14 free CMS options for Web Design Professionals Reviewed http://blog.webdistortion.com/2008/05/17/13-free-cms-options-for-we... web design services blog forum contact Home > Reviews > 14 free CMS options for Web Design Professionals Reviewed May 17th 14 free CMS options for Web Design Professionals Reviewed posted in: Reviews , Web Design At the center of most (if not all) web development projects is the old chestnut we call content management systems. Choosing a CMS for your website, or indeed for your enterprise is no easy task - in Europe alone, you have around 500 systems to choose from. Whether that system is something complex or something simple (i.e. hand editing), it is an essential part of a successful site. Enabling content editors to perform website updates (however inexperienced) with the web has always been something of a challenge for developers, thankfully there are a number of platforms and open source projects out there which take the hassle out of developing your own system, and can put you in the running for projects normally outside of your scope. The following hopefully provides a comprehensive overview of some of the best out there, and we’ve tried to be as comprehensive in our review of each. Impress CMS Technology : PHP RDMS: a MySQL (others are planned) Setup time: 10 minutes Supported OS: Unix / Windows, MacOS Features: Flexible group-based permission system Fully module-based Built-in cache system URL : http://www.impresscms.org FEATURE URL: http://www.impresscms.org/modules/mastop_publish/?tac=Roadmap I’ve recently come across an impressive contender that I’ve had to add to the list. ImpressCMS is a fairly recent fork of Xoops, the project has managed to impress both the audience and the jury, resulting in the winning spot on the Most Promising Open Source CMS awards 2009. 1 sur 38 2009-12-21 13:49 14 free CMS options for Web Design Professionals Reviewed http://blog.webdistortion.com/2008/05/17/13-free-cms-options-for-we... Installation is a breeze, just complete a few fields on a web form and your new site is ready to go. Designers will love the theme and template system, and the bundled jQuery javascript library makes some nifty visual effects possible. Where the core provides the basics, the bells and whistles reside in the installable modules. With 200 of them available at the moment of writing, there will surely be a module that caters to your needs. If that shouldn’t be the case, adapting an existing module or starting a new one from scratch is made painless thanks to stellar support on the community forums and imBuilding, a module to build modules. Typo 3 Technology : PHP Supported RDMS: MySQL, Oracle, MS-SQL, ODBC Setup time: 45 minutes+ Supported OS: Windows / Unix / MacOSX Features: On page editing Intuitive Tree Structure for pages , folders and files Internal Search Engine URL : http://typo3.com FEATURE URL: http://typo3.com/Feature_list.1243.0.html If you are looking for power over simplicity then Typo 3 is one such option. Starting out with TYPO3 does require time and dedication, both from an administrative point of view. End users can expect to spend around 45 minutes plus to get up and running with the admin tools, depending on how IT literate they are at the minute. To take advantage of its full power, you will need to get your reading glasses out. Admins are going to get it tough, there is significant documentation - 1600 (and counting) pages of references and tutorials, and you are going to have to read at least some of it. However there is no question forum on their website, which you would expect from an Open source solution such as this. On the plus side, the features this product offers are second to none, and are continuing to grow through the PHP development community, and some of the clients using this include large brands such as Philips and the Museum of Science and Industry Chicago. Cushy CMS Technology : Browser Based (PHP engine) Setup time: 5 minutes+ Supported OS: N/A - hosted 2 sur 38 2009-12-21 13:49 14 free CMS options for Web Design Professionals Reviewed http://blog.webdistortion.com/2008/05/17/13-free-cms-options-for-we... Features: On page editing Extremely Simple URL: http://www.cushycms.com/ If Typo 3 is the Rolls Royce of the CMS world, then Cushy CMS has got to be a Mini. A fluffy Light and Small web 2.0 application this CMS is one of the easiest and quickest to get up and running with, although it is strictly a hosted solution, and to run it you need to provide your FTP details through Cushy’s website. In order to set the system up you simply add css styles to the sections which need