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Tag: CMS

  • WordPress vs. Other CMS: The Perfect Match for Your Project!

    WordPress vs. Other CMS: The Perfect Match for Your Project! In today’s digitized world, having a user-friendly and dynamic website is crucial for businesses and individuals alike. Choosing the right content management system (CMS) is the first step towards achieving this goal. With numerous options available, it can be overwhelming to make the right choice. However, fear not! In this article, we will explore why WordPress is the perfect match for your project and also take a closer look at some alternatives.

    Why Choose WordPress for Your Project?

    When it comes to CMS, WordPress undoubtedly takes the lead. Its popularity speaks volumes about its effectiveness and versatility. One of the key reasons for choosing WordPress is its user-friendly interface. Even if you have little to no technical knowledge, you can easily navigate and manage your website with its intuitive dashboard. Additionally, WordPress offers a wide range of themes and plugins, allowing you to customize your website according to your unique needs and preferences. Another advantage of WordPress is its robust community support. With millions of users worldwide, you can find answers to your queries and troubleshooting tips in no time. From forums to tutorials, blogs, and even in-person meetups, the WordPress community is always ready to lend a helping hand. Moreover, regular updates and security patches ensure that your website stays protected and up to date with the latest features and functionalities. Lastly, WordPress is known for its exceptional SEO capabilities. It comes with built-in tools and plugins that make it easier for search engines to crawl and index your website, ultimately improving its visibility and ranking. This means more organic traffic and potential customers for your business.

    Exploring Alternatives: Which CMS is the Perfect Match?

    While WordPress is undoubtedly a fantastic CMS, it is important to explore other alternatives before making a final decision. One popular alternative is Joomla. Similar to WordPress, Joomla is an open-source CMS that offers a wide range of templates and extensions. Although it may not be as beginner-friendly as WordPress, Joomla provides more advanced functionalities and is ideal for larger-scale websites and e-commerce platforms. Another option worth considering is Drupal. Often regarded as the most powerful CMS available, Drupal is highly customizable and scalable. It offers robust security features and is perfect for complex websites that require extensive customization and integration with third-party systems. However, Drupal has a steeper learning curve and may not be suitable for beginners or smaller projects. In conclusion, choosing the right CMS is crucial for the success of your project. While there are several alternatives available, WordPress remains the top choice for its user-friendly interface, extensive customization options, and strong community support. However, it is always beneficial to explore other CMS options like Joomla and Drupal to ensure you find the perfect match for your unique project needs. So, get ready to unleash your creativity and build the website of your dreams with the ideal CMS!

  • 11 Best Content Management Systems in 2023

    Choosing a Content Management System (CMS) for a content operation is a “make or break” decision. It’s not easy to commit to one and then switch to another. The best content management systems will give you room to scale your operation and be simple enough for your writers to utilize it fully.

    CMS solutions go beyond static website builders—they are adaptable enough to manage all the complexities of pushing content at scale. This article explores the best CMS platforms that small and large businesses use to see digital success.

    The Best Content Management Systems and Software

    A CMS ought to perform all the expected content and media management tasks. Still, it should also have extendibility, give complete control over SEO, and provide incredible site speed— all at reasonable costs.

    We’ve gone through all the top picks and have come up with this list of CMS software you can use to create your next content website. We haven’t listed every possible option out there. Instead, we have selected a few leading CMSs that fit specific use cases to help you make an informed decision. This way, you can better understand how to choose a CMS yourself.

    We’ll start with the all-time leader of CMSs — WordPress.

    1. WordPress

    WordPress Homepage April 2023
    WordPress is by far the most popular Content Management System (CMS) for building websites of all types, used by over 43% of all websites. The core technology (WordPress.org) is free and open source which has helped it grow rapidly over the last twenty or so years. It also has a huge following and support from users, developers, and companies that build WordPress products to fit every need imaginable.

    Although WordPress Core is free, it does require other things to make it competitive. It’ll require hosting, speed and security plugins, and a flexible theme (more details at the end of this post on how to get started with WordPress). The customization capabilities in WordPress go far beyond just the visual design of the website. Users can add functionality to their site with plugins for tasks like contact forms, social media sharing, eCommerce, and integrations with thousands of SaaS, marketing, and productivity platforms. The flexibility of WordPress allows users to build precisely the websites they have in mind and not be held back by a set-in-stone CMS.

    Key Features of WordPress:

    • Vast customization capabilities with thousands of themes and tens of thousands of plugins to do just about any task (many are free)
    • Easy to manage content for any website you want to build, including online stores, blogs, and membership sites
    • SEO-friendly CMS that gives you more options for complex SEO tasks and technical setups
    • Massive, supportive community with plenty of groups to join and get help from (like our Divi Users group)
    • Content portability that can easily be transferred to a different WordPress site or as data files to take elsewhere—control over your data is in your hands

    WordPress 60000+ Plugins

    Best For:

    WordPress is a great CMS for businesses with unique website needs because it allows complete freedom to build any website with thousands of themes and plugins for added features. Additionally, it is designed for SEO and has a supportive community. However, it does require web hosting, and users are responsible for managing security and backups. With the proper plugins, those are all manageable items to get done.

    WordPress is also a great option for first-time website creators since it is built to make website building easy.

    Pricing: WordPress is free to use, but users will need to pay for hosting and any premium themes or plugins they choose to use.

    Get WordPress

    2. Hubspot

    HubSpot CMS is geared toward marketers and sales organizations who use paid or organic content as a significant inbound channel. It allows businesses to integrate marketing and CRM infrastructure inside a CMS fully. It helps you get customer information with inbuilt reporting, set up marketing automation, and tap right into HubSpot CRM without having to set up any 3rd party integrations.

    HubSpot CMS Page Builder

    HubSpot has built-in SEO tools and marketing attribution, which help businesses optimize their web content and properly collect customer data for later marketing. HubSpot empowers businesses to make data-driven decisions and improve their online presence, ultimately converting more customers. Check out our detailed HubSpot overview for more.

