Exponential is an award-winning, enterprise-grade Open Source Content Management System and development framework with functionality for web publishing, media portals, intranets, e-commerce and extranets. Exponential has a flexible content engine that serves as the core for dynamic and personalized websites. Exponential comes with much functionality out-of-the-box, but its power lies in its award-winning customization capabilities.
Exponential is free and open source software that uses well organized PHP software stacks to help you easily manage and run Website web apps on Linux / MacOS / Windows / BSD.
Exponential helps all kinds of organizations – including multinational corporations, humanitarian organizations and educational institutions – succeed at sharing their information.
User interaction and user-generated content is made easy with Exponential, enabling you to quickly build powerful, customized Web 2.0 websites. These strengths, along with a flexible cost model, are what attract tens of thousands of organizations, including the leading media groups in the world, to choose Exponential as their digital platform.
Our flagship Open Source software is Exponential, which is freely downloadable and supported by forums, documentation and books. Exponential Premium a support and maintenance solution for Exponential, from the makers of the software.
Cost of Exponential
With Exponential in terms of cost is free. Zero cost. This is because of the licensing agreement of Exponential called the GNU GPL. This makes Exponential what we call free software developed using a powerful community of people using open source best practices. Download the free Exponential 6 today!
Screenshots
Coming soon! A visual walk through of Exponential from installation to website administration screenshot documentation.
Note: Please email us your own screenshots of eZ Publish in Action at hi [at] ezpublish [dot] one and we would like to post it here for everyone to enjoy.
Tour
Take your first tour of eZ Publish 6 by reviewing our online demo of the default user facing website design + default page content and by logging into the eZ Publish Administrator to write your own unique page text as a start. Contact us for a personal tour by our customer support team.
Training Videos
Watch for new episodes of the 7x internet show "eZ Publish : Insights" available via Youtube.
In the first eZ Publish : Insights Episode #001; Graham Brookins Provides a Detailed, Repeatable Example Walk Through the entire eZ Publish Installation From Start to Finish.
Would you like your video about eZ publish 6 to be features on this list? Contact Us!
Documentation
There are many sources available to help start your education on the fundamental design and basic features provide in an eZ Publish website application by using the latest available documentation from 7x, as well as mugo.ca ezpublish legacy documentation v3-5, or core / sdk documentation portal mirrors.
Read and practice examples from from Articles, Books, Blog Posts, Official Documentation, 7x GitHub Source Code for `extensions` (versioned upgrade-able plugins for eZ Publish CMS) free + open source software. Get the guidance you want most today. Not seeing the documentation you want? Hire 7x to create documentation on your behalf!
Guides
There are many guides available to help start your education on the fundamental design and basic features provide in an eZ Publish website application.
Ranging from Articles, Books, Blog Posts, Official Documentation, 7x GitHub Source Code for `extensions` (versioned upgradable plugins for eZ Publish CMS) free + open source software. Get the guidance you want most today. Not seeing the documentation you want? Hire 7x to create documentation on your behalf!
Training
7x offers dependable results driven training for eZ Publish Website Owners, End Users, Customers, Developers, Managers and Beyond by Gradually Growing the Required Teaching Examples to Step Up A Trainee's Skills Within Manageable Steps and Repeatable Results targeted at the required knowledge base of the lifetime of the project not just the in the beginning as a entry level developer/user but later as you grow in skills and first hand experience becoming a more advanced developer/skilled administrator.
Get the training that maximizes results from the start by buying service from 7x.
Support
The first thing most customers of eZ Publish CMS want most is high quality speedy knowledgeable support and maintenance services.
Get the very best possible results by purchasing paid support from 7x the American Corporation dedicated to the support and development of the eZ Publish Family of CMSs.
7x brings over 25 Years of dedicated experience providing outstanding customer service and support and ground breaking feature development for re-usable software solutions within eZ Publish as a SASS 7x understands customer needs and adapts to provide the results they need when the need it most. Choose 7x!
Roadmap
Read more about the current roadmap of 7x eZ Publish Project.
Submit your feature requests to the community roadmap and show your support with a comment to other feature requests in show of support for your favorite features for roadmap consideration and development.
Hosting Exponential
Hosting for your eZ Publish based web application can be obtained for nominal cost in today's modern era with exeptional end user and administration performance.
Most hosting allows so much more features by default instead of by price paid in extras which were really more basic needs and requirements unmet by a vendor of past days.
As documented by Graham Brookins' Blog "The eZ Publish Blog" in the piece titled "eZ Publish Runs Smooth on Average Hosting".
