2017 Most Unique and Friendliest CMS for Small Businesses

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Content Management Systems (CMS) are very critical to the management of contents on small business websites. The friendliest CMS for small businesses are not just designed to upload and manage contents, they are more flexible and offer much better customized support for business owners. The best small business friendly CMS brands online today include the following;

#1: Opencart

Beginners will definitely enjoy this open source CMS because of its incredible simplicity. You don’t have to be a technology guru in order to start using this open source CMS, there are lots of plugins that has been designed to handle all complex procedures and you can start operating your store without the knowledge of coding. The simplicity of this CMS makes it one of the best for newbie online store operators. You may want to click on https://www.magenet.com/best-cms-2017/, to learn more about this open source. [Read more…]

Why You SHOULDN’T Use WordPress as Your Blogging Platform

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In case you missed out previous post, the resurgence of minimalist blogging platforms is a reaction to the decentralization of content as the primary focus of a website or blog.

By using the platforms mentioned in that post, you will easily see their simplistic but sophisticated layout that favors content instead of the bells and whistles featured in other robust platforms.

Of course, when we say “robust platform,” we are referring to WordPress.

An argument can be made that the alternative blogging platforms are a backlash to the bulky CMS that WordPress has become. Originally started out as a publishing platform for writers, WordPress has exploded into popularity due to the flexibility and customization that it offers webmasters, not to mention the host of free plugins and themes you can download, to help boost their site performance.

While these advantages will sway any beginning blogger to build their site using WordPress, there are also a lot of reasons why it’s better to choose another platform to build your site on.

Just to be clear, I love WordPress as the platform to build site and blogs on due to the very same reasons mentioned above. Also, this post is not contrarian just for the sake of being one. There are indeed legitimate arguments as to why WordPress as a blogging platform may not be your cup of tea.

It is not a “blogging” platform

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If WordPress was the standard of blogging platform, then blogging as a writing activity is no longer about writing.

Blogging, in the strictest and purest sense, is the process writing and publishing content from your site. The main point of blogging is not to drive more subscribers to your email list, increase your social media followers, or shill for a product or service in the hopes of earning money from it.

Not that there’s anything bad about these things, but there’s a perfectly understandable reason for wanting to separate your professional life from your blogging endeavors. Besides, if you want to write for money, you can just find one from a writers job board for your financial fix.

In other words, blogging is all about communication and sharing of ideas to your audience.

That’s why WordPress is awesome because it does the reasons stated above using different plugins and applying certain marketing tactics to make it work.

Those are also the reasons why WordPress will no longer be a “blogging” platform.

If you want to blog for blogging’s sake, then you may want to try on another platform that puts the writing back in its rightful place online.

You may lose your online identity

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It could be difficult to stand out from the pack if you’re using WordPress as your platform.

As of writing, there are 74,652,825 sites (and counting) that run on WordPress. If you use this CMS, you will be one of the millions who will reap the benefits that come along with it.

However, this also means that you will be using the same tools that knowledgeable WordPress users will deploy on their site to achieve the feel and appearance they want.

While the chances are slim, there’s a possibility of a site that looks and feels exactly like yours.

As a blogger, you may want a platform that will let your personality and brand shine brighter. The sheer fact that over 74 million webmasters are using WordPress no longer makes you unique in the first place.

This is where the aforementioned minimalist blogging platforms come in – they allow you to make a more effective online presence through the content you produce, which is the emphasis of these sites. It is true that the design and layout offered in these platforms lend themselves to homogeneity. However, since the content remains the focus, there’s a tendency for the design to become moot at this point.

If you wish for a legitimate WordPress alternative, you can try out Joomla and Drupal, both of which are less popular CMSs capable of providing familiar features offered in WordPress, and then some. For more information on how to build your blog using either platform, check out this resource site.

Final thoughts: Blogging should never be complicated as long as you’re fully aware that the real reason to become a blogger is that you want to write and express your ideas to others. While WordPress as a blogging platform allows you to do this, it’s clear that it’s no longer the publishing tool that it once was. This is not meant to be as a bad thing, but if you want a simple and straightforward blogging platform, then you’re probably better off using other platforms out there.

More on WordPress alternatives:

How an Industry-Specific Writer Can Improve Your Company’s Blogging

5 Best Online Interviews About Blogging You Haven’t Read Yet

WIN a Premium Design for Your Blog!

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TemplateMonster giveaway
Every blogger knows that there are a lot of blogging platforms to choose from. Some prefer WordPress, others trust their content to Joomla or whatever CMS they like. We’re not here asking you to tell us which open source blogging software is the best, though. Instead, we’d like to make things more interesting, and we would like to give you a chance to win a premium design for your blog, no matter if you’re a fan of WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal! [Read more…]

The Wait For Drupal 7 Is Almost Over

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After beta testing their latest version over the past few months, it looks like we will finally see Drupal 7 publicly unveiled to the masses early next year.

In order to celebrate Drupal 7 entrance into the world, the community is asking fans to throw a party in order to help raise awareness of the platform.

To celebrate the release of Drupal 7! On January 7, 2011 the Drupal and open source communities will be having world wide local release parties for Drupal 7. Host or attend a party with your local groups! Everybody who is a fan of making the Web better should attend.

Welcome new users and fans of open source! Releasing Drupal 7 is a huge accomplishment and we are happy to be celebrating this milestone in our history, so let’s just take some time to have fun and reflect on everything we have accomplished. With a refined and more intuitive user interface, and hundreds of enhancements under the hood, Drupal has never been more powerful. A new release of Drupal is the perfect excuse to meet up, spread the word, plan our next move and, of course, party down. (Official Drupal Blog)

The Drupal community is planning on raising awareness to the public through not only parties but apparently via fancy animation on the side of a corporate buildings as well.

While Drupal’s approach to celebrating their release may seem eccentric to some, the community is probably trying to thwart the rise of WordPress as the latter defeated Drupal as the preferred CMS platform amongst users (despite the fact that WordPress is designed more as a blog than a general website).

It will be interesting to see whether Drupal 7’s release will increase user adoption amongst the masses, although with the community rolling out competitive services (like Drupal Gardens and Acquia Hosting), 2011 could be the year that Drupal finally gets its groove back.

Deja Vu: WordPress Defeats Joomla, Drupal Again In CMS Wars

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The results for the 2010 Open Source Awards are in and it looks like WordPress has once again defeated both Joomla and Drupal as the preferred CMS among the masses (at least those who voted).

Perhaps Joomla isn’t better than WordPress after all?

I was just informed that WordPress, in head-to-head voting against Joomla and Drupal, has won this year’s Open Source CMS Hall of Fame award.

We have to be careful because if this trend continues people might think WordPress is a real CMS, useful for more than just a blog. This would ruin our stealth campaign and might bring dozens of new users to the WordPress community. If you could keep this on the DL we’d appreciate it.

We don’t want WordPress to develop a reputation. (WordPress News)

Truth be told I am not surprised by the results, despite the fact that WordPress was never initially designed as a CMS while both Joomla and Drupal are (the latter which is about to release version 7.o). [Read more…]