    Key Features of Hubspot:

    • HubSpot CMS Hub offers built-in SEO and marketing attribution tools to optimize web content easily
    • CMS Hub has built-in security features, including a global CDN and Web Application Firewall, to protect your site from attacks
    • The platform seamlessly integrates with HubSpot’s marketing, sales, service, and CRM tools to streamline workflows
    • HubSpot Asset Marketplace offers over 3,500 free and paid templates to change the appearance of your site

    HubSpot CMS Analytics

    Best For:

    HubSpot CMS is a comprehensive content management system that allows marketers and business owners to link their marketing and sales activities easily. It is recommended for businesses of all sizes seeking a unified CMS and CRM solution. Small companies, as well as larger ones, rely on Hubspot. They have excellent help resources and videos to get you on your way.

    To see how Hubspot compares to WordPress, see our breakdown of WordPress vs. Hubspot.

    Pricing: Hubspot’s CMS starts for as little as $25/mo with scaling prices well over $300/mo

    Get Hubspot

    3. Shopify


    Shopify is a popular eCommerce CMS that includes basic content management for posts. It is one of the go-to eCommerce website platforms along with WooCommerce. Its sole purpose is to make selling online easy.

    Shopify is powerful as an eCommerce CMS but relatively weak regarding pages and blog posts. Most people starting with the platform are delighted with the selling features but are left wanting better CMS features for traditional content (outside of product information).

    Shopify Product Management

    Key Features of Shopify:

    • Built-in payment processing and shopping cart system
    • Easy-to-use interface with 24/7 support
    • Ability to manage product display, stock, coupons, and orders
    • App marketplace with over 5,700 free and paid apps to extend the functionality
    • Ideal for first-time shop owners and small businesses looking to sell online

    Shopify’s built-in payment processing and shopping cart system makes it incredibly easy for businesses to set up an online store and accept payments quickly. This, combined with its user-friendly interface and tech support, makes it an excellent option for first-time shop owners and small businesses looking to start selling online without the technical know-how or resources required to build a custom e-commerce solution from scratch.

    Shopify’s themes are made using their programming language, Liquid, similar to PHP. This can be a drawback because custom coding requires learning Liquid and limits the number of web developers who can work on your theme changes. However, Liquid is widely used and adopted.

    Best For:

    Shopify is an ideal CMS for e-commerce sites, especially for first-time shop owners or small businesses looking to sell online. It offers a user-friendly interface with payment processing, apps with more features, and customer support. However, customization options are limited, and bigger plans can be expensive.

    To see how Shopify compares to WooCommerce, see our breakdown of WordPress vs. Shopify.

    Pricing: Shopify’s pricing ranges from $39/month with transaction fees per eCommerce transaction

    Get Shopify

    4. Webflow


    Webflow is an all-in-one software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for building and hosting your website. All of the features are built-in, so you don’t have to worry about finding a host or installing extra plugins for things like SEO, security, eCommerce, etc.

    The best feature of Webflow CMS is its visual editor. This editor allows you to create and edit content without any coding knowledge. You can drag and drop elements to make your pages and use the built-in tools to style your content. The visual editor is intuitive and easy to use though a design background is helpful.

    Webflow Content Management System

    Key Features of Webflow:

    • Complete control over site design
    • Offers built-in security features like SSL certification and 2FA
    • Hosting comes with the platform (just like Wix or Squarespace)
    • Ideal for experienced designers who want to create custom sites rapidly

    Best For:

    Webflow is an ideal content management system for experienced designers as the whole design system is built to bring CSS to a no-code environment. It has well over a hundred starting templates for agencies designing quickly for customer sites and has all the web design features to iterate new concepts quickly. It reminds us a bit of Divi for WordPress.

    To see how Webflow compares to WordPress, see our breakdown of WordPress vs. Webflow.

    Pricing: Webflow’s pricing ranges from $12/mo but starts at $29/mo for CMS features

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    5. Contentful

    Contentful is a headless CMS that allows you to manage your content in a central location and deliver it to any device or channel. It offers a range of features and integrations to help developers create and manage their digital content strategy.

    Contentful’s “content model editor” works like custom post types in WordPress, where you can create content types and fields. For example, you could create content models for an editorial story-telling or for product reviews based on the type of content and structure you want to have for either.

    Contentful Content Model Home

    Key Features of Contentful:

    • Enterprise-level headless CMS with tools to create, edit, and manage content
    • Allows for the creation of a unique content model tailored to the specific project’s design and function needs
    • API-first platform that enables integration with any tech stack and can deliver content to any digital channel
    • Security features provided by Amazon Web Services and built into Contentful
    • Adaptable to all digital platforms, from web browsers to mobile apps

    Best For:

    Contentful is a cloud-based CMS for bigger businesses with technical resources. It’s perfect for developers who want to use an API-first CMS to push content to different channels, but it may not be easy for most businesses.

    Pricing: Contentful’s pricing ranges from $300/mo for its basic CMS plan

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    6. Adobe Experience Manager Sites


    Adobe Experience Manager Sites is a cloud-based CMS that offers a wide range of features, including content management, collaboration, and analytics. It is a good choice for businesses that need a feature-rich CMS to power digital content on apps and websites. It integrates seamlessly with the rest of the Adobe Experience Cloud ecosystem.

    The best feature of AEM Sites is its ability to create personalized user experiences. AEM Sites use various technologies, including artificial intelligence, to understand user behavior and preferences. This information is then used to deliver more relevant content to each user.

    AEM Sites CMS

    Key Features of Adobe Experience Manager Sites:

    • Flexible CMS that adapts to different channels like mobile Apps (Apple, Android, etc.) and websites
    • Scalability with machine learning and AI-powered Digital Asset Management (DAM) tool
    • Advanced user access controls, helpful video analytics, and intelligent searching

    Best For:

    AEM Sites is a great CMS for big organizations that want to deliver personalized content experiences across multiple channels. AI powers it and has an efficient data collection system, but licensing and setting up are expensive.

    WordPress tools like AppPresser can help you turn your website into an App for multi-channel content distribution.

    Pricing: Adobe Experience Manager Sites’ pricing is not public, and you will need a quote from Adobe

    Get Adobe Experience Manager Sites

    7. Magnolia CMS

    Magnolia is a headless CMS that offers a wide range of features, including content management, collaboration, and analytics. It is a good choice for businesses that need a powerful and feature-rich CMS.

