I have a couple of customers who are asking for CMS websites. One in particular wants to be able to update content and also run an ecommerce site and capture emails (though if customers are buying from him he will get emails anyway presumably). I am newish to website development/design (am learning XHTML & CSS) what's going to be best for me and my clients? I'm not keen on giving ftp info away (as with Cushy). . . Help!

The first place to start is finding out what types of content your clients will need to be able to manage. CMS's come in all types, typically

 

Page based

- that offer little more than page editing

 

Blog based

- that are geared around blogging but can be extended to add extra functionality

 

Ecommerce based

- complete shopping cart systems

 

"proper" CMS's

- ones that allow you the developer to build the site however you eneed using the tools supplied

 

There's a huge list at http://www.cmscritic...s/cms-list.html

 

 

 

http://www.cmscritic...s/cms-list.html

Edited December 22, 200916 yr by BlueDreamer

Thanks for that - there's alot to look through here. . . I reckon I'll be back!

I'd say Joomla! or WordPress for CMS (WP is easier to get to grips with for a simpler website).

 

Magento for eCommerce, although it's not for the faint-hearted.

 

All three will require a good knowledge of PHP/(X)HTML and CSS to customise...however, there are plenty of decent templates available if you don't need too much in the way of customisation.

I second Joomla + Wordpress

Joomla & Wordpress are cool, but... Open Source may eventually appear not as cheap as it seems. With an e-commerce project I would rather go for a commercial CMS that would be based on reliable servers with decent tech support and security. You know, one should be ready to invest before getting revenues.