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I'd be interested in how much people spend on their CMS "clubs". I just found out that the EE license is $250 per installation, then there's Goodbarry with it's $30 to $60 PER MONTH per client hosting/CMS package.
What do others think they'd be willing to pay for a "good" starting point in CMS development, whether that is for using the software (like EE) or for getting a template for free software (Joomla's clubs) or even paying for support?
I think I paid about $70 a year for my RocketTheme membership for their Joomla Template Club.
They produce a lot of attractive templates, however not that many were suited to business (at least the way I wanted to present the site).
I found their support to be decent and they would answer simple questions re: template code, etc, even some joomla topics as long as you were an active member.
To answer your question about what I would pay.. The $70 was ok given that I did find one very useful template and would have paid at least that much for a good HTML template.
If they had better business themed templates and less artsy stuff, I would pay as much as $200 every year for access to them, depending on my client's wants and needs.
Would have to see the money coming back to me before I spent the $200
Please, educate the ignorant... what is "EE"?Originally Posted by Eclipse now
Expression EnginePlease, educate the ignorant... what is "EE"?
Warsaw - the city that survived its own death.
EMM8 - Profesjonalne Strony Internetowe
Projektowanie Stron WWW
Yeah, just google that and check out their pricing plans per installation of their software. Then if you're really brave check out goodbarry!
I work with many of the larger merchants on the Yahoo! Store (YStore!) platform, as well as run a store there myself.
Custom RTML (what Yahoo Store is coded in) can break the bank.
Seems like Good Barry is centered primarily on an Aussie audience, however I see that they have an office in the US as well now.
There are 3 Expression Engine licence types...
Core version - free
Personal - $99 (for non-profits)
Commercial - £249
You also get a discount the more licences you buy, up to 50% off the normal licence price, and that includes official modules/addons.
You also get permenant full tech support for no additional cost as well.
I'm using the commercial version of ExpressionEngine for my own site and I'm using it for many clients' projects as well.
I'm also using activecollab's pro collaboration software for my project management needs and it's not all that cheap either.
If I deem something immensely valuable, I'm prepared to pay an adequate fee for it, though it has to be somewhat reasonable and within the budget I'm prepared to spend.
I guess what I'm asking is what are say, small business owners and churches willing to pay for a CMS website? We tend to work with these groups with our print graphic design, and now that I'm meant to be getting into the web-design side of things I'm just wondering what's out there for the lower-end market.
However, I of course accept that the higher-end market could easily need the support of Goodbarry and EE. Sometimes one needs a help line or instant answer, not waiting for the good-will of the volunteers at various open source CMS.
Cool. However, I notice that you've got a WP theme in your sig.... would you ever use WP, Joomla, or Drupal for clients or are you at a too-high end of the market to ever bother with these?
I'm not in the least high-end.
I often use WordPress for client sites, depending on the project's needs. It's a good piece of software and does what it is designed to do well and there are plenty of means by which one can extend the core functionalities. For more complex sites, I almost exclusively use ExpressionEngine. As you have listed, Drupal is also a good choice that I have no problem using. There are also other, more complex CMSes such as typo3 (which is very very heavy) but good once you understand typoscript (typo3's very own programming language for configuring and setting up the typo3 engine). As for Joomla, I avoid it like the plague, however. I realise it is a very popular CMS, but I cringe at the thought. I just can't warm up to the code, the structure, the entire architecture really.
Has there been a Sitepoint poll on Joomla, Wordpress, and Drupal? I'd love to see a multiple vote system where you could tick which CMS's you would use for a client, and see which came last out of those 3.
Such a poll would only generate more noise. All three have their fanboys who would launch out in droves to make sure their side won, and to complain if it didn't. I've seen it happen over and over again.
Besides, even if the responders remained civil (not a prospect I'd bet on) the result wouldn't be suited for anything other than entertainment value. The three packages are well suited for different tasks; it'd be like asking which tool do you favor: a hammer, a screwdriver, or a wrench?
Rather than that, I'd like to see someone knowledgeable from each camp step up and say what's good about that software, and what does it do better than the other two. Let each one write without seeing the others, then after the three are published (simultaneously) let each get one more post to answer what the others wrote about the product they're defending. None of them gets to mention the products they're not writing about unless it is to directly contrast a feature of theirs, e.g., the Joomla writer cannot mention WP or Drupal unless they are writing about something Joomla does better, and why Joomla's version of it is better.
I've seen way too much trash talking on this subject to look forward to an open discussion on the subject with anything other than dread, but a structured or moderated presentation could be very valuable.
Apart from generating "more noise" as Arlen said that sort of poll wouldn't add any useful value at all.
The CMS you use for a certain project is not something that you can choose simply based on what's popular. It's a lot more complex than that, and you need to weight up a lot of different factors such as...
1. Will it suit the content types that the site will have
2. Can the content be presented in all the ways that are needed
3. Can the CMS be easily adapted for future needs
4. Will it run on the clients server/hosting arrangements, especially if it's a high traffic site
5. Can it accomodate all the features that are needed, ie integrated forums, multi author environments, member only content etc
6. Is the back end (admin) suitable for the abilities of the site owner and their staff
7. Is the software secure and regularly updated
8. Does the developer provide direct support
9. How easy (or hard) are upgrades
10. Does the overall cost of ownership fall within the clients budget
And that just scratched the surface.
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