EllisLab made CodeIgniter public for the first time on February 28, 2006. It was originally nothing more than a set of refactored general-purpose classes copied from the ExpressionEngine (EllisLab’s flagship CMS) codebase with the all application-specific code stripped out.
Though the field is now crowded with PHP frameworks, CodeIgniter was one of the first to gain real traction.
EllisLab started seeking a new owner for CodeIgniter in July, 2013, claiming to lack the resources to properly maintain the framework. The handoff of ownership from EllisLab to the British Columbia Institute of Technology was publicly announced on October 6, 2014.
CodeIgniter Tools
One of the major selling points of CodeIgniter is it’s lightweight, minimalist nature. That means that there is lots of room for other tools to add value to CodeIgniter projects, but also that CodeIgniter developers tend to shun additional libraries that would add to the complexity of their projects.
Bonfire is a collection of standard components that extends and expands on CodeIgniter It provides efficient role-based user management, easy backup and data migration, a customizable administrative interface, a sophisticated theme engine, and email spooling.
GroceryCRUD is an automatic system for creating CRUD (create, retrieve, update, delete) applications. It is possible to create an application in thirty seconds with GroceryCRUD!
PHP Code Generator (PCG) is an online tool that automatically generates functioning CogeIgniter-based websites. The resulting sites support role-based access control, rich text editing, and more.
Ionize CMS is a powerful and modular CMS built on CodeIgniter. There is a live demo of Ionize available.
68 Knowledge Base, or 68KB for short, is a tool for managing a collection of questions and answers. It is optimized to make the site owner’s life easier.
Linkster, PHP Link Directory is a simple way to categorically organize large data sets, particularly link directories. A live demo is available.
Planet CI is a web-based RSS aggregator.
FUEL CMS FUEL CMS is a content management system designed to empower the end user.
CODEFIGHT CMS is a simple system that can run multiple websites at once.
Pliant CMS is a content management system so simple that “even a baby can use it.” It supports templates, and allows embedding of maps, photos, and videos.
CodeIgniter Books
CodeIgniter Books are your best bet to get started with learning CodeIgniter. These books will help you learn about the internal structure of CodeIgniter projects, basic web page and application development, advanced working environments, and much more.
To add value to the whole process of learning, you may want to learn CodeIgniter online, and also watch Education Ecosystem broadcasts from places San Francisco, London, New York, Moscow, Beijing, and Sao Paolo for a more valuable learning experience.
CodeIgniter Projects
CodeIgniter is one of the oldest frameworks for one of the most popular server-side scripting languages, so it would be surprising if there weren’t hundreds of websites built with it. There hardest part of building our list of examples was deciding which ones to leave out! Here’s a list that tries to capture some of the variety and diversity of websites created with CodeIgniter
BambooInvoice
BambooInvoice is a simple invoice creation and submission tool for freelancers and small businesses.
Classroombookings
Classroombookings manages room bookings, with an emphasis on schools.
Crono Time Tracker
Crono Time Tracker is a web-based time management application. It is Open Source, and uses CodeIgniter for the backend, and Bootstrap and jQuery for the frontend.
Bitlanders
Bitlanders is a social network that rewards its users. It is built on CodeIgniter, Angular.js, MySQL and MongoDB. It provides 350,000 users with payouts in Bitcoin, Amazon gift cards, or PayPal. It even supports customizable SVG avatars.
EscroWizard
EscroWizard is a tool for managing title and escrow quotes.
TimeCamp
TimeCamp shows you where your time goes. It tracks time spent per project, and time elapsed per application and website used.
Visikid
Visikid is a parental control tool. It keeps children safe on the internet and teaches responsibility.
Narien Teas
Narien Teas is an online store for teas, built with CodeIgniter. In addition to a shopping cart, it boasts a blog, customer rewards, coupons, affiliate rewards, eBay integration, and a mailing list.
Wittygraphy
Wittygraphy is a social network and online gallery for caricaturists. Cartoonists can share their work, exchange ideas and criticism, and land jobs.
MindZinger
MindZinger is a website for students and tutors. It emphasizes a question-and-answer format.