Ever since websites have existed, there has been the need to provide a way for non-technical people to update their online content. This one simple issue has employed thousands over the years. Here is the funny thing though. Technical people end up designing the “non-technical” content management systems and thus you end up with a tool that “anyone” can use but in the end, firms hire a technical person to “manage” the CMS. It seems that after a new CMS roles out in it’s simple form, it doesn’t “do enough” and then the feature creep happens at the expense of simplicity and elegance for the non-technical user.
Here are some of the issues that I see with the big content management solutions. They are expensive and most systems have too many features you will never ever use but again, you still pay for them. Also, in every case, you end up having to hire a consulting firm to install, configure, and customize it for you. I have first hand experience with several firms who have gone down the road of purchasing one of these beasts. They are typically quoted a ridiculous price like $250,000 plus annual support and licensing dues. But in the end of a year, they are pushing or exceeding $1,000,000 after required hardware, consultants, optional plug-ins and widgets are added to the mix.Now, I’m sort of comparing apples to oranges here because these system requirements are usually more than just a simply CMS but it is unimaginable to me to see how you can justify prices like these for what boils down to providing a tool that allows you to update and manage content on your Intranet or Internet.
Here is my question. Can anyone claim to have either used or designed a simple CMS? Clearly the answer is in the eye of the beholder. However, I’m really interested in seeing/demoing such a tool. It can be written in ColdFusion, PHP, .NET, Java, RUBY, Python or any other language. I’m eager to get my hands on one.
It would be wonderful if it were open source. It would be fine too however if it’s proprietary but only if it’s simple and elegant and the price reflects its simplicity.
Wishlist Features:
- Options for contributors to be pulled from either a remote database table or via LDAP or manually added. Roles of who can do what.
- Approval tree routing of content option
- Ability to create and edit pages keeping track of all edit changes with ability to roll back.
- Spell-check (firefox now has built in spell check so this is becoming less important over time)
- Ability to paste in images using a wysiwyg style editor. People know how to use Word already so updating a web-page should be similar.
- Ability to add/edit/delete/move contributed pages
- Ability to upload files
- Ability to sort any subdirectory alphabetically, by creation date, by last edit date, and/or ad hoc
- No recurring license fee
- Easy to install and configure
- RSS feeds optional per content grouping
I would be extremely happy if there was a tool that did 90% of this and was INTUITIVE, ELEGANT, and most importantly, EASILY ADOPTED by the mass amounts of people that don’t have the time or interest in learning yet again another program.
To date I have evaluated or used more than 10 and haven’t found a single one that I can imagine a small law firm feeling comfortable managing their content without hand-holding. In the end, that’s the target market that has been neglected. The small businesses who can’t afford an IT group. Can’t afford $500,000 just so they can have a postcard site. Can’t afford to pay a consultant $100 an hour for weekly ad hoc updates.
I’m really hoping that in the last year since I’ve evaluated CMS tools, that something has cropped up that will take the Internet by storm. Google Pages is a nice concept but after reading through the documentation, it again is a system that thousands of consultants will start selling their services around because the average small company won’t be able to figure it out.
Please chime in if you have a CMS candidate you would like me to try out.
Vince Collins
September 14, 2007 at 6:21 pm
Perhaps you want something like Adobe Contribute? http://www.adobe.com/products/contribute/
If it must be all web-based, PLUM has most of what you described, nothing much more, and you can easily add on since it’s CF and a relatively easy framework to learn (http://www.productivityenhancement.com/plum/WhatPlumCanDo.cfm)
good luck!
September 14, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Hi Vincent,
Brian Rinaldi reviewed several, you can start with this:
http://www.remotesynthesis.com/blog/index.cfm/2007/5/9/ByteSpring-CMS-Review
Since you didn’t mention which ones you’ve already looked at and determined to be sub-par, I don’t know if you’ve already seen those or not. Hope this helps!
September 15, 2007 at 9:50 am
Thanks Aaron,
Adobe Contribute is nice for what it is designed to do, however I’m looking for a fully web-based solution because the small business doesn’t want to deal with having to install software on each and every person’s machine and have to manage licenses of contribute etc. It would be nice to be able to add a user for example in the system and the user can from any machine then log in and start editing the site etc. Contribute just isn’t flexible enough I don’t think.
Regarding Plum, I thought that was at end of life cycle these days. I’m on the mailing list and have been for about two years and it’s all just sort of stagnant. I’d be reluctant to invest the time and energy on a product with no community support. What are your thoughts on this?
September 15, 2007 at 9:55 am
Hey Scott,
Thanks for the link. I’ll read up now.
