¶ Craft CMS (PHP)
¶ Web Technologies
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¶ Introduction to Craft CMS and the Modern Web: A Foundation for Building Better Digital Experiences
If there is one thing that has remained true throughout the years, it’s that the web never stops evolving. Tools, languages, platforms, and expectations change so quickly that staying still almost feels like falling behind. Yet for all the turbulence, one principle has proven steady: the most successful digital experiences are built on clarity, thoughtful structure, and tools designed to empower rather than restrict. This course begins with that spirit in mind. While our main focus will be Craft CMS—a PHP-based content management system that has steadily won over developers, creators, and organizations—our journey will also stretch into the broader world of web technologies that surround and support it.
Craft CMS is not just another tool in the crowded landscape of content systems. It represents a shift toward building for the web with intentionality. Instead of forcing your project into a predefined shape, Craft hands you the framework to define your own. It’s a platform that respects the craft of development—one that assumes, perhaps correctly, that people who build for the web want the freedom to decide how their content behaves, how it looks, where it lives, and how it integrates with everything else. From the first moment you explore it, you start noticing that its design is not merely functional; it’s thoughtful. Everything in Craft, from its content modeling system to its extensibility, feels like it was built by people who care deeply about the developer’s day-to-day experience.
But before diving deeply into Craft itself, it’s worth zooming out and understanding the environment in which it exists. The modern web is an ecosystem of languages, standards, patterns, and technologies that work together—sometimes gracefully, sometimes with an unavoidable amount of friction—to produce the digital spaces we rely on. A CMS like Craft lives at the intersection of these elements. It communicates with servers, databases, APIs, front-end frameworks, caching layers, deployment tools, and content delivery networks. It is both a manager of data and a builder of experiences. And so, understanding Craft means understanding how these pieces fit together and how they influence one another.
The landscape of PHP development often gets described as old or outdated, usually by people who haven’t looked at the language in years. In reality, PHP has aged into one of the most capable, mature ecosystems for web development. The language has modernized significantly, frameworks have strengthened, and the tooling around PHP has grown robust and reliable. Craft CMS benefits heavily from this maturity. It takes advantage of PHP’s stability, its performance advancements, and its vast ecosystem of packages and community contributions. Instead of trying to be a monolithic system that does everything by itself, Craft stands on the shoulders of proven technologies, which is one of the reasons it has earned the trust of major organizations and agencies across the world.
If you have ever worked with a CMS that tried to offer an “all-inclusive” experience—forcing you into template systems you didn’t choose, or preventing you from shaping content models that fit your project—you might find Craft surprisingly refreshing. It doesn’t tell you how your website should be structured; it lets you decide. Content modeling becomes an act of problem-solving rather than an exercise in compromise. Templates are written using Twig, a templating language that encourages clarity and readability. Plugins extend the system without feeling like patchwork. Craft’s philosophy can be summed up like this: everything should be flexible, but nothing should be complicated.
This course will take you from the ground up: understanding what Craft CMS is, how it works at its core, and how to leverage its strengths to build digital experiences that feel intentional, reliable, and future-ready. But just as important, it will guide you through the larger ecosystem surrounding Craft. The modern web cannot be understood by learning one tool in isolation; it’s a woven fabric of interconnected technologies. You’ll explore concepts like server configuration, caching strategies, asset management, front-end integration, and database organization—each examined through the lens of how they relate to Craft and the kinds of projects built with it.
Craft’s content modeling system is one of its most celebrated features, and it’s where you begin to grasp the deeper power of the platform. Instead of rigid types, you build your structures by thinking about content in terms of meaning. What does this website need to express? What kinds of relationships exist among the content? What parts should be flexible, and what parts must remain consistent? When you build a website with Craft, you are not assembling pieces; you’re shaping the logic behind the information. As the course progresses, you will learn how to use this flexibility to design systems that adapt gracefully as projects grow.
While backend logic and CMS architecture form the skeleton of a project, the front-end layer gives it life. Craft is often used in projects that require meticulous front-end control—design systems, marketing sites, product pages, editorial flows, and digital storytelling experiences. Because Craft doesn’t enforce front-end frameworks, you can use whatever tools best fit your project: vanilla HTML/CSS/JS, Tailwind, Vue, React, or any combination of modern techniques. In the articles ahead, we will explore how Craft integrates smoothly with front-end strategies and how its templating engine encourages clean, maintainable code that remains readable months or even years after launch.
