A Webmaster's Options

[JohnC]

I was recently added to the list of fine people on team 360. My job is to take over the website because the current webmaster is leaving next year. I have decided that instead of making a layout and editing the pages by myself, I'm going to use a CMS of some sort. What it boils down to is this: PHP-Nuke, vBulletin, or write my own with PHP and MySQL.

What do you all suggest from these 3 options? Also, what is the portal addon that these forums run for vBulletin? Does anyone have suggestions/recommendations for vBulletin themes or addons? Thanks for your help.

[Max Lobovsky]

I'd avoid PHP-Nuke for sure. Look at PostNuke (don't be put off by there bad website, it's a pretty decent system) or Drupal.

[KTorak]

I'd personally write my own becuase I feel that items like PHP-Nuke are over used. You can also add your own creativitey (Which is what FIRST Recongnizes) if you make it yourself. You also have a bigger feeling of pride knowing you made it yourself.

[AIBob]

Originally Posted by KTorak

I'd personally write my own becuase I feel that items like PHP-Nuke are over used. You can also add your own creativitey (Which is what FIRST Recongnizes) if you make it yourself. You also have a bigger feeling of pride knowing you made it yourself.

I agree, in some respects, you still can have a great deal of creativity with a cms that is already made, especially if you make your own themes and modules...
...but it is not as fun, so I would recommend that you build your own, like I did for my personal website.

[Deetman]

I will personally suggest Mambo, which I used for my team's website. (http://www.dublinrobotics.com ) It has a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, it is very flexible and there is quite a bit of community support for it.

When I was getting ready to redesign our website, I debated writing my own PHP/MySQL system as well, but decided against it. Perhaps the main reason I decided against it was the fact that I am a senior this year and will not be around next year to help out with the site should anything go wrong or if they want to add on to it. This is the main concern you should look at when deciding what to do. How easy will it be for my team to use and update the website without my assistance?

Just remember that there is not a one size fits all answer. Pick what you think will work best for your team, not necessarily what others suggest. Your website should be a method for your team to communicate, not just another thing to do for an award.

I'd say start on content before you even think about a new spiffy cms.

[JohnC]

Wow. Thanks for all the suggestions. I've been researching all kinds of different CMSs this weekend and I still haven't found some of the ones you suggested. I decided that if none of the suggested ones particularly suit my fancy, I'm going to use PHP-Nuke because I just realized it has phpBB built in with perfect compliance to whatever theme you may be using. It's amazing. So tomorrow I'll be looking all those suggested systems over. Thanks again!

[JonBell]

Don't forget Mambo. I just set it up on Team 546 - Technotics' website. I'm yet to add much content (probably won't until next year), but it's very easy to and very nice looking.

[JohnC]

Does anyone know what portal addon and/or skin is used on this site?