Hi everyone!

 

I picked up a good answer in a previous post to the question which CMS is best for you which answer went on the line of comparing this generic question with the one like asking which car is best for you. Good one as indeed best is the one appropriate for a particular job.

 

So here is a particular job that I would like to pick on you brains if you don't mind.

 

A friend of mine asked me if I could help out a bit with building a site for him with the functionality (and actually similar purpose) as the one on the link below:

 

http://www.audleytravel.com/

 

Which CMS would you use to build something like that and why? Or would you create your own custom CMS from scratch for a site like this? Please take a few secs and browse it to see what functionality I'm talking about as that very functionality is what my friend would like for his site. It's not to big and complex so... what you use (and again, why)?

Please do argue on why would you use one over all other for this particular site. I would appreciate if you would go beyond a simple "Well, not Joomla 'coz is too big", maybe even in the likes of "Well, with this CMS u can use this plug-in for that functionality where as in the other you would have to create your own" (or some things on this line).

Am I pushing it too far? I hope I don't, and your comments will be much appreciate as they will help me (and I guess others dropping in on the post) get a better idea on getting the right tool for the job.

Cheers all!

 

Ty

I personally suggest Wordpress because WordPress is very good at serializing content by time. When you need to post articles or write for the public, WordPress makes it absurdly simple. WordPress has excellent maintenance and security tools, keeping up with your WP installation on a daily or weekly basis should not take more than a few minutes at a time. WordPress rocks for providing an easily accessible publishing platform, for both content producers and content consumers. The WordPress system is easy to master, and once mastered, it’s very rare to find any “big surprises.” WordPress is unlikely to astonish you in unpleasant ways, that is, the WordPress crew has mastered The Principle Of Least Astonishment. Some of the problems WP solves are not easy, and they have done as good a job as any software around.WP is very extensible: the plugin API is well-documented and works well, so there is a large and growing ecosystem for plugins. Installation is also very easy. Lot’s of built-in tools. For the most part, you won’t need to use an FTP much after installing WordPress. And that’s a big time saver

When you start drilling down into the site you'll find that it's got a lot of different sections, with each section having multiple content types, subsections, relationships and cross referencing. You'll need a pretty powerful CMS to be able to organise and publish all that content.

 

Just look through "Destinations" and see how many different types of information you can find, this example content is 6 levels deep:

Home » Destinations » North Africa & the Middle East » Egypt » Places to Go » Cairo » Climate

 

If you were to recreate that site you'd a need a solid CMS framework such as Drupal or Expressionengine that's able to handle multiple content types and relationships, or go for a custom solution. Cost wise you're looking several thousands

As a new web designer I was browsing through the topics and would like to ask about Word Press.

 

Currently I use Dreamweaver, css and xhtml.

 

However, a client has asked if I can do a Content Management System, currently I can't.

 

The client would want to update her news page and various other parts of the website.

 

Is Word Press an answer, and how difficult is it to learn.

 

Also, how much does it cost.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Thanks, Kath

Is Word Press an answer, and how difficult is it to learn.

There's no real answer to that - it varies depending on your level of knowledge with PHP and Content Management Systems as a whole.

 

Also, how much does it cost.

Err, it's open source - nothing.

 

 

I absolutely love WP but it's not the answer to everything. For a site which only requires news updating it would certainly be one of the easiest roads to take.

There's no real answer to that - it varies depending on your level of knowledge with PHP and Content Management Systems as a whole.

 

 

Err, it's open source - nothing.

 

 

I absolutely love WP but it's not the answer to everything. For a site which only requires news updating it would certainly be one of the easiest roads to take.

 

 

Hello Andy1

 

Thanks for this info.

 

Presumably I would have to learn PHP first. Is this difficult to learn?

 

I have no working knowledge of CMS apart from editible regions within Dreamweaver.

 

Can you advise a starting point for me.

 

Thanks again. I really appreciate your help.

 

Kath

Presumably I would have to learn PHP first. Is this difficult to learn?

You don't necessarily since WP has it's own 'codex' site which will tell you exactly how to use all their custom code/functions to do as you wish with the system itself: http://codex.wordpress.org/Main_Page

Very useful, I refer to it all the time and I spend half my life with WP!

 

I have no working knowledge of CMS apart from editible regions within Dreamweaver.

Well you may be in for a bumpy ride!

 

Can you advise a starting point for me.

As a PHP starting point, I'd suggest Tizag PHP guide (click). Work your way down the left and you'll have some idea of what path lies ahead. As I said, you don't need to plough through it all if you're just wanting to manipulate Wordpress.

You don't necessarily since WP has it's own 'codex' site which will tell you exactly how to use all their custom code/functions to do as you wish with the system itself: http://codex.wordpress.org/Main_Page

Very useful, I refer to it all the time and I spend half my life with WP!

 

 

Well you may be in for a bumpy ride!

 

 

As a PHP starting point, I'd suggest Tizag PHP guide (click). Work your way down the left and you'll have some idea of what path lies ahead. As I said, you don't need to plough through it all if you're just wanting to manipulate Wordpress.

 

 

Hello Andy1

 

Thank you for this advice. I will do as you suggest.

 

 

Kath

This website can be developed on wordpress using new wordpress 3.x features like custom post types and taxonomies. You can also use azindex plugin for countries list.

This website can be developed on wordpress using new wordpress 3.x features like custom post types and taxonomies. You can also use azindex plugin for countries list.

 

 

Hello Extensive Web

 

Thank you for your suggestion re Wordpress. I will follow this up.

 

Kath

http://www.audleytravel.com/

 

Apparently, it's a bespoke ASP-based CMS.