I need opinions on different CMS systems

[rpmws]

I have a client that wants to run an open source CMS. Instead of doing it anyway ..he has asked what would I prefer as far as security, memory use and so forth.

he has asked about:

movabletype
drupal
wordpress

I am sure he will ask about more. I have no clue what the traffci will be like, it's a new site/idea.

I would like your opinions from the host/sysadmin perspective what to recondmend he use to where it will likely give me least amount of trouble.

thanks in advance!!!

[jayh38]

I have many clients using wordpress which seems to be most configurable and supported. The project is very fast with updates and patches for mysql and php changes so its very versatile to move around if needed. They keep on top of security issues very well.

The code looks fairly clean and efficient, although I never had a client using it with extreme traffic, but it holds up well with moderate traffic and no loading issues that I know of. Of course, this depends how heavily loaded it is with plugins. This also seems to be the choice of high profile css designers.

On the other hand, I had a client that used movabletype, I will just say that I was glad to see him leave.

[ericgregory]

I've been using WordPress for a little while now and so far, it works quite well. My colleague (DavidG) can probably comment more accurately on this as he's been using WP for a bit longer then I have :-)

[cPanelDavidG]

Regarding those three, for full disclosure purposes, I've never used Movable Type nor am I aware of their reputation regarding security and such as I've never had to deal with it first hand.

Drupal. If I was a sysAdmin, I'd want my users running Drupal. It consumes a minimum of resources, seems solid as a rock as far as I've been able to poke at it with regards to security. This is the perfect example of what a PHP app can do when coded properly.

Only problem (and the developers of Drupal realize this) is that Drupal's usability is horrid. While sysAdmins and security freaks like myself may love it, ultimately one develops a love/hate relationship with Drupal. They love it because it's great software... now if only they could figure out how to do something with it .

WordPress. The bane of existence for many sysAdmins but users love it because it's easy to use and you can find a plug-in to do any sort of wacky thing you want it to do. Problem is that WordPress was originally (IMHO) a PHP script thrown together in a hurry to improve upon b2 (its predecessor). This eventually led to the many security issues of the Wordpress 2.0 era.

Wordpress 2.2 apparently has fixed the majority of those issues, though minor security updates still seem to trickle down a little more often than I'd like to see. A big problem with the older versions of WordPress is that they lent themselves so much to customization, customers didn't want to upgrade (as they'd lose their customizations). This left gaping holes on servers and many angry sysAdmins.

Last I used Wordpress on my own server was the WordPress 2.1 series, in which they were finally modularizing the code so that customizations would not be lost with upgrades (thus eliminating the dis-incentive to upgrading).

Unfortunately, cPanel's cPAddons include WP 2.0.x, not the latest 2.2.x.

[rpmws]

thanks guys!!! ..this guy decided to get a dedicated box for his project from me. Evidently he plans to make it big ..so that lightened my concerns about the shared enviornment. He is leaning towards drupal anyway and with your input ..that's what he has pretty much decided on. I asked around in a couple of forums and got almost the same results. I do very much thank you for your time!!! we will see what happens.

P.S. ..i found 3 drupal installs on a couple of my shared boxes and they both have been running for years. Never noticed them ..so that's good i suppose.

[SageBrian]

Have him take a look at Joomla also (joomla.org)

I find it much more expandable than WordPress. And though WordPress stays on top of security, that does not mean the users do! I'm constantly getting on them to update their install, and there seems to be an update every month.

Joomla hasn't had any security updates/issues since December. It's stable, and they are doing a full rewrite for the new release 1.5.

There are tons of plug-ins for Joomla, and bridges to forums, galleries and other popular software.

There is a bit of a learning curve, mainly because there are so many options. But, once a site is setup and structured properly, it's easy to maintain.

[SageBrian]

thinking about that Wordpress update issue, I have to say that's my biggest issue with these CMS and other scripts.
Getting the users to update, especially when it's an important security patch.

Most seem to think that once the site is up, they are done. They think they are going to add content and then never even visit their site. So, if they aren't updating content, do you think they are going to update the scripts? Or know how?

After about a week, I have to update the scripts myself and bill them. And deal with the fallout of the update messing up the sites (like a recent WP update I did).

Makes me look back at those simple html websites, and those spam-free times. The 'horse-and-buggie' years of the web.

[cPanelDavidG]

Have him take a look at Joomla also (joomla.org)

I find it much more expandable than WordPress. And though WordPress stays on top of security, that does not mean the users do! I'm constantly getting on them to update their install, and there seems to be an update every month.

Joomla hasn't had any security updates/issues since December. It's stable, and they are doing a full rewrite for the new release 1.5.

There are tons of plug-ins for Joomla, and bridges to forums, galleries and other popular software.

There is a bit of a learning curve, mainly because there are so many options. But, once a site is setup and structured properly, it's easy to maintain.

I use Joomla myself, it's quite a nifty product to use (it's almost like a combination CMS/minimally functional Control Panel). However, keep in mind that Joomla is the new incarnation of Mambo, a product with a history of security issues. I will note that I've used Joomla 1.x for a while now (going almost a year) with no security issues. I'm always uneasy about something that had a bad history with regards to security, but if it proves itself worthy, it's worth a second chance .

I personally like the fact that Joomla is very update-minded in terms of practically thwapping users over the head to upgrade and check for updates.