    Magnolia’s modular architecture and open APIs make adding new features and functionality easy. Its flexible content model allows you to create and manage content in a way that makes sense for your business.

    Key Features of Magnolia:

    • Flexible and customizable with modular architecture and Java customization options
    • Built for managing multi-site, multi-language, and multi-channel digital experiences
    • Includes AI-powered content search and smart tagging for centralized taxonomy
    • Offers out-of-the-box functionality with options to customize and tailor workflows, create server filters, and more
    • Supports traditional web pages, interactive apps, digital signage, and any digital channel for content management

    Publishing Pages Magnolia CMS

    Best For:

    Magnolia is a great CMS for businesses that manage multiple sites, channels, and endpoints. It offers good default features, but you can customize it as you need. Magnolia’s modules can be interchanged, and you can customize Java for workflows, server filters, and the interface. It’s ideal for omnichannel experiences and is favored by many marketers. It also uses AI features to help create content, making it easier for users to find (and add personalization).

    Pricing: Magnolia’s pricing is not public, and you will need a quote from Magnolia

    Get Magnolia

    8. Joomla


    Joomla is a free-to-install, open-source CMS that’s similar to WordPress. Many would consider it behind WordPress’s usability, but many people love it. Joomla is tailored more toward developers rather than the average user. It can be challenging to use, and it isn’t easy to learn the UI and settings.

    Post and page editing uses a standard WYSIWYG editor that virtually all CMS platforms are getting away from. Upgradable Joomla page editors can be added for a more modern editing experience.

    Key Features of Joomla:

    • Offers a middle ground between the ease of use and price of WordPress and the versatility of Drupal
    • It has more out-of-the-box features than most open-source CMS systems, allowing users to build complex sites
    • It provides excellent tools for managing users, making it a popular choice for membership-type sites

    Joomla Add Article to CMS

    Best For:

    Joomla is suitable for larger companies and technical individuals who need a more advanced CMS with features and flexibility for building complex sites, like eCommerce stores or membership-type sites. Still, it requires a steeper learning curve than WordPress and provides user management tools.

    To see how Joomla compares to WordPress, see our breakdown of WordPress vs. Joomla.

    Price: Free CMS platform that requires hosting

    Get Joomla

    9. Ghost


    Ghost is a publishing platform focused mainly on publishing, specifically for digital content creators who’d tend to otherwise monetize their content through Medium, Substack, or Patreon. Instead of taking the approaches of any of those platforms, Ghost is a CMS that lets you control every aspect of your business website with the added benefit of great monetization tools that come standard.

    Creators can charge for their content through a customizable membership or offer it free. The CMS distributes content via web and email using the inbuilt newsletter feature. Ghost is a CMS with a single purpose, so learning tends to be easier. All the tools are there to help you post and make money.

    Ghost Content Management System Posts

    Key Features of Ghost:

    • Ghost is designed for creators and offers a content editor using cards (like WordPress blocks)
    • The CMS platform has excellent support for SEO
    • Ghost is an excellent choice for running a paid online journal or content hub, as it allows creators to charge for their content
    • Easily share content through a variety of channels, including your website and email newsletters

    Best For:

    Ghost is an ideal CMS platform for bloggers, podcasters, and journalists, focusing on easily managing members and content. Users who need more customization may find it lacking compared to CMS platforms like WordPress though many will find the simplicity freeing. It’s also not easy to self-host (at least not now), so site owners would use their optional hosting.

    To see how Ghost compares to WordPress, see our breakdown of WordPress vs. Ghost.

    Price: Starting at $11/mo (based on audience size)

    Get Ghost

    10. TYPO3


    TYPO3 is a free and open-source CMS known for its flexibility and scalability. It is a good choice for businesses seeking a customizable and open-source CMS platform. It’s more of a developer-focused platform with steep entry points. It boasts a relatively extensive extension library, with many extensions costing extra. Unfortunately, that pales in comparison to WordPress’ plugin selection.

    TYPO3 CMS Multi-lingual Pages

    Key Features of TYPO3:

    • The CMS is highly customizable, with over 6,000 extensions and the ability to hire developers to extend it further
    • It is easy to modify user permissions and customize security features, which provides greater control and tighter security
    • TYPO3 is best suited for enterprise-level websites but requires advanced technical skills to set up and maintain

    Best For:

    TYPO3 is an open-source CMS designed to build enterprise-level sites and is best suited for enterprises that want a fully customizable site. It’s also useful for intranet sites (internal company sites) and websites.

    Pricing: TYPO3 is free to use, but users will need to pay for hosting and any premium templates or plugins they choose to use.

    Get TYPO3

    11. Drupal

    Drupal - Homepage April 2023
    Drupal is a complete CMS that targets the same demographic as WordPress does. Like WordPress, it is free, open-source, and easily installed through most web hosting providers. It tends to be more technical than WordPress but easier than Joomla (two of the most prominent open-course CMSs).

    It is highly configurable and can create many websites, from simple blogs to complex eCommerce stores. It’s often touted as one of the safer security choices among open-source CMSs.

    Drupal CMS management

    Key Features of Drupal:

    • Configurable using modules (45,000+) and thousands of themes
    • Considered one of the most secure open-source CMS software
    • This platform is an excellent choice for developing intricate websites with personalized features, particularly if you have a technical background

    Best For:

    Drupal is ideal for developers and businesses with significant technical resources to build a highly customized site that can handle large volumes of data and heavy traffic. It offers a wide range of highly configurable modules and themes, with the highest reputation for security among open-source platforms. However, its steep learning curve and high cost of building and customizing sites make it less user-friendly for beginners than other CMS platforms.

    To see how Drupal compares to WordPress, see our breakdown of WordPress vs. Drupal.

    Price: Free CMS that many hosting companies provide an easy install option for

    Get Drupal

    CMS Frequently Asked Questions

    What is the most widely used content management system?

    WordPress is the most popular Content Management System (CMS) that is used by an astonishing 40% of the websites on the internet today. It’s a highly versatile platform that provides users with an easy-to-use interface and a great range of features and customization options, making it the go-to choice for many website developers.

