Helpful Talk

As stated in a previous post, selecting the right CMS for you isn’t easy given all the choices out there. Since my last CMS post, I’ve spent countless hours researching and narrowing down the CMS options. I now have narrowed my choices down to Four CMS engines.

It’s time to start installing an testing each of these. I have already installed and tested phpNuke and dotNetNuke; to tell you the truth, I was not impressed. I attempted to install TYPO3 but it was a pain and after a couple hours I quit; but I’ll give it another shot this week. SilverStripe is off the list now since it’s not a 100% free of charge. I also found a CMS called BitWeaver that impressed me so I added it to my finalists list.

Before delving into these, it’s worth reading comparisons and opinions that others have written to compare these Four CMS options. The following is a list of comparisons between Drupal, Joomla, SilverStripe and Typo3 that other’s have wrote:

1. CMSmatrix.org (This may be the best CMS comparison tool on the Internet)
2. Comparing Joomla vs Drupal Content Management Systems – Part I/II
3. Joomla vs Drupal
4. Joomla versus Drupal
5. Why can’t we be friends? Joomla versus Drupal
6. Joomla and Drupal – Which One is Right for You?
7. Free website systems to start online business
8. Why Drupal?
9. Comparing Open Source CMSes: Joomla, Drupal and Plone
10. Drupal vs Joomla: performance
11. CMS Comparison – Drupal vs Joomla

My Four finalists are: Drupal, Joomla, Typo3 and bitWeaver. I have to say I’m leaning strongly towards selecting Drupal as my CMS. Here’s a summary of findings, so far:
Use Joomla (Mambo) when:

• you are not programming or technically savvy
• you want ease of installation
• you don’t have the resources to learn the tool you’re using (i.e. Joomla)
• you don’t mind several other sites using the same template(s)
• you don’t need SEO out of the box
• you don’t need user groups & permissions
• you don’t run membership site(s)

Use Drupal when:

• you want a solid & high quality platform
• you need a real multi-site-feature (only one installation for several sites – a great PLUS!!)
• you need user groups & user permissions
• you want a templating system
• you’re able to invest time in order to realize all the possibilities of Drupal

Review a comprehensive comparison table found here.

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Ethan CMS & Wikis CMS, Drupal, Joomla, TYPO3, XOOPS