| While the term "content is king" is certainly | | | | course the drawback to this is that they |
| true for web masters, you need to have ways | | | | usually put their ads on your site. Nothing |
| to deliver that content to your visitors. | | | | in this world is truly free, they are making |
| I'd like to outline my favorite 5, that is | | | | money off your work. Install your own blog |
| what I consider to be "best in class" pieces | | | | software and control your own destiny. My |
| of software to build your web presence. | | | | favorite blog software is Serendipity. Of |
| | | | all the top choices listed here, this one is |
| First of all, let me set the ground rules. | | | | probably the most debatable. Their are other |
| I'm going to assume you have hosting and that | | | | good free choices in this category such as |
| hosting provides MySQL databases and PHP. I | | | | Wordpress and Nucleus. After trying a |
| would also say Java, but none of my top 5 | | | | sampling of other software, Serendipity was |
| require Java, so I'll save that discussion | | | | the easiest to use, place ads on had the most |
| for another day. Another thing I'd like to | | | | attractive layouts (with the least work). |
| point out is that all of my picks are either | | | | Others will certainly argue this choice, and |
| freeware or open source, so you won't need to | | | | to this day I have blogs in both Nucleus and |
| buy any of these. Let's get down to | | | | Serendipity. |
| business. | | | | |
| | | | The 2nd best software for building your web |
| The 5th best software for building your web | | | | site. |
| site. | | | | |
| | | | Community forums are a great way to boost |
| I have a two way tie for my fifth favorite | | | | your web sites content. Get the visitors to |
| piece of web site software. They are Nucleus | | | | do the work of putting relevant content on |
| for blogs and Mambo for a content management | | | | your site and over time you will have a |
| system. If you read further down, both of | | | | perpetual content machine. My favorite forum |
| these were beaten out for higher spots by | | | | software is phpBB. PhpBB is a high powered, |
| other software but they deserve honorable | | | | fully scalable, and highly customizable Open |
| mention. These are both excellent pieces of | | | | Source bulletin board package (quote taken |
| software and of course they are free. Mambo | | | | right from their web site). I found phpBB |
| is an open source product and although I | | | | easy to install, stable and you can't argue |
| don't see mention of open source in the | | | | with the price, it's free! There is a very |
| Nucleus web site, it is a community driven | | | | active user community and it's easy to find |
| effort under the GNU General Public License | | | | add ons and customizations. |
| (GPL). | | | | |
| | | | And finally, my #1 pick for the best web site |
| The 4th best software for building your web | | | | software. |
| site. | | | | |
| | | | Joomla! Joomla is a content management |
| Photo gallery software. Okay, there are a | | | | system which has it's roots in another |
| million wallpaper sites on the net, but the | | | | product, Mambo. I've used Joomla on more |
| one thing most of them have in common is that | | | | than a dozen web sites and am very happy with |
| they are extremely popular. The reason for | | | | the flexibility it provides, it's stability |
| this is clear, people like pictures, desktop | | | | and with the use of add ons, it's search |
| wallpaper and otherwise. I don't personally | | | | engine optimization capabilities. |
| run a wallpaper site, but I do use photo | | | | |
| gallery software to serve images to my other | | | | The current version (as of this writing) is |
| sites (and for personal family photos). The | | | | 1.0.12 with 1.5 in beta. Joomla is an open |
| software I chose in this category is called | | | | source product, meaning that it is developed |
| Coppermine. This software is easy to use and | | | | as a community effort and the source code is |
| customize. Did I mention that it's also | | | | freely available. It's easy to find add ons |
| free! | | | | for Joomla such as templates, SEO add ons and |
| | | | more. The install for Joomla (on GoDaddy) |
| The 3rd best software for building your web | | | | was painless for me, simply follow the |
| site. | | | | enclosed instructions. If you haven't |
| | | | looked at Joomla for your web site yet, I |
| Blogging is very popular on the net right now | | | | strongly suggest that you take a closer look |
| and there are a ton of places that will let | | | | at it. |
| you start your own blog at no cost. Of | | | | |