5 Popular Open Source Content Management Systems (CMS) to build you own Website

If you�re thinking of setting up your own website portal or building an interactive blog page, you should learn more about Open Source Content Management Systems (CMS) and find out which system is more suitable for your liking.

To begin, CMS are used to organize and facilitate collaborative content creation on the web. CMS enables the use of reusable components or customized software for managing Web content.

Here are the top 5 Open Source Content Management Systems that may be suitable for your liking.

Drupal has a fairly simple process of installing. Download the files from the website, unzip and place the contents in the root folder of your webserver. Then access the root folder from your browser. From there on, the software will take care of things for you.

During installation, Joomla requires you to provide a database that is needed for your website set-up. Its installation process is quite unique where you can choose your Joomla site to be offline during installation, allowing you to see all the configurations before the final installation happens.

Joomla lists all its major aspects of the site as different menu items, and below each menu item there is a drop down with even more complicated links. Overall the interface of Joomla admin page is quite refined, but the drawback is the page has too many buttons and links all over the place, and it can be very difficult to comprehend.

Joomla installation process can be very easy to apply. All you have to do is login to its back end, go to Joomla update component and click install update. That�s all! However, do take note to always have backups before you start your updates.

For editing themes, you may edit them offline or install the theme editor plugin.

Wordpress is really one of the easiest CMS tools out there. Really! All you have to do is simply create a config.php file where it compiles all your database, username/password, database information. Once this is done, you are just one click away from installing Wordpress. The installer automatically searches for the file and takes you to config.php file creation.

Wordpress currently has 2176 themes and 28593 plugins that are available for use on its official website. Not to forget, the marketplaces are filled with Wordpress themes as well!

Wordpress interface is minimal and uses easy to understand language which comes in handy for beginners. For instance, it has a very simple to use "Customize Your Site function on its admin page which is very encouraging for users to proceed and try.

But if you don�t mind sticking to your complex customizations, Wordpress may not be suitable for expert users who are used to loads of settings and controls which helps to manage your site extensively.

Similar to Joomla, Wordpress also supports on-line updates via the admin user interface.

Concrete5 makes running a website easy.

It is a free, open source system under the MIT software License providing you with the liberty to do anything you want for your website.

Concrete5 provides an editing toolbar that gives you all the controls you need to update your website. No intimidating manuals or complicated administration interfaces whatsoever.

The system also allows you to change the view layer for any block by simply adding a custom template. By taking advantage of a well built application framework, you are able to construct E-Commerce Sites, government web sites and on-line magazines and newspapers.

Examples of such sites are the Cambridge University Press, Red Bull BC On and the Switzerland Government website.

With Concrete 5, Developers are able to have a flexible and robust framework for building sophisticated web applications. Site owners will also be able to make changes and additions on their own.

Contao is catered for people who want to produce a professional internet website that is manageable to maintain. The system employs an impressive structure that grants high security standard and provides users to form a search engine friendly website that is widely accessible. To add on, the system can be expanded flexibly and inexpensively. Based on my views, the Contao has modern CSS framework that is equipped with integrated modules allowing Contao to be one of the most sought after open source content management systems on the market.