Content management system for a school newspaper

My university student newspaper is looking to do a site re-design. I am on the staff.

I was thinking about using a content management system as it would be soo much easier for people not familiar with coding to upload and edit content.

I came across several great WordPress newspaper themes but I am a little wary of using WordPress for a school newspaper as it might seem unprofessional. What do you guys think? Is WordPress a good option? Are there other CMSs tailored for newspapers specifically?

 

What is unprofessional about it?

It depends on the template and implementation.

Joomla and WordPress would work fine too.

JoomlaShack has a free template http://demotemplates.joomlashack.com/school/ that might be modifiable for your purpose.

 

A CMS would be the way to go without question. I agree with internetmarketingiq that either wordpress or Joomla would fit your bill.
To give you an idea, these two smaller newspaper/magazine sites are running on wordpress

time.com
nytimes.com

And are by no means unprofessional (tongue in cheek and all that)

And here is a sample of a joomla newspaper site.

joomlatribune.com

Now, you can use both. A joomla site with a blog component using wordpress for comments and reader interaction (core dot php has a nicely done joomla wordpress module). I personally think Joomla has a more powerful and flexible user management and control system, more security features are available to add in, granular control is better, there are lots of free plugins, and you can do lots with SEO, and it is open source. The learning curve to use joomla is a little steeper, resource usage is a bit higher but it scales well, and some of the components are commercial.
Wordpress has a good user management system, powerful user control system specifically focused on content contributors and editors. Wordpress is a well secured system, with some security addons available, lots of plugins to add functionality (almost all are free), SEO if very good out of the box, and it is open source. The learning curve is flatter, resource usage is a little less, unless it gets very busy and then you need to scale it properly and you'll be fine (plan this up front).

Anyway, my two bits worth
Wayne

 

Yeah a CMS sounds like a smart move for your school newspaper, it will allow easier contributions by your writers. You're really not going to go wrong with either Joomla or Wordpress. In my opinion Wordpress is easier to use, although I'm not an expert in either one. Regarding the looks...I love the appearance of WP themes, some of them already look like newspapers/magazines, so you're off to a great head start.

 

@Palladium, I don't think the ny times is using wordpress lol. Where did you hear that?

I was heavily considering Drupal. I have a lot of experience with WordPress but I wouldn't mind learning something new. What do you guys think of drupal for a newspaper site?

 

It really depends on your needs. If you want just to post news and let people comment... then wordpress is what you need.
I like Drupal and e107 as well. You may consider a script that will provide easy forum integration and maybe a chat room for general discussion.

 

CMS would be your best bet as you said newbs can edit and upload content.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/b...ex=1358830800&en=55ca5eb75c355a42&oref=slogin

They actually use it for their blogs and have invested in the parent company. By looking at the main site I would be surprised if it isn't a highly customized wordpress install, although they wouldn't say so

 

Drupal has been used as College Newspaper by Cornell, Harvard, Georgetown, Columbia etc. You can see the list in this article

 

There you go... WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal all suitable. I have a fair amount of experience with Joomla and WordPress. Never got into Drupal because a few years back when I was looking at it... they were in a state of transition from one platform to another.

I like the way Joomla handles data and the different ways to arrainge it not being so tied to the structure of WordPress. But I find WordPress is easier to manage technically and much better free plugin support.

It's really 6's... you almost have to pick one and just dig in. I tend to find templates first... see if I can modify them to my needs, then use the CMS Joomla/or WordPress that best supports the project visually. But I'm not a programmer so that works best for me.

 

I would go with Word Press. The first design one the website you provided looks perfect for a school newspaper site.

 

I'd go Wordpress everytime, I create themes and have a newspaper theme available at diplomat-theme.com

 

Joomla, will have a large active support community, many different plug-ins, and i personally think its "so easy that a early hominid can use it".

 

Many news organizations have programs available for schools. Call AP, AHN or Reuters and see what's available.