ASP.NET CMS - which one?

Question

Hi

We have a lot clients with CMS requirements. We use Telerik Sitefinity, which is pretty easy to use, but before we implement a whole swathe of new apps, I just want to double check we are going the right way?

Telerik is a reliable company. I am not interested in "free" CMS products that will probably disappear a few years down the line. If the client can't afford a reasonable licence, they shouldn't be our client.

I would prefer an MVC CMS product, but there doesn't seem to be a mature one (yet).

I also looked at Community Server, but it requires a whole new mindset for the development and we don't yet do enough of these systems to get really up to speed with it.

Any way, what are you preferences/recommendations from the below:

1. Telerik Sitefinity
2. Community Server
3. Other ASP.NET plain vanilla CMS
4. Other ASP.NET MVC CMS

EDIT:

Have just read that Sitefinity 4.0 will have a free Community Edition. The 3.6 community edition helped me to evaluate the product and get started, so that has to be a plus for Sitefinity.

EDIT 2:

Has anyone used WordPress for this kind of thing?

Answer 1

I think this thread is pretty much a duplicate, given that the options are dotnetnuke and sitefinity. See: DotNetNuke vs Sitefinity and the only reason for not deleting it is to provide my world view on Sitefinity.

The only reason for not deleting is to add my world view, as follows:

1. We have a client where the staff struggle to switch on a computer. And yet they have got to grips with Sitefinity. So, as CMS is supposed to be user rather than developer oriented, Sitefinity does the business.

2. Sitefinity is also quite ASP.NET developer friendly, certainly from the design perspective. As you can use MasterPages and CSS in the same way as any other ASP.NET app, this means I don't need to learn new skills.

3. On the other hand, from the developer perspective, it can be sloooow. There may be a lack of RAM on the server (I need to research this) but as a result of opening and saving taking MUCH longer than developing in Visual Studio, we have to charge about 70 to 80% more for the same job done in Sitefinity. The benefit, the only benefit, is that the users can then edit their sites, so they have to understand that they pay more for a large benefit.

4. I don't know why Gabe Sumner hasn't written a book on extending Sitefinity. Their API, like all APIs is great once you know it backwards, but until then it is difficult to learn without a book.

5. Tech Support for Sitefinity is good, with well attended forums. I presume DNN has this too, so no difference there.

6. I have one large ASP.NET app that has Sitefinity as part of it. The problem I have with this is that, since including Sitefinity in the site, it takes forever to compile. Which is a pain. I still need to research why this is happening tho.

The killer for me is that Sitefinity, although painful in terms of slowing down the developer's workflow, is very good for users. So for now we will stick with it.

Answer 2

I would take a look at Umbraco, which is MVC based, has a decent community version and an equally decent commercial licensing option, and is easy to use and develop for.

Answer 3

Orchard is pretty cool http://www.orchardproject.net/ and is included in the Web Installer so super quick to get going.

Answer 4

I've used N2 on a number of projects

http://n2cms.com/

Answer 5

I am a web designer that use mainly toko editor. The main reason for me is economical, in most CMS i used to pay per domain, But toko CMS is bought once and can be used for all my sites http://toko-contentmanager.pageil.net

It is a simple but powerfull CMS and it meets most of my customers needs. For more advanced sites and requierments i use ASP.NET Vanilla.