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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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