Published by Deborah on 03 Oct 2005 at 12:36 pm
Search for a Good CMS
I’ve tried dozens of CMS programs only to face:
1. Bugs: glitches in the code that range from minor to major
2. Poorly designed interface: most of these open source CMS programs are a bitch to customize. They’re fine if you don’t mind using them as-is. But if you want to customize your layout, you’ll need to know the rudimentaries of HTML, CSS, and (perhaps) PHP and MySQL. Because of Drupal, I now know how to create tables in MySQL.
3. Bloat: Many of these software programs (including wikkis) have more features than I’ll ever use. This can lead to slow load times, which is not good.
4. Poor (or lack of) documentation: Many of these sites rely too much on their forums for support. Who wants to wade through tens of thousands of posts to find the answer to your problem?
I could go on and on, but the above list of gripes are my major pet peeves. I spent a good majority of the time yesterday searching for new CMS’s and found a few free ones. But they were buggy right out of the box.
The commercial ones looked promising, but they were either too expensive or not professional looking. So, I passed and returned to my writing.
Last night, I sat outside and pondered this for a while. For the second time in six months, I thought about creating my own CMS. I’m still thinking along this vein, and remembering the advice of my brother-in-law. Building your own CMS is very hard work.
Well, I’m not afraid of hard work, and I’m certainly not afraid to learn. This sent me to Barnes&Noble this morning for a book about PHP, since most of the existing programs use this. After careful reading of the synpopsises and the introductions, I discovered that I need to learn more about HTML before I attempt to learn PHP.
That was a good thing to find out because I hate wasting time, unless I’m having fun doing it. 
As far as my knowledge of HTML goes, I know how to format text, paste an image, and hardcode links. I left the bookstore with a hands-on guide to designing webpages with HTML.
Once I learn the ins and outs of that, I’ll graduate to PHP. Then I’ll have to make the choice of tweaking the existing software on the market or creating something that is uniquely my own.
Robert Douglass on 04 Oct 2005 at 3:47 pm #
Deborah,
good luck learning PHP - it is a fun language to program in. I worked with dozens of CMS’s, programmed in several different languages, before I met Drupal. I even learned how to program PHP for Drupal. What you’ll find, if you look close and hard at Drupal, is a smart system made by a lot of really smart people (the core team is pure genius), and a fantastic platform on which to build applications of all sorts. The learning curve is somewhat steep, but since you’re setting out to learn so many things anyway, that shouldn’t daunt you. So good luck, have fun, and don’t write off Drupal too quickly.
Robert
Deborah on 04 Oct 2005 at 7:33 pm #
Thanks, Robert,
I haven’t written off Drupal yet because I don’t want to have to reinvent the wheel if I don’t have to. Once I figure out how to work in PHP, I’ll be checking under the hood of both Drupal and Xoops because I consider them the best programs in the Open Source arena. I see that you are a Drupal consultant. Would you mind if I contacted you with questions when the time comes?
Karen Lee Field on 05 Oct 2005 at 2:50 am #
Oh, my, are you really going to do this? I admire you.
I’ve checked out a few CMS programmes too but haven’t found anything I want to stick with. I’m always checking out the “powered by” part of a website that looks nifty and if it’s something installable, looking into it. It’s a great way to waste many, many hours that should be spent writing.
Good luck with the self teaching.
Lee Pletzers on 05 Oct 2005 at 8:14 am #
And I totally gave up trying them.
Good luck.
Deborah on 05 Oct 2005 at 8:43 am #
Hi, Karen,
I’m going to see how they’re made. Some of the code on these things are total greek and (according to programmers) sloppy. Oh, yes, I’ve wasted many writing hours trying to customize different CMS software.
Hi, Lee,
I understand your frustration. If you want anything done right, it’s best to do it yourself. Good luck with your website.