I run a small web design business specialising in simple html websites for indidviduals and small businesses. I have about 50 clients. Increasing, clients want a CMS. The big question is which one should I opt for - both from my point of view and the point of view of my clients? I have a feeling that the answer depends a lot on the client's needs and how computer literate they are but I also need something that is sustainable from my point of view. Below is my research so far. If anyone has comments or other suggestions, I would be very interested to hear.

 

The options I have considered are as follows:

 

1. Wordpress - Heart internet has an automatic Wordpress set up that takes away the difficult bit. Once installed, it is dead easy to add plugins which increase the functionality of the site. There are loads of free themes on the internet but they tend to have a bloggy look and feel - not really suitable for a website. But it is increasing being used as a CMS for websites. I'm getting there with Wordpress, but there's a bit of a learning curve in creating your own themes. I suspect that is the future (along with Joomla, Dupral etc). Just don't have the time to suss it out really. The client interface is also quite complicated and no good for people who are not comfortable with using computers.

 

2. Dreamweaver CS4 which comes with Incontext Editing - a feature that allows your clients to update their sites. The service is free at the moment but I think they will charge a monthly subscription eventually. I bought a copy of DW this week for £235 and I think for the time being at least, I will use this. At lease Adobe are not likely to go bust or disappear. No support for UK customers at the moment, but it seems to work okay.

 

3. Cushy CMs http://www.cushycms.com/

Dead easy to use for developers and editors alike. Free. There is a subscription service where you can personalise the interface. Although it is free and easy to use, I do worry about what happens to all my client websites if they go out of business?

 

4. Surreal CMs http://surrealcms.com/

Also dead easy to use for developers and editors alike. Slightly more sophisticated than Cushy. Free for three websites. If you want more you need to sign up to a subscription service. Same worries about what happens to all my client websites if they go out of business?

 

5. CMS made simple. http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/ Open source software. Seems a bit like Wordpress, Joomlas etc. Not really investigated this yet, but it looks interesting. Probably has a learning curve.

 

As I said, Dreamweaver looks the most hopeful for my needs at the moment, but the fact is only supports US customers is a bit worrying. However, it seems to work OK in the UK and I guess they will eventually offer UK support.

From experience, ive found wordpress best for blogs and CMS Made Simple better for standard sites, although i know a couple of php devs who are working on their own CMS's so i try to keep an open mind.

 

I know its not ideal, but if you want a really perfect one for your customer, why not bring in someone to do CMS's for you? i think most of us would offer special rates if there was a fair flow of work coming in, and you can take a percentage markup for yourself for project managing.

 

Reaper

Anyone tried Perch yet? Looks good and really simple to use. Bit like cushy but you host it on your own servers. Good review from the boagworld podcast a couple of weeks back. £35+VAT per site which isn't too bad (although free would obviously be better!)

 

http://grabaperch.com/

 

Might be ideal for adding a small CMS to an existing client website.

 

Have tried Wordpress too but as a designer everything seems to be blog-centered and the time spent getting used to it I could have designed the whole site and dropped a cms solution like this into it no sweat.

 

Another thing with Wordpress is the menus looks quite complex even to me so many clients may get confused and end up calling/emailing you to help out all the time.

 

Could just see a client messing up a perfectly good site and then me spending hours fixing what they have broken. With this Perch you can specify the editable regions they can amend.

As I said, Dreamweaver looks the most hopeful for my needs at the moment, but the fact is only supports US customers is a bit worrying. However, it seems to work OK in the UK and I guess they will eventually offer UK support.

 

Am in the same boat as you at the moment.

 

I also tried the DW setup and just selected US. Seems to work fine and did test it with one client. My only worry is that if I start to use it a lot and all my clients love it etc. then Adobe slap a huge monthly charge on it per domain or something then I would either have to pay it and lose money or find an alternative and then teach the clients all over again with a new system.

 

Am favouring Perch at the minute as all files are hosted on your own server. With Cushy, if their servers went down then all your clients wouldn't be able to access their admin areas. Also not keen on inputting all the ftp details on it too.