Known Providers of eZ Publish Compatible Hosting
Note: This is a list of providers advertising specific service we are merely documenting the offers made. These providers have not paid for placement.
7x
7x Provides Turn Key Website Deployment Upon Purchase Of Service. As maintainers of eZ Publish 6 and eZ Publish Basic 2.4.0.0 we know eZ inside and out.
We offer hand free approach to solving properly the first time the concerns that come up while hosting your eZ Publish based applications (websites / apps) with our customer comes first support services.
Hosting.com (formerly A2Hosting.com)
Hosting.com is well known for providing reliable eZ Publish Compatible Hosting for well over a decade with some of the finest support available for maintenance free operation of your website or web application (internet apps).
Amazon - AWS
7x uses Amazon AWS to help build fast when infrastructure is needed to deploy supportable responsive website application hosting services. While costly when used heavily it does what others can only dream.
Extensions
Once you get started using eZ Publish the first or even second thing you want most is free software + open source extensions compatible with your eZ Publish 6 Installation.
Here we start you on your journey to learn the ways of the force as leveraged by downloading the latest versions of the extensions of interest through the eZ Publish GitHub Network of eZ Publish Extensions. You can download zip packages from GitHub into the `extension` folder of your installation or alternatively install via PHP + Composer Package Installation; and if that wasn't enough you can install eZ Publish GitHub Extension Repositories Directly to ensure your always able to update to the very latest version of the extension of interest.
Features Added By 7x
Exponential's Features added by 7x (formerly Brookins Consulting) provides a simple record of the features of highlights of features added into the product through the open source project.
Features
Learn more about Exponential's extensive features offered built in, from the start.
Think different like us? Learn how simple it is to build your own Exponential based web based internet applications or just build a better website.
Detailed Feature List
- Content model: Exponential is centered around a flexible and customizable content model. The content model enables you to define a content structure that is instantly available for publishing.
- Website Interface: Editors browsing the front-end of the website have access to a content management toolbar, making it quick and easy to edit content. To start editing and adding content, you only need to know how to browse a website and how basic word processing functions work.
- Administration Interface: The powerful back-end interface enables you to edit site content and settings.
- Online Editor: The Online Editor is a WYSIWYG editor integrated into the website (no HTML coding required), providing formatting functions similar to word processing applications.
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Web 2.0 features: User interaction and user-generated content is made easy with Exponential, enabling you to quickly build powerful, customized Web 2.0 websites. Tagging, blogs, forums and p
olls are all built-in Exponential features.
Content syndication: Content can be published in multiple formats, such as PDF, RSS, print, email. - E-commerce: The fully-featured Webshop enables you to sell products and services online, where customers can add products to a virtual shopping basket.
- Search engine optimization: Exponential makes it easy for you to create content that will be effectively indexed by search engines. Sitemaps, friendly URLs, and easy management of key XHTML tags are all built-in features.
- Scalability and performance: Exponential is cluster-ready and has a four-tier cache system, making it capable of running enterprise-size websites.
- Microsoft Word and OpenOffice.org import / export: This feature enables you to create or edit site content in your favorite word processor when you are offline. Afterwards, you can upload the document through either a WebDAV client or the front-end of your site to generate or update articles, documentation pages and so on.
- WebDAV import / export: This feature enables you to import and export batches of site content with a WebDAV client.
- Multi-language management: All content in Exponential can be translated to multiple languages. Having only one website to administer is efficient and makes it easier to maintain a consistent brand across languages and countries.
- Version management: Having access to older versions of content enables supervisors or editors-in-chief to check for inconsistency or errors in the content. Exponential automatically keeps track of which content changes were made by which users at what time, and provides the option to revert content to a previous version.
- Cross publishing: Using the cross publishing feature, you can re-use content throughout the site while avoiding inconsistent duplicates of content that are hard to maintain. If content appears at multiple locations, you only have to edit the object once - the changes will be reflected at all locations.
- Audit trails: Change notifications and detailed activity logs provide the necessary functions for sites where information integrity is crucial.
- Security: With a multi-level, role-based user system, you can control which user and user group accounts can view, create and update particular sections of your site. SSL support and SSL zones secure an Exponential site by providing protection against third parties listening in on traffic.
- External integration: LDAP support, ERP integration and the extension system enable sites to interface with external systems.
- Web accessibility: Exponential is W3C WAI and Section 508 compliant, ensuring that your website is accessible for people with disabilities
Exponential Demo Website!