    What are the different types of CMS?

    Some content management systems are open-source (which you self-host) and others are cloud-based (hosted by another company). CMSs may also have different specialties for different types of content or different types of technology that they connect with.

    What do you use a content management system for?

    A content management system (CMS) is a software application that helps you create, manage, and publish content on a website or app. CMSs are designed to make it easy for people with little or no technical experience to create and update content without relying on a web developer. Though developers often help set up the whole system.

    What is the best content management system for websites?

    WordPress is the best content management system for the average website. It is simple enough for most people to learn to use and is able to be customized by using plugins and themes.

    What is the Best Content Management System?

    The three best CMS platforms are WordPress, HubSpot, and Shopify.

    WordPress and its vast customization abilities and massive community (and market share) make it an excellent choice for almost any website and business.

    With its connected marketing and sales platforms, HubSpot creates a compelling case if you are okay with opting for a closed system with limited outside customization.

    Finally, Shopify is ideal for first-time shop owners and small businesses looking to sell online. The platform makes it easy to set up a shop and connect all the relevant marketing tools using simple wizards. However, we prefer WordPress + WooCommerce.

    CMS Logo CMS Software Starting Price Free Plan
    1 WordPress Logo WordPress Free* ✔️ Yes Start
    2 Hubspot Logo Hubspot $25/mo ✔️ Yes Visit
    3 Shopify Logo Shopify $39/mo + Trans. Fees ❌ Trial Visit
    4 Webflow Logo Webflow CMS $29/mo ❌ Trial Visit
    4 Contentful Logo Contentful $300/mo ✔️ Yes Visit
    6 Adobe Experience Manager Sites Logo Adobe Experience Manager Custom Pricing Only ❌ Trial Visit
    7 Magnolia Logo Magnolia Custom Pricing Only ❌ Trial Visit
    8 Joomla Logo Joomla Free* ✔️ Yes Start
    9 Ghost Logo Ghost $11/mo ❌ Trial Visit
    10 TYPO3 Logo TYPO3 Free* ✔️ Yes Visit
    11 Drupal Logo Drupal Free* ✔️ Yes Start
    All CMS platforms require a domain. See Namecheap for a good domain registrar.

    *Free CMS but requires separate hosting.

    But are there other choices to consider? When building a website, there are tons of options. You might not need an entire CMS, either. We’ve compared WordPress with other top website-building platforms to help you choose between them.

    How to Get Started With WordPress

    Are you thinking about using WordPress? We believe that’s a great choice! WordPress gives you the freedom to create just about anything. But where do you even start? Here’s a quick guide:

    1. Hosting: You’ll want a great host. That’s key. We recommend SiteGround and Pressable. Both offer competitive plans for any situation.
    2. Theme: We recommend our very own Divi Theme. It’s the most popular theme in the world and will help you create custom content pages and archives for all that content of yours.
    3. Security: Keep your website secure with iThemes Security.
    4. SEO: Make sure your website is optimized for search engines using Rank Math on our top SEO tools list.
    5. Backups: In the case that disaster strikes, you’ll want to use BackupBuddy to keep regular backups of your data.
    6. Performance: Nothing is worse than a slow website. Keep your website running fast with WP Rocket.

     

    Featured Image by Ashan Randika / shutterstock.com

    The post 11 Best Content Management Systems in 2023 appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • Admin Menu Tree Page View 2.8 Now Supports All Public Post Types 

    The Admin Menu Tree Page View plugin, which adds a tree-view layout of content in the WordPress admin, has been refactored to support more content types. The plugin is an admin utility similar to Hierarchy or the commercial OrganizeWP plugin that reworks the CMS to show content in one place, but it offers a simpler set of features for free with no ads or upsells. These types of plugins are valuable tools on larger, CMS-heavy WordPress sites.

    Previously, the Admin Menu Tree Page View plugin focused on pages, allowing users to better visualize the page hierarchy/tree structure, add pages directly after or inside another post, and easily reorder pages via drag and drop.

    Version 2.8 adds support for all public post types – posts, pages, and custom post types, which was a long requested feature. The plugin’s author, WordPress developer Ciprian Popescu, said adding more post types made the dashboard menu unmanageable and the backend slow, requiring him to update the plugin to us a top-level menu page.

    “The solution here was to move the pages to a top level menu page,” Popescu said. “This increased the ‘one click away’ feature to ‘two clicks away,’ which is not a bad trade-off in my opinion, especially when all public post types are now available in a hierarchical tree layout. Having a separate page now removed the need for collapsing the child <ul> elements, as the purpose of this plugin is to quickly see all your pages in a bird’s eye view manner.”

    Version 2.8 also removes some redundant features, cookies, and JavaScript resources, as the expand/collapse functionality is no longer necessary. Next on the roadmap for future releases Popescu is working on adding caching for post types, removing the jQuery and jQueryUI dependency, and improving dragging and dropping to work inside child elements.

  • WordPress vs Weebly (2023) — Which Is Better?

    Website builders are everywhere these days. WordPress is the dominant platform with well over 1/3 of the internet having been built with it. A slew of other site builders has popped up to demand their fair share of the market though. One of the big players is Weebly, a free service that made a name for itself by being fast, reliable, and easy to use. Square is one of the top e-commerce payment gateways. They bought Weebly to use as an e-commerce platform. They can give WordPress a run for its money. But what features make each platform uniquely appealing? To assist you in determining which is more suitable for your business, we will compare WordPress vs Weebly.

    WordPress vs Weebly: Who Are They For?

    To be a little hyperbolic, WordPress is for everyone. What we mean is that no matter what kind of site you want to run, WordPress can create it. From portfolios to e-commerce shops to prolific magazines, WordPress has the capability and features to make it happen. The catch is that because it can do nearly anything, the setup can be a little more difficult. You, as a site owner, need to either hire a developer or find the plugins, themes, and features you need for your site, yourself. But if you can dream it, WordPress can do it. There is room for beginners and coders in the WP space.

