Articles - Page 252

Not All Heroes Wear Capes. Here's Why CMS Is Your 'Unsung Hero' in 2025

janus-boye

Have you been waiting for an opportunity to transfer your blog from one format to another but have had to hold back because of time constraints or too much content? Well look no further than the new Google Blog Converters Project launched by the brilliant minds of the Google Data Liberation team.
From the website:
<blockquote>
This new Open Source project provides the ability to easily move blog posts and comments from service to service. This initial release provides Python libraries and runnable scripts that convert between the export formats of Blogger,  LiveJournal, MovableType, and WordPress.
</blockquote>
Interested? You can download now from the <a href="http://code.google.com/p/google-blog-converters-appengine/downloads/list">Google Blog Converters website</a>

Got a blog? Need to move it? Google to the rescue!

mike-johnston

Spoonlabs is proud to announce the arrival of 4.1 version of its flagship content management platform to its growing community of webmasters, developers, design studios, entrepreneurs and technology partners.
Vivvo CMS is an intuitive content management system atop a powerful programming framework, empowering numerous industry leading online newspapers, magazines, journals, and TV and radio stations. It benefits from a large client-base with several thousand websites developed in over 20 different languages, including right-to-left languages (RTL).
After almost a year in development, the new version of Vivvo delivers a secure, scalable and robust platform with a specially designed template engine (VTE) that enables rapid development of feature-rich, Search Engine-friendly websites. Vivvo 4.1 incorporates several important performance and scalability improvements as well as significant usability enhancements based on the feedback received from the active community of users. Special emphasis has been placed on Search Engine visibility and as a result the new version of Vivvo significantly increases page views and website traffic due to its built-in Search Engine-friendly layout and logic.
<a href="http://www.vivvo.net">Vivvo</a> v4.1 also introduces a fast caching system, document and asset management, advanced multilingual capabilities and URL management as well as easy access to over 100 downloadable assets such as widgets, plug-ins, templates and other goodies.

Spoonlabs releases Vivvo Content Management System 4.1

Finally, the day is upon us. WordPress 2.7 has been released to the public and is now available for immediate download from WordPress.org.
This latest version features some interesting changes such as a redesigned administrative interface and improved drag and drop dashboard layout.
<img title="WordPress 2.7 Screenshot" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/ss-4.png" alt="The New WordPress 2.7 Dashboard" />
Beautiful isn't it? Here's an into video:

Finally, WordPress 2.7 is officially launched!

Microsoft has released an early version of Oxite, it's Open-source Content Management App geared towards developers who build large blogs or expansive websites.
A simple blog engine written using ASP.NET MVC, and is designed with two main goals:
<ul>
<li>To provide a sample of ‘core blog functionality' in a reusable fashion. Blogs are simple and well understood by many developers, but the set of basic functions that a blog needs to implement (trackbacks, rss, comments, etc.) are fairly complex. Hopefully this code helps.</li>
<li>To provide a real-world sample written using ASP.NET MVC.</li>
</ul>
The framework offers many features common in blogs, including pingbacks, trackbacks, anonymous or authenticated comments with the option to moderate comments, RSS feeds for any page and a Web administration panel.
One of the key objectives appears to be the ability to add or create new pages with ease. While it could become a competitor down the road for blog engines such as MovableType and WordPress, that doesn't appear to be the focus at the moment.
More info available at the <a href="http://www.codeplex.com/oxite">Microsoft Oxite</a> website.

