home Antiviruses Free CMS versus paid ones: pros and cons. Pros and cons of various CMS The undeniable disadvantages that you get by using most CMS

Free CMS versus paid ones: pros and cons. Pros and cons of various CMS The undeniable disadvantages that you get by using most CMS

Just 5-6 years ago, the pinnacle of a novice webmaster’s skill was a five-page website on narod.ru or several html pages hosted on free hosting and a third-level domain. But time goes by, the Internet is changing, and with it the opportunities that are available to both beginners and professionals are growing.
Static pages are a thing of the past and are almost never used anymore, and instead of them the time has come for dynamic CMS engines for managing websites, developed using web programming languages.
The most popular platforms in RuNet are Drupal, ImageCMS, Joomla, MODx, WordPress, TYPO3. If we talk about the commercial direction, then it is worth highlighting the open-source engines Magento, PrestaShop, OpenCart.
Of course, it’s difficult to navigate such a variety of options, especially if you don’t have the relevant experience. . But it is precisely with the aim of helping you make a choice that this article was written, in which we will look at the strengths and weaknesses of each of the listed databet engines.

Drupal CMS/CMF (current version 7.18)

Drupal is a fairly advanced content management system, which is both its advantage and, at the same time, its disadvantage. Yes, you can create almost any type of website using Drupal, but only if you have the appropriate level of knowledge and web programming skills. For mere mortals, “finishing” Drupal to suit their needs becomes an almost impossible task.
System website: drupal.org

Pros of Drupal:

you can create websites of any type, but only if you have good programming knowledge;
availability of a large number of plugins for Drupal in the public domain;
large Russian-speaking and English-speaking community;
built-in caching.

Cons of Drupal:

Difficulty in customizing in the absence of web programming skills;
significant load on the site, especially in terms of RAM, since the Drupal engine creates a large number of queries to the database;
Drupal reviews note that it is difficult for ordinary users to understand and the interface is unfriendly;
lack of backward compatibility of the API, which changes with each new version;
Drupal has few free design themes, and only experienced webmasters can create a new one on their own;
complex internal architecture makes content management a difficult task for non-professionals;
to properly configure Drupal for SEO requirements, you will have to install from 5 to 8 additional modules;
after installing additional modules, too many tags are nested;
the Drupal build does not have a visual text editor by default; it will need to be installed as an additional module;
when installing additional modules Drupal generates technical pages, their entry into the index may have a negative impact on SEO goals;
problems with the additional language installation module; creating a multilingual website on Drupal will be difficult;

A popular specialized module for implementing a trading platform on Drupal is Ubercart, distributed under a free license. Its big advantage is its tight integration with Drupal, guaranteeing full compatibility. Among the disadvantages of Ubercart, it is worth noting the frequent duplicate pages at different addresses, possible problems when working with multilingual sites, and, of course, Ubercart will need to be configured individually in each specific case, which in the long term turns into an unnecessary headache.
In view of the comments listed above, even the Drupal + Ubercart combination is not suitable for creating an online store, unless you decide to devote all your free time to setting up Drupal and enjoy catching new bugs.

ImageCMS (current version 4.0)

ImageCMS in our review is one of the optimal engines in terms of user friendliness. This open-source CMS is built on the CodeIgniter framework and is characterized by high speed and low requirements for hosting resources. A strong argument compared to WordPress, which, even with relatively low traffic, can easily put down your shared hosting. In this rating, ImageCMS is the only originally Russian-language development.
Official website: www.imagecms.net

Pros of ImageCMS:

easy to learn, intuitive interface of the administrative part, which is designed taking into account responsive design, that is, it works well under any resolution;
speed of operation and low demands on system resources;
ImageCMS is initially SEO-friendly, that is, optimized for the requirements of search engines. Fields such as title, description, keywords, H1, etc. are already built-in, and CNC is supported by default;
functions such as multilingualism, photo gallery, caching system and other useful features are supported in ImageCMS out of the box;
any template can be designed based on those available in TemplateMonster;
built-in caching system, which increases site performance;
For each page on ImageCMS you can make a separate template, which opens up wide possibilities in terms of adaptation to each specific project;
there is an official Russian-language community knowledge base wiki.imagecms.net, where you can find all the necessary information on installing and configuring the engine.

