Best Content Management Software?

Im sorry if this is old topic - but perhaps there is room for updates to this based on new software - new releases, updates.

I am trying to evaluate best Content Management Systems software. I have a strong bias towards Open Source offerings - but i'm willing to look at something with a license.

My key issues are:

1. Feature rich - in critical modern features of CMS
2. Software stability - really not interested in heaps of new code - sorry
3. Strong community support
4. Ease of Administration
5. Integration - options for integrating well with forums - like vBulletin, SMF, phpBB, etc. and other options.

I don't want a super bloaded everything and kitchen sink offering - strong preference for quality over having every feature.

Thanks so much - real quality answers very very appreciated!

 

I'm not a big fan of Joomla, however I keep hearing good things about Drupal so that's another option. It is free and open source. If money is no object give expression engine a shot, I've been using that for quite some time and it's actually pretty good, very easy to work with. It's $99 for a personal license and $300 for a commercial one.

 

There is a thread Looking for open source CMS and portal software options, IMHO it's the best thread what the developers said about cms.

 

Regarding CMS, I believe that to each ones, ones own.
Normally for small sites (<50 pages) I use Drupal. It is very simple and feature rich.
For large site ( nothing less than a Portal) I use Joomla CMS. It is absolutely fantastic but it is quite complex and takes a long time to setup and customize. Maintance with Joomla is beeter than Drupal's.

 

WordPress is Great!

 

Joomla meets your criteria. But it does have a learning curve. The more I use it the more I realize just how flexible and scalable it really is. Extensions for Version 1.5 are finally catching up.

The only downside is updates are kind of annoying to install. And with all CMS's you need to make sure you back up before updating, because you'll want to know if your extensions are affected by updates.

I use Wordpress on some sites and it is an adequate CMS, but nowhere near as flexible as Joomla. I can not speak for Drupal, because even though I installed it I did not dig deep enough into it. And the latest version was in a state of flux when I evaluated it.

 

Hi I have a site with these guys.

Its a very good CMS that is easy to use. Not sure if it will meet your requirements but I find it is an easy CMS.

http://www.harvardinnovations.com

 

I think you need to master at least two CMSs. Different sites have different needs and there are such a range now.

Vintage cars – Anything with a WYSIWYG editor
Smart cars – Blogs, nippy, trendy CMS all the same but it’s the social connections that are important.
Classic sports cars – hand coding your own CMS with a text editor, fantastic if you’ve got the time and budget.
Commuter cars – Instant site builders – Good value, boring everyday job.
Winnebagos – Joomla, Wordpress, Dupal - great if you want the kitchen sink
Racing cars – Parsing engines – create lots of lightweight, stripped down code very quickly but not many people like driving them to work
Kit cars – XML - exciting and great fun but complicated to get it to fit together properly.
Buses and trains –social networking system - It’s all about meeting new people
Lamborghinis – Flash based CMS – Look great but not really practical.

 

Honestly, I'm going to have to agree with Banago: Wordpress really is great for small sites with incremented content. It is incredibly customizable and has plugins for just about everything you can imagine. Building a plugin for something you cant find really isn't that hard.

I'm building a fairly complex site now and using WP. I've even rigged it to export to XML so I can have that content automatically update a flash application. Pretty nifty!

For a larger project or something that is much more complex, I would suggest Joomla. The learning curve is quite steep though.

 

I would recommend joomla.

 

i WordPress fan ^_^

 

I personally like Joomla as its very easy to use. Has a good GUI. Large amount of plugins etc.

 

wow, i dont think i've ever seen joomla described as "easy to use". it's incredibly powerful, but the learning curve is a nightmare.

 

If it comes to integration you will certainly face poblems with wordpress.
Better look for a site and check what they are using.

Wordpress is simple, but has limitations when becoming a portal. It is still more or less a blog, although for smaller sites a good choice.

I tried Drupal, but found that much more difficult than Joomla. Personally I´m a friend of phpwebsite, which is now very proper code and flexible.

 

Definitely Drupal in my opinion it is best CMS ever. The flexibility and options are infinite and it is search engine friendly.... very friendly

 

I use Drupal for a couple of sites and find it pretty easy to use and to modify for what I needed. I tried Joomla but I didn't really get on with it. The help documentation and community support for Drupal always seems pretty good too. I believe Drupal can be intergrated with forum software like vBulletin or phpBB, but I've never tried this so I'm not sure how good it is.

 

I am a HUGE fan of Joomla. For each of the reason's you've stated:
1. Feature rich: I've never wanted it to do anything it wouldn't do.
2. Software stability - Then go with version 1.1.15 it's very stable. It's got a solid base of old code. 1.5 is still new, but pretty tight.
3. Strong community support - That's my favorite part of Joomla. The community is active and passionate. Great folks willing and able to help and each other.
4. Ease of Administration - Honestly I can't address this one, except to say, it's easy for me. I've introduced some of my friends to it, and they seemed confused until I showed them. I'd say easy to administer, but not intuitively obvious. Once you know it, it's good. 1.5 has better administration, but it is less stable.
5. Integration - Again, I've never wanted it do do anything it wouldn't. the extensions are plentiful and you can find a "bridge" to almost anything.

My opinion ... I love Joomla.

 

It all depends on what you are going to use the CMS for.

If you are building a simple blog: Use Wordpress.
Semi large sites: Drupal
Complex sites: Joomla

Again, Wordpress is easy to customize and easy to administrate.
Drupal and Joomla are a bit heavier, but again, if you understand a bit of programming, then it shouldn't take much time.