# Will a CMS benefit me?



## pengyou (Feb 14, 2007)

Hi! I probably know just enough about webstuff now to be really dangerous 

What I am doing...I have my own forum - will soon have 4. I use phplist to send out an ezine to 260 people per month. This will probably climb to 500 people within a year. I am learning how to do a blog but want to be able to host all of the folks in my organization on my server. I hope to be able to have the blog for each member draw from the organization blog so that, for example, the info on student of the month will be automatically placed on each members blog page. In addition to my blog I will probably put up some pages as well. Within 1 year i hope to be able to use my site to take donations via Visa/MC or paypal for my group.

Before I get hot and heavy into blogging with blogging software, i.e. WordPress should I look into using a CMS like Joomla? I have heard from friends that changing blogging software is often very difficult, or at least time consuming. Will a CMS provide me with better security?


----------



## Skie (Mar 15, 2003)

A particular category of software will not provide better security (i.e. CMS's are no more secure then forums or blogs). What makes a program/script secure is the developers who create it. Drupal has a good reputation for security. When deciding if you wish to use a CMS, you need to evaluate it against your needs/wants. Take some time to write down what your needs are as well as your wants. Then evaluate the various CMS packages (and any other applications that you may wish to consider) against this list and pick the one that handles your list the best.


----------



## A-H (Apr 17, 2008)

Hello,

I would say yes. A CMS like joomla would make it a lot easier for you to handle your site. Not only are there tons of very nice templates that can make your site look fresh, but there are also all sorts of components and modules that can allow you to easily create a community, set up forums, sell mehandise and many many more things. Also... its almost all completely free.

There are 2 joomla versions, the more classic 1.0.15 and the newer 1.5.2. Difference is that 1.0.15 is stable and fully tested while 1.5.2 has a more modern looking interface but still is somewhat unstable. There are more compnents and modules that work with 1.0.15.

You would need one mysql database for the installation and make sure you follow the instructions on install exactly. There are many guides online to help you get started with joomla. Use them.

I would give it a try if I where you.


----------

