Something I’ve been waiting years for is a truly lightweight content management system. One that isn’t over-bloated and has virtually no learning curve. And one that takes minimal time to set up. In fact, nothing at all like your usual CMS. Over the last few years I’ve spent hours exploring the likes of Modx or Frog, but for most of my clients they just don’t fit the brief – it’s the sledgehammer/nut scenario all over again.

While a lot of these mid-level content management systems are awesome feats of programming they tend to suffer from one overriding problem – too much functionality. Not that it’s their fault of course. It’s the nature of a system trying to be all things to all users. But why install a system that’s carrying so much baggage? The control panels often have more buttons than the cockpit of a 747 (fine for geeks, bad for clients), and the system often ends up unused because it’s just “too scary”. Not to mention the hundreds of files required to run a CMS. Maybe it’s time to consider something lighter – something that does just what you need, and nothing more? And of course it needs to look pretty too…

Enter Unify, a content editor developed by Unit Interactive, and the first one we’ve played with that actually made us smile while installing it. No database to set up, just a basic class to apply to the HTML you wish to make editable, and virtually no learning curve for the end user. True, it isn’t actually a content management system – just a content editor. But for those projects that would typically get the Contribute treatment, Unify is perfect – whether or not you choose to describe it as ‘a CMS’. Sure, it does have limits, but they’re far outweighed by the benefits.

Let’s talk you through the installation process and you can decide for yourself.

Getting started
Purchasing the license and downloading the files was pain-free, only requiring some basic details such as email, username, and password. The license covers just one domain, but with such a low price tag ($16) it would be a steal at twice the price. The download (a zip file) weighs in at less than 1MB and is unique to each license.

Installing the Unify files
Once you’ve unzipped the files, the fun begins. The Unify files need to be uploaded to your server and placed within a folder in your top-level directory (usually called ‘public_html’ or similar). And that’s all! No other steps are required, and yet you’ve now got a fully installed CMS.

Choose your editable areas
The final task is to apply the Unify class to whichever block-level element you want to make editable. A simple copy/paste of class=”unify” is all that’s needed. This really couldn’t be simpler!

Final thoughts
Unit Interactive have managed to build a useful tool which puts the fun back into developing ‘portfolio-style’ websites. Sure, it’s not open-source, but the price-point is spot on. Anyone thinking about developing a content management system could do a lot worse than take a leaf from Unify’s book.

As for developers and web designers, check it out! You’ll be glad you did.