cms terminology. What is a CMS: types and features of work

What does CMS mean?

The distance between the city of Voronezh and Moscow is 524 km. If you want to fly to the capital faster and more comfortably, choose a plane. The train is moving a little slower. Among the disadvantages of traveling by train are the need to find food during the journey and the toilets that are closed at the stations. Traveling by car has its pros and cons; you can also get to Moscow by bus. By the way, you can also get to Moscow by horse-drawn cart, or on foot. We have listed most of the types of transport that modern civilization offers. If you walk, your journey will be very long and uncomfortable. You will face hardships, you will break your legs on the road, you will have to look for a place to sleep - you just don’t use a website engine. If you choose any transport, then the engine of your site has its own advantages or disadvantages.

Website CMS - what are they for?

A CMS is required to store and update the data displayed on the site. A content manager usually works with a content management system through .

• Why does a website need a CMS? Its use allows an ordinary user to create new and delete old sections of a site, as well as edit it without the involvement of an expensive web programmer.
• The time spent working with the site is reduced.
• More attention is paid to information and external components.

Which CMS to choose for your website

There are many content management systems, and they are all different. Some of them are designed to work with online stores, others implement blogs, and others are excellent for news portals or forums. There are also universal engines. CMS can be paid or free, flexible (you can add your own software modules) and not flexible. You can also develop the control system yourself if you know web programming well.

Let's look at the most famous administration systems.

• Joomla is an engine “for schoolchildren”. Easy to use, free. The disadvantages include greater vulnerability.
• Drupal is simply a full-fledged functional CMS, flexible, difficult to manage. Provided free of charge.
• MODx is a very popular free one, very flexible, considered one of the most reliable in terms of hacking and the most convenient to use.
• 1C Bitrix - paid, heavy to download. It can be presented in different configurations - from a simple engine for a business card website to a complex CMS for a portal or online store.
• WordPress is a simple blog engine. Also suitable for developing any websites, easy to manage. It's easy to find a specialist who understands it. But there are vulnerabilities.
• DLE - also originally designed for blog development, very easy to manage.
• CMS designers like WIX, Nethouse are quite simple, do not require experience with management systems, and are not flexible. Websites are very limited in terms of promotion. They can be paid or free. In addition, usually sites on website builders do not belong to you - if you stop paying, you lose the site.
• vBulletin, phpBB - engines for organizing the work of forums.
• PrestaShop, OpenCart are free engines for online stores, Shop-Script, Umi.CMS are paid analogues.

We looked at just a few of the most popular content management systems.

What disadvantages can a CMS have?

When choosing an engine for your website, pay attention to the following points:

• A good CMS does not produce duplicate pages, or it should at least be possible to delete them.
• If it is possible to set your own CNCs, that’s good. For example, a page called price must have a unique address like http://domain/price, and not http://domain/dfjvkj/nnfjkjnvfjf-njfnj_kjfgl/123bhj?=jhhjfk/#!fdfgf/tfgfgd.
• In simple engines, the main h1 heading should always be higher on the page than headings of other levels.
• It should be possible to set unique Title and meta tags for each page of the site.
• There must be reliable protection.
• Choose more flexible systems that have the opportunity to “modify” something to suit you.
• It should be possible to handle 404 errors and add a sitemap.
• A free engine should not display extraneous links or advertisements on your site.
• Page loading speed should be optimal.
• The CMS must be Russified.
• Decide on the functionality of the site. If you need a modest personal blog, then the 1C-Bitrix option for a portal costing more than 100 thousand rubles is not your CMS.

Free CMSs do not always mean low quality code or unpleasant restrictions when using them. Typically, free systems displace their commercial counterparts due to their general availability. Professional programmers work on such products, as well as thousands of volunteers who have already appreciated the benefits of free engines.

Self-written CMS and their disadvantages

Some web studios offer their own developments for websites, claiming that this is the best option for managing any Internet resource. If you have a small one, then you can consider this option. And in the case of creating a large-scale website that requires constant improvements, a self-written engine will be inferior to a ready-made engine. You will always be tied to the initial developer of the site, since third-party developers do not like to study other people’s codes (this is very difficult). In self-written CMS for online stores, a separate issue is their vulnerability. After all, it is important for you to keep client bank card numbers, payment documents and other information secret. But if mass vulnerability testing has not been carried out, then the secure storage of data remains at risk.

How to check the site's CMS

In order to find out which CMS is installed on the site (you do not have access to it), there are several ways:

• Analysis of admin login. Login to the site management system is carried out through the admin panel. The link to it is individual for each engine. For example, for a site on MODx it is site/manager, for WordPress it is site/wp-admin, for Joomla it is site/administrator, etc.
• Third-party services such as 2ip, itrack. There are services on the Internet that can tell you which CMS is installed on the site under study. To do this, enter the site address in the provided column. Unfortunately, such services can sometimes make mistakes.
• Analysis of robots.txt - management systems usually prohibit indexing of some folders. For example, Joomla will close the folders administrator, cache, components, editor, mambots and others.
• By HTML code on the pages. Typically, the page tag contains “meta name generator” with the name of the engine.
• URL on the site - if the web resource does not use short CNCs, then you can recognize the CMS by them. For example, on a WordPress site you will see links like /p=501. default)
• HTTP traffic - for example, you can recognize http header using a plugin or http sniffer from Bitrix, which writes an extra field there.
• Cookie - viewed using the same sniffer. For example, WordPress gives wp-settings, and UMI gives umicms_session.

