Content management systems (CMS) are the foundation of many eCommerce stores. Thanks to them, businesses can easily manage content on their website without any programming knowledge.
Sulu CMS is a content management system built on Symfony PHP. With its flexible architecture and user-friendly interface, Sulu CMS enables businesses of all sizes to manage their digital presence efficiently. Moreover, its features help developers and marketing teams provide the best customer experience possible.
Quick Jump
- What is Sulu CMS?
- Sulu CMS and Symfony framework
- Key benefits of Sulu CMS
- Integrating Sulu CMS with Sylius
- Who uses Sulu CMS?
- Summary
What is Sulu CMS?
Sulu is an open-source content management system created to help people manage various content on websites, mobile apps, and other platforms. Built based on modern web technologies, it provides a flexible and expandable platform for creating unique digital experiences.
With robust capabilities for developers and an intuitive interface for editors, it serves as the perfect platform for cutting-edge business websites and web applications. If you’re looking for a CMS that prioritizes speed and efficiency, offer data management capabilities, or deep analytics integration then Sulu might be the perfect solution for your company’s complex website needs.
Sulu CMS and PHP Symfony framework
The fact that Sulu CMS is built on top of the PHP Symfony framework makes it a convenient content management system, as many other eCommerce solutions are built also using this framework and can be integrated with it.
This compatibility stems from Sulu leveraging Symfony’s flexible architecture and extensive component library, which enables developers to use a wide array of Symfony components for tasks like form handling, security, and routing directly within their Sulu projects.
This symbiosis between Sulu and the Symfony framework results in a development environment that is both powerful and efficient, significantly reducing the complexity and time required to develop, maintain, and scale modern web applications.
Key benefits of Sulu CMS
Now, let’s take a look at how online businesses can benefit from integrating Sulu CMS with their eCommerce stores.
100% open-source and clean code
Firstly, because it is available for free and provides access to high-quality code, Sulu CMS can be easily customized to suit your unique business needs without having to pay a license fee.
Headless CMS
You can use Sulu as a content or data management tool for any application. Deliver your content through an API, leverage the comprehensive rendering engine, or do both. Thanks to the open-source and headless architecture of Sulu, it is a flexible and scalable solution.
Multilanguage and localization features
Another advantage of Sulu is the ability to add an unlimited number of localizations, dialects, and languages. Distribute the content based on customers’ location, match page templates with different languages, use language-specific metadata for multilingual SEO, and many more.
Content personalization
Sulu’s backend is designed to help content editors manage content and make the process intuitive. As mentioned above, content can be easily edited and published based on local language. Also, freely (re)use media type, out-of-the-box file organization features like segmenting and targeting, and search engine optimization to boost the efficiency of your efforts.
Integrated SEO functions and marketing
Smart digital marketing features built inside this CMS provide tools for marketers without the need to download additional plugins for marketing efforts. Sulu also offers semantic content elements, automated canonical redirects, and more to help with technical SEO and easy integration with analytics tools. On top of that, effortlessly create landing pages with custom URLs and custom tracking codes.
Live content preview
While editing, view content in real-time across multiple device types to better understand your customer’s perspective.
Multiple websites
Multisite content management is a core feature of Sulu CMS. Webspaces – distinct content areas allow for the management and organization of website structures, themes, and locales under separate namespaces, enabling the creation of multi-lingual and multi-channel websites within a single Sulu instance. Each webspace can have its own set of pages, navigation menus, and configurations, facilitating tailored content delivery and site management for diverse audiences or purposes.
Building pages without coding
Speaking of creating pages, the content toolkit in Sulu helps to build pages and microsites without programming knowledge.
Seamless integration with other systems
Sulu’s architecture provides an environment to easily integrate Sulu with all the systems needed, for instance, Google Analytics, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), or Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
Security and access control
Manage your content with peace of mind by leveraging Sulu’s role-based permissions, content access restrictions, registration approval process, and many more.
Community support
Apart from support from a dedicated core team of Sulu, the devoted Sulu community is always ready to help you with any issues or concerns via Slack channel. What’s more, visit Sulu’s GitHub to stay updated about new releases and extensions developed by contributors each day.
Integrating Sulu CMS with Sylius – SyliusSuluPlugin by BitBag
Sylius and Sulu CMS form a robust and dynamic duo as both are open-source platforms built on the PHP Symfony framework. This common foundation simplifies integration, creating a more seamless process from the outset. PHP Symfony developers can efficiently work across both platforms, obviating the need for additional programming staff. This consolidation not only cuts down on costs and development time but also ensures high-quality code that can be tailored precisely to the specific requirements of eCommerce websites, catering adeptly to the needs of online businesses.
With our SyliusSuluPlugin integration, integrating these two technologies is even easier.
The Sulu-Sylius integration plugin enables smooth communication between the Sulu CMS and the Sylius eCommerce platform via API integration within the shop panel. It simplifies content management in Sulu CMS while utilizing Sylius’ robust eCommerce features. As each store’s frontend is always customized, the plugin currently does not offer pre-built page or block solutions. Instead, it provides an abstraction layer and examples, which you can use to develop your own pages or blocks.
Read more about SyliusSuluPlugin by BitBag on GitHub >>>
What about other eCommerce platforms?
In the case of other platforms, integration with Sulu CMS is not that easy and requires more work. In the case of Magento, more effort may be needed due to the differences in architecture. In the case of SaaS eCommerce platforms like BigCommerce or Shopify, Sulu can be integrated via API. However, integrating Sulu with other platforms often results in a custom development path and extensive customization to ensure a seamless connection between systems. Also, the complexity of this task depends on unique business and technical requirements. Most often, this approach requires the knowledge of experienced developers to implement Sulu effectively.
Who uses Sulu CMS?
Summary
As presented in this blog, Sulu CMS is a powerful tool for enterprise projects that can improve many aspects of running an eCommerce business, such as complex business logic-driven applications, B2B services, multi-channel platforms. Sulu provides an architecture that allows for flexibility and integration with all other essential systems to robust digital marketing features; Sulu helps maximize all team members’ efforts.
Additionally, Sulu integrates really well with Sylius, which creates a powerful and future-proof duo that can meet various challenges in the ever-changing eCommerce industry.
Sulu CMS – complex solutions for creating and management content
