Hey everyone, and welcome to the deep dive.
We're diving into the world of Sulu CMS today.
Sounds good.
We're gonna break down what this platform has to offer.
Whether you're a developer, content creator,
or just kind of someone who's interested
in what's going on in the tech world.
And while we're at it, big thanks to Safe Server
for supporting this deep dive.
They're the folks to talk to if you need any help
with hosting your Sulu projects
or just figuring out this whole digital transformation thing.
So go check them out at www.safeserver.de.
All right, so Sulu,
it's an open source content management system,
which basically means it's free to use
and developers can kind of tweak it
and make it fit their needs.
And it's built on the Symfony PHP framework,
which is known for being really robust
and well architected.
So I get the free to use part,
but being built on Symfony,
like what does that actually mean for someone
who just wants to build a website?
So it really does matter,
even if you're not like a hardcore developer.
You can think of Symfony as the engine
of a really well built car.
Right. It's powerful, it's reliable.
It gives developers the tools that they need
to build complex applications
without having to reinvent the wheel every time.
Gotcha.
So for someone building a website,
that means it's gonna be a lot smoother running
and a lot more secure.
Okay, so it sounds like Sulu gives you
this like really strong foundation.
Yeah.
But what about the people
who are actually making the content?
Right.
Is this thing user friendly
or are we talking about a steep learning curve?
Sulu is really great when it comes to user experience.
They've done a great job with the interface
for content creators.
Okay.
So imagine you need to add a video to a page.
In Sulu, you can literally just drag
and drop it right into place.
Really?
You don't need to mess with file uploads
or embed codes or anything like that.
That's awesome.
It's really slick.
I've heard Sulu described as a headless CMS.
Yes.
Can you explain what that means
and why I should care about that?
Headless simply means that Sulu focuses
on managing the content itself.
Okay.
Like the text, images, video, whatever it is.
And then it makes that content available
through what are called APIs.
Okay.
And so what that means is,
instead of dictating how that content looks on a website,
it lets developers use any technology they want
for the front end.
Okay.
So you can think of it as kind of separating the brains
from the presentation.
Gotcha.
And this gives you tons of flexibility
to create custom experiences.
Okay.
You know, across websites, apps, even digital signage.
So it's all about like content freedom.
Yeah.
Like not being tied to one specific way
of displaying things.
Exactly.
Cool.
And another thing that makes Sulu stand out
is that it has a really strong community.
Okay.
Having an active community is a huge plus
when you're working with open source software
because you can tap into this network of experts
and get help when you need it.
Right.
So it's kind of like having a built-in support system
for your Sulu journey.
Yeah, exactly.
All right, so we've got a pretty good sense
of what's Sulu IS.
Right.
But who's actually using this out in the real world?
Are we talking like small blogs
or can it handle, you know, bigger projects?
So Sulu is definitely used by some big names.
You've got companies like WebStores, BV,
they're leading a commerce agency.
Okay.
And then there's Lip AG,
which is a really well-known digital agency.
Yeah.
A lot of them rely on Sulu for their, you know,
big complex web solutions.
Interesting.
We've even got some quotes from developers
who have used it and are really happy
with how flexible it is and the great user experience.
That's an impressive list of clients.
So it gives me a better sense of the scale
that Sulu can handle.
Yeah.
It sounds like they're really going for that sweet spot
between having a lot of power,
but also being easy to use.
Right.
But does that actually work out in practice?
Yeah.
What's the feedback been like for people
actually using Sulu out in the real world?
The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
Okay.
Especially when it comes to the clean code
and how developer-friendly it is.
Frank Klein-Korkamp, the head of development at WebstoresBV
said that Sulu is ideal for them and their customers
because of its flexibility.
Okay, so it's not just marketing hype.
No.
There are real developers out there
who are actually excited about using Sulu.
Yeah, exactly.
It's great to hear.
Huh?
Are there any downsides or situations
where Sulu might not be the best fit?
