CMS for small portfolio website? Or keep it static?

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1

I was wondering if I should run my portfolio website on a CMS or just keep it static and hand edit it. I have your typical “blog” section of the website though the rest of the website will pretty much remain static with little editing.

Wordpress gives me a headache when trying to convert HTML/CSS to WP functional. Should I keep it hand edited, or are their any good CMS’s (open source) that have a decent blog/article hook?

Thanks in advanced
-Chris

2

It depends on how complex it is. If it’s a simple static site, I would hand code it, but if you are doing blog articles etc, I’d use a CMS. It just gives you a lot more options for organizing content (without the workload being too high). I know you asked for open source, but I’d recommend you try the ExpressionEngine freelancer license, which is a really nice CMS to use and only costs $99.

3

Yea I’m going to move into a CMS since I will have a lot of blog content/articles daily.

Ralph.h I will look into that. But again, I would prefer open source. A CMS that is preferably easier than most to use custom HTML/CSS templates with.

I find that a lot of the CMS’s I download don’t have ANY documentation on how to convert an HTML/CSS file to work with their CMS. So if they’re any good CMS’s that do have documentation or are on the simpler side please do let me know!

Thanks

4

Another nice, simple CMS is Perch. Basically you build your static site how you want it and add in dynamic bits where you want them. They’ve included the ability to have a simple blog now. It’s a really nice, easy to understand system, with good docs and great support.

5

Thanks ralph.m that looks like the winner!

6

Static pages - reliability.
complex code - more features, simpler interface, more problems…

7

1st of all thanks ralph.m for great sharing but I’m looking small open source cms.

8

CMS all the way.

What I would do is really look into customizing joomla.

It seems really tricky but there are a bunch of tutorials that really break it down and keep it basic.

I would do this 1) Simple to update
BUT
2) More important. You will be able to generate several pages which will in-turn improve your websites SEO.

This is just a suggestion based on my problems with creating a static website the first time around.

9

Joomla gives no unique SEO benefits of which I am aware. Any good CMS combined with a design that ensures good content, good usability, and good clean code will give you 90%+ of the SEO benefits you need.

10

Well, What I meant was it has an edge over static pages in a sense that pages are easily generated there for more pull for Search Engines. Also I know many people that talk about joomla being easier than wordpress to customize.