Best (free) CMS for...

[Capo]

Hello... I read a few interesting discussions on the site but I still am confused on my choice for the best CMS.

My requirements are:

-A magazine type look where I plan to add new content every week (feature an individual with his details and few of his artistic works)

-A forum where the visitors can discuss general art or about the weekly post

-A nested comment system

-User Registration

All of above is duly provided by Wordpress but it STILL holds a blog type look and I dont want that. I want the featured artists listed in an A-Z listing which makes it easier to find them (this Wordpress doesn't provide for). Also I want an integrated registration form where people can create their own profiles. I dont want to open a social networking site but want members and their discussion on postings that I make. I installed Wordpress, made a complete site but ended up deleting it. Because it will be a website related to art (photography) I also need templates/themes to be good looking. Sure a lot of requirements. To add to that I need it for free because I am penniless atm. Any suggestions?

[joelietz]

Have you looked into wordpress plugins that might provide those features for you?

You could probably meet all your requirements with Joomla but it's an unwieldy beast to figure out if you don't have a lot of time to figure things out.

Drupal is the other largest CMS out there and it too is quite bulky for the job but perhaps could do the trick.

I know there are also some top 20 lists out there of the best free cms systems. You might try looking at those via google as well.

[psellc]

I would say also Wordpress, If you don't like the look, you can always edit the theme and modify it to your likings. If you don't have knowledge in theme editing and modification, you can always look for free themes and plugins online. There are like billions of them...

[nickoran]

Personally a big fan of joomla, but it does take a lot longer to work everything out and test pluging compared to wordpress.
everything you require is easy in wordpress, and really with a few tweaks you can avoid the blog layout.
look up creating a static homepage, and then browse through the different templates tagged "magazine"

[Szise]

I recommend Wordpress, huge user base, I created an arcade site using it.

[Denit]

Artists listed in an A-Z listing ? Yeah,i also searching for that features ,like sorting a list of title (within post content) .Any Wordpress plug in can do that?

[joelietz]

I forgot to mention CMS Made Simple - if you're looking for a lighter weight solution.

[digital29]

Wordpress with a magazine style theme, forum from vbulletin or phpbb if you want free.

[DesignChic]

Another vote for Wordpress. There are tons of templates, some are free, some have minimal costs like $50. I agree it's much easier to figure out than Joomla, and the WP themes are very seo friendly. You'll be able to figure the themes out quickly.

[Web-Design-Guy]

I've designed a few websites using Silverstripe. Very easy to design custom themes; comes with the bells and whistles you need (some are modules); user support community and very good (albeit paid) support from the Silverstripe team.