A website designer may utilize a Content Management System — CMS — when building a site so that regular maintenance and updates can be conducted by the client. A site may be produced that enables the client to catalog and update personnel information, create schedules, and maintain other content without ever learning HTML
You can choose from several CMS systems, and some of them are even free – and many of the free ones are quite good, actually. Choose which one to use based on the website you need. This list isn’t complete. There are a number of Content Management Systems to choose from. Read the information at the provider’s website to make sure that a specific CMS suits your needs.
Joomla can be used for many things. You can use it for any kind of site. Whether we are talking about a site for personal purposes or business (large or small) purposes, e-zines or other publications, all the way up to E-commerce websites. However, if the purpose of your site is going to be e-commerce, you may do better with a dedicated e-commerce package like Zen Cart or osCommerce. It is simple to install Joomla especially if your web host has Fantastico, in which case the setup can be totally automatic.
Website Baker is PHP-based and designed for simplicity. Because it’s PHP based, if you know PHP, you may change pages to do precisely want you wish it to do. Otherwise, you’ll want to hire/contract a PHP programmer (don’t panic, PHP programmers may be a lot cheaper and easier to find than you think — check out guru.com); there are also many add-ons that may be installed onto a Website Baker site including message boards, photo albums, catalog, accept online payments, plus many more.
Drupal. Avoid Drupal unless you are an expert or have special training in how to use it. They even confess on their web page that it takes a while to learn the program.
Mambo is very versatile, easy to use, and popular. You can obtain a number of themes from which you can create a good website with only minor changes.
phpWebSite is very versatile and powerful. Document manager, photo album, polls, calendar and a form generator are some of the add-ons that are included. There is a certain learning curve involved, as with all Content Management Systems. You won’t have a lot of customizing options if you don’t have any PHP familiarity.
Stephen Grisham, Sr. is a copy writer for InfoServe Media, LLC. InfoServe Media is a Houston, TX web design and web hosting company. If you just need periodic updates to an existing site, InfoServe Media also offers website maintenance.