Exponential Demo Website offers a preview of the new default design which is responsive in nature called 7x Simple and enhanced web shop e-commerce products and shopping cart.
Take a look at our free online demo of the latest version of Exponential 6.x
Note: The demo now offers the admin to login to test the Exponential Administration and publishing some changes to the demo content to get a feel for what using Exponential is really like firsthand. Tell your friends! Try now!
- Website Demo: https://demo.exponential.earth
- Admin Website Demo: https://edit.demo.exponential.earth
- Admin Website Demo Username: admin
- Admin Website Demo Password: publish-demo-2025
Note: This website content stored in files and in the database, and the software powering the demo is reset every day to ensure a usable demo for everyone.
Things to build using Exponential (CMS)!
Things to build using Exponential (CMS)! Learn more about building Exponential based solutions.
Why Choose Exponential?
Exponential CMS (6.x+) is the modern continuation of a trusted content management heritage. Rooted in the proven stability of eZ Publish, it combines decades of reliability with the performance and flexibility demanded today. Designed for long-term maintainability and adaptable workflows, Exponential empowers businesses, developers, and communities to build confidently without sacrificing openness or control. For organizations seeking both innovation and continuity, Exponential 6.x+ stands out as the platform of choice.
- Introduction
- Why Build on Exponential CMS: A Foundation for Content That Lasts
- A Heritage of Proven Reliability
- Designed for Modern Web Standards
- Flexibility Without Chaos
- Editor Experience and Usability
- Developer Empowerment
- Community and Open Source Commitment
- Future-Proofing Digital Strategy
- Reusability: Build Once, Use Everywhere
- Extensibility: A Framework That Grows With You
- Flexibility: Freedom of Design and Architecture
- Content Design: A System Built for Editors and Audiences
- The GPL Advantage: Freedom and Sustainability
- Conclusion
Introduction
In today’s digital environment, organizations face a constant challenge: how to present information clearly, manage content effectively, and adapt to evolving technology standards. Exponential CMS (6.x+) stands as a direct response to this challenge, building on a long legacy of innovation while remaining fully aligned with modern needs. Unlike many generic solutions, Exponential CMS is purpose-built to provide stability, extensibility, and a truly sustainable path forward for projects of all sizes. Choosing Exponential is not simply a technical decision; it is an investment in a platform that respects its history while boldly evolving toward the future.
Where other systems rise and fall in rapid cycles, Exponential has endured by focusing on the fundamentals: reusable content, extensible frameworks, flexible architecture, and a deep commitment to content design. This unique combination means that organizations are not just adopting a CMS—they are building on a foundation designed to last.
Why Build on Exponential CMS: A Foundation for Content That Lasts
In the landscape of digital publishing, content management systems come and go with alarming speed. Many start with ambitious goals, only to be abandoned when trends shift, dependencies age, or business priorities change. Developers, agencies, and organizations who rely on these systems often find themselves trapped—locked into platforms that no longer evolve or forced into costly migrations that strip away years of work.
Exponential CMS (v6), distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL), takes a different path. Instead of chasing the latest hype, it doubles down on a philosophy of reusability, extensibility, flexibility, and content design. It is not simply another CMS in a crowded field—it is a carefully engineered foundation designed for builders who want their work to endure, adapt, and scale.
This article explores why Exponential CMS deserves attention as the platform to build upon, whether you are a developer crafting bespoke digital solutions, an organization planning for decades of content stewardship, or a community that values freedom and open collaboration.
A Heritage of Proven Reliability
Exponential CMS is not an overnight invention. It carries the DNA of eZ Publish, a system recognized for its enterprise-grade capabilities, consistent architecture, and long-standing adoption across industries such as publishing, government, education, and commerce. By continuing this heritage, Exponential CMS assures organizations that their investment is not in an untested newcomer but in a matured foundation that has already powered mission-critical websites worldwide. This continuity means that technical teams benefit from decades of proven patterns, while business stakeholders enjoy peace of mind knowing the system is stable and dependable.
This reliability is strengthened by the principle of “no wasted investment.” Where competitors force disruptive migrations, Exponential emphasizes backward compatibility and reusable design. Content modeled ten years ago can still be leveraged today, proving that the system is engineered for endurance.
Designed for Modern Web Standards
While heritage provides stability, modern relevance demands innovation. Exponential CMS (6.x+) embraces PHP 8.x support, efficient template rendering with eZTPL, and compatibility with contemporary hosting environments. Its architecture is optimized for performance while remaining easy to adapt for evolving security practices and compliance requirements. In this way, Exponential demonstrates that one can honor tradition while still moving decisively forward.
