# CMS Made Simple

Open-source content management system built in PHP, with the Smarty templating engine.


Source: https://findsoftware.frbit.cloud/cms-made-simple/
Last reviewed: 2026-10-20
Updated: 2026-10-25
Listed since: 2026-10-19

## Record

### Links

- home: https://www.cmsmadesimple.org
- repository: https://github.com/cmsmadesimple/cmsmadesimple
- docs: https://docs.cmsmadesimple.org
- plugins: https://dev.cmsmadesimple.org/project/list/module
- x: https://twitter.com/cmsms
- forum: https://forum.cmsmadesimple.org

### Identity

- status: active
- maintainer: CMS Made Simple Foundation
- maintainerType: foundation
- parent: unknown
- firstRelease: 2004
- hqCountry: unknown

### Kind

- category: cms
- hosting: php
- language: php
- runtime: php
- runtimeMin: php 7.4
- basedOn: unknown

### Content

- contentStore: database
- databases: mysql
- adminUi: yes
- headlessApi: unknown
- templating: smarty
- i18n: unknown

### Rendering and deploy

- runsAs: per-request
- renderingModes: unknown
- installMethod: installation assistant, single uploaded file

### License

- licenseModel: open-source
- license: GPL-3.0, GPL-2.0

### Releases

- currentMajor: 2
- latestReleaseDate: 2026-09-08

### Adoption

- githubStargazers: 20
- packagistDownloads: unknown
- npmWeeklyDownloads: not applicable
- contributors: 58
- pluginCount: unknown
- packagistMonthlyDownloads: unknown
- ecosystemsMonthlyDownloads: unknown
- httpArchiveSites: 451
- wordpressActiveInstalls: unknown
- dependentRepos: unknown
- dependentPackages: unknown

### Sources

- name: https://www.cmsmadesimple.org/about/cms-made-simple (read 2026-10-20)
- urls: https://www.cmsmadesimple.org (read 2026-10-20)
- urls: https://github.com/cmsmadesimple/cmsmadesimple (read 2026-10-20)
- urls: https://docs.cmsmadesimple.org/installation/requirements (read 2026-10-20)
- maintainer: https://www.cmsmadesimple.org/about/foundation (read 2026-10-20)
- firstRelease: https://www.cmsmadesimple.org/about/cms-made-simple (read 2026-10-20)
- category: https://www.cmsmadesimple.org (read 2026-10-20)
- language: https://github.com/cmsmadesimple/cmsmadesimple (read 2026-10-20)
- runtime: https://docs.cmsmadesimple.org/installation/requirements (read 2026-10-20)
- runtimeMin: https://docs.cmsmadesimple.org/installation/requirements (read 2026-10-20)
- databases: https://docs.cmsmadesimple.org/installation/installing (read 2026-10-20)
- contentStore: https://docs.cmsmadesimple.org/installation/installing (read 2026-10-20)
- templating: https://www.cmsmadesimple.org (read 2026-10-20)
- adminUi: https://www.cmsmadesimple.org (read 2026-10-20)
- installMethod: https://docs.cmsmadesimple.org/installation/quick-install (read 2026-10-20)
- runsAs: https://docs.cmsmadesimple.org/installation/quick-install (read 2026-10-20)
- license: https://github.com/cmsmadesimple/cmsmadesimple (read 2026-10-20)
- license: https://www.cmsmadesimple.org/about/cms-made-simple (read 2026-10-20)
- currentMajor: https://docs.cmsmadesimple.org/installation/requirements (read 2026-10-20)
- latestReleaseDate: https://www.cmsmadesimple.org (read 2026-10-20)
- githubStargazers: https://github.com/cmsmadesimple/cmsmadesimple (read 2026-10-20)
- contributors: https://github.com/cmsmadesimple/cmsmadesimple (read 2026-10-20)
- urls: https://www.cmsmadesimple.org (read 2026-10-20)
- httpArchiveSites: https://cdn.httparchive.org/v1/technologies (read 2026-10-25)

## Notes

CMS Made Simple is a content management system whose templates run on the Smarty engine. Editors maintain the site in a browser-based admin area, and content is kept in a MySQL database. The [quick install](https://docs.cmsmadesimple.org/installation/quick-install) uploads a single installer file to the host, which sets up the rest.

## Worth knowing

The About page links the word GPL to the GPL-2.0 text, while GitHub reports GPL-3.0 for the repository.

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Data licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Attributes are recorded, never scored; absent means unknown.
Credit, in full: FindSoftware, CC BY 4.0