Well, our sources don't really mention any limitations.
Interesting.
So maybe that speaks to its versatility.
Yeah, maybe.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Right.
Our sources do mention some recent developments
that give us some insight into where Sulu is headed.
Okay, cool.
What can you tell us about those?
So in February, 2025,
they released a preview of Sulu 3.0.
Okay, a new version.
Yeah.
What's so special about Sulu 3.0?
So Sulu 3.0 is really focused on
evolving the content storage architecture.
Okay.
What that means is they're making the system
even more powerful and efficient behind the scenes,
which is great news for developers
who are building complex projects.
So they're kind of future-proofing the platform.
Yeah.
Making sure it can handle whatever comes next.
Exactly.
Smart.
Yeah.
All right.
Anything else exciting happening in Sulu land?
There is, actually.
There's this blog post from January, 2025,
all about seamless third-party integrations
in the backend.
Basically, they're making it even easier
to connect Sulu with other tools and services
that you might be using.
So if I'm already using, say, a CRM
or a marketing automation platform,
I can just hook that right up to Sulu.
Exactly.
It's all about making Sulu work well
with the other tools you've got.
And that saves developers a ton of time
and just makes things smoother overall.
This has been a great overview so far.
Yeah.
I think we've covered a lot of ground.
But I want to make sure we're connecting
all these dots for our listeners before we wrap up
this part of the deep dive.
Right.
Let's zoom out a bit and see how it all fits together.
Perfect.
So we've learned that Sulu is a pretty powerful content
management system.
Yeah.
And it's built for both developers and content
creators.
It's open source, which means you've
got the freedom to customize it and extend it however you want.
And it's built on that solid foundation of the Symfony
framework.
Yes.
Which, like we said before, it's like having a super high
performance engine under the hood.
And Sulu is known for this intuitive, user-friendly
interface.
So content teams can actually enjoy creating and managing
their content.
And it's a headless CMS.
So you can use it to deliver content
to pretty much any platform.
Websites, apps, those big screens you see at stadiums.
It's really versatile.
And we can't forget about that strong community behind it.
Always there to help out.
Exactly.
Yeah.
So we've talked about what Sulu IS.
But how does it actually work?
OK.
What's the magic behind it all?
So you want to peek under the hood
and see what makes this thing tick.
Exactly.
One of the core principles of Sulu
is this idea of structured content.
OK, structured content.
Break that down for me.
What does that actually mean?
So imagine you're building a house.
You're not just going to start randomly piling up bricks,
right?
You'd have a blueprint with specific plans
for each room, and the foundation, and the walls,
and everything.
Structured content is kind of like that blueprint
for your content.
So instead of just throwing all my text and images into Sulu,
I'm creating organized, well-defined pieces of content.
Exactly.
You're defining different content types,
like articles, or products, events.
And each of those has its own set of fields and properties.
And this just makes your content way
more manageable and flexible.
Gotcha.
And Sulu being built on Symphony,
how does that play into all of this?
So Sulu leverages Symphony's really powerful component
system to make all of this happen really smoothly.
Now, I know we talked about Symphony components before.
But I'm guessing some of our listeners
might not be developers.
So can you give us a quick, jargon-free explanation?
Think of components as pre-built tools in a workshop.
Let's say you need to build a form for your website.
Instead of having to write all the code from scratch,
Symphony gives you this form component
that you can just plug in and customize.
So it's like a library of ready-made solutions
for common tasks, which saves developers
a lot of time and effort.
Yeah, it makes things a lot easier.
All right, so besides structured content and Symphony
components, is there anything else
going on behind the scenes that makes Sulu so special?
Sulu also relies heavily on APIs,
which are basically like messengers
that let different software systems talk to each other.
So APIs are kind of like the glue that
holds the digital world together.
Yeah, that's a great way to put it.
