Help me to choose the right platform for my Portal from .net, php, php based cms and .net based cms

Question

hi I am planning to develop a site very similar to http://www.nextdaypets.com/ but with some more features...i have worked on JOOMLA n i know it pretty well. but there are few limitation like access level control and there is no component available for what i need. what i m confused about is that whether i should make that component in joomla or should i develop my own cms or should i take some .net based cms and write the component for it. I know C# and .net framework as a beginner. I just completed a certification course in .net last month and i don't know php but don't have issue in learning it...so what should i do...please suggest.

Answer 1

Hi,

writing your own cms is lots of work, so you should consider this carefully. Extending an existing framework could save you a lot of time.

In your case I'd choose a cms which fits well to my purpose and uses a language I'm familar with. So if you like C#, then look for an ASP.NET based cms. Of course, if you like to learn PHP joomla would be a good choise.

Answer 2

Hello Parveen,

Usually, when I have to pick a platform I consider a certain number of variables. For example, does your customer want an open-source or a commercial platform? Is it concerned with being dependent on you for future changes to the system? Does he have already a hosting provider? Will he host the website himself? These are all tech-questions that should be kept in consideration.

I would strongly advice against writing your own CMS. That's a lot of work, and even the best and most tested products hide some bugs. Relying on something that already exists out there, it will speed your development up, as it will allow you to focus on the specific functionalities, and not on the overall system or basic features (client-server architecture, caching, views resolving, itemization, etc. ...).

I've worked quite a lot with many CMS, and in this period my attention is focused mainly on Umbraco, a .NET-based open-source CMS that has many interesting features. I personally don't like Drupal, Joomla, Wordpress, etc.

If you (or you customer) have money to spend and can afford a commercial platform, I would suggest you to take a look at Sharepoint or Sitecore; Sitecore is somewhat conceptually close to Umbraco, whereas Sharepoint is more extensive but there is more work to do to bring it up and running.

If you are looking for an e-commerce platform and PHP doesnt scare you, you could give a try to Magento.

I hope these few names can help you. I mentioned them because of my own personal experience and - to be honest - they are all good products...

Cheers, Gianluca.

Answer 3

Well, as i understood , all you need to do is to adopt an open source CMS (joomla or drupal) and customise it. If you know a bit of php it will take you a day of expirementing to get familiar with making components & modules for joomla /drupal. Majority of the work you can do by customising the existing stuff and using third party open source components available already. The remaining small delta amount of work, you can code yourself.IF won't be that tough i can assure. Developing a CMS of your own might not b a good option, as it takes a lot of effort to get a stable one with all features, currently being offered. Also , if you have a doubt about the platform, i would suggest to stick on to open source platform, rather than Commercial one. The large number of OSComponents available as well as the large community support are factors defenitly you should consider.