Any CSM for a website is a simple tool with which skillful hands make your website convenient and attractive.

More and more people nowadays are acquiring Internet resources. Online stores, portfolio sites and just personal blogs. But not everyone wants to delve into the essence of website building, learn the basics of layout and programming languages. How to be? CMS - site management systems - come to the rescue. Simple, functional and user-friendly interfaces that allow you to make changes on the site without opening the source code.
But which ones are more convenient and which ones are more functional?

Not long ago, iTrack provided an independent rating of content management systems based on information about actual installations on websites. In total, about a million sites were checked.
The places were distributed as follows (as of July 2014):

Let's look at the most popular systems of this rating.

1. WordPress (Wordpress)

Free CMS, last update from 05/08/2014, website
WordPress is very popular in RuNet and the CMS world, especially among beginners. Well Russified. Easy to install. The installation process takes less than 5 minutes from start to finish. Filling the site with content does not require any additional knowledge.
It allows you to create websites of various types, but still, when they talk about WordPress, they mean that it is, first of all, a blogging engine. Therefore, if you need to quickly and easily create your own blog, or a simple information-type website, then WordPress is a good choice.
The disadvantages of WordPress are typical for popular CMSs - the possibility of failures with high traffic and the periodic detection of certain vulnerabilities in the script.
Also, WordPress is unlikely to be suitable for a complex site with great functionality, such as a portal or online store, because it just doesn't have the necessary modules to do it.

Interesting fact:
About 40 thousand new websites are created per day using WordPress. That is, almost every two seconds a website is born on this CMS.

2. Joomla! (Jumla)

Free CMS, last update 06/11/2014, website
It is somewhat more difficult to learn than WordPress, but it also has a larger scope of application. It will take some effort to install this CMS. Filling the site will become a fairly easy process for you once you understand the structure of Joomla elements.
A huge number of modules have been developed for Joomla, including forums, chats, blogs, and online stores. Joomla allows you to create a wide variety of websites, both simple and complex; it is a fairly universal CMS. There are also a huge number of templates for Joomla.
But there are also disadvantages. Vulnerabilities in the code also occur from time to time, so it is necessary to update the system periodically.

Interesting fact:
Joomla supports 64 different languages.

3. 1C-Bitrix

Paid CMS, last update 04/16/2014, website
Before installing Bitrix, you may have to think about choosing a hosting. If you plan to place an extensive catalog of products, advertisements, etc. on your website, then you will need to choose a special hosting tariff (more powerful), only then the system will work normally. But this is the only difficulty during installation.
The most important advantage of Bitrix is ​​its versatility. Developers offer not only package assemblies, but also ready-made solutions. During installation, you can select a ready-made website (on one of the standard templates), for example, immediately create a ready-made online store (with a customized shopping cart, order form, delivery and payment methods, with a user’s personal account). Also a definite plus - high reliability, security, stable updates. Security updates will always be available to the client absolutely free of charge.
Content management in this system is significantly different from other CMSs. In principle, if you get used to this, you can easily change the information on the site.
The first disadvantage of Bitrix is ​​its price. Yes, the price is really high, but it is justified by the power of the system - however, to use this power, you will most likely need a programmer specially trained for Bitrix. Thus, the CMS is suitable either for those who do not mind spending money to get a ready-made working template website, or for serious projects (large portals and online stores).

Interesting fact:
The website of the Eldorado company (www.eldorado.ru) runs on Bitrix.

4. DataLife Engine (DLE)

Paid CMS, last update 04/01/2014, website dle-news.ru
The description of the DLE system should begin with the fact that it is paid. Many believe that this is its main disadvantage. Like any product, DLE also has a free demo version. But since it is distributed free of charge, it has a number of disadvantages, such as, for example, a limit on the number of news - 100, comments - 200. At the same time, many additional modules for DLE are free.

Working with site content is not at all difficult, since DLE has only two types of content - news and static pages. But the system does not have the concept of Menus and Blocks, and these are very convenient and necessary solutions. Therefore, this simplification of the structure makes the system insufficiently flexible and does not allow you to easily change the appearance of the site.

In the next article we will continue our review of content management systems and try to give recommendations on which CMS is more suitable for a particular site.

Free CMS (Content Management System - “content management system”) are in great demand. You can simply download any of them, install them on your hosting and launch the site. But they are all so different that, having mastered a couple, it is not a fact that the third one on the list will be initially understandable. This is especially true for specialized platforms for online stores. Most do not have a common basis in the interface, and the approaches to creating the structure and functionality of pages differ significantly.

Beginners who want to master any CMS should understand what it is for and what it should be like. To avoid misfires and wasted time. TOP 10 list for your attention.

Rating of the best free CMS 2019:

Our choice!

1. WordPress / WordPress → detailed review

WordPress is the most famous and popular CMS in the world, a kind of niche icon. It was written to create blogs, but in the process it turned into a universal engine thanks to the developers of plugins, templates and community activity. The control panel has built-in libraries of plugins and templates with an immense range. Everything has reviews, ratings, instructions, ratings. You can sort by various criteria - it’s easy to choose. Many studios draw templates for this system. Mountains of videos with lessons and kilometers of discussion forums are included. It is easier to learn how to use than many others.

