web hosting

How to Find a Host for Your CMS

Unless you possess your own servers, you will need a web host in order to run a CMS package like Joomla, Mambo or PHP Nuke.  While most software do not require any fancy features to run smoothly, the actual results all depend on the host.  There are literally thousands of hosting providers out there and matching one up with your CMS needs can be somewhat of a challenge.   This article will provide a few tips to make your search a bit less painless.

Web Hosting Reviews

You need to learn more about different hosting providers before deciding on a service and one of the best ways to start is reading reviews.  There are numerous review sites online but you should be very selective on where you read them.  Some reviews are written by unbiased web hosting experts, some come from affiliates and some of the more unscrupulous hosts have been caught tooting their own horn.  You can get the best insight from a good mix of expert and consumer reviews as opposed to those that are hyping up companies like they can do no wrong.

When going over these hosting reviews, it is advisable to read them carefully and never put too much into one person’s opinion.  For instance, one customer may have had a terrible experience with a particular host while another may state that they are delighted with the service.  Everyone is picky in their own way and pleasing every single customer is simply not impossible.  Because of this, you shouldn’t get too alarmed when running across a few negative reviews.  You should however, start to get a little cautious once the number of negative comments begins to multiply.

Leverage Available Search Tools

Another good way to find a quality CMS hosting solution is to utilize your preferred search engine.  Google and Yahoo are both great tools that will help you move beyond reviews and delve further into the world of content management systems.  With the right search, you will run across sites and communities that can not only help you find a hosting service, but also a CMS that suits your needs.  Although the popular free systems get a lot of the spotlight, there is a lot more out there besides the open-source variety.  Content management is prevalent in many areas and a search engine can put you on the path to a wealth of relative information.

Chat with Prospective Providers

When looking for somewhere to host your CMS, it is never a bad idea to do a little conversing with the hosting provider.  After all, you will need to know what, if any scripts they have available as well as those they support.  There may be limitations that prevent you from running the CMS that delivers the most benefits.  Aside from making sure the host meets all the system requirements, you must also make sure they are able to provide you with a reliable service.  Content management can be a real drag on a server that is slow or constantly going down.

Is WordPress Really a CMS?

Blogging is still soaring in the Web 2.0 era and WordPress is easily the most popular engine on the market.  This multipurpose blogging software is used for everything from personal diaries to business applications, helping many achieve online notoriety and even more bring in consistent revenue.  Although WordPress is generally referred to as a weblog publishing tool, some are calling it a CMS.  Do you agree?  We don’t.  And this article will explain why.

In order to determine whether WordPress is a CMS or not, you should first become acquainted with the three main types of content management systems, as outlined below.

Open-source Systems – Software packages like Drupal and Joomla that are becoming more popular for small to medium sized ventures.

Enterprise Systems - Proprietary solutions like Microsoft Content Server.  This type of CMS is geared towards corporate users that require powerful business applications and frequent database interaction.

Home Grown Systems – These systems are developed in-house by webmasters who have specific requirements for content management.

When comparing the WordPress platform to the software in these classifications, it falls short as merely an over-hyped content delivery system.  Though it has a tremendous following and a number of benefits, WordPress doesn’t have what it takes to be called a real CMS.   In fact, it lacks several of the necessary protocols the average CMS provides as standard.  This includes update features, security tools, user permissions and more complex content management functionality.  When considering the all the capabilities it is missing, calling WordPress a CMS may be like unfairly moving it up in weight class.

Should WordPress be a CMS?

Perhaps the real issue should be whether or not WordPress needs to be more like a genuine CMS.  While this software gives you a lot, there are limitations and thus disadvantages.  Ask a fan of Mambo or PHP-Nuke and they will probably tell you that WordPress is highly inferior.

Despite the shortcomings, it still is a very efficient tool and rightly embraced by millions of users around the world.  It can also be a nice alternative to some of the more complex and intimidating content management systems.  For the most part, the user community is happy with the functionality and would probably prefer to keep things as they are.  After all, turning the platform into a true CMS would tamper with a relatively clean code and possibly cause the software to lose some of its natural appeal.  Besides, simplicity and ease of use are two of WordPress’ biggest advantages.

