What Content Management System are you using? Any Good?

Hi Tom,

I used to use Big Medium - www.bigmedium.com - and I still highly recommend it!

i am using blogspot i don not know that much but this works for me.

Joomla is uber powerful. And version 1.5 made navigation and use even easier. I can't begin to explain the power and ease Joomla brings to the table. You can learn it at Joomla Video Tutorials.

joomla wins hands down.. although you'll take some time to get acquainted, but its worth the effort

DRUPAL

DRUPAL

DRUPAL

One of the most comprehensive and I would rate it as the best CMS I've ever used.

I have worked with Wordpress (love it), Joomla (involves a learning curve, but okay) ... Drupal is by far the best.

My Drupal site:
Raakesh.com
Wordpress:
Raakesh’s Blog

Drupal site:
Reiki Masters
Seek Reviews | Honest Product Reviews ... to help you decide better.
US Pet Store | for all your pet's needs

I am in the process of migrating all my custom HTML sites to Drupal now ... the modules you can find are awesome ... I think that should end your search. Highly Recommended.

I second the nomination for drupal, it is more complicated than Wordpress, but I found it a lot simpler than Joomla.

I would have to say Joomla. It IS a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, you will be very happy with the things you can do.

I still prefer Wordpress as CMS, if I want more SEO power, I use XSitePro to build highly optimize SEO Site.

If your content gets stored in a database or flatfile system rather than as individual files, it is dynamic content. What exactly are you meaning, 'the html' route? I can make WordPress have .html endings. No biggie...

So by definition a CMS is 'dynamic'.

If you want a site built entirely of .html files (that, incidentally, would have to be manually updated every time you make a site-wide change) just buy a copy of Dreamweaver, design yourself a template, and make web pages.

Again - what exactly are you thinking when you say "...but I want to go the html site route"? Unless you're talking the Dreamweaver (or other html editor) option, that term is meaningless...

A better question, I suppose, is "what do you need to do that WordPress will NOT do"?

Most of what has been mention are PHP CMS systems. If you want HTML, why not use Dreamweaver HTML templates and use Contribute to manage the content?

Hey Tom,

I'm doing exactly what you are talking about right now. I'm using an "elegant and idiot proof solutions" script right now which has enabled me to go the .html route for every page. I have 514 pages on my site and adding more every day.

Not only can I add text and format it, but I can embed videos, images and other Web 2.0 goodies I want to do with it. I can montierize every single page with something different if I want or put the same thing on every page with the click of my mouse.

I'm 65 years old and complicated learning curves drive me to the wall and most of the time I either give up or end up in trouble so deep with it I can't get out of it. I only know one or two things about html code <b></b> but frankly I would almost rather shoot myself than try to use it.

It's called EZ Content Manager or EZCM and that is exactly what it is. It's designed and built by Big Mike and his trusty sidekick Diego of INCANSOFT.com fame. They are really well known here on the WF, especially Big Mike.

I'm not sure how much I can talk about it, but I can tell you if I can use it anybody can. Now the only drawback is you can't buy it yet. However, I know for a fact a WSO is going to be run in the near future and then it's going to be launched world wide shortly after the WSO at a considerably higher price.

I really wish I could tell you how excited I am about using EZCM

This thing is awsome and I think it's going to change the way people build content sites.

Ken Leatherman
The Old Geezer

P.S. Nice talking to another "Idiot". :p

Guys... spend ten minutes in the MODx forum and you'll understand how much Drupal and Joomla hold you back!

MODx CMS is the best. It is more powerfull than Joomla and Drupal but easier for the average newbie like me.

So many people regret spending 4 years learning Joomla only to find out they're restricted.

All the best,

Louis

Tom, hope you find what you're looking for. Committing to a certain platform is a big decision and not easily changed.

I would suggest that you list what is important to you, what your site HAS to do, what features you MUST have in order to concentrate on content rather than mechanics.

Then look for the easiest solution that will fulfill those needs.

WP isn't the best solution for everything - nor are any of the other CMS platforms. I get a little concerned for people when they say "I want to go the html route" -- because often they're just parroting what they've run across somewhere.

Sounds like you have a decent handle on what you need, though, and that's Job #1.

I tried Joomla and hated it
Went to Drupal and didn't like that one either

Played with wordpress for a long time and then decided to try the new Joomla

I love it - yes there is a learning curve ( most of it is just being organized and understanding proper structure for what you are trying to accomplish)

I've found some exceptional modules to go with Joomla and invested in quality templates so my sites are very functional.

If all I need is a basic web site then I use Wordpress. If I'm building a large site especially one with lots of affilitate products, I use Joomla

For my stores I use another type of software and for my membership site its totally different again.
I suggest you create a wish list of what you want your website to do and do some research for those qualities.