Microsoft enters the Open-Source Content Management scene with Oxite

Watch for a review of this CMS very soon. For those of you who have never heard of or used Elxis, it's based on Joomla/Mambo and is amazingly search engine friendly and far more secure. Their previous release was very intriguing and this one promises a ton of new changes, we've been anxiously awaiting this one to try it out.
Some of the key features of Elxis are: automated tasks, AJAX technology, multi-lingual interface.
For Security you get: Elxis Defender, FloodBlocker, Logins Recorder, extended access control and administration login page cloak.
Integrated mechanism for creating search engine friendly URLS called SEO PRO making it optimized for search engines, is XHTML/CSS valid and table-less.
AND fully adjustable members list and complete users profiles. You can set the users access to any section of the CMS.
We were pretty pumped to try this out and see if the wait was worth it. You should check it out too and can do so here: <a href="http://elxis.org">Check out Elxis</a>
Elxis 2008.1 (Nemesis) changelog
<ol>
<li>You can set new users to be approved manually before they are able to login for the first time. After an administrator approve a new user registration, a notification e-mail, written in the user's preferable language, is sent to him to notify him that his registration was approved.</li>
<li>Integration of component eBlog. eBlog (Elxis Blog) is a full featured Blog component for Elxis CMS. You can create unlimited user blogs and assign an owner to each one.</li>
<li>Users can post comments on eBlog posts. Commentary support for third party components. On the next release user commentary will be supported for the normal content items too.</li>
<li>Updated TinyMCE to the latest version for better XHTML compatibility.</li>
<li>Updated ADOdb database library to the latest version.</li>
<li>Oracle database support (experimental)</li>
<li>SEO PRO upgrade. A totally new language handling system developed for SEO PRO enabled web sites. The language information is now stored temporary in the url. For each language Elxis generates sub-folder like URLs (except from the default site language). Htaccess file was also updated.</li>
<li>Elxis became PHP 5.x only compatible (recommended PHP 5.2 or greater).</li>
<li>Multi-lingual module titles for standard modules.</li>
<li>Multi-lingual menu items titles for standard menu items.</li>
<li>Option to generate RSS feeds for any content item regardless if it is published on front-page or not.</li>
<li>RTL improvements (thanks to Farhad Sakhaei).</li>
<li>Updated language files.</li>
<li>Updated automatic translation feature.</li>
<li>Updated web site screen shot feature for component Weblinks.</li>
<li>Updated Elxis installer.</li>
<li>Option to change the default username (currently was admin) during Elxis installation.</li>
<li>Some improvements to the default template (okto).</li>
<li>FTP improvements to work with open_basedir restriction enabled.</li>
<li>New error management function. Error messages are now more informational.</li>
<li>Support of XML schemas version 0.3</li>
<li>Updated security images (captcha) feature.</li>
<li>Option to auto-publish submitted content items from front-end based on access manager permissions.</li>
<li>Added database table #__comments</li>
<li>On database table #__banners the column “date” renamed to “dateadded”</li>
<li>Implementation of user uploaded files on their own directory (currently used on eBlog)</li>
<li>Fixed menu link creation in component typed content</li>
<li>Many other small fixes, improvements and additions.</li>
</ol>

The Elxis team releases Elxis CMS 2008.1

Packtpub has announced the Finalists for the 2008 Open Source CMS Awards:
“As usual, judging comes from a panel of experienced and respected figures from the Content Management and Open Source industry. They will be selecting their top three based on a number of factors including performance, usability, accessibility, ease of configuration and customization, scalability and security.”
“The final judge is made up of votes from customers and visitors to <a href="http://www.packtpub.com/award/cmst" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.PacktPub.com</a>. You have the chance to support your favourite Open Source CMS by submitting a vote when the final five are announced.”
Here are the finalists.
Overall Open Source CMS Award
<ul>
<li>DotNetNuke CMS</li>
<li>Drupal CMS</li>
<li>Joomla! CMS</li>
<li>Plone CMS</li>
<li>TYPOlight CMS</li>
</ul>
Most Promising Open Source CMS
<ul>
<li>CMS Made Simple</li>
<li>Impress CMS</li>
<li>Mia CMS</li>
<li>MemHT CMS</li>
<li>SilverStripe CMS</li>
</ul>
Best PHP Open Source CMS
<ul>
<li>CMS Made Simple</li>
<li>Drupal CMS</li>
<li>eZ Publish CMS</li>
<li>Joomla! CMS</li>
<li>XOOPS CMS</li>
</ul>
Best Other Open Source CMS
<ul>
<li>dotCMS</li>
<li>DotNetNuke CMS</li>
<li>mojoPortal CMS</li>
<li>Plone CMS</li>
<li>Umbraco CMS</li>
</ul>
You can vote here: <a href="http://www.packtpub.com/award/cmst" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Open Source CMS</a> Awards