WordPress operates with two types of content - page and article. The button for creating a post is placed separately, you can publish a post directly from the site - everything is tailored to the convenience and speed of publishing the news feed. SEO is implemented through plugins, as is speed optimization, security and much more. To create stores, landing pages, forums, and other things, there are many specialized, powerful plugins, which in terms of capabilities are reminiscent of separate, full-fledged software. It is also available in website builder format for those who prefer to use a ready-made boxed version.

Pros:

• Popularity: a large number of developers work in the WordPress ecosystem, constantly expanding/improving the range of plugins and templates;
• There are many hosting providers that have a separate plan with settings optimized for this CMS;
• A huge number of available educational materials of any format;
• Relatively easy to learn, more or less suitable for beginners;
• A large number of high-quality and useful free plugins;
• Most templates have fairly detailed customization settings without the need to edit the code;
• Able to withstand huge traffic with decent hosting;
• Versatility due to plugins, suitable for creating large websites.

Minuses:

• More than a third of all websites in the world run on WordPress, which makes this system one of the main targets for attackers and inexperienced developers;
• Out of the box, the system is suitable for creating a simple blog or business card;
• Creates a considerable load on the server, the hosting must be good;
• Produces duplicate pages, although this can be solved using a plugin.

2. Joomla / Joomla → detailed review

Joomla is the second most popular CMS on the list. Large community, lots of plugins and templates. Best suited for creating small and medium-sized informational websites. It works especially well when creating types of resources that are filled with content by users themselves - message boards, forums and even social networks. There are well-developed plugins for all this. Out of the box the functionality is relatively rich (many general, fine and SEO settings). The difficulty of mastering is average. The logic of interaction with the system is unique. If you're not used to it, you can get confused in modules, template cells for displaying content, and connections between them. Once you get used to it, it will no longer seem confusing and difficult.

Joomla allows you to create fairly complex types of sites with simple types of content. It has a great interface for administering a large number of articles. E-Commerce is developed through plugins, although it is better not to create a large store here - the engine has average performance, much depends on optimization and the quality of hosting. There are an endless number of templates (both paid for $30-60, and so on), they contain a variety of functionality: some contain more than a hundred built-in modules with kilometers of settings screens. What's good is that the templates are easy to edit with code - they are based on HTML and CSS. Knowing them, you can modify almost everything. Flexible, interesting mass CMS.

Pros:

• Suitable for creating any type of website, the main thing is not to overload the engine with modules and the volume of the database (content), otherwise with weak hosting there will definitely be problems with page loading speed;
• Adaptability for running social networks at a decent level - not many engines can do this;
• Powerful ecosystem, information and experienced developers in abundance;
• There are many templates, plus they contain a huge range of functionality;
• A wide selection of plugins and components, many of which are free;
• Full access to the code; a minimum set of editing skills is required.

Minuses:

• The control panel is confusing and looks complicated to the average beginner;
• The speed of work is average, although this gap is filled with fast hosting, optimization with plugins and settings;
• Powerful template instances are difficult to set up - you can rarely do without reading the instructions;
• The level of security out of the box is mediocre and requires additional work using plugins and hands;
• Engine updates do not always work correctly and can lead to failures, including the inability to log into the control panel or loss of data.

3. Drupal / Drupal → detailed review

Drupal is an engine aimed exclusively at experienced developers. It’s absolutely not suitable for beginners as a first CMS, and it’s not even worth trying. The level of difficulty of mastering is high. Well suited for creating large websites with a complex data structure. Allows you to create as many custom content types as you like, which can be displayed through modules at any point on the site’s frontend. No restrictions on layout or content. Thanks to the CCK (Content Construction Kit) plugin, you can embed various types of content into documents, bypassing the taxonomy mechanism characteristic of this system.

The engine is universal and will allow you to create a business card, a portal, a store or a dating site. It features a high level of security out of the box and speed of operation. However, it creates a large load on the database, so it requires more or less fast hosting. There are enough SEO settings even without installing additional plugins, of which a lot has been written for the system. Characteristic features are excellent scalability, optimization, and the need for programming knowledge for effective use. There are a lot of templates (paid for $50-60, on average), but the installation process is relatively complicated. You need to copy files into directories, and then manually activate the modules. The system is not for beginners.

Pros:

• True versatility, flexibility in all directions;
• Ability to create and implement an endless number of content types;
• Out of the box, powerful SEO, security and a modest appetite for hardware;
• Extensive community, a lot of guides, documentation and competent developers within the ecosystem;
• A rich set of modules that expand the basic functionality;
• The ability to use hooks - procedure processing modifiers to simplify large-scale changes to the engine algorithms;
• High level of standardization - almost all code is written by developers in the same style, making it convenient for the community to work with it.

Minuses:

• Not suitable for ordinary users due to the obvious difficulty of learning and using;
• Without programming knowledge, it will not be possible to configure most modules;
• For stable and fast operation of the site you need a powerful server.

4. OpenCart / OpenCart → detailed review

OpenCart is one of the most popular E-commerce platforms. Designed exclusively for creating online stores and out of the box contains an impressive set of features: a visual template editor, no restrictions on the number of products, categories, manufacturers, pages and other things, supports multilingualism, discounts, reviews, delivery options, tax calculations, product ratings, etc. etc. The engine system is modular, that is, the store can be expanded unlimitedly. There is a built-in statistics collector (views, sales report, popularity rating, etc.), but SEO optimization out of the box is lame. You will have to use a third-party and, most likely, paid module.

