Make a website for free #3
This entry was posted on October 16, 2007
In the second part to this series I covered online generators. Lil suggested I cover Content Management Systems (CMS) in this next part, so here goes!
This little gem of a blogging engine has been written from scratch and recently revamped by a lovely young lady by the name of Jenny. Using PHP and a mySQL database, Jenny gives you the ability to add posts to different categories, offer your visitors the ability to comment on your blog entries, an RSS feed (for comments and for entries), an optional comment captcha to help prevent spam, and a basic WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor.
Wordpress is what I like to call the “Grand-Daddy” of content management systems. Not only does it let you blog, it also lets you add static pages to your site which is where the real “content management” comes in. FanUpdate is more of a “blogging engine” as it controls only your blog entries. Wordpress goes the full hog and gives you everything you could need! It’s free and comes with a massive long list of plugins you can use to give your site even more functionality. It really is the “bees knees”.
I used FanUpdate for over six months before making the switch to Wordpress. FanUpdate is a wonderful script and I would recommend it to everyone who likes to have total control over their static pages and layout, as it is so easy to integrate to your current design.
I switched to Wordpress because I liked how easy it made things to update my site and add new pages. A few code snippets in the theme, a few code snippets there and I had complete lists and links to my sub-pages.
Making your existing layout fit around Wordpress, however, is easier said than done! Wordpress “themes” are very dynamic in that once your layout is made up of various “template tags” which add the content dynamically from the mySQL database everything is stored in. Fascinating stuff really, if you’re so inclined as to be interested in the back-end workings of your site.
There are of course hundreds and hundreds of free Content Management Systems out there - which one do you use?
18 lovely people have commented
^ Blogger, yes (I think). But you’re on a dedicated blog-host which doesn’t count. Sorry!
I use my own :)… I’m actually in the process of revamping it right now and adding a lot more functionality to it. Hopefully it will all be ready soon enough.
P.S. Rachael - I LOVE these posts. They are very informative and great for people. Keep it up! 
As you know, I use FanUpdate. And I LOVE it.
Here’s an idea for Making a Website for Free #4: Perhaps you can suggest a free zipping and unzipping software for those who had a Win Zip free trial but it ran out, or those who never had one period? I really like 7-Zip, and it’s free. http://7-zip.org
Textpattern! I haven’t tried anything else, but I’m happy with it :3
I use FanUpdate…and you recommended it to me! It’s perfect if you just want something simple. Before that I use CuteNews but I like to forget those days.
I use my own custom CMS and wouldn’t have it any other way!
Hate to be the pessimist, but nothing is free.
Otherwise, custom CMS all the way! Unless you’re lacking free time to develop, otherwise, Wordpress all the way!
I’ve switched between blogging systems and manual blogging in past years but i’ve been using Wordpress for a while now. Although I’m not that great at the theme side of things I’ve found it a really great CMS. I may try textpattern one day.
I can’t comment on any other CMS, because I’ve only ever used Wordpress. Wordpress is great!
Wordpress is good but bloated; Expression Engine is supposed to be okay, as is Textpattern, but as a b2/Wordpress user for four years I really couldn’t wrap my head around them.
I remember the days of Greymatter!
One I’ve heard a lot of good things about is silverstripe.com. But it’s very big, I think.
I love MoveableType! ♥ I use Typepad… it’s basically the same thing as MT. It’s just not free.
Well, I used to use my own CMS, but it was a lot of trouble when I wanted to apply new functions. Learning all the PHP needed was a bit of a burden. Now I’m using Expression Engine core and it’s marvelous. The best of the best. Pretty easy to modify and customize, unlike WP.
Wordpress FTW
^^ I use wordpress, and I have no complaints though heavens! The themes are very difficult to convert to, so I just edit themes I am allowed to edit ^^ *smile* that’s how my current theme was made. Oh yeah, never used anything else, btw!
Crissy
Do any of you guys know a good CMS that has static pages? Aside from WordPress, of course. I love FanUpdate - Jenny IS amazing. :3
[…] a look also at Rachael at Calmbanana’s posts about designing a website for free and Design Vitality’s post on 25 Open Source Web Design Programs Related postsA Free […]
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Aisling said:
Errrr, I used to use Grey Matter back in the day. It was nice.
We all know what I use now.