One of the first questions a client will ask you when you are tasked to develop a website is “how can I maintain it myself”.  It used to be a very daunting prospect to build in functionality allowing a novice to update their own website.  Today, the only difficult part is deciding which CMS you want to use.  When it comes to content management systems (CMS) and publishing platforms, there are more than enough to choose from and it all depends on what exactly you are looking to do.   While many CMS’s are overly complicated and require a certain level of technical expertise you may not have, there are a growing number of light, scalable and intuitive content management systems that will help you develop a dynamic website your client can update themselves.

Today, lets take a look at 15 (now 16) great content management systems that are rich in features, flexible enough for designers, highly customizable and won’t break your budget.

Expression Engine
Probably one of the most popular CMS’s among web designers, and for good reason. It’s extremely powerful but easy to use, adapting to your design process whilst still being easy for your end user. It’s also modular so you can add and remove features with ease.

Which do you like the best?

Best CMS

Cushy CMS

A CMS that is truly simple. It’s free for unlimited users, unlimited changes, unlimited pages and unlimited sites. There is no software to install and no programming required.

Best CMS

MODx

Take control of your online content.  You can build sites exactly how you want. There are no restrictions and fast to build. Super-simple templates in regular HTML/CSS/JS (any lib you want).

Best CMS

Concrete5

Concrete5 is a solid content management system that’s is very easy to learn.  With a expansive administration panel that has statistics built in, you don’t need to install a plugin/extension or use a third party application like Google Analytics to monitor your site traffic.

Best CMS

Joomla!

Joomla is an award-winning content management system (CMS), which enables you to build Web sites and powerful online applications.  It’s ease-of-use and extensibility are what have made Joomla one of the most popular content management systems.

Best CMS

dotCMS

The fully functional GPL version of dotCMS continues to forge ahead – providing bleed–edge features and the latest code to a thriving community of developers and users.

Best CMS

Impress CMS

ImpressCMS is a community developed Content Management System for easily building and maintaining a dynamic web site. Keep your web site up to date with this easy to use, secure and flexible system. It is the ideal tool for a wide range of users: from business to community users, from large enterprises to people who want a simple, easy to use blogging tool.

Best CMS

SilverStripe

SilverStripe is a PHP-based, open-source CMS and offers developers great flexibility and potential for scalability.

Best CMS

WordPress

WordPress is a state-of-the-art publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability. WordPress is probably the most popular CMS and blogging platform out there.

Best CMS

Textpattern

Textpattern is a flexible, elegant and easy-to-use content management system. It is both free and open source. With its built-in simplicity, a blogger can start publishing in minutes. Designers and developers appreciate the ability to control all aspects of XHTML and CSS from the Admin interface, and with hundreds of plugins available, the power of Textpattern is easily extended.

Best CMS

Pligg

Pligg is an open source CMS (Content Management System) that you can download and use for free. Pligg CMS provides social networking software that encourages visitors to register on your website so that they can submit content and connect with other users.

Best CMS

TYPOlight

TYPOlight is an open source content management system (CMS) for people who want a professional internet presence that is easy to maintain. The state-of-the-art structure of the system offers a high security standard and allows you to develop search engine friendly websites.

Best CMS

Radient

Radiant is a no-fluff, open source content management system designed for small teams. Radiant features an elegant user interface, flexible templating with layouts, snippets, page parts, and a custom tagging language and a first-class extension/plugin system

Best CMS

Surreal CMS

With Surreal CMS, there’s absolutely nothing to install. Just enter your website’s FTP info and you’re connected! Within minutes, you can enable webpages, add content regions, assign editors, and begin updating your website

Best CMS

Plone CMS

A powerful, flexible Content Management solution that is easy to install, use and extend.  Plone lets non-technical people create and maintain information using only a web browser.

Best CMS

Late Entry – CMS Made Simple

CMS Made Simple helps experienced web developers and designers to create sites of power and beauty in a fraction of the normal time, avoiding hours of coding and allowing your clients to update their own sites with a minimum of fuss.

Best CMS

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