The level of difficulty of mastering is average. The system is logically built, but the store has a lot of obvious and subtle settings. It will not be easy for a beginner, but if you have motivation, there is a considerable chance of bringing the project to fruition. Stores of modules and templates are built right into the control panel; you can search by filters. The design editor interface is user-friendly, with syntax highlighting. For many templates, you can customize the appearance and functionality in the visual editor mode. Within one admin panel you can manage several stores at once. And before downloading the update, the system scans installed extensions for compatibility in order to avoid conflicts that could disable the store. This is a big plus.

Pros:

• Can be learned and used effectively by a beginner;
• Advanced functionality - almost everything important for the store is included out of the box;
• Convenient user interface for shopping;
• High performance and relatively low hosting speed requirements;
• Many high-quality templates and useful modules;
• Developed ecosystem: a lot of information and active developers;
• Detailed built-in statistics of sales and store traffic;
• Simple code, which makes it easy to make modifications;
• There is a detailed setting of access rights (for managers, for example);

Minuses:

• Weak SEO out of the box (few settings, problems with indexing pages, producing duplicates, errors when generating CNC), the problem is solved by installing extensions;
• Inconvenient image loader;
• No quick checkout out of the box;
• There is no live search for products (by the first letters of the name);
• You cannot sort articles into categories to display them as a news feed, for example;
• Engine updates are released quite rarely;
• Quite a large number of minor bugs and inconveniences (for example, the button to add out-of-stock items to the cart is always active).

5. MODX / MODEX → detailed review

MODX Revolution is a flexible system whose properties are closer to frameworks than to CMS. Suitable for creating all types of websites, easily scalable. However, large websites are not very convenient to administer due to the chaos in displaying the tree structure of pages and elements. The problem is solved by a module like “Collections”. The module installer with search is located right in the admin panel, there are ratings, you can read descriptions of the extensions. In general, out of the box the engine is lightweight and does not boast detailed functionality. Requires the mandatory installation of a gentleman's set of modules, at a minimum.

The level of difficulty of mastering is average, provided that the user is fluent in HTML/CSS. The control panel has a clean, nice design and a relatively clear layout. Can be used by beginners, but rely on educational materials. Out of the box you get powerful SEO optimization tools and a high level of security. The engine does not have ready-made designs specially tailored for itself, but it allows you to add any HTML template to the site. The range of these is huge, but to edit within the system you will have to learn its specific syntax, which is not used anywhere else.

Pros:

• High level of flexibility, structures and elements of any complexity can be built;
• Excellent optimization of code and settings to meet search engine requirements;
• Undemanding quality of hosting, high website performance;
• High level of security, flexible settings for authorization of user groups;
• Good implementation of multilingualism, high quality Russian localization of interface elements;
• A sufficient set of ready-made modules available for installation directly from the admin panel;
• Pleasant to the eye and more or less understandable interface;
• Detailed official documentation in Russian.

Minuses:

• Inconvenient approach to installing templates;
• Non-standard engine syntax;
• Without programming skills it is impossible to work productively with the engine;
• There are few adapted templates; modifications by hand and code are usually required to optimize HTML layouts and display them correctly;
• There are an order of magnitude less training materials than more popular CMSs.

6. Magento / Magento → detailed review

Magento is the most popular shopping engine in the world, owned by Adobe Inc. A very powerful CMS with a developed community. But not on RuNet. You can download the Community Edition for free, but it is not at all adapted to our market and does not have Russian localization. A raw, potentially advanced product that requires manual development - code. There are assemblies for use in RuNet (localization, integration of our social networks, payment systems, etc.), but they are paid. In general, this free system has a high level of monetization: templates, modules, developer services, licenses - almost everything is paid.

This engine should only be used if you have a decent budget. The cost of developing stores on Magento is high, especially when purchasing an Enterprise license (from $15,000 per year). The functionality is excellent, the control panel is informative and relatively convenient. A lot of statistical reports, a built-in rating system for evaluating products and commenting, discounts, adjustment of user rights, a good level of SEO optimization and security out of the box, an advanced caching algorithm to speed up page loading - all this and much more is included out of the box.

Pros:

• Good functionality out of the box, suitable for creating huge stores;
• Lots of templates, although most of them are paid and not cheap;
• An effective caching system that greatly increases page loading speed;
• You can manage several stores from one admin panel;
• Everything related to search engine optimization and site safety is well implemented.

Minuses:

• Demanding quality of hosting;
• Difficulty of use, from the installation process to code modifications;
• There is a relatively small number of ready-made extensions, and the services of qualified developers are very expensive;
• The overall high cost of stores, despite the formal availability of a free version;
• The original version is not at all adapted for use on the Runet, and the assembly optimized for our market costs from 8,000 rubles.

7. ImageCMS / ImageCMS → detailed review

ImageCMS is a platform for creating online stores, a hybrid of WordPress, Premmerce and WooCommerce. A ready-made boxed combination that requires the installation of a minimum number of additional modules. The level of functionality and flexibility is average, the difficulty of mastering is average, but without knowledge of at least HTML/CSS you won’t get far. There are only four ready-made templates, there is a cosmetic design customizer, so to get a unique look for the store you need to either order the development of a design, or carefully redo the existing one by hand. One is expensive, the other is difficult to implement and almost impossible for beginners. But there are integrations with MoySklad, 1C, Nova Poshta, RetailCRM and other popular services out of the box. A lot has been done for SEO optimization.

