Best CMS for a NEWS site

You might look at XOOPS for this - the News module has a lot of features, you might like it.

Check it out at www.xoops.org

HTH

 

joomla or wordpress

 

If you are looking for lot of customization option then Joomla is the best CMS. With plenty of component and plugin there are lots of Joomla templates available.

 

Drupal requires lots of reading, learning, and trial and error for someone who doesn't have a lot of experience. Trust me. I've spent months! In the end, after using Wordpress, Joomla, Mambo, PHPNuke etc, it's the most powerful and most robust out there. There is a reason many commercial top sites use it. Even the President of the United States! It's stable. It's secure. It's powerful. There are TONS of modules that install as easily as copying a folder to a folder and clicking a tickbox. I've heard horror stories of Joomla trying to be scaled to high volume sites.

Don't sell yourself short with Drupal. You need to put in a good month but in the end you'll have a much better site. As for backwards compatible? It is and it isn't. The difference is that you can continue to run an older version of Drupal forever. The modules will still work. Security patches will still be made. OR, you can upgrade -- which in most cases of simple sites, works without issue. If you get into custom work on ANY platform, it's not going to upgrade easily.

Drupal *IS* chosen by top companies and governments for their CMS including The Onion, Zapos, Harvard, MIT, The New York State Senate, Randstad, InfoWorld, Recovery.org (Obama), Virgin, Nokia... man I could go on and on. Here is a more compete list: http://buytaert.net/tag/drupal-sites

 

Interesting that you say both Harvard and MIT use Drupal, and Word Press says that they use Word press. When I checked, it seems that Harvard's Student (Edu) blogs are Word Press, as well as Harvard Rugby and Harvard Law.

Either way, it's going to be a personal choice. It's not some sports rivalry, people like Word Press for many reasons and some people like Joomla for many reasons.

There are a ton of platforms out there, which ever platform you chose will have no bearing on the success of the blog, or if you ever make any money with it.

It's basically like asking which is better Ford or Chevy. They both make cars. Some NASCAR Drivers like Ford, some like Chevy, and some drive for Pontiac.

As far as blogging platforms go, which one is better is subject to the functionality that you are looking for. What is good for me, may not be good for you.
I could sit here and say Joomla sucks, but that is based on my needs. No one can predict yours.

 

I think there are very clear value propositions to Wordpress, Joomla, and Drupal.

Drupal does have an extensible architecture, that is an absolute morass that is changing all the time. I have no doubt that companies hire consultants who choose Drupal. I have been in the business a very long time, and know that complexity, and moving targets create long-lasting work - something that consultants adore. So, unless you have deep pockets (I believe Obama's campaign had money to burn), I would stay away from Drupal. I have not found any comfort or stability in the product, as the researchers behind the project continue to do their hobby thing.

I have found Joomla a bit more sensible, in regards to functionality, and ease-of-use, but version compatibility is a big issue, and it is not simply a matter of hold fast with an old version. Plugins and extensions are deprecated. New versions come on board that you have to move to. And yes, new problems are discovered all the time that have to be fixed. By whom? Another mess, but less so than Drupal.

Wordpress, at least offers a relatively simple architecture, with excellent version compatibility. It is low risk, in that you will not spend a fortune just to learn what I learned - that is, Joomla and Drupal are heaven sent for consultants but a giant black hole for users. You can get a decent site up quickly, and if it is not adequate, then it is probably better to build from scratch. Yes, it is really tough building an administration backend for a custom CMS, but it is at least doable. Building and rebuilding around Drupal and Joomla, gets old, and is, in the long term, much more expensive. It is like Sisyphus and the endless rolling the rock up and down the mountain.

Rich

 

My Drupal comparisons where meant more for those choosing Joomla vs. Drupal. Wordpress is also a fantastic platform for it's use (mainly blog type sites).

One thing that bothered me about Joomla was that there is no way to make a massive site based on categories and subcategories. You could only have 2 levels of structure. My site required:

Ideas>Canada>Ontario>Southwest>Amusement Parks
Ideas>Canada>Ontario>Southwest>Historic Sites

etc.

 

I have looked at many sites using Drupal, and most of them could be done with Wordpress at a fraction of the cost. Ditto for Joomla.

What differentiates each product is not whether it is a CMS or Blog software, both of these nomenclature being very ambiguous, but rather what functionality they bring to the table and in what form.

Drupal does have associated with a extensions, applications, etc. that run on its base platform, which may be useful for certain users. However, and this is the BIG HOWEVER, these applications and extensions, for the most part are poorly supported and loaded with bugs. So you have the ever changing Drupal base platform, and the never stable application extension. In other words, a world of headaches. I cannot take the platform seriously for a business application. It is more of a hobby thing, or a consultant make-work project.

Joomla, also has some applications and extensions, which have a varied history of support. I would be very hesitant to recommend or use any of these applications, because it is so chaotic.

So what do I do? I work with Wordpress within its framework, and if I can't use Wordpress then I don't do it. I rather have an vacuum than a massive ongoing headache.

I am a seasoned technologist, with 35 years experience evaluating software, and I know danger when I see it.

Rich

 

for Drupal you can check at MIT Drupal group & sites

 

I have built and managed quite a few news sites, and I have used Joomla, Drupal and WordPress. You get what you pay for with all three of them.

If you're willing to spend a little money on a commercial system, you might try ExpressionEngine (with all due respect to another post on here). I know quite a few newspaper sites use it, and I've built some sites in it myself. In fact, I'm in the middle of moving a Joomla site to EE.

Joomlas is a good introductory system because of its simple and visual interface, but it's not so good with add-ons. Drupal is efficient, but it takes a lot of time to learn, and you spend a lot of time figuring out work-arounds.

ExpressionEngine has plenty of third-party modules and plugins that work cleanly with the core product. It's highly flexible for designers. You get quick response on the support boards. The only tough part if figuring out the custom tags, but once you understand them, everything goes smoothly.

You can go to the EE Web site to download a trial version, log in to a demo version or pay $10 for a 30-day hosted trial.

Yes, it costs money, but the payback in time and headaches is worth it in the long run.

 

Brady CMS is pretty good! http://www.bradycommunications.com It powers http://www.cawp.org

 

No doubt, Joomla is the best CMS available in the market. Since your requirement is related to news feeds, you should consider looking at some of the plugins available in joomla extensions site.

 

wordpress .. it rocks download it from wordpress.org

 

Why would you want to go for any other CMS other than WordPress? WP is the best CMS there is out there, even though its considered as a "blog engine". Joomla is a dinosaur and Drupal is difficult to organise and maintain. But if you want to choose either Joomla or Drupal, that is totally up to you.

 

I'm using MemHT. I must say it's nice..simple but still advanced.
You can find demo in my signature.

 

Max, I would have to agree with you on all points!

 

Joomla, Drupal, Wordpress and expression Engine these 4 are perfect for news Websites.
But yeah if its really huge i would prefer a Custom coded CMS on PHP or ROR.

 

I vote for wordpress. Joomla is too slow. Drupal's plugins is not enough.

 

Instead of proposing another CMS I would say its wrong that Google see wordpress only as a blog. It all depends on the theme you are using and how this theme represents pages.

Just my 2 cents.

 

I would recommend that you go for system like wordpress where based on the theme you can choose you wanna blog or a site. Hosted services are good and cheap - sometimes free.
Have a look at the (100% Free and Great news/magazine themes) http://broadkast.me/ or (Free for basic use but need to pay if you need more) http://wordpress.com/

Enjoy!