It's been a while since I posted (on the old forum). I found Umbraco a while back and tried installing it on my local machine. I'm not sure what happened but I never finished it.
I realize this is an Umbraco forum so opinions will probably be biased, but I would like to get opinions from a few developers here. I am looking for a CMS that someone like me can use. I am a full-time C#/.NEt programmer with very limited CMS knowledge (I barely know about WP).
I will be developing a website/web app which contains the following things: Main site: news columns, updated regularly; adverts; need admin rights, "writer" rights, etc. If user likes a news piece, they should be able to twitter it or digg it, etc. Forum: member-ship based. people register, login, post, mod/admin, regular user (add/delete/modify). Typical About page
I need both to be highly customizable design-wise. I'll be the main (and probably only) programmer for this. I'll probably have to hire a designer. I reside in the United States. I have a .NET hosting account. I want this to be up and running asap, but will give it a month to learn stuff and have the main page up and running.
So typical questions: what cms would you suggest for a total beginner? What cms will be easily hosted (don't want to dela with too many installation problems!)? What is user-friendly? If Umbraco, can I start with an installation video and a basic tutorial that shows you how to set up a "login" control? Will I be able to use .NEt controls? I'm pretty clueless here.
My setup is: WinXP Media Ed. with IIS 5.1. SQL Express 2005 (will double-check). This is really important as I need it to work with IIS 5.1 at least! I'll be honest in saying that I've downloaded the DNN Starter Kit and have not gone any further and need tuts to see what step is next, but I'm not sure if I should be using DNN. I'm getting overwhelmed and need opinions from programmers and developers who have done this before.
I've never used DNN. I've used proprietory CMS's built by agencies I've worked for as well as Immediacy (a .NET based CMS). Personally I think Umbraco beats them all without question.
To get you started Download Umbraco and install the Creative Website Starter (http://our.umbraco.org/projects/creative-website-starter-%28cws%29) package (via the developer section). This will get you up and running with Umbraco right away.
The only barrier to using umbraco is knowledge of xslt, however in saying that a number of developers do seem to work with Umbraco purely with .NET controls. It's really up to you.
I would also recommend you sign up to Umbraco.tv. This will provide you with a great learning resource, it is a paid service, but well worth the money for a newbie.
If IIS 5.1 supports .NET 2.0 then you should be fine.
All of your requirements are acheivable using Umbraco. There are NO restrictions on the html generated by Umbraco
As most packages use xslt or are open source, you get a load of free functionality than can also be easily changed to fit your needs.
In short, download it and try it again. Let us know what you think, the good and the bad!
I'd like to point out that templating is very difficult in DNN. So if design/templating is a real big thing, I would definately steer away from DNN.
Other than that I think you'll have a bit of a hard time trying to implement a forum in Umbraco, the previous Umbraco forum was based on "Yet Another Forum" and this one is custom built (I don't believe the source is available at this moment). It should, however, not be very difficult to write your own forum solution that works decently.
One other thing: As Umbraco stays very very close to most of the default asp.net way of doing things (master pages, membership provider, usercontrols, etc.), it's easy for you as a programmer to find great tutorials all over the web on how to do things. This can be especially valueable for you, as you've indicated that you are not experienced in web development yet.
I agree with Chris, Umbraco.tv is a fabulous resource to get you started and it goes in depth on developer subjects as well.
@Sebastiaan: Forum package IS available in the project section... this forum is based on that package, altho lots of functionality has been implemented specific to our.umbraco.org forum, but the project should do great for a starter.
I also agree with Chris, give the Creative Website Starter spin. That will give you a basic press section , gallery , contact form within a few clicks.The code is well commented so it's easy to extend.
DNN places great emphasis on all the modules you can add. Whilst it true they are many great "packages" in umbraco the big win is that is extremely simple to create your own.
Another win, is that i get fewer support request with umbraco. The tree structure is really intuitive. So less documentation :)
If you hosting provider doesnt provide "full trust" to web applications (so they can read registry and write outside their web root or use system reflection) you wont be able to run umbraco. Period.
This is the biggest downside of umbraco, but unfortunately >95% of providers do not support full trust (as it is a bit silly to enable websites to overwrite other users websites or worse).
Consider this fact when choosing umbraco as your CMS or you will be paying extra to change provider and/or migrate your existing web.
I have developed sites in DNN and Umbraco and personally I would choose Umbraco everytime (we only develop in DNN if a client insists on it). Getting your template exactly as you want it in DNN is very difficult and DNN interferes with your html code and adds its own bits and pieces.
We find DNN a bit heavy weight and prefer Umbraco for this reason. DNN may come with a lot of modules that you can purchase but you will never get the control that you get with Umbraco. From what you have said I think Umbraco would serve your needs nicely (as Marino said check your hosting package first).
Our clients also prefer the user interface of Umbraco as it is really easy to get to grips with. Hope this helps.
@Marino: Full trust doesn't give you full control over the server and other peoples websites unless your host is using the same Windows User for all sites which would be insane. On top of the trust level system lies a number of other managed security layers that ensures this.
Should I use Umbraco?