2008 Open Source CMS Award Finalists Announced

Weglot - The easiest way to translate a website

The easiest way to translate a website

#18164c

Elxis is an interesting cms that expands upon traditional mambo code by adding an amazing set of SEO features (something sorely lacking in Joomla and Mambo by default) and enhanced security among other improvements. In this Elxis review, let's examine their latest edition and see how it looks.
As you can see from the picture below, they feature an attractive installer with several options such as quick links to their help forums, the ability to click ONCE and restart the installation (which is a very sweet addition.. thank you Elxis team).. as well as a percentage complete and tons of quick notes to make sure you are well informed as you proceed through the installation.
I'm one for appreciating tips and stuff that not just expand the knowledge of the user doing the install… but helps them understand what and why they are entering the data they are entering.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elxis1.png" alt="Elxis Content Management System" />
Once you've passed this stage, you will get the screen below:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elxis2.png" alt="Elxis Content Management System" />
Accepting this license agreement will allow you to proceed:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elxis3.png" alt="Elxis Content Management System" />
Fill in your database details, select a sample data package and you are ready to proceed. Elxis has a very solid selection of database options as well.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elxis4.png" alt="Elxis Content Management System" />
Select your language, site name, timezone offset.. and continue:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elxis5.png" alt="Elxis Content Management System" />
Enter in your admin settings on this screen. I like the fact that it auto generates a very secure password for you.. you are of course not forced to use it but it's nice to have the option (although admittedly with my memory, there'd be no way I'd manage with something as obscure.. )
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elxis6.png" alt="Elxis Content Management System" />
Configure FTP access if you like, the only reason I can see doing this.. is to allow file attributes to be changed by the installer instead of having to do them yourself.. Personally, I prefer to maintain control.. but I like the fact that I have the choice.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elxis7.png" alt="Elxis Content Management System" />
Now we are ready to get to the test site and see how she looks:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elxis8.png" alt="Elxis Content Management System" />
What I like about the default page is that it covers each of their major features such as SEO Pro and serves as a nice set of instructions and documentation for making the most out of their package. It's a nice looking default template and works well with typical expectations.
There currently aren't a huge amount of themes and templates available but it wouldn't be tough to port over a Joomla or Mambo one as they are basically the same framework. I haven't tested to see if they work by default but if someone knows, please let me know.
Plugin wise, I do know that I tried a few Joomla plugins and they worked fine so I suspect it's a trial and error situation there as well. Again, if someone has more detail, please advise.
On the topic of plugins though.. I admittedly don't think you would need much. The fact is, Elxis has pretty much everything I'd need from the get go without the need to install third party apps… a fact that I think is one of it's strengths for sure.
The admin panel is a redesigned mambo one with a few additions.. not much of a surprise and very usable and clean:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elxis10.png" alt="Elxis Content Management System" />
This new version also boasts the addition of eBlog component.. which is very nice! Here is a screenshot of it's configuration page:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elxis11.png" alt="Elxis Content Management System" />
One other thing before our rating that I wanted to point out and that's this nice little addition that I just noticed in the content section.. When you choose to add a new content item, it gives you the choice to have an SEO Page Title or SEO Post title generated and also gives you a Validate link:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/elxis12.png" alt="Elxis Content Management System" />
That is a brilliant addition and something that may have been present in 2008.0 but I certainly don't recall it. I'll have to ask the developers about that..
On with the ratings:
Community 7/10 – Not super active yet, but maybe after this review things will improve ? 
Expandability 8.5/10 -Not alot of expansion required, but several options available if needed.
Themability 8/10 – Needs more but I love the ones it has.. for instance, there is a CNN clone!
Useability 9/10 – Very usable, very well thought out and easily outclasses Joomla and Mambo in my eyes.
<h2>Overall Score: 8/10</h2>

