1024cms is a content management system application that is currently at the forefront by utilizing AJAX technology within all areas. 1024cms is a free, open source application that employs user interaction and active administration.

1024cms is such a popular application because of the numerous features offered to the user. These features include:

• Setting up community forums
• Download areas
• News posts
• Member management
• Newsletters
• File downloads system
• 3^rd party plug-ins
• Movies

Another useful feature is:

• Addition of modules
  • PM module
  • FAQ module
  • News module
  • Gallery module
  • Search module
  • Member profile module
  • Custom page maker module
  • Custom URL module
  • Custom menu module
  • Admanager module
  • Theme module

Additional features include:

• Calendar addition site-wide
• AJAX chat
• Logins/Logouts
• Online polls

Given the number of attributes, 1024cms provides the client with full control over every aspect of their online content. 1024cms is an open source content management framework equating to no restrictions and 100% customization of the website. This application is fast and easy due to the use of templates. Secure and easy-to-use templates allow the user to add any features they desire by utilizing premade templates for each action.

Additionally, there is a registered user system and since this is open source software, the support community is top-notch. This open source project is a supported project management application with no single freelancer behind its creation. 1024cms has been collectively developed, maintained and supported.

In order to full utilizing the application, there are a few requirements. These include the installation of PHP 4.3.10 on your computer. However, this software has been tested up to version 5.2.0. Also, your website must have at least one MySQL 4.1.9 or higher database. Since this application operates on a prefix based system, the database doesn’t need to be empty. Finally, you must have a MySQL name and password.

1024cms may become the future of content management system applications. The overwhelming number of features paired with the use of AJAX for all areas is a winning combination. The easy to use templates allow for a fast and effortless environment so you can focus on the development and maintenance of the site, not the technical aspects.

The free, open-source community boards can answer any questions you may have for the ultimate support group. Since this is a highly recommended application, all users should take advantage of this excellent content management tool.

You have all heard about the more popular open source content management systems such as Joomla and Drupal. However, there are many more open source content management systems out there that are more than capable of accommodating the needs of your website. In fact, some of the less popular CMSs actually provide features that cannot be found in the standard CMS. Not all CMS live up to their developer’s hype though, so we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of the top 20 open source content management systems.

1. Drupal: One of the most popular and powerful content management systems available. Many believe Drupal is the best.

2. WordPress: While this CMS was originally made for blog publishing, it has quickly become a one of the most popular CMSs on the planet.

3. Joomla: Considered to be in the top three of any CMS list, by any CMS user. Joomla has been used to build many corporate and professional websites, such as the United Nations page.

4. b2Evolution: A fully functional weblog creation utility/CMS that provides support for several categories/sub-categories, skins, multiple blogs, comments, statistics, photo management, and anti-spam filters.

5. Movable Type: Similar to WordPress, Movable Type is also a very capable blog creation utility which is commonly used for creating dynamic sites.

6.Alfresco: A very capable professional CMS providing a variety of document management features.

7. Xoops: This expandable object-oriented CMS is extremely simple to use, and is very popular amongst PHP coders.

8. e107: Another popular PHP-based CMS specifically designed simple and fast creation of community portals and professional sites.

9. DotCMS: A Java wCMS (Web Content Management System) with included events management e-communications,  and personalization/CRM tools, an AJAX calendar, eCommerce hooks and much more.

10. ImpressCMS: An open source CMS designed for efficient site building and maintenance. This CMS is supposed to be an excellent solution for business users who are building a business oriented community website.

11. Exponent: A competent CMS that lets webmaster conveniently create and maintain dynamic sites   with absolutely zero coding experience.

12. KnowledgeTree Document Management System: A comprehensive document management system specifically designed for business collaboration and easy document storage and organization.

13. Liferay: This CMS provides an enterprise portal solution using Web 2.0 and Java technologies.

14. Pivot: A CMS utility designed for the management of dynamic websites, blogs and online journals. Includes a variety of post organization features.

15. Magnolia: Commonly used by Government websites, this CMS provides a user-friendly editing interface that lets authors preview content exactly as it would be seen by the website visitor. This CMS has the top of the line (best-breed) JAVA technology.

Conclusion

The above list is by no means a comprehensive one, however. There are many more open source CMS available, and the only way to make a fully informed decision would be to review every CMS you can find. If you;re not willing to do so, then the above list will help you decide which CMS is right for you based on the key features of each CMS listed.

Building a website by yourself is a very difficult task. So difficult in fact that it is rarely done. If you do decide to build the website without assistance, unless you have extensive experience in website design, and you’re an excellent author at the same time, then chances are your site will be mediocre at best. Cooperation and collaboration is standard in the website creation industry. There are very few people that can establish a professional website without at least seeking the knowledge of another person before hand.

When you work on a site building project with multiple users, having the ability to set restrictions and delegate website duties is imperative. You’ll need to be able to run the operation with precision and authority, in order to same yourself time and frustration. To do this you’ll need a good content management system. Selecting the right open source content management system be a difficult task in and of itself. To make the task easier on yourself, perform the following steps.

Assess Your Needs

The first step is to find out what kind of features you’ll need in a content management system. Will you be delegating work to authors? Will you be working with multiple programmers and designers? If so then you’ll definitely need a secure administrative interface that will give you the ability to designate certain tasks to each of your team members. Write down what kind of features that will be most essential and then you can begin the search.

