Two editions, one product

Toutadmin exists in two copies: one runs on Node.js, the other on PHP. They are not two products, nor a cut-down version and a full one. They are the same 51 spaces, the same 142-table schema, the same 16 languages, the same screens. This page says what really separates them — and it is not much.

Why two#

A business product has to be installable where the business already is. Some companies have a server, a systemd and an administrator; others have shared hosting for four euros a month and an FTP account. The Node edition addresses the first, the PHP edition the second. Turning the second away would have meant turning away half the companies that need a management tool most.

What is strictly identical#

Because the schema is the same, a database moves from one edition to the other with no conversion: stop one, copy app.sqlite and the file folders, start the other. Passwords keep working — both editions read the same hash format. That is the most honest test of parity there is, and it passes.

What differs#

The shape of a few addresses#

531 routes on the Node side, 513 on the PHP side. The gap is not a gap in features: these are the same functions written more compactly.

• The API. Node declares its nine resources one by one (/api/v1/collaborateurs, /api/v1/services…); PHP serves them under one parameterised route. All nine answer, the root announces all nine, and a test calls them one by one to prove it.
• Installation. Node guides you through five steps, PHP fits on one page and one submission. The same five pieces of information are asked for: language, prerequisites, company, annual leave days, administrator account.
• Cross-cutting rights. Node has one route per right, PHP a single parameterised route /admin/droits/{flag}.

These twenty-eight differences of shape are not asserted from memory: the file tests/test_parity.php exercises every one of them, one at a time.

The periodic sweep#

Node carries its own scheduler: the server runs permanently, so it wakes itself up. PHP only lives during a request: the same eight operations go through tools/cron.php, called by the hosting provider's cron. Same business code, same effect, different trigger.

Dates#

Node writes its dates with Intl, built into V8. PHP does the same when the intl extension is present — same ICU engine, identical results down to the character. When it is missing, day and month names come from the translation dictionaries: the date stays correct and translated, but the order of its parts may differ in a few languages.

What does not differ, though you would expect it to#

Which to choose#

How parity is kept#

It is not an intention, it is a verification. On every change, four comparisons are run:

1. The routes — extracted from both sides and compared; any gap must be a documented difference.
2. The functions — the names exported by each module, compared module by module.
3. The schema — tables and columns read from both databases and compared.
4. The screens — both editions started side by side and walked through by a real browser, page by page, comparing response code and structure.

These four passes have found real defects — including two that affected both editions. That is what makes them worth running: a parity you do not measure is a parity you have lost without noticing.

On top of that come the test suites: 802 cases on the Node side, 572 on the PHP side, 1374 in all.

Toutadmin documentation — built on 2026-09-13. A standalone site, independent of the software.