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Thread: CMS suggestions

  1. #1
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    CMS suggestions

    Consider me a complete noob when it comes to content management systems.

    I have a website (css/xhtml) that is close to 80 pages, which as you can imagine is tedious to edit and update. Lot`s of activity on the ftp client text editor!

    I figured it`s probably time I switched the site over to a CMS setup. We are looking for a fresh new look so the present site design will get binned.

    Many of the open source CMS offer free and paid templates, I`m sure there will be some thing we like. Naturally with the existing website we already have the content (text and images) to hand, so it would be simple copy and paste into the template we chose.

    Question is I have no idea what CMS to go for. Bear in mind I know squat about them so it should be something simple to administer, but can work alongside our photo galleries and vBulletin forums.

    I have a reasonable understanding of css/xhtml and a small understanding of php/mysql if that helps. However I assume most of the content adding and editing is done via an editor in the admin panel of the CMS?

    Of the dozens of open source CMS`s out there, and with the information I provided can anyone recommend a good fit?

    Secure, frequently updated, simple to use, but with a few bells and whistles

    Thanks.

  2. #2
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    The 3 that come to mind are always WordPress, Drupal and Joomla. The latter i don't personally like, but I am a great fan of WordPress and Drupal. WP because of its ease of use and implementation, and Drupal for its extreme extensibility and flexibility. Drupal comes with a price (although its free) it has QUITE a steep learning curve. WordPress on the other hand is not as powerful as Drupal, but it has an extremely big user base and virtually all problems you'll ever run into, is already discussed on the WP forums. Not to mention its themes and truckloads of plugins... Give WP a try, its free, easy and installed in 15 minutes.

  3. #3
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    Thanks, I always thought Wordpress was for blogging? I will go take a look.

  4. #4
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    WordPress WAS for blogging yes, but it grew into quite a powerful CMS over the years. Eventhough its still used for blogging a lot, and its still its primary function, you can create great websites with it!

    A great example is xolution.nl, a site I designed a while ago.

  5. #5
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    I would suggest checking out modx, Joomla, and drupal.
    HostREA.com
    kirk[@]hostrea.com
    Shared / Reseller cPanel Web Hosting
    WHMCS Templates -Ready to go instant downloads.

  6. #6
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    Now ModX is interesting because you don't need any programming skills and designers have so much control over layout and images. Take a look at this: http://www.dannycassidy.net/modx-my-cms-of-choice

    Joomla and Drupal have a lot places you can add your own PHP code, but you don't have to use them as long as you are happy with each CMS defaults.

    Joomla IMHO has too easy to hack, even with all the latest patches.

    Drupal is very secure when patched, but as stated before, it's a bigger learning curve.

    Cannot comment on WP as we have no experience with it.

    For a complete Noob, my vote is ModX.

    Let us know how you go
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  7. #7
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    Wordpress gets my vote. Easy to use and maintain and awesome for what it is.
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  8. #8
    I also would recommend Wordpress. Joomla is good to, but a bit bloated. Joomla provides a quick and ease to user interface from a CMS standpoint. If you need bloat, or need addition al features, check out Joomla.

  9. #9
    Wordpress is good not only because of its extensive admin feature set, but also because of its completely logical and easy to learn backend.
    You can code themes, customize the php and create your own scripts for the site so easily.
    There are many many plugins which do all sorts of stuff too.

    You can easily ditch the entire blog section if you want.
    You can set the front page to a static page, and then link to other static pages from there (and you can have unlimited of them)
    But the only thing is you get the most from it the more you know how it works.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by magicvorlon View Post
    Thanks, I always thought Wordpress was for blogging? I will go take a look.
    WordPress is still blogging software, however, there's a lot of plugins and other such things you can set that can really transform it into a beast of a CMS. The templating language is extremely easy to boot.
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  11. #11
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    Is wordpress a viable solution for a reseller though? I've been having a heck of a time getting started and picking a solution that would fit my needs as a reseller and can integrate WHMCS

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by EmeraldSon View Post
    Is wordpress a viable solution for a reseller though? I've been having a heck of a time getting started and picking a solution that would fit my needs as a reseller and can integrate WHMCS
    I'm also curious about this. If anyone has some insight on integrating wordpress and WHCMS, I would love to hear about it.
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  13. #13
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    Ok, dumb CMS question time (I told you I know nothing about them!!!).

    With most CMS applications, is the layout served up from the index.php file which is essentially one template? If so I`m assuming this template is then used for all other "pages'. If that is correct, how would one go about using a template but making minor changes to it for certain pages such as adding a few extra divs to accommodate images or ads.

    Hopefully I made some sense there?!

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by magicvorlon View Post
    Ok, dumb CMS question time (I told you I know nothing about them!!!).

