# Content manager opinions, please?



## Guest (Mar 15, 2009)

I have a site I want to switch to using a content manager with. I need something simple to use, that has very good free skins to choose from, and has a built in forum.

I need opinions of these:

Drupal 
Geeklog 
Joomla 1.5 
Joomla 
Mambo 
PHP-Nuke 
phpWCMS 
phpWebSite 
Post-Nuke 
Siteframe 
TYPO3 
Xoops 

I'm familiar with sites that use content managers, but I'm not familiar with the admin side of them, or how versatile they are.

Whatever I use, everything needs to be 100% free (skins, plugins, etc).

And did I say whatever I use needs to be EASY? Like maybe idiot proof?


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## Kari (Mar 24, 2008)

ladycat said:


> I have a site I want to switch to using a content manager with. I need something simple to use, that has very good free skins to choose from, and has a built in forum.
> 
> I need opinions of these:
> 
> ...


Outside my day job, as an independent consultant, I have installed and maintained/supported all of these CMS systems and here is my thoughts:

*Drupal*
Great system, steep learning curve for a beginer. Plenty of online help and hundreds of extendable modules.

*Geeklog*
Not very popular as it is not easy to customize as it more of a extended blogging/commenting system. Community support though good is low in comparison to other systems.

*Joomla 1.5 (and Joomla)*
Great and powerful system and is a fork of the Mambo CMS. Joomla has more features and modules available then all the other systems. The learning curve for administrative tasks is a bit high, however once setup, it is easy to maintain. Huge user base and online community support. Literally hundreds of modules and templates free for the taking. I would recommend Joomla over any other system listed here.

*Mambo*
The same basic code foundation as Joomla but not as complete (IMHO). Choose Joomla instead.

*PHP-Nuke*
Ugly blocky interface. This CMS system has a bad and frequent history of security issues. I would not recommend this CMS to anyome.

*phpWCMS*
Small but decent system and fairly ease to use for the beginner. These same good traits are also it's downfall as it there is not a lot of customization and not easy to extend or scale.

*phpWebSite *
Great and stable system but a huge program. Not for the beginner CMS administrator. Not a lot of expandable features or free modules available. Community support good but low. I used this CMS on my personal site and loved it....until Joomla 1.5 was released. 

*Post-Nuke*
Originally a code fork of PHP-Nuke. Now known as Zikula. Clunky and non-intuitive interface. Also suffers/suffered from security issues. The newer versions are used by some bigger companies but it has been known to have issues with scaliblity. Not recommended.

*Siteframe*
Not very popular, clunky and has secruity issues as clearly seen on it's website today. Low community support. Skip this CMS, there are better out there.

*Typo3*
No comment as I just realized I have never used or seen this one.

*Xoops*
Very powerful, extensive and customizable system. Not for the beginner user, however there are is good community support and some great modules available.


*One more not on your list that you may wish to consider*

*PHP-Fusion*
Good all in one system, scales fairly good. Easy to use interface for a novice administrator. Community support is so-so as their forums suffer from a few select users who think they are G*D and can be very demeaning to newbies. Fair amount of modules are available, not a lot of themes/skins. I used PHP-Fusion on another website of mine and we once considered it for our work intranet...but it was beat out by Joomla.

In summary, Joomla is my first pick for most completeness, customization and available help, themes and modules.

Second pick is PHP-Fusion, complete turn-ley system, easy to use for the beginner...if you look past the support forum issues as mentioned above.

Third pick is PHP-Website....you will need some help to get this CMS setup and running and to also maintain it.


Lastly go to opensourceCMS. You can demo most if not all the above systems online.


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## Guest (Mar 15, 2009)

Karihwanoron said:


> In summary, Joomla is my first pick for most completeness, customization and available help, themes and modules.


Ok, then I'll install Joomla (or Joomla 1.5?), and play around with it to see how I like it.

Thanks.


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## Kari (Mar 24, 2008)

ladycat said:


> Ok, then I'll install Joomla (or Joomla 1.5?), and play around with it to see how I like it.
> 
> Thanks.


Use Joomla 1.5. 

I assume by saying "install" you meant your home pc. You cannot install Joomla by itself, you will also need a webserver, MySQL database and PHP. These can be downloaded as a complete package here. These files once unzipped to any local hard drive will allow your pc to run as a test web server.....you are your own mini web host at this point...so to speak. Joomla will need to be unzipped in to the xampplite\htdocs folder then the Joomla setup can be run. Ensure you read the docs for xampplite and Joomla beforehand.


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## Guest (Mar 15, 2009)

Karihwanoron said:


> Use Joomla 1.5.
> 
> I assume by saying "install" you meant your home pc.


No, I'll be installing it on my dedicated linux server.


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## Kari (Mar 24, 2008)

ladycat said:


> No, I'll be installing it on my dedicated linux server.


Nice!!...I like it


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## Guest (Mar 16, 2009)

Ok, for right now I just installed a copy in a test directory. I also found the perfect template and have it installed. The administration panel looks like it won't be too terribly difficult to figure out (I hope).

But I don't see a built in forum. Am I missing something? Or do I need to go find a forum extension to install?


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## Guest (Mar 16, 2009)

Okay.... I can bridge existing forum software with Joomla, except for one small problem. I've never done that and I don't know how. 

Ugh.


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