    Weebly, on the other hand, started as a quick-and-easy builder that gave users fast access to static/informational sites, and it has since been acquired by Square and become an incredibly robust e-commerce platform. While the platform can still function as a quick-and-easy free website for you, the focus has shifted to being an e-commerce platform that has a full range of features built right in. If your main goal is to get an e-commerce site up and running as quickly as possible, Weebly may be what you’re looking for.

    Weebly Makes Building a Website Easy

    A major factor for anyone looking to build a website is how easy the platform is to learn and use daily. WordPress does not have the best new-user experience. But that has somewhat improved over the years. Weebly has always attracted users who wanted a nicely designed website. One that wasn’t hard to maintain, and Square’s acquisition hasn’t changed that at all. Both platforms are relatively easy to use, and each has quirks that make the learning curve about even between them.

    WordPress

    The hardest part about learning WordPress is figuring out where all of the options are located and what they do. To new users, learning what’s in Settings vs Tools vs Customize can be frustrating. Why are Menu options under Appearance? What’s the difference between the Theme Editor vs the Theme Customizer?

    These are very easy-to-solve frustrations, but the messaging for new users isn’t always clear. In terms of actual utility, using WordPress has never been easier. You create Posts and Pages using the new Gutenberg block editor. The new editor gives you drag-and-drop functionality for each element on the page. From images to paragraphs to lists and even rating stars, you have full control over each thing separate from everything else.

    WordPress vs Weebly page builder

    Editing the site and posts are incredibly easy, and as of WordPress 5.8, these blocks can also be used in nearly every editable space on your site. The ease with which you can customize WordPress has never been greater. Or easier.

    As we said, the dashboard can be a little confusing at times to navigate. However, you can overcome that with just a little use and practice. Additionally, themes such as Divi and plugins by companies such as 10Web can make the experience of using WordPress much easier to learn. It does, however, take external research or recommendations to find out which ones those are.

    Weebly

    Weebly is a fairly easy platform to use. Setting up your website and then running it on a day-to-day basis is pretty simple. Though there are some quirks with the software that put it on about equal footing to WordPress in terms of the learning curve.

    Weebly page editor

    The editor screen works almost exactly like the Gutenberg editor. You have different blocks available for elements such as text, images, lists, videos, and so on. (Some of these are available to premium users.) Editing each of these is a matter of clicking and selecting options from a pop-out.

    The quirkiness can come in with adding new top-level pages and product categories, blog posts, and individual products. The menus aren’t intuitive to use, but they’re not difficult to learn. To create a blog post, you will need to navigate to the blog feed page itself, edit it, and then press the New Post button.

    weebly blog post vs wordpress

    This isn’t hard or complicated, but when compared to WordPress and other blogging platforms, it’s pretty obtuse. On the other hand, consider that Weebly is not a blogging platform. In that context, the entire experience is easy to learn and use and is perfectly passable.

    WordPress Weebly
    Ease of Use Figuring out where the options are and what they do can take time. Learning what’s in Settings vs Tools vs Customizer can be difficult. 🥇 Winner

    Set up is easy, but adding top-level pages has a bit of a learning curve. That being said, it is a bit more user-friendly for beginners.
    Choose WordPress Choose Weebly

    When it Comes to eCommerce, Weebly Has the Edge

    WordPress has WooCommerce, a free e-commerce plugin that is used by hundreds of thousands of websites. Over time, an ecosystem of extensions and add-ons has sprung up around it, giving users access to any feature they could ever need. For example, companies such as Yith have a great list of plugins to expand WooCommerce capabilities. Weebly doesn’t need that level of ecosystem and plugin extensibility. It integrates fully with the Square e-commerce system. For quick setup and a few hassles, Weebly stores are great options. WordPress and WooCommerce are the better options for those who want the most customization and control over store options.

    WordPress

    Creating stores and adding products to WordPress using WooCommerce is a straightforward process. Installing the plugin adds new menu items to your WP admin dashboard. Creating a product and categorizing it is as easy as creating or editing a Post or creating a new Page. WooCommerce builds products on WordPress custom post types, which can be extended with plugins like Toolset. This can both help and hinder WP users because the process is known to them. The extra e-commerce meta boxes for product information does make things a bit more complex than before.

    WordPress vs Weebly eCommerce

    WooCommerce comes with various payment gateways by default, including EFT, PayPal, Stripe, Amazon Pay, and the proprietary WooCommerce Payments. You can also purchase extensions that allow even more payment gateways to be used, including the Weebly-owner Square.

    WooCommerce payment gateways

    Some of these options are free, and some are premium. Using any and/or all of the options is up to the website owner. Which is going into one of WordPress’s most noteworthy features: freedom of customization.

    That customization and many options are also available to your product lineup. You can sell digital goods and physical merchandise from the beginning. If you want advanced analytics and in-depth management utilities, additional plugins or extensions may be necessary.

    Weebly

    Weebly, in stark contrast to WordPress, comes with all e-commerce tools built in because of its association with Square. We should note, however, that each of these options is not available to all users. Weebly restricts some behind different tiers of paid membership.

    Also, we want to note that while WooCommerce can be free, most users will be spending money on extensions and other costs. We have a complete rundown on what you can expect, and it is comparable to a paid membership with Weebly.

    WordPress vs Weebly products

    The strongest feature Weebly offers is that you can sell anything to anyone from the beginning. Even as a free user, you can populate your store with inventory. While some of the actual sales (such as for digital goods) are limited to paid users, you can get started with your site and store immediately. With WooCommerce and WordPress, you have to use different extensions to offer memberships, donations, and events.

    This inclusion, even for premium members only, makes using Weebly just a bit more accessible than WooCommerce. Users in WordPress would need to individually seek out methods to sell any additional product types.

    Weebly also has a much smoother interface for entering product information (as you can see above) than WordPress. This is because Square is actively developing Weebly as an e-commerce platform. WordPress is a CMS that can function as an e-commerce platform. In Weebly, products are their own thing, separate from blog posts and all other features. Learning how to use them may take more time for Weebly users. But in the end, they’re more intuitive than customizing WooCommerce products.

    Perhaps WooCommerce can be extended and eventually provide a more powerful and custom e-commerce experience. For those who want a no-hassle platform that’s relatively easy to learn, Weebly’s Square integration provides that.

