Plain Label CMS

[MarsdenSam]

Hi Guys,

I am looking for a CMS solution that is completely re-brandable. Has anyone come accross any?

I love CushyCMS but the PRO version is still "Cushy" branded.

Cheers

Sam

 

[kjv1611]

What do you mean by "rebrandable"? Are you talking about whether or not the CMS icon shows on the website, or are you talking at a code level, or what?

 

[MarsdenSam]

I'd simply like to brand the site as my own - doesn't need to be on a code level just want my logo / colours etc instead of theirs.

 

[kjv1611]

Well, I've been using Drupal for a while, and it's default logo shows up when you first install it, but you can disable it with one click, or replace it with your own. It's not required to show any proof on the site whatsoever that it is a Drupal-based site.

http://drupal.org

Drupal runs primarily on PHP programming and html/css for delivering the web pages, and it's data is stored (usually) in a MySql database. But there are other options for the database, including SQLite and PostESQL or whatever that one is called - you can find all that on the drupal site as well as

http://groups.drupal.org

 

[kjv1611]

I will also point out that setting up a drupal site, you can go as shallow or as deep as you want into the technicalities. However, it isn't one that you can just flat click-click-click, and have a fully functional site. You need to be willing to do SOME learning, and spend some time working on it. Of course, there have been some huge improvements over the past few years on how easy it is to install and get going. Also, version 7, which is probably due to be released in a few months at most, I'd imagine, is looking to make things even easier.

I say it's not child's play, but it's far easier than hand-coding a whole CMS on your own. It's a lot of fun at times, learning pieces of it, but it can be a challenge, as I suppose anything in life that's worth anything will provide some challenges..

 

[spamjim]

Search for a GPL-licensed CMS, of which Drupal is one. Some other common GPL CMS's are WordPress and Joomla.

 

[kjv1611]

Here's one place to search for them if you want to look for and compare:

http://php.opensourcecms.com/scripts/show.php?catid=1&cat=CMS / Portals

This site has lots of info as well, but I think it includes open source AND closed source offerings:

http://www.cmsmatrix.org/

By the way, I only mentioned Drupal, b/c it's what I use. When I first learned about CMSes a few years ago, I liked the general idea, however I specifically liked Drupal, b/c of it's many options of customization as well as it's performance vs the other most popular ones.

Probably the most popular are:
phpBB (for forums, if you are mainly looking to setup a forum)
Drupal
Joomla
Wordpress

Seems like there was at least one or two other "popular" ones, but I just can't think of them right now. Of those, Wordpress may be the most common. And though many Wordpress sites have an icon, link, etc on their site to show it's a Wordpress site, I doubt it is required. Only way to know for sure is to read the licensing agreements.

From what I read about the various CMSes, Drupal can have the biggest or one of the biggest learning curves, so in that respect it's not the best choice. But I wasn't concerned with that aspect as much as the flexibility and performance aspects.

One other thought - if you DO go with a CMS, make sure you find a host that seems to do well with sites based on your particular CMS. The web host can make all the difference there.

As far as hosting, I used to have the sites I work on hosted with 1and1. I think they are a very good host for static sites where you don't really need to get into the nitty gritty of things. But as soon as you need to customize anything, or particularly you need to run a CMS, or specifically the drupal CMS, well let's just say I wasn't impresed. As much as I liked that host, I had to go hunting. I came across a host named AnHosting, and read a couple different reviews, but the one that fit better to what I was looking for, as far as the info provided, was the one by John Forsythe, designer/owner of

http://www.drupalmodules.com.

Now, there are many hosts that do well with CMSes. I only mention the one I mention, b/c it's what I decided on, and it's what I use. I don't have the finances to go out and try everything out there.

Here's the review by J.Forsythe on Anhosting for use with Drupal websites:

http://blamcast.net/an-hosting-review

There are some other hosts I've been curious about, and would love to try to compare, but I don't want to spend extra when I can do well enough with my current host.

I will say that I have at times wanted to try Joomla and Wordpress to compare, myself, but just haven't taken the time to do so. Once you've got a host setup that will support CMSes well, you can always try the different ones if you have and want to take the time. Frankly, you won' tknow which you prefer, really, unless you try them all I suppose. I've read of folks going from drupal to the others, as well as from the others to drupal. It's all about what you like best, and what works for you.

And now, back to my coffee, and away from the keyboard!