Simple but Powerful CMS?
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Firefly Web
New Member
You will not get 'simple to use', from an out of the box setup, with your specific requirements, so my friendly advice is not to keep looking for a perfect CMS (there ain't any) but choose a 90% one, learn it well, be realistic, and work from there on the 8%
I think Seaghan is right, there's no perfect CMS because it's always a trade-off between simplicity, functionality, performance and more. E.g. Joomla and Drupal are much more functional and extendible than WordPress, but WordPress generally has much better SEO and performance. If you're looking for a multisite or central management then you're getting into more complicated territory. Seaghan, what do you think of the Drupal multisite functionality? Also, Expression Engine is seen as a very good CMS that might fit some of these needs but it's not free.
Sinead Hanley
New Member
I have used Joomla and would highly recommend it. It is very powerful and free!! and there are lots of extensions and also it is continuously being developed. As content management systems go, I think it is one of the best
Designing ModX templates is easy compared to Joomla which I personally have never liked just because of it feels like it owns you and you design by it's strict rules not by what you actually want to design.
Modx is actually a very good CMS however I find that the Admin is not easy to use. Many of the primary functions such as adding new pages and accessed via RightClicking on elements and it does take quite a while to get used to.
For many of my clients, I can only imagine that it would cause both me and them serious headaches. So I developed my own simple cms in two versions:
1. Editing of Existing Pages.
2. Editing and Creation and Pages.
It doesn't have all the bells and whistles such as custom meta tags, the ability to add a forum none of that. But to be honest what I've found is that most clients just want to be able to edit the page content simply and perhaps add or delete a page every few months. Most of my clients though are small-medium businesses. For a larger organization that has IT people who know a thing or two, ModX would be my preference.
TwoHeadsWebDesign
New Member
Its been said already but my vote is for Wordpress - Hands down. Why? Having used Joomla (as the "client") I certainly find Wordpress far far easier to admin and IMHO so will your client. For me its far more WYSIWYG than Joomla. Just my 2cents of course.
ddavey83
New Member
I reckon Wordpress Multisite should do everything you're looking for. Basically it's one installation and database with multiple websites. There are loads of plugins available that you can activate and confugure accross multiple sites.
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