For a developer building a "mainly static site with dynamic portions," Textpattern CMS (Txp) is often the sweet spot. It feels lightweight like a static site generator but has the power of a full dynamic CMS.
Vs. WordPress:
- Control: Txp gives you 100% control over your HTML/CSS. No "div soup" or fighting against themes/block editors.
- Security: Txp has a tiny attack surface compared to WP. You rarely need plugins for basic functionality, meaning less maintenance and higher security.
- Performance: It runs significantly faster and leaner on server resources.
Vs. Drupal:
- Simplicity: Drupal is powerful but complex (enterprise-level). Txp is "set and forget." You can build a custom site structure in Txp in a fraction of the time it takes to configure Drupal views.
Vs. October CMS:
- Templating: October is great if you love Laravel/PHP. Textpattern uses its own Tag Syntax (e.g.,
<txp:article />. It is incredibly easy for designers to learn without needing deep PHP knowledge, yet powerful enough to handle complex logic.
- Stability: Txp is mature and backward-compatible. Scripts written 10 years ago often still work today.
A personal aside: I have been a web citizen for over 20 years and was personally involved in developing parts of the Textpattern core. I can honestly say that the Textpattern user forum is the most friendly, helpful, and welcoming community of people I have ever met in the tech world. It’s a place where you get genuine help, not just "read the manual" responses.
