I've been looking on the net for a really good content managment system preferably php based. There a few out to choose from but I would really like to hear some recommendations. I played around with Joomla but for some reason I just didn't find it user-friendly.

Has anyone used or is currently using a content management system that they highly recommend? Preferably one with customizable skins. Thank you so much.

Hey Lisa,

Great question as I have been doing research on this myself. I'm getting ready to start yet another site and plan to test out some different CMS's so I can review them on my website. I found this while browsing...

http://www.opensourcecms.com/

It's a site that lets you try out various CMS solutions before you go through the hassle of installing.

I plan to try Joomla first but I've been hearing mixed reviews on it myself so I'm open to exploring other options.

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Lisa & MsLisaLisa,

Are you guys thinking of running a digg like site? I have a CMS which i built but its not complete and is not so manageable. I've been wondering for last few weeks if should finish it and release it as open source.

Anyhoo, i think i can recommend one. I never used this myself but i have seen many sites based on it. It's called pligg. www.pligg.com. Check it out.

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Thanks webdev,

You're so helpful. I am not really planning on marketing the site. I just want to start testing some CMS solutions so I can review the different open source products on my site.

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2 Create a Website | 2 Create a Website Blog
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Hey Lisa,

Although I was looking for a php based content management system, I have been playing around with DotNetNuke a bit. Ironically, our IT team is using it for one of our clients and therefore, I have to learn how to use it.

I must say it's really nice. I think it is really user-friendly and it has so many useful modules that you can place in your web portal like quick links, blog, faq, search, users online, forum, news, announcements and many more.

You can download the cms at www.dotnetnuke.com

Let me know what you think if you get a chance to play with it.

~L

I would suggest wordpress as a CMS. Though, wordpress is a blogware, with a few "hacks" it can be made to function as a cms. I would suggest wordpress, because it is much more popular than any other cms. There are lots and lots of themes available and at the same time there are numerous plug ins available. Another advantage of using wordpress is the ping feature.

In order to use wordpress as a CMS here are some hacks:
1) Use permalinks
2) Create a page and use it as the frontpage. This can be done in the options menu, I think
3) There is a plug in that lets you to add meta tags. It has to be used as wordpress doesn't natively support meta tags.
4) Delete unwanted features like the blogroll, etc.

I had some experience with websitebaker. It used to be really cool, but there aren't as many themes available for websitebaker as wordpress, so I have switched to wordpress.

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i really like Drupal. It's rock solid and versatile and with many features. Joomla is also good but it's better for those who prefer 'looks' over functionality while with Drupal, its da reverse

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I also recommend drupal, however it takes a little time to learn how to troubleshoot. Setup is relatively easy, especially when it comes to configuring colors and themes. Make sure you're ready to do some code research though when problems arise.

I've seen some very intersting web sites build around the joomla platform but if you can't work with php/mysql it won't work well for you. Joomla-powered sites LOOK good but the stock layout IMO blows. I installed it on mysite and fooled around with it for a few minutes and havent had the time to delve back into it. I will say that it is pretty complex. I don't know how it is coded so I can't really say how easy or hard it would be to modify some basic functionality and deisgn.

Joomla and Wordpress are very clean and modern and i would reccomend them, Also E107.org another great one especially as its very popular and has a great fanbase so theres plenty of support, themes etc.

All in all CMS are very handy for begginers, apart from they would need a little knowledge on PHP and MySQL (Host providers etc) but as for manual work, its next to nothing.

I just implemented my first CMS site using Joomla and had very few problems. The new webmaster has no idea what HTML stands for and she is making updates with only a few problems (she wont read the manual).

I purchased a template and used a lot of the extensions provided from the source libraries at http://extensions.joomla.org/
Installing templates, applications and extensions went well for the most part. Since the vast majority of extensions are coded by others, you never know how good they will install/behave. I was pleased with the majority of exts on Joomla.

It is very helpful to know some HTML and switch to that mode when text just won't behave in the editor. True with any browser editor.

I tried DotNetNuke a while back and gave up after installing so many buggy extensions. I payed money for some of them. Most of the extensions for Joomla are still free and seemed to work better.