How to Select an Open Source Content Management System
Research your options., Decide what experience you want to give your website visitors., Decide what you need from the backend of the CMS., Test drive each programming platform., Check if your web hosting service automatically installs any of the...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Research your options.
A quick Internet search will tell you that WordPress, Joomla!, Drupal, Plone and Blogger are probably the most common; however, there are dozens more.
Make sure you are testing a CMS, rather than a vendor, as the names may be easily confused in the beginning.
Many online reviews say that WordPress CMS is good for blogs, and Drupal is great for community-oriented sites, with a lot of user interaction.
Joomla! works well for the most basic websites and users.
Plone is a newer CMS that manages documents and community very well.
You should make your own decisions based on what looks best for your site. -
Step 2: Decide what experience you want to give your website visitors.
Sit down with your marketing or branding department and make a list of the essential parts of a website, so that you can look for them in your CMS.
This will help you to choose the frontend designs you prefer.
You can also get a private web development company to design your template and plug in an open source CMS.
This is considerably more expensive than simply choosing a ready-made design through an Internet-based service.
It may allow you extensive customization of your site. , For example, decide if you need search engine optimization (SEO) features, mailing lists, events applications, customization, scalability or a specific programming language. , Assign 2 to 3 people who will be working with the programs most to do a trial run, or "sandbox" version, of the CMS.
They should report back with reviews and rate them according to overall preference.
Open source CMS can all be installed for free.
You may need to hire a web programmer to install them, if no one in your organization is very computer savvy.
You still want to test the backend of the system with the non-technical users.
You can also go to opensourcecms.com to try over 70 open source CMS programs for free.
The site will allow you to do a demo without having to install the whole program. , If you use shared server hosting, then the tech support you pay for may include installation of 1 of these programs.
If so, and you like the program, you can save money that would otherwise go toward hiring a programmer. , Each open source program has a web-based community that helps users ask and answer questions.
You can get an idea of how easy it will be to accomplish the things on your marketing list by searching for reviews and instructions. , Compare each CMS/template with the frontend/backend list you made.
Choose the program that fulfills the most preferences on your lists. -
Step 3: Decide what you need from the backend of the CMS.
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Step 4: Test drive each programming platform.
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Step 5: Check if your web hosting service automatically installs any of the open source CMS.
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Step 6: Read community reviews of the open source CMS or extensions you want to install.
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Step 7: Choose a CMS according to website functionality and employee functionality.
Detailed Guide
A quick Internet search will tell you that WordPress, Joomla!, Drupal, Plone and Blogger are probably the most common; however, there are dozens more.
Make sure you are testing a CMS, rather than a vendor, as the names may be easily confused in the beginning.
Many online reviews say that WordPress CMS is good for blogs, and Drupal is great for community-oriented sites, with a lot of user interaction.
Joomla! works well for the most basic websites and users.
Plone is a newer CMS that manages documents and community very well.
You should make your own decisions based on what looks best for your site.
Sit down with your marketing or branding department and make a list of the essential parts of a website, so that you can look for them in your CMS.
This will help you to choose the frontend designs you prefer.
You can also get a private web development company to design your template and plug in an open source CMS.
This is considerably more expensive than simply choosing a ready-made design through an Internet-based service.
It may allow you extensive customization of your site. , For example, decide if you need search engine optimization (SEO) features, mailing lists, events applications, customization, scalability or a specific programming language. , Assign 2 to 3 people who will be working with the programs most to do a trial run, or "sandbox" version, of the CMS.
They should report back with reviews and rate them according to overall preference.
Open source CMS can all be installed for free.
You may need to hire a web programmer to install them, if no one in your organization is very computer savvy.
You still want to test the backend of the system with the non-technical users.
You can also go to opensourcecms.com to try over 70 open source CMS programs for free.
The site will allow you to do a demo without having to install the whole program. , If you use shared server hosting, then the tech support you pay for may include installation of 1 of these programs.
If so, and you like the program, you can save money that would otherwise go toward hiring a programmer. , Each open source program has a web-based community that helps users ask and answer questions.
You can get an idea of how easy it will be to accomplish the things on your marketing list by searching for reviews and instructions. , Compare each CMS/template with the frontend/backend list you made.
Choose the program that fulfills the most preferences on your lists.
About the Author
Larry Ellis
Brings years of experience writing about home improvement and related subjects.
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