Looking for a good CMS

[WWDJ]

I'm looking to redo my website this year and i'd like to use a CMS that has several templates i can choose from.

When it comes to web bits and pieces i'm ok and have done some work with asp and php but to be honest i'm looking for something pretty easy to manage and add to without loads of effort as time is at a premium.

I'm also rubbish at design so I want good looking templates to choose from (for free)

My website is used asa point of contact for referrals really so just needs
- a bit about me
- photo gallery
- video gallery
- faqs
- Ts & Cs
- Contact form

There is of course Joomla, but is there a better CMS starting point out there ?

I don't have a budget for this exercise so i will be doing the work myself.

cheers

[Chris1984]

I have recently adopted joomla for all my sies as it is very quick and i can editi it on any machine and simply add extensions/bits to it.

www.theultimateshow.co.uk www.scout4x4.co.uk are currently online and are all joomla with custom templates.

there are of course many other options out there. A friend of mine uses Mura witch is very good but requires cold fusion to run if you have that on your servers might be worth a look?

if you went down the joomla route i might be able to knock you up a template to get you started.

[WWDJ]

I have recently adopted joomla for all my sies as it is very quick and i can editi it on any machine and simply add extensions/bits to it.

www.theultimateshow.co.uk www.scout4x4.co.uk are currently online and are all joomla with custom templates.

there are of course many other options out there. A friend of mine uses Mura witch is very good but requires cold fusion to run if you have that on your servers might be worth a look?

if you went down the joomla route i might be able to knock you up a template to get you started.

I like the first one a lot. Very colourful.
Where / how would i customise a template?

[Chris1984]

i made the bones of mine in a program called artisteer then edited it in dreamweaver and photoshop.

[Dynamic Entertainment]

Off topic, but Chris...didnt you have a fully flash enabled site when you joined?

[Chris1984]

yep i did but binned it in favor of a html site i made and recently went to joomla out of curiosity and now love it - its so simple and i cna dit it/change it etc on any web enabled device.
i still have the flash site somewhere might did it out - had forgotten about it!

Why do you ask?

[discomobiledj]

Have you tried Wordpress? My website is made using it.

[Booche]

I also used Artisteer and Joomla to design 95% of mine www.abstract-entertainments.co.uk and then got the mini beast (Alex) to do the backend work.

Again i could knock up a design for you mate if wanted :D

[Dynamic Entertainment]

yep i did but binned it in favor of a html site i made and recently went to joomla out of curiosity and now love it - its so simple and i cna dit it/change it etc on any web enabled device.
i still have the flash site somewhere might did it out - had forgotten about it!

Why do you ask?

Just teh name change from TUS at Chris1984 threw me :o

[WWDJ]

How would i customise a Joomla template?

[Booche]

Either using the program designed in or Dreamweaver, Photoshop etc it all depends on what you want to "Customise" lol

[Tom]

I prefer the Wordpress format tbh. After trying both Wordpress and Joomla, I found Wordpress much easier to use and navigate, but everyone is different. :)


Design websites using Photoshop, then simply code the website in via HTML, CSS and Javascript if necessary. :)

[Vectis]

Either using the program designed in or Dreamweaver, Photoshop etc it all depends on what you want to "Customise" lol

Makes me laugh how people who want free or ultra-cheap websites are happily spending hundreds (if not thousands) on the software tools to do it :confused: :sofa:

[WWDJ]

Makes me laugh how people who want free or ultra-cheap websites are happily spending hundreds (if not thousands) on the software tools to do it :confused: :sofa:

I could pay a million quid and still not be able to use Photoshop!
I can just about lighten a picture and remove red eye. All this masking and layers is beyond me and to be honest I don't want to learn :5

Looking at free joomla templates last night they look pretty good some of them, so I am going to installl joomla later and give some a try.

If there are some good recommendations for free template sites I'd be grateful

Obviously I have googled a little bit :-)

[Alex]

Just to give you a heads up regarding Joomla...

There are two stable versions being supported at the moment.

Version 1.5 and version 1.6

I would highly advise using version 1.5 .... as it's got the most supported extensions and templates!
Version 1.6 is still buggy and doesn't have many " add ons " or templates available yet!!

[Booche]

Makes me laugh how people who want free or ultra-cheap websites are happily spending hundreds (if not thousands) on the software tools to do it :confused: :sofa:

I've had Photoshop for years and years mate as i bought the whole adobe package from when i was at Coff Coff Pc World Coff Coff lol and mine's not a free website anymore :P

[Vectis]

I've had Photoshop for years and years mate as i bought the whole adobe package from when i was at Coff Coff Pc World Coff Coff lol and mine's not a free website anymore :P

Sorry Dave wasn't having a poke at you specifically ... it's just that your post was the most succinct ;)

[Booche]

Sorry Dave wasn't having a poke at you specifically ... it's just that your post was the most succinct ;)

:D no worries Martin i knew what you roughly meant :D ;)

[Jiggles]

Currently running my own CMS that has been built from a really simple but stable CMS. It's XML drive for now but looking into porting it to MYSQL some time soon. Currently running a 60 page site with it and its still slick and fast. Once I'm 100% happy with it I will post it up for everyone. :)

[Marc J]

The two "usual" considerations: Joomla (http://www.joomla.org/) and WordPress (http://wordpress.org/) (you'll always get a wider range of templates available for these 2).

Other Open Source worth a mention (imho) in no particular order: CMSMadeSimple (http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/), SilverStripe (http://silverstripe.org/), MODX (http://modx.com/), concrete5 (http://www.concrete5.org/), Typo3 (http://typo3.com/).

For demos, reviews and comparisons of most Open Source CMS systems: http://php.opensourcecms.com/

Paid solution: ExpressionEngine (http://expressionengine.com/).