website help - content management systems???

MrStompy · Post by **MrStompy** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 9:06 pm

My GF is a graphic designer and is doing a website for a customer.

customer needs to be able to easily change some images and text on the site (when its up) without having to become a web programmer.

she is not techincal minded and as i work with computers she assumes that i would have a clue about how to do this. She is wrong i have no clue.

Anyway i have been looking into content management systems as the blurbs i have read seem to think they will do the trick.

Can anyone recommend a system for doing this?
I am in the process of looking at mambo http://www.mamboserver.com/

it seems a little full on for what it needs to do and I am having troubles installing it anyway.

So i guess what i am after is confirmation that i am heading in the right path with this content management stuff and hopefully some reccommendations on a good (free or very cheap) system to use.

thanks for the help.

Smitty · Post by **Smitty** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 10:18 pm

pm ..our Admin ..the man here Icebreaker aka Dan

he's a wiz wif all that sorta stuff

alexpacer · Post by **alexpacer** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 2:48 pm

http://www.opensourcecms.com/
this site may have some collection of cms systems using php/mysql

mambo is good, i've installed it once and that's all. I don't normally use cms cos i do customized cms for people since everyone has different needs.

Bluefly · Post by **Bluefly** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 3:26 pm

I'm also a Graphic Designer and the company I just changed jobs for has their website set up using Monde CMS. It's damn ridiculous!!! It's software written by programmers for designers and it's useless, ugly, frustrating, badly designed and very very basic in a very complicated way. CMS really limits your design options and you're locked into templates once you get underway.

If the elements that need changing are standard blocks of text or headings etc. she'd be better off designing the website in program she prefers, then showing the client the basic HTML tags so they can change the parts they need to. Most people are really 'scared' of HTML, but the basics are really easy, and that's all they'd need to know.

Good luck!

Ment · Post by **Ment** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 3:55 pm

Bluefly wrote:I'm also a Graphic Designer and the company I just changed jobs for has their website set up using Monde CMS. It's damn ridiculous!!! It's software written by programmers for designers and it's useless, ugly, frustrating, badly designed and very very basic in a very complicated way. CMS really limits your design options and you're locked into templates once you get underway.

from what i have seen of monde CMS id have to agree.

MrStompy · Post by **MrStompy** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 9:41 pm

thanks everyone for your advice

I just started reading a book about PHP and MYSQL so i think i will just create a basic CMS myself. I should really use the opportunity to learn something new anyway...

I tried to install the Mambo system i mentioned and i had no joy so i gave up. ie it wasnt easy straight away so i quit

I will take a look at the opensourcecms that Alex pointed out.
thanks again everyone.

I will let you know how i go

(there needs to be an emoticon for Scared...)

Stereo · Post by **Stereo** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 9:51 am

You could try SUGAR.... we use that to link into our websites... its open source so you can just get it...

Stereo · Post by **Stereo** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 9:56 am

or AZBB is pretty good too.... I used their forum software once and it was really easy to configure and also easy to control...

http://www.azbb.org/index.php