Another aspect of Craft that this course will explore is how the CMS scales beyond simple websites. Craft’s architecture is robust enough to operate as a headless CMS, powering mobile apps, connected devices, and decoupled front-end frameworks. This isn’t just a niche feature; it’s a core part of how Craft is used in modern development. With APIs, GraphQL, webhooks, and integrations becoming essential in today’s digital ecosystem, Craft offers the tools needed to communicate effectively across services. You’ll gain insight into how Craft manages these connections and how you can leverage them to build modular, future-proof systems.
Security, reliability, and maintainability are often overlooked when learning a new platform, but they play a central role in Craft’s design. Because it was created with professional developers in mind, it incorporates secure patterns and best practices without forcing you to become a security expert yourself. As we move forward in the course, we’ll dig into the security model, update strategies, server requirements, and recommended deployment workflows so you can build with confidence rather than hesitation.
Craft CMS thrives on its community. Developers, designers, plugin creators, and content professionals come together in a shared ecosystem where knowledge circulates freely. Throughout this course, you’ll see the value of that community—not only through the tools they create but through the philosophies they share. When people talk about Craft being a “developer-friendly” platform, they often point to the community as the heart of that experience. It’s a place where high standards coexist with generosity, where good practices are passed along, and where making things well is treated as a point of pride.
As you move through the upcoming articles, you’ll discover how to think about Craft not just as a CMS but as a companion in your development workflow. You’ll learn how to choose the right tools for each project, how to organize your logic, how to design with intention, and how to adapt your skills as your work becomes more complex. Every web project, whether small or large, starts with a vision—an idea of what the experience should represent. Craft CMS gives you the flexibility and precision to bring that vision to life without fighting the system along the way.
The course is designed not only to teach you Craft but to strengthen your overall understanding of web development. The web is built on layers: servers, databases, content structures, templates, styling, interactivity, accessibility, performance optimization, deployment, and maintenance. Craft sits at the center, but the whole picture matters. Over the next hundred articles, you will see how each of these parts interacts and how mastering them together leads to a more confident and capable approach to building for the web.
Whether you’re new to Craft or you’ve touched it before and want to deepen your skills, this introduction marks the beginning of a journey that will take you from fundamentals to advanced ideas. By the time you reach the later articles, you’ll be able to architect complex systems, implement refined user experiences, integrate multiple services, optimize for performance, and maintain scalable websites with ease. Craft CMS rewards patience, curiosity, and attention to detail—and through this course, you’ll learn how to use these strengths to build work that endures.
This first step is simply about gaining perspective. Craft CMS is a tool built for people who appreciate thoughtful design, who enjoy shaping content systems with clarity, and who want the freedom to build digital experiences their own way. By understanding the philosophy behind it and the ecosystem around it, you’ll be prepared for the deep dive ahead. Welcome to the start of this learning path, and welcome to a world where building for the web becomes not just a process but a craft in itself.
¶ Craft CMS (PHP)
¶ Beginner Level
1. Introduction to Craft CMS: Overview and Key Features
2. Setting Up Craft CMS: Installation on Local and Live Servers
3. Navigating the Craft CMS Control Panel
4. Understanding the Craft CMS Folder Structure
5. Creating Your First Craft CMS Website
6. Introduction to Craft CMS's Content Management System (CMS)
7. Crafting Your First Entries: Pages, Blog Posts, and More
8. Understanding Craft CMS Sections: Channels, Structures, and Singles
9. Using Craft CMS's Content Fields: Types and Settings
10. Working with Craft CMS Templates and Twig
11. The Craft CMS Dashboard: Key Features and Customization
12. Understanding Craft CMS's User Management System
13. Creating and Managing Craft CMS Entries
14. Introduction to Craft CMS’s Asset Management
15. Building Forms with Craft CMS
16. Working with Craft CMS's Global Settings
17. Using Craft CMS’s Taxonomies: Categories and Tags
18. Introduction to Craft CMS’s Navigation and Menus
