If you’re searching for a free CMS solution for your website, it might be worth checking out a new offering from Sitemasher. Running the now popular SaaS model, it might not end up being free, but it’s sure to cost a lot less than traditional CMS products on the market.
Like WordPress, Weebly, and other popular browser based publishing tools out there, Sitemasher doesn’t require technical skills. In fact, Sitemasher promise if you can use Microsoft Powerpoint, then you’ll be able to use their simple drag and drop interface to build a website.
But a lot of companies promise this kind of ease of use. One area Sitemasher appears to up the ante is around database support and functionality. Sitting on the ASP.NET framework, it should be capable of interfacing with other systems easily, and will allow developers to write custom apps for integration.
Additionally, based on a model similar to Apple and the i-phone SDK, Sitemasher also intend to open this up as a marketplace where developers can write apps and receive revenue when they are used commercially.
What this should mean for the end business user is a much lower cost CMS, with all the standard CMS functions, plus custom developed applications on hand at the fraction of the price of building from scratch. In addition, it boasts in-built SEO and Analytics tools which are great must haves at no extra cost.
I’ll be testing out Sitemasher over the next few weeks, so may post again with some feedback from a user perspective.
In the meantime, if you’re interested in other free website functionality, read about Free Message Boards and other Social Media Functionality from KickApps.
If you have any experience of designing and building on the Sitemasher platform, we’d love to hear your comments below.
Links:
http://www.sitemasher.com
Sitemasher CEO Presentation:
Sitemasher Comparison Table:
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Thank you Nextmuffin for taking the time to post about our product. We’d be interested in hearing your feedback as well as other users comments as well!
Keep in mind, as of June 2008, our software is still under development, there will be bugs, certain parts may be difficult to use, and many features will not yet be available. But don’t worry; we’re working on a completed product for public release by end of Summer 2008!
This early release should demonstrate how Sitemasher can let you build a website. This version includes the ability to add forms, which will enable you to capture and store data obtained from your website users. You will find many more features in an early phase of development within the product.
Cheers
Shannon at Sitemasher.com
Thanks Shannon. It certainly looks like a powerful system. Very interested to be kept up to date with development releases as they unfold.
Chrs, Jon