Content management systems are great. They empower our clients to take control over their own websites and make building good, content rich websites easier. Or at least they should!
Most website designs projects we get involved in where we use a CMS we normally use one of two systems – WordPress or Expression Engine. Both are fantastic systems, both for the web designer and the client and we have a huge amount of experience using both systems. We’ve looked at others – Perch is very good – but we tend to stick to these two as they fit most projects we do. I was recently asked to make some changes to a website built using the Typo3 CMS, no problem I thought, what could be difficult about using another CMS? Well, it turns out that pretty much everything about Typo3 is difficult!
Typo3 seems to be very widely used in Europe but not many web design studios in the UK deal with it. I can see why now. From the very start you can tell this CMS isn’t built for ease of use, it hasn’t been built for the web designer (it is very developer orientated and you do need to be a pretty hardcore developer to get your head round it) and it definitely hasn’t been built for the end user. I would never be able to sit a client down in front of the Typo3 admin interface and say “there you go, theres your new website and this is how you edit content” – all I’d get would be a very blank, vacant stare. I had the same vacant stare when I looked at it for the first time.
In my opinion, Typo3 is not a good CMS and not one I would ever recommend web designers to use. It may be the CMS of choice for developers but web designers stay clear and if anyone asks you to look at a project involving Typo3, stay well clear.
If you have a project that needs a CMS then get in contact with kc web design ltd, Canterbury, Kent. We understand what a good CMS should be and we believe a good CMS should give you control over your website.