The best CMS for community driven sites?

CMS & WordPress
121

Hello Daniel,

I’ve just read the whole thread and it’s funny to see how your opinion has changed over time. I’ve been a PHP/MySQL developer for 6 years and I’m seriously considering using Drupal on my future web projects. I’ve installed version 4.7-beta (http://drupal.org/drupal-4.7.0-beta3) and I’ve been pretty impressed by the functionality that you get out of the box (AJAX, free-tagging, etc.).

The problem with evaluating any open-source CMS in general is that pretty much everyone has a (different) opinion about them depending on their skillset, previous experience, or what they need to do with it… That’s why I find it extremely difficult - impossible ? - to compare CMS’s as each of them are so different and might suit different types of users.

In my search of a good (ie. that would fit my needs, skillset, experience…) open-source CMS in PHP/MySQL, Drupal was the finalist (because: 1) It matches my core skill-set (PHP/MySQL); 2) I hear it’s very cleanly coded; 3) It produces rather “pure” output (almost 100% XHTML-compliant); 4) I like the product (what it does, how it does it, its flexibility); 5) After reading many posts on drupal.org forums, I like the Drupal community and I admire its leaders.)

To anyone investigating Drupal, I’d like to recommend a book that has proven very useful in my search : Building Online Communities With Drupal, phpBB, and WordPress (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1590595629/).

Note that the author, Robert T. Douglass, is one of the Drupal leaders. Therefore the book doesn’t compare Drupal to other CMS’s, neither does it speak of Drupal’s weaknesses (if any ;-)). But it gave my a very good understanding of what Drupal is about, what it does and how it works, and as a consequence it helped me make an informed decision.

Besides, it’s so much nicer to have it all in one place (the book), rather than having to aggregate myriads - and sometimes unreliable - sources from all over the web.

Still, I haven’t really looked into the Drupal code yet. I consider myself a quite good PHP developer. I know that Drupal is not for the PHP newbie and I don’t mind that. The things most important to me are clean, good code and flexibility.

I’d be interested to have a developer’s viewpoint on these points.

122

We welcome you with open brackets <?php ?>

123

Thank you, Marcel! :slight_smile:

124

Would anyone mind helping me install Mambo on my website? My MSN is m_gallivan12@hotmail.com and I am usually on afternoons, evenings, and weekends.

125

PHP and MySQL with AJAX are great if you can build with someone who has experience in your field. The site we built [SIZE=3]http://www.sitepoint.com/marketplace/auction/8374[/SIZE] was constructed on a php and MYSQL CMS. The developers had prior experience in develop CMS systems for social networks, this made a huge difference.

126

I could help you install TYPO3 at no cost if you want to give that a whirl. I would also be willing to help someone install TYPO3 if they would help me install Drupal so I can do a comparitive analysis. I have very little time but am fast at TYPO3.

I’m trying to explore my options… and I have a long standing client that wants to try Drupal. I also ran across this article so my interest is peaked on a personal level.

TYPO3 and Drupal. Developer notes
http://drupal.org/node/131855

Greg

127

What you are looking for is a flexible CMS.

I would therefore recommend you to use: WebAPP CMS WebPortal

Its “flexible” because it has a flat DB files system and is built on CGI, allowing you to integrate any addone you may like out of millions free open source cgi scripts out there.

WebAPP
http://www.web-app.net

128

I recommend to joomla, which has lot of resourse/mod to integrated with the forum ,such as phpbb, SMF…

129

I totally agree with these features

130

The best for me Joomla. Easy, flexible and fast learning curve.

131

For me Joomla is the best. If not, Drupal.

132

Top news… Both Joomla and Drupal are vulnerable to severe critical security issues. You can read more about it here: http://www.web-app.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi?action=forum&board=public_security&op=display&num=11274

I for one stick to the genuine Perl, open source CMS from WeAPP.

Nothing personal, but php has a long way to go before offering safe applications or serious or commercial usage. Until then I would stick to the original Perl CGI scripting :shifty:

133

Joomla is only exposed in a specific component. All you have to do is patch the component or don’t use the exposed component.

How are you so sure Drupal is still vulnerable. Drupal cleans up holes in in less than a week usually. And where is the proof that Drupal is vulerable. Drupal fixed a bunch of holes 3 weeks ago and launch Drupal 6 last week.

A language is not the answer, secure programming is.

134

I would recommend Joomla. Most all of our websites are now Joomla powered.

135

I agree that WebAPP CMS is safer and more stable CMS. Why? Because its written in genuine Perl language.

“Only”, and only 100,000 users out there have not heard about the patch yet, and what came first the patch or the hacker? Have you heard of a concept of the vendor doing homework and releasing patches BEFORE hackers finding it first.

Language IS the answer. PHP is a new language interface, it has more bugs and security issues that you could ever dream of. Perl has been there longer which makes it more stable, safer and with less bugs.
Not to mention the millions of open source and free Perl modules and addons out there, take a quick look at http://www.cpan.org and http://www.perl.org just to get the idea what a language strength is! An then rethink your statement: “language is not the answer”…

136

I’ve never heard of WebAPP before, but wow, that site has just such a bad layout, I couldn’t look at it for more than 2 seconds, even if I really wanted.

137

@Xeliber: I would recommend either drupal or joomla. Both have great systems, community’s, features, etc.

Usually its said that drupal is aimed more towards developers and joomla is a little easier to use. Not sure about the new versions and were they have gone with them, because I haven’t tried them out.

I read that drupal has better performance, I can’t say either way, just what I have read after researching about them both.

Both have what you want, so its really up to what you like better.

The drupal and phpbb3 intergrations should be here: http://vgb.org.ru/node/29
Can’t seem to find a phpbb3 version for joomla, although they do have fireboard. And there main site is using phpbb3, so it is possible.

:slight_smile: :find:

Anyway, have fun with your project. :slight_smile:

138

Welcome to Sitepoint!

Right, Drupal for family and school websites? I wonder who told that to the Belgian Government and [URL=“http://buytaert.net/belgian-prime-minister-using-drupal”]Prime Minister, [URL=“http://buytaert.net/fast-company-using-drupal”]FastCompany, [URL=“http://buytaert.net/aol-using-drupal-2”]AOL, [URL=“http://buytaert.net/sun-using-drupal”]Sun Microsystems, and [URL=“http://buytaert.net/tag/drupal-sites”]many many more.

My choice is also webapp CMS, it has been around for nearly 8 years now and is much safer then any php CMS out there.

As I’ve said before and continue to say, that page just doesn’t look too inspiring, and 389 HTML errors aren’t really convincing either, and using tables for layout, sorry but I wouldn’t ever touch a CMS that has its main page like this. It doesn’t look like much has changed over those 8 years (how can it be Version 1 after 8 years of development?) while the Internet has been evolving like crazy.

I understand that many kids and web designers want to “do it all” and this is why they choose the php interface, but common people wake up! If you want the real thing, then choose a real Perl portal and not some new mixed up language that tries to “make life easy” a la php.

Yossi.

This looks a lot like some people actively and intentionally trying to improve webapps reputation.

139

Could we get some more shill accounts in here pushing this webapp application?

Let’s create a bunch of accounts, post one message pushing this webapp crap from each one of them and never have any of them log in again. If you’re going to make the effort to spam, at least put some effort into it.

140

you can get it here