分类： 系统运维
2009-04-16 22:40:04
Most websites being built today are using some sort of content management system. As the need for businesses and website owners to maintain an up-to-date web presence continue to grow, content management systems will only gain in popularity with developers and users.
There are so many CMS options out there that it can be confusing to know which one is best for a particular situation, and to know the basics of what is available. In this post we’ll take a quick look at a number of different CMS options and provide some links that will help you to dig deeper with those that interest you.
Please note that content management systems that are primarily built for e-commerce purposes, such as , are not covered here. If this is the information you are looking for, please see 37 Shopping Cart Options for Developers. There are however a few listed here that include e-commerce in their core functionality, but they are also built to manage websites with other purposes.
While there are many options when choosing a CMS, you’ll want to consider things like stability and available resources before making a decision. One of the reasons I prefer to use WordPress when possible is because of the strong community of users that allows you to find just about anything you can image as a plugin or a theme. With that said, here is an overview of many popular content management systems.
is probably the most popular open source CMS right now. While it started out as just a blogging platform, WordPress now provides developers and users with the opportunity to build on its system. The standard WordPress installation provides most of the necessary functionalities you would expect in a CMS, and there are plenty of plugins that can bring added functionality.
- Provides documentation of just about everything you will need when working with WordPress.
- With WordPress’s active community of users, the forums are a great place to turn when you have questions.
WordPress Developer’s Toolbox - A post that I put together for Smashing Magazine with all kinds of resources for those who develop WordPress themes.
- An ebook by Collis Ta’eed and Harley Alexander that is available for purchase.
- Chris Coyier’s series of tutorials for designing and developing for WordPress.
Like WordPress, is another leading open source CMS. Drupal is the preferred choice of many developers for building multi-author sites and blogs, as well as community-driven websites. Drupal has a large community of users that make it solid choice because of large number of modules and other resources that are readily available.
- If you’re getting started with Drupal or just looking for some documentation, the handbooks can be a great resource.
- Get some help from the Drupal community through the official forums.
Drupal Developer’s Toolbox - My collection at Smashing Magazine for Drupal development-related resources.
- MyDrupal.com has a nice collection of useful resources for developers.
- A gallery of websites powered by Drupal.
- GoMediaZine has a six-part tutorial that leads you through the process of building a site with Drupal. Of course, this is a great resource even if it’s not a band site that you want to build.
is a powerful CMS that is preferred by many developers over the open source options. EE will cost you $100 for a personal version or $250 for a commercial version (there is a scaled-down version that’s free for personal use). EE offers a long list of features that will allow you to use this CMS for just about any purpose or type of website.
ExpressionEngine Developer’s Toolbox - My collection at Smashing Magazine for resources involved with developing for ExpressionEngine.
- The official documentation from ExpressionEngine.
- Tons of information is already available in the forums, plus you can post your own questions.
- A comprehensive 17-part tutorial that will take you step-by-step through the process of builing a site on EE.
- A 39-part series that leads you through the process of building an example church website on EE.
- EE includes of showcase of example sites on their own website.
is another popular CMS that has a few different options depending on your needs. There is an open source version available for developers, plus a free version for individual bloggers. For larger companies, prices start at $395. Movable Type can be used for blogs, websites, and social networks.
- A community effort, led by Six Apart, devoted to building and maintaining the open source version of Movable Type.
Movable Type Documentation - Official documentation for using and working with Movable Type.
- A great place to find answers to your questions about.
Movable Type Developer’s Toolbox - My collection at Smashing Magazine for those who want to develop with Movable Type.
- MovableType.com includes a showcase of sites for your inspiration.
is another free and open source option. Like the other leading open source options, Textpattern has a strong community that makes it easier to find information and resources about using it as a CMS.
Textpattern Developer’s Toolbox - My collection at Smashing Magazine for those who want to develop with Textpattern.
- The official forums from Textpattern.
- TextBook is the documentation provided for those who work with and develop for Textpattern.
- A tutorial for those who are new to building sites with Textpattern.
- A gallery of sites built on Textpattern.
is also a popular open source CMS that originated from . Of all of the open source options, I’ve seen more mixed opinions on Joomla than any of the others. It has a large community of users, and it is intended to allow developers to build all kinds of websites, including corporate, e-commerce, online magazines, intranets, and more.
Joomla Documentation - Official documentation for users, designers, and developers.
- The official forums for Joomla users and developers.
Joomla Developer’s Toolbox - My collection at Smashing Magazine of resources for Joomla developers.
