CMS Questions

[oo7ml]

Hi, i am completely new to CMS's and i was wondering could someone please help me with these 3 questions?

1. Can anyone advise me on any sites or info that i should look at in relation to CMS. I want to start adding them into sites that i build.

2. Do most of you use cms scripts/templates or do most people just create them from scratch

3. Should a CMS allow a webmaster to change the actual layout (navigation, menus etc...) or are they primarily for managing the content within a site.

Thanks in advance

[TJ111]

1. http://opensourcecms.com is a great resource for trying out different CMS's to see which ones fit your needs best. I'd recommend trying out the demos before choosing which one to integrate.

2. I have never used a premade CMS simply because they don't fit the bill for what I need or don't offer enough control. I have written a few CMS's though for my specific clients needs.

3. A CMS is primarily for managing the content on a site (hence Content Management System), but some minor style changes can be allowed. I think it's best to seperate Styles from Content, so most changes should be done by the developer.

[oo7ml]

Thanks for your reponse

[TheRave]

I've used Mambo, Joomla and phpNuke in the past. They're all quite good and have their quirks. I've never fully used them for a site but more just looking at them to get ideas for developing my own site(s).

Most of the sites I do wouldn't necessarily conform to a CMS.

Most CMSs provide some kind of templating structure. The content and style are kept as seperate as possible.