NewsForge | Choosing an open source CMS

The above link is an overview of the many Content Management Systems (CMS) that are available to run a website. All are open source software- meaning the source code is open to the public to tinker with and adapt for their particular use. Don’t think that open source just happens- there are huge communities of people sheparding the software to make sure it’s stable, secure and viable.

The key to these packages is that your site exists in a database- with the content extracted and formatted for display on the web as opposed to a hard coded site that is created one page at a time- and the pages don’t change.

We really like WordPress because of it’s simplicity. If you want to later move up to a more robust package- you can easily import your existing WordPress site into Drupal. The difference is, Drupal requires a geek to really make it sing- WordPress just works.

The article doesn’t really get into the main reasons we love the WordPress CMS so here are a few:

• Your site will automatically have RSS (Really Simple Synidication) so your readers can subscribe to your site and be notified any time you change or add material.
• Each time you post- WordPress automatically notifies Google that there is new information on your site and you get indexed.
• WordPress allows you to build 2-way communication via comments and trackbacks with people interested in your subject.
• Posting is as easy as writing a document in Microsoft Word- and that makes keeping your site up to date a snap.
• If you pay attention to your webstats, and use the Categories feature properly, you can end up on the front page of Google quite easily- at least it’s worked for us.

So- take a look at the article and it’s list of Content Management Systems- but, if you are new to having a database driven site- trust us- and start out with WordPress.