A Guide to Building a Website: Choose Your Platform • AdFoxly Blog
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A Guide to Building a Website: Choose Your Platform

A Guide to Building a Website: Choose Your Platform

The idea that the fastest way to find information is the Internet, has dominated public perception for years. This information must be easily tracked by users and provided in a straightforward and precise manner. It results in significant popularity of internet portals, the specialized ones as well as providing general information, and also local portals. Internet portals attract a great number of users, who look for the latest news, every day. The websites must, therefore, be technically prepared to provide content in a swift manner and make it accessible for everyone. How do you build such an internet portal?

Since technical issues are so important, let’s focus on them. First of all, before building an internet portal you need to consider whether you have the necessary knowledge and skills to create it. Perhaps you think that creating an internet portal is too much of a challenge? Don’t give up! You should know there are many possibilities that will allow you to build a web portal, even if you are not a technical person. One of those solutions is using a CMS

What Is CMS?

CMS (Content Management System) is a software that allows you to create a website, even if you don’t know any programming languages. It contains an administrative panel, divided into modules or sections where you may create or edit relevant elements of your site.

Content management systems are simple to use, allow for considerable personalization options, and are accessible for most users. One of the undeniable advantages of popular CMSs is a large community of users who influence the development of the systems, provide problem-solving capabilities, and serve as education means for new users.

What Are the Most Popular CMSs for Portals?

The popularity rankings of content management systems point to WordPress as the most popular CMS. It is followed by Joomla! And Drupal. In this article, we only mention CMS suitable for building web portals and do not take into account any online stores mentioned in those rankings. All systems listed here are free-of-charge.

WordPress

WordPress is the most popular content management system. It was established in 2003, as a platform for bloggers. At the moment it is estimated that 37% of all websites are operating on this system.

WordPress

The users of the WordPress system have access to two options: a ready instance of the system hosted as part of the wordpress.com service, or a package available at wordpress.org, intended for self-installation by the user with their own hosting and domain. A large part of hosting service providers also offers WordPress auto-installers, as well as hosting plans dedicated to this system.

The WordPress interface is simple, intuitive and should not cause the slightest problems in navigating it, even to non-technical users. Its capabilities can be expanded thanks to the myriad of plugins available in both free and paid versions.

WordPress posts

WP stands out among the other propositions on the market, due to its rich library of themes that allow its users to create any type of website: blogs, internet portals, landing pages, and even online stores. WordPress is fast and above all, a simple system, perfectly suited for the first contact with CMS.

Advantages:

  • The system’s popularity
  • Availability of plugins and themes
  • Simple administrative panel
  • Friendly toward SEO solutions
  • E-commerce options

Disadvantages:

  • Due to its popularity, it is a frequent target of attacks

Joomla!

The second most popular CMS is Joomla! Like WordPress, it is an open-source project. It was established in 2005, as a derivative of Mambo.

The system’s distinguishing feature is its simple installation that only takes a few seconds. However, the management of this system (for non-technical people) is more complicated than WordPress. Any arising problems may be easily solved thanks to extensive documentation and the support of other users as well as creators of the system.

Unfortunately, the availability of plugins and themes for this system is not as far and wide as in the case of the previously discussed CMS. Despite this, the system proves to work well on various types of websites.

Joomla!, however, is not intended for website creators who are about to have their first contact with CMS – it’s worth to remember that.

Advantages:

  • Simple installation
  • Friendly toward SEO
  • E-commerce options

Disadvantages:

  • More complicated management, than WordPress
  • Fewer plugins and themes available
  • Difficult for new users

Drupal

Drupal takes third place in terms of popularity. Like the abovementioned systems, it is an open-source project. However, it is more complicated than WordPress and Joomla!

Installation and configuration of Drupal are not simple and it is rather time-consuming. Managing the system is difficult as well, especially considering how simple the other CMSs are. Using this system requires some knowledge of PHP, HTML, and CSS.

Similarly, as in Joomla!’s case, the availability of plugins and themes is lower than for WordPress. Drupal also generates a higher load on the server than the systems discussed above.

Considering the level of difficulty managing Drupal, this system is not intended for users, who are about to have their first contact with CMS. However, a huge community of dedicated users provides a well of knowledge and experience.

Advantages:

  • Designed for various types of projects, even the most advanced ones
  • SEO friendly
  • E-commerce options

Disadvantages:

  • Difficult for new users
  • Requires a lot of time to set up

Own CMS

If all the above offers do not meet your requirements, and you have the necessary knowledge, you may create your own CMS. What you need to keep in mind are the safety issues.

A CMS tailored for your needs may turn out to be both a better and worse solution than one of the above-mentioned ones. On the one hand, it won’t contain anything that you do not need. On the other hand, you will have to deal with any potential defects all by yourself.

Which CMS Should You Choose?

Each user should approach the question of which CMS to choose individually. All of the abovementioned systems have their pros and cons. However, for us, considering we are currently implementing a project, which this guide is a part of, and also taking into account costs, time, and expected results – WordPress seems to be the best option. Why?

WordPress is free and very simple to implement and manage. It appeals to people who have some technical knowledge, as well as to those who lack that knowledge. A huge community of users is another advantage because new users can count on assistance even with the most difficult situations. In addition, the number of plugins and themes, that allow WordPress users to adapt their projects to their requirements and expectations, is really extensive. Because of this everyone can create a website that is interesting and efficient.

Summary

Building a web portal may be easy with CMS. Content Management System allows you to create a website that meets your expectations. Thanks to the availability of various types of extensions, such as plugins or themes, you may create an interesting web portal, without any programming knowledge.

illustration by Ouch.pics

Let's start with the simple way to manage an ads on WordPress.