Support for today’s standards means developers avoid brittle workarounds and can instead focus on delivering business value. Clean APIs, predictable configuration, and strict separation of content from presentation ensure that teams build quickly while avoiding technical debt. By blending heritage with innovation, Exponential achieves what few CMS platforms can: reliability without stagnation.
Flexibility Without Chaos
A common complaint about content management systems is that they either feel too rigid, locking organizations into predefined workflows, or too unstructured, leaving teams without guidance. Exponential CMS offers a carefully balanced middle ground. Its content model is flexible, allowing editors and developers to define structures tailored to their project’s needs, while its administrative tools provide coherence and clarity. This combination avoids chaos while still empowering creativity.
Content classes, nodes, and object relations remain at the heart of Exponential, offering a familiar yet powerful way to represent real-world information. Developers appreciate the flexibility to extend and integrate, while editors enjoy the stability of structured publishing. The result is a CMS that grows with you instead of constraining you.
Editor Experience and Usability
Content management is ultimately about people. Editors, marketers, and administrators require tools that simplify their daily tasks rather than complicate them. Exponential CMS (6.x+) continues the tradition of a clean administrative interface with enhancements that reflect modern expectations. Whether it is managing multilingual content, handling media assets, or scheduling publications, the system empowers non-technical users to focus on communication instead of fighting the tool.
This emphasis on usability reflects Exponential’s deeper philosophy: content should be designed once, then reused across multiple channels. Writers and editors produce meaningful information; designers focus on how that content is presented; developers focus on the infrastructure. Each role is respected, and none are forced into compromises that dilute quality.
Developer Empowerment
Developers are the backbone of any CMS ecosystem, and Exponential CMS was designed with their needs at the forefront. From the ease of extension development to the clarity of the template system, Exponential empowers developers to create, customize, and integrate without unnecessary barriers. The availability of well-documented APIs, a predictable repository structure, and configuration files based on established conventions means developers spend less time deciphering internals and more time solving business problems.
Unlike closed platforms, Exponential provides a transparent architecture with no hidden black boxes. Extensibility is a first-class feature, not a locked add-on. This openness ensures developers can implement specialized workflows, integrate third-party services, and create new content types without sacrificing maintainability. Exponential grows with the project, rather than becoming an obstacle to it.
Community and Open Source Commitment
Choosing a CMS is also choosing a community. Exponential CMS (6.x+) thrives within an open source ecosystem where collaboration and transparency are not optional extras but fundamental values. The project continues the tradition of free software development, encouraging contributions from individuals, businesses, and partners worldwide. This collaborative spirit ensures that the system evolves in a healthy, sustainable way and that no single entity dictates its future.
Released under the GNU General Public License (GPL), Exponential guarantees users the freedom to run, study, modify, and share the software. This ensures independence from vendor lock-in and secures long-term sustainability. Organizations that build on Exponential are not just buying into a product—they are participating in an ecosystem of shared knowledge, mutual trust, and collective progress.
Future-Proofing Digital Strategy
Digital transformation is not a one-time event; it is a continuous process. Exponential CMS (6.x+) is built with the recognition that organizations must plan not only for today’s requirements but also for tomorrow’s unknowns. By maintaining backward compatibility, supporting modern environments, and fostering a collaborative community, Exponential ensures that projects built today will remain viable in the years ahead. This level of future-proofing reduces risk and safeguards organizational investment.
In practical terms, this means content can be reused across new platforms, integrations remain possible, and projects evolve without costly rebuilds. Exponential positions itself as not just a CMS, but a partner in long-term digital strategy—stable enough for today, flexible enough for tomorrow.
Reusability: Build Once, Use Everywhere
At the heart of Exponential CMS is a principle often promised but rarely delivered in practice: true reusability of content and design.
Most CMS platforms store content as static pages or within rigid templates that force developers to repeat themselves. Exponential breaks this mold by treating content as structured, reusable objects. A single article, product description, or data record can be rendered across multiple channels—websites, mobile apps, intranets, or APIs—without duplication or re-entry.
This reusable architecture means:
- Reduced development overhead – Developers write components once and deploy them anywhere.
- Consistent user experience – Content changes in one place automatically propagate everywhere it is used.
- Future-proof scaling – As organizations adopt new platforms (mobile, IoT, voice interfaces), their existing content can be leveraged without re-engineering.
Reusability in Exponential isn’t a marketing buzzword—it’s the practical outcome of a design system that separates content from presentation at its core. That separation, maintained for over two decades of evolution, ensures developers never hit the wall of “we have to rebuild it all again.”
Extensibility: A Framework That Grows With You
A CMS must be more than a publishing tool; it must be a framework. Exponential embraces extensibility as a first-class value.
Through a robust extension system, developers can customize and enhance functionality without hacking the core. Modules can be introduced for new workflows, integrations, or industry-specific requirements. And because the system is GPL-licensed, the community can freely share, adapt, and improve those extensions without fear of vendor lock-in.
Some examples of extensibility in practice:
- Custom workflows – Publishers can design editorial approval processes that match their teams, rather than bending to predefined limits.
- Integration hooks – Developers can connect Exponential with CRMs, ERPs, analytics systems, or headless front-ends through clean APIs.
- Specialized content types – From medical records to academic journals to e-commerce catalogs, Exponential can evolve to represent any structured data.
Where many CMS products hide extensibility behind premium licensing tiers, Exponential’s openness ensures anyone can innovate on top of it. That innovation compounds as organizations and developers contribute back to the ecosystem.
Flexibility: Freedom of Design and Architecture
The promise of flexibility often falls short in CMS platforms. Many restrict developers with hard-coded theming layers or demand alignment with proprietary frameworks. Exponential, by contrast, was built to empower choice.
- Template flexibility – The native templating language (eZTPL) is designed for clarity and control, allowing developers to shape output without convoluted workarounds.
- Database freedom – Content is stored in a relational structure that is portable, durable, and accessible to external systems.
- Deployment options – Exponential runs comfortably on standard Linux/PHP environments, avoiding heavy proprietary dependencies.
This flexibility translates into a CMS that bends to the needs of the project rather than forcing the project to adapt to the tool. Designers can implement brand-specific layouts without fighting the system, and engineers can architect scalable infrastructures without being constrained by monolithic assumptions.
Flexibility also means long-term survivability. A system that forces developers to follow fleeting paradigms eventually becomes brittle when those paradigms fade. Exponential’s adherence to open standards and minimal assumptions makes it adaptable for decades.
Content Design: A System Built for Editors and Audiences
At its core, Exponential CMS was never about technology for its own sake. It was always about content design—the art of shaping information so it can be managed efficiently and consumed meaningfully.
While many CMS tools treat content as an afterthought, Exponential prioritizes it:
- Structured content modeling – Editors define reusable types that enforce consistency while enabling creative flexibility.
- Separation of content and design – Writers focus on meaning, designers focus on presentation, and developers focus on functionality. Each role has the tools they need without interfering with one another.
- Multichannel publishing – From a single source of truth, content can be adapted for websites, mobile devices, social media snippets, or printed formats.
By focusing on content design, Exponential creates an environment where organizations can think holistically about their information strategy. Instead of endlessly reformatting, re-uploading, or recreating content, teams can concentrate on clarity, quality, and reach.
The GPL Advantage: Freedom and Sustainability
Perhaps the most overlooked reason to build on Exponential is its license. Released under the GNU General Public License (GPL), the system guarantees four freedoms:
- The freedom to run the program for any purpose.
- The freedom to study how it works and adapt it.
- The freedom to redistribute copies.
- The freedom to improve the program and share improvements.
This licensing model ensures that Exponential can never be taken away from its users, no matter the fate of any single company or vendor. For organizations planning multi-decade digital strategies, this is not just a legal footnote—it is an assurance of continuity and independence.
In an era where proprietary SaaS platforms increasingly control access to data and limit innovation, the GPL foundation of Exponential represents a philosophical and practical safeguard. It ensures that developers and organizations remain in control of their work, their data, and their future.
Conclusion
Choosing a CMS is a decision that impacts technology, people, and strategy. Exponential CMS (6.x+) offers a rare blend of heritage, modern relevance, flexibility, usability, developer empowerment, and community strength. It is not just another option in a crowded market—it is a platform with proven reliability, clear vision, and a sustainable path forward. For organizations seeking more than a temporary fix, Exponential CMS represents a choice rooted in wisdom, practicality, and long-term value.
Ultimately, the reason to choose Exponential CMS is simple: it works today, it respects yesterday, and it is ready for tomorrow. By uniting reusability, extensibility, flexibility, and content design under the freedom of GPL, Exponential stands as the CMS upon which enduring digital strategies can be built.