I think this is a great discussion to be having!
Across the earlier posts I sense a tendency toward confusing
branding / marketing with
crediting authorship.
I consider it to be out of place to be marketing CMSMS on a site built for a client by a consultant. Giving credit for the tools being used in the process is something I support, but it is a different thing.
The logo consisting of the palm tree image plus the stylized text "CMS Made Simple," thematic color schemes, custom-made icons, etc. are what I'd consider
branding. Such branding should
not be visible to the client's customers (the end users who are viewing the site). I'm ambivalent about to what extent they should be present in the Admin section. Certainly the logo seems out of place.
The text "CMS Made Simple is free software released under the General Public Licence." at first may simply seem informational, but in the context of the Admin pages, I'd consider it promotional (marketing). If some people feel the word "free" may cause them grief with their clients it might be time to try a little education on them. In the world of repair there is the concept of "parts plus labor." CMSMS is similar to a "part." A free part does not result in a free repair. If we use CMSMS to build a web site for "Janet's Nail Salon," we have NOT gotten the Janet's Nail Salon site from somewhere for free, and then turned around and charged Janet lots of money for it!!
What we have gotten (and
all that we have gotten) is essentially a free
scaffolding upon which we will build Janet's site. Not to mention that its been delivered in "boxes" and we have to set it up (install and configure it on a server). The final site will probably be running on that free Apache web server using that free MySQL database too. Is Janet's hosting service free? Not likely.
You could always invoice them for, say, $2,500, to acquire and license a suitable Content Management System, then later down the page credit them for $2,500 because you used CMSMS.
Anyway...
Something like the sentence "CMS Made Simple -- a fast and easy way to create a web site and manage its contents" is
most certainly marketing. ;)
"Powered by CMS Made Simple." or "Built with CMS Made Simple" (with links) simply credit authorship. I
absolutely believe such credit should be given. This does not belong anywhere the end user will be seeing it, but in the Admin section seems acceptable. I think having it appear on every single page there, however, is excessive and unnecessary. Maybe only on the Admin landing page; maybe on the Site Admin page.
For those who flinch at the word "simple" in there... since it's a component of the
name of the product, I don't see an easy way to avoid it. "Simple" in this case does not mean "Press a button and it's done!" For example, it
is simple to fly a single engine light aircraft (a Cessna)... compared to flying a multi-engine jet powered aircraft. But if you've never flown a Cessna before, flying one won't feel
at all simple.