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CMS Recommendations for Static Site Migration?
a-singularity asks: "I'm a Ph.D. student (and GSoCer) who also works for a campus extension organization to extend and maintain their website. They inherited the site from another organization at another institution. Currently the site is updated by editing very ugly, table-clogged HTML when someone requests it. The site maintains no separation of concerns, and has several poorly designed PHP scripts for database access. There are many CMS solutions out there, and while I've used a few (Drupal, MovableType), I'm not familiar with many other options. What is the best CMS out there for simple management of a medium-sized site with regular updates? What about ease of use, so all of those who might need to can submit updates?"
Well, with the addition of (perhaps) MamboServer, you already have the top easy to use CMS apps. I also hear good things about Plone. Typo3 is a bit heavy-duty, and I hear mixed reviews. And since this "Ask Slashdot" is really a dupe, let me be the first to mention Google for "Open Source CMS", and you will find... www.opensourcecms.com
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
Personally, I'd say go with drupal if you need a really flexible system than can do just about anything. That said, it can be a bit daunting. For a smaller site, I'd go with WordPress (there are rumblings that they'll end up compatible at some point down the road). One nice aspect to WordPress is that the administration console is separate from the site, so it offers a separation of paradigms for users, although they drupal is heading in that direction I believe. There's also an active community of developers behind WordPress, although that can probably be said for most of them.
... just use the CMS Matrix!
You're bound to find something that will fit your needs.
http://www.opensourcecms.com/
While it only has php CMS it is a good place to start. This site has a demo of most of the CMS out there. You can try them and then a couple of hours later they will all be reset.
Here are my recomendations:
*Mambo - If you are trying to create a website.
*phpNuke (etc) - If you want a community site.
*Typo3, Phone(python) - If you have a larger site that needs more management, mulitple departments etc.
The "nuke" family of CMS applications not only all look and feel more or less the same, they have a very bad rep for crappy code and a high number of security issues.
Drupal, Plone, Mambo. All EASY to set up and admin.
Though GeekLog seems to be a Nuke clone, I have heard good things about it.
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
but Wordpress is the one for me. It is insanely easy to set up and use, while at the same time, very powerful and adaptable.
Wordpress recommended by me.