Don't be afraid to learn a system - it always pays off in the end.

Are you worried dynamic content doesn't index well? My stores prove thats a myth and same with the SEO friendly urls.
Its nice to have them but not crucial

Hey Tom,

You can ask Big Mike but I suspect he's going to be very careful with letting more Idiots like me play with this script. I'll tell you one thing you can do though and that's put some light hearted pressure here on him here in the forum.

Maybe wait until tomorrow and put up a new post and ask him some very specific questions about it. Gently chide him about how desperate you are. Tell him what you're looking for that type of that thing. He's a pretty good sport and likes to help people out when he can.

He may only whet your appetite but then again he may give you some solid information. More than likely he's going to kick my butt for talking so loud about EZCM.

Ken

Joomla definitely wins hands down. I use it for about 4 of my websites. Not a big fan of drupal.. i know it had some security issues at some point so i switched over to joomla and never had a problem

I've read the opposite - that Joomla has wide security holes and
Drupal is better in that area.

Joomla templates are great for eye candy appeal. Wordpress too.
Drupal and other lags in that area.

It depends what your priorities are -
1. how many users?
2. how much security
3. SEO important to you?
4. how much time do you have to learn?
5. how technical is your mind?

Wordpress works best for me

Of course, I love my WordPress to death and couldn't imagine a day without it. I have also walked on the wild side with Xcite Pro and the updated version 2 is very good. I hear good things about Drupal but not enough to make me leave WP.

Leanne

For websites in the past I have used Joomla. I prefer 1.5 over the 1.0.x version. However, I am looking to try out other CMS scripts. I have tried Drupal and just can't seem to get the hang of it's structure.

I am currently looking at CMSMadeSimple and have been thinking about XSitePro. The reason for XSitePro is to be able to quickly make a professional-looking page in a short period of time.

My talents lie in research and technical aspects. Sure, I can create a site with tons of bells and whistles, but graphic design is not my forte. It seems that with XSitePro, it comes with literally hundreds of templates. All I want to be able to do is when I get an idea for a project (e-book and/or affiliate site) to be able to start my research, type the content, and have to use minimal effort in the graphic design part. Having access to tons of templates sounds like a huge plus.

Anyone have any experience in XSitePro? The price is a little steep (I'm just getting in to all of this and I'm on a half of a shoestring budget). Anyone know of something similar to XSitePro for cheaper or free?

I like Blogspot , it's free and makes money just as ggod as any website does, and gets ranked easy.

Blogspot is great for fast money generation! If you want to build a serious business...host your own blog!

I love (LOVE!) Expression Engine.

Hi Tom,

I currently use three different CMS systems - depending on what my needs are.

1. Joomla - for content publishing - once you get used to it - it really is easy.
2. Wordpress for blogging - straightforward but get your spam settings right.
3. Contepass (tm) - for everything else - membership sites - training - online store etc.

My main site is Contepass (tm) all others are mostly Joomla - you can usually tell the Wordpress ones by scrolling down to the bottom.

On the "HTML" thing - not quite sure what you mean there - the basic idea for a CMS is to provide an easy way to deliver lots of content dynamically and some will make it appear as a page ending in .html - like Contepass (tm).

Brian

My vote goes to:
Wordpress

• tons of useful plugins
• easy to learn/manage
• lots of beautiful templates (free or commercial)
• indexes fast in Google

I used WP on a regular basis for small/medium size sites.

For larger sites my vote goes to Joomla.

Dan

I know that there a lot of Drupal developers but when I was given a project that needed to be completed in 3 days, obviously I didn't have the luxury of time to study Drupal nor the patience to understand it and I ended up with ModxCMS which took me a day to put up the site and half of their requirements in place. The ease to setup SEO-friendly URL's is really amazing. For any help that you might need, no developer will get lost inside their wiki and for additional help there are lots of free help in the forum.

It is very flexible and making modules for it is not a pain in any way so Modx is a real treat for developers and I'd recommend Modx even for non-techie folks.

I'll put in another vote for Joomla. It took me a little while to figure it out (about a month), but once you understand the structure and naming of things, it kicks ass. And the number of really useful and free modules and plugins is amazing. Anything you could think of is there. And it is just as SEO friendly as any other platform (if you know what you are doing).

I've built a few using Joomla, but also found CMS Made Simple (cmsmadesimple.org) very easy to use and set up. It is a lot more lightweight than Joomla, and has Seo friendly urls out of the box.

Anyone else think Tom should use Joomla or Drupal or some other db backed cms? He's asking for other alternatives to those types of systems.

XsitePro, DreamWeaver, CityDesk, Frontpage, Expression Web, or the EZCMS someone mentioned when it goes WSO maybe.