A content management system or CMS, is a type of software that allows users to create and build websites. Most of these programs are easy to use and do not require you to have much, if any experience in programming technologies such as CSS, HTML or PHP. The average software offers a web-based point-and-click system that facilitates the easy publishing of content such as articles, photo and videos. Some of the most popular content management systems are of the open-source variety and free to use. In this article we introduce you to a few of the most widely used content management systems on the open-source market: Joomla, Drupal and Mambo.
Joomla
Joomla is the most highly sought after content management system in both the open-source and commercial market. This application has a reputation for being extremely easy to use as you can get by with absolutely no programming experience. The major draw to Joomla is that the system is very powerful and highly extendable. With the backing of a large community of developers, it can be greatly enhanced through a number of add-on modules such as themes, SEO tools and various other plugins. As an awarding program, the Joomla CMS is relied on for everything from simple websites to corporate business applications.
Drupal
Regarded as a viable alternative to Joomla, Drupal is a robust CMS best suited for medium to larger sized websites. Thought not as intuitive, Drupal is more of a complete system and has many capabilities the Joomla CMS lacks. The software is in constant development as new versions are released quite frequently. Despite the fact that it is a bit more complex, enhancing the look and feel of a Drupal site is made easy through a plethora of available templates and plugins.
Mambo
At one time, Mambo was the most widely used CMS platform on the open-source market. However, internal conflict among the community resulted in many of the developers leaving the project. In fact, most of the original developers left, taking the code and utilizing it to create the Joomla CMS. Though not as popular as in past times, Mambo is a mature CMS and proven to be very stable and secure. And all though Joomla is better supported, there are still a number of themes and plugins available to extend the system. If you want a CMS that has been tried and tested, Mambo could be the solution.
Know the Community
When trying to choose between open-source content management systems, the main factor you want to keep in mind is the community, as this will be your primary source of support. Unlike proprietary solutions like the Microsoft Content Server, there is no paid support staff you can dial or email. Support for these platforms is scattered about the web in community-run forums and blogs. You should keep in mind that while finding these resources is relatively easy, getting the level of support you need is not guaranteed. In a worst case scenario, you could find yourself waiting days for quality assistance.
