Top 5 Content Management Systems

1. Drupal

Drupal is easily the most functional open source CMS available today. It allows for the editing of content directly on the page, and is easily extended through the use of modules. Themes can be developed easily with CSS and though it has a few issues, it is the least frustrating CMS of any available. Drupal

2. Wordpress

Wordpress began as a simple blogging system but has grown into one of the most powerful CMS’s on the Internet. The administration interface which has become so easy to use for millions of bloggers translates over to extended versions of Wordpress.

As developers have realized its potential to act as a user friendly CMS, many plugins and extensions have been produced. With the release of BuddyPress for Wordpress MU, it matches most other open source systems available in functionality and far surpasses them in user friendliness. Wordpress

3. Radiant CMS

A simple CMS powered by Ruby on Rails. It’s simplistic design and method of content management makes editing content easy. The focus of this CMS is to offer minimum functionality for small development teams, which allows those who know how to write Ruby on Rails to easily customize their own systems. Radiant CMS

4. Magento

An especially effective e-commerce content management system. Offers features above and beyond normal e-commerce systems such as virtue-cart. A must have for online stores. Magento

5. Silverstripe

A simplistic CMS, with a growing community. Easy to customize and change. Shows potential to match other systems such as Drupal, but not quite there yet. Great user interface. Silverstripe

Avoid Joomla

Joomla is evil. That’s all there is too it. The only way to get the functionality you would ever really need beyond basic content management is to pay large sums of money for commercial modules. The community is huge in the worst possible way. There are a million modules for one problem and it is near impossible to find the right one.

The interface is deplorable. None of the methods of content management make any sense, and it is obviously not meant to be user friendly considering the top dollar training offered for the system. If there were ever a CMS to avoid, this would be it.

That’s the end of the list. If you know to avoid Joomla! you’ll know how to avoid anything else that might hinder your experience creating and managing a website. Whew! There! Joomla!

Summary

Always remember to research a CMS before investing time in it. Never forget that the main purpose of a CMS is to make creating and editing content simple and easy. Never sacrifice the user experience for functionality. Remember these things and it will drastically improve your experience with Content Management Systems.

Written exclusively for WDD by Jason Mosley. The article reflects his opinion only and doesn’t necessarily reflect WDD’s position on the subject.