Is your current nonprofit website and Content Management System (CMS) clunky, outdated and hard to navigate? Are you considering a website redesign? Or maybe you heard of WordPress, Joomla and Drupal but would like to learn more? If so, this is the presentation for you. Andy McIlwain (SIDEKICK) discusses how nonprofits can benefit from using a CMS and covers popular CMS options and how they compare side-to-side.

1. CMS CRASH
COURSE
Andy McIlwain @
Net Tuesday Toronto
July 8, 2014

2. Agenda
1. Introductions
2. What’s a CMS? Why should you care?
3. Choosing a CMS
4. Comparing Popular Platforms
5. Discussion

3. Who is this guy?
Andy McIlwain
• Content @ SIDEKICK (www.sidekick.pro)
• Organizer, WordCamp Toronto 2014
• Web “Generalist”
Connect
• The Twitter: @andymci
• Email: andy@sidekick.pro

4. What’s a CMS?
• Content Management System
• Layer between code and user.
• Manage sites without being a developer.
Website that
Visitors See
Underlying
Code & Technology
Your CMS

5. Why should you care?
• Reduce IT/developer involvement.
• Be responsive. Get things done faster.
e.g. Breaking news and you need to update the site quickly.
• Easier training & onboarding.

6. Choosing a CMS
Shopping for a CMS is like shopping
for groceries. It’s better when you
have a list of what to look for.
Image Credit: Situ Herrera

7. Remember: Your CMS is a tool.
It’s just means to an end.
• Don’t get distracted by features.
• Some CMSes better suited to certain tasks.
• There’s always a learning curve.

8. Define your requirements first.
Image credit: Freepik

9. Functional Requirements
• What should users be able to do?
• E.g. Make a purchase, create an account,
submit a contact form, make a donation.
• Create a functional requirements list.

10. Design Requirements
• The “Look and Feel” of your site.
• Usually handled by CMS themes (a.k.a.
templates, styles, skins…)
• Create a design requirements list.

11. Content Requirements
• The type of content (written, media) that will
be managed by the CMS.
• Blogging? Press releases? Restricted
content?
• Create a sitemap that outlines all major
pages or sections of your site.

12. Time & Money Requirements
• What’s the timeline? What’re the
milestones?
• What needs to be done now vs. later?
• What’s the available budget?
– Encompasses setup, customization, training,
support, etc.

13. People / Stakeholders
Image Credit: Freepik

14. Who is leading the project?
• What’s their understanding of the project?
– Technical? Non-technical?
• What’s their experience with CMSes?
• Are they comfortable coordinating between
stakeholders?
– Developers, Administration, Executives,
Constituents, etc…

15. Who is implementing the CMS?
• Who’s putting the pieces together, and what
knowledge do they have?
– What’s their experience? Are they comfortable to
deliver on the requirements?
• In-house isn’t always the right solution.
• Look at your requirements, consider all the
options available.

16. Who will be working with the CMS?
• Primary, day-to-day users.
• Have they used a system like this before?
• Will they need additional support?
• Will you need to train people quickly?

17. Things To Investigate
Before You Commit
Image credit: Icomoon

18. Learning Curve
• How complex is the tool?
– Look for discussions and reviews.
• Are there lessons online?
• How usable is the software?
– Can you play with a demo?
– Useful site: http://www.opensourcecms.com/

19. Documentation
• What’s available from the vendor?
• What’s available from 3rd parties?
• Is it understandable? Up-to-date?
• How well-written is it? Any visual examples?

20. System Requirements
• Do you host yourself or with the vendor?
• Are there specific environment
requirements?
– E.g. PHP, Rails, Node, ASP.NET …

21. Licensing
• Open Source vs. Proprietary
– Are you “locked in” with a sole-source product?
• What’s the cost?
• What are your rights as a user?

22. Market
• Are there developers already?
What’s their going rate?
– Less Popular = More Specialization = More Lock-
In
– More Popular = Greater variance in rates, but
also a variance in quality.
• Are extensions (plugins) or themes
available? What’s the average cost?
– E.g. WordPress has 1000s of themes available,
whereas Drupal does not.

23. Comparing CMS Options
Image Credit: Icons8

24. Pros
• Relatively easy to learn.
• Ample documentation.
• Works on vast majority of
hosting providers.
• 100% GPL license.
• Large market of themes,
plugins, and developers.
• Actively updated, lots of
custom functionality
through plugins.
Cons
• User experience geared
towards publishing
content. Experience is
lacking in other areas.
• Not well suited (IMO) to
more complex
functionality.
WordPress
Download @
www.WordPress.org

25. Drupal
Pros
• Free & open source.
• Works on most hosting
providers.
• Built with complex sites in
mind, e.g. whitehouse.gov
• Active community of
developers.
• Good-sized market of
themes and extensions.
• Very stable.
Cons
• Steep learning curve.
• More intensive hosting
requirements.
• Projects typically longer,
more expensive.
Download @
www.Drupal.org

26. Joomla!
Pros
• Free, open source.
• Works on majority of
hosting providers.
• Themes and extensions
available.
Cons
• Development is relatively
inactive compared to other
CMS platforms.
• Small market of
developers, extensions.
Download @
www.Joomla.org

27. Tendenci
Pros
• Catered specifically to non-
profit organizations.
• Free & open source. (Need
to use “Developers” link on
the home page.)
Cons
• Requires hosting provider
that supports Python.
• Smaller CMS means small
market of experts.
• Written in Python. Popular,
but less popular than PHP.
More information @
http://tendenci.com/

28. GetSimple CMS
Pros
• Free & Open Source
• Lightweight – Very small
installation, no database.
• Works on majority of
hosting providers.
Cons
• Limited plugins to add
more functionality.
• Limited support.
Download @
http://get-simple.info/

29. ExpressionEngine
Pros
• Free version available to
experiment with.
• Active community of
developers + backed by an
established company.
• Works with most hosting
providers.
Cons
• Costs!
• Per-Site License ($299++)
• Support ($49/mo++)
• No Refunds
Info/Purchase @
http://ellislab.com/expressionengine/

30. To Recap…
• Start with your requirements.
• Identify your stakeholders.
• Research each platform before you decide.

31. Thank You!
(Discussion)