custom cms

I'm pretty sure I'll need a custom cms if not I'll need alot of plug ins to get everything I want ... My question is should I get a custom cms now? Or go as far as I can with WordPress or another cms ? Also I'm paying someone to do the site for me

 

Depends on your needs. 95% of all CMS needs have already been created. WordPress while crap code is a quality product for Blogging and web page management. There are more powerful real CMS's out there though. No sense in reinventing the wheel unless what you require is unique and not out there.

I always go with whatever will get the job done most effeciently, quickly and costly.

 

wordpress, you will not be able to keep up with security updates with anything else. either wordpress which i like because there are a ton of add ons or joomla but I do not like the theme layout for joomla. I never took the time to learn it, considering WP was as great as it is. Just my opinion though. Other people will tell you how much WP sucks, but can not provide a great example.

 

I'm assuming that you are building a more complex website with interactive features like user signup and stuff. i.e. this is not just a simple website to advertise your business. If that is the case then I can tell you a few things from my experience.

1. The site will be an enormous amount of work no matter how you build it. In fact it will very probably not be a project that you start and finish; it will be an ongoing program of work as the site requires constant upgrades, new features and security fixes.
2. In the beginning it is probably better to use an off the shelf system like Wordpress or Drupal and build your site's functionality as quickly as possible because you will get suggestions and complaints and need to make a lot of revisions.
3. Since you are hiring the work out, make sure that you have found a vendor that you trust, that is reliable and that will be available to continue working for you for a long time. Make sure that they build the site in such a way that it will be possible to hire a new developer if you need to replace them. i.e. if they are building a custom CMS that relies on any code that is proprietary to them you may have problems. You need to legally have the right to use whatever they produce without a restrictive license.
4. If you are just starting out, then the best way to build a website is usually whatever your vendor is most comfortable with. The challenges of having your vendor use a framework that they're not comfortable with are greater than the specific challenges of any particular major framework.
5. If you insist on building a CMS from scratch then make sure your vendor is a certified grand unicorn wizard.