Choosing between PHP frameworks and template systems

I have a moderately simple assignment, to create a PHP/PDO site with login functionality and article retrieve/save/edit/search. No tags, nothing else.

Is this overkill to use some framework for this?
It it a good decision to use custom code + perhaps template system like Smarty for a simple site that will not grow too much?

Is there a software niche/best practices for small sites?
In a nutshell, I need logins/forms, but aren't frameworks like Zend or Cake too much for this?
Choosing between PHP frameworks and template systems
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I have a moderately simple assignment, to create a PHP/PDO site with login functionality and article retrieve/save/edit/search. No tags, nothing else.

Is this overkill to use some framework for this?
It it a good decision to use custom code + perhaps template system like Smarty for a simple site that will not grow too much?

Is there a software niche/best practices for small sites?
In a nutshell, I need logins/forms, but aren't frameworks like Zend or Cake too much for this?