Hi, I am looking for a small business CMS that has a lighter backend. I'd prefer something free, but similar to subdreamer. I've played with Drupal and Joomla, but they are a bit heavy for what I need, and I want to teach my employer to use it herself, so I was hoping for something rather user friendly (if that's even possible!). I'd rather not use Wordpress for this, as we have a blog already. I would be glad to hear any suggestions!
I already stated I didn't want to use Wordpress, and there's other reasons for that. I'm quite familiar with WP and it's limitations.
I've found that the idea behind Drupal is working to set it up so that it is, in fact, easy to use. Maybe Drupal 7 will make that an easier task. The only one that I took serious interest in was ModX CMS. I'm not sure if that will fit your needs, however.
Drupal can be really easy, I've learned, if you just focus on the Create/Manage content areas. I set up a Drupal site recently for my mother-in-law and she figured it out on her own in under a day, with no design or CMS experience. Plus the default Drupal install is just a megabyte - not really that heavy. Or you might check out XOOPS at xoops.org ...pretty straightforward CMS worth checking out. HTH
If you really want to use something quick and smart switch to a flat file CMS. I´m using RazorCMS on a couple of sites. I have some infos about flat file CMS in my blog. One example: http://www.foolcut.com But basically its a question what you need. Wordpress is not bad, but for many uses already too much. Also its the question whether it should be a CMS or a blog ... or both ... So if you want to have a bit more than just a small flat file CMS there are some more options. Beside Wordpress I have used phpwebsite which I still think is one of the best coded programmes around.
take a look in here .. http://cmsmatrix.org/ Compare some CMS, Visit several official websites and try demos // Toon
There are many CMS installs you can use. If you do not think wordpress will work for your needs (which is very understandable considering the severe limitations of wordpress, you do have alot of options. Drupal is fairly lightweight, and I love Drupal, but sometimes can be difficult to get it to do what you want to. I also don't like the interface, as it does not have a clear administration vs live site administration, and its preview capability is a bit limited. I LOVE Joomla, but Joomla is nowhere near lightweight. Other options include Mambo, though given the choice between Mambo or Drupal, I would pick Drupal, even with its downfalls. Anotehr options is PHpNuke, but make sure you have the latest version. It is lightweight and has alot of support, but not as easy to use as Joomla. It has a bad reputation for having security leaks, and this USED to be true. However, they have spent a great deal of time revamping their system to remove these leaks and now have a pretty stable system. So I guess the way I see it is your options from my favorite to least favorite are Joomla, Drupal, PHPNuke, Mambo .... I would say Wordpress at the end, but I think we both know you don 't really want wordpress for what you want to do. I teach a class on all of these systems if you are interested in my professional opinion. To me, your need for light, but flexible push ,me to say Drupal. If you are OK with less light, but more felxibility options, then I would say Joomla.
I know many people love Drupal. Its in fact a very flexible system and more a professional tool. But I admit that this was one of the very few systems in my life which I didn´t get to work. The terminology with "nodes" etc is simply unusual. Also the interface is not really easy to understand. There is a large number of CMS "below" Joomla, Drupal, PHPNuke, Mambo etc, which - for the usual 5-20 pages - are more than sufficient.
Razor CMS looks really interesting, thanks for the link! I've used flat file cms's for a few smaller sites and I always liked using those types better for set it and forget it style sites.
Take the time to investigate CMS Templates for Wordpress. Easy to update and maintain, and the easiest to teach others to add content to quickly and easily. SubDreamer.... aaaack!
there's some light cms's out there, but to customize, there's not short cuts. As internetmarketingiq said, find a good wp template and its the simplest way to make a site. i use joomla and love it.