Elxis Review - a look at Elxis CMS 2008 series

Originally started as a BBS (Bulletin Board System) by Dries Buytaert, Drupal was turned into an Opensource project back in 2001. Since then, it has expanded to become one of the largest content management systems on the market today. With a huge number of promoters and an enormous community, Drupal continues to expand and grow far past what was initially anticipated back in 2001. Today, we're going to share with you our look at version 6 in this Drupal review.
<div class="content">
Upon starting the install, we are greeted with the screen below. Drupal has several language options that are available, but of course the default is English.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/d1.gif" alt="Drupal Review" />
Clicking on Install Drupal in English leads us to the database configuration screen below.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/d2.gif" alt="Drupal Review" />
Drupal makes a good effort at explaining what the fields are for. There is also an advanced options dropdown should you need it.. but hidden by default, which is a good choice in my opinion. After configuring the database, we are taken to this screen which identifies that we should now remove certain permissions to certain files. I'd like to note that it would be nice to see a CMS that does this automatically, I know there are a few but it would be a nice touch. You then fill in your site information below: <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/d3.gif" alt="Drupal Review" /> One other thing which I liked was the inclusion of the “Check for updates automatically” box. This is something that was not there in previous versions and is a nice touch. We then proceed below: <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/d4.gif" alt="Drupal Review" /> As you can see, installation is now complete. Let's proceed to the default site: <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/d5.gif" alt="Drupal Review" /> Here is the default Drupal website. The theme it is running by default is called Garland, a very interesting theme that was the first to use a new colour selection feature that let's you customize every colour about this theme using a colour wheel.
It comes with some nice default choices and then you get to also see what your changes look like on the fly. This is an excellent default theme and a very solid introduction to the power of Drupal. I've seen quite a few sites running just this theme with slight colour mods. I would consider this Drupals' most popular theme in fact. We now proceed to the administration panel below: <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/d6.gif" alt="Drupal Review" /> Drupal has an excellent and well laid out Administration panel. It's easy to find what you need (despite some obscure naming in a few areas) and it gives you notices in very easily identifiable colours and shades as you can see from the screenshot.
A couple of things to note, however. Drupal is not for the feint of heart. If you aren't willing to invest the time to learn and to customize Drupal to suit your needs (which can be a bit of a learning curve) then it's not the right CMS for you. Often called a Content Management Framework, Drupal can be very overwhelming and by itself.. does not contain much “out of box” functionality compared to most other options in the CMS world.
The caveat, however, is that Drupal has a massive module respository and a huge community. If you are willing to invest the time learning (a process which can be quite fun and fulfilling once you get started) then there is not much Drupal cannot do. There are a ton of resources available and like i said before, the community is huge. This makes it easy to find or get the answers you need quickly. I also found the community extremely kind and eager to help new users.. which is a bonus.
You can also adjust the permissions of every single module and every piece of Drupal.. in one simple view:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/d728129.gif" alt="Drupal Review" />
This is great and keeps the webmaster in control of their content and their site to the Nth degree. A feature I quite like.
Drupal's module listings are huge. There are tons of modules for almost any category. To give you an idea, as of this writing there are an amazing 3,650 modules in their database in 31 categories! That's what I call a well supported CMS.
One of Drupal's weak areas is theming. While it's possible to make wonders happen if you are a designer.. the theme choices for new people are quite unattractive. There are a few nice ones.. but personally, I found most unappealing. Thankfully, there are quite a few new sites cropping up that have started offering more Drupal themes.. ie: TemplateMonster and DrupalShark to name a few.
If you consider this great CMS for your project.. here are a few good links that you'll want to have:
<ul>
<li><a href="http://drupal.org/handbook/customization/tutorials" target="_blank">Tutorials</a></li>
<li><a href="http://drupal.org/handbook/customization/howto" target="_blank">HowTos</a></li>
<li><a href="http://drupal.org/node/266179" target="_blank">Comparisons of contributed modules</a></li>
<li><a href="http://drupal.org/handbook/config/contribmodules" target="_blank">Contributed modules</a></li>
<li><a href="http://drupal.org/node/196218" target="_blank">Contributed themes</a></li>
<li><a href="http://drupal.org/handbook/customization/snippets" target="_blank">Snippets</a></li>
<li><a href="http://drupal.org/node/269999" target="_blank">Understanding Drupal</a></li>
<li><a href="http://drupal.org/handbook/customization/videocasts" target="_blank">Videos and slides</a></li>
<li><a href="http://drupal.org/theme-guide">Theme guide (Drupal 6)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://drupal.org/theme-guide/5">Theme Guide (Drupal 5 and previous)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://drupal.org/forum/0">Support forums</a></li>
</ul>
Overall, Drupal is a great framework and it's no surprise why it keeps getting so much attention. Some very large sites run Drupal with heavy customizations.
A few I can think of off the top of my head are: PopSugar, SpreadFirefox, Ubuntu and Sony's MyPlay to name a few. Check them out, I'm sure you'll be surprised at the capabilities of Drupal.
Our ratings are below:
Community 10/10 (I would dare to say it's the largest and most active)
Expandability 10/10 (There's not much you can't do with Drupal)
Themability 6/10 (It's getting there, just not at the stage it needs to be to be new user friendly and attractive without some design skills)
Useability 7/10 (Can be overwhelming but the administration interface is outstanding. Could work on renaming a few things to make them more user friendly.. and automate some tasks)
<h2>Overall Score: 8/10</h2>


</div>

Drupal Review - Does version 6 of this CMS stand up to it's competition?

