Extending WordPress into CMS Made Simple

If you try to do a comparison between CMSMS vs. WordPress to determine which platform to use for both a website AND blog, good luck.

If you’re in the web design and development business, you will typically stick with a CMS once you’re comfortable extending and supporting it. So getting a recommendation on any CMS will always be biased depending on whom you’re asking. For example, this article is focused on WordPress and CMS Made Simple. I’m sure other content management systems (Drupal, Joomla, ExpressionEngine, etc.) do a fine job, but I have several years invested in WordPress and CMSMS, and I would rather spend my time extending the platforms I know (and love), rather than try to get up to speed on another one.

The dilemma comes when you have a great company website, and you need to extend it further by adding a blog. Although you can add and manage a blog within the CMSMS platform, it’s heavily dependent on external modules that often need adjustment when the core CMS gets updated.

For blogging, I recommend WordPress. Using CMSMS and WordPress together means that you will have to log into two separate administration platforms to manage your website(s), but keeping the management of blog and website content separate makes sense in the long run, and only extends your social and search engine optimization capacity.

This article will provide information on the tools needed to dynamically add your latest WordPress entries into CMS, by using an RSS parser.

Example:

Assumptions

• You have WordPress, and know what your feed URL is.
• You have CMSMS, and know how to manage modules and a UDT (user-defined tag).

Step 1: Download and Install Stuff

• CMSSimplePie: An RSS Parser made for CMSMS that uses the SimplePie Lib
• Truncate Better: This is an optional UDT that allows you to truncate your article summary text, giving you a bit more control on how your feeds are presented.

Step 2: Add Feed to CMSSimplePie

• In the CMSMS admin, navigate to “Content” > “CMSSimplePie”.
• Click on the “Add new Feed” link and fill in the details.

Step 3: Customize Your CMSSimplePie Template

In my example, I use the most common approach of including a numbered set of text-based entries in a box, allowing the user to read more of the article, navigate to the blog, and subscribe to the RSS feed.

<div id="feedBox">
     <h3>From the Blog</h3>
     <ul id="feed">
     {foreach from=$feed->get_items($start,$length) item=onefeed}
          <li>
               <div class="feedDate">{$onefeed->get_date()|date_format:"%Y/%m/%d %H:%M"}</div>
               <div class="feedTitle"><a href="{$onefeed->get_permalink()}" title="{$onefeed->get_title()}">{$onefeed->get_title()}</a></div>
               <div class="feedDescription">{truncate_better text=$onefeed->get_content() truncate='300' add=' ...'}</div>
               <div class="feedMoreLink"><a href="{$onefeed->get_permalink()}">Read Full Article  »</a></div>
          </li>
     {/foreach}
     </ul><!-- #feed -->
     <div class="feedBottomLinks"><a href="#link">Visit the Blog</a> | <a href="#link">Subscribe RSS</a></div>
</div><!-- #feedBox -->

Step 4: Add Your Own Styles

Again, this example displays a small box that is easily placed and customizable.

#feedBox {
     background: #f6f6f6;
     width: 200px;
     padding: 0;
     margin: 0 0 20px 0;
     border: 1px solid #ccc;
}
#feedBox h3 {
     background: #343434;
     font-size: 16px;
     font-weight: normal;
     margin: 0;
     padding: 5px 10px;
     color: #f2f2f2;
}
#feed {
     margin: 15px;
     padding: 0;
     list-style: none;
}
#feed li {
     background: none;
     margin: 0 0 10px 0;
     padding: 0 0 10px 0;
     border-bottom: 1px dotted #ccc;
}
.feedDate {
     font-size: 10px;
     margin: 0 0 5px 0;
     text-transform: uppercase;
     color: #999;
}
.feedTitle {
     font-weight: bold;
     font-size: 13px;
     margin: 0 0 5px 0;
}
.feedDescription {
     font-size: 12px;
     margin: 0 0 10px 0;
}
.feedMoreLink { font-size: small; }
.feedBottomLinks {
     font-size: 12px;
     text-align: center;
     margin: 10px;
}

Summary

Although there are several ways to incorporate a WordPress blog, using the “CMSSimplePie” module along with the “Truncate Better” UDT has been the easiest method at this point. Another notable plugin to incorporate WordPress into CMSMS is the WordPress Blog Post Display plugin.

Sites Using this Functionality

• Global Partnership for Education
• BayGroup International

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