Open Source / Free Content Management Systems?

[Sammy Boy]

Hi everyone,

Just wondering if anyone can recommend an open source / free Content Management System?

I'm asking for a friend who is building his employer's website. He is looking for something that:

- Is easy to install and setup
- Is relatively easy for people with non-IT backgrounds to use
- Has a reasonably fair slab of features (link / menu generation, creating and moving pages around, uploading files and images, etc.)

I have only used two CMS applications in my life, and I don't recommend either of them (they do not seem very easy to learn / are not very intuitive).

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

[shooraijin]

Off the top of my head, I can't think of many CMSes that are easy for people with non-IT backgrounds. Would they be happier with something simpler, like a Wordpress blog?

[Ante Bellum]

If you know a program similar to that, search it on alternativeto.net and you'll get a list of similar programs, whether they are free or commercial.

[Mithrandir]

I second shooby's idea of wordpress. You don't have all the features or customization, but it *IS* quite a bit easier for non-IT people.

If you're committed to a full CMS solution, though, both my work and my church have asked this same question in the last 3 years. We spent a fair amount of time trying to find one we liked. There really aren't any that are both powerful and easy to use. This sweet spot isn't there yet.

If you're OK with a little more work to figure it out, http://www.webgui.org/ (Web Gui) is one of the better ones out there. If you don't mind paying, you may try and shop around for an SAS (Software As a Service) solution. No matter what you pick, though, these are not appliances. If you install it, you HAVE to keep it up to date. If you don't keep your software patched, someone will prolly h@ck your site and use it to spam little old ladies.

[Sammy Boy]

Thanks guys, I'll pass the message on!

[Kaligraphic]

Joomla is pretty easy to set up, and looks pretty from the get-go. It's also reasonably simple to manage if you're not doing anything too complicated.

[Mithrandir]

Joomla is pretty easy to set up, and looks pretty from the get-go. It's also reasonably simple to manage if you're not doing anything too complicated.

Just FYI, I've been watching some pretty serious bug reports come through for this recently. If you're using it, be sure you patch early and patch often.

[Kaligraphic]

I think that's excellent advice whatever CMS you go with.