Wordpress As a True CMS

juggernautbitch · 08-08-2009, 03:15 AM

I was wondering if anyone knows of a Wordpress theme that is a fully enabled CMS, similar to Joomla or Drupal. Ive just recently switched to Wordpress and have launched afew very basic blog like sites. Right now I'm looking to build something bigger, but it seems like a lot of coding is needed unlike Joomla where a site can be simply customized using modules and 3rd party plugins...

Justin DSP · 08-08-2009, 03:45 AM

Can you explain a little bit more ?

IMO WordPress is a CMS right off the bat, as it manages my content.

It has tons of plugins that you can install from the admin area.

Have you checked out wordpress.tv or the extended area of wordpress.org with all the plugins that you can use ?

jgalty · 08-08-2009, 04:45 AM

Wordpress is CMS to begin with. But it's meant to be used for blogging mostly but you can get a ton of extensions that make it more like a regular site.

Steve Diamond · 08-08-2009, 10:00 AM

Google is your friend.

Start with this section from the WordPress Codex.

Then have a look at these resources, randomly selected from the top 10 results for WordPress CMS themes:

Finally, if you want total control and don't mind a little coding, look at my recent post about WordPress frameworks.

Hope this helps.

Steve

HariVarrier · 08-11-2009, 12:10 PM

There are themes which help you do it much faster such as the remix theme.

Wade Watson · 08-11-2009, 01:10 PM

Hmm. I've used a few of those themes called "CMS themes", but never used that term. You're using a CMS whenever you use WordPress, but that seems to be the trendy buzzword for using WordPress as a more-or-less static website. You can do that with most any theme, but I suppose some work better than others. If you go into the Reading settings and set a Page as the Home page and set an internal page to contain your blog entries, you've got it. However, if you do this with most of those magazine-style themes referred to as "CMS" themes, all the fancy first page features go to the internal blog page and you're starting from scratch on your home page. Maybe there's something I'm not seeing here. I belive all of those themes are designed to create a magazine-style layout by using catagories to separate latest blog posts on the main page. You usually would still need to do some creative coding to put static content on one of those front pages.

Steve Diamond · 08-11-2009, 01:40 PM

Wade, you're right about the magazine-style themes, but some of the more recent and advanced CMS themes and frameworks do it better. They provide flexible and optional placement of sidebars in different positions, plus multiple templates for pages and posts.

I particularly like the free, open source theme framework Hybrid for this purpose. There's also a new premium theme called Headway that's based on a similar idea and is even easier for non-programmers. See my recent post for references.

Steve

Wade Watson · 08-11-2009, 02:29 PM

That Hybrid theme sounded interesting, but I soon changed my mind. It sounds very interesting and is billed as "free", but once installed you have a sidebar-less theme with no apparent settings to speak of. If you go to the site you find the obviously necessary "documentation" requires a paid membership. I'm all for marketing, but I hate underhanded approaches. Uninstalled. Deleted.

Steve Diamond · 08-11-2009, 03:20 PM

Wade, I understand how you feel. Initially I felt something similar, but I soon changed my mind after further investigation.

First of all, the guy who developed Hybrid, Justin Tadlock, is a lawyer by profession, not a developer. His work on Hybrid is all pro bono (as it were). He doesn't make anything from add-on services or anything like that.

Second, the fee is only $25 per year to access the advanced tutorials and the support forum. I think that's pretty doggone reasonable compared to the price of, say, Headway, which is $160 for a developer license plus $40 per client site. For Justin to ask $25 per year to help defray hosting costs and such is not in my view something to get all huffy about. And you don't have to pay in order to access some of the introductory documentation. There's actually enough there in the free membership to get you started.

Finally, it's not at all unusual for companies that distribute open source software to charge for support. Think of all the Linux distributors for example. Some of them charge thousands for enterprise level support.

I'm not in bed with Justin, and I'm not trying to change your mind. But I am trying to provide a different perspective for anyone who may have read your post and gotten turned off. In my view your decision was hasty.

Steve

HariVarrier · 08-11-2009, 08:18 PM

@Steve Diamond, I just took a look at both of the themes you mentioned. I must agree that both of them are really good. I would suggest for all the starters that you use Hybrid theme. Hybrid seems to be simpler yet functional.

08-08-2009, 03:15 AM	#1
juggernautbitch Active Warrior Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 59 Thanks: 1 Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts	Wordpress As a True CMS I was wondering if anyone knows of a Wordpress theme that is a fully enabled CMS, similar to Joomla or Drupal. Ive just recently switched to Wordpress and have launched afew very basic blog like sites. Right now I'm looking to build something bigger, but it seems like a lot of coding is needed unlike Joomla where a site can be simply customized using modules and 3rd party plugins...

08-08-2009, 03:45 AM	#2
Justin DSP Hi2U War Room Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: 48301 & 89135 Posts: 31 Thanks: 2 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: Wordpress As a True CMS Can you explain a little bit more ? IMO WordPress is a CMS right off the bat, as it manages my content. It has tons of plugins that you can install from the admin area. Have you checked out wordpress.tv or the extended area of wordpress.org with all the plugins that you can use ?