I thought about naming them but I purposefully left them out because I wanted everyone to suggest CMS’s on their own terms. Also, some I’ve used as long ago as 4-5 years and thus may have made huge strides that I’m not aware of thus, I’ll try and older system again if it’s better!
I’ll post my findings if they offer downloads.
More soon…
September 27, 2007 at 2:14 am
Hi There -
I saw you were on WordPress.com, and wondered if:
a) You find it easy to blog with WordPress
b) You know it can be used as a CMS?
That’s right… with the addition of a few key plug-ins, you can have the best of both worlds… the ease and simplicity of WordPress, with the features you need (and listed above). For example, you can install “role manager” to set what different users can do on the system, etc.
Let me know if you’d like further information.
Yours, Scott
WebFadds.com
September 27, 2007 at 9:17 am
Hey Scott,
I have to say that I LOVE WordPress. A blogging tool doesn’t immediately seem like it would fit very well as a CMS. However, I can see how with a lot of modifications, the base is there.
Now, let’s go back to my wish list above. With your suggested solution, can these wish list items be met?
September 27, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Hi Vincent & All -
Yes… WordPress has shifted from a simple blogging application toward a full CMS, and there is even one company offering an “Enterprise Edition” ( see: http://www.knownow.com/) — though I think that “edition” is not what you are looking for. My own company (http://www.WebFadds.com) has installed custom CMS solutions based on the WordPress platform. Now… let’s take your list, point by point:
* Options for contributors to be pulled from either a remote database table or via LDAP or manually added. Roles of who can do what. PLUG-INS: wpDirAuth (for your LDAP item) … see: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wpdirauth/#post-2235 | RoleManager to manage your users… see: http://www.im-web-gefunden.de/wordpress-plugins/role-manager/
* Approval tree routing/management - See “GT Post Approval” at http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/gt-post-approval/#post-1037
* Create and Edit pages with ability to “roll-back” - I have not seen this one yet, but I imagine a good plug-in programmer could whip one up for you.
* Spell Check… built into the advanced MCE editor (a great plug-in with a lot of excellent formatting features) see: http://www.laptoptips.ca/projects/tinymce-advanced/
* Ability to paste-in images… this is built into the latest versions of WordPress. You simply upload an image in the post writing area, then click on it and it is pasted into the editing window… WITH the option to choose a thumbnail image and link to the larger version. No plug-in needed.
* Ability to add/edit/delete/move contributed pages — yes… this is built into the admin area and can be set as only available for “editors” or whatever name you give to this role. No plug-in needed.
* Ability to upload files - This is built into the newer versions, and is primarily for graphics. See also the upload plug-ins available at: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/search.php?q=upload
* Sorting of SubDirectories - Not sure what you are after here? Did you mean “Categories?” There are plug-ins to manage categories, and widgets (for newest versions of WordPress) that do the same.
* No Recurring License Fee. YUP!
* Easy to Install and Configure - yes. For example, our hosting division at http://www.WebFaddsHosting.com offers a do-it-yourself installer.
* RSS feeds optional per content grouping. Yes. You can add a feed by category with some simple programming (probably you will not even need to hire it done, but if so there would be a minimal charge). See: http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Feeds
NOTE: There are also some multi-blog versions of WordPress, whereby a separate blog is available for each department in a company, etc. Let me know if you want more info. on that.
If you go this way, I would proceed by having a good company help with installation, and a bit of training. Then, get a PHP programmer with plug-in experience to make any tweaks and adjustments. You should be able to run for months at a time without contracting expenses… but it will pay off in the long-run to get it set up right, and have a reliable PHP tweaker available.
Yours, Scott
September 27, 2007 at 2:13 pm
I think this is getting away from the “simple” concept in terms of installing and configuring. However, this all sounds very interesting. Scott, send me an email directly (see contact me) if you have a demo I can sample or are otherwise willing to set up a demo.
I’d be open to blogging about my experience with your hosted plug and play solution on webfaddshosting.
Let me know
September 28, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Hi Vincent…
We just put up a visual tutorial about installing WordPress, and customizing it with plug-ins for use as a CMS. It’s at:
http://webfadds.com/overview/?p=27
Feedback from you and other colleagues/users will be appreciated — hop on over and leave us a comment.
Yours, Scott
July 15, 2008 at 10:00 am
[...] have posted in the past about CMS options. There are many choices but but the choices narrow once you introduce CF as a [...]
November 16, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Hello Vincent
My CMS, Seir Anphin, is an excellent way to manage content on many different kinds of sites by choosing the modules you want to use and customizing the templates.
It’s one of those that you need a designer to customize the appearance of, but the flexibility and features are strong.
http://www.anphin.com
Please check it out. If you don’t, and then don’t blog about it, no one will ever know it exists, and that just won’t do.