What's the best CMS tool?

[adam fiveson]

I've been working a lot with DNN sites, and I've noticed the cost for setting them up tends to be more expensive than a Joomla site or one with custom PHP.... I'd really like to discuss the pros and cons of each type of CMS system.
Does anyone have anything to share?

Best Regards,

Adam Fiveson
Graphic Design | Branding Services

[Jerry Holmes]

DNN and Joomla are primarily at the same level, conceptually. Both are CMS systems and both operate primarily the same way, There is an overall framework where the look and feel is provided by skins or templates and the functionality is provided by modules or extensions.
Both Joomla and DNN are free, so technically the costs to develop a site on them are free, assuming you have a place to host the platform for no cost and have access to labor at no cost. Any expenses you incur with either system are primarily a function of the hosting and setup fees, and the labor.
DNN is based on .Net and Joomla is based on PHP, which means the former is going to be hosted in IIS and the later on Apache. Which is better comes down to programming religion. Technically you can set up a site in either system without knowing a lick of .Net or PHP, but if you can't find a prebuilt module to address your functionality needs, then you are going to have to write some code, and that is where any major costs are going to be incurred. Even if you can write the code yourself, your own time is still valuable.
Both Joomla and PHP have module libraries, but DNN is older than Joomla and .Net seems to be more prolifically distributed than PHP, largely due to Microsoft's weight and muscle. Even in the college town here, you would think that I could easily find PHP or Apache talent... and I can... but not near as easily as I can find a VB.Net or C# coder. DNN is on version 4.7(ish) soon to be 5. Joomla just realeased 1.0 and I think I saw a 1.5 release candidate. The number of modules and templates available for DNN are staggering, while with Joomla... though large... is not quite so impressive.
Now... Joomla seems to be a bit "tighter" when it comes to engineering.... the code base is certainly smaller to download, but that may be just a function of the newness. Hosted DNN seems to be slightly more expensive than hosted Joomla... average of $20/month as opposed to $6/month... but I have a feeling that's because you get so much more with DNN.
I would love to start a feature comparison here for DNN vs Joomla.
Now... custom PHP falls into the same category as any custom rolled solution. I've developed in PHP, ASP, .Net (C#) and also created pure XML/XSLT solutions. It's all coding and it comes down to preference. I can't really say one is faster (thus cheaper) than the other. It call comes down to how good you are with the particular hammer you've chosen to swing. I will tell you, however, that we can put together a complex web application in about 1/8th of the time using DNN and ListX (a module) than we can hand rolling it from either of those language choices.
Any thoughts?

[adam fiveson]

Thanks for your response Jerry... I would love to learn more about the services you offer.

Please make sure this is on your profile so I can check it out.

Best,

Adam

[Susan Kristoff]

I use Joomla! for my company web site and I've been very happy with it. The price can't be beat, and so far, it has done everything I've wanted it to do. I'm a sole-proprietor, and certainly not a web developer, and I found Joomla! easy to use and understand. The Joomla! forums have answered any questions I've had. I've had very good luck with Open Source software, Joomla! included.

-Sue Kristoff

[Tina Walker]

I used to be hooked on Joomla - because I really enjoy the wide variety of components and modules. However, in stating that I have learned it has its place and for larger more complex sites I have been using drupal. Drupal has less bells and whistles, but what it does have is extremely well built and I have a lot less bugs with it. It works fabulous in situations where multiple levels of security access is required. I have now used it to build a CMS for a school that needed grade components for parents, a company who provides different levels of access to both front and backend for customers and employees, and for a not for profit organization that allows volunteers to make certain changes and employees to others. Its a harder install on NII servers, but fabulous when ran off linux. If you can create a template for joomla, then you can create a template for drupal easier. That's my two cents. Adam - have not talked to you in FOREVER....good to see your still kick'n it!