Heloise Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 Hi I'm a newbie here, just want a bit of advice from all you experts as to which CMS we should use for our school website. It's for a fairly small infant school who really just want the normal information on the site that you'd find on any primary school website and be able to update menu/nav bar and add links to newsletters, very basic stuff. Don't need a blog. One of the fathers of a child at the school wants to redo the site and is pushing to use Wordpress. I've not used either but do know html, did a bit of research and have read that WP is mainly used for blog and Joomla is a better CMS. Just wondered what the experts thought would suit the purposes of the school? I understand WP is more user friendly and that would be an advantage as the staff would need to update themselves but Joomla is more suited for CMS and the school would want to upload image galleries of school trips etc. Thanks !
beeswax Posted September 28, 2011 Posted September 28, 2011 This site is done in WordPress - Baines School » Nil Sine Labore, and I think it works very well. This is our own school beta done in Joomla - Welcome to Falinge Park High School. I don't believe that the CMS used is as important as who is going to maintain the site. What will happen when the child leaves school and the father no longer wants to commit time to managing your website? From my experience I've found that it's one thing for teachers to say they will update the site, but it's another to get them to actually do the work. This is partly the reason why our site is still in beta. One thing for certain is that it is better to go with a CMS as opposed to static html pages as updates/changes will cascade throughout the site. 1
CyberNerd Posted September 28, 2011 Posted September 28, 2011 Drupal is also excellent and worth considering, as is plone.
speckytecky Posted September 28, 2011 Posted September 28, 2011 Love your Beta beeswax. How did you create the photo / video display - it's new to me and really looks great. This site is done in WordPress - Baines School » Nil Sine Labore, and I think it works very well. This is our own school beta done in Joomla - Welcome to Falinge Park High School. I don't believe that the CMS used is as important as who is going to maintain the site. What will happen when the child leaves school and the father no longer wants to commit time to managing your website? From my experience I've found that it's one thing for teachers to say they will update the site, but it's another to get them to actually do the work. This is partly the reason why our site is still in beta. One thing for certain is that it is better to go with a CMS as opposed to static html pages as updates/changes will cascade throughout the site. 1
gibbo_ap Posted September 28, 2011 Posted September 28, 2011 I think joomla is excelent, look in to the K2 extention, all the things missing in joomla but present in wp and added in k2. take a look at Painsley Catholic College this was recently built in joomla using k2 2
Rydra Posted September 28, 2011 Posted September 28, 2011 I used Joomla for my beta site (which is internal only at the moment, as all the content needs updating) I've noticed over time that wordpress sites, although they CAN be done well, are generally managed by people with low web-design skills, and can be done by them, and as such sometimes end up with cluttered sites, messy menu's etc. Joomla I think has more customisability and control, BUT requires more knowledge to get the advanced features working. I'll admit though, I haven't really played with Wordpress. Once I'd built one site in Joomla, I really didn't feel like building another one just to see what it looked like in a slightly different flavour.
K.C.Leblanc Posted September 28, 2011 Posted September 28, 2011 This site is very handy for looking at CMS systems, Open Source CMS Demos & Information - opensourceCMS I've used neither in anger, but have looks at both systems. I prefer wordpress, I find the interface much more intuitive. Bare in mind that if you're looking into doing galleries you will need a policy in place. You should also get parents permission to publish their child's picture (and you will get the odd express reader who won't give it).
speckytecky Posted September 28, 2011 Posted September 28, 2011 Fab thanks Gibbo. I think joomla is excelent, look in to the K2 extention, all the things missing in joomla but present in wp and added in k2. take a look at Painsley Catholic College this was recently built in joomla using k2
steveg Posted September 28, 2011 Posted September 28, 2011 We've done ours using a site called wix, its not free, but if you want a flash based site that is really easy to design it's worth a look. I'm not sure it would scale well to a very large site, but for what we wanted its worked well. Our site is at Chyngton Primary School Steve
localzuk Posted September 28, 2011 Posted September 28, 2011 We've done ours using a site called wix, its not free, but if you want a flash based site that is really easy to design it's worth a look. I'm not sure it would scale well to a very large site, but for what we wanted its worked well. Our site is at Chyngton Primary School Steve It being flash based instantly makes it incompatible with the Disability Discrimination Act, as it cannot be viewed by screen readers etc... 1
LosOjos Posted September 28, 2011 Posted September 28, 2011 (edited) It being flash based instantly makes it incompatible with the Disability Discrimination Act, as it cannot be viewed by screen readers etc... It also makes it unviewable on Ipads *ducks* EDIT: in the interest of fairness and staying on topic, even on portable devices that can display flash, it won't be a pleasant experience. Best to avoid it. Edited September 28, 2011 by LosOjos 1
beeswax Posted September 28, 2011 Posted September 28, 2011 Love your Beta beeswax. How did you create the photo / video display - it's new to me and really looks great. If you mean the Open Evening video on the front page it was created by one of our drama teachers using a couple of video editing packages, I believe. I haven't seen him today to find out what the software is, but I'll try to collar him during this week.
beeswax Posted September 28, 2011 Posted September 28, 2011 I think joomla is excelent, look in to the K2 extention, all the things missing in joomla but present in wp and added in k2. take a look at Painsley Catholic College this was recently built in joomla using k2 Certainly knocks mine into a cocked hat. That's excellent work.
smalls001 Posted September 28, 2011 Posted September 28, 2011 I decided to use wordpress for an Infants school in derbyshire, I have just started to get to grips with wordpress. Have a look and see what you think. There are plenty of templates to get you started.. Creswell C of E Infant It is live but not the main site yet..
