Coding or CMS,Which is best

I want to know if using a cms replaces the need for coding, can a web developers not use hand coding? I am thinking about developing a few sites, is it a wise idea to use a cms? Are there any drawbacks with CMS's? If so please let me know.

Thanks

 

I use Joomla for 2 of my sites with no problems at all.It is very configurable and you can edit everything (ccs,html etc) from within the admin area if you need to (I haven't).I have one site at No.1 in MSN for my keywords and its only 2 months old and the other I've just published.

Coding etc I know nothing about but with the way my sites are configured everything SEO is there.
There are also hundreds of different templates to choose from and also module add ons which are all very easy to install.

 

In my experience, using an off the shelf CMS usually just means doing less coding, rather than none. Of course, it rather depends on your requirements - if what you're trying to do is exactly what the developers of the CMS has in mind when they started writing the CMS, you shouldn't need to touch a line of code. I find things rarely pan out that way though..

Personally I've had good results in the past with Plone.

 

I have seen Mambo in action and am sure they are good. I agree that using a CMS will mean less coding in the long run but to make the site look more unique and get away from the templates, some coding would be required initially.

All the best,


Jay

 

Well you could do both, code a cms.

 

I am not sure how to do that, can you point me to some tutorials?
Also what happens if the CMS itself fails or get corrupted, does my site that i built using it fail?

 

I personally use Wordpress for almost everything I've needed. It's very flexible and easy to manage as far as themes go and content goes. Just be sure to choose what fits you best.

 

Don't know of any off hand.... but it is the same basic ideas as programming any other site... so if you know coding (perl/php or whatever) already you should already know.

Yes, if the cms or the db fails, your site fails, this is one reasons many real busy sites use a different paradigm for deliever then most of the 'kiddy' cms systems.

 

Reviewing your question again, I don't know if it is clear whether you want to develop sites completely by using the administrative tools in the CMS to make the sites "Unique"? I would think that the site will just end up looking like a MAMBO or XOOPS etc template based site with the content slapped in.

If these sites are simple less professional sites than go ahead and don't edit any code and use the settings within the CMS application.

Really all a CMS is supposed to do is provide an easy way to add content to a site without coding. But you may have to get your hands dirty to set it up.

All the best,

Jay

 

I personally prefer to code everything myself. I want to know what each piece of code does and why it was included. I don't know any PHP or other web language aside from CSS and XHTML (Markup language). It does take longer and a CMS makes everything easier.

So it will depend on the type of site you are planning and how comfortable you are with figuring out a CMS and making it work for you.

With PHP includes and server side includes you can more or less get reasonably the same functionality as a CMS if you are not looking for massive user participation on your site.

 

A cms will get you up and running faster than if you take the time to write the site yourself.

If your site is not going to be much more than a another forum/shopping/portal etc then just choose a public domain script and get your content up quick. A new skin can often make the site unrecognizable from the default version.

 

I'm currently using Mambo for one of my sites. It's basicly a place where local musicians can post news, upload their bios, stream mp3s, etc... I could have built a site from scratch, but with all the helpful plugins that were available, I decided to go with a CMS.

My 2 Cents: It really depends on what you're trying to achieve and how much work you're willing to do. Both are good.

 

I use Drupal. They have this handy add-on module for adsense. very easy to use.

 

For me it depends on the site. If its a site I really care about and plan to be big I will program everything from scratch, I can't stand sorting through someone elses code to make a change. A couple months ago I programmed a shopping cart from scratch because my clients need was very specific, and it would be easiar than trying to change someone elses.

Although I do have a couple sites using CMS, they are mostly small content sites that I am not too worried about.

 

I prefer hacking some available CMS, much quicker and not bad.

 

I also use a very modified version of WordPress as a CMS and it works great

 

i wrote my own CMS specific to my needs

i know what every line of code does. i can ad templates modules etc

i also learned alot in the process of making

in my view u better write ur own, yes its daunting, but it could be targeted at your specific domain and that DOES make alot more money (experience programming urself is pricelless tho!)

if you have aa good problem solving approach and you are good at project management and you know exactly what you want, definately code yourself

its sort of like saying "do i make my home using prefabricated wood or do i chope down the trees I WANT and build the house the way I NEED"

 

Heh. I just commented in another thread that I never see anyone in this forum mention plone. I'll have to go edit that.

 

When I started there were no CMSes so I had to code my own. It has evolved into several pieces, most written in perl and some in PHP.
Now, I am playing around with CMSes as I try to find something which fits what I am trying to do. I have started writing about my experiences in the hopes I can help people save time narrowing down their choices.
However, I am too much of a geek to stop coding and was planning on writing a new system from the ground up and keeping a blog about the experience and the evolution of code.
The first website design choice is that the base page template will make it easy to download and use CSS designs from OSWD -- www.oswd.org
The second is that all URLs be friendly -- no ampersands, percentage marks, etc.
The first programming choice is that it be based on a very secure model, with all input reduced to expected formats before being processed. That should be no brainer stuff in today's world.

It is going to be fun.