In Sulu APIs, let developers integrate Sulu
with all sorts of other systems, like your CRM or marketing
automation platform or even custom applications
that you built.
And that's especially important because Sulu
was a headless CMS, right?
Right, exactly.
So it's not concerned with how the content
is displayed.
No, it's all about managing that content
and then delivering it through those APIs.
Gotcha.
So if you need to pull data from another system into Sulu
or send content from Sulu out to another platform,
APIs make that happen.
It's like having a universal translator
for all your different tools.
Exactly.
This is really fascinating stuff.
Yeah, it's pretty cool.
I'm starting to see how all these pieces fit together
to make Sulu so powerful.
Yeah, and adaptable.
And with Sulu 3.0 on the way, it's
clear they're not slowing down.
No, they're not.
They're still pushing the boundaries of what a CMS can do.
I want to leave our listeners with something
to really think about.
OK, I like where you're going with this.
We've talked about how flexible and adaptable Sulu is.
But given all of that, what are some really innovative use
cases for Sulu that you can imagine?
That's a great question.
So we've seen how it's being used
for websites and intranets, even really complex web
applications, but with its headless capabilities
and its focus on APIs.
It seems like the possibilities are almost endless.
Yeah, you know what I'm thinking about?
The rise of the internet of things.
Personalized content experiences.
Maybe even using Sulu to manage data for augmented reality
applications.
Wow.
It's really exciting to think about what creative developers
and content people might come up with.
Absolutely.
Sulu gives you the building blocks,
and the only limit is your imagination.
Well said.
All right, so on that note of limitless possibilities,
we're going to wrap up this part of our deep dive into Sulu CMS.
OK.
Big thanks again to our sponsor, Safe Server.
Yes.
Thank you, Safe Server.
For making this episode possible.
Yeah.
If you're looking for a partner to help you host your Sulu
projects, or really for any of your digital transformation
needs, go check them out at www.safe-server.yeenie-aade.
Definitely.
Really gets you thinking about the future of content management.
It does.
When you start to think outside of the box of what
a traditional CMS can do, suddenly you're
not just managing content for websites anymore.
You're managing it for smart devices.
For personalized experiences.
Maybe even interactive worlds in AR.
It's exciting to see how a tool like Sulu
can actually help make that stuff happen.
Yeah.
We've talked a lot about the technical details.
But ultimately, it's all about what you can actually
create with it.
Exactly.
And what I think is really cool is
that Sulu doesn't force you to use any specific technology
on the front end.
Yeah, that's a big deal.
So if you love React or Vue.js or something else entirely,
you can use it with Sulu.
Yeah.
That's a huge win for developers.
It is.
It lets them use the best tool for the job.
Right.
OK.
I think we've done a really good job of unpacking Sulu CMS
today.
I think so, too.
We've looked at all the features, the advantages
from both developers and content teams.
We even peeked under the hood a little bit
to see how it all works.
We even got to dream a little bit about the future.
That was fun.
We even talked about some real world examples
to show that this isn't just some theoretical concept.
Companies are actually using this to build impressive things.
Absolutely.
And of course, we can't forget about that awesome community.
Yeah, that's huge.
So if you're a developer who's looking
for a really robust and flexible CMS,
or if you're a content creator who
just wants to have a really smooth and enjoyable
experience, Sulu is definitely worth checking out.
Definitely.
And with Sulu 3.0 right around the corner,
it seems like there's even more exciting stuff coming down
the pipeline.
It's a platform to watch, for sure.
Well, on that note, we're going to wrap up this deep dive
into Sulu CMS.
Huge thanks again to Safe Server for sponsoring this episode.
Thank you, Safe Server.
If you're looking for a reliable partner
to help you host your Sulu projects,
or really for any of your digital transformation needs,
make sure you visit them at www.safeserver.de.
Definitely.
And to all of you listening, thank you
so much for joining us on this deep dive.
We really appreciate it.
We hope you found it informative and engaging.
Until next time, happy exploring.