Which, if any, CMS is suitable for me?

CMS & WordPress
1

I wonder if someone could give me a bit of advice.

Skill/knowledge background: A bit of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP and Oracle.

My current site: subjective-effect.co.uk

What I’d like to be able to do:

Build a website that can be managed from anywhere, not just my home machine with Notepad++ and Filezilla. I suppose I want a CMS but I’ve tried Wordpress and it’s too restrictive. I tried Drupal and it’s too complex for what I need.

I’d also like to be able to use a database for some content - to display items or products. And I’d like to be able to add a payment system for users, Paypal would be my preferred system.

Can anyone suggest a simple but flexible CMS that would be suitable for this? I want to be able to easily move elements around and add my own CSS styling. My host (Fasthosts) has the following on-click installs but I don’t want to have to play with them all to find out how suitable they are. None of them may be the best thing. I have PHP5 and mySQL options.

Blogs
WordPress
Chyrp CMS
b2evolution
Textpattern
NucleusCMS
Geeklog

Client Management
SugarCRM
Feng
Front Accounting
vtigerCRM

Content Management
Joomla
ocPortal
Drupal
MODx
e107
XOOPS
PHP-Nuke
phpwcms

eCommerce
ShopSite
PrestaShop
OSCommerce
Zen Cart
OpenCart
TomatoCart

I just don’t know anything about these (except Wordpress and Drupal) so I was wondering if anyone could offer me some sage advice?

Thanks.

2

Of the ones listed there, I recommend MODx. It’s a really nice CMS, easy to work with, and very clean (you write all your own HTML and CSS without interference). Another good one is ExpressionEngine, but it’s a paid one.

Either of these makes it easy to incorporate PayPal buttons, or any other kind of cart system you may want.

3

Thanks for the reply ralph. I’ll have look at that tomorrow. :slight_smile:

4

I’m sad to report that the MODx install at my hosts doesn’t work. It appears to but I cannot log in. I’ve uninstalled and re-installed twice. Same problem.

I’ve emailed the support team.

5

Really, I would always avoid those auto installs anyway. It’s quite easy to install a CMS yourself, and then you have a better idea of what’s going on. (You’ll need to update the software from time to time, so it’s better to do it yourself, and to have a local copy for backup etc.). If you check out the MODx site, they have step by step instructions for installing it yourself.

6

Look this solution: http://www.webiny.com/features/ ?
CMS
Hosting
e-commerce
everything you need

7

I think PrestaShop will suite you perfect. Easy to manage and apply custom css styles. Though Magento is popular and better than PrestaShop, Magento is little complex compared to PrestaShop.