CMS Help

[deronsizemore]

Since I know very little PHP, I'm looking into getting one of the many Open Source CMS's online. I've been to OpenSourceCMS for the last few days trying out the demos and everything and have a few that I think I'd like to try but I also have some questions. First of all here is the list that I've compiled of the ones I think I might like:

1. Mambo
2. Joomla!
3. CMS Made Simple
4. PHP Fusion
5. Plume
6. Drupal
7. TYPO-3
8. PHP WebSite

Out of the list has anyone here used any one of them? I'm looking for a CMS which will allow me to use my own site designs. Maybe I'm just misunderstanding but it seems that most of the CMS's I tried out have like ready-made templates for you to use and I don't want just a templated site, I want to be able to use my own! Also some make mention of XHTML/CSS and some do not. Can all of the CMS's I listed be used with XHTML/CSS or are there only certain ones that are compliant?

[John]

Yes, all of those are customizable but if you don't know much html/css/php then you might have a hard time doing it. In your list I'm only familiar with mambo and drupal which are both very good and easy to customize. You should keep in mind that the mambo development team has just recently split up and I would be cautious about using it.

[Chris]

I've toyed with the idea of turning the script that powers this site into a public CMS.....

[deronsizemore]

Yes, all of those are customizable but if you don't know much html/css/php then you might have a hard time doing it. In your list I'm only familiar with mambo and drupal which are both very good and easy to customize. You should keep in mind that the mambo development team has just recently split up and I would be cautious about using it.


I'm pretty good with html/css so I don't think I'll have a problem with that, its just the PHP part that scares me. Looking at a PHP script, I can recognize a few things, but the extent of my PHP skills is seen on my "contact" page of my webite...just a basic form processor.

I'm thinking seriously of using Drupal. I think of the ones I tested Drupal caught my eye the most.

[MarkB]

Chris, that'd be a great idea.

[deronsizemore]

I've toyed with the idea of turning the script that powers this site into a public CMS.....


Yep! Nice idea! :)

[John]

I've never understood what (if any) the monetary gains are for all of these open source products such as mambo, drupal, invision power board, etc. etc.

[MarkB]

There usually isn't; it's all about contributing to the community. Fortunately, not everything is about money :)

[John]

I can understand people contributing to the community but some of these open source scripts are massive projects, I guess I just find it hard to believe there are people willing to donate that much time to something and not get anything in return.

[deronsizemore]

One last question on this topic. Lets say I go ahead and plan on using Drupal. If I plan to use my own custom site design (which I do) do I need to design the site first and then impliment the CMS or do I need to impliment the CMS and build the site around it (if that's even possible??) Sorry I'm new to the whole CMS stuff.

[John]

You would install the CMS first. See with Drupal when you make your own design it is only a template on top of their code. The thing thats good about templates is they are somewhat easy to make so if you ever want to change your design you can do it without having to change your sites code.

[Chris]

The problem with this CMS is that its hardly public ready. It'd need to be gone through and standardized. Classes likely would need to be made for easy integration with designs. And it'd need a security overhaul.

[deronsizemore]

You would install the CMS first. See with Drupal when you make your own design it is only a template on top of their code. The thing thats good about templates is they are somewhat easy to make so if you ever want to change your design you can do it without having to change your sites code.


Thanks! And I would be able to use a tableless site with Drupal right? Or would it need tables to work with the CMS?

[deronsizemore]

What about CMS Made Simple? Anyone used it? Tried the Demo and its very easy and seems for myself anyway (being pretty new with PHP/CMS stuff) that it might be the best bet for me. Because honestly I don't think I need some overly complex CMS because the site I'm designing wont be overly complex.

http://www.cmsmadesimple.org

Let me know what you think

[MarkB]

Chris, why not open the code to PHP people here? We could rip the guts out in private, and rebuild it... better, stronger... *ahem*

[Chris]

Well opening it up is exactly what I fear doing. Someone sees how the inner workings work I could get injection attacks or whatnot.

[Emancipator]

only release it to those you know have been around awhile and have a reputation of no bull****

[MarkB]

Exackery - a trusted dev group. Make the security fixes a priority and move them onto WSP itself.

[Emancipator]

you know what they say Mark.. all small minded people think alike.. err i mean geniuses! :)

[MarkB]

I'd be offended if I was smart enough :P

[Chris]

I could do that, but I'd be more comfortable with just a single person and I'd need to have them sign an NDA.

[ASP-Hosting.ca]

Mambo is not bad. I've used it for one project and was really easy to use.

[agua]

One I've been using recently is Textpattern (http://www.textpattern.com/) - I find it very customizable compared to other CMS and I have total a XHTML/CSS layout running without tables.

I think its a case of trial and error though, you have to find one which suits you... I really wanted mambo to work for me, but couldn't get my head round how to work it the way I wanted. With textpattern, if I want a unique layout feature in one section, or to reuse, I can create it and call it into any template. You also have the option of using a different template for each section...

bla bla bla - I'm babbeling - just download it and have a look.

[James]

Textpattern and I don't get along. It's never quite worked properly for me; though, it is possible for it to have improved.
But then again I also don't quite know PHP/MySQL.

[deronsizemore]

One I've been using recently is Textpattern (http://www.textpattern.com/) - I find it very customizable compared to other CMS and I have total a XHTML/CSS layout running without tables.

I think its a case of trial and error though, you have to find one which suits you... I really wanted mambo to work for me, but couldn't get my head round how to work it the way I wanted. With textpattern, if I want a unique layout feature in one section, or to reuse, I can create it and call it into any template. You also have the option of using a different template for each section...

bla bla bla - I'm babbeling - just download it and have a look.


Thanks for the link! I've heard of it before but forgot about it. Do you have a few examples (of your sites) to show what can be done with textpattern? I'd like to see the xhtml/css site done with it. You can PM me if you want. :)

[phpprince]

also check out:

e107 - very easy for beginning programmers to understand creating your own plugins, and theming is very easy if you know HTML
* you can set any page as your frontpage, as in ANY, even outside the CMS. * anti-flooding, password protect entire site, WSYWIG editor, feature-rich forum, active community

drupal -- has addons that will allow you to set keyword and desc of every content page, friendly URLs, ideal for publishing a magazine-type site. forum does not look good though. theonion.com has switched to drupal

mambo - user friendly but URLs are long. edit template from admin panel. mambo sites look good (opensourcecms.com runs on mambo).

cpgnuke -- marriage of phpnuke and coppermine, SEO friendly URLs (html), phpbb-like forum