<a href="http://www.joomla.org">Joomla</a>! is perhaps one of the best known names in the world of Content Management Systems. Originally a fork of Mambo, Joomla has surpassed it's predecessor in popularity and size by a massive margin. Does Joomla! really deserve all the praise it's been getting? Let's examine it and find out in this Joomla 1.5 review.
First released in January of 2008, version 1.5 has since seen a number of point releases to cover security holes and issues.
With the new release a number of very anticipated changes have been put in place such as one central installation tool and improved theming.
Upon installation we are greeted with the following screen.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/joomla1.gif" alt="Joomla 1.5 Review" />
I proceed to the screen below:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/joomla2.gif" alt="Joomla 1.5 Review" />
This is an excellent preinstall check that quickly gives you a breakdown of problem areas and things that need to be resolved. For most people, if you are on a shared host and not a VPS .. if you have anything RED, you may need to contact your provider before proceeding.
After accepting the license agreement on the next screen, we are greeted with:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/joomla3.gif" alt="Joomla 1.5 Review" />
Enter your database details (for those first timers who've never had to do this before, Joomla has gone to good lengths to make sure they explain each field well). Once this is done, we proceed:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/joomla4.gif" alt="Joomla 1.5 Review" />
This is an option I quite like. The ability to add FTP configuration is a sweet function. This allows you to enter your ftp details to your site and let Joomla correct any permissions issues that it encounters without bugging you. In my books, this is immediately filled in every time I install it. Some people will want more direct control though, and for you, you can safely ignore this screen entirely.
Enter your site name, details and choose whether you want sample data installed.
CAVEAT: If you don't install the sample data, you will literally get a bare bones website with zero content and it'll look horrible right off the bat.. so make sure you know what you are doing.
If you want a populated site with content so you can see how it would look when populated.. click install sample data. Otherwise, click next. <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/joomla7.gif" alt="Joomla 1.5 Review" /> Here you see the default site with Sample Data installed. Joomla has one of the better default themes and it shows quite nicely. Let's check out the administration interface:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/joomla8.gif" alt="Joomla 1.5 Review" />
Joomla has a nice interface with dropdowns. One of the things I found a bit overwhelming was the number of places content can hide. I literally spent 15 minutes trying to find one article that as buried in a bizarre place not reminiscent of content.
Joomla does a good job of making everything available. There are tons of options and it'll take a few to get used to maneuvering within the admin panel, but once you get used to it.. it functions quite nicely. What I did not like was the breakdown of sections, categories and content. I found I had a hard time understanding which was which and where my article would end up. I also couldn't figure out why I had to have both a category and a section (I hate being forced to do things..)
Once nice new inclusion in 1.5 was the universal installer. Instead of trying to discern what is a mambot, module, component or theme.. you just install the zip from one box in the CMS and it figures it out for you.
Joomla, like Drupal has a very large community, a large number of modules and an amazing amount of beautiful themes available from either premium sources or free.
In this Joomla 1.5 review, we've given it the ratings below:
Community 9/10 (The forums are active, but I found from a few posts I made that it takes a while to get a reply)
Expandability 8/10 (There are modules, but you are still limited with the way views, content and such can be presented as well as there are quite a few essential modules which required payment) Themability 10/10 (Probably the best CMS when it comes to themes. There are thousands of beautiful ones available from a myriad of sources.) Useability 7/10 (Content sections can get overwhelming and using third party addons can get messy as I found quite a few that were not stable or had poor support themselves)
<h2>Overall Score: 8/10</h2>

