Hi everyone 
I’m Joe Workman. I’ve been an indie developer for 17 years building tools for web designers. I maintain the Foundation CSS framework, and I’m the creator of Total CMS, a flat-file PHP CMS (no database, Twig templating, REST API).
The reason I’m here: some of my own customers have started building with Pinegrow, and one of them has been experimenting with running Total CMS behind a Pinegrow site. That got my attention. When I looked around this forum, I found years of threads asking some version of “what CMS works well with Pinegrow that isn’t WordPress?” I think what my customers stumbled onto might be a genuinely good answer. Total CMS layers onto plain HTML/PHP without dictating anything about your front end, so Pinegrow’s clean output is basically its natural habitat.
But I don’t know Pinegrow the way you all do. I don’t know your workflows, where the friction hides, or what a good integration guide for this community actually looks like. I’d rather learn that from people who live in the app than guess.
So here’s my ask: I’m looking for 1-2 experienced Pinegrow users to collaborate with me over the next few weeks. You’d help me understand how you build, kick the tires on Total CMS in a real Pinegrow project, and tell me everywhere it hurts. In exchange:
- A free Total CMS Pro license ($359 value. The full thing: custom schemas, REST API, MCP
and more.) - Public credit in the official integration guide and video we produce
- The output goes back to this community: a properly tested integration guide and tutorial video, free for everyone
I emailed the Pinegrow team last week to introduce myself before posting here. This is your house and I wanted to show up politely.
If you’re interested, reply here or reach out to me. Happy to answer any questions about Total CMS in the thread too.
Cheers,
Joe