The great open source CMS debate

There’s been loads of discussion lately about using WordPress as a CMS platform. The recent WordPress meetup held in Cape Town saw some discussion around the the topic. Adii presented a very compelling argument for the fact that WordPress is essentially a database with different type of data which can be used in many different ways.

Some not in favour of labelling WordPress as a CMS have presented equally compelling arguments. One of the main contenders people have spoken in favour of is Drupal which can be used to build much more than just a simple CMS site and has a great list of advanced features.

Joomla is also a hot contender in some camps with its own array of add-ons and extensions. I have so many debates in corridors and at web entrepreneur meetups about which platform is more preferable. Make no mistake I love WordPress and think it can definitely provide a simple solution for most who want to publish a content managed website.

At a recent WordPress meetup, Joey da Silva argued that content management systems go through a typical cycle where they start out light, fast and user friendly, and then as time passes become more and more bloated. Those who grow with the platform become the experts as it slowly slips out of reach of the average user. I never actually took a step back and looked at it this way before but it makes perfect sense.

We already have a few new entrants at the lowest end of the spectrum like CMS made simple. Locally there are not many contenders as far as I am aware, but Chisimba, which I wrote about earlier, looks like a promising platform coming out of the UWC Free Software Innovation Unit.

A CMS Comparison Tool

CMS Matrix is a website dedicated to providing information and comparisons between the available content management systems out there. You can check off a list of CMS applications and do an automatic comparison across all their features to see how they weigh up against each other. The comparisons are a little outdated as they are still using version 2.2 of WordPress, which has been upgraded many times since.

Your comparisons need to be based on what you want to use the specific tool for, as your choice will definitely be influenced by the intended usage.

I found the comparison list a little intimidating as many of the categories went right over my head, so I’ve put together a little list of simple categories to use when assessing CMS’s.

So what makes a great open source Content Management System?

Ease of use?

Making any platform or system easy to use is one of the key objectives. Depending on who it’s being developed for, that may mean different things though. With the proliferation of open source content management systems making web publishing accessible to anyone with even basic PC skills means developers have to bear the low end PC user in mind when developing. ……

Installation

One of the major barriers to entry in my opinion is installation. Too many steps or too many complicated tasks involved in installing a cms on one’s domain and you cut out a huge group of users. This may not be that much of an issue for larger companies who have technical staff with the knowledge to do these installations. Installation is an issue of we’re talking about the average user wanting to set up a open source cms site.

Size

Web storage space, bandwidth and volume of files are also something to assess. I believe it depends largely on what the intended use is, for that matter each of the points could be seen differently depending on the use.

Security

Something which WordPress for one has been criticised heavily for in the past and to date. We’ve seen a recent spate of website hackings taking place, many of them WordPress sites. In general the hacks are spam related but there are more evil attacks being perpetrated where domains are completely overtaken and stolen. One such incident is David Airey’s site.

Out the box functionality

Does it do what you want on the fly, or do you have to hack and smack it into place? Once again, it depends on what you want your site to do. With most of the open source platforms, there are core list of out the box features, an extended list of community contributed plugins or modules, and the ability to integrate ones own applications and scripts. The power lies in customisation and the cost benefit equation between limit of customisation and the time and costs involved in implementing those custom features.

Functionality is a huge area, so this needs to be based on what you’re specifically trying to achieve. For example if you’re looking to build an enterprise level site for a huge corporation, WordPress would definitely not suite your needs and if you’re wanting to create a blogging platform, Joomla is a little clunky.

SEO

Search engine rankings are elusive to most and gaining an advantage in this area is pursued in a myriad ways, some ethical and some not so ethical. SEO tools, tricks and plugins flood the web to the point that we can no longer tell whether they have effect or not without some rigorous testing. So naturally when choosing an open source CMS SEO is a key factor.

Community and Social Networking

It has become a staple of the web, having features which extend mere web pages into communal spaces where people can interact, share, collaborate and be more human. Wikis, blogs, forums, commenting, chatting, file sharing, video, instant messaging and the rest work together towards turning a web page into a highly engaging space of experience, interaction and learning.

I found a few sites attempting to list and compare the latest CMS systems:

What’s your take on open source CMS’s?

I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a few meetups going around the topic of open source CMS’s instead of just focusing only on WordPress. For starters I’d
like to hear from you: