Corporate Website Development on Concrete CMS

Concrete CMS Development: Corporate Sites with In-Context Editing

Struggling with content updates that require developer intervention? Concrete CMS eliminates that bottleneck with its inline editing capabilities. Content managers edit directly on the page without a separate backend. The architecture is PHP-based with Symfony components and Doctrine ORM. The block system lets you assemble pages from ready-made elements without writing code. We use Concrete CMS for projects where the client independently updates content and needs flexible access control. Over the years, we have delivered more than 20 projects on this CMS, from corporate portals to multilingual catalogs. For instance, we configured 12 page types with individual permissions for editors from different departments for an international company—cutting content approval time by threefold. Content managers save up to 70% of time: edits are made in minutes, not hours.

Concrete CMS is especially useful when the client’s team manages content themselves and the page structure must change without programming. Compared to classic WordPress, it offers finer permission tuning—down to a specific area on a page. And unlike Drupal, it has an intuitive editing interface without needing to understand taxonomies. The built-in ACL system is configured in 1–2 hours, which is 2–3 times faster than alternatives, and requires no extra plugins.

Why Choose Concrete CMS?

The client or their team edits content independently without technical knowledge. They need a flexible page system with different layouts. A site hierarchy with different permissions for different sections is required. The project involves a complex permission system at the page level—Concrete CMS covers all these scenarios out of the box.

How is the Site Architecture Organized?

Concrete CMS organizes content into a page tree. Each page has a Page Type with a set of Areas, and into each area blocks are added.

Site ├── Home (page type: home) │ ├── Area: Hero │ │ └── Block: Image Slider │ ├── Area: Content │ │ ├── Block: HTML │ │ └── Block: Feature List (custom) │ └── Area: Sidebar │ └── Block: Form ├── Services (page type: service-list) │ ├── Development (page type: service-detail) │ └── Design (page type: service-detail) └── Contacts (page type: basic-page) 

Page Types and Templates

A Page Type is created in /application/single_pages/ or through a full type with a template in the theme:

// application/single_pages/services.php // or packages/my-theme/themes/my-theme/page_types/service_detail.php defined('C5_EXECUTE') or die('Access Denied.'); $view = View::getInstance(); ?> <div class="container"> <h1><?= $c->getCollectionName() ?></h1> <?php $a = new Area('Main Content'); $a->display($c); ?> <aside> <?php $sidebar = new Area('Sidebar'); $sidebar->display($c); ?> </aside> </div> 

Page Attributes and Permissions

Attributes are page metadata not tied to blocks. Attribute types: text, textarea, boolean, select, image, file, date, geolocation, rating, URL. The ACL system works at the level of pages, page types, blocks, and files. Example of combined usage:

// Get page attribute and check permissions $metaDesc = $c->getAttribute('meta_description'); $cp = new Permissions($c); if ($cp->canEditPageContents()) { // show edit button } // Close page to guests if (!$u->isLoggedIn()) { $response = Redirect::to('/login'); $response->send(); exit; } ?> <meta name="description" content="<?= h($metaDesc) ?>"> 

How to Implement Multilingualism?

Concrete CMS supports multilingual sites via Multilingual Sites. Each language version is a separate page subtree:

/en/ /ru/ /de/ 

Language switching is implemented via a block or template:

$locales = Section::getList(); foreach ($locales as $section) { $url = $section->getRelatedPageInLocale($c); echo "<a href='{$url}'>{$section->getLanguageText()}</a>"; } 

How to Create a Custom Page Type?

1. Create a template file in application/single_pages/ or via a package.
2. Define Areas in the PHP template.
3. Register the page type in the admin panel (Dashboard → Pages & Themes → Page Types).
4. Assign access permissions for the new type.
5. Add attributes if metadata is needed.

This process takes about 2 hours for a simple type. For complex types with custom blocks—up to 1 day.

What Are Express Objects?

Express (built-in since version 8) is an ORM-like mechanism for storing data not tied to the page tree. It is analogous to Custom Post Types but with relational capabilities. Express entries can be linked to pages and output via the Express Form block. This is ideal for catalogs, directories, and other repeating entities.

SEO and Performance

For SEO, we use custom attributes: meta_description, seo_title. Page caching is enabled in Dashboard → System → Cache. Full Page Caching speeds up loading by 5–10 times, reducing TTFB from 500 ms to 50 ms. Concrete CMS is a mature platform with an active community.

Typical Project Structure

What Is Included in Development?

• Installation and configuration of CMS on hosting
• Creation of a custom theme (layout + integration)
• Development of page types and blocks according to project tasks
• Configuration of access rights and multilingualism
• Content import (if needed)
• Training of the client’s team to work with the in-context editor
• Code warranty and free corrections during the first month

We will evaluate your project and offer timelines from 2 weeks for a small site to 3 months for a large portal. Request a consultation—we will help choose the optimal architecture and develop a turnkey site.

Development Timelines

Want to discuss your project? Get a consultation—we will assess the complexity and propose a solution that saves up to 40% of content management time.