    WordPress Weebly
    eCommerce WordPress is a CMS first, and an eCommerce platform only through extensions and plugins. 🥇 Winner

    You’re given everything you need to set up an eCommerce platform thanks to integration with Square.
    Choose WordPress Choose Weebly

    WordPress is King in Customization

    Both WordPress and Weebly use themes and layouts that change the design and apparent utility of the site. With WordPress that can go deep into the site’s code. With Weebly, though, it’s skin-deep and is based on how the information is presented. WordPress offers much more customization than is possible with Weebly in almost every way, but you do get a decent amount of choice with Weebly, similar to Squarespace in that it’s curated customization.

    WordPress

    Themes are the fundamental draw to WordPress. They give users the most control over their sites, offering both functionality and design. Some themes, such as Divi, come with page builders included so that editing your WordPress site can be as simple as using the block editor (or the Weebly builder itself, which is built around blocks and curated designs).

    You can find any number of free themes on the WordPress.org theme repository, as well as additional plugins on that repository, too. Both of these offer major customization. Some through design and layout, others through utility and additional features and function. Very few website platforms can compete with the total control (and ease of control) that WordPress gives its users.

    Weebly

    In terms of customization, Weebly users do have options. Just not as many as WordPress. There is a well-stocked theme repository of curated designs they can choose from. Many of them are optimized for e-commerce (again, a good thing because of Square’s integration).

    Weebly theme gallery

    They’re cleanly designed and put together. You should have no trouble customizing them. The options you get for each block and element are comparable to any basic page builder you could find in WordPress.

    wordpress vs weebly builder

    The downside is that some customization and elements are locked behind paid subscriptions. However, this is offset by taking into consideration that the most advanced page builders in WordPress are also premium subscriptions or licenses. If you’re a free user expecting full customization, however, that won’t be possible.

    Very little can compare to WordPress’s innate customization. However, Weebly competes well enough with WP that using its builder and having access to its options won’t feel cumbersome or a burden like some other builders.

    WordPress Weebly
    Customization 🥇 Winner

    WordPress shines with its unlimited customization options to make sites stand out from the crowd.

    		 There are a few themes to choose from, but Weebly is limited to those choices.
    Choose WordPress Choose Weebly

    WordPress vs Weebly Wrap Up

    In the end, Weebly is a very solid e-commerce platform but doesn’t have a lot of draw for people who want a blog or publishing website. If you need a fast, free, decently designed static website, sure. However, Weebly has very clearly moved toward targeting those who plan on selling things being the primary function of their website.

    WordPress comes in solid in this regard, too, simply because it was built as a blogging platform first and has since evolved into a CMS capable of most kinds of sites. With the sheer amount of customization options with plugins by third-party vendors such as Yith, Toolset, and 10Web, you simply can’t beat what WordPress can offer.

    But the WooCommerce and other e-commerce solutions can be a bit more cumbersome than using something like Weebly that is built for that specifically.

    WordPress Wix
    Ease of Use Figuring out where the options are and what they do can take time. Learning what’s in Settings vs Tools vs Customizer can be difficult. 🥇 Winner

    Set up is easy, but adding top-level pages has a bit of a learning curve. That being said, it is a bit more user-friendly for beginners.

    eCommerce WordPress is a CMS first, and an eCommerce platform only through extensions and plugins. 🥇 Winner

    You’re given everything you need to set up an eCommerce platform thanks to integration with Square.
    Customization 🥇 Winner

    WordPress shines with its unlimited customization options to make sites stand out from the crowd.

    		There are a few themes to choose from, but Weebly is limited to those choices.
    Choose WordPress Choose Weebly

    One more thing. Before you make your final decision on your website platform…are you curious to see how WordPress stacks up against its other biggest competitors? We did the hard work and compared WordPress vs everything else so that you don’t have to!

    What have your experiences been with WordPress vs Weebly?

    The post WordPress vs Weebly (2023) — Which Is Better? appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • WordPress vs Django CMS (2023) — Which One’s The Best?

    There are many Content Management Systems (CMSs) that you can use to create your website. However, when it comes to choosing the right platform, it can be difficult to determine which one will work best for you. In this post, we’ll discuss the two popular options – WordPress vs Django CMS – and walk through who should consider using each option. Additionally, we’ll compare the two platforms in terms of their ease of use, security, publishing tools, and more. So, let’s get started!

    Who Are They For?

    When choosing a CMS, it’s important to think about the type of content you plan to create. WordPress and Django are two very different platforms, designed for specific types of users and purposes.

    WordPress

    As a free and open-source software, WordPress was originally developed as a blogging platform:

    Today, WordPress is the most popular CMS in the world, powering over 40 percent of websites due to its easy-to-use interface and a large number of themes and plugins. Additionally, you can use WordPress for any type of project, including portfolios, online shops, business sites, membership sites, and more.

    Furthermore, WordPress is built on PHP. However, you can build a fully-functional website without touching a line of code. This makes this CMS a more suitable choice for those without coding knowledge.

    Django CMS

    Django CMS is a free and open-source framework that gives users the flexibility to build professional and customized websites from the ground up:

    wordpress vs Django

    It’s important to note that Django CMS and Django are two different things. Specifically, Django is a Python web framework that helps developers create apps with minimal coding. In contrast, Django CMS is the content management system built on the Python framework. This makes it an ideal choice for users who are familiar with Python. Moreover, it allows you to make quick customizations to your content from the front end of your site.

    Which Platform Is Easier to Use?

    If you’re building your first site or project, you want a user-friendly and intuitive platform. Otherwise, you might find the process a little overwhelming. Let’s look at how WordPress vs Django CMS compare when it comes to ease of use.

    WordPress

    WordPress is a very beginner-friendly platform. Once you install the software, you can log into your admin dashboard and start building your website:

    WordPress vs Django

    The WordPress dashboard contains all of the platform’s built-in tools. With that being said, you can click on a tab to navigate to a particular area on your site, such as your posts and pages. For instance, if you go to Media, you can upload photos and videos:

    wordpress vs django

    Additionally, it might take a few hours to familiarize yourself with the dashboard and its tools. However, fortunately, you’ll find plenty of WordPress tutorials and how-to guides online.

