Content Managers

She has: 2 posts

Joined: Apr 2004

I'm not very experienced in any aspects of webdesign but do manage to run my own members website and do very well with it.

However, it's a lot for me to maintain and 95% of it is done by me.

I've heard a lot about content managers and how they would make maintaining my site a lot easier. I need something that I could log into without FTP and create/edit pages, mainly picture galleries with thumbnails, etc.

Can anybody tell me where I'd find a good content manager that would do everything that I need and how I'd go about installing it on my site?

She has: 2 posts

Joined: Apr 2004

Thankyou Smiling

They have: 13 posts

Joined: Mar 2004

Okay...I use several CMS's, and so far here are the ones I prefer.

If your site is more of a personal nature, and you know a little bit about CGI (and your host allows CGI...PERL), then I recommend Movable Type (MT). Now, MT can be difficult to install...so I recommend that you have a decent understanding of directory structures & feel reasonably comfortable hand-coding HTML, etc... I have installed it so many times...that it is second nature to me now. I think I even have the installation manuel memorized. Major Drawback: You cannot use MT on a commercial site without paying a $150.00 licensing fee. But it is completely free to use on personal sites.

Next, is one of my personal favorites, WordPress. Here's what's great about WordPress. First, it PHP based...so I find it so much easier to use. Secondly, you can easily & effortly password protext individual entries. Also, it's a snap to install. The drawbacks...it's relatively new so there are not as many plugins as MT. And the support forum (though fairly active), doesn't even come close to the support available for MT. Major plus...it's open source. Oh, and the developer Matt...live right here is Houston...and goes to U of H like me Smiling

All right, now we come to GreyMatter, a very nice, compact system developed by Noah Grey. For the beginner, I think that GreyMatter is probably one of the easiest systems to install. Requires Perl, but once installed is easier to configure than MT. Not nearly as many features as MT...but still a nice program.

Next Up...A Relative Newcomer to the CMS Arena...TextPattern. This system is fairly new, and was developed by Dean Allen. I just set this up one of my sites tonight...and I love, love, love it. What's great? It's PHP based like WordPress...and allows for seperate sections. (Of course, so does MT...but with MT you can run into a lot of trouble if you aren't careful). Also, you can have each section linked to a separate template. Very Cool!!!

Somewhere between Blogger & MT, is RODIN. Now since I have never actually used this CMS...I can't tell you what to expect. But, from the site...it looks rather promising. I imagine from the site, that it is PHP based.

Moving Right Along...Contribute 2...Macromedia's CMS Gem. Contribute 2 is designed for those who know little to no HTML. It's easy for most beginners, and fairly powerful. Great for web designers & clients alike. Probably not the best bet for a personal site, but nice for larger sites. I think the price just went up to about $150.00.

If you don't want to run the site on your own server, check out:

Tabulus or
Blogger

mjs416's picture

They have: 127 posts

Joined: Dec 2003

I have used a few different CMS's in my day. PHP Nuke is always good. Tons of support and custom skins are all over the place. One that I have recently started using is E107 (e107.org). I really like the ability this CMS has to fit your needs - especially for a general CMS. Lots of skins and support as well.

The nice thing about both of them is that they are free!!! Like Matt said above, opensourcecms.com allows you to demo them before you waste time downloading and experimenting. Many other available on that site too.

Quentin's picture

They have: 5 posts

Joined: Apr 2004

I personally use Mambo.

It is very easy to use and though there is a steep learning curve as with any CMS the benefits are great. Add to that the ease of adding modules and components for nearly every type of function you will want to do.

You can visit the community at http://www.mamboportal.com and to see what can be achieved go to http://www.mp3soundstream.com

Hope this helps.
Quentin

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