docbird - 2:40 am on Jul 31, 2005 (gmt 0)

Lest of interest, based on having Dreamweaver site before, being told of cms a year and a half ago, and now 2 sites w Mambo.

I'd opt for cms; seems to me the ability to integrate extras like forum, gallery is neat. Can readily make site-wide changes - publish a news item w press of a button (and choose for it to unpublish by certain date).
Against which, can make site-wide screw-ups: get a tiddly bit of code wrong in wrong place, and all pages might just display short error message. (I haven't learned php, just cut n paste from others; happily, much forum info, so been able to solve problems, so far.)

To me, seems URLs important with cms. Not just trying to improve on gobbledegook of raw cms URLs, making them more search engine friendly; also to try for URLs that may be "cool" - so there's chance you won't have to change them, as upgrade software etc. With latest Mambo plus an add-on (Xaneon), I've managed urls ending, say, green-widgets/jolly-green-widgets.html, which I hope I can mostly retain. (But out of the box, current Mambo can spawn multiple URLs per item.)

For Mambo, there are things like Simpleboard forum, which is built for Mambo, so integrates well. Plenty of free stuff, including Xaneon. But after much enthusiasm, Xaneon development maybe stalled - as can happen w Mambo add-ons (even some that people charge for).
So far, I've managed ok, but might make a non-open source cms worth a look, as may be less hassle making it worth the money. Tho, w opensource, seems as one project fades, one or more spring up; and you can maybe make some contribution to development.

Yes, only three levels in Mambo. Might help in some ways, such as simpler navigation, plus search engines. But others too want more; and I think Mambo 5 will have unlimited cats. Mind you, seems to be always on the horizon (plus won't be ready site upgrade from current versions).