SyntaxCMS simplifies publishing various types of content to a site, facilitates creating and managing arbitrary relationships among content items, automates and accelerates custom development, and encourages reuse of site components with other SyntaxCMS installations. It is built using PHP and MySQL and is licensed under the Common Public License.
For Content Managers and Creators
- Create and edit site content online.
- Approve content before publishing to web.
- Set content items to publish/expire at a given time.
- Build complex site hierarchies using sections to organize content without creating HTML or template files.
- Restrict access and actions to content types by groups of users.
For Developers
- Define new content types on-the-fly. SyntaxCMS automatically provides forms for adding and editing content and base classes for working with content types in PHP code.
- Use the Collections and Filters API to query the database for matching objects without having to write SQL.
- Customize the look and layout of any part of the site using PHP.
Background
SyntaxCMS has been used by Forum One Communications as an in-house solution for delivering dynamic, easy-to-manage websites for over two years. Parts of the project have always been open source, previously hosted on sourceforge, but this is the first release of the entire CMS package. During this time, the SyntaxCMS platform has been tested, refined, and used in production environments for various clients.
Resources
The development team has an active blog at blog.syntaxcms.org
Documentation
Syntax CMS General Module HOWTO
21 May 2007
Concise and complete how to guide for working with Syntax's General module to generate and customize lists of Records. Summarizes best practices for setting up modules and points of customization during development.
SyntaxCMS 1.3 API documentation
(28 Apr 2006)
Documentation for the APIs used to maniuplate data in SyntaxCMS. For building new applications and extending existing ones, these are the APIs you will use.
SyntaxCMS 1.3 Class documentation
(28 Apr 2006)
Class documentation for the main classes used in the SyntaxCMS application built atop the SyntaxCMS API.
HOWTO
Syntax CMS General Module HOWTO
21 May 2007
Concise and complete how to guide for working with Syntax's General module to generate and customize lists of Records. Summarizes best practices for setting up modules and points of customization during development.
HOWTO: Patch url_fopen Vulnerability
25 Sep 2006
In versions of SyntaxCMS since 1.1.1, there is an exploitable vulnerability in the testing scripts for installations with PHP 4.3.0 and higher,
You can update to the latest CVS version or apply the patch files included here. To apply the patch files, download the attached file and run:
...where
register_globals on, and allow_furl_open set to true. There is an exploit in the wild, so update your systems immediately.You can update to the latest CVS version or apply the patch files included here. To apply the patch files, download the attached file and run:
tar -xzvf 513_file_fopen_vuln_patch.tgzcd fopen_vuln_patchpatch path_to_your_public_root/admin/testing/index.php index.php.patchpatch path_to_your_public_root/admin/testing/tests/0004_init_urls.php 0004_init_urls.php.patchpatch path_to_your_public_root/admin/testing/tests/0030_init_syntax.php 0030_init_syntax.php.patchcp .htaccess path_to_your_public_root/admin/testing/tests/...where
path_to_your_public_root is the path to your Apache-readable directory where SyntaxCMS's public root is installed.Highlights
Earth Force
(10 Dec 2004)
Earth Force, an environmental education non-profit organization, uses Syntax CMS coupled with XCart. Their implementation features pages for local offices, whose staff are able to control their own content. This site shows the flexibility of the SyntaxCMS module system, as all the content comes from site sections and a single article datatype, flexibly positioned and presented depending on the article's type.

