Not too long ago, I used to use phpbb a open source bulletin board software system. At that stage it was in the 2.XX version stages and to modify it required manually inserting lines of code at the right point in the right .php file. It was painful when updates would happen because that meant reviewing the code changes you made and making sure it didn’t conflict with updates.

There must be a better way I thought and there was, but back then I knew alot less about content on the web. So I decided to get out of my static HTML comfort zone which drove the non-forum pages of my site. I started to explore content management systems. I came across many opinions and many websites containing discussions based on what was best.

That was then, and this is now. I’ve certainly learnt alot about what makes a good cms and what doesn’t cut the mustard, so to speak! The purpose of this article is to give you the reader a heads up on what to look for and hopefully make the right decision for your requirements. Because that’s exactly what’s important here, is that you pick the right system that suits your needs. Of course you can’t always plan correctly for the future and your needs may change as your site grows.

Unfortunately that can mean trying to extract data from one content management system’s database schema into another, not an easy process for someone unfamiliar with sql. It can also cost you a bit if you need to hire a database developer / expert. The message here is try to pick the best system now as it will cost you later if you don’t!

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Filed under: Web Design / Development by Gavin Doolan