    Django CMS

    In contrast to WordPress, Django CMS is powered by Django, the most popular Python framework. Although you don’t need to be an expert developer to get a demo Django CMS up and running, keep in mind that you’ll need to design your site from scratch.

    After being installed, Django CMS has a simple interface that enables you to edit your content on the front end. Consequently, you can see your changes in real time.

    wordpress vs django

    If you want to edit a particular page, such as your blog, all you have to do is select it from the menu.

    Django Blog

    In addition, you can configure its options by selecting Page from the top menu and navigating to Page settings or Advanced settings. This will launch a popup window, where you can edit the page’s title and URL, set up a redirect, and more.

    wordpress vs django page settings

    Furthermore, you can design and edit your content without navigating away from the page. This means you can access every area of your site, including pages, from the same interface. For instance, the media library appears as a sliding window over the page you’re working on.

    wordpress vs django media library

    As a result, Django CMS provides a very efficient way to build your site. Specifically, you don’t have to click through multiple tabs to access your settings or navigate away from the page to make customizations.

    WordPress Django
    Ease of Use By accessing tutorials and documentation, the WordPress learning curve can be surmounted. 🥇 Winner

    Right from the beginning, Django simplifies the process of adding and editing content in its CMS.
    Choose WordPress Choose Django CMS

    Customization Options

    When it comes to building a website, it’s important to consider the customization options available with each CMS. This is particularly important if you want to create a site that stands out from the crowd. Therefore, let’s compare WordPress vs Django CMS to see which has the best customization options.

    WordPress

    To begin with, WordPress is a highly flexible platform with various customization options. Firstly, it offers a vast library of customizable themes that can be used to design your site. In addition to that, it provides a plethora of options for customizing your site’s functionality. For instance, if you want to add a specific feature, such as a social media plugin, you can easily search for it in the WordPress Plugin Directory, or on sites like 10Web or Smash Balloon.

    Social media buttons plugins in WordPress

    Plus, there are thousands of free WordPress plugins you can use. You can access them right from your dashboard by navigating to Plugins > Add New:

    Adding new plugins in WordPress vs Django

    Additionally, WordPress provides a wide range of customization options for its themes and templates. This can help you achieve a unique design for your site that matches your brand. You can customize everything from the color scheme and fonts to the layout and design of your pages. With the help of a page builder plugin like Divi, you can create custom page layouts without needing to know how to code. These tools often come with a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface that allows you to easily rearrange and customize the elements on your pages.

    Django CMS

    In contrast to WordPress, Django CMS offers a different approach to customizing your site with plugins. Django CMS plugins can be added to your site to create various elements such as lines, buttons, text, headings, and more.

    wordpress vs django plugins

    To customize each plugin in Django CMS, you can make various changes based on the element added. For example, if you’re adding an image gallery, you can change the height and width of the thumbnail, enable fullscreen, zoom, and more.

    Customizing image gallery in Django

    Furthermore, Django CMS has some limitations when it comes to customization options unless you have experience with Python. Nonetheless, if you’re a web developer, you can effortlessly construct your applications in Django.

    WordPress Django
    Customization 🥇 Winner

    When it comes to customization, WP wins due to the number of design options, as well as plugins and themes available.

    		Unless you have knowledge of Python, customization options in Django CMS can be somewhat restrictive.
    Choose WordPress Choose Django CMS

    Theme and Template Options

    Designing a website can be time-consuming. Fortunately, you can use themes and templates to simplify the process. This is where both WordPress and Django CMS shine.

    WordPress

    WordPress offers a user-friendly way to find and use templates to quickly get started with building your website. As we mentioned earlier, it offers a broad range of free themes for different types of websites. To search for specific designs, you can use the “Feature Filter” in the WordPress Themes Repository.

    wordpress vs django Themes

    In addition to the various free themes, each WordPress theme comes with its own set of templates and customization options. These options allow you to modify the color scheme, typography, and layout to match your preferences.

    As a result, you can now have greater flexibility and more options when using the new Full Site Editing feature. By utilizing blocks, you can fully customize your theme:

    Full Site Editing

    After creating or using a block-based theme, you can start editing your theme using the new Full Site Editing feature. To access this feature, navigate to the Editor section under Appearance. Here, you can edit your theme and its templates to customize your site.

    WordPress Full Site Editing Template

    Furthermore, if you don’t find a theme that meets your requirements, you can create your own. As mentioned previously, WordPress provides a user-friendly block editor that enables you to build your site with blocks. You can create custom templates by using different types of blocks, such as the row block, images, buttons, and more, and arranging them in the desired order. This way, you can have a unique design that stands out from the crowd.

    Django CMS

    While there is no themes library for Django CMS, you do have the option to select a template for your page. For instance, you might opt for a full-width layout.

    wordpress vs django templates

    Accordingly, if you want to have more design options and save time, WordPress would be a better choice than Django CMS. It provides a range of customizable themes and templates that can be easily applied to your site.

    WordPress Django
    Themes and Templates 🥇 Winner

    In addition to third-party themes and plugins, WordPress also features a user-friendly block editor that can be used to create templates.

    		 However, if you don’t intend to design your own, the options for themes and templates are limited.
    Choose WordPress Choose Django CMS

    WordPress vs Django for Publishing

    If you’re intending to create a website with frequent blog posts or a complex site structure, it’s crucial to have a wide range of publishing tools available in your content management system.

    WordPress

    Since it was originally developed as a blogging CMS, WordPress offers a lot of useful features for publishing posts. The main publishing tool is the Block Editor, which is a user-friendly builder that enables you to put together posts and pages with pre-built blocks. With a wide variety of elements, including headings, paragraphs, images, buttons, lists, block patterns, and more, this tool is ideal for building complex pages and posts quickly and easily.

    The WordPress Block Editor

    Plus, you can click on a block to customize it. For example, if you select an image, you can change its dimensions or add a border:

    Editing an image in WordPress

    WordPress lets you save your posts and pages as drafts so you can continue working on them later. In addition, you have the option to schedule your posts or publish them straight away. Furthermore, you can restrict a post’s visibility to site admins and editors, and protect it with passwords.