Cons of ImageCMS:

a small number of modules are freely available, but not everyone needs unique modules;
ImageCMS reviews note that there are few design templates in the public that are available for free;
The online store module is paid, which is disappointing, because for many such an opportunity would be very useful;
In general, the ImageCMS system is quite promising and easy to learn.

Joomla (current version 3.0)

Joomla, widespread both on the RuNet and on the English-speaking Internet, is an open-source CMS with a long history of development. But, something long-lasting is not always the best, and the engine continues to retain some “childhood diseases” over many versions.
Joomla is a real website builder for creating websites of any complexity, which has a huge number of plugins that expand its capabilities.
Official resource: www.joomla.org

Pros of Joomla:

availability of a large amount of Russian-language documentation;
many free Joomla templates and plugins can be found in the public domain;
Frequent updates from developers.

Cons of Joomla:

high probability of hacking: sites created on Joomla are most often attacked by intruders;
most of the available components do not have Russian localization;
if you have to create something more complex than a simple business card on Joomla, you will have to rewrite half of the code;
Joomla reviews note low page loading speed, additional optimization is required;
difficulties in terms of updating Joomla to a new version of the engine: in most cases you will need to tinker a lot in order to save the content of the site;
unnecessary program code in Joomla slows down the loading of site pages, even with low traffic;
The complex hierarchy of elements in Joomla makes it difficult to understand the administration process of this CMS.

The most popular component that adds online store functionality to Joomla is VirtueMart, whose development has been ongoing since 2005. The capabilities of the VirtueMart module are quite wide, and the component itself is distributed free of charge.
However, the long history of development has left its mark on not entirely logical management and the presence of code sections focused on the first versions of Joomla, which has led to the fact that during operation VirtueMart creates many queries to the database, consuming a large amount of resources.
In addition, data import into VirtueMart is weak, and the templates are a complete mess in terms of code.
Conclusion: plugins that add online store functionality to Joomla (including VirtueMart) do not have outstanding functionality and can cause problems in terms of engine stability, so it is better to use specialized solutions.

MODx CMS/CMF (current version 2.2.6)

A rather old platform for creating websites, the history of its development dates back to back in 2005. MODx is suitable for use only by professionals. For people who are not experts in web programming, the system will be too difficult to configure.
System website: modx.com

Pros of MODx CMS:

cross-browser compatibility and full control by the administrator over the output of html code.

Cons of MODx Revolution:

since for the most part the system is a framework, normal use will definitely require programming knowledge;
Most MODx Revolution CMS documentation is available exclusively in English;
There are very few modules for creating an online store, their functionality leaves much to be desired;
MODx reviews primarily note the few ready-made extensions and design templates;
MODx Revolution has weak documentation in Russian;
Problems with updating the site map, MODx CMS contains duplicate titles and descriptions, pagination.

WordPress (current version 3.5)

One of the most common engines both in RuNet and throughout the world. Initially, it was designed for creating a blog, but with the proper skills, you can launch almost any website on WordPress: from a business card to an online store. It is easy to install and configure.
System website: wordpress.org

Pros of WordPress:

easy installation, configuration and expansion of capabilities using plugins;
many free WordPress design templates in the public;
localization of WordPress into many languages, including Russian;
Availability of a large amount of documentation and copyright materials for setting up.

Cons of WordPress:

generation of many duplicate pages during operation, which negatively affects SEO;
Immediately after installation, WordPress has a minimum of capabilities; almost everything is implemented by additional plugins;
WordPress’s “gluttony” in relation to hosting resources, and with each new version the requirements only increase;
poorly suited for implementing an online store, although appropriate plugins are available;
WordPress reviews note that many add-ons work unstable with different versions of the engine, so installing them can disrupt the stability of the site;
WordPress was originally created as a blogging platform, so it’s difficult to implement anything else on it, especially when it comes to commercial sites.

You can create an online store on Wordpress using specialized plugins, and one of the most popular is Woocommerce. The advantage is the relative ease of installing the module, but the disadvantages of Woocommerce are quite significant: the standard capabilities are inferior to those of solutions for other platforms, the Russian-language localization of Woocommerce is rather superficial, and almost all functional modules are paid. So, although Woocommerce itself can be installed for free, you will have to fork out more for add-ons.

TYPO3 (current version 6.0)

Flexible and extensible open-source system with a tree structure. However, TYPO3 was not widely used among users due to its confusing and difficult-to-learn controls.
System website: typo3.org

Pros of TYPO3:

the external design of the site and its content are clearly separated;
a large number of add-ons that can be installed for free.

Cons of TYPO3:

the difficulty of installation and configuration if you are not a specialist in this field;
requires significant hosting account resources for normal operation;
there are many vulnerabilities in the TYPO3 code, and there is little specialized documentation;
complexity of editing and confusing system of options;
large pages on TYPO3 have slow response times;
in any particular case, revision will be necessary, which means frequent contact with specialists and additional costs. This is what most often causes negative reviews of TYPO3;
Taking into account all of the above, it is not recommended to use TYPO3 for creating commercial websites, as well as for users who do not have a good level of knowledge in web programming.

Almost each of the engines described above can be used as a platform for creating an online store, mainly by installing the appropriate extensions. But there are also specialized CMS, originally designed for Internet commerce, which are also distributed under an open source license.

Free Open-Source CMS for creating online stores

Magento (current version 1.7.0)

According to data from last year, this CMS was used most often in the English-speaking sector of the Internet. The engine's capabilities are enough to set up a small online store, but still, in this case it is impossible to do without the help of a programmer.
System website: www.magentocommerce.com

Pros of Magento:

one administration panel allows you to manage an entire network of trading platforms;
Magento provides all the basic features necessary for online trading;
there is advanced functionality for interacting with the buyer.

Cons of Magento:

quite extensive and confusing functionality for configuration, which will definitely create some difficulties for inexperienced users;
due to the nature of the engine, it cannot be installed on some types of virtual hosting;

CMS Joomla is one of the most popular content management systems, free, which has many freelance developers. However, serious web studios do not like this system. Why? Let's get to know it better, look at the pros and cons of Joomla.

Advantages of CMS Joomla

The system is distributed free of charge. All modules and plugins that are written for it are also free.

Open source - the open code of the system allows the developer to make his own improvements and changes necessary to improve the functionality of the site.

Since the system is popular, it has many followers who develop a large number of components, plugins and modules.

Various ready-made design solutions (templates) have been created for the system, which can be selected and installed on the website, often for free.

The fairly broad functionality of the system will allow you to create a website of any type and complexity: a corporate website, a news website, an online store.

The system is easy to install on almost any hosting; it does not require large hosting resources.

There are many manuals, training materials, forums, and videos on the system in Russian. Therefore, the answer to almost any question or problem can be easily found on the Internet.

Disadvantages of Joomla

Let's list the main disadvantages of CMS Joomla. Despite the fact that all content management systems have disadvantages as well as advantages, the disadvantages of Joomla are precisely the reason why many web studios refuse to develop and maintain sites on it.

Quite a complex, unintuitive control panel. Because of this, working with Joomla’s back office is less comfortable compared to other systems; sometimes the simplest operations take a lot of time.

There are disadvantages to SEO optimization of a website when working with titles and headings; duplicates appear when editing an article. Of course, all this can be solved by installing various hacks, but in other systems it initially works correctly.

A large amount of unnecessary code, the creation of which is not always justified, especially if we are creating a small corporate website or a business card website.

Security often suffers for websites on Joomla. There is a lot of code, and finding a “hole” is not so easy or quick.

Since modules, plugins and system components are distributed free of charge, it often happens that the development is slow, but there is no support for the product and there is no one to make complaints against. You have to spend time looking for a programmer who will add/rewrite the component, or you have to look for a new solution.

It was noticed that sites on Joomla load slower than on other CMSs. Of course, you can figure it out and find a solution to speed up the site, but again, you need to contact a programmer who will spend both time and your money searching for a solution.

For us personally, the cons outweigh the pros, so we do not create websites and do not undertake the support and promotion of sites on Joomla. But, our opinion is only our opinion, and the decision is yours.

Website creation on free cms- the most popular way to get yourself a network resource. Cms stands for “Content Management System”. There are two types of CMS:

1. Cms is hosted on the Internet, for example on our hosting. I should also add that all these cms are on our hosting.

2. Cms runs from the user's computer and is connected to the network through an automatic file update interface.

Let's take a closer look at the types of SMS, their pros and cons.

Advantages and disadvantages free cms

Get ready for the fact that you will have to do everything yourself with bare cms. Thus, creating websites on free cms has positive and negative features. On the one hand, it is enough to choose a graphic theme and fill your site with articles, images and other content, but on the other hand, if you do not have the skills to fill the resource, you will be forced to hire a third-party specialist.

What is provided to you for free is certainly of high quality and looks beautiful (templates and themes are created by professionals). But with free cms it is not always possible to realize all your ideas for the site and its content. These technical limitations cannot be solved by the average user who does not have the skills web programming. But in terms of filling it with content, there shouldn’t be any problems.

Saving money when using cms is a definite plus. Most systems are free, educational material for using this or that system on the network is a dime a dozen.

Cms are updated, “overgrown” with new plugins and, accordingly, features. Thus, the prospects for the steady development of your site are obvious.

Now let’s get acquainted with different cms and find out why this or that system is best suited.

Website creation on Joomla

Creating websites using Drupal

Creating websites on Drupal is another easy way to run your own website on the Internet. To create a Drupal site, not even ready-made templates are used, but rather the core of the site with which, with certain skills, you can create blogs and online stores, social networks and corporate websites. In a word, very convenient and simple. By the way, the free cms Drupal became the winner of the Packt Open Source CMS award in 2008 and in 2009 the winner of the same competition in the PHP category, leaving behind the free cms Joomla.

Creating websites on WordPress

Creating websites with free cms WordPress is the best solution for newbie bloggers. By the way, this site is made on Wordpress and also my blog Pruslin.ru “Rules for a successful life.” Cms WordPress is free, but it is developing incredibly dynamically. Literally several times a week the system is updated, offering new opportunities for site development. Creating a website on Wordpress is suitable not only for blogs, but also for online stores, all kinds of galleries, forums, catalogs and more. It is extremely simple for an inexperienced user.

The three free content management systems listed are: Joomla, WordPress, Drupal are the most common on the Internet. Among the paid CMSs, the most famous are Bitrix, Data Life Engine, NetCat and others.

Let's look at how they are similar, how they differ, and what are the advantages of these systems over paid solutions.

Let me remind you that CMS - Content Management System is a content management system, which is the basis for creating any modern website.

1. Why are free CMSs no worse than paid ones?

1) Free systems have open source, a huge number of developers around the world are involved in their development. Everyone can contribute. You don’t even have to have programming skills: you can translate components into your native language, this is also important work.

Paid CMS have closed code and are developed by one team of programmers. Even if they are professionals, mistakes cannot be avoided. In addition, such systems often develop much more slowly than free ones.

Thus, free systems are developing dynamically and rapidly.

2) People who develop free systems do it with soul, they see their own in it vocation. They do not do it for money and do not treat it as a labor obligation.

The team of paid CMS developers aims primarily to make a profit from their product. They often perform the work formally. Imagine that a company developing a paid CMS ceases to exist. This will mean for users whose websites are built on this CMS huge financial losses associated with the transition to another system, retraining of employees, and optimization.

3) For free systems there is a huge many add-ons, components, plugins, modules, templates and themes. All these elements expand CMS functionality. You can use a free CMS to create a project of any type: blog, forum, online store, business card website, corporate portal.

For paid systems, the set of add-ons and plugins is often strictly limited to those created by the system developers. If you don't like a plugin, you won't be able to find an alternative to it. You can, of course, order the creation of a new component, but it will cost a lot - hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

4) The very fact that the system is free and does not require investment both during installation and update.

5) For free CMS you will find on the Internet Lots of tutorials, tips and communities, which will help you with setup, solving problems and finding answers to questions.

With paid solutions, you can often get help only through the official support service, which does not respond as quickly and often not as efficiently as it should.

6) Please note that manufacturers of paid content management systems do not bear any responsibility for the consequences disruption of sites, errors in code that lead to losses and a drop in traffic to your site. This is stated in the contract. So paid solutions do not guarantee anything in the same way as free ones.

7) The security level of free CMS is no lower than paid ones. Dynamic updating and searching for weaknesses makes free content management systems reliable and stable.

2. What are the advantages of paid systems for creating a website?

1) Paid solutions are usually ready-to-use products. They save your time. The support service will help you install and configure the basic functionality of the site. Some plans even offer to help you navigate the site for a certain amount of time.

In the case of free systems, you look for all the information yourself on the Internet. Or you turn to freelancers for help, which will cost money.

2) Most paid CMSs are well optimized for high-load projects. That is, if the site is visited by tens of thousands of people per day, then such a system copes well with the load.

Free solutions can also be adapted for high loads, but “out of the box,” that is, they are initially designed for more modest site traffic. It is believed that a website on a free system hosted on a good virtual hosting (read about hosting in a separate article) can support 3-3.5 thousand visitors per day. Well, this is a very worthy indicator, God bless everyone!

3) Many companies offer hosting for a year and a domain as a gift when purchasing a paid CMS. Of course, you pay significant money for the control system itself, sometimes the cost of a license reaches $10,000 (yes, exactly ten thousand dollars!). This is how much the “maximum configuration” of the Bitrix CMS costs.

3. Are there any large companies that use free CMS on their websites?

Yes, and there are many such companies. I will give you a list of the most famous ones.

1) General Electric Company, this world-famous monster of production and energy uses a site on CMS Joomla! Here is his address: http://www.getransportation.com

You can even type the address http://www.getransportation.com/?tp=1 and view the positions of the Joomla template modules (what are module positions - there is a special article on this topic).

2) Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, their site also uses the Joomla CMS. Website address http://www.pfrf.ru

3) Official website of Linux operating systems http://www.linux.com. And it also uses CMS Joomla.

4) Danone company I also used the Joomla system on my website. Website address http://www.danone.com.

5) Epson division website built on Joomla. The address is http://www.erd.epson.com.

6) Website of the Association of Ukrainian Banks works on Joomla, and on its very old version. Website address http://aub.org.ua.

7) Scarlett company website works on Joomla version 1.5. His address is http://www.scarlett.ru/

8) Faberlic website built on Joomla 1.5 and located at http://www.faberlic.ru

Examples can be given endlessly, because there are hundreds of other large sites on WordPress, Drupal and other systems. As you can see, large companies often prefer free content management systems. And their choice is not determined by the price of paid solutions. They are able to appreciate the benefits of open content management systems.

WordPress

An excellent CMS for blogs and information sites. Many plugins, the ability to edit them through built-in tools. There are solutions for creating stores, as well as forums. The most popular CMS at the moment.

However, due to its popularity, the most vulnerable CMS is most often subject to attacks. Many plugins are written poorly and load the server as if there are 50-100 users on the site at the same time, and not 2-3.

Pros: free, high prevalence, many plugins, easy to work with the site.

Disadvantages: can create a high load, is often subject to attacks.

Joomla

Great for light-load sites and informational sites. If used as a basis for a store, difficulties may arise: if there are a lot of products, then generating a page with a list of products can take up to 15 seconds (!). Joomla allows you to quickly create a website and populate it; for example, it makes excellent catalogs (although they work just as well on other systems), but it is very bad at creating large stores.

Pros: free, widespread, customizable.

Cons: high load, slow speed, difficulty setting up some components.

1C-Bitrix

A very convenient system for out-of-the-box solutions, easy integration with 1C accounting. However, working with the system itself may seem complicated; do not be afraid of this CMS. At the moment there are many videos, as well as step-by-step instructions on Bitrix. There are several different editions, technical support.

Pros: after completing the training course, it will be easy to fill the site with content, as well as customize it to your requirements, it is quite easy to manage.

The main disadvantage is: the CMS is paid, as well as difficulties with system development. If you need something outside of standard extensions, you will need a programmer specializing in Bitrix.

Prestashop

Quite an interesting CMS for creating an online store, not too demanding on resources, but at the same time quite convenient and pleasant to look at.
There are many plugins, extensions and fine-tuning options

Pros: free, easy to consume resources, analytics on purchases.
Cons: outdated plugins, many bugs, difficult to use by an administrator.

Opencart

The CMS is easy to set up and operate; just install it, add products and you already have a ready-made store. Quite a large number of themes for the site, both paid and free

Pros: free, the store can be really large, convenient admin panel, ability to launch promotions (promotional codes).
Cons: poor technical support, problems with updates.

Data Life Engine (DLE)

A content management system created for news/information sites, but is also suitable for other purposes. Large support community, the ability to contact developer support. Despite its paid nature, the main thing is to pay for the first license; if you do not renew the license, you only lose the ability to update versions.

Pros: lightweight CMS (relatively) both in terms of setup and resources, large community.
Cons: easy to hack, difficult to configure some aspects.