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I am looking for a content management system that will let me:

  • Point my own domain at it.
  • Automatically handle menus and site navigation including a site map
  • Help me to create consistent pages
  • Generates pages the work without jscript (so that Google can index the site)
  • Lets me pick from lots of predefined styles, or define my own in CSS
  • Ideally have 3rd party designer that know how to create styles for it.
  • Allows me to put raw HTML in the body of a page if I need to.
  • Have a page editor that is good enough that I don’t wish to edit the HTML by hand most of the time
    I find most HTML editors to be more painful than notepad
    (MarkDown will be OK, provided it supports styles)
  • Cope with images etc (I assume that all CRM do this)
  • Has a simple form system when the submitted forms are just emailed to me.
  • Will check that all links are valid and inform me when a link become invalid
  • It would be great if I had an option at a later date to use Asp.net if needed to write forms etc.

Background:

  • I will have about 10 pages to start with
  • I am not a graphic designer
  • Getting a good looking website up quickly is more important to me the getting the best possible website.
  • I can cope with writing normal HTML by hand if a mast, but don’t wish to have to cope with menus etc.

The problem is that there are a 101 web based content management systems, and they come and go every day. I need one I can trust that will be about for a long time.

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2  
You mean CONTENT management CMS, not CRM – Roddy Jul 22 '10 at 14:25
@Roddy, thanks I think we both spotted this at the same time. – DoNotInstall Jul 22 '10 at 14:48
@Ian Ringrose: so, why not change the title to use the term CMS as well? – akira Jul 22 '10 at 16:33
Please edit title. – drye Jul 23 '10 at 1:25
Community wiki? – Vortico Jul 23 '10 at 2:33
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8 Answers

up vote 5 down vote accepted

www.squarespace.com - A web app that suites your needs.

You can find a full list of features on their site. If you use coupon code diggnation you can get 10% off for the lifetime of your order. There is also a video of diggnation talking about squarespace.

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To provide a web app answer and keep the question on topic – drye Jul 23 '10 at 1:25
1  
please say a bit more about squarespace other we will just land up with a bit list of CMS with no usefull information content – DoNotInstall Jul 23 '10 at 8:09
up vote 3 down vote

Why not just use Wordpress?

Although I am not sure about your requirement about pointing your own domain at it. You can self host fairly easily though.

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Thanks, I allways think of Wordpress as a blogging system, but I will take a look at it. – DoNotInstall Jul 22 '10 at 14:32
I'd vote for WP as well. – thunderror Jul 23 '10 at 15:08
up vote 1 down vote

Textpattern

After using Joomla, Wordpress, and CushyCMS for years, I prefer Textpattern for most projects. It can be used as a blog manager or static page CMS and is simple to integrate into your design. However, this is software and not a web app, so you'll have to install it on your own server with PHP and MySQL.

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up vote 1 down vote

CushyCMS

This is an actual web application unlike Joomla, Textpattern, and Wordpress.org. It's not a hosted solution, but it features an online interface to modify text on your own server. As it says on its main page, it's designed to be a simple CMS for designers and publishers to use without too many unnecessary features. A few minutes of setup is required to connect to the server via FTP and insert class="cushycms" in tags of HTML you want to make changable.

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up vote 1 down vote

Acquia just launched Drupal Gardens which is a hosted site for Drupal.

There is a free plan and also larger paid plans (see Pricing). Here's the list of features.

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-1 Not a Web App – drye Jul 23 '10 at 14:47
@drye: got it, I see the distinction. Edited my answer. – squillman Jul 23 '10 at 16:05
up vote 1 down vote

I use Umbraco, but I don't think that is a DIY CMS. Its more of a professional tool.

For "Do it Yourself" I'd second WordPress. Although self-hosted WP is generally better. Squarespace would work too, but you may run against limitations.

If you're willing to host your own CMS there are millions of options, some more complicated than others.

Check out CMSMatrix.org to see comparisons of nearly every CMS in existence.

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up vote 1 down vote

Blogger almost qualfies, too, apart from the last three points:

•Has a simple form system when the submitted forms are just emailed to me. Combining with google Docs Forms gives simple forms, but you get emailed a link to a summary of the data in a Docs Spreadsheet, not the data itself.

•Will check that all links are valid and inform me when a link become invalid Blogger doesn't do this itself - Webmaster Central does though.

•It would be great if I had an option at a later date to use Asp.net if needed to write forms etc Can't see Blogger offering this anytime soon.

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up vote 0 down vote

Try Joomla. Almost all Webhosts will provide it. IT is very easy to create very nice looking and extremely functional websites.

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-1 Not a Web App – drye Jul 23 '10 at 14:47
1  
Well now you are just nitpicking. To imply that a Hosted CMS is not a web application yet Wordpress is, is just plain inaccurate. – Pipermac Jul 24 '10 at 0:14

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