May 14, 200917 yr Hey all This should be hopefully be easy to answer for any cms experts out there! I created the following website www.sasikitchens.co.uk using asp (old school I know) and created a custom cms. I will be creating another kitchen website, and the structure will be pretty similar to the one above, but it will be hosted on linux so using asp is out of the question. The main things I need the cms to do is be pretty easy to create a custom design for and be able to replicate a similar content structure to sasi kitchens site. I have been doing a little bit of research but I see there are some cms experts on these forums so I'm open to suggestions. I'm guessing ExpressionEngine is one of the best from the opinions on here, would this be suitable? Cheers Mark
May 14, 200917 yr Expression Engine would definitely be capable of that sort of layout, as would most other cms' with a bit of tweaking, or patience. Another option, would be to check out Modx.
May 14, 200917 yr Author Expression Engine would definitely be capable of that sort of layout, as would most other cms' with a bit of tweaking, or patience. Another option, would be to check out Modx. Thanks mate I'll take a look at that. If anyone else has anymore suggestions I'd be more than happy to hear them! Cheers Mark
May 14, 200917 yr just another Modx fanboy, so guess what i'm going to say Modx is just awesomeness, it shares a few of it's concepts with EE too
May 14, 200917 yr Mate I've been looking for a CMS for ages, but have always been scared that it would take me ages to learn it as I am not a programmer (dont know php, mysql, or anything of this kind) But I have been playing around with Expression Engine and so far I love it. Easy to use, to learn and very flexible.
May 14, 200917 yr Author Thanks for the replies guys. Expression Engine does look good, but the $250 is a bit extortionate! Didn't realise you had to pay for it in my original post! We don't really want to have to pay anything so think I'll try MODx, although other opinions still welcome! Cheers Mark
May 14, 200917 yr I can back MODx up to be honest. Started using it to add a CMS to an existing site and voila... 90mins later we have a fully functional CMS site including a flash slide show and all sorts of cool add-ons It is awesome
May 14, 200917 yr Thanks for the replies guys. Expression Engine does look good, but the $250 is a bit extortionate! Didn't realise you had to pay for it in my original post! We don't really want to have to pay anything so think I'll try MODx, although other opinions still welcome! Cheers Mark Just jumping to the defence of commercial software $250 might seem expensive but it's not that much in terms of overall project cost. It does, however, include permenant direct developer support so long as you own the licence - so if the site is still online in 10 years time you'll still be getting support in ten years time - not bad for $25/year. Additionally, as a developer, you do get discounts the more licences you buy and that eventually reduces the cost by 50%. With Open Source software you can't guarantee developer support unless you pay, and then you have to rely on peer to peer help which is not always forthcoming when you're stuck and the sites down! Still, if you're on a tight budget pennies matter!
May 14, 200917 yr Just jumping to the defence of commercial software $250 might seem expensive but it's not that much in terms of overall project cost. It does, however, include permenant direct developer support so long as you own the licence - so if the site is still online in 10 years time you'll still be getting support in ten years time - not bad for $25/year. Additionally, as a developer, you do get discounts the more licences you buy and that eventually reduces the cost by 50%. With Open Source software you can't guarantee developer support unless you pay, and then you have to rely on peer to peer help which is not always forthcoming when you're stuck and the sites down! Still, if you're on a tight budget pennies matter! Valid points there I happen to really like EE, but for low-budget, or p*** simple sites, ModX is ideal. I've used EE on a couple of past projects, and it really is fantastic value!
May 15, 200917 yr Author Thanks for all the responses. I suppose what I will have to do is try both MODx and EE out, then make my decision from there. If EE is the better option, then I suppose $250 isn't too much to pay, just wish the exchanges rates for the £ were a bit better!!! Cheers for the help again. Mark
May 15, 200917 yr 12 months ago the exchnage rates were fantastic One very important issue to consider when choosing any CMS is your customer - ie the person that is going to update the site. A good approach is to show them the admin areas of any system you have in mind and let them choose the one they feel most comfortable with.
May 15, 200917 yr ...A good approach is to show them the admin areas of any system you have in mind and let them choose the one they feel most comfortable with. Probably the wisest words in this thread. At the end of the day, our preferences as designers/developers are irrelevant. It's whatever the client is going to be most comfortable with.
June 8, 200917 yr Author Hello again everyone I've still not got round to trying out EE or Modx, so have another question that hopefully one of the experts on here can answer. A friend of mine wants me to design him a site, but he wants a login section where his customers can log in and view reports and information for the work he's done for them. He will want to upload PDF's into the login sections etc. Is this possible in either of these CMS's? If not is there a CMS that can. I could probably do it in ASP, but he wants the site hosting on linux, and my php skills are basic. Cheers Mark
June 8, 200917 yr A friend of mine wants me to design him a site, but he wants a login section where his customers can log in and view reports and information for the work he's done for them. He will want to upload PDF's into the login sections etc. Is this possible in either of these CMS's? If not is there a CMS that can. Easily possible in Expressionengine, there an excellent extension called "Client downloads" which allows you to set up an area for each client where they can download documents you upload for them.
June 9, 200917 yr Expression Engine would definitely be capable of that sort of layout, as would most other cms' with a bit of tweaking, or patience. Another option, would be to check out Modx. Modx is just awesomeness, it shares a few of it's concepts with EE too Oh ffs! Welcome to Web Designer Modx Appreciation Forum
June 9, 200917 yr Author Thanks again for the responses BlueDreamer and Scott. I guess Expression Engine and MODx are pretty flexible and will be my best options. I'll have to make sure try them both out this week, and if I have anymore queries with them, I know who to ask! Cheers Mark
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