- A gallery of sites built on Joomla.
- Another gallery of Joomla sites.
is a bit different than many of the other options on this list in that it targets designers by providing a source of ongoing income. Clients pay to use LightCMS on their site, which includes hosting (sites must be hosted on their servers), and designers can provided their clients with a branded content management system and earn recurring commissions from the hosting.
- Designers can become resellers to build client sites on LightCMS and earn a residual income.
- Here you can learn more about how the system works and how you can build sites with LightCMS.
- A tutorial from Element Fusion, the company behind LightCMS.
- Collis Ta’eed wrote a review of LightCMS on Freelance Switch.
is another CMS that offers reseller options to designers who want to provide a branded solution to their clients. GoodBarry’s emphasis is growing online businesses, so e-commerce functionality is a big part of what they do, although other CMS functions are also included.
-Support forums from GoodBarry.
- Learn about using GoodBarry on client sites and making some additional income.
- Video tutorials and information.
- Design Shack covers the basics of GoodBarry in this review.
is similar to GoodBarry in the fact that their focus is providing a CMS to power online businesses. Traffik includes e-commerce capabilities as well as other typical CMS functionality. [Update - Traffik is a reseller of . GoodBarry is also based on BusinessCatalyst, although GoodBarry is owned by Business Catalyst.]
- Training videos for all aspects of using the system.
- Documentation for using Traffik.
is an open source CMS that specializes in allowing developers to create social networking sites where users can submit an vote for content. Sites such as and are built on Pligg.
- Get answers to your questions from the Pligg community.
- Documentation in the form of a wiki.
Understanding Pligg Template Files - A good starting point for those who want to understand more about how Pligg works.
- This tutorial will take you through the steps of getting your own site set up with Pligg.
is an open source CMS that has been built to meet the needs of both developers and site administrators. It aims to be simple and powerful. Concrete5 gives you an editing toolbar on any page of your site that allows you to give you all the controls you need.
- You can interact with other users and get your questions answered in the official forums.
-Some basic information on c5 from Web Resources Depot.
- Concrete5 tutorials, themes, tips & more.
is a powerful, free, open source CMS. Typo3 has a lot of features and can be used to run large websites for many different purposes.
- Provides of all the documentation and developer’s resources for the community of users.
- Siteground has a tutorial series that will help you to get started with Typo3.
is an open source option that was designed for simplicity of use. Unlike many of the other open source options, Radiant CMS is built using Ruby on Rails.
Radiant CMS Documentation - The best source of information for Radiant CMS users and developers.
- A basic tutorial for getting started with Radiant CMS.
is a PHP version of Radiant CMS. Like Radiant CMS, it aims to be a simple solution for your content management needs.
Official Documentation - Learn all the basics of Frog CMS from the docs.
- Get answers to your questions from the community of users.
is an open source CMS built with Python. Plone claims to have the best security track record of any major CMS.
Plone Documentation - Official documentation for working with Plone.
- Get answers for your questions from the Plone community.
Plone Tutorials - Learn more about Plone from these tutorials covering various topics.
is an open source CMS that aims to be a simple option for both designers and site owners/content editors.
- Sapphire is the framework developed to build sites for SilverStripe.
- Get help from the community of SilverStripe users.
- A good starting point for working with the CMS.
CushyCMS is a delibarately simple option. While it doesn’t offer all over the features and functions of many other content management systems, it may be ideal for small websites where the owner just needs to be able to edit some text and change photos - situations where a full-feature CMS may be overwhelming. There is a free version as well as a brandable Pro Plan that can be resold to clients.
Set Up a Client’s Site to be Editable with CushyCMS - A tutorial that I wrote for getting started with CushyCMS.
How to Build a Maintainable Site Using CushyCMS and Twitter - A tutorial from Collis Ta’eed that covers the basics of working with CushyCMS.
CushyCMS - Simplicity at its Best - A basic overview of CushyCMS by the Positive Space blog.
- This Smashing Magazine article written by will help you to know how to choose the right CMS.
- A Webdesigner Depot article that can also help with this decision.
Choosing the Right CMS Platform for Your Website (from an SEO Perspective) - Rand Fishkin covers the subject of what SEO factors should be considered.
- A website that has information on all kinds of content management systems, and allows you to compare them.
- Evaluates content-oriented technologies, publishing head-to-head comparative reviews of leading solutions.
- Jacob Gube of Six Revisions highlights some content management systems that may not get their share of attention.