The control panel is similar to that of WordPress, the only difference is the number of extensions pre-installed out of the box. There are a lot of them here, which makes the admin panel look oversaturated. In fact, this CMS is an assembly that requires modifications to meet the requirements of a specific task. There is no direct compatibility with WordPress plugins; developer optimization services are expensive. It makes sense to use this system only if you have enough functionality out of the box. After all, templates, modifications and custom plugins will cost more than it’s worth. The shops here are good only if you have a sufficient budget.

Pros:

• The core of the system is the well-known WordPress, understandable and convenient;
• A rich built-in set of plugins that covers most of the requirements for running a store;
• Full arsenal of WooCommerce features available;
• There is a high-quality built-in blog.

Minuses:

• There are few native extensions, it is not easy to find a programmer, and the cost of services will be inflated;
• You cannot manually configure the display order of individual products and other useful little things;
• There are few ready-made templates, and an individual design from a developer costs from $2000;
• High load on the server, low performance with a large database volume;
• Weak ecosystem - there is quite a bit of information on the product, discussions, etc.

8. TYPO3 / TypoTri → detailed review

TYPO3 is an advanced development environment for experienced users. It’s not easy to learn, and it’s also not easy to maintain. Definitely not for beginners. Programming knowledge and experience in website development are required for normal use. It shows itself best in creating blogs, portals, online magazines/newspapers of strong medium volume (up to 5-6k pages). Let's say that creating a store or social network is also possible, although it involves unprofitable difficulties - many plugins and modifications will be required. You also need to have a budget to be successful. Good hosting, programmer services, modules - you'll have to spend money.

The interface of this CMS is by no means simple, and to customize the site, a special internal language is used - TypoScript. Without mastering it, success cannot be achieved. This results in the high cost of specialist services - the profile is narrow, not everyone can help. Out of the box, the system does not have sufficient functionality to implement serious websites. Many plugins can be downloaded from the repository for free. Their quality level is supervised by the CMS community. You can manage multiple projects from one control panel. The Templavoila template engine will help you turn any HTML template into a compatible one. There is also a visual editor for making cosmetic changes. Flexible, powerful, specific engine for pros.

Pros:

• High-quality localization of the engine interface;
• Using the Templavoila/TypoScript combination allows you to do whatever you want with the design;
• High degree of website scalability;
• Support for page caching, which significantly speeds up their loading;
• A sufficient set of extensions collected in a reliable single source - TYPO3 Extension Repository;
• Great for creating websites for large corporations and industry giants.

Minuses:

• The community is predominantly English-speaking, there is little Russified documentation;
• Creates a large load on hosting and takes up a lot of space;
• Difficult to learn, absolutely not suitable for beginners;
• Suitable for creating sites where only the administrator will publish information, that is, projects without user content;
• The high cost of maintaining the functionality of the site.

9. CMS Made Simple → detailed review

CMS Made Simple is a system designed for use by beginners. Indeed, there is a visual design editor, similar to those found in cloud-based website builders. Easy installation on the server, simple configuration, a good set of available extensions that are easy to use. Suitable, first of all, for creating business card websites and online stores, but it is impossible to achieve a unique design using the editor - only cosmetic changes. Deep customization will require code edits (PHP, HTML, CSS), which negates all the simplicity and convenience and puts the system on the same level as other CMS in terms of complexity of effective use.

The interface is partially Russified, there is little documentation in the native language - to fully master it you need to be familiar with the English language. The engine works quickly and does not require super-hosting even to launch a store. There are few built-in templates; they are written in an accessible HTML/CSS format, which allows you to adapt third-party design themes for use within the system. The API is open; developers have written more than 200 plugins of varying levels of quality and usefulness. Optimization is excellent thanks to the lightweight engine and built-in page caching mechanism. Security is implemented at a good level out of the box. It's a good engine, but its potential is revealed only in the hands of experienced developers.

Pros:

• Relative simplicity of the control panel;
• Ease of making cosmetic changes to templates;
• Good level of SEO optimization and security;
• Beneficial for creating small stores on a limited budget;
• Low requirements for hosting quality;
• A sufficient set of ready-made plugins to solve typical problems;
• Regular updates.

Minuses:

• Small and mostly English-speaking community;
• A meager amount of training materials, including video lessons in Russian;
• It is impossible to obtain a unique design without interfering with the code;
• Sometimes, during updates, previously working plugins “fall off”;
• Without knowledge of the English language and, at a minimum, the basics of programming, it will not be possible to unlock the potential of the system.

10. Concrete5 / Concrete 5 → detailed review

Concrete5 is a popular CMS, similar in the mechanics of interaction with website builders based on a visual editor. A distinctive feature and the reason for the popularity of the system is its truly simple interface, within which you can create quite complex websites. By adding elements (widgets), the user assembles pages. They can then be edited by changing the contents of the blocks, colors, backgrounds, fonts, navigation, etc. The editor allows for simple customization of any elements without getting into the code. If you need more, please, this is a CMS, the code is completely open.

Templates can be downloaded for free and purchased ($30-45) on the marketplace of the system’s official website. To expand functionality, you can use plugins by downloading them there. The selection is decent, although it doesn’t reach the leaders in popularity, of course. This CMS is perfect for creating company websites, information portals, and blogs. To a lesser extent - for online stores, since out of the box there are no integrations of payment systems, deliveries and other things that are important for the Runet. SEO optimization capabilities out of the box are basic; paid plugins start at $30.

Pros:

• Interface in the style of designers with a visual editor;
• Suitable for use by beginners;
• Centralized plugin and theme stores with many free options;
• Moderate average cost of templates and paid plugins;
• The engine supports multi-languages.

