[Hidden-tech] My First CMS Site

[Scott Main]

Thank you Everyone for the time you've all taken to carefully explain my
options for a CMS!

 

This certainly helps a great deal.

 

-          Scott Main

o   413.246.9235

 

From: B. Kimo Lee [mailto:bklee at azurelink.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, August 04, 2010 12:04 PM
To: Scott Main
Cc: hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net
Subject: Re: [Hidden-tech] My First CMS Site

 

Hi Scott,

 

Welcome to the list! Hope you find it as interesting and helpful as I do.

 

Here is an attempt at providing you with a short list of steps to get
started. Though the list may be short, doing each item on the list will no
doubt require a fair amount of time on your part. Only you know what fits
your needs and interests the best.

 

1. Compare Available CMS Software:

 

If you're not already acquainted with the following directory of CMS
software, check it out. You can do a side-by-side comparison of most known
CMS apps according to a large range of criteria:

 

http://www.cmsmatrix.org/

 

Obviously, it would be important to research CMS systems that have the
capabilities to meet the needs of your target audience/clients, i.e.,
shopping carts if you do retail sites, community systems if you do social
media sites, etc. That would be a good place to start.

 

2. Review Available Third-Party Extensions

 

a. Find out what kind of third-party extensions are available for that CMS
to provide special functionality that you would need for your clients.

b. Find out what the process is for installing those extensions in the CMS
and configuring them

c. Try to gauge the likely longevity of the developers of extensions. Visit
their support forums and see what others are saying. Are the threads being
answered in a timely manner? Are patches being released on a regular basis?
Will they be around in a year or so when you need to upgrade?

 

3. Set Up a Test Site

 

a. Set up a test site in the selected CMS you think you might want to
specialize in. You could do this on a local workstation, or on a live, but
hidden server. On the Linux platform, any host using the cPanel/WHM hosting
control system is probably running Fantastico, which will auto-install most
popular CMS systems with one click. We run cPanel/WHM/Fantastico at
Azurelink.

b. Set up your demo site architecture - You'll need to understand how pages
and menu items are added to the system.

c. Deconstruct a Template - Most clients want a branded look to their site,
so you could either learn how to build one from scratch or take the easy
route and customize an existing one. There are many sites offering free or
paid templates around the web in a variety of styles which you can install
and modify.

d. Select and install your desired extensions for additional features. Some
things will come with the core install and just need to be turned
on/published. Others may need to be downloaded, installed, and configured
further.

e. Find out how the CMS handles SEO features, custom page titles in
particular.

 

4. Join Forums, Developer Lists, and Web Communities

 

As a developer, you're probably already doing this for your current work.
Vibrant communities are the best source of solutions for specific coding
issues.

 

-------

 

I was in a similar position as you as you are now during 2000-2001 and had
done a ton of research on opensource CMS apps available at the time. As luck
would have it, I selected the Mambo Site Server whose founders, Miro
Construct, were based in Australia. Mambo eventually split into two forks,
one of them becoming Joomla during 2005. I liked what I was seeing and
hearing coming from the Joomla team and stuck with them and have been very
pleased with my decision, as Joomla keeps getting stronger and better with
each year.

 

I'm sure I've left out some things above in my effort to send this out
quickly, but I hope you'll find it useful nonetheless.

 

Give a ring if you're ever up in the Amherst area.

 

Best regards,

Kimo Lee

 

 

 

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