I'm looking for local software that lets me visually assemble pages from custom blocks or modules written in PHP and JavaScript. I develop alone as a hobby and for my personal business, and I'm comfortable with PHP, Sass, and several other programming languages, though I haven't worked professionally in web development.
I found PHP Page Builder, but it appears to be abandoned and I couldn't get it working reliably with PHP 8 or newer. Online editors such as GrapesJS look promising, but I wasn't sure whether they support defining truly custom blocks that can execute my own PHP logic.
I enjoy building things as customizably as possible, but a full CMS feels like too much overhead. At the same time, building everything with raw PHP, Sass, and includes feels unnecessarily cumbersome. Ideally, I'd like a local visual editor where I can create reusable custom components and move them around easily when redesigning a site.
5 Answers
Filament could be worth investigating. It sits on top of Laravel and provides configurable interfaces for managing and assembling content. Laravel adds structure to the PHP side, while Filament handles much of the interface work. A local environment such as Herd or Laragon would make setup easier, though this does add several layers like Livewire, Alpine, and Tailwind.
GrapesJS can support custom blocks. You define your own components in JavaScript, then connect their actions or saved data to local PHP endpoints. Running it through a local server gives you a visual layout editor while still letting you control exactly how the PHP side works. VvvebJs is another frontend option, although you’ll still need to build the backend integration yourself.
You might look at October CMS or ProcessWire. Both are relatively lightweight compared with larger general-purpose CMS platforms, and they can provide reusable content structures without requiring you to build every administrative feature yourself. October CMS in particular may be worth checking if you want PHP-based components.
Before choosing a builder, it’s worth asking whether you really need one or mainly need reusable includes. For a solo developer, a layout file plus a folder of PHP partials can cover most of the practical requirements with almost nothing to maintain. Visual builders tend to be most valuable when nontechnical people need to edit pages, and they can introduce compatibility problems during PHP upgrades.
That’s a fair point, but I specifically prefer the visual process. When I work visually, I spend less time getting stuck on small implementation details that don’t matter much. I’ve used HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and includes before, but the process felt slow and overly exacting, and I still didn’t get the design where I wanted it.
If the main problem is the development workflow rather than content management, a Vite-based PHP setup may be a better fit than a CMS. It can give you Sass, JavaScript or TypeScript, hot module replacement, and a normal build process while keeping the application as simple PHP templates and reusable components. You would still create the blocks yourself, but you’d avoid wiring the tooling together from scratch.
Filament seems close to what I want, but I’m concerned about taking on more framework than necessary. I may try it with Bootstrap instead, since I’m already familiar with that approach and would prefer to keep the stack relatively small.