Minuses:

• Poor adaptation of the system to the needs of the Runet: few extensions with service integrations that are important to us, a small community, sluggish discussions on forums, dead groups on social networks, documentation in English.

In details, the process will differ depending on the CMS used: which plugin to download, where to click, how to install and configure the template, what the texts should be - all this and much more are nuances that depend on the choice of engine and the problem that you solve with its help .

FAQ (Question – Answer)

• Is it possible to make a website using a CMS yourself?

Creating websites on a CMS requires preparation. The person must be an experienced PC user in general and understand entry-level coding (HTML/CSS). The ability to perceive training materials and then apply them in practice is also important.

Few people can just sit down and use the same relatively simple WordPress or very simple Concrete5 from scratch, without preparation and tips. You need to have an understanding of the process and/or be able to learn. These things are not intuitive by default.

In general, yes, it is possible to create a website on a CMS yourself. But it depends on what kind and who will do it. Some can, many others cannot and never will. It is a fact. The task is not for everyone. Many people succeed from scratch if they have stable motivation. The rest pay third-party developers or use website builders - the simplest option.

• Which CMS is better to choose?

The easiest way is to choose a profile system for the type of site you are creating. For example, creating a good store based on Woocommerce + WordPress is the best way for beginners. It is quite possible to implement a full-fledged online store on your own; many people do this. It will be easier for an experienced webmaster to create a store on Opencart than on WP in combination with the Woocommerce plugin. This is because it is a specialized CMS for an online store, containing a solid layer of necessary functionality out of the box. Information sites work well on Joomla, blogs on WP, websites of large companies, portals, etc. on Drupal, Typo3 and MODX.

In addition to the specialization of the engine, it is necessary to take into account the cost and quality of the plugins that will be needed to implement the idea. The popularity of the system also plays a role. The more in demand the engine, the more information, extensions, templates and developers who can help for a reasonable fee. This will ultimately affect the comfort of work and the cost of the project. In general, when you decide on the type of site (business card, store, blog, portal, etc.), read/watch reviews, ratings for specialized CMSs. Choose the most popular one on the RuNet - this is a general recipe that is justified in most cases.

• Is it possible to make a website using a CMS for free?

Definitely not. The engine itself may be free, but the hosting and domain are definitely not. Unless you are creating a website on LAN for yourself. There are many paid plugins for any system, and templates too. Entire studios and development teams make money from these ecosystems. That is, a free CMS means there is no need to pay the cost of an engine license and open access to its API for everyone. Meanwhile, the costs of creating/maintaining a website can be impressive depending on a number of factors.

To be fair, we note that in initially paid ecosystems, the average prices for extensions are often higher, and there are fewer free ones - both plugins and templates. The cost of developer services depends on the popularity of the system and its complexity. The cost of hosting, as well as the requirements for it for a specific CMS and type of site, also vary. All these and many other factors influence the project estimate. One thing is for sure - you will have to invest money in any case. But how much is an individual question.

If you don’t have any money at all to maintain a website, you can use the uCoz constructor - with a free tariff it gives you the opportunity to get hosting and a domain for free: 400+ MB of server space, a website on a subdomain (such as *.ucoz.net, *.ucoz.org, etc. . or free domains *.tk, *.ml, *.ga), access to HTML/CSS/JS source code and other features.

There are many free CMSs. They have varying degrees of popularity and features. There are specialized ones, and there are universal ones due to the structure and extensions. Monetization occurs around any popular system - developers write plugins, provide services, draw, layout and sell templates. Life inside such ecosystems is in full swing, people work and earn money in them. Websites always cost money; there are no free ones.

Creating a website using a CMS is not a task for everyone. It is much easier for the average PC user to solve this problem with the help of a suitable website builder. It makes sense to use a CMS when you have plans to connect your activities and income with this type of system. Or it’s just very interesting to find out what’s going on there. Many engines remain the domain of pros and gifted beginners for a long time. And it is no coincidence that they are complex. General advice for beginners, taking all factors into account: use WordPress or website builders.

If you want to try out what and how, then the easiest way is to go to any free hosting, install WordPress or Joomla automatically, and then go through them with an inexperienced eye, try to create pages, edit a standard template, etc. Without being tied to the result, just watch and understand how it happens. It is advisable to support the voyage by watching a couple of basic training videos to make it a little more interesting.

Systems like Drupal, MODX, Magento, TYPO3 are definitely complex and are not suitable for the role of the first CMS. If necessary, they should be addressed after mastering another, more accessible system in terms of understanding. Usually we are talking about WordPress - the most obvious and practical for the first steps. Or OpenCart is the number one choice for creating your first store. Joomla is good for those who want to relatively easily learn the basics of programming in practice and create a business card or information portal. The templates here are pure HTML/CSS and are quite easy to edit.

CMS Content Management System (Web Content Management System) is a software package that provides functions for creating, editing, monitoring and organizing web pages. CMS are often used to create blogs, personal pages and online stores and are aimed at users who have little knowledge of programming.

Main functions of CMS

Using a CMS has a number of advantages. The user was able to effectively manage his website:

• Thanks to the variety of CMS, you will find the right software. This program will allow you to quickly and productively solve your problems.
• Using the CMS you will create, edit and delete sections. In addition, you can edit data without third-party intervention. This is the main advantage of such a system over static sites.
• During the operation of a web resource, users find many errors. This program allows you to quickly and effectively troubleshoot problems. The site operates on modern and proven technical solutions.
• The costs of creating a website are significantly reduced. The developer does not need time to solve technical problems.