Look For Compatibility

It is important to remember what kind of operating system you’re using and remember that not all content management systems are compatible with all operating systems. You’ll also need to remember what kind of operating system your sever operates on. It is also important to note which programming language your site uses. The most combination that you will find is PHP language and MySQL databases, being run on an Apache servers. If you don;t want to go through the hassle of finding a compatible content management system, then you may want to find a host that has these features, which most content management systems will be compatible with.

Compile a list of Suitable CMS

Now that you know exactly what you’re looking for it is time to compile a list that will narrow your options and make the final decision easier for you. Open a word processor  or pull out a sheet of paper and a pen and get ready to do some web searching. Finding the top content management systems will not be as hard as you would think. There are many review sites that have already compiled long lists of all of the top content management systems for you. All you have to do is eliminate the content management systems that are not compatible with the needs we assessed above.

Narrow Your Options

Now that you have a large list of CMS to choose from, all that is left to do is to narrow the list down to one CMS. One by one, check of each one as being compatible or not compatible. When you’re finished you should have a list of about 3-5 content management systems. Next visit each one of their websites and test their support team. The final decision will come down to reliability and cost efficiency.

With so many choices available, picking a content management system for your business website can be a very difficult task. All of them claim to be the best, and the truth is that most of them are capable of the same basic functions. However there are some CMS that go beyond the boundaries of what a normal CMS is capable of by offering unlimited expandability within the software. These CMS are called “open source” CMS, because they are an ongoing open project.

Any developer or programmer  that is interested in designing web applications for these CMS can do so without any limitations or legal ramifications. Fir this reason, the features and capabilities of these CMS are rapidly expanding. As the capabilities of your CMS expands, so does the capabilities of your website, and ultimately your online business.

The Cost of an Open Source CMS

With all of these wonderful benefits, you would expect an open source CMS to be very expensive. Surprisingly most open source software is free, including open source CMS! One such example is the ever-so popular WordPress which is used by millions of webmasters around the world to handle everything from everyday tasks such as email, to more complex tasks such as website design. WordPress even gives you the ability to outsource the work to multiple users within a single account. These users can be given certain permissions, such as uploading, content publication, and template administration. This feature alone really helps boost the productivity of your site by giving you a workforce that you can deploy with full control. It really is hard to believe that all of this comes at zero cost!

Just How Expandable are Open Source CMS?

Even without all of the incredible plugins and applications that are available, these tools provide powerful administrative capabilities. Now imagine adding an unlimited amount of features. Imagine having the ability to say “ I want this,” and then making it happen by hiring a freelance programmer. This is the kind of freedom and expandability experienced by open source CMS users on a daily basis! With literally thousands of applications available, even the worst open source CMS can be made into a fully functional super software with just a few additional applications. Although WordPress is already capable of just about everything one could ask for, the applications available for it really take it to the next level. Thanks to CMS like WordPress, webmasters can setup websites with pre-designed themes and templates in a matter of minutes.

Why Use a Free Software When You Can Afford an Expensive One?

The answer to this question is really quite simple – you don’t need to pay, because all of the features you’re “paying for,” are available for free through web applications that can be added to your free CMS in a matter of minutes. In fact some CMS  even have integrated applications that will make the installation of additional applications quick and simple. With features like these, the real question should be Why should you pay for a CMS, when you can get one for free that does the same thing…. and more?

Frog is an ideal CMS for users who are not afraid to get down and dirty with a little hands on development.  While it doesn’t necessarily require that you learn PHP, it does help that you pay attention and expand your knowledge of the language if you want to make the most of the platform.  Aside from that, Frog is straightforward and relatively easy to manage for the savvy user.

Features

Frog is pretty basic in terms of features.  The most notable features are related to the flexibility of page design.  Everything from the homepage to articles and beyond are organized in hierarchical fashion.  Pages are easy to move around and snippets of code can be added to provide added flexibility where needed.  Frog offers a built-in file manager, but has no viable facility for managing images.  Luxuries such as this must be provided via plugins.

Ease of Use

The major selling point to the Frog CMS is simplicity.  It offers built-in drag-and-drop functionality that makes content creation a breeze.  This feature helps you save a lot of time and can actually add a little fun to your project.  Image resizing is also made easy, provided you have installed the free plugin that enables this functionality.

Content Management

Frog gives you a default administrative back-end that includes two tabs: plugins and settings.  The plugins tab offers a menu of all the plugins you have installed, including the most recently installed version, and options that allow you to easily enable or disable it.  The setting tab allows you to choose from two administrative themes, which Frog considers layouts, 20 different language options, an administrative site title, and various default options.  If your website is configured to receive comments, a comments tab will be automatically added to your administrative back-end.

Security

Frog does not offer a state of the art security system.  In fact, the only security features built into the software are granular privileges.  However, this is a great security to have.  The permission system allows you to create groups, assign users and establish privileges for different users from the menu in the administrative panel.   This makes it simple for a user to delegate work regardless of their experience or the technical aspects involved.

Community Support

Frog is an open-source CMS, so the only support you get for the software is provided by the community.  There is help online in the public forum where both developers and users hangout.  Unfortunately, nothing is guaranteed here as community support can be less than desirable depending on the situation.  Right about now, the lack of support is the biggest knock on the Frog CMS, but hopefully this changes as the project progresses and the community grows.

Final Thoughts

Frog isn’t necessarily the complete CMS that will meet all of your needs, but it is serviceable for many of them.  The software is small, lightweight and enforces good design and development practices.  While it is not the solution for everyone, it makes a fine choice for the niche market of developers who need to build a content rich site for themselves, or clients.