What's your CMS of choice?

[awasson]

I've been hanging here on Sitepoint for quite a while now and have seen lots of things change and evolve. I spend a fair bit of time these days in the CMS area and I thought it would be interesting to find out what CMS systems other people on Sitepoint are using and working with. This is not a this vs. that thread. I just wanted to see some numbers of which ones are being worked on by the Sitepoint community.

I included seven CMS systems that have been discussed on various times but feel free to add a comment with your choice if it's not there. Again, this isn't supposed to be a CMS war type thread, just a poll to see what's going on.

Cheers,
Andrew

[markbrown4]

I'm most familiar with Wordpress so if I needed something done as fast as possible that's probably what I would build it in.
I did do a round up of different CMS' a little while ago and was really impressed with MODx, I like the flexibility and structure of MODx out of all of them.

These days I'm coding in Ruby almost exclusively so if I would also look at the more minimal static site generators like Jekyll or Pith if I needed a new site for myself.

[tunnil]

I normally discuss with a client what functionality and features they want in a CMS for their site. Then I usually build it from scratch. I have my own "default" CMS for adding/deleting/editing categories and products to my eStore.

When I have to use a 3rd party CMS I would use Joomla or cushyCMS, not necessarily in that order.

[kohoutek]

I'm most familiar with ExpressionEngine, but I also work a lot with WordPress because many clients want that particular CMS. For my own projects, however, I'd use EE over any other although I do like MODx as well...oh and I also think Textpattern is nice, the latter being the CMS I used the most before I stumbled upon EE.

[CMS Dude]

Of the ones you list, I believe Expression Engine is perhaps the most flexible and powerful, if your goal is to build a highly-customized application. On the other hand, Drupal offers the most in terms of contributed code.

But since the question is "What is my CMS of choice?" I have worked with just about every CMS out there, and I can say with great confidence that the best one I've worked with ... is Silverstripe. It has the simplest user interface out there -- simpler than even Wordpress. And under the hood, it's all object-oriented MVC framework, somewhat like Expressionengine. Finally, it has one of the most stellar contributors out there; dude's handle is Uncle Cheese and the extensions he makes for that CMS are just mind-boggling.

The only problem with Silverstripe is that no one knows how freaking incredible it is. It's a complete unknown ... hence it doesn't have the same kind of rapid release cycles, patch fixes, etc. But if people knew about it and knew it's potential, I have no doubt it could take over and render most other CMS's obsolete. It just simply covers all ground, and in my book, could be the definitive CMS for all purposes and levels; from beginner to enterprise.

[ralph.m]

Apart from EE, I'm also using Perch, which is a great little CMS. I'm also quite interested in Statamic, which I just stumbled upon. (It's only for small affairs, using flat files instead of a DB, but still interesting.) I was also very interested in SilverStripe for a while, but just didn't need another CMS.

[markbrown4]

Apart from EE, I'm also using Perch, which is a great little CMS. I'm also quite interested in Statamic, which I just stumbled upon. (It's only for small affairs, using flat files instead of a DB, but still interesting.) I was also very interested in SilverStripe for a while, but just didn't need another CMS.

Cool. I hadn't seen Perch before, I really like the way that the CMS is just and add on to an existing site. Usually the CMS is a bulky application that you have to install and then squeeze your site into.

I think these small focused applications could become more popular than the bulky / more powerful ones.

[ralph.m]

I hadn't seen Perch before ... I think these small focused applications could become more popular than the bulky / more powerful ones.

Yes, it's an awesome little CMS, and the support for it is incredible. Drew (the maker behind it) is very open and responsive, and a really clever guy. It's been amazing to watch it develop of the past few years.

[awasson]

Well, I guess that's it then... Only six of us on Sitepoint use content management systems and nobody even uses Wordpress. I am quite surprised

Oh and thanks for bringing up Perch... I forgot about that one.

[ralph.m]

It is a bit surprising not to have more folks jump in, but many people seem to have chosen their CMS(es) now and not care to discuss it any more. I am starting to feel that way myself. And, not allowing flame wars ... well, what do you expect? I'm sure there must be lots of CMS users around. Perhaps they are busy watching the Olympics.

[kohoutek]

IPerhaps they are busy watching the Olympics.

Yes, and yes!!! It's so hard to work when sports are on. I prefer watching the Olympics, I have my priorities set straight.

[oddz]

My preference would be Drupal due to my familiarity with core, key modules and how it all comes to together. It has its flaws but those seem to be addressed every new release. I think I might just fall in love when the work on Symfony 2 component integration is complete for 8. I really like the things they are doing/plan for 8 and is a good indicator that they are not afraid to rip things apart to build them back up to make them better. Which is much less than what I can say for some of the other systems out there.

[YowSeo]

I prefer WordPress.

After dealing with Joomla a couple times, I'm not surprised to see it has no votes yet.

[awasson]

After dealing with Joomla a couple times, I'm not surprised to see it has no votes yet.

Oh, me too... That said, I have read that some people just love it... I just haven't met any in person.

Thanks for the vote and your perspective too

[CMS Dude]

I still have no idea why Joomla trips so many people up.

It's really not that different from Drupal in theory.

Drupal Blocks (or "boxes") = Joomla Modules
Drupal Modules = Joomla Plugins
Page Regions in Drupal = Page Regions in Joomla
Drupal Nodes = Joomla Articles
Drupal Taxonomy = Joomla Categories
Drupal Distributions and/or Features = Joomla Components
Drupal CCK = Seblod or K2 in Joomla

Drupal Views = ?? This is where Joomla stops becoming a reasonable option if you're not in to writing custom code in your template (or as an include).

