NYCPHP Meetup

[Mitch Pirtle]

On Mon, 1 Nov 2004 12:12:27 -0500, Andrew Yochum <andrew at digitalpulp.com> wrote:
> Since you're just starting out I might suggest Mambo, but that depends
> on what you're looking to do.  It does not offer flexible content types
> and can often lead to messy and duplicate URLs for pages.  But it does
> offer a really nice flexible system for building entire sites w/o coding
> anything but a simple template.  The most recent release is leaps and
> bounds greater than previous releases in terms of UI, features,
> flexibility and stability, which were good to begin with.  Mitch might
> have a bit to say about all of these things.

I have a LOT to say, as anyone that has had to sit next to me already knows LOL

Seriously, Mambo was geared for the non-technical, and sports a very
simple web-based installation interface that is hard to beat.  We put
a tremendous amount of time into that, and I would welcome any
feedback, either positive or negative.

Access to additional goodies at mosforge.net is another big draw.  The
3rd party development community for Mambo is huge and active, and you
can download (and use a web installer) all kinds of stuff from a fancy
flash analog clock to online stores...

> > Another thing to keep in mind is cost.  If you're willing a little,
> > you'll probably end up with a solid CMS.
> 
> Though, you can spend a lot of money on a product and still spend a lot
> of time/money customizing it to get what you want.  There are always
> trade-offs.

I have worked with all of the 'biggies' in the last decade, and can
say that none of them offer anything that is unique or significantly
better than their FOSS bretheren.  The coolest was Net Dynamics, which
was bought out by Sun and disappeared in the mid-90s for some unknown
reason.  Really the 'Jimi Hendrix of CMS', IMHO.  The others: 
Documentum, Day Interactive, Broadvision...  They will certainly take
longer for you to setup than Mambo or any other garden variety
PHP-based CMS.

Ease to administer is a big subject that has not been mentioned yet in
this thread, which should deserve more focus.

-- Mitch