Conclusion

There is no denying the capabilities of WordPress.  The overwhelming enthusiasm the community shares for this platform is certainly warranted.   It is very cost effective and makes and ideal tool for small to medium sized operations and can even move up to a larger scale as well.   Be that as it may, tagging WordPress as a content management system is not inherantly accurate.   In order to earn that title, the software would require a major overhaul which would in turn, cause it to lose so much of the qualities that has made it so popular.

Fantastico: cPanel’s Best Kept Secret

It is clear to see why cPanel is the leading control panel software.  The intuitive GUI results in ease of use while the rich set of features offers functionality that extends benefits to server administrators, resellers and end-users alike.  Indeed, cPanel has many qualities and one of its greatest attributes is Fantastico.

What is Fantastico?

Fantastico is an extremely useful application that usually comes free in web hosting accounts powered by the cPanel control panel.  Designed to run on Unix-like platforms, its purpose is to facilitate the simple installation of a wide range of popular scripts.  These add-on programs are totally free and can literally be installed in a matter of minutes.  The Fantastico advantage is all in the software and below are some of the categories you will find.

Blogs

The blog represents one of the very first social networking platforms and Fantastico gives you a wonderful variety to choose from.  Both Nucleus and b2Evolution are included but the most notable of all has to be WordPress.  Easily the most popular blogging application available, WordPress is widely supported by a large community and can be enhanced through a number of themes and templates.  If you’re looking to delve into the Blogosphere, Fantastico has you covered.

Content Management

Content management systems provide webmasters with a more effective way to build and administer their websites.  Even though most web hosting accounts come integrated site builders, these utilities fail in comparison to the power of a CMS.   This type of software is ideal for running medium to large sized websites and has the ability to assign varying levels of administrative access and permissions.  Some of today’s most popular community-based sites are running on content management systems.  The CMS lineup you will find in Fantastico includes Drupal, Mambo, Tiki Wiki, XOOPS and Joomla among several others.

Customer Relations

Establishing trusting relationships with customers is vital to the success of any business.  Fantastico betters the chance of keeping your customer base happy with applications like Help Center Live, osTicket, PHP Support Tickets, Support Services Manager and more.  These programs give you the ability to create the ultimate support center where your customers can get assistance through support tickets, FAQs, video tutorials and downloadable documentation.  Even if you can’t be around to answer the phone 24/7, such resources can assure that your customers are still able to get the help they need, when they need it.

E-commerce Tools

Fantastico has a little something for everyone, including those who desire to sell products and services online.  You can set up a web-based storefront in no time with popular open-source programs such as Cube Cart, osCommerce and Zen Cart.  Shopping cart software can get pretty expensive but these highly functional applications won’t cost you a thing with Fantastico.

These are just a few of numerous scripts that come bundled with Fantastico.  Other programs include discussion boards, photo galleries, project management tools and website builders.  Fantastico contorts to the novice, allowing those with little to no technical skills to instantly enhance their web presence. One could say that cPanel is a trendsetter as more control panels are being developed with application installers that mimic the abilities of Fantastico.

Mambo vs. Joomla – These CMS Rivals Square Off

The original Mambo Open Source content management system has spawned numerous variations and forks.  Two of the major systems are Mambo as we know it today and the award-winning Joomla CMS.  Joomla 1.0 is quite similar to Mambo but version 1.5 has broke out with an identity all its own.  So, which CMS is right for you?  There are advantages and disadvantages to both solutions and we will cover them in this article.

Mambo

While there has only been a slight change in the project name, most of Mambo’s development team abandoned the system in 2005 to create Joomla.  Every since then, the system has struggled in terms of popularity as a large portion of the Mambo user community followed the developers in favor of Joomla.  Be that as it may, Mambo remains a solid choice and continues to improve.

Advantages - Mambo is a stable, lightweight system that puts out exceptional performance on a busy website.  Despite losing the original development team, the project has good management and positive hope for future development.  Even as an open-source system, Mambo can be easily integrated with non-GPL systems and commercial extensions.