Thanks to these advantages, we can highlight the main functions of the CMS:

• Creation - the user receives a universal tool for creating content.
• Management - you can restrict access to information, add, edit, delete and much more.
• Publication - the article is completely adaptable to the site design; you just need to enter it in the required field.
• Presentation - You can change the color palette, layout, and more of any element on your site.

As you have already noticed, these seemingly simple programs have a wide range of capabilities. Every company strives to create a convenient and understandable interface. These main functions allowed us to highlight a number of advantages:

• Convenience. A user-friendly interface and clear controls are the main advantages of this software.
• Saving. You do not need to resort to the services of specialists and pay additional money for this.
• Safety. You can always rollback and any mistakes made will not be critical. The system also resists hacker attacks. Your information will be safe.
• Documentation. Modules have help files. With these documents you will understand the functions of your CMS.
• Multi-template. Most engines support numerous templates. In addition, the developers are constantly updating the system and providing new types for you to choose from.
• Functionality. Each section or subsection has its own settings and configurations. Depending on your requirements, you will change your site down to the smallest detail.
• Complexity. You can create separate tabs and give control over them to one or more employees (news feed, blogs, etc.).
• Independence. The user of the software is independent of the developers. He can change configurations from his profile. You don't need permission or consent from the developer.
• Extensibility. You can change your system without losing information. During the migration process, your site will function as before.
• Attractive appearance. Various colors and a convenient panel will allow you to get aesthetic pleasure from your work.
• Controllability. The system is easy to use. With a couple of clicks you can change the structure, swap items, sections, root folder, move a line higher or lower and much more.

Each CMS, regardless of the manufacturer, was created taking into account all user requirements.

Types of CMS

The modern market is represented by various software. Some systems are focused on solving specific problems, while others have become universal and practical for any type of content. With the help of programs you will correct, add, delete information of various types on your website. Some CMS represent many functional sections and subsections, others, on the contrary, consist of a single system. The software can be either paid or free. In addition, manufacturers have provided open and closed source modules. That is, you will be able to make your suggestions to the work of the CMS. The computer world has not offered a clear classification of programs. But clear leaders have emerged in the modern market.

So, let's move on to the list of popular control systems.

• Joomla is a free CMS. Bright and comfortable, practical and functional. It has a clear interface and the developer provides constant updates.
• Drupal. The program is freely distributed and equipped with a functional environment for developers. With its help you will create all kinds of web resources and it will be easy to edit data.
• MODx is one of the latest developments. All functionality is available absolutely free of charge. Practical and productive allows you to quickly and efficiently set up the website.
• 1C Bitrix paid module. A program was created from the developers of the famous 1C. In the modern market it is presented in various editions. The cost can vary significantly depending on the functionality of the software.
• WordPress is a free system. Originally created for blog sites. Thanks to its simplicity and functionality, it has gained its popularity. Now this system is used for sites of various types.
• OpenCart is provided free of charge to anyone who wants it. Efficiency and functionality made it popular for online stores.
• And other equally useful and practical CMS (Magento, NetCat, phpBB, etc.).

It is also worth noting that free products are not inferior in quality to paid programs. Quite the contrary! In most cases, free CMS are much more efficient and productive. Because not only specialists work on them, but also an army of their fans.

Shares of free CMS according to itrack.ru

It's difficult to make a choice among such variety. Therefore, before purchasing or installing an “engine,” clearly define the specifics of the site. And only after that make the final choice. For example, if you want to host a business card website, then you should not choose 1C Bitrix or OpenCart. If you want to make the right choice, contact the experts. Employees will not only create the website within the specified time frame, but will also offer the optimal CMS.

Disadvantages of a self-written CMS

Many web studios develop their own CMS. Therefore, they may offer you a module of their own production as the optimal solution for your website. If you are planning a small Internet project, then this option will be acceptable. But just imagine, over time your project will begin to grow and it will require more resources. This is where the first problems will appear. As a result, you will find yourself a hostage to the situation, or rather to your developer. It will take time to understand how the program works; not everyone will agree to this.

Another drawback of the self-written module is its weak security system. This is especially important for online stores. It is this kind of site that requires effective protection of the data of its users. Credit card numbers, payment records and other personal information are all targets for hackers and other criminals. Therefore, CMS requires constant updating of the system functionality. Otherwise, you may lose valuable information.

A significant disadvantage of homemade “engines” for websites is also limited access. That is, you will not be able to make adjustments, add data, or radically change your site. The developers, of course, will promise you this, but in reality you will be limited in what you can do. You can make simple changes: add pictures, change text, etc. But for drastic changes you will need access and knowledge.

Thanks to the appearance of such programs on the market, managing a website has become much easier. - this is, first of all, a tool, but not a universal cure for all problems.

Although any webmaster should know HTML/CSS and be able to put together something on them themselves, it is not at all necessary to create websites from scratch using only these tools.

The Internet developed, the information flow grew, but the purpose of most sites did not change, and from resource to resource people needed approximately the same set of functions. Naturally, constantly reinventing the wheel, and the same one over and over again, is a thankless, costly and useless task. The solution to the problem of quickly creating sites with similar functionality was CMS - content management systems.

