The Post Nuke CMS is quite similar to the more mature PHP Nuke. While it is indeed a fork of PHP Nuke, the core code has been replaced entirely with the aim of creating a more stable and secure environment. The comparison of these two applications has made for a rather controversial subject among fans of both systems. Let’s take a closer look to see how Post Nuke matches up against the CMS from which it borrows so many characteristics.
Post Nuke Advantages
When it comes to displaying publicly accessible information, the efficiency of PHP Nuke is second to none on the open-source CMS market. It is also more extensible through a much larger number of add-on modules. These are major benefits, but the features of Post Nuke give it some advantages that make the system a worthy competitor to PHP Nuke. Post Nuke offers a comprehensive and detailed user permissions systems that allows administrators to restrict access to each module and area of a website to specific users or groups. It lets you add users to a single or multiple groups to delegate a wide range of complicated permissions with relative ease. These capabilities can really come in handy if you require lower level administrators, moderators and other users to aid in managing your site but still wish to limit access.
Post Nuke Disadvantages
Post Nuke definitely has some advantages over PHP Nuke but its disadvantages could be far more noteworthy. Unfortunately, this CMS often appears to trapped as a prisoner of its own rapid development. Post Nuke has evolved so quickly and changed so frequently that the backwards compatibility has been broken, thus making the platform difficult for even the most experienced webmasters to keep up with. This lack of compatibility coupled with circling rumors of its development being cancelled has resulted in a large number of users turning back to PHP Nuke in favor of its outstanding community support, vast selection of modules and greater probability of ongoing development. One of the biggest knocks on Post Nuke has been community support that at times has seemed non existent.
The Security Aspect
Many supporters have made the argument that Post Nuke is a more secure CMS than PHP Nuke. However, independent tests show that a determined hacker will likely have a more difficult time cracking into PHP Nuke opposed to Post Nuke. The results of one test in particular showed that hackers spent nearly five minutes successfully hacking into a PHP Nuke website while compromising a Post Nuke site in as little as 20 seconds. Although this five minutes might not cause you to sleep any more comfortably at night, it does indicate that users could have a false sense of security in regard to their belief that Post Nuke is a more secure solution.
Post Nuke and PHP Nuke both have their advantages and disadvantages. At the same time, both are very capable and can be made adequately secure with the right configurations. Perhaps the best way to decide which is best would be to visit the sites for both projects to learn more about how they can meet your website needs.