19. Craft CMS Permissions and User Roles Explained
20. Introduction to Craft CMS's SEO Features
21. Craft CMS’s Image and File Handling for Developers
22. Using Craft CMS's Built-In Field Types: Plain Text, Dropdowns, and More
23. Craft CMS's Custom Fields and How to Use Them
24. Understanding Craft CMS's Entries and Templates Workflow
25. Customizing Craft CMS with Plugins
26. Introduction to Craft CMS's Multi-Site Setup
27. Implementing Craft CMS's Version Control System for Content
28. Using Craft CMS's Locale and Multilingual Features
29. Basic Template Structure in Craft CMS with Twig
30. Understanding Craft CMS's Caching and Performance Features
31. Displaying Content Dynamically with Craft CMS
32. Integrating Craft CMS with Social Media for Sharing Content
33. Building a Blog with Craft CMS
34. Adding Custom Content Fields to Craft CMS Templates
35. Introduction to Craft CMS’s Content Scheduling and Drafts
36. Understanding Craft CMS’s File Manager and Asset Organization
37. Managing Craft CMS's URL Structure and Redirects
38. Introduction to Craft CMS's Webhooks for External Integration
39. Using Craft CMS's Debugging Tools for Developers
40. Craft CMS’s Email Notifications and Settings
41. Managing Categories and Taxonomies in Craft CMS
42. Introduction to Craft CMS’s SEO Best Practices
43. Implementing Craft CMS’s Site Search Functionality
44. Customizing the Craft CMS Admin Panel for Your Needs
45. Building and Managing a Customizable Website with Craft CMS
46. Setting Up User Groups and Permissions in Craft CMS
47. Understanding Craft CMS’s Security Features and Best Practices
48. Creating and Managing Craft CMS Widgets for Admin Users
49. Working with Craft CMS's Date and Time Fields
50. Integrating Craft CMS with Google Analytics for Tracking
¶ Intermediate Level
51. Building a Multi-Language Site with Craft CMS
52. Introduction to Craft CMS’s Advanced Field Types
53. Customizing Craft CMS’s Front-End Templates with Twig
54. Integrating Craft CMS with External APIs for Dynamic Content
55. Building Custom Content Types in Craft CMS
56. Creating Dynamic Navigation Menus in Craft CMS
57. Managing Media Assets and Galleries in Craft CMS
58. Craft CMS’s Relationship Fields: Entries, Categories, Tags, and Assets
59. Using Craft CMS’s GraphQL API for Front-End Development
60. Advanced Content Structuring with Craft CMS
61. Implementing and Customizing Craft CMS's Form Builder
62. Understanding Craft CMS's Element Queries
63. Craft CMS’s Matrix Fields for Complex Content Types
64. Building E-Commerce Sites with Craft CMS and Commerce Plugin
65. Extending Craft CMS with Custom Plugins
66. Craft CMS’s Customizing Entry Templates for Dynamic Layouts
67. Managing Different Content Types in a Single Craft CMS Site
68. Using Craft CMS's Structure for Complex Content Hierarchies
69. Implementing Craft CMS’s Image Optimization and Management
70. Creating User Registration and Profile Management in Craft CMS
71. Craft CMS's Caching Strategies for Faster Performance
72. Working with Craft CMS’s Control Panel and User Interface Customization
73. Integrating Craft CMS with External Data Sources (JSON, XML)
74. Building Custom Fields in Craft CMS: Crafting Your Own Field Types
75. Setting Up Complex Form Validation with Craft CMS
76. Working with Craft CMS's Scheduled Content Publishing Features
77. Using Craft CMS for Managing Large-Scale Content Websites
78. Understanding Craft CMS’s Entry Staging and Workflow Management
79. Building a Custom Content Editing Experience in Craft CMS
80. Implementing Advanced Search Functionality in Craft CMS
81. Integrating Craft CMS with Headless CMS Architecture
82. Craft CMS’s Multi-Site Feature: Managing Multiple Sites from One Control Panel
83. Implementing Membership or Subscription Systems in Craft CMS
84. Extending Craft CMS with JavaScript and Front-End Libraries
85. Integrating Craft CMS with Third-Party Analytics and Marketing Tools
86. Building Advanced E-Commerce Features with Craft CMS
87. Understanding Craft CMS's Permissions and Access Control for User Management
88. Managing and Using Craft CMS’s Global Variables in Templates
89. Advanced Content Filtering and Sorting with Craft CMS
90. Building Craft CMS’s Newsletter and Subscription Forms
91. Creating Custom Widgets for Craft CMS’s Admin Panel
92. Working with Craft CMS's Dynamic Content Import/Export Features
93. Implementing Craft CMS’s Single-Page Applications (SPAs)
94. Integrating Craft CMS with Google Maps for Location-Based Content
95. Working with Craft CMS’s Field Layouts for Better Data Entry
96. Setting Up Automatic Backups in Craft CMS for Data Protection
97. Creating and Managing Events with Craft CMS’s Event Plugin
98. Understanding Craft CMS’s Redirects and URL Management for SEO
99. Advanced User Management and Authentication with Craft CMS
100. Extending Craft CMS’s Content and Database Queries with Custom Methods