With all of those types of CMS’s available to you, which ones do you know to pick? The big, famous CMS just because everyone else uses it or a lesser known CMS that for all you know is better than the big guys?
1. Get people’s opinions
The opinion of possible readers, members or subscribers matters a lot. You could go to a forum and ask around for great CMS options and see if you get something out of the ordinary. While it is almost guaranteed that people will shout out popular CMS’s (like WordPress or Drupal), you should take into consideration the lesser known options as well.
Read some reviews of the CMS too. Blogs have a ton of reviews, and you will find that not all popular CMS’s have great user experiences. I know a handful of people who don’t like WordPress, but are doing perfectly fine on a different CMS.
This can take a while to do, and I know you will be eager to start getting everything ready. But it does make sense to just simply go around for a little while and see what people think. If you already have your mind set on a CMS, then that’s great. But you never know what a couple different views could do for you.
2. Use something you think you can work with
If you like the features of WordPress, but aren’t comfortable with the interface of the latest version then WordPress will not work for you. Then there could always be the CMS you’re comfortable with but the features suck.
Just because it works for a lot of people doesn’t mean it will work for you, said David Faltz, Founder of White Rabbit Marketing.
Be a leader, not a follower. You can’t expect to just know your way around a CMS and know everything there is to know about it.
3. Ask yourself some questions
Asking yourself questions about this CMS can make you realize that maybe this is not the best option.
Can I easily customize it?
You should do a background check. If you can find a strong, active community that continuously writes modifications and themes for that CMS then maybe that will be perfect for you. You will learn the process of installing and managing everything, and might even pick up on some coding tricks.
Safety first, is it secure?
Today there are too many hackers to name. Why some people hack into your websites, I will never understand. But you need to keep your community safe from these people. You should always look for addons that enhance your security, go back to the forums and ask how secure the CMS is, see what security measures are taken in version release notes. Better to be safe than sorry, right?
Will I be able to work with it?
Can you get through the admin panel okay? If you have trouble navigating, you may want to consider taking out time of the day to go through it and see if you can find your way better after noting where everything is. Another option could be to see if you can change the style of your admin panel. I know it can be done in WordPress, but I’m sure there are plenty of available ways to do it in other CMS’s.
Does it have all the features I want?
Sometimes you won’t know it from the very beginning, but there are things that will tell you what features there are.
- Try a demo version. Paid forum software like vBulletin, or Invision Power Board have a demo version of their latest versions. This is a great way for you to get familiar with how everything works before taking that financial plunge. Other CMS systems are free, and may not have a demo. But it doesn’t hurt for you to download and install it and take it for a test drive.
- Again, get reviews. Tons of CMS’s have reviews posted on blogs, forums, and any other kind of website. Hopefully if it’s a good review then it will mention the features of the CMS.
Can I host this?
If you plan on self-hosting your community, then you need to have all the qualifications for hosting it met. All CMS’s should have a list of requirements your host needs to meet. You can get an amazing host for as little as $5 a month.
If you can’t pay, or just don’t want to self-host your CMS then don’t worry about a thing. There are plenty of places where you can sign up for a free blog of forum.
If you want a blog on a free hosted service, I recommend the following:
- WordPress.com
- Blogger
- Tumblr
If you want a forum on a free hosted service, I recommend the following:
- ZetaBoards
- Formation
4. Compare
Some software shares very common features with other software. But there is always something that makes a huge difference, and makes one stand out from the other.
A great way to compare different kinds of forum software is to use a tool called ForumMatrix. What that does, is you check what forum software you want to be compared and it will do a side by side comparison of it. It has just about every major forum platform, as well as some you may have never heard of.
Shyam Bhardwaj
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