The open-source community always seems to be quite busy so it should be no surprise that many new CMS projects are in the works.  Here are a few platforms and vendors that have recently been making noise in this vibrant segment of the software industry.

DotNetNuke

September was a very busy month for the DotNetNuke project.  Shaun Walker, co-founder and Chief Architect of the project, was appointed on the Board of Directors for the Microsoft CodePlex Foundation, where he will lend the expert perspective that helped DotNetNuke become one of the most successful open-source CMS platforms built on the Microsoft technology stack.  Last month also saw the launch of the DotNetNuke Fusion Partner Program, a partner program that offers Registered, Certified and Gold memberships to web hosting providers, system integrators, web designers and training partners.  The most noteworthy news was DotNetNuke’s anointment as a Network Partner in the Microsoft Website Spark program.

eZ Systems

In September 2009, software vendor eZ Systems released version 4.2 of its eZ Publish CMS.  This version release emphasizes usability, better performance and more advanced capabilities for built-in search.  There are also many new extensions as well as a new version of the eZ Find tool, the company’s innovative search engine.  eZ Systems plans to keep itself occupied in the month of October by attending the IFRA Expo in Vienna, Austria on from the 12 to 15^th and hosting its own seminar in Paris for its French base of users and customers on the 16^th.

Hippo CMS

In October, the Hippo team will be organizing an International Forge Friday dedicated to the communities of Hippo and Jetspeed Portal.  The purpose of these gatherings is to bring, developers, system administrators, technical support staff and others together to discuss plugins, add-ons, components and other items that could become Hippo Forge projects.  The event is taking place on October 30 at 9 am to 2 pm PDT from the Hippo San Francisco office and 14:00 to 21:00 CET from the Hippo Amsterdam office.  Interested parties can also attend the event online.

Movable Type

The latest version of Movable Type, 4.32 was just released last week.  This version is mainly a bug release fix as it addresses a number of small bugs.  Version 4.32 also includes the Zemanta plugin, which acts as an editorial management tool that recommends content relative to your blog entries.  The latest version of Movable Type is available free at the official website.

Nuxeo

This October, software vendor Nuxeo will launch a new release of its Nuxeo EP CMS.  Some of the most notable features of the release include a new tag service, an enhanced import/export function, support for Microsoft SharePoint, OpenSocial widgets and a CMIS implementation based on the Apache Chemistry platform.

Xoops

This past September, the Xoops CMS project launched the RC (release candidate) of version 2.4.0.  The enhancements targeted for this particular version emphasize productivity and better usability, focusing on areas such as a new graphical user interface for administrators, the ability to modularize and extend the core via preloads, a much improved installer and centralized support for jQuery among others.  The final release for Xoops 2.4.0 is expected very soon.

As a website grows larger and more complex, many webmasters discover that static HTML pages make it much harder to update and keep track of the content it contains.  At the same time, several webmasters assume that keeping up with a dynamic site is such a challenge that it can only be maintained by technical geniuses.  This is especially true if you own a large site with a lot of content.  Although managing such a site requires some level of skill, the curve of complexity can be shortened significantly with a software package like the Drupal CMS.

A CMS (content management system) is a specialize piece of software that allows you to efficiently maintain and update all the contents of your website.  Drupal is one of the very best at this, offering tremendous out of the box functionality along with support for a number of additional modules that can be used to extend its default capabilities.  Being an open-source software application, a community of users have contributed many components and modules for the overall betterment of the project.

Easy to Install and Set Up

Installing Drupal on your web hosting account is simple, especially when using an easy to use application installer such as Fantastico.  After installing the program, you can go through the process of designing your site and select from the array of content types that it will be compromised of.  A comprehensive wizard is available to walk you through the entire process and when setting things up, you are able to see a preview of what your site will look like when it is done.  This gives you the luxury to go back and make edits at any point during the design process.  Learning how to master the basic functions and options of Drupal is something that can literally be done in a matter of minutes.

The Benefits of Drupal Hosting

Due to its soaring popularity, Drupal has become a mainstay on the hosting market as several hosts now offer the software in their service plans at no additional cost.  Even though it has a reputation for being more complex than similar packages such as Joomla, all it takes is a basic level of technical skills to create a powerful and professional Drupal site.  In fact, if you can work with a simple word processing application and web browser, you can excel from the default functionality this dynamic CMS has to offer.  Drupal requires no programming knowledge of PHP or HTML to either create, maintain or update your website.

Conclusion

Drupal is a robust software package that offers the ability to create, manage and update various types of content.  It is primed for Web 2.0 applications so you can easily implement desirable features such blogs, forums and much more.  There are many CMS hosting solutions on the market and honestly, Drupal may not be suited for your needs.  For this reason, you should evaluate this product in and out to determine if it can meet your content management requirements.