Under the hood:

• Joomla uses object-oriented HMVC Design pattern. Faster and more efficient architecture.
• Drupal uses a similar "PAC" design pattern, centering around a primitive call_user_func_array() function, passing info around in gigantic nested arrays, instead of implementing/extending classes. Very PHP-4 based.

Under the hood, Joomla has the advantage with a more modern architecture. Joomla's architecture is very modular, like Zend or Kohana, whereas Drupal is bulkier and has more legacy php 4 ways of doing things -- hence I might compare it more with cakephp. Although in many ways, both Drupal and Cake are undergoing similar overhauls in their core, and in time Drupal should be pretty badass as it starts using more of the Symfony2 framework.

[James twinli]

I personally use wordpress and prefer it more than others. The reasons behind it are quite simple. Wordpress is having its strong user base, because of its strong user base plugins in supply are huge. One can easily find plugin of each type for its any need. Even more than this wordpress tutorial's availability is huge.

[ULTiMATE]

WordPress has improved a lot over the users, but it is not a CMS and when it is used as one it is a very poor choice to make. A lot of developers, especially those that work outside of PHP view those that build sites in WordPress as entry-level or beginner programmers.

Out of this list Umbraco is the clear favourite for me. It beats the rest hands down on features and aside from a Umbraco v5 debacle they're a very reputable choice. I'd go as far as to recommend it to every PHP developer here as a way to get into ASP.NET and see what they have been missing all these years. One thing that .NET has done right for a number of years is Content Management Systems.

If you're set on using PHP then the best CMS around is Concrete5. The rest are rather dated.

[CMS Dude]

If you're set on using PHP then the best CMS around is Concrete5. The rest are rather dated.

Concrete5 has a pretty badass User Interface.

People who think Wordpress is easy to use ... obviously haven't tried either Concrete5 or Silverstripe.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ysmvy7ikcSU

[asma004]

I think worpress but joomla is also good for business purpose.

[awasson]

Well, only about 2-weeks left until the poll is over. It looks sort of the way I had envisioned it with more WP than anything else but I thought there would be more than 15 votes... I think I blew it by not making the results invisible until you actually cast a vote.

[CMS Dude]

Well, only about 2-weeks left until the poll is over. It looks sort of the way I had envisioned it with more WP than anything else but I thought there would be more than 15 votes... I think I blew it by not making the results invisible until you actually cast a vote.

I don't think it's so much about how many people voted, because you can probably figure those numbers would scale up.

I was more interested in the actual discussion it might bring. What I find interesting is ... most people's CMS of choice is the one they're working on, and user-friendliness seems to be the single biggest factor in people's choices ... including my own.

Interestingly enough, I see a battle in the works to see who can win on user-friendliness. The most interesting remark was made by ULTiMATE. These platforms we're working on, including Wordpress ... could all go away in the next 5 years if they can't compete with something like Concrete5 on user-friendliness. I can very easily see the day when even Wordpress falls by the wayside for being "too clunky' or out-dated.

What I would really like to see is a shift towards the "CMS on top of a framework" model. For example, if every CMS started moving it's core over to something like Codeigniter/Zend/Symfony ... then we could really see a seismic shift in how these things evolve. Essentially, the core development teams would be freed-up from most of the mundane stuff involved with maintaining the "guts" of the CMS ... and instead shift all of their development energies toward out-doing one another in the "Badass User Interface" arena.

And that could get interesting.

[awasson]

Yeah, I may have dampened discussion when I said it isn't a this vs that thread but I was hoping to hear more about what makes people want to use the system of their choice... Good point about the future of CMS too. I can flip bits with the best of them but I've been wrong about quite a few emerging trends (Facebook... what a dumb name, that'll never catch on )

I think you're right about CMS on top of a framework too. Up until now Drupal, Joomla, DNN, WP, etc... have tried to be the framework as well as the CMS and I've been happy to use them as such but liek you say, if the CMS is built on a well managed framework, the core team don't have to worry about maintaining the framework, they just have to maintain their features.

I have a colleague who's developing a CMS on the Kohana framework and he's doing exactly this. His CMS can be set up and configured right through the UI, including building the theme templates (drag, shape & drop)... No code required. It's still in its infancy but it's pretty amazing. He's also set it up so that you can load only the modules you need when a page loads instead of every active module in the system which make sit quite snappy.

Lots going on in the world of CMS these days especially with CSS3/HTML5 mobile devices

[CMS Dude]

He's also set it up so that you can load only the modules you need when a page loads instead of every active module in the system which make sit quite snappy.

I believe that was the reasoning behind going the Symfony route for Drupal 8. But don't quote me on that.

[neil sherman]

From those in the list I like Joomla best, but there's one that's not on the list that I really like and that's Exai. I like its drag and drop system and that my sites don't look like common template sites.

[ULTiMATE]

Well, only about 2-weeks left until the poll is over. It looks sort of the way I had envisioned it with more WP than anything else but I thought there would be more than 15 votes... I think I blew it by not making the results invisible until you actually cast a vote.

It's hardly surprising because the forum has merged all CMS discussion with a blogging platform, so it's natural that most users on here would use WordPress.

Both forums should be separate as the WordPress crowd drowns out CMS discussion, but I wouldn't like to be the person to separate things.