PHP Website Scripts - Recommendation Needed

[MicroGuy]

I've been building websites for a while and use Microsoft Expression Web, manual HTML coding, and occasionally Wordpress with various applied templates.

What I'm now looking for is a free script like Wordpress where you basically upload the files, create a database and build the basic site via a web based interface. I would also like to be able to edit templates at the code level.

Any recommendation would be much appreciated. Remember, it should be free, widely used, and preferably written in PHP. Maybe there's even a template for Wordpress that will work. I don't mind the blog but want the home page to be static.

Thank you.

 

[uswebdev]

You are probably looking for a Content Management System (CMS). Most people like Joomla! or Drupal. For simple blog/news style sites it may be easier to stick with WP.

 

[-NC-]

Sounds like you're looking for a CMS. I've been looking for the perfect one for a long time.

check out http://opensourcecms.com/ for some demos and http://cmsmatrix.org for a listing of CMS's which is so big that you won't be able to find what you want.

Here's a quick overview of a few I've used:

Widely used:
drupal
joomla

Pros: multi site capability ( one install, multiple sites ), massive community, loads of plugins
Cons: bloated and imho, pure pain to use

New(ish)
Concrete5
SilverStripe

Pros: really easy to use
Cons: afaik, concrete5 doesn't do multi site, silverstripe *kinda* does, the communities are small so features are missing, plugins and templates are scarce

Tiny:
www.mini-print.com

Pros: really lightweight, not even a database is needed
Cons: a bit clunky to use, zero community that i know of, inflexible ( unless you want to mod it yourself )

 

[MicroGuy]

Yes, I like this term content management system. I'll check out all recommendations above. The last site I built from scratch took a few months and I don't have that much time.

Just found this page: http://www.thefreecountry.com/php/contentmanagement.shtml

Update: Wow. There are a lot of open source CMS choices. For some reason, I keep coming back to this one. Anyone here tried it?

http://expressionengine.com/showcase/updated/

 

[MicroGuy]

Thanks for the help. I decided on Joomla for now....it's really neat.

 

[barefoottech]

Wise choice
Joomla! Rules

 

[sb225]

Thanks for the help. I decided on Joomla for now....it's really neat.

joomla was great but e107 was very easy to customize and they dont have much plugins

 

[Fragger]

Ugh... Joomla is so bloated and just a general pain in the ass. NC hit it right on the head.

Probably 90% of the sites I see done with Joomla are by people who really don't grasp the system, and end up making atrocious looking mini sites with it...

 

[MicroGuy]

I agree with the Joomla being bloated and hard to use. The vast number of plugins and themes was the main attraction.