    With most CMS applications, is the layout served up from the index.php file which is essentially one template? If so I`m assuming this template is then used for all other "pages'. If that is correct, how would one go about using a template but making minor changes to it for certain pages such as adding a few extra divs to accommodate images or ads.

    Hopefully I made some sense there?!
    Well this depends very much on the CMS you choose; but if you take i.e. Joomla here you have module placements; a module can contain anything, and can be displayed or not, depending on the page. If that is not enough for you; you can even assign different templates to different pages.

    I am sure other CMS systems have something alike.

  15. #15
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    Just an FYI I'm trying out the modX CMS. I'll update everyone on how it works and how I'm able to integrate WHCMS or not.

  16. #16
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    Likely not what you're looking for, but since we're talking about CMS products:

    Related to the conversation here, but we use a very powerful CMS for .net based sites that our customers really like.
    www.sitefinity.com
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  17. #17
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    wordpress and joomla are best options.
    █ Shiva WebZillatech.com - For Quality Design Services
    Web Design, Graphic Design, SEO/SEM ,Logo & banner design ,Flash, Joomla, Wordpress etc.,

  18. #18
    The 3 most widely used PHP CMS's presently are Wordpress, Joomla! and Drupal - quite in that order as well.

    Wordpress - Easy to install, good basic features, relatively safe ( without the plugins, though we all need them to power up wordpress) and easy to handle as well. Good for those wanting a basic CMS and putting content up on there sites. Very good SEO with plugins.Google's pet.

    Joomla! - Relatively complex compared to Wordpress but it is a full fledged CMS with advanced features like Social Networking, Video sites and with a huge community following as well. However, not the best for SEO , even with plugins like sh404sef it has inherent drawbacks of duplicate content and is a pain as far as solving these issues is concerned. External plugins make it unsafe, core is very safe and upto date.

    Drupal - Not for the faint hearted. The learning curve is pretty high but once you know it in an out , you can only love the power it gives with the flexibility it comes with. Used by power portals and firms , it can be easily leveraged for SEO ( very good at that) and is relatively much safer then the other two. Its only con is not easy to work on and the UI lacks.

    Having worked on all 3, for me it depends on the need. If its a powerful system, then drupal . If i wanna keep it simple, then Wordpress and for everything in between , Joomla! .

  19. #19
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    Hi,

    I work with many CMS, so far I haven't found one to cater to every need.

    Websitebaker

    Neat, fast, great community and sufficient for most purposes.


    DBHcms

    Small, with all necessary functions, clean and above all fully multilingual (the only one apart from Typo3 with this feature)

    TYPOlight

    Similar to Joomla, but multilingual content from ground up, fully featured

    ImpressCMS

    A fork of XOOPS and extremely promising, the so far effected brush up makes this one lighter, faster and easy to manage while truly powerful.

    C.

  20. #20

    CMS suggestions

    Hi Folks,

    Just thought I'd throw my 2 cents worth into the ring. I wrote the article mentioned earlier in this thread about MODx.

    Admittedly I'm a bit biased towards MODx as I've now used it for several of my client websites. I don't know too much PHP but as a web designer am good with HTML/CSS and MODx really suits this.

    There's great templating system in MODx that makes it really easy to have different page layouts and the code it generates is SEO friendly. The learning curve is a bit steep at the start (it usually is with these things) but there's an amazing forum community if you ever get stuck. Lots of MODx'ers on Twitter too.

    Another CMS worth trying is CMS Made Simple although for more advanced sites I needed something a bit more powerful/flexible.

    cheers,

    Danny

  21. #21
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    My vote is for Joomla altho it is kinda diff to get around with

  22. #22
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    I`m looking at Wordpress.

    So for example I have a template or create my own which I set as the homepage. Can I use tweaked versions of this template for my sub-pages? For example using a three column homepage, but perhaps lose two of those columns for my other pages or add an extra div box? You don`t often see websites using the exact same layout throughout.

  23. #23
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    It's very possible, yes

    Just save page.php as (e.g.) homepage.php, and add this snippet on the very top of the newly saved file:

    Code:
    <?php
    /*
    Template name: Homepage
    */
    ?>
    Now upload this file to wp-content/themes/theme-name/
    Create a new page, and select 'Homepage' as your page template.
    Tadaa... you now have a separate template for your homepage! Great stuff ey?

    Some stuff to read:
    http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Development
    http://codex.wordpress.org/Stepping_Into_Template_Tags
    http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags
    http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress...WordPress_Site

    And good luck!

  24. #24
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    Here`s an odd one I can`t figure out why. I tried a couple of Worpdress templates that came with a bunch of pages to use. Problem is these templates were not showing as an option when creating page content. Normally you would get a drop down where you can associate your page with a template.

  25. #25
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    Problem is these templates were not showing as an option when creating page content. Normally you would get a drop down where you can associate your page with a template.
    Did those templates had the snippet on top I said in my previous post?

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