CMSimple

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

CMSimple is a free content management system with a focus on simplicity. It aims to be simple, small and fast. As it is written in PHP it runs on Linux/Apache servers, or on Win32 with Apache or IIS, and pretty much anything else that will run a PHP interpreter.

CMSimple does not need a database as it writes page data directly to files on the web server, this simplifies installation and backups, and also makes it a cheap option on web hosts which charge extra for database access.

1 The structure
2 Business Considerations
3 Support
4 External links

[edit] The structure

The look and feel of the site is stored in a template file using HTML and css. This can be designed by the installer, or selected from over 400 free templates available through CMSimple. Third party designers can be commissioned to provide a unique template.

All error messages and text strings are contained in a plain text file. These are available in many languages, and can be translated by the installer to match the users dialect or language.

Rather than using bbcode or a similar markup language, page data is stored in a single HTML file. It is edited with a built-in WYSIWYG-what you see is what you get editor, which can be replaced with third party editors, such as TinyMCE. The editor allows facilities for uploading files and images onto the server, these can then be accessed in the page data by the inbuilt linking mechanism. The editor works under Firefox and MSIE, Konqueror and Safari but not Opera. The resulting page can be viewed by all browsers. The editor permits editing of the template and CSS files. The configuration file can also be edited.

The significance of this system is that the installer can design a unique professional site, and then leave a user, with minimal computing skills, to update the data when and how they need to. But, if support is needed, the installer can do all the necessary changes on the users low spec machine or remotely from his.

Like many Content Management Systems, it offers a wide variety of plug-ins made by third parties and also from CMSimple.

It is licensed under the terms of the Affero General Public License.

[edit] Business Considerations

A basic site , using a default template, can be uploaded to the server, configured and populated with preexisting text within 20 minutes, images can be added at the rate of one image each two minutes on a simple broadband connection. To customise or design a template takes much longer. Experienced third party developers,who will quote for the work, are available.

There is a requirement to maintain a visible link to CMSimple, then CMSimple is free to use. Companies who wish to remove this link must purchase a licence. The same applies to the credit to the template designer.

There are 93 licensed resellers in 18 countries.

About 1450 licences have been purchased by February 2007.

[edit] Support

CMSimple was awarded "Empfehlung Der Redaktion" in Internet Professionell 7/2004. CMSimple got 4 out of 5 stars in .net issue 118! It is supported by a forum with 1062 registered users who have posted 25893 articles in the four support languages EN, FR, DE, DK.

A book has been published in Danish to support it, ISBN: 87-7843-711-3.

[edit] External links

CMSimple homepage

Templates

CMSimple-Styles,
Torsten Behrens,
DotcomWebdesign.com, 300+ free cmsimple templates
NeueMedien & Design,

Plug-ins

Svarrer Plug-in Loader, Plug-in Loader + Plug-ins -> Gallery, Calendar, Memberpages etc.
JAT Plug-ins, Plug-ins -> Advanced Form, Advanced Download etc
Simple Cart, Simple Press Shopping Cart and Blog Extension
Poll and donation plugin Poll and Donation plugin
Register and contact us plugin Register plugin, contact us plugin

Articles and listings