Content Management Systems

[Brendan]

Hey Guys,

I thought I would start a thread for discussing content management systems for websites, and what people think are the best.

I have used a few from the early days of 'CuteNews', through to Joomla..

Here is what I have found with some of the ones I have used;

WordPress - WordPress Blog Tool and Weblog Platform (http://www.wordpress.org)
This was primarily released as a blogging platform, but I do see more and more sites developing their whole website based on its framework, its free, very easy to use, customise and distribute, not to mention the endless plugins!

If you are making a site that is a basic 5-6 page site with standard type content.. then wordpress is excellent.

Some examples of wordpress sites
Splashpress Media (http://www.splashpress.com)
Get Rich Slick (http://www.getrichslick.net)
Appbid : Buy and Sell Facebook and Opensocial Applicaitons (http://www.appbid.com)

Jooma / Mambo - Joomla! (http://www.joomla.org)
Joomla is fantastic, its certainly a more advanced solution to managing content, its free, and out of the box allows user management, comprehensive categories and content management, endless mods and product add ons and a fully customizable template system.

I would suggest Joomla for a more 'corporate' type solution, its much more advanced and has a load more features.. but can be overkill for the majority of users.

Some Joomla Examples
Global Fitness Institute - Online Training Provider - Home (http://www.global-fitness.com.au)
Joomla! (http://www.joomla.org)

They are the two main ones I use.. can anyone recommend any others? such as Drupal.. ?

[crackers]

Joomla. I use it on EVERY website i make. Its amazing and really easy to mod.

[Slade]

crackers... have you got some examples you can show us?

[rosshill]

I use wordpress - I don't think it really matters what you choose as long as you dig into it and learn how to customise it. Just get knowledgable with something.

[itycoon]

I use Joomla and Wordpress. My personal favorites. Here are two of the sites I have that are running them.

Photoshop Engage (http://www.photoshopengage.com) - Wordpress
tymez: news bits you might have missed
(http://www.tymez.com) - Wordpress.

[Slade]

hey itycoon, your photoshop blog comes up with an error -


Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/content/p/h/o/photoshopking/html/wp-config.php:35) in /home/content/p/h/o/photoshopking/html/wp-includes/pluggable.php on line 391

[RevoPT]

Hey Brendan,
I work in the fitness industry and checked out your website.
Where are you based?

[themedialad]

I've mentioned before - and happy to again here, Web 123 is a content management system which I use to design websites... its straight forward enough that anyone can do it, and its encouraged to be used as DIY, however I use it, as a tool for building clients sites.

Obviously, I do have a contact within the company - So I get the designs at $1295 as opposed to $1495 because of a promo code. I would love to get some other peoples opinions - and could provide you a "demo code" if you wanted to have a free trial.

[josaphlewis]

It has to be Drupal. Joomla is also a good option. Drupal allows you to have a blog section as well. It is easy to use. I am leaning towards Drupal, but I find it difficult. Word Press is easier to use evaluate to Drupal.

[eoinbronks]

Thanks guys for your valuable post...CMS stands for Content Management Systems. According to me Joomla is the best CMS. Joomla is the most popular Web site software available in the market., Joomla is an open source solution that is freely available to everyone.

[3DFOX3D]

I have been reading the posts with interest (I use Xsitepro) - does anyone know of a free source of quality 3D type content for incorporating into a website using Joolma or any of the others mentioned here. I would like to add a bit of 3D effect to my sites (I am an internet marketer, not a website designer) which I have put together myself - just testing the market at present, if all goes well then I will use a pro to redo the sites properly - examples being www.3D3D.com.au (http://www.3D3D.com.au) and www.3Fox3D.com (http://www.3Fox3D.com) (would love to 3D animate my Fox)

cheers,
Mike

[Georgie]

Drupal, Joomla & Wordpress are good entry level CMSs. but the real fun is in custom made one.

Software Houses make shi*loads of money with that, even more with support for the same CMS....

[rustyhands]

I use a wordpress website and it rocks. im not a web savvy person and dont have the time to learn it....... have a look if you want ............ its in the signature :)

[stephenjames]

It is easy to use. I am leaning towards Drupal, but I find it difficult. Word Press is easier to use evaluate to Drupal.It has to be Drupal. Joomla is also a good option. Drupal allows you to have a blog section as well.

[randycolmen]

CMS works well with almost all the site just make sure that you have enough knowledge of PHP. Drupal and Joomla are good option for CMS.

[echodigital]

I've tried DotNetNuke but didn't think much of it. I use Joomla and Wordpress and both are fantastic. I prefer Wordpress because of the millions of plugins and the ease of use for clients.

[Web Circle]

I can't post links cause I'm new but we've probably built close to 300 websites using Joomla or Wordpress. We use Wordpress for start-ups not looking to expand too much and Joomla for everyone else. WordPress is easier to user but it also has its quirks. Joomla has a bit of a learning curve and it can be a bit tricky to understand (menus, modules etc) but its extremely powerful. We've built stacks of eCommerce sites using Joomla / Virtuemart - a recent example is taller.com.au or businessplans.com.au (which sells downloadable products) one which has had up to 10,000 visits in a day. We've built online directories like ineedamassage.com.au which also contains a discussion forum. We've been using it for 4.5 years and overall very happy with it although development of 1.6 has been slow and systems like WordPress are picking up a lot of momentum. I have tried Drupal and I tried and tried but it just confused the hell out of me. I've also looked at Silverstripe for a project and it looks really smooth and easy I wouldn't mind trying it out but I think its safer to stick to the main ones (although more change of being hacked - but thats a topic for another forum).

[Web Circle]

Just replying to my comments above, check out http://www.webcircle.com.au/projects.html for a few examples. Pretty much every site I have ever built has been either Joomla or Wordpress. If anyone is interested in any particular industries or types of sites let me know and I'll post some links of ones we've done if we have done any relevant ones.

[Karl Thew]

I started off using Joomla, but found it a bit confusing, and a friend suggested WordPress. I have found WordPress to be awesome and very easy to learn. I haven't had any major issues with it. For my website it has done everything I need it to. WordPress 3.0 has also pushed Wordpress up further in my books My website is at www[dot]e-nitiative[dot]com[dot]au if you want to have a look at what I've done. (This is not a plug for my site, just an example for people to see how wordpress can be used)

[disolmodo78]

Wordperess is undoubtedly one of the most prominent content management systems as it has several search engine friendly templates and themes to patronize SEO efforts.

[NetOrigin]

Wordpress hands down. There are so many themes and mods available.

[Karl Thew]

I have been reading the posts with interest (I use Xsitepro) - does anyone know of a free source of quality 3D type content for incorporating into a website using Joolma or any of the others mentioned here. I would like to add a bit of 3D effect to my sites (I am an internet marketer, not a website designer) which I have put together myself - just testing the market at present, if all goes well then I will use a pro to redo the sites properly - examples being www.3D3D.com.au (http://www.3D3D.com.au) and www.3Fox3D.com (http://www.3Fox3D.com) (would love to 3D animate my Fox)

cheers,
Mike

A great 3d slider is CUB3R. You can find it here http://getcu3er.com/ Basically between transitions you get 3d effects. Check it out!

[sandyleon]

I use WordPress - I do not think the real question it what you choose, as long as you understand how to customize. Just get some insightful.