SilverStripe is a CMS that is by no means the equivalent to WordPress, Drupal or Joomla, but, is worth considering for CMS projects. Drupal, Joomla and WordPress have modules/plugins and templates galore available to the developer. In contrast, SilverStripe has few plugins and fewer templates available. However, SilverStripe has all the fundamental CMS features needed to build a great CMS site, has less overhead, is a well designed object oriented engine, is very extensible and has reasonable documentation.

Out-of-the-box, SilverStripe is bare bones. While it is not difficult to load SilverStripe, to use it you need to know some “secrets.” The reason you need to know the secrets, most of the development tools are not attached to a cute interface that allows you to click your way through the development process. The backend administration area is an area that your clients would see, not a wondrous back-end that holds client interface and developer interface.

You need to know:

• How to find the administration panel
• Where to load add-ons
• How to do rebuild the CMS control database
• How to clear cache
• Where to load images
• How to create templates

While this all sounds like a lot of hassle, a little information can get you started and the actual processes are not all that bad. The secrets are documented at http://doc.silverstripe.com/framework/en/, but finding them takes time. This sequence of articles will summarizes the secrets while taking you through the process of creating a useful template.

Along with the above items, this sequence of articles will identify many of the other little odds and ends you need to complete the development … such as:

• How to include css files
• How to include javascript files
• How to define page types
• How to use include “.ss” files
• What development tools are available
• What add-ons I like to use

Use this article to create a template that adds data fields to the database, creates new administration tabs and a 3 column template.