I've read posts which talk about CMSs. I have designed a simple website for an aquaintance and am doing another for a small charity voluntarily. I have reasonable skills in xhtml and CSS but want other novice users to update pages in a simple way. Some feed back on my thoughts below would be appreciated.

I have an idea what a CMS is and know that it sits on the host and controls changes to pages. Is there a site which describes a CMS architecture in simple ways? All the sites which plug their CMSs assume you know what t is!

I have looked at ROR but it seems you have to learn programming seriously to use this one. Am I right?

I looked at Snippetmaster and think this is not suitable for a small site and did'nt quite get the message about it!

I looked at XOOPs and that did relate quite well as it has a hands on tutorial about changing a page. This looks like a real possibility and I do not need to learn programming, right? I assume this requires templates to be built?

I also looked at the IBM site which assessed various CMSs for their project and they went ahead with DRUPAL. I am going to look at this one now. XOOPs was not considered!

I have got and use Studio 8 (education version) and Contribute a bit but Contribute costs over £100 - too expensive and really needs dreamweaver to go alongside. I wonder how this package is integrated with a CMS. Anyone comment?

Xoops is a great selection for a site to be maintained by people without technical web knowledge and skills!

Without opening the debate over which CMS to select, everyone will find one that suits their needs. Almost everyone here at XOOPS has tried more than one CMS (sometimes more than once) and found XOOPS to be the answer for them.

To your question about templates - in Xoops-world we have themes to customize the look of your site. There are many excellent choices for your sites, so you do not need to spend a great deal of time on that.

Give this visual introduction to xoops a try. Then take a look at the beginners first steps FAQ section. These two things will help your understanding of how XOOPS works. I didn't know the first thing about code and still don't know much but have had my XOOPS site for a coupls of years. You will need to develop some new skills but be patient and you will get there.

Hi and welcome to xoops.

About different CMS (and other) scripts you can find (and test) at http://www.opensourcecms.com/
Also you may try http://cmsmatrix.org/

I think most web designers find themselves in the same situation you are in now. How do you let users update their own websites? There are a few options:

1. A CMS like XOOPS!

A CMS is primarily used as a community portal designed to let visitors interact with each other and to let a number of writers publish content. Many CMSs can be configured via plug-ins to perform a variety of functions from a personal website to a full e-commerce site. The downside of a CMS is that it might be too much to manage for the website owner.

2. A BLOG like Wordpress

A blog is a great way for individuals or small organizations who just need a simple way to publish news and content. Most BLOGS have a very user friendly interface for regular updates.

3. Web editors like Contibute

Contribute is nice for static content only. Use this when publishers do not have the web server resources to install a database required for a CMS or Blog.

A great place to start reading is actually the Wikipedia. Search for CMS, blogs, and websites. That should be your first stop in my opinion.

Edit: Never rely on posts in message boards when trying to choose a CMS. Most users of any CMS are fiercely loyal and will defend it to the grave. Every CMS has its advantages and disadvantages. As a designer, your best bet is to take a look at the template system and an example template. If it looks like something you can design around, then give it a shot. Once you learn one CMS system, you will be able to then compare it to others and make better judgements.

OK, I'm still on board. Good responses so obviously a live forum. I have a further question. Can I build an accessible website using XOOPs?

Yes, you can create an accessible site in Xoops. It is not easy. Most CMS systems you come across are not going to be easy to validate according to accessibilty standards.

The problem is our history, I mean among all CMS. When these systems were created, it was standard practice to use tables and such for layout. Even browsers can't agree on the standards, yet. So, don't expect the moon no matter which CMS or system you choose.

I have used probably every CMS around for one thing or another. I can tell you that XOOPS is going to be the best CMS to learn if you are attempting one for the very first time. This goes for installation, maintenance, and design.

A CMS uses modules or extensions, they all have their own treminology, for adding the various functions. Many of these are also not coded to generate standards compliant output.

When you design your main theme, you can make sure your "wrapper" is compliant, but cleaning up the content from modules and core functions can be a pretty big chore. It can be done, but it usually means writing a template for every module in most CMS systems.

Good luck.

I want to know how to install XOOPS ???

Can you help me?

Start Here

jobsjoseph: That link will give you everything you need to get started. Once you download xoops, you also find instructions there. Don't be intimidated. It looks complicated, but the developers really made it easy. You literally upload the files and send your browser to your website. It is that easy.

The hardest part is creating a database and user using your webhost's conrol panel.

Good luck.