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Quick, easy and cute content management

CMS from Scratch is a quick, easy, and affordable FREE solution that lets web designers give their customers a web site they can edit themselves.

It is now also an OPEN SOURCE project, so you can use the source PHP scripts for FREE. See the project at Google Code.

New - Clicss templates for CMS from Scratch

Get a beautiful website template with CMSfS pre-installed

Clicss is now offering a selection of website templates with CMS from Scratch fully integrated. This makes setting up your website even easier!

The CMS is already fully set up, with all the includes you need to create a fully-functional website.

Browse Clicss CMS packages »

Features

Simple to use

  • No database
  • No programming knowledge
  • Super-quick to install and set up
  • Quick & simple AJAX-powered interface

Specifically designed for

  • web designers and developers
  • who understand some HTML
  • who need to create sites very rapidly
  • that can be easily & quickly updated by clients with minimal training

We know this because we built it for ourselves and our own customers. It has worked so well for us, we want to share it with you.

CMS from Scratch is both simple and smart. Once you've grasped how it works, you can make an existing web site client-editable in under an hour!

Quick Overview

  • There are 2 user accounts: Designer (that's you) and Client (your client).
  • Designer creates Pages in the CMS, then identifies sections that are client-editable and creates these as Includes.
  • There are 3 types of Includes: plain text, HTML and Sets (which are like flexible tables for content that follows a pattern).
  • Editor logs in with their own password and can only change the content of Includes, but can't mess up the structure of the site.
  • After editing an Include, pages can be previewed before the changes are put live.

Latest updates

04 February 2007

09 November 2007

  • Implemented the latest FCK editor. Browsing for links & images works perfectly
  • Fixed bug: "Save & continue" now causes "< restore" & "publish >" links to appear
  • Fixed inline links to help

01 November 2007

  • Fixed various small bugs, particuarly for IE6
  • You can now add custom tabs to the CMS UI... details to follow soon.

04 September 2007

  • Several Javascript fixes for tabs (shuffling, closing)
  • Fix for language error in rich text editor
  • Clients now will not see any Folder or Include that begins with the letter "x"

Customer Quotes

We at Steel Buildings have been on a lookout for a CMS that would enable us to retain our creative freedom (we normally produce completely custom-designed interactive websites with lots of complex Ajax and javascript).

The sheer elegance and simplicity of CMSfromscratch combined with unparalleled levels of hands-on support we received from Ben made our first implementation a breeze!

The result has impressed our demanding client thoroughly. We will definitely be using CMSfromscratch again in many more of our projects.

Steel Buildings UK

CMSFS is THE BEST SUITED CMS for DEVELOPERS. I simply love it.

Organic Quality Web Designs

CMS from Scratch seems like it's almost perfect, simple and easy to use.

Staten Island Property

Screenshot

CMS from Scratch has a powerful but incredibly easy-to-use AJAX user interface that anyone can learn in minutes. Quickly create 3 types of content Includes and drop them into your source code with easy tags.

Preview Video

Sit back and watch a flat HTML page get made client-editable in just 5 minutes!

User Guide

Or read our User Guide for more low-down on how to use the CMS.

Requirements

  • Just a basic familiarity with HTML
  • Web hosting running PHP 4.3 or higher and ionCube extensions
  • IE6, IE7 or Firefox on Windows or Firefox on Mac

White-label User Guide for your Customers

We want you to get all the credit for giving your customers this great system, so it's completely white-labeled.

We've even provided a generic user guide for Editors that you can customise, re-brand, and provide to your customers.

Editor's user guide (MS Word, 743 KB)

Support

For time-critical commercial projects, we can provide development support and training. Contact Scratchmedia for details.

For everyone else, please use the CMS from Scratch dedicated support forum on Scratch Web Design Forums.