What is CMS

The CMS is the so-called “engine” or “skeleton” of the site - basic functionality with ready-made design themes. The webmaster can only upload the CMS files to the server, configure it to suit his needs, select and, if necessary, adjust the design theme, and also fill the site with content - text, photographs, videos, etc.

CMS are written in different programming languages ​​(mostly PHP), but they always use CSS and HTML code, so knowledge of these development tools is always useful.

A CMS can be compared to a program or even an operating system - you install it, configure it and use it. You don’t need to have programming skills for this - you can manage the site through a convenient administration panel, and you can expand the functionality of the resource by installing pre-written extensions - plugins.

Benefits of a CMS

A CMS almost completely eliminates the problems associated with creating a website - installing and configuring any modern engine is simple and does not take much time.

To change the text or add a page to a site created manually using HTML and CSS, you need to edit the code. In the content management system, everything is done through the admin panel with a convenient user interface.

Websites on a CMS are dynamic, they can contain thousands and even tens of thousands of pages, they are easy to expand, they are easy to manage, their design can always be changed with minimal intervention or even without touching the system code at all.

CMS classification

All content management systems can be divided into free, paid and self-written.

A separate line is “mobile CMS”, which runs sites optimized for portable devices. Among them there are also paid, free, and self-written ones.

Paid CMS

It is believed that paid CMS are safer than free ones, and there is logic in this. There are fewer sites running on them, which means they are less popular, which means there is much less information on the Internet about how to hack them. And the developers of paid engines care about their image, and therefore they eliminate vulnerabilities in a timely manner and try to prevent them. By purchasing a paid system, you can count on official technical support.

Typically, the website of a paid engine offers several editions, from which the user selects the optimal one, depending on his needs. The versions differ in functionality and, as a result, in price: fewer features - cheaper. When it comes to choosing a CMS, “More expensive” in no way means “Better”. The editor's choice should be based solely on what the site should look like and what functions it really needs.

Among others, there are three very popular paid content management systems.

• 1C-Bitrix. A product that is best used for really large business projects and complex online stores integrated with 1C. There is a huge amount of reference information on the system in Russian. Thanks to its popularity, it will not be difficult to find a site administrator specializing in 1C-Bitrix.
• NetCat. A fast and low-resource system with an intuitive interface, convenient admin panel and good technical support. You can make any website on it: from a business card to a portal, but NetCat is not very suitable for creating an online store.
• UMI. CMS. The system has well-thought-out documentation and a convenient control panel. UMI.CMS even has its own mobile application. However, now the Umisoft company has moved towards the development of its website builder umi.ru.

Free CMS

People do them not for profit, but “out of love for art.” Hundreds and thousands of developers from different countries support free and open source CMS. New plugins and themes are constantly being created for them, updates and patches are being released.

In principle, a free CMS can also be used to create an online store and a corporate portal, and not just a blog or gallery. Such CMSs also have disadvantages. If paid systems are handled by one company for which the image of its brainchild is important, then anyone can write a theme or module for a free engine. Because of this, extensions are not always safe, not always of high quality - the stability of free systems suffers.

Let's look at three common CMSs that are distributed free of charge.

• WordPress. A huge number of websites have been built on this system; today it is the most popular engine. A sea of ​​themes, thousands of extensions, wide support, ease of use are only part of its positive qualities. But the downside of popularity is a large number of vulnerabilities and increased interest from hackers. You have to fight for the security of a website running on WordPress. It is believed that search engines do not favor the resources on this CMS. This can be explained, again, by popularity. There are too many websites of the same type with a template structure and design themes. It’s no secret that for better optimization, the website design also needs to be optimized. See also tutorials on creating a website on WordPress.
• Joomla!. The second most popular CMS. WordPress is more difficult to learn, but more flexible in settings. See also training lessons on creating a website on Joomla.
• Drupal. The system is even more difficult to master than the previous ones, but it is distinguished by incredible flexibility - if desired, you can create a website on Drupal that suits almost any need.

Self-written CMS

These are control systems written to order. Such a CMS will fully meet all customer requirements and fully suit the needs of the project. Any schoolchild will no longer be able to hack it, because there will be no information on the Internet about the vulnerabilities found in it. In principle, there is only one disadvantage of a good self-written system - the price. Moreover, the price of both development and maintenance, because in the future both modules and design themes will also have to be ordered exclusively for this CMS - third-party developers will not write ready-made extensions.

What to choose?

There is no clear answer. It all depends on the budget, goals and personal preferences. Of course, a large portal or online store cannot do without a CMS; using an online builder you can only create websites “for yourself,” and HTML/CSS is more suitable for static and small business card websites. As for the rest, the choice is yours, my preferences will be as follows:

• For business card sites and blogs - WordPress, because This CMS is the simplest and in terms of labor costs it is the easiest to create a project on it;
• For sites with catalogs and filters - Drupal, a very flexible CMS that allows you to create an optimal structure for SEO tasks; also, with minimal labor costs, you can create a project with elements of social networks and small portals. Many people do the same on Joomla, but I personally don’t like this engine, although I learned to make my first websites on it and it is more popular;
• I often use it for client sites Netcat, because it has a convenient admin panel that is intuitive for users even with minimal computer experience. Also, in terms of labor costs, projects are deployed quite quickly on it, which is very convenient for me for commercial purposes;
• For online stores where there is integration with 1C I use Bitrix, especially in cases where you need to use multi-warehouse technology (if 1C has several warehouses with different prices and balances), I also sometimes use narrow-profile engines for online trading Shop Script(paid) and Opencart(free).