SimpleSi Posted September 28, 2011 Posted September 28, 2011 take a look at Painsley Catholic College this was recently built in joomla using k2 I don't know what people are using to view this with but it don't look good in FF on 1024x768 And, to be diplomatic, I don't really rate the front page layout - I mean- how many awards are worth bragging about? Si PS to be blunt - its bad
SimpleSi Posted September 28, 2011 Posted September 28, 2011 @OP Which CMS you want to use depends on whoes going to be editing it. If a dedicated web person, then choose the one you like the look of. But if its going to be edited by office staff and teachers then ease of use in adding/editing articles is paramount. (which Joolma does once site layout is designed and built - no further work needed by techies ) Si
beeswax Posted September 29, 2011 Posted September 29, 2011 I don't know what people are using to view this with but it don't look good in FF on 1024x768 And, to be diplomatic, I don't really rate the front page layout - I mean- how many awards are worth bragging about? Si PS to be blunt - its bad FF on 1920 x 1200. I'll check it out on a lower res in school. With this being the season to attract prospective pupils to secondary schools, "bragging" about awards is a vital tool in promoting your school.
MK-2 Posted September 29, 2011 Posted September 29, 2011 FF on 1920 x 1200. I'll check it out on a lower res in school. With this being the season to attract prospective pupils to secondary schools, "bragging" about awards is a vital tool in promoting your school. thing is, a lot of parents nowadays know that these awards are just words, meaningless box ticking exercises to get a little badge. at the end of it, a parent is probably going to look at your gcse/a leve results, and things like that.....i doubt a parent will say "so are you an RM centre of excellence? oh good i was looking for that"
DSapseid Posted September 29, 2011 Posted September 29, 2011 Ive done our new website in wordpress. The Academy, Selsey Once you get it going its very easy to use!! Just about to hand parts of it over to other members of staff!
gibbo_ap Posted September 29, 2011 Posted September 29, 2011 thing is, a lot of parents nowadays know that these awards are just words, meaningless box ticking exercises to get a little badge. at the end of it, a parent is probably going to look at your gcse/a leve results, and things like that.....i doubt a parent will say "so are you an RM centre of excellence? oh good i was looking for that" lol i totally agree about all comments about the badges, head made me put them on. whilst designing the site i showed him a wip and he notified me i was missing badge x.... we had been awarded days before. not bragging but the school is the highest achieving state school in the county lol..... which of course is all down to me.
MK-2 Posted September 29, 2011 Posted September 29, 2011 lol i totally agree about all comments about the badges, head made me put them on. whilst designing the site i showed him a wip and he notified me i was missing badge x.... we had been awarded days before. not bragging but the school is the highest achieving state school in the county lol..... which of course is all down to me. just out of interest what is the rm centre of excellence badge? what do you need for that to be awarded?
Mako Posted September 29, 2011 Posted September 29, 2011 We use Joomla for our intranet here. To be honest, it's a royal PITA. Current website is a wordpress hybrid. I couldn't get wordpress to do what I wanted to, so I hashed a series of wordpress loops together, to make the website bring the information in. Users login to wordpress and plumb in whatever it is they want to, and its pumped directly where it needs to go. Wordpress in itself is fantastic, however. Out of the box it's not much except a blog, but if you play with it, what you can achieve can be brilliant. This system works for what I need it to, but I'm looking at overhauling it. On my local WAMP I'm currently looking at CMS Made Simple. Fairly straightforward to use, seems to do everything I need it to. Has a WYSIWYG editor, like Wordpress. I'm soon to call down the powers that be and have them test drive it, to see if they can use it. If they can, then it's fit for purpose. Just thought I'd throw another solution into the mix there.
beeswax Posted September 29, 2011 Posted September 29, 2011 We use Joomla for our intranet here. To be honest, it's a royal PITA. Current website is a wordpress hybrid. I couldn't get wordpress to do what I wanted to, so I hashed a series of wordpress loops together, to make the website bring the information in. Users login to wordpress and plumb in whatever it is they want to, and its pumped directly where it needs to go. Wordpress in itself is fantastic, however. Out of the box it's not much except a blog, but if you play with it, what you can achieve can be brilliant. This system works for what I need it to, but I'm looking at overhauling it. On my local WAMP I'm currently looking at CMS Made Simple. Fairly straightforward to use, seems to do everything I need it to. Has a WYSIWYG editor, like Wordpress. I'm soon to call down the powers that be and have them test drive it, to see if they can use it. If they can, then it's fit for purpose. Just thought I'd throw another solution into the mix there. I think @webman is using CMS Made Simple for his school website. Here's one I made in CMS Made Simple some while ago (not a school website) - Welcome to JBHS Incorporating A. H. Sutcliffe & Co. - Home
speckytecky Posted September 29, 2011 Posted September 29, 2011 Great looking site. Well done you. Ive done our new website in wordpress. The Academy, Selsey Once you get it going its very easy to use!! Just about to hand parts of it over to other members of staff! 1
dave.81 Posted September 29, 2011 Posted September 29, 2011 Our new one was built on Wordpress, although we didn't do the work ourselfs. Home - Shebbear College
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