An evaluation of Content Management Systems and the effect they are having on how websites are coded Daniel Rhys Hardy April 2011 Abstract This report analyzes five popular Php Content management systems with the aim of discovering which is the most efficient in terms of creating and maintaining websites and their content. Content management systems are gaining an ever increasing role regarding website creation, and so discovering the most efficient system is a very important task to undertake. The systems analyzed are WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, CMSmadesimple and Silverstripe. Each system is tested in twelve key areas, considered to be of high importance in the web development field. These areas include; installation, graphical user interface, mobile friendliness, accessibility, search engine optimization, security, customization, system extensions, amount of programming knowledge required, performance and speed, W3C guideline compliance, and Support. The data obtained was gained from archives, articles, books, published reports and the author’s own extensive research, making use of readily available online validators and checkers. This report attempts to challenge the idea that the most popular content management systems are the most efficient, and indeed succeeds in proving this point. By combining results from the twelve criteria areas, it was possible to prove that the least popular system, Silverstripe, was actually the most efficient system. This point was slightly contradicted by the performance of the most popular system though, Wordpress, finishing narrowly second in front of CMSMadeSimple. with the second and third most popular systems, Drupal and Joomla, finishing fourth and fifth respectively. About The Author Having recently graduated with first class honors in Web Computing from the University of Wolverhampton, Daniel considers himself well educated in the web development field. Daniel has over 10 years (5 years commercial) of experience in the web development field. He is now working as lead developer for an emerging UK based design firm. Php, HTML, CSS and Javascript are the languages he uses, with .Net and C++ being explored in the future. Disclaimer The author of this report wrote it with complete neutrality, and with no allegiance to any of the systems involved. The results were all found to be accurate at the time of writing and are based on the author’s own experiences of working with each system. Results may vary for others using faster machines and more up to date versions of each respective system. The latest versions of each system were used. At the time of writing these were: Wordpress 3.1 Joomla 1.6.0 Drupal 7 Silverstripe 2.4.5 CMSMadeSimple 1.9.3 Full Name: Daniel Rhys Hardy Date: 08/04/2011 Keywords Content Management System comparison WordPress Drupal Joomla CMSmadesimple Silverstripe Acknowledgement The writing of this report has been the most challenging academic task I have ever faced, or indeed am likely to face in the future. This study would not have been possible without the help, support and guidance of the following people, and to whom I owe my deepest gratitude. • Alix Bergeret who undertook the role as my report supervisor despite his many other commitments. His guidance, advice and insightful references have proved invaluable. • Thomas Moore who was my A level Information Technology teacher. His enthusiasm for web technologies was what first sparked my interest in web development. • Gareth Hardy, Rebecca Turner, James Key and John Proctor who all helped provide the area of graphical user interface with more validity due to their continued interest and enthusiasm in my academic success. • Alison and Keith, my parents, who have supported me throughout the report writing process. Table of Contents Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 7 Aims ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 8 Objectives ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Literature Review ............................................................................................................................................................................... 8 What Makes A Good CMS? ............................................................................................................................................................... 12 Installation .................................................................................................................................................................................... 13 GUI – Graphical User Interface – Usability ................................................................................................................................... 13 Mobile Friendliness ...................................................................................................................................................................... 13 Accessibility ................................................................................................................................................................................. 13 SEO – Search Engine Optimization ................................................................................................................................................ 14 Security ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Customization ............................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Plug-ins/extensions/modules ....................................................................................................................................................... 15 Limited / No programming knowledge required .......................................................................................................................... 15 Performance and Speed .............................................................................................................................................................. 15 Follows W3C Guidelines .............................................................................................................................................................. 15 Support ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 15 Which systems are tested? ............................................................................................................................................................... 15 Why These Five? ............................................................................................................................................................................... 15 How the areas will be tested ............................................................................................................................................................ 16 Installation .................................................................................................................................................................................... 16 GUI – Graphical User Interface - Usability .................................................................................................................................... 16 Mobile Friendliness ...................................................................................................................................................................... 17 Accessibility ................................................................................................................................................................................. 17 Security ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 18 SEO – Search Engine Optimization ................................................................................................................................................ 18 Customization ............................................................................................................................................................................... 18 Plug-ins/extensions/modules ....................................................................................................................................................... 18 Limited / No programming knowledge required .......................................................................................................................... 18 Performance and Speed ..............................................................................................................................................................