Just launched https://www.medistudents.com https://www.medistudents.com. Not technically fancy (it’s PHP+MySQL) but I thought I’d do something a little unique w

Just launched https://www.medistudents.com https://www.medistudents.com. Not technically fancy (it’s PHP+MySQL) but I thought I’d do something a little unique with how it’s built and managed. The front end (apart from educational modules - see below) is built as a static HTML/CSS site with very minimal PHP and JS, and uses the Zurb Foundation framework as a full Gulp build environment. This helps keep the UI efficient and fast. To provide database-linked services (i.e registered user-based services), I built an API using Silex. Without the API being operational, the static UI works absolutely fine, just an error when you try to log in. I use PHP file_get_contents as the very simple interface to this. Finally, as the content is to be edited by non-technical doctors and eventually translators, I’ve used Bitbucket as a CMS. Learning modules are simple markdown files and images on a separate repo, which can be edited online using Bitbucket’s editor. When a new update has been approved via pull request, BB Pipelines will build and deploy an updated version of the static site. This process will even re-build all the PDFs which members can download. It’s a unique yet simple solution, providing me with incredible control of the site, all without having to use or build a bloated CMS.