I asked one of the mods where would be the best place to post this and was directed here, if it's not feel free to move this thread to the most appropriate forum.

Hi,

I'm dreaming of having my own site that's sort of an expansion of my blog. The thing is that I really don't know much or anything about website building, aside from the little CSS manipulations I've managed to do to my blogger template.

Honestly if blogger would allow for a gallery addition that's simple and has tags like flickr, a forum and additional pages to add a member directory and a google map and allow it all to be maintained from the blogger dashboard it would be exactly what I was looking for.

From some Google searches I guess what I'm looking for is a content management system. Where I could write articles, have a gallery, attach a forum and add a couple more pages for stuff and control it all from one dashboard. Or maybe separate things that I could cobble together to get what I want?

If you have any suggestions I'd really appreciate it. I've been to different sites that use popular CMS but haven't seen that makes me decide that one is better than the other. So if you have a site built with a CMS I'd love to hear why you like it so much or if you've seen cool sites built with one I'd appreciate a link so I could see it.

I already have the domain, and content and can create more content but I'm idea rich but cash poor so the less money it costs the better.

Thanks In Advance.

I would suggest either Joomla or Drupal. That are very powerful, AND they both have large communities to go with them which is great for newbies to get help.

I personally don't use CMS's, but if I did, I would use one of those 2. I have heard a lot of good things about both on these forums. As far as which to use, that will have to be up to you. When it comes to CMS's, people tend to like what they like... depending on which works best for them.

thanks for the reply.

Wordpress is also good. www.wordpress.org

Simple and there are thousands of extensions available for it to do anything.

I have seen a lot of very nice WordPress sites out there. They have a very classy style to them.

Hi,

Yeah it seems like I'm going to have to go with WP or Moveable Type because it seems the easiest solution for what I'm thinking. I've been reading a lot of articles and threads and the ones that seem would be fastest and SEO friendly are either the hardest to customize or all have really ugly themes. If only I was in the market for something gamer-ish or something that was heavy on the brushed metal look I'd be all set.

But those choices bring a new question. I've read that you need to buy a license to edit WP code. Does that apply to the version available for DL or if I use one offered by a host could I customize that one without the license? WP themes are nice but I'm more of a fan of rounded corners and most themes are very square.

Also when reading the documentation for Moveable Type I see it's free for personal use but you have to buy a license for other uses. If I add adsense would that take me out of the realm of personal use? I don't plan to ever charge for content what I'm looking to do is build a database to help identify, seeds, bugs, and plants.

If anybody has experience or know the answer to either question I'd appreciate a lead. Thanks

What you really need is a custom CMS site. I build skins for CMS type sites if you want one, but if you want to go the free way www.mambo.com or www.joomala.com are great places to start!

ROTFLMAO -- okay; the SEO "Expert" is now building "Custom CMS sites"??? LOL ... show us a few of your alleged "Custom CMS" sites -- I've gotta see several!

TravelAgent, this thread is not about you, please keep things on topic or PM me.

Lets get back on track here...

For that type of question, you're better off to shoot an email to support or post a message on their forums. But, your idea for the site sounds interesting. I'd like to check it out when your done. I can always use gardening tips.