Advantages and disadvantages of using an open source or paid CMS program.

[adultsitecms]

This was part of the speech that was presented in the recently concluded Cybernet 2010 entitled Content Management Systems – Lecture Cybernet – SFO

Advantages of using an open source program:

i) It is completely free
ii) The programming code is open – which means you can hire a programmer to fully customize it anyway you want. Usually finding programmers for open source programmers is also quite easy and a lot less expensive than a custom built CMS.
iii) You can customize it in almost any way to make it unique
iv) Typically there can be many free or very inexpensive plugins or add-ons which have been developed for the CMS.
v) An Open source CMS is very stable, as it is used but a lot of websites and has many updates which are all also free.
vi) Many design templates can be available for the CMS free or very inexpensive.

Some of the best examples of Open Source Programs used by Adult Sites are:

* Drupal
* Joomla
* Oscommerce – Shopping Cart
* Post Nuke
* PHPMotion – A Good video script could be used for VOD or video membership

Disadvantages of using an open source CMS:

i) There is no support for the program. You have to hire a developer to understand it, manage it and customize it.
ii) Open source programs can be less secure since their code is open. Hackers can create scripts to compromise the CMS and destroy or collect data or do many other destructive things.

In summary, using an open source CMS instead of CMS you buy means that you need to have good working technical knowledge or be able to hire someone who can be trusted to maintain and fix an issues from the CMS.

I always believe that unless you can afford to hire a full time programmer, it is always best to go for a CMS that you buy and that has support.

Just like you would not fix your car if you are not a mechanic, nor would you run your own server if you are not a server administrator.