Wednesday, December 2, 2009

CMS Systems Compared

By Stephen Grisham Sr.

Content Management Systems (CMS) permit the users to take care of their own custom sites -- after professionals have created them -- the end-user can maintain them and make changes. As an example, you can make a site that lets the client add or update employee contact information, schedules of events, and other dynamic content independently, without any knowledge of HTML.

There are lots of CMS systems out there, and several of them don't cost anything. Choose which one to used based on the website you need. This does not list them all. There are a great number of very good Content Management Systems out there from which to choose. Look at the author's websites to make certain that the CMS you opt for is right for your requirements.

Joomla is incredibly versatile. You can use it for almost any kind of website. It doesn't matter whether you are talking about a personal website or a business site (whether large or small), online publications or even an E-commerce site (however, if you are dealing with an e-commerce site, you may fare better with a dedicated e-commerce package like Zen Cart or osCommerce). Joomla is not difficult to install and, if the web host offers Fantastico, the setup can be completely automated.

PHP-based Website Baker affords a lot of design simplicity. Since it is PHP based, you have the ability to play with the page to make it look like what you want if either you are fairly competent with PHP or if you want to pay a PHP programmer (which might turn out to be less expensive and easier than you might think -- check out guru.com). There are a lot of add-ons that can be installed on a Website Baker site including, for example, photo albums, a message board, a catalog, an online payment option, etc.

Drupal. Drupal is not to be undertaken lightly; it requires specific training and education or a series of very hard knocks. The Drupal website even admits that there is a significant learning curve.

Mambo is extremely popular since it is easy to use and versatile. A variety of themes are offered and with slight changes, you can create a great website with little stress.

phpWebSite is great and can be used for many things. A document manager, calendar, form generator, polling system and photo album are all available as add-ons. As is the case with the acquisition of all new information, Content Management Systems involve a specific learning curve. Some PHP knowledge is required in order to do most customizing.

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