Joomla 1.5 Review - A Look at the Popular Open Source CMS

Published by Kevin Papst, Bigace is a popular CMS that has a strong commitment from Kevin and offers a ton of options. Let's take a look at it in this Bigace Review.
First, make sure you meet the <a href="http://www.bigace.de/requirements.html" target="_blank">requirements</a>. Once that's out of the way, download the file from their website and unzip the contents. You will have 3 files. Upload all 3 to the root of your domain (web host) ie: public_html directory (typically.)
Right off the bat I want to say that BigACE deserve kudos for the way they've chosen to distribute this cms. It's nice that they only require you to upload 3 files and the installer manages the extraction for you. This is a good time saver.
Unfortunately, for me.. It did not work for some reason so I had to unzip from an SSH session. Once getting past this hurdle, i began the install by visiting my domain and clicking on the install.php file. I think they need to work on the initial presentation. It would be best if the system auto started the install instead of expecting the user to. This could, however, be a host specific issue so I won't promise you'll experience the same issues I did.
If you did not extract the file manually like I did, you will get this screen:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigace1.gif" alt="Bigace Content Management System" />
clicking install will lead you to the next screen. If it does not redirect properly for you and you get a page not found error… that means that you need to either a) ssh to your host and extract the file “bigace_install2.4.zip” or do so via your cpanel file manager.
If all worked well, you would get this screen:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigace2.gif" alt="Bigace Content Management System" />
You can then click on Start Installation.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigace3.gif" alt="Bigace Content Management System" />
If anything red shows up above.. that means you need to either correct some permissions issues or contact your host and make the necessary changes to the php.ini file or what have you. If all is green.. you can then proceed by clicking next.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigace4.gif" alt="Bigace Content Management System" />
Enter in your information. I'd like to point out that one thing I really appreciated about bigace was the popup windows for tooltips that they have (as seen above). This is a great way of giving quick tips and ensuring the user understands what is being asked of them. I love the way they've laid it out and I also love the option to not show again for the experienced user. Good work Bigace!
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigace5.gif" alt="Bigace Content Management System" />
Obviously if you see the screen above, you did something right ?
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigace6.gif" alt="Bigace Content Management System" />
You will then get the screen above which will allow you to customize some more settings. A couple of quick comments. First, I know english is not Kevin's primary language, so there are a few grammatical errors which need to get corrected (ie: email address.. although not bad for a non english speaker Kevin!). Secondly, I think Community Domain needs to be reworded to something a bit more clear like URL or DOMAIN NAME.
Once you've got these figured out you will get a success message and then you will end up at your default site:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigace7_0.gif" alt="Bigace Content Management System" />
A fairly nice starter theme with good explanation as to what to do next. Click on login, use the administrator username and password you chose on the screens above and you will notice some new choices on the menu, portlet administration and administration. It took me a few to figure out what Portlet Administration did, and for now, until you read the documentation, I would recommend staying away from there.. (to be honest I think it needs some of Kevin's fancy tooltips to rid me of my confusion when trying to figure out it's purpose). Click on administration for now and you'll get the following control panel:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigace8.gif" alt="Bigace Content Management System" />
Now, keep in mind that this system is not for the feint of heart. Bigace is incredibly configurable. I was blown away by the sheer amount of options in this control panel. So many in fact that I was quickly starting to feel overwhelmed and frustrated. Now, this could be because
I use so many CMS systems that I'm use to simplicity.. but there's something to be said for the advanced panel as well. Kevin's done a great job here.. but I would definitely not recommend this to someone who is not familiar with coding, development or web design. As for modules,they have incorporated them into this page so that you can view the available ones and click download to be taken to the download page. This is a nice touch and brings new meaning to the term control panel.. it is what it should be. Complete.
Overall, it's a great CMS, not for beginners though. Themes need to be improved and more need to become available. There needs to be some translation changes made to make things more clear to native english speakers and the control panel needs to be simplified in order to appeal to a broader audience.
Overall, my ratings are:
Community 8/10 (The forums seemed quite active and Kevin is quick to respond to emails)
Expandability 6/10 (Needs more modules to compete with larger systems) Themability 6/10 (Definitely needs more themes in order to be more appealing to broader audience) Useability 6/10 (Tough for beginners, Recommended for advanced users only)
<h2>Overall Score: 7/10</h2>

