CMS gives you an easy and flexible way to create websites and publish new content.
A Content Management System (CMS) is an application that allows you to publish and manage content on the web intuitively. For example, imagine that you had a text editor (such as Notepad or TextEdit) that would allow you to publish articles directly on a website you own.
That would be a very basic example of a CMS. Of course, today most of the best CMS options help you do much more than that. They allow you to index your content, make changes to it, format it using visual editors, and more.
It is easy to confuse a CMS with a website creator. The latter is a type of tool focused on helping you create websites without any programming knowledge. They usually accomplish this by providing you with access to a visual drag-and-drop editor. However, they tend to be much simpler, offering few customization options and little control over the way your site is set up.
A CMS, on the other hand, used to be more difficult to understand and use without any technical knowledge. However, today the best CMS options give you many tools to help you design and create modern websites.
This type of CMS is basically a comprehensive solution to create websites and manage your content. Depending on which CMS you use, you can also get access to additional features that you can install using 'plugins' or 'extensions'. However, we will talk more about that shortly.
What can you create using a CMS platform
Many people think that CMS is just for blogging. It is true that some of the best CMS were originally built with blogs in mind. However, many of them have evolved to the point where they are now highly customizable. For example, about 30% of the entire web works with WordPress.
The truth is that CMS these days are so flexible that you can use them for almost any type of project you want. However, they are ideal for websites based on content creation and sharing. That means you can use them to create simple blogs, tutorial websites, portfolios, news sites and more. With the right tools, you can even address more advanced web projects using a CMS, such as online stores, private membership sites and forums.
In a moment, we will introduce you to some of the best CMS available today. However, before that, let's talk about the features you should keep in mind when choosing a CMS for your website.
What features should the best CMS have?
At this time, you should already have a solid idea of what CMS is in theory. At this point, let's talk about some of the specific features they could offer. The best CMS must provide:
- A way to publish new content easily. Any quality CMS will include a powerful editor and many options to ensure your content looks top-notch.
- Content taxonomy options. The more content your website has, the more important it is to keep everything organized. That's why a CMS should allow you to create categories, assign tags to your articles, etc.
- Page editing functionality. In addition to publishing content, you must create several types of pages for your website. Your CMS should provide you with the tools you will need to get the job done.
- A high level of customization. In our experience, the best CMS are highly customizable. That means they allow you to add almost any functionality you want, which in turn allows you to create more advanced websites.
- A strong community CMS with active communities are constantly developing, so you will always have access to updates, security patches and help from other knowledgeable people.
These are five main features you should expect to see in any worthwhile CMS. Apart from that, most of the best CMS vary greatly in terms of functions and types of projects for which they are suitable.
In the rest of this article, we will take a look at some of our favorite CMS platforms. We will analyze what makes them unique, explore their pros and cons, and help you choose the best CMS for your site.
8 of the best CMS options for 2019
There is a wide variety of CMS options that we have selected here for you. But they all have one thing in common: they are all open source and available to install in 1 click on Hostinger. That means you won't have to spend a penny to download and try each one. Find the best CMS with all-in-one web hosting plans .
With that in mind, we present eight of the best CMS available in 2019!
WordPress
We are sure that you have probably heard of WordPress. This CMS has the largest market share among its competitors so far, and it's easy to see why.
Although WordPress was conceived as a blogging platform, it grew far beyond that niche. The platform is easy to use, and you can customize it in great detail using plugins and themes (of which you have thousands to choose from).
When it comes to content management, WordPress also provides a first level experience. The publication of new posts and pages is simple, and you have access to a powerful editor that allows you to format your content. In addition, the platform also supports user registration, has periodic updates and has a large and useful community.
Main Features:
- It includes intuitive posts and content management options.
- It provides a powerful editor that allows you to easily format your content.
- It is highly customizable, thanks to the thousands of plugins and themes.
- It has a strong and very active community.
The only drawback of WordPress is that sometimes you will have to combine many plugins to add the precise functionality your site needs. There are also other CMS options that offer a more optimized blog experience, although they cannot match the level of WordPress customization.
Joomla
When people debate which is the best CMS, Joomla! It is one of the names that you hear most often along with WordPress. The general consensus is that while Joomla may not be as friendly to beginners as WordPress, it may be more flexible in some ways.
For example, Joomla is an excellent option if you need to manage many 'types of custom posts'. That is, it is ideal if you want to run a website that does not rely heavily on text content. The platform also offers many more options when it comes to user administration. This makes it a fantastic option for membership-based sites, for example.
In addition to that, Joomla also includes ready-to-use multilingual support. That means you don't have to use plugins or extensions to add more languages to your site. Finally, Joomla also allows you to use multiple templates or themes at the same time, for different types of content.
Main Features:
- It offers excellent support for custom post types.
- Provides advanced user management options.
- Includes multilingual support ready to use.
- Supports the use of unique templates for each type of page.
On paper, Joomla sounds amazing, and it's a strong option. But it is not as beginner friendly as WordPress, so it may take you more time to learn how to create a website using this CMS.
Nor does it offer as many extensions or templates as some of its competitors. That is not necessarily a reason to rule it out, but it does mean that there are some features you may have to apply manually, making this a good option for those who have some experience in web development.
Drupal
Drupal is another name that has a lot of weight in discussions about the best open source CMS. While it is behind WordPress and Joomla in market share, that does not make it less noticeable.
In practice, Drupal shines in many of the same areas as Joomla. For example, it offers a very flexible system for dealing with types of personalized publications. It also gives you a high degree of control over your users and their permissions, and can even handle multilingual sites immediately.
However, there are other areas where Drupal has no equal. Its taxonomy system, for example, is much more powerful than its competitors. In addition, Drupal is considered a more secure platform than WordPress and Joomla.
Main Features:
- It offers a flexible system of administration and creation of personalized publications.
- Provides advanced permission settings and user administration.
- Includes support for multilingual sites ready to use.
- It has a detailed taxonomy system.
- It has first level security for your website.
You can build almost any type of website you want using the 'big three' CMS platforms, which include WordPress, Joomla and Drupal. However, Drupal is recognized for its scalability and security, which often makes it a better option for business and commercial sites.
However, it has a steep learning curve. In most cases, we do not recommend using Drupal unless you have experience in web development. Although if you feel comfortable with development, this is one of the best CMS options available today.