08-08-2009, 04:45 AM	#3
jgalty Active Warrior Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Canada Posts: 41 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Wordpress As a True CMS Wordpress is CMS to begin with. But it's meant to be used for blogging mostly but you can get a ton of extensions that make it more like a regular site.
	Barrie Web Design

08-08-2009, 10:00 AM	#4
Steve Diamond Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Tucson, AZ, USA. Posts: 1,025 Thanks: 120 Thanked 158 Times in 115 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Wordpress As a True CMS Google is your friend. Start with this section from the WordPress Codex. Then have a look at these resources, randomly selected from the top 10 results for WordPress CMS themes: WPRemix Premium Wordpress CMS Theme Free Wordpress CMS Themes for Your Blog New Wordpress CMS theme Premium Theme Info Blog // Recent Blog Entries // wordpress cms themes // BlogCatalog WordPress CMS Theme - WP-Terra 1.0 \| WordPress Themes for Small Business Carrington - The CMS Theme Framework for WordPress Finally, if you want total control and don't mind a little coding, look at my recent post about WordPress frameworks. Hope this helps. Steve
	Executive I.T. consulting for small/medium business Website development \| PHP - MySQL - JavaScript expert programming Software requirements analysis \| Specification writing Project management \| Vendor relationship management

08-11-2009, 12:10 PM	#5
HariVarrier Best Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 160 Thanks: 4 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts Contact Info	Re: Wordpress As a True CMS There are themes which help you do it much faster such as the remix theme.

08-11-2009, 01:10 PM	#6
Wade Watson HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 128 Thanks: 40 Thanked 16 Times in 15 Posts	Re: Wordpress As a True CMS Hmm. I've used a few of those themes called "CMS themes", but never used that term. You're using a CMS whenever you use WordPress, but that seems to be the trendy buzzword for using WordPress as a more-or-less static website. You can do that with most any theme, but I suppose some work better than others. If you go into the Reading settings and set a Page as the Home page and set an internal page to contain your blog entries, you've got it. However, if you do this with most of those magazine-style themes referred to as "CMS" themes, all the fancy first page features go to the internal blog page and you're starting from scratch on your home page. Maybe there's something I'm not seeing here. I belive all of those themes are designed to create a magazine-style layout by using catagories to separate latest blog posts on the main page. You usually would still need to do some creative coding to put static content on one of those front pages.

08-11-2009, 01:40 PM	#7
Steve Diamond Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Tucson, AZ, USA. Posts: 1,025 Thanks: 120 Thanked 158 Times in 115 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Wordpress As a True CMS Wade, you're right about the magazine-style themes, but some of the more recent and advanced CMS themes and frameworks do it better. They provide flexible and optional placement of sidebars in different positions, plus multiple templates for pages and posts. I particularly like the free, open source theme framework Hybrid for this purpose. There's also a new premium theme called Headway that's based on a similar idea and is even easier for non-programmers. See my recent post for references. Steve
	Executive I.T. consulting for small/medium business Website development \| PHP - MySQL - JavaScript expert programming Software requirements analysis \| Specification writing Project management \| Vendor relationship management

08-11-2009, 02:29 PM	#8
Wade Watson HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 128 Thanks: 40 Thanked 16 Times in 15 Posts	Re: Wordpress As a True CMS That Hybrid theme sounded interesting, but I soon changed my mind. It sounds very interesting and is billed as "free", but once installed you have a sidebar-less theme with no apparent settings to speak of. If you go to the site you find the obviously necessary "documentation" requires a paid membership. I'm all for marketing, but I hate underhanded approaches. Uninstalled. Deleted.

08-11-2009, 03:20 PM	#9
Steve Diamond Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Tucson, AZ, USA. Posts: 1,025 Thanks: 120 Thanked 158 Times in 115 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Wordpress As a True CMS Wade, I understand how you feel. Initially I felt something similar, but I soon changed my mind after further investigation. First of all, the guy who developed Hybrid, Justin Tadlock, is a lawyer by profession, not a developer. His work on Hybrid is all pro bono (as it were). He doesn't make anything from add-on services or anything like that. Second, the fee is only $25 per year to access the advanced tutorials and the support forum. I think that's pretty doggone reasonable compared to the price of, say, Headway, which is $160 for a developer license plus $40 per client site. For Justin to ask $25 per year to help defray hosting costs and such is not in my view something to get all huffy about. And you don't have to pay in order to access some of the introductory documentation. There's actually enough there in the free membership to get you started. Finally, it's not at all unusual for companies that distribute open source software to charge for support. Think of all the Linux distributors for example. Some of them charge thousands for enterprise level support. I'm not in bed with Justin, and I'm not trying to change your mind. But I am trying to provide a different perspective for anyone who may have read your post and gotten turned off. In my view your decision was hasty. Steve
	Executive I.T. consulting for small/medium business Website development \| PHP - MySQL - JavaScript expert programming Software requirements analysis \| Specification writing Project management \| Vendor relationship management

08-11-2009, 08:18 PM	#10
HariVarrier Best Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 160 Thanks: 4 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts Contact Info	Re: Wordpress As a True CMS @Steve Diamond, I just took a look at both of the themes you mentioned. I must agree that both of them are really good. I would suggest for all the starters that you use Hybrid theme. Hybrid seems to be simpler yet functional.