Hello Everyone,
It's been a while since I posted (on the old forum). I found Umbraco a while back and tried installing it on my local machine. I'm not sure what happened but I never finished it.
I realize this is an Umbraco forum so opinions will probably be biased, but I would like to get opinions from a few developers here. I am looking for a CMS that someone like me can use. I am a full-time C#/.NEt programmer with very limited CMS knowledge (I barely know about WP).
I will be developing a website/web app which contains the following things:
Main site: news columns, updated regularly; adverts; need admin rights, "writer" rights, etc. If user likes a news piece, they should be able to twitter it or digg it, etc.
Forum: member-ship based. people register, login, post, mod/admin, regular user (add/delete/modify).
Typical About page
I need both to be highly customizable design-wise. I'll be the main (and probably only) programmer for this. I'll probably have to hire a designer. I reside in the United States. I have a .NET hosting account. I want this to be up and running asap, but will give it a month to learn stuff and have the main page up and running.
So typical questions: what cms would you suggest for a total beginner? What cms will be easily hosted (don't want to dela with too many installation problems!)? What is user-friendly? If Umbraco, can I start with an installation video and a basic tutorial that shows you how to set up a "login" control? Will I be able to use .NEt controls? I'm pretty clueless here.
My setup is: WinXP Media Ed. with IIS 5.1. SQL Express 2005 (will double-check). This is really important as I need it to work with IIS 5.1 at least! I'll be honest in saying that I've downloaded the DNN Starter Kit and have not gone any further and need tuts to see what step is next, but I'm not sure if I should be using DNN. I'm getting overwhelmed and need opinions from programmers and developers who have done this before.
TIA.
I've never used DNN. I've used proprietory CMS's built by agencies I've worked for as well as Immediacy (a .NET based CMS). Personally I think Umbraco beats them all without question.
To get you started Download Umbraco and install the Creative Website Starter (http://our.umbraco.org/projects/creative-website-starter-%28cws%29) package (via the developer section). This will get you up and running with Umbraco right away.
The only barrier to using umbraco is knowledge of xslt, however in saying that a number of developers do seem to work with Umbraco purely with .NET controls. It's really up to you.
I would also recommend you sign up to Umbraco.tv. This will provide you with a great learning resource, it is a paid service, but well worth the money for a newbie.
If IIS 5.1 supports .NET 2.0 then you should be fine.
All of your requirements are acheivable using Umbraco. There are NO restrictions on the html generated by Umbraco
As most packages use xslt or are open source, you get a load of free functionality than can also be easily changed to fit your needs.
In short, download it and try it again. Let us know what you think, the good and the bad!
I'd like to point out that templating is very difficult in DNN. So if design/templating is a real big thing, I would definately steer away from DNN.
Other than that I think you'll have a bit of a hard time trying to implement a forum in Umbraco, the previous Umbraco forum was based on "Yet Another Forum" and this one is custom built (I don't believe the source is available at this moment).
It should, however, not be very difficult to write your own forum solution that works decently.
One other thing: As Umbraco stays very very close to most of the default asp.net way of doing things (master pages, membership provider, usercontrols, etc.), it's easy for you as a programmer to find great tutorials all over the web on how to do things. This can be especially valueable for you, as you've indicated that you are not experienced in web development yet.
I agree with Chris, Umbraco.tv is a fabulous resource to get you started and it goes in depth on developer subjects as well.
@Sebastiaan: Forum package IS available in the project section... this forum is based on that package, altho lots of functionality has been implemented specific to our.umbraco.org forum, but the project should do great for a starter.
Cheers,
/Dirk
I also agree with Chris, give the Creative Website Starter spin. That will give you a basic press section , gallery , contact form within a few clicks.The code is well commented so it's easy to extend.
DNN places great emphasis on all the modules you can add. Whilst it true they are many great "packages" in umbraco the big win is that is extremely simple to create your own.
Another win, is that i get fewer support request with umbraco. The tree structure is really intuitive. So less documentation :)
speedy beware of things that are not said here:
You said you already have a hosting provider
If you hosting provider doesnt provide "full trust" to web applications (so they can read registry and write outside their web root or use system reflection) you wont be able to run umbraco. Period.
This is the biggest downside of umbraco, but unfortunately >95% of providers do not support full trust (as it is a bit silly to enable websites to overwrite other users websites or worse).
Consider this fact when choosing umbraco as your CMS or you will be paying extra to change provider and/or migrate your existing web.
I have developed sites in DNN and Umbraco and personally I would choose Umbraco everytime (we only develop in DNN if a client insists on it). Getting your template exactly as you want it in DNN is very difficult and DNN interferes with your html code and adds its own bits and pieces.
We find DNN a bit heavy weight and prefer Umbraco for this reason. DNN may come with a lot of modules that you can purchase but you will never get the control that you get with Umbraco. From what you have said I think Umbraco would serve your needs nicely (as Marino said check your hosting package first).
Our clients also prefer the user interface of Umbraco as it is really easy to get to grips with. Hope this helps.
@Marino: Full trust doesn't give you full control over the server and other peoples websites unless your host is using the same Windows User for all sites which would be insane. On top of the trust level system lies a number of other managed security layers that ensures this.
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