HTML or CMS

hargi

hargi

hargi

Associate
Joined
19 Jul 2006
Posts
1,847
Just interested to hear what most of you use these days to make websites.
Im kinda old school and always use HTML to make sites, never been a fan of wordpress ( I'm not a blogger)

But more and more mags seam to be talking about CMS joomla, concreat5 ect.

So what do you use and when is one better than the other?
 
Ermm, I think you've gotten yourself a little confused here.

A site done on a CMS is still done with html. It just uses the CMS to easier manage the content.
 
As above.

But if you're talking about the merits of different CMS', i'm a wordpress fan. It's fast, highyl customisable and easy enough for non-technical people to use the back end.

I used to use Joomla and have recently re-done a site in 1.6, and it is still too slow and complicated for the average user.
 
I haven't built a static site for ages. Wordpress is easily my favourite CMS. I couldn't believe how convoluted and illogical some of the other popular ones were.
 
Sorry the question should have been, when do you use and not use a CMS then?

So looking at the replys most of you dont do static sites no more?
 
hargi said:
Sorry the question should have been, when do you use and not use a CMS then?

So looking at the replys most of you dont do static sites no more?
Click to expand...

When not making a website that doesn't need to change a lot, have login facilities, and all that other gumpf, then obviously html/php/xml/etc etc.

Community websites a decent secure cms with a easy backend.

No one in the right mind would bother rewriting their own CMS from scratch over and over. Most CMS systems cover everything people want them to do.

Remember it depends on the specification required by the owner.
So if it were me, then something that can be edited with notepad++ and uploaded, job done, as no one else is going to touch my website.
 
Last edited:
Professional web developers still create static websites?!

Oh yeah, I forgot, that's how I make half of my money - converting outdated static websites into template driven, CMS based, dynamic websites.

Even the most basic five page website these days should be built upon a CMS if ONLY to ease support on the developer being pestered to update the address on the about us page but at the very minimum to allow the customer to publish up to date news about the business.

Dynamic, up to date content is near the top of the list when thinking about SEO and just generally giving the impression that the company is still alive and well. (says the person with news on his own website a year out of date)

At least that's how I sell it ;)
 
I agree with all the above, I see no real reason that a CMS shouldn't be used. Again, I'm a Wordpress user, and I just show people how to keep their own site up to date and off I go....SEO, Twitter and Facebook ar easily done then, no worries at all!
 
So basically your saying more or less everything should be CMS now days unless its something like a personal one that I can change as and when I want.

When i did look at them before I did like the idea of the clients been able to update the sites themselves.

The only one i have used is joomla and that was for one site.
But dosnt CMS limit creativity and such or are you still able to mod things to how you want them? and can you still use Jquery / php and that stuff in there?

So is it wordpress for the win ? or is concrete5 any good?

TIA
 
hargi said:
So basically your saying more or less everything should be CMS now days unless its something like a personal one that I can change as and when I want.

When i did look at them before I did like the idea of the clients been able to update the sites themselves.

The only one i have used is joomla and that was for one site.
But dosnt CMS limit creativity and such or are you still able to mod things to how you want them? and can you still use Jquery / php and that stuff in there?

So is it wordpress for the win ? or is concrete5 any good?

TIA
Click to expand...

From my personal experience of concrete5, unless you have money and enjoy playing with crappy wysiwyg layout management, I would avoid it.

All CMS you can easily change the theme's and write your own for it if need be. But they are usually locked down, custom pages tend to be html and embed code only, unless you get some plugins that enhances the functionality.
 
Wordpress for the win if you want a huge amount of plugins, themes etc. but you need to keep on top of spam comments or disable them completely. I have not used any other CMS systems recently as Wordpress does everything I need and more.
 
hargi said:
So basically your saying more or less everything should be CMS now days unless its something like a personal one that I can change as and when I want.

When i did look at them before I did like the idea of the clients been able to update the sites themselves.

The only one i have used is joomla and that was for one site.
But dosnt CMS limit creativity and such or are you still able to mod things to how you want them? and can you still use Jquery / php and that stuff in there?

So is it wordpress for the win ? or is concrete5 any good?

TIA
Click to expand...

There isn't a single instance where I wouldn't build a website with a CMS behind it.

Open source CMS's like Wordpress allow you to integrate all the JavaScript you want, even with JS libraries like JQuery, into your templates. Adding custom PHP is also not an issue.

Off the top of my head here's a couple of reasons to start using any CMS.

1) Layout controlled by templates that mean any changes to the design are only done in one place
2) Ability to post news with comments that handle trackback and pings backs as well as built in spam control and gravatar functionality
3) Full user signup or simple password protected areas with absolutely no effort
4) Workflows that allow editors, publishers and drafts to be made and includes revision history
5) 3rd party access with API's to allow remote tools on your phone on applications on your PC
6) Plugin support that allow you to rapidly deploy new functionality to your website

Give me one reason why you wouldn't.

Should also point out that any half decent hosting provider will provide you with "one click" installs of CMSs so "takes time to install" isn't a reason against using one. Nor do I consider the extra time it takes to modify your pure HTML page into an PHP template as if you design with it in mind then it's no extra work.
 
RoyMi6 said:
There isn't a single instance where I wouldn't build a website with a CMS behind it.

Open source CMS's like Wordpress allow you to integrate all the JavaScript you want, even with JS libraries like JQuery, into your templates. Adding custom PHP is also not an issue.

Off the top of my head here's a couple of reasons to start using any CMS.

1) Layout controlled by templates that mean any changes to the design are only done in one place
2) Ability to post news with comments that handle trackback and pings backs as well as built in spam control and gravatar functionality
3) Full user signup or simple password protected areas with absolutely no effort
4) Workflows that allow editors, publishers and drafts to be made and includes revision history
5) 3rd party access with API's to allow remote tools on your phone on applications on your PC
6) Plugin support that allow you to rapidly deploy new functionality to your website

Give me one reason why you wouldn't.

Should also point out that any half decent hosting provider will provide you with "one click" installs of CMSs so "takes time to install" isn't a reason against using one. Nor do I consider the extra time it takes to modify your pure HTML page into an PHP template as if you design with it in mind then it's no extra work.
Click to expand...

If you are installing a CMS on a server, it should be noted that the user follows the instructions to the letter, and read up on the after installation notes. Otherwise expect some one to hack through your webspace/server like butter.
 
Maybe - but I always change the admin directory name, never use admin user, and have a nice backup plugin so I can re-install if necessary...however it is true that a cms can be hacked....but so can everything else, look at Sony/Nintendo/Codemasters *delete as necessary*
 
3dcandy said:
Maybe - but I always change the admin directory name, never use admin user, and have a nice backup plugin so I can re-install if necessary...however it is true that a cms can be hacked....but so can everything else, look at Sony/Nintendo/Codemasters *delete as necessary*
Click to expand...

Yes, but my point is that CMS are easier targets since most people use them so finding holes in them over a static html site is easier. All it takes is to forget to set the appropriate permissions on a file or folder which there are many.

Do you honestly believe that the work done for Sony/Nintendo/Codemasters was top rate? :rolleyes:
Also I believe that all three would have been using a CMS anyway so the point still stands.

I don't mean to turn this into a security thread, but a simple website can be easier to protect than constantly looking after a CMS.
 
concrete5 is very good but the last time I looked I found the documentation was slightly lacking. Wordpress definitely seems to have a bigger community but c5 is a stunning piece of stuff. Well worth a look. You should sign up for a free demo. It is so easy to use and have used it for a number of projects already.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom