# CMS suggestions? **URL:** \ **Category:** NGINX\ **Created:** [June 25, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/cms-suggestions/171030 "2009-06-25T15:30:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nuno\_MagalhSSSSes](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Nuno\_MagalhSSSSes](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Nuno_MagalhSSSSes)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/cms-suggestions/171030/1 "2009-06-25T15:30:39Z")
Greetings, I’d like to implement a Content Management System with the following characteristics, on a server running nginx of course: - free and open-source - php-based - either database-independent (though PDO or something) or requiring MySQL or SQLite - lightweight, i want to make simple sites for the moment - support for multiple sites/domains would be a plus. I know this is One Of Those Questionsâ„¢, but if you could provide your (unbiased) opinions with explanations as to why you choose a particular CMS i’d be grateful. I’ve been experimenting around with a few but they always lack something. TIA, Nuno Magalhães ---
**Author:** ![Nuno\_MagalhSSSSes](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Nuno\_MagalhSSSSes](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Nuno_MagalhSSSSes)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/cms-suggestions/171030/2 "2009-06-25T15:37:41Z")
Just curious why “One Of Those Questions” has a “tm” on it? We run Joomla 1.5.11 using Nginx (upgraded from 1.0.15) in a high-load configuration, although we’re using it for one site only. 2009/6/25 Nuno Magalhães [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) ---
**Author:** ![Nuno\_MagalhSSSSes](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Nuno\_MagalhSSSSes](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Nuno_MagalhSSSSes)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 1:49pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/cms-suggestions/171030/3 "2009-06-27T13:49:55Z")
> > - php-based Because right now i know a little PHP, so if a PHP-based CMS happens to crash or if there’s something i might want to change, i’ll know what i’m looking at when i open the hood. > For this and other reasons, we usually prefer Plone (Python-based, > [www.plone.org](http://www.plone.org)). Which would mean i’d have (or want) to learn Python. It’s on my list, but not checked yet. Plus, this is obviously my opinion, i feel scripting languages make much more sense than programming languages as far as web-content goes. I like how PHP is embeded in HTML and vice-versa, makes sense to me. I’ve barely explored Python, though, but i’ll check out Plone. > What about using a (mostly) blog package? If you are really determined > to stick with PHP, I’d say you should take a look at serendipity > ([www.s9y.org](http://www.s9y.org)). Plus: i18n, architecture, standards-conforming, code > quality, multi-domain-capable… but see below. I’ll give it a try, thanks. The sites are all simple: - One’s a simple site that could be 100% static, just a small company displaying info on their services. - Another’s for an association. I’m starting with the basics like contact information and FAQ but in the long run i want the library catalog online and maybe e-store, plus a news section that would be consistent with a blog framework. - Another one’s for a driving school. Mostly it’s static stuff, although i’ll need some interactivity since the client will want to change content (prices etc); plus later on he’ll want online tests as well for the students. Moodle has stuff for that, i was considering grafting that onto the site. These are basic sites and needs (i’m not that advanced in all the web\* stuff yet, just basic xhtml 1.\*, css2, php5, …), but it would be easier to find a basic structure with some add-ons to start from than code everything from scratch. A basic structure i could understand right away 🙂 I considered Drupal. It is a huge project, but i guess the core packages are small and i can add on from there. I assume all of these are not httpd-dependant, although i’ve seen some Drupal modules refering Apache’s mod\_rewrite (for clean URLs, something i’d want). ---
**Author:** ![Nuno\_MagalhSSSSes](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Nuno\_MagalhSSSSes](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Nuno_MagalhSSSSes)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 2:13pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/cms-suggestions/171030/4 "2009-06-27T14:13:58Z")
On Fri, 2009-06-26 at 19:39 +0100, Nuno Magalhães wrote: > but not checked yet. Plus, this is obviously my opinion, i feel > scripting languages make much more sense than programming languages as > far as web-content goes. I like how PHP is embeded in HTML and > vice-versa, makes sense to me. > > I’ve barely explored Python, though, but i’ll check out Plone. Plone runs on Zope, which is pretty much the opposite of “lightweight”. It’s huge and slow (although quite powerful if you want to dedicate a goodly portion of your life to learning it). You won’t be able to handle any significant amount of traffic without a dedicated server (better yet, two dedicated servers, one server running Squid as a caching proxy in front of a Zope cluster on the other server). If you want lightweight and easy, I’d stick with a PHP blog or CMS (although you’ll want to be _very_ wary of security flaws) _or_ if you are willing to learn Python (pretty easy), I’d consider using a lighter Python framework such as Pylons or Turbogears. Cliff