is cmsmadesimple for novices?

[bclark]

hi there

i have successful installed cmsmadesimple and i am really enjoying using it at a test site at the moment.  It seems to be very usable, does everything i need and outputs very nice html/css.

however, i am thinking of using it for a very busy charity site that i am upgrading and i am concerned that, as a novice with php im going to run into problems down the track, and because the community/software is not as mature or large as say joomla, mambo or phpnuke support may be difficult to come by.  Is support for this CMS growing as quickly as it deserves?  or am i not going to need support at all cos the software is just that damn stable?

appreciate you advice on this - i guess the main question is - should a novice be giving cmsmadesimple a go for a major project?

cheers all!

[westis]

hi bclark,

Thanks for your interest in CMS Made Simple. I came here myself in the search for an as simple and user-friendly CMS as possible, that yet is flexible to accomplish more or less anything with help of extensions. I was astonished by the patient replies I received to my questions and felt welcomed by the community from the start. I got stuck and am now myself part of the development team...

Sure, there is stilla long way to Mambo or Joomla when looking at the number of users. But I would say that the community here is quiet astonishing! The support, both on IRC and in the forums, is both good and growing. And with version 1.0 just some weeks away I think that will give yet another boost to this CMS. By that time there should be a better documentation, a clear roadmap etc.

Sure, I should humbly admit that there are still many features missing and the community of developers is not as big as the other CMS projects that you mention. Also, for any CMS I think at some point most users will run into problems that require some kind of support, even so with CMS Made Simple. I actually know very little php myself. But that isn't necessary if you don't want to develop modules yourself. And if php or MySQL related problems arise, there is always support available anyway.

My advice would be that if you think that the features that you need are available with CMS Made Simple, then go for it. There could always be more people involved with developing it, but that is indeed growing.

Let us know if you have any particular needs and we will try to assist you as good as we can. Also, you are always welcome to join the IRC channel #cms on irc.freenode.net, where you usually can get quick support on most hours of the day.

Hope this helps a bit on the way. The guy who started it all, Wishy, could give you further advice.

[bclark]

well, i dont think it gets much better than advice directly from someone who has been in the same situation.  I have implemented the punBB module, and a calendar module and they both worked seemlessly - much more encouraging than with some other CMS's I have used.  All looking very positive so far.

thanks for the allaying some of my fears and for the friendly welcome.