What is up folks, I'm looking for a CMS for when I finally get around to updating my sorely ignored gaming website that I haven't updated in over a year. The thing is I still get a lot of email from the site, so it behooves me to not let it die. I was going to use a wiki-type system, however I've also been thinking about something like Joomla. Basically I want something really easy to use (since I'll have a lot of cutting & pasting to do) and that I don't have to worry about people hacking, and that I can make look decent. Is there a CMS out there that any of you here have had lots of experience with and would recommend?
Then don't use an out-of-the-box CMS! They're all bloated and ridiculously complex. Even CMSMS. Unplug from the Internet and print a fanzine. Define decent. If you mean look stylish but like a million other sites because it's a free template, then any CMS. Although you don't really get style with a Wiki. If you mean make it look stylish and unique, get learning design and coding! There are CMS solutions that I've had a lot of experience with and would recommend AVOIDING - does that count? ;-) You didn't mention what you want it to run on... PHP, ASP.NET, Perl, Java.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_content_management_systems http://www.cmsmatrix.org/ http://www.cmscritic.com/resource-lists/cms-list/ http://www.cmsreview.com/ http://php.opensourcecms.com/ There was a good comparison site that I can't find now, with all features in a nice table. Easiest is probably Wordpress nowadays.
Drupal is good...but can be a pain in the ass. Joomla is nice and basic, runs well, fairly easy to theme. Wordpress is the grandaddy of them all. All these need some database setup and some maintenance to keep running. If you're looking for a solution that doesn't use sql, etc, try pivotx. its a little under the radar, but its a good basic cms solution (easy as pie to theme too) Ryan
Then tell me the ones you would avoid. My goal really is to udpate my aging website into something more manageable, it doesn't have to look astounding. I was just gonna go with Wiki but I thought I'd ask here first.
Knowing you Mark, make a Wiki and then use wordpress for blogs and news. Now for forum, check phpbb and see if they solved those security issues. In that case thats a solid, free alternative to vbulletin. But if what you need is a one-for-all solution, then Drupal all the way.
I'm using that for my website and it works great! Once it's all running it's really easy to keep up to date. The hardest part would be the skinning and addition of templates to the wiki, but if you need I can give you a hand with it since I already solved all of that for my wiki
MODX is one of the better ones ive used. Very nice and easy to use. Also good for pasting content and really easy to reuse templates.
I'd say look at what you have and what you want. How do you want to present it? A Wiki is effectively for the public to change info. Do you want that? You could lock it, but that seems kinda pointless. Personally, I find them quite frustrating to use, especially the Wikipedia one. From default, your site would basically be a wiki and there'd be little in the way of a front page. A CMS like Joomla is good for a lot of things. especially if you like bolting on apps etc. However, they're all pretty complex and tend to be bloated with crap you don't need. I am not a lover of Joomla, Mambo, Drupal or CMSMS, all of which I've tried. They just don't do what I want them to do efficiently enough. Incidentally, I've found a CMS is pretty crappy for actually keeping a database, oddly enough! Far easier to write your own. A blog site is great for blog-style (i.e. article driven) websites. When it comes to organizing that data in a nice menu or something, it gets a little more complex perhaps. I actually really lie Wordpress, but again if you want a nice structured database, it gets a bit messy. Security-wise, anything open source will inevitably have its flaws. You need to keep on top of updates, really - but eventually you'll find one of your plugins becomes incompatible with the latest update. In short, if you want your website to do exactly what you want, write it yourself! If you don't mind the security loopholes that may exist in free software, go for the easy option! Incidentally, you need to try different packages and see what you think - either install them in directories on your web server and give them a go, or I think one of the sites I posted lists demos you can use.
Indeed, plus there's tons of plugins available. Speaking of which, what do you guys think is the best PHP CMS? Drupal or Joomla?
I really dislike both. Too clunky and complex. The best CMS would be one you custom wrote to your own specification, really.
Yeah I used to think that, but now everyone demands certain functions from a site and stuff, so putting a framework all together by yourself is near impossible.
