BEdita

BEdita is an open-source content management system (CMS) developed in Italy and built on the PHP framework CakePHP. Since version 4 it has followed a headless, API-first architecture: content is stored in a flexible object model and exposed through a REST API that follows the JSON:API specification, leaving the presentation layer entirely to external applications.

How BEdita works

The system revolves around an object-based content model. Documents, media files, events, locations and people profiles are all object types that can be linked with semantic relations and arranged in a folder tree. Custom object types and relations are defined through configuration rather than core changes, which makes BEdita well suited to unusual content structures — art collections, audiovisual archives or expert directories. Editors work in BEdita Manager, a separate administration application with role-based permissions, content versioning and multilingual support. The backend requires PHP and a relational database (MySQL/MariaDB or PostgreSQL); installation is typically handled with Composer or the official Docker images.

Practical applications

BEdita shines where one content repository must feed multiple channels at once: media portals, digital archives, product catalogs, mobile applications or digital signage screens. The frontend can be anything capable of consuming the API — a classic server-rendered site, a single-page application in Vue or React, or a static site generator. Compared with WordPress, the plugin ecosystem is far smaller, so BEdita is usually chosen for tailor-made projects maintained by a development team rather than simple company websites. Hosting requirements are modest: a PHP-capable web hosting plan works for smaller deployments, while a VPS makes it easier to tune PHP extensions, queues and caching for larger installations.