Disadvantages - The biggest drawback to Mambo is that it lacks new extensions.  This goes back to 2005 as most of the developers who wrote extensions for the system shifted over to Joomla.  Another disadvantage is that Mambo has a smaller user community than Joomla, meaning you might have to search long and hard to get quality support.

Mambo works best for small to medium sized businesses as well as webmasters that do not require lots of upgrades and extensions.  To put it simple, this system performs better on a basic website that contains minimal interactive features.

Joomla

As we mentioned above, Joomla 1.0 is very similar to Mambo.  In fact, there are a number of extensions that support both systems.  Although the first generation still has a large user base, that will all change soon as the Joomla development team is slated to halt support for the product this coming July.  Joomla 1.5 offers many improvements over the previous version and is largely supported by the development team and user community.

Advantages – Joomla 1.5 is supported by a wide variety of extensions and the number is growing faster than any CMS that forked off from Mambo.  The system also supports many of the older extensions with the aid of the legacy mode plugin.  The rapidly expanding community ensures that you can get decent support and answers in Joomla forums.

Disadvantages – Joomla 1.5 is a bit heavier than the previous version and thus might run slower depending on the server.  This could make it real frustrating to keep your site fresh with the  necessary updates.  Additionally, the Joomla team has taken an official stance where the GPL states that commercial extensions are not to interact with the system’s API, basically ruling out any developers who do not want their extensions licensed under the GPL.  On the other hand, many developers have chosen to ignore this rule.  As it stands now, it seems as if this is one rule that will never be strictly enforced.

Joomla is best suited for small to medium sized businesses with the need to create a content-rich site and access a variety of third-party extensions.

If you’re looking for a winner, Joomla is most likely to be supported into the future but Mambo will probably require fewer upgrades as versions aren’t released as frequently.

Assessing the Open-source CMS

Many webmasters have a need to effectively manage content as it enables the creation of large, easy to maintain websites.  The problem is that not everyone can afford the high-end proprietary solutions such as IBM WebSphere and the Microsoft Content Server.  Fortunately, there are also several open-source systems on the market that offer a cost-effective means for achieving the same goal.  This article will shed some light on what you need to look for in an open-source CMS.

For the most part, every content management system is designed to produce the same results.  What mainly sets them apart is ease of use and features.  One product might lack some of the basic features but make up for them with add-on support.  A system that doesn’t have a WYSIWYG editor, for example, may offer support for an add-on module such as TinyMCE.   A product that has a complex interface could be enhanced by modifying the menu system or customizing layout templates.  When it comes to the open-source CMS, it isn’t so much about native features as it is flexibility.  You can access the overall flexibility of a system by viewing it from these angles:

Default Capabilities: The default capabilities of a CMS basically entail what is included with the installation, and determine if you can perform essential tasks without any problems.  When assessing the flexibility of any system, it is important to look for one that offers an acceptable level of basic functionality and provides the structure for creating a dynamic website.

Add-on Support: Most systems support add-on modules so it is up to you to find out what capabilities they possess.  Aside from features, consider how easy they will be to incorporate into the existing system as well.

Templates: Templates are a major part of any CMS as they allow you to modify the look and feel of your content.  If you are proficient with coding, you may want to find a product that lets you write your own templates.  In this case, you would need a system that supports the languages you are familiar with.

SEO: Many content management systems offer search engine appeal right out of the box.  However, not every product does.  Visibility is crucial for a large site so it is best to find a product that enables the easy creation of web pages and appeases the search engines.

Product Recommendations

The open-source CMS market is huge and there are a variety of products available.  Two of the most widely used systems on the market are Drupal and Mambo.  Drupal is a robust system with quality design and clean code.  It comes loaded with exceptional default capabilities as well as templates and layouts that are easily to manipulate.  Drupal is one of the most comprehensive systems available and the preferred choice for many businesses.

Mambo is easy to install and enables the simple management of content-rich sites.  The system includes a number of default features that provide support for multiple authors with little training required.  Both systems are SEO-friendly and support various add-ons for enhanced functionality.  Keep in mind that each product requires that you have a basic understanding of HTML and PHP.