Great questions, Priya — thanks for the thoughtful feedback!
Regarding headless usage, SHONiR CMS is currently designed as a traditional CMS, but its architecture (built on CodeIgniter 4) makes it quite flexible. It’s definitely possible to expose content through APIs and use it with a React or other frontend frameworks, and a more formal headless-style integration is something we’re considering as the project evolves.
You’re right about the GitHub repository — the full source will be published on March 17, 2026, but in the meantime you can explore the live admin panel demo here:
Admin Panel:
https://8.shonir.com/shonir-cms/Users
Login Credentials
Access Key: shonir
Username: demo@example.com
Password: 923333336426
That should give you a feel for the content editing workflow and day-to-day admin experience.
And yes — CodeIgniter definitely has a nostalgic reputation, but CodeIgniter 4 is a very different beast compared to the older versions many of us used years ago. It’s modern, lightweight, and surprisingly powerful for building scalable systems.
If you get a chance to try the demo, I’d love to hear your thoughts or suggestions! 🚀