The big question is which one should I opt for - both from my point of view and the point of view of my clients? I have a feeling that the answer depends a lot on the client's needs and how computer literate they are but I also need something that is sustainable from my point of view.

The CMS your choose for any site should reflect two things:

 

1. The ability to manage the sites content

Content comes in all types so you need to assess the needs of the site and it's content, then match a CMS that can handle it all.

 

2. The ability for the end user (your client) to understand how to use the CMS and manage content

This one is ultra important. If your client struggles to understand a particular CMS then you need to find one they do understand.

 

There are many many more CMS's to consider, see http://cmscritic.com/cms-list for a big list.

I find WordPress good for blogs/news & events type sections on sites (obviously) but it is fairly customisable. I even wrote a plugin for it which is used by hundreds of people around the world each week and growing.

 

For anything more bespoke I tend to just code something myself unless there is something out there that's open source and fairly easy to modify (open source not because it's free - although that's a good selling point for me haha - but mainly because I can modify the code without fear of being sued by its authors etc).

 

I tend to stay from bloatware like Joomla/Mambo simply because I want my clients to have a system in place that's not confusing and is easy to use for the vast majority of non technical types.

Hi,

 

I am also having a problem finding a good cms to use. Perch seem ok but a bit basic as most client want to manage not just text but galleries or product pages there seems to be a gap between big cms like joomla and mambo and ultra simple ones like Perch. Adobe one looks fantastic but again who knows how much they will start to charge for it?

 

I need something that is easy to use but allows the user to have full control. I think this could be impossible with an off the self package. As every ones needs are different and by including all the features you end up with something like Joomla.

 

Someone could earn some serious money creating custom cms programs for web design companies if they don't already.

Wordpress gets my vote, but it can seem a bit daunting to clients sometimes. The admin area doesn't look so complicated if you set the client up as an 'author' or 'editor', so I've been doing that as well as giving them an administrator login.

 

And it doesn't have to give you a site looking like a blog - it's just that's how you see it used most. With a bit of imagination a 'post' can become a lot more than just a dated entry.

 

Wordpress ain't for everything, but it's probably as versatile as anything else out there.

PageLime is looking good - I set up someone on it a couple of weeks ago to have a try with it while it was still in beta mode but I notice they've just moved to the paid model for more than three sites($19 for up to 50 sites + whitelabelling, then $69 unlimited).

 

They do the usual remote CMS thing of allowing you to specifiy areas to be edited. You can also specify templates for adding new pages and they have a restore function.

Can I use wordpress on MAc?

 

Is there any good CMS for Mac?

Hello

I suggest you can go for CMSmadesimple OR Wordpress. My favor goes to them because they are easy to learn, easy to implement & most importantly they have a big development community who can help you out!

Can I use wordpress on MAc?

 

Is there any good CMS for Mac?

 

WordPress is browser-based, so you can use it on any platform.

I also need to consider which CMS to use. I've just got a contract to design a football-related website. The client will want to add fixtures, results, league tables etc.

 

I've heard that Expression Engine is good. I've not used any CMS up until now.

I also need to consider which CMS to use. I've just got a contract to design a football-related website. The client will want to add fixtures, results, league tables etc.

 

I've heard that Expression Engine is good. I've not used any CMS up until now.

 

I would say Joomla for a football site as it has a free football league component that is good.

We have been having this conversation in the office today. Haven't quite found anything quite suitable enough for us. Be interesting to watch this thread.

I would say Joomla for a football site as it has a free football league component that is good.

 

 

Thanks for the tip - I'll take a look at that.

definitely wordpress in my opinion. it's free, opensource and really versatile. my mate uses it and you can charge ridiculous amounts of money for a cms, made easy by wordpress.

 

do it.

 

so many great tutorials as well.

http://cmscritic.com/cms-list has a huge list of CMS's to suit just about every need. Worth a look through if you need something specific.