Where is a small, simple CMS that has no Front End done in PHP?

Question

The keys are:

1. small and simple
2. PHP MySql
3. no Front End

By "no front end" I mean literally, I can control the look 100%. I just want a CMS on the "backend" to manage content (user login/security, upload images, udate articles, etc.) that will not dictate in anyway how the managed data is presented. Maybe it just keeps the info in a (MySql) database (which I can query and extract myself) or if it writes content, it is in super-clean xhtml fragments or even just xml I will parse myself?

I have looked at Wordpress -- and don't like the code it generates, not to mention the sites look too "canned" (you can usually spot a WP site a mile a way.)

Joomla and Drupal look more customizable, but they are bloated now in my opinion, and really I just want something lightweight and simple. For one-user mom-and-pop sites. (No tiered publishing/approval systems, and all that.)

I envision plugging this CMS into existing websites/web apps where most of the site is made and managed by me, but a few choice areas are managed by the site owner.

Answer 1

Sounds to me like you need a Framework, not necessarily a CMS

Some frameworks, such as Akelos have administration backends that are automatically generated based on your models, Similar to Django [Python] or Ruby on Rails.

Check out PHP Frameworks

Sidenote: One of my favorites is Fat Free PHP Framework ... It's proven helpful for me in numerous situations where I needed something really simple. However, does not provide the backend interface that you desire. Hence the sidenote