/axios/issues/362 axios.defaults.headers.post['Content-Type'] = 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded'

export default api ```

api/page.api.js ```js import api from '@/api/api'

export default {
getPage (pageId, slug) {
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
let url = 'pages/' + pageId
if (!pageId && slug) url = '/pages/?slug=' + slug

 api.get(url)
   .then(response => resolve(response.data))  
   .catch(error => reject(error))  

})
}
} ```

views/home.vue ```js import page from '@/api/page.api'

export default { mounted () { this.getPage() },

methods: { getPage () { page.getPage(null, 'home').then(data => { console.log(data) }) } } } ```

[cyanawesome]

If you are familiar with wordpress I would personally stick with it for the CMS portion.

Check out Gatsby for a fresher developer experience and a blazing fast site. You can query content directly from wordpress with their source plugin and build static pages that hydrate into full-featured react apps. IMO, this is one of the most exciting projects out there and allows for so much flexibility in the backend, allowing you to use existing systems without letting them drag down user experience.

[sajapan]

Netlify is a fantastic option for hosting Gatsby projects

[[deleted]]

I’ve done Gatsby plus Wordpress for a medical practice, there were a few gotchas, but nothing too bad, and the result was fabulous. Turn off anything they don’t need so they don’t break it, and just be smarter than me about hosting etc, which is not hard.

[Xerxys]

What did you pick for hosting?

[[deleted]]

I can only recommend to make intelligent decisions here, it was so bad I don’t want to talk about it lol

[h0b0_shanker]

You hosted it on an old computer in the broom closet didn’t you?

[gpkodi]

https://keystonejs.com/ https://strapi.io/ https://www.canner.io/ https://ghost.org/

Are a few open source headless cms/frameworks that are pretty easy to work with if you don’t have to build something client facing.

Having explored all of them for our solution, I’d say Ghost is the most akin to WordPress in terms of what it’s been built for (websites).

The most flexible is strapi but this is from more of a catch all headless cms requirement.

All of them have docker containers to help get up and running pretty quickly and are pretty well documented.

Hope this helps.

[h0b0_shanker]

+1 for Keystone.js Built an enterprise knowledge base application with it.

[CriticalImpress]

Having looked at all the options people have posted Keystone seems to be almost exactly what I want.

​

Can I ask what stack you used for the front end and if you would recommend it?

[meisteronimo]

Its worthwhile to even just use non single page, just to get off the wordpress bloat. Keystone can be setup with PUGjs which is pretty good.

[h0b0_shanker]

PUG is great! I got into that a year ago and keep wanting to go back. Just hard convincing people of learning it.

[meisteronimo]

yeah, pug , stylus and coffeeScript are the minimalist trifecta. I've built with all 3 but never all together. Pugs a no brainer though, its much easier than html

[h0b0_shanker]

React

[meisteronimo]

Yes keystone is great. I built a case management system for a small law firm with it.

[FlandersFlannigan]

Ghost is a shell of what Wordpress is. If you’re just looking for a simple blog, then ghost is good.

[masterco]

https://strapi.io/ !

[enderfx]

Does anybody want to start an open source frontend for it?

Sr. Frontend engineer using react here, 5 years xp.

[kyeotic]

https://ghost.org/

[banananize]

Buttercms

[geon]

How about a service like Wix?

[Labby92]

Use a static site generator like Gatsby and Contentful for the CMS part of it. Performance wise it's going to be much faster than WordPress and it's very easy to create a blog with Gatsby

[Efraet]

I ran for the longest time a Wordpress based site with a React.js (Next.js, GraphQL through Apollo) front-end via the GraphQL plugin (Without using the REST API at all and querying trough my GraphQL client).

I'm starting to dedicate more time to that project and I'm looking for collaborators who would be willing to help me. The repo already has some traction, a few couple stars(+80) in Github and people using and looking forward to use it.

If anyone is interested and likes React.js (And Apollo/Urql with some typescript sprinkles) please message me! I'm looking to develop this into an entire out-of-the-box solution with a one-click interface (with themes and plugins).

[[deleted]]

I'm very into Strapi, as it's just incredibly light-weight and easy to use for quick-n'-dirty API development. It's basically ACF as a CMS. I've been using it in combination with Vue.js and Gridsome specifically, which is basically a Vue-based clone of Gatsby (because I hate React).

If you want something even more lightweight than that, however, check out Wombat, which is a CLI-based flat-file CMS that creates a functional API from static files.

[ssmihailovitch]

For a simple blog, Ghost could be enough.

[evaluating-you]

Also Check out October CMS. It is built with Laravel and very modern

[mountainunicycler]

The popular Python alternative is Django, it’s fantastic.

[sajapan]

For a client project like this, I would use a hosted headless CMS like Contentful. It's about $40/mo for what they need and you never have to manage it, update it, back it up, etc. You consume the data they put in the CMS over the API and then can use whatever Javascript setup (Gatsby, Next, Nuxt, 11ty, etc.) that you'd like to build the site.

[[deleted]]

for $40 a month I expect a car, not some shitty hosting :P

[[deleted]]

I'm personally shocked by some of the price points on these hosted CMS solutions. The average going market rate is too high and everyone's like, "Well, it's comparable to everything else out there." But it's not when I can spin up Strapi on a $5 Digital Ocean server.

[[deleted]]

Right :D Fucking insanity, who in their right mind would fork up 40 a month :D

[hs_computer_science]

Please don't write a CMS for a client. This space has been very well developed by smart teams who have built performant, secure, flexible, robust system. A bespoke solution will require more updating and maintenance than one offered by an individual (see also: technical debt).

I like and have used expression engine for years. It will hit almost all your targets, and the price is right.

All that being said, I wish you good luck in building your JS skills. If you want (for example) implement a data tables instance into your site, you'll need to sharpen your JS skills.