For someone as inept at coding as I am, the concept of a pre-packed site that expands and self-installs when you add water, is great. They all have good points and bad. If you opt for one of the open source offerings, then you pay for what you get, obviously. You actually get quite a lot in my opinion but if you come up against a technical issue that requires the assistance of someone more knowledgeable in the inner workings of your chosen CMS, the response is patchy at best.
I started with PostNuke and found it ok with huge amounts of plugin modules for expanding it's capabilities. Given my limited needs at the time, I rarely experienced major problems and so hardly required help from the 'support' community.
phpNuke evolved from PN and is said to be far more secure and application. Again, a multitude of modules means you can expand the function of your site. There are numerous communities that offer support forums but it was my experience that they were not particularly commited to helping. The attitude I particularly remember was 'everything you need to know is in the documentaion' when it clearly wasn't.
Xoops is another CMS and I've been using it for several months on a number of sites (see
www.largefamilies.co.uk for an example). There aren't as many modules it seems but more than enough to satisfy my needs. It's a doddle to install and maintain and up to now has had fewer problems than it's Nuke competitors. Given it's apparently robust nature, I seldom need to ask the 'support' community for assistance. Sadly, when I am unable to solve the problem myself, I am forced to ask and seldom get a response or it might take several weeks before seeing a reply. Perhaps it's just the way I ask, I don't know but there are many questions from others that go without a reply. If it wasn't for the fact that I have learnt a little of the inner workings and foibles Xoops, I might have given up and tried another. I really like Xoops but loath the day I need to ask for help. I've received no help and wrong help, both of which result in wiping and starting from scratch, which is no big deal unless you have loads of members or lots of content.
I tried Mambo but after several attempts to install a forum I gave up.
At the end of the day, if I had money I would go for one that had a professional support option. If not, don't use an open source CMS for anything critical.
