Content Management Systems

Content Management SystemsA Content Management System, or CMS for short, is a web based application that allows non-technical users to manage the content of a website. These applications are built using web technologies such as PHP or the .NET Framework and utilise a database, for example, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle or SQL Server, to store the website information.

Below are some examples of Content Management Systems in use today:

DrupalDrupal is a free and open source CMS that is built using the PHP scripting language and utilises a database such as MySQL, PostgreSQL or SQLite. It has a community of over 630,000 to help in its development and is used by anyone from small businesses to global corporations. Although Drupal is a very customisable CMS, from a development point of view, it does have a steeper learning curve than Joomla and WordPress, the other PHP based CMSs discussed here.

How Tos and Useful Stuff

Useful Modules

Hippo CMSHippo CMS is an open source CMS built using the Java programming language, that is said to be easy to integrate with other systems. There are two editions available, a free community edition, together with an enterprise edition.

Hippo CMS can respond to visitors by showing content based on their preferences, history of past visits and even their location. It can also show content that is relevent to the current day of the week. The rules for determining this targeted content can be defined within the CMS and it is possible to emulate different types of users to preview how the website would look for them. The behaviour of visitors can also be monitored in real-time, so there can be a quick response to changes in their habits.

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JoomlaJoomla is a free and open source PHP based CMS that utilises a database, either MySQL, PostgreSQL or SQL Server. It is used for anything from personal to global corporation websites. As with Drupal and WordPress, it has a large community to aid in its maintenance and enhancement. It is also known for its ease of use.

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OrchardCoreCMSOrchard Core is an ASP.NET based CMS that utilises the Orchard Core Framework. The framework can be used independently of the CMS to build modular, multi-tenant applications. The CMS utilises a relational database, and is compatible with SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL and SQLite.

Orchard Core CMS is a complete rewrite of the original Orchard CMS. It is said to be 20 times faster than the previous version and is cross platform, with both development, as well as deployment being possible on Microsoft Windows, Linux and macOS operating systems. There is also a Docker image ready to use.

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PlonePlone is a free and open source CMS that is built on top of the Zope Application Server, which is created using the Python programming language.

Development on Plone started out back in 2000 and was first launched in 2003. The Plone Foundation are the main driving force behind the development of the project, together with significant support from the Plone Community.

From a security point of view, Plone is said to have the strongest security functionality of all the open source CMSs. This has meant that it has become popular with security conscious organisations and even United States government agencies such as NASA and the FBI.

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SharePoint LogoSharePoint was first released by Microsoft back in 2001 and is a web based collaborative platform, whose primary use is a document management and storage solution. However, due to its high configurability, can be used for many purposes, including as a CMS, to create an intranet, for example.

SharePoint offers full integration with Microsoft Office and can be used in one of two ways. SharePoint Server can be installed on an organisations own IT infrastructure and offers the greatest flexibility and configurability. Alternatively, SharePoint Online can be used, which is hosted by Microsoft and is often bundled with Microsoft or Office 365 subscriptions. Although this option has the advantage to an organisation of not having to maintain the server, it is less customisable than the self-hosted option and some of its features are limited.

As well as full integration with Microsoft Office, SharePoint also includes features such as, Microsoft Power BI integration, site page pinning, allowing users to pin sites to follow them when on premises or through Office 365, the creation of team sites, which facilitate teams to work on projects together and share information from anywhere, and much more.

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UmbracoUmbraco is a free and open source CMS that is based on Microsoft's .NET framework and developed in the programming language C#. Like the other CMSs discussed here, it can be used with a MySQL database, however, with it being based on the .NET framework, it works with a number of different editions of SQL Server as well. When compared to Drupal, Joomla and WordPress, it has a relatively small community to aid in its development. As with Drupal, from a development point of view, it also has a steep learning curve.

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General

WordPressAs with Drupal and Joomla, WordPress is a free and open source CMS built using PHP. It also utilises a MySQL database. WordPress was originally created in 2003 purely as a blogging tool, but has now developed into something that can be and is used for large corporate websites. As with Joomla, it is also known for its ease of use.

Official Documentation

How Tos and Useful Stuff

How Tos and Useful Stuff