Joomla vs. WordPress has become one of the hottest topics around the web.  In actuality, the comparisons aren’t all that fair because these platforms are designed with different purposes in mind.  WordPress is more of a website engine based on the premise of installing the software, running it and publishing basic content in a fast and easy manner.  Joomla is completely different, built for publishing and managing all types of content.  This gives Joomla many capabilities WordPress lacks.

Distinguishing the Two

A good way to compare the two systems would be to look at the fundamental differences.  With Joomla, you can place ten different menus on a web page in any position or style you like.  Much of this can be done from scratch in a few easy clicks.  Its functionality is ideal for multiple users who have their own roles on the site as well as the administrator who needs to control the whole operation with ease.

If it has to be a user-friendly publishing tool for simple content that only requires one administrator, WordPress is the way to go.  This platform covers the blog scene with more efficiency, which is exactly what is designed to do.  It is very useful for attracting search engine bots with features such as ping and tracks, tag capabilities, and optimized URLs.  Though Joomla can be configured to produce clean URLs, it does take a little more work.  The overall theory is that blogs are search engine friendly and WordPress makes up a good portion of the argument.

WordPress as a CMS

WordPress has many beneficial uses but the results aren’t always that good when using it for larger jobs.  When the page count starts to add up in different categories, you may start to experience management issues  Joomla on the other hand, is made to handle such jobs and does it with relative ease.  If you’re looking to use WordPress for something that was created with a true content management system, you could be in for a rude awakening.  This platform will support a couple of hundred pages and basic content but don’t expect more than that.  Try to over do it and you could find yourself spending time on things that wouldn’t have been an issue with the proper software.

The Last Word

If your goals call for a blog or even a more interactive website, WordPress could be a viable option.  This platform is highly regarded as the most streamlined publishing tool available, allowing you to get online fast with little to no technical knowledge.  Joomla is better for managing a larger amount of more complex content.  In the end, an expert user should be able to make the most of both solutions.  With all the available plugins, WordPress can be extended to the point where you wouldn’t know the site was power by a blogging tool.  If this platform can’t deliver the functionality you need, a genuine CMS such as Joomla makes a great choice.  The key is knowing what you need to get the job done and making the right choice from the start.

Source: http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/04/24/a-worthy-cms-battle-joomla-vs-wordpress/Joomla vs. WordPress has become one of the hottest topics around the web.  In actuality, the comparisons aren’t all that fair because these platforms are designed with different purposes in mind.  WordPress is more of a website engine based on the premise of installing the software, running it and publishing basic content in a fast and easy manner.  Joomla is completely different, built for publishing and managing all types of content.  This gives Joomla many capabilities WordPress lacks.

Distinguishing the Two

A good way to compare the two systems would be to look at the fundamental differences.  With Joomla, you can place ten different menus on a web page in any position or style you like.  Much of this can be done from scratch in a few easy clicks.  Its functionality is ideal for multiple users who have their own roles on the site as well as the administrator who needs to control the whole operation with ease.

If it has to be a user-friendly publishing tool for simple content that only requires one administrator, WordPress is the way to go.  This platform covers the blog scene with more efficiency, which is exactly what is designed to do.  It is very useful for attracting search engine bots with features such as ping and tracks, tag capabilities, and optimized URLs.  Though Joomla can be configured to produce clean URLs, it does take a little more work.  The overall theory is that blogs are search engine friendly and WordPress makes up a good portion of the argument.

WordPress as a CMS

WordPress has many beneficial uses but the results aren’t always that good when using it for larger jobs.  When the page count starts to add up in different categories, you may start to experience management issues  Joomla on the other hand, is made to handle such jobs and does it with relative ease.  If you’re looking to use WordPress for something that was created with a true content management system, you could be in for a rude awakening.  This platform will support a couple of hundred pages and basic content but don’t expect more than that.  Try to over do it and you could find yourself spending time on things that wouldn’t have been an issue with the proper software.

The Last Word

If your goals call for a blog or even a more interactive website, WordPress could be a viable option.  This platform is highly regarded as the most streamlined publishing tool available, allowing you to get online fast with little to no technical knowledge.  Joomla is better for managing a larger amount of more complex content.  In the end, an expert user should be able to make the most of both solutions.  With all the available plugins, WordPress can be extended to the point where you wouldn’t know the site was power by a blogging tool.  If this platform can’t deliver the functionality you need, a genuine CMS such as Joomla makes a great choice.  The key is knowing what you need to get the job done and making the right choice from the start.

Source: http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/04/24/a-worthy-cms-battle-joomla-vs-wordpress/