I'm thinking about making a web site for a client that doesn't have any idea about programming/markup. I was wondering if I should use Joomla or Mambo (which one is easier to skin), or if I should use my own CMS system?

I'm leaning towards my own, but of course I could never make it look quite as good as Mambo or Joomla.


Even if I do use my own system, which system is easier to skin: Mambo or Joomla?

Are you the reinvent the wheel type of developer? I don't know about Joomla or Mambo, but Wordpress was far from capable enough to run http://exo-brain.com, so I've been writing my own system for that, and my main photo site.

Personally, I'm not a designer by any means, so one thing I need to consider is the availability of good page templates.

Well, Joomla and Mambo are full out CMS systems. Wordpress is made more to be a blog program, so it doesn't have the compatibility to run a site like you would want.

Joomla and Mambo both have all sorts of addons and stuff to make it easier to do things with them. I think that for most people's web sites they might just be a little overkill, with too many features, and it might get too confusing.

Joomla! Joomla came from Mambo and has much more development work on it.

Why reinvent the wheel? You can get it done much quicker and move on to the next project. There's a ton of templates/skins as you probably know.

The Joomla team is constantly developing and are about to release their 1.5 version which is pretty slick.

I find the Joomla code to be somewhat confusing. And it takes a while to load if you add too much PHP clutter to it.

I find it easier to build my own custom CMS, just because I know how to do that. For others it might be easier to get a template off a web site, but I like to make my own layouts/designs.

I think I would Use Joomla

Originally Posted by coolkbk585

I find it easier to build my own custom CMS, just because I know how to do that. For others it might be easier to get a template off a web site, but I like to make my own layouts/designs.

Well, you have kind of made a decision there, so get going

If you have the programming skills and the time, then you should definitely create it yourself.

I'm leaning towards my own, but of course I could never make it look quite as good as Mambo or Joomla.

You can get a designer to develop a layout for you while you do your own programming.

yeah, program something better and userfriendly than Joomla and sell it