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We’re agnostic when it comes to choosing between open source and bespoke content management systems; both have their strengths and weaknesses. Over the past couple of years we’ve favoured the open source CMS (Content Management System) route, and have persuaded a number of customers’ using ageing bespoke system to make the switch to use an open source CMS.
Why would you choose a bespoke CMS?
If your website is something unique, in terms of functionality, or needs integrating with some custom made back-end office systems then going the bespoke route is probably the right choice. Of course going down the bespoke route is going to need a larger budget and likely involve a longer time frame for development.
If adopting a bespoke CMS you need to choose the company wisely that will be developing the system. If the code is theirs’, referred to as ‘closed source’, then you’ll be entirely reliant on that web development company to offer continued support and bug fixes; you are effectively ‘locked in’ and changing agencies could prove impractical or sometimes impossible.
If you are able to switch agencies, and have full access to the source code of your website, you may still find yourself with problems. Any new developer working on your bespoke CMS will need time to understand exactly how the CMS has been constructed in order to make any changes. If the CMS has been poorly designed or constructed or the source code isn’t well documented then progress can be slow and expensive. Sometimes migrating to another CMS can be more cost effective than continuing with the existing system.
A bespoke system can be more secure than an open source system. Your bespoke system is likely only fully understood by a small team of people; so security can be far higher just because fewer people are aware of it. However don’t rely on this; a poorly constructed CMS or one that isn’t updated to fix newly discovered security flaws in its programming language is still vulnerable.
The open source alternative.
Any of the leading open source CMS packages such as WordPress, Joomla and Drupal have been around for many years. They will already have had thousands of hours spent in development time, and will have a team of full time developers dedicated to making updates and improvements – which you can benefit from. You’re unlikely to find a developer (and team) who are as dedicated to keeping your bespoke CMS up-to-date.
For small business owners this is a massive plus point; if your website needs can be solved using an open source CMS solution then it’s hard to argue against this. And even where you have to customise an open source CMS you’re still benefitting from all those years of development time for free.
As developers if we invest time in learning a CMS such as WordPress we can be pretty certain that this knowledge is still going to be relevant for years to come. So if you choose to use an open source CMS and wish to change agencies then because of these systems popularity you’re unlikely to have a problem finding a talented developer to help you.
Choosing an open source CMS.
The variety of good open source CMS packages available can make choosing the right one a little daunting. Whilst all of them can be utilised to produce simple websites each one naturally lends itself to being better in certain circumstances.
Our favourite CMS package is WordPress. In terms of simplicity and ease of use it’s hard to beat it. Out of the box WordPress it isn’t particularly impressive, but coupled with the variety of plugins available and the relative ease of customisation makes it a popular choice. In fact around 20% of all websites published are powered by the WordPress CMS.
Sometimes we get asked to contruct a website using a specified CMS, usually people have heard that one CMS is far superior to the others – so naturally the want to use the best one. Whilst that CMS might have been perfect for their website it may not be the best choice for yours.
Most open source CMS packages have working demos already set up, so you can log in and have a look around the admin screens, try adding some pages, and generally have a play around. We’ve installed a few of our favourite demos here.
Useful links
List of open source CMS packages on Wikipedia
Demos of open source CMS packages at opensourcecms.com