7 Best Content Management Systems (CMS)

Updated on July 2nd, 2018 by Quertime Writer in Blogging

Content management systems have replaced the ancient ways of hand-coding CSS and HTML pages. Whether it is a corporate website, or a social blog, content management systems are crucial for easy management of a website or a blog. You might have different approaches in displaying your website like adding plenty of pictures, advertising services, rendering technical support or owning an e-magazine. To meet the requirements of the different approaches there are different content management systems available, each having its own strength. Though there are a collection of content management systems available in the online marketplace, I’ve hand-picked the seven best content management systems of 2012 taking into consideration aspects like usability, features, plugins, and more.

WordPress

WordPress dominates the market and the new versions in WordPress come with many improvements. Plenty of online sites use WordPress, which show the popularity and importance of this CMS. WordPress can be easily accessed and quickly installed. The enhancements and plug-ins for WordPress are available in plenty and most of it is given for free. The huge template library and the simple CSS & PHP file editing option from the admin screen makes it easy to work on WordPress. There is no surprise, as to why most of the websites from e-commerce to personal blogs use WordPress. WordPress tops the list this year because of its simplicity.

Joomla

Joomla is as popular as WordPress and has a group of loyal customers who rely on it for the development of their site. The most admired feature in Joomla is the liberty it gives the customer to customize. It can be customized to a maximum extent and can fit any kind of website. Joomla stands next to WordPress in popularity. Joomla is largely used by small and large businesses, non-profit organizations, medium organizations and individuals. The admin section in Joomla can be easily managed and it is home to plenty of options. Joomla provides options for templates, add feeds, menu tools, content blocks and many more. Joomla is admired for its flexibility which is the need of the hour.

ModX

CMS applications do not require an intense coding knowledge. With little or no knowledge in coding, ModX can be used by you for your website. ModX is perfect for small scale businesses allowing even a non-technical staff to build contents. ModX allows you to explore multiple styles on a single page, which is thrilling. If you use ModX, the need for additional plug-ins can be totally avoided. The reason being, it displays all the necessary details required by search engines like Google, Bing and others. ModX assists you in SEO by being search engine-friendly.

Drupal

This CMS is free and one of the perfect choices for building a new website. Similar to the previous tools, Drupal can be implemented in personal blogs, business sites or media sites. Like WordPress, Drupal is featured with hundreds of modules, which can be added to your website to improve functions. Though, many content management systems have become popular Drupal remains as a solution to certain businesses.

DotNetNuke

CMS solutions are mostly software, which are written in the PHP format. DotNetNuke is an exception and it is written based on Microsoft ASP. Net. ASP.Net perfectly fits the native Windows servers which makes DotNetNuke a unique content management system. Many corporations tend to host intranets on the most reliable Windows servers which is one main reason for businesses to opt for DotNetNuke. This CMS is user-friendly and can be easily customized by developers. Unlike most of the other content management systems DotNetNuke does not come free, however, you are allowed to try this software for a considerable amount of time.

Magento

This is a trending content management system that has become popular amidst developers designing ecommerce websites. From fostering brand loyalty to enhancing easy buying online, Magento is a perfect CMS that suits ecommerce web development. Magento is available both as a free open-source version and a paid premium version. The unique thing about Magento is that web developers can initially choose the free version and then gradually transition to premium version when there is a spike in sales and online traffic. In terms of plugins or extensions, Magento Connect, its extension marketplace, houses an assortment of extensions for customer experience, site management, integrations, marketing, and appearance. The unique feature about Magento is that it can be both hosted and deployed.

Movable Type

Movable Type or MT was once a popular CMS, but lost its market due to the arrival of WordPress and Joomla. At that time, MT was a paid CMS and one would require licensing rights in order to use it. Now, in order to keep up with the intense competition, MT is a free and open-source CMS that caters to the requirements of active bloggers and blog designers. With a design and usability that nearly mimics WordPress, Movable Type is now deemed to be its closest rival of WordPress. MT still has a long way to go in order to be on par with WordPress, but it can be considered as a trustworthy alternative. MT’s plugin directory houses more than 1,000 plugins classified under 16 categories.

Conclusion:
You might be reading this article looking for a valid reason to pick a particular content management system or solution for your business. All the above mentioned software has their unique style in impressing a customer. Your expectations, aims and purpose of designing a site will vary and to pick one from the above might be a little confusing. Merely choosing a platform based on popularity and features will not help you in the long run. Hence, it is best suggested to try the demo version of a couple of content management systems and work on them. Explore all the features, options and customize the software if you have access to it. This will help you arrive at a conclusion as to what content management system you will have to opt for your site.