changed, Cushy then changes the page on the fly, and sends it back to the ftp server itself. I would be a little worried about the security implications of passing FTP details over cleartext, and it obviously has to keep a hold on your passwords *somewhere* on its own server..which in my opinon is a bit of a risk. From their own website: “CushyCMS accesses and stores sensitive website login data as part of its daily operations. While we will take every reasonable precaution to secure these details (including the use of database data encryption), we will not accept any responsibility or liability for actions that may result from this data being intercepted or accessed by an unauthorized third-party.” In other words, if it all goes Pear shaped “We aint takin no responsibility “. None the less, this does seem to be a good concept for breaking things down to a simple level, my fear is that it is too simple. This current version will not enable content editors to add a new page - for that, they will have to go back to their webdesigner. Made By Frog Technology : PHP RDMS: a MySQL database or SQLite 3 Setup time: 45 minutes+ Supported OS: *Nix (Apache) Features: On page editing Simple Philosophy Add pages & Images Extendable, includes an API Uses Templating Code. URL: http://www.madebyfrog.com/ SUPPORT FORUM: http://forum.madebyfrog.com/ 3 sur 38 2009-12-21 13:49 14 free CMS options for Web Design Professionals Reviewed http://blog.webdistortion.com/2008/05/17/13-free-cms-options-for-we... Created as a PHP port of Radiant CMS (Ruby on Rails app), Frog CMS carries the motto “Fast and Simple”. And it stands up to the test - we found that it took up quite a bit smaller memory footprint than the Ruby equivalent. The learning curve (provided you know a bit about PHP) is also relatively fast, and you can be up and running with a content managed solution in as little as 45 minutes. Complimenting the main site is a support forum, and good clear documentation. However if you are a complete PHP newbie, this one probably is still a bit involved, and although it uses a templating system, it will still prove to be a pain to implement - say over something like Wordpress. We also found that the download on their site was corrupt, and had to grab it via Tortoise SVN. We would say to stick out at it though and you will be rewarded in what is an extremely well put together Open Source CMS. Radiant CMS Technology : Ruby On Rails RDMS: MySQL database, PostReSQL, SQLite3 Setup time: 45 minutes+ Supported OS: *Nix (Apache) Features: Elegant user interface Flexible templating with layouts, snippets, page parts, and a custom tagging language Simple user management and permissions URL: http://www.radiantcms.com/ This is the product that inspired Frog CMS, and it has pretty much the same layout and feel as Frog, only that it is a Ruby on Rails app. The community around Radiant however does feel to be much more active, and if that is your bag, and you are a Ruby developer, then this is the CMS for you. Thankfully developers have started to break down the barriers to entry for content management systems, and the newer ones such Radiant have concentrated heavily on making things much more friendly for both the end user and web designers. The custom tagging langugage (Radius) is also particularly nice in this system, and should 4 sur 38 2009-12-21 13:49 14 free CMS options for Web Design Professionals Reviewed http://blog.webdistortion.com/2008/05/17/13-free-cms-options-for-we... be a breeze for anyone who has done any Ruby work to pick up. Modx CMS Technology : PHP RDMS: MySQL database Setup time: 45 minutes+ Supported OS: *Nix (Apache) Features: Strong Web Standards Support Web 2.0 Features Graphical Installer URL: http://modxcms.com/ The MODx Ajax CMS and PHP Application Framework brings plenty to the table, with as it is a application framework, not only is ModX a CMS, but it is a Web application builder as well, supporting forms creation amongst other things. The templating language for ModX is particularly simple to get to grips with tags placeholders which are easily to integrate. ModX also has a strong focus towards two things close to my heart - search engine optimisation and Web Standards. Its no surprise then that ModX came out winner in the Most Promising Open Source Content Management System of 2007, holding off strong competition from SilverStrip, Nuke Evolution, Typolight and dotCMS - all reviewed here. “MODx is the alternative to hacking blogging tools and other tools to death, extended learning curves, and changing your workflow to fit software that just doesn’t quite “get it”.