Bigace Review

Geeklog is somewhat of a combination between blog and cms and more or less would fall under the category of a news publishing platform in my opinion. Let's examine Geeklogs' latest edition in this Geeklog Review and see what kind of changes have been made to make it more simplified.
Geeklog was originally created to run the Securitygeeks and Newsgeeks websites but was released into the wonderful world of opensource under the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html" target="_blank">GPL license</a>.
Geeklog has been around for quite some time, while it used to be notoriously difficult to install.. this new release promises some changes to make it better.
To kick off the install, you need to upload the public_html folder found in the geeklog archive that you download from their website. You then navigate to <a href="http://yourdomain.com/admin/install/index.html">http://yourdomain.com/admin/install/index.html</a> to begin the install process.
You should be greeted with a screen such as the one below:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/geeklog11.png" alt="Geeklog Review" />
Once you choose your path (choose it wisely!) you will get the following screen to fill out with your configuration info:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/geeklog2.png" alt="Geeklog Review" />
after filling out this you will get this screen identifying that you are done! Wow. That was fast!
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/geeklog3.png" alt="Geeklog Review" />
Talk about a quick install. Let's check out what we end up with for a system..
Once you login you are greeted with the geeklog control center. It's very basic and you have to keep in mind that the sole purpose of this software is a blog. Personally, I think it could use some work.. especially if they want to compare with some of the larger more refined systems out there.
<img style="width:597px;height:135px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/geeklog4.png" alt="Geeklog Review" />
The initial site is quite basic. Changing themes is far too difficult and involves editing the config files directly. There really aren't a lot of options in the control panel to make life easier for the end user.
Overall, this is just a quick review.. There's not much to say about geeklog. For the people who use it, it works well.. personally, it's not for me. I will say that it's much further ahead than it was now that it is easier to install.. but it's definitely not on par with where it should be to compete. Let's take a look at the ratings (keep in mind I did this review fairly quickly due to the lack of options geeklog has, there wasn't much to review).
Overall, my ratings are:
Community 7/10 (Geeklog has a great community, I'll give them that)
Expandability 5/10 (Needs more modules to compete with larger systems)
Themability 6/10 (Definitely needs more themes in order to be more appealing to broader audience)
Useability 6/10 (Tough for beginners, Recommended for advanced users only)
<h2>Overall Score: 6/10</h2>

Geeklog Review - A look at the Open Source CMS, Geeklog

Choosing a CMS can be an arduous and lengthy task. How do you choose from a list of several hundred (or potentially more) software packages to find the one that best suits your needs? We will discuss the best steps to take in order to help you make an educated decision.
Step 1. Determine the purpose of the CMS and what you hope to gain from it.
Not all CMS platforms are the same, there are some that are geared towards publishers, some are geared towards personal sites and others are corporate focused. Before you can make a good decision you need to know what you want it for. Do you plan to use the CMS for blogging but with some added functionality? Or would you prefer to have something that you can publish news about a topic on? Alternatively, you can also use a CMS to build a social network or for a corporate intranet. They have a lot of uses and step 1 is to narrow down what yours will be.
Step 2. Determine what functionality you require from the CMS.
Some CMS platforms have limited plugins and can only be extended to a certain extent, while others have huge number of plugins but steeper learning curves. You need to think about what kind of functionality you want on your CMS.
To help you decide, here’s a list of typical features of some of the more mainstream CMS platforms:
Tag Clouds – allows you to have a batch of words a user can click on to search your site. See <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tag_cloud" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a> for an example.
Forums – This is a common one. Ensure the CMS you are considering has this functionality if you require it. There are alot of different ways these can be added. They can either be built into the CMS, attached to the CMS via a plugin or completely separate. Make sure you investigate which method you prefer as this can be a large frustration to find out you can’t add one after the fact.
Polls – Do you want to be able to post polls that allow your users to vote on specific issues. If so, you’ll need this function.
Ratings – If you want to be able to rate your content, then you’ll need to ensure the CMS you are looking at has some method of doing so, either with a plugin or a tag or snippet.
Captcha – This is a challenge response system that is designed to prevent spam from getting into your comments or any other area that allows user input.
Wysiwyg Editor – This one gets most people. This stands for What You See Is What You Get. Essentially this means that the CMS has the ability to allow you to enter text or pictures in a word processor kind of interface (similar to microsoft word or openoffice).
Gallery – The ability to add photos, video, etc to your site.
Step 3. Will the CMS be compatible with your host?
Depending on the host you are using, you will need to know what they support. There are PHP based CMS platforms and there are Java, C#, Ruby Rails and other CMS. You also will need to know which database type your host supports, whether it be MYSQL, Oracle, etc. Don’t forget to compare version numbers as well. For instance, a PHP5 based CMS will not necessarily work on a PHP4 host.
Step 4. How themable is the CMS in question?
Depending on your skill level, you may want to find a CMS that is easy to theme, unless of course you are a designer. Check google for “drupal themes” or “joomla themes” for example if you are considering these two and ensure that you can find something you can make work for your needs.
Step 5. (Getting tired yet?) How active is the CMS' Community?
This one is important. Ensure that the CMS you are choosing has an active user community and/or decent support. Alot of opensource CMS platforms have forums and the easiest way to find out whether they are active or not is to see how many new posts there have been recently and whether they have had helpful replies. Don’t always expect support from the CMS developers, most of the time they are far too busy or just simply not available as lots of them do the development for free.
This is just a start, we could write for days.. and perhaps we will at a later date.
Thoughts? Share them below.

