Selecting a Content Management System

Selecting a content management system is really hard. According to CMS Matrix there are over 500 available options, and the number is growing all the time. It is impossible to thoroughly evaluate them all. What can you do?

As you will find throughout our site, we only recommend one CMS package, the open source CMS eZ Publish. We settled on this package as our preferred solution starting with version 3.2, released in 2003. We have since implemented every subsequent website using eZ Publish, now in version 3.9. In 2006 we became a Silver Level eZ Publish Partner, further solidifying our commitment to the platform and the community.

The main reasons are that we found it to be:

• Stable, well-developed and mature software
• Standards compliant
• Section 508 ADA compliant in both the user and administrator interfaces
• Flexible enough to meet any virtually any need
• Enterprise ready, and capable of growing with our clients’ needs
• Not dependent on us – if you don’t like us when we are done (though we know you will!), your investment is safe, and there are hundreds of capable eZ Publish partners to support your site
• Easy to upgrade, extend and customize
• Free, from licensing costs, upgrade costs, subscription costs, server software costs, etc
• Well documented, and supported by a large, stable, development firm
• Much more capable than any home-grown or bespoke system can become (with any reasonable budget)

Most importantly, we understand the system. Thoroughly. The answer to any question that our clients ask that begins with “Can we do this…” is always “Yes.”

Every system has its strengths and weaknesses, and unfortunately the marketing and demo sites for most systems will only tell you the highlights. This makes it hard to know what the "gotchas" will be once you have committed to the system.