WP as a CMS frontend? Need advice…

[Brett]

Hi all,

I’m working with a group who needs a website that will also function as a huge database/catalog of products. (Not eCommerce, more like a huge inventory catalog.) They’ve worked with WebPDM, SharePoint, and a couple others.

They need to be able to do their own input of items, which will include photos, different metadata, keywords, descriptions, etc.

However, it also needs some static website function — news updates, stories, etc.

I’m a visual/graphic and web designer, but not a CMS expert. I’m wondering if WP can function as a good frontend for a SQL database? I saw Chris’ post on CMS-ing WordPress. Do you think WP might be a good option?

What would be the interface/frontend they would use for inputting data into the SQL database?

It’s a big project, but there’s no budget to pay anyone for custom backend programming. So I have to make it work somehow.

Thank you for any advice!

Brett

[TheDoc]

I was going to suggest a custom app until I read the lack of budget line.

You can most certainly use WP as a CMS, but I’m unsure if that would be the right decision in this case. With this type of project, and not having a custom app, I would assume that anything you do is going to seem slightly confusing to someone who isn’t tech savvy.

Having WP will enable them to update news/stories/events/etc relatively easily at least.

[Author]

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