Perch Alternatives?

    I love Perch for its simplicity - the majority of my sites are custom designed portfolio sites with users only needing to update some text, images and maintain a blog. I don't need the majority of the functionality (shop etc). I like to create my html/css/php in Dreamweaver.


    I'm uneasy building my next site on Perch given the lack of updates recently and wondered if the Perch community have any other CMS suggestions that are as simple to integrate into custom designed websites as Perch. I'm looking at Craft CMS - but it seems quite a bit more technical to install etc than Perch.

  • drewm

    Approved the thread.

    Maybe it's just me but I don't mind infrequent updates, and value a stable version. I would keep using Perch for years even without updates, because of the extensive toolset. I'd be surprised to find a similar range of tools that often effortlessly work together and link up well. All those templating attributes! They get me out of trouble all the time. With Wordpress, developing there felt like I was continuously falling down an icy chasm :-)

    You probably will not need support, the slack and stack exchange channels will sort most things out. I paid for one month recently when our server config was blocking updates and no one could work out why.. they fixed it in one day but thats the only time in many years of usage.

    Quote from ex-jedi

    Vapid looks interesting....open source with a small group of contributors. That would be a better model for Perch than the current astonishing levels of neglect.


    LOL I'll take neglect over crashing and burning....


    You just never know what will live and what will die.


    "Sadly, the Vapid hosting service and CMS platform have been retired. Thank you, though, for your support and interest. Please check back down the road for the next chapter."

    Quote from ex-jedi

    Currently looking at ExpressionEngine. Just from a quick scan it looks a bit similar to Perch. The cost of support looks a bit steep though.


    I can't speak for latest version, but I worked with a previous Expression Engine which I didn't like. I think it was version 2 or 3. I understand it's received major updates since then and is open source.


    I found the channels model confusing, not intuitive. The interface was not great. It was a site I inherited at work, not one I built. I rebuilt the site in Perch Runway and its still going strong. But a CMS choice for one person might not be good for another, and it all depends on project requirements and how much you like working with it. I didn't actually know that Craft was so expensive with the e-commerce option... that actually sounds intriguing (mentioned in other thread).