5 Tips to help you choose a CMS

It can be a difficult decision to switch from some of the web based solutions that are offered by major industry players such as blogger et al. However, there is a major advantage to running your own blog software.. customization.
No hosted solution can offer you the flexibility of simply getting your own cheap (or free) web host and creating your own blog.
Some of the major players in this industry are: WordPress, B2Evolution and ExpressionEngine but there are plenty of other lesser known but just as solid solutions available as well. Browse our list here to see the full choice (there are likely more, we simply haven't found them yet.. )
Let's run over some of the main features most common when people are looking for a blog solution.
<ol>
<li>SEO: If you aren't familiar with this term yet, you will be. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and basically means that the software offers a way to optimize the way URLs, Content and Links are viewed in order to give you the best possible exposure when being spidered by a search engine web crawler. For a full explanation of what SEO is, there is an excellent article here: <a href="http://www.seomoz.org/article/bg1">http://www.seomoz.org/article/bg1</a>.</li>
<li>WYSIWYG EDITOR: Wysiwyg stands for ‘What You See is What You Get' and basically means that as you are typing your article or blog post, you are able to format and use the same type of options you would have available in your favourite word processor.. and that what you see as you type, is how the text will look once published. There are several commonly used WYSIWYG editors used by most blog platforms. The top two are TinyMCE and FCKEditor.</li>
<li>IMAGE Handling: By default, most wysiwyg editors only offer you the ability to add images via url and not to upload directly from your computer (which is a pain imho). One of the things you need to be conscious of is whether the blog platform you are choosing offers image uploads or whether it's going to be more difficult to add an image to a post.</li>
<li>THEMES: Not everyone is a designer, I will be the first to admit that without a base theme to start from, I have the imagination of a piece of granite… so for myself and most users, it's important that the Blog software is either a) easy to theme or b) offers a good selection of starter themes to choose from.</li>
<li>EXPANDABILITY: Depending on what you want to do with your blog, you will likely want the option to take advantage of some of the services offered on the web for bloggers to share their posts with the world and/or to monetize the blog. In order to be able to do this, you need to be able to either code well in HTML/PHP or be able to choose a platform that has addon modules to help you do this quickly and easily.</li>
</ol>
Now that we've covered the basics (and I'm sure there is more.. this is just designed to be a starting point)… we will now look at some of the major CMS platforms available and what they have to offer.
THE PLAYERS
<ol>
<li><a href="http://wordpress.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WordPress</a> – Designed initially as a simple blog platform, this software has exploded into somewhat of a cult classic in the world of blog software. WordPress offers more themes, modules, options and expandability than any other blog platform released to date. The best part? It's still extremely easy to use and very very simple to install. WordPress meets all of the above and more but it's not for everyone. Some may simply not find the interface appealing and others may simply want to try something different.</li>
<li><a href="http://expressionengine.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ExpressionEngine</a> – Another very good cms solution with a massive list of features. It doesn't match WordPress as far as available themes and modules but it has alot of the key options out of the box without the need to installing anything additionally.</li>
<li><a href="http://movabletype.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MovableType</a> – MovableType is a strong competitor of WordPress and only recently went Opensource when it became apparent that WordPress was succeeding quite well by going this route. MovableType main downfall in my eyes is it's difficulty to install. It does, however, have very good support, nice themes and a good selection of modules.</li>
<li><a href="http://b2evolution.net" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">B2Evolution</a> – One of the few that offers out of the box ability to run multiple blogs from a single installation. Updated frequently and with a fair amount of themes and modules, B2Evolution is a strong up and coming blog platform.</li>
</ol>
There are plenty of other platforms out there as well, I couldn't possibly cover them all in one article.
You'll want to explore the choices available and find out which one suits what you need. The only way to truly do so is to try them out. Most of the sites offer demos which you can try. You will also find future reviews here on this site as well.

5 Tips to help you Choose your Blog Software

CMS Summit 25

Find out at CMS Connect 25, August 5 - 6 in Montreal, Canada. Seats are limited.

CMS. Content. AI. Where is it all headed?

#ffffff

Explore a wide range of informative articles, insights, and industry updates. Stay informed and ahead of the curve with our diverse collection of news and posts covering the latest trends and developments in the industry. Page - 252