    All of these publishing tools make WordPress an ideal platform for blogs and news sites. They facilitate team collaboration on articles and help you manage your content schedule more effectively.

    Django CMS

    On the other hand, Django CMS has a basic blog feature. When you choose to create a new post, you get a window where you can write your content.

    Creating a new article in Django

    While Django CMS has a basic blog feature with fields for meta descriptions, keywords, and categories, it lacks functionality when it comes to publishing options such as scheduling a post or restricting its visibility. As a result, it may be limiting if you want to create a professional blog. In contrast, WordPress is a better option as it offers a wealth of blogging features and tools, such as saving drafts, scheduling posts, publishing options, and content collaboration.

    WordPress Django
    Publishing To enhance the ease of use, it’s worth noting that the WordPress interface is designed to make content publishing simple and efficient, thanks to the intuitive block editor.

    		 🥇 Winner

    Similarly, with the Django page editor, you can conveniently create and edit content.
    Choose WordPress Choose Django CMS

    Which Platform is More Secure?

    When it comes to content management systems, your site’s security is of the utmost importance. Both WordPress and Django CMS offer different security measures to help keep your content safe. However, let’s dive more into the differences between these platforms to see which one comes out on top in terms of security.

    WordPress

    WordPress is popular and has many plugins and themes, which makes it more vulnerable to attack. Hackers can exploit vulnerabilities in plugins, themes, and WordPress core. To keep your site safe, you should update all software on your site, including WordPress core and themes, as soon as new versions are released. Plus, you can enable auto-updates.

    wordpress vs django

    Furthermore, to enhance your site’s security, you can install one of the best WordPress security plugins such as Sucuri.

    Sucuri

    In addition, many web hosts such as SiteGround and Cloudways provide security tools and features such as SSL certificates, and you can use top WordPress backup plugins to back up your site files and databases.

    Django CMS

    Compared to WordPress, Django CMS provides more built-in protection due to its built-in authentication and security solutions for common threats like SQL injection and cross-site forgery. This means you won’t need to worry about carrying out updates or installing additional security tools. In contrast, with WordPress, you are responsible for ensuring that plugins and themes are secure and up to date.

    WordPress Django
    Security Although WP is not inherently the most secure platform, there are great options like Sucuri to get the job done.

    		 🥇 Winner

    Django is equipped with built-in authentication and security solutions, making it one of the most secure frameworks.
    Choose WordPress Choose Django CMS

    Who Has the Better E-Commerce Platform?

    To evaluate eCommerce functionality, let’s compare WordPress vs Django CMS.

    WordPress

    Though WordPress doesn’t provide built-in eCommerce features, it’s possible to set up an online shop using third-party tools. The most commonly used tool for eCommerce on WordPress is WooCommerce.

    wordpress vs django

    WooCommerce enables you to manage your online store right from your WordPress dashboard and provides various Yith extensions for additional functionality. Plus, these extensions can help you to filter products, add payment gateway support, and display customer reviews.

    Furthermore, if you’re looking to sell digital products, you can utilize a plugin such as Easy Digital Downloads. Moreover, you can customize your e-commerce website with a page builder like Divi.

    Django CMS

    Django CMS is versatile and suitable for eCommerce sites as well as for developing custom apps for businesses. You can utilize the Django-SHOP documentation to begin your development.

    wordpress vs django SHOP

    In conclusion, it’s worth noting that Django can offer more flexibility for e-commerce sites. With this platform, you have the freedom to extend your online store’s functionality and create custom features that are tailored to your specific business needs.

    WordPress Django
    E-Commerce 🥇 Winner

    To be e-commerce friendly, WP needs a solution such as WooCommerce.

    		 While there are good e-commerce choices, the learning curve is steeper.
    Choose WordPress Choose Django CMS

    WordPress And Django CMS Alternatives

    Before you make your final decision on your website platform, it may be helpful to compare WordPress against its other biggest competitors. We’ve done the hard work for you and compared WordPress vs everything else. Most recently, we reviewed WordPress vs Squarespace, and I think you’ll be interested to see the results.

    WordPress vs Django CMS: What’s the Final Verdict?

    As we have seen, there are some key differences between WordPress and Django CMS. Specifically, WordPress is generally considered more beginner-friendly, while Django CMS is more focused on the needs of developers.

    WordPress Django
    Ease of Use By accessing tutorials and documentation, the WordPress learning curve can be surmounted.

    		 🥇 Winner

    Right from the beginning, Django simplifies the process of adding and editing content in its CMS.
    Customization 🥇 Winner

    When it comes to customization, WP wins due to the number of design options, as well as plugins and themes available.

    		 Unless you have knowledge of Python, customization options in Django CMS can be somewhat restrictive.
    Themes and Templates 🥇 Winner

    In addition to third-party themes and plugins, WordPress also features a user-friendly block editor that can be used to create templates.

    		 However, if you don’t intend to design your own, the options for themes and templates are limited.
    Publishing To enhance the ease of use, it’s worth noting that the WordPress interface is designed to make content publishing simple and efficient, thanks to the intuitive block editor.

    		 🥇 Winner

    Similarly, with the Django page editor, you can conveniently create and edit content.
    Security Although WP is not inherently the most secure platform, there are great options like Sucuri to get the job done.

    		 🥇 Winner

    Django is equipped with built-in authentication and security solutions, making it one of the most secure frameworks.
    E-Commerce 🥇 Winner

    To be e-commerce friendly, WP needs a solution such as WooCommerce.

    		 While there are good e-commerce choices, the learning curve is steeper.
    Choose WordPress Choose Django CMS

    Final Comparison

    When it comes to WordPress, you get access to a vast array of tools, including plugins by 10Web and Smash Balloon and premium themes such as Divi, which allow you to create a complete website without any coding. This makes WordPress an ideal platform for showcasing content and building highly-customized sites.

    Django CMS, on the other hand, is more suitable for individuals who have experience with Python and prefer to develop custom apps for their websites. Additionally, Django CMS offers built-in security features, making it an excellent choice for those who value enhanced security measures.

    The post WordPress vs Django CMS (2023) — Which One’s The Best? appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.