Selecting right CMS - All-in-one vs lite/simple?!?

I always feel I should choose all-in-one CMS, any idea?

[Wai_Wai]

Selecting right CMS - All-in-one vs lite/simple?!?

Hi.
I'm rather new in Content Management System(CMS). I have difficulty in picking a CMS.
Generally there're 2 types of Content Management System(CMS):
- all-in-one CMS (many features, whether built-in or add-on, eg WebGUI, Typo3, PostNuke)
- lite/simple CMS (fewer features, eg CMS.Link, CMS Made Simple, Artiloo)

I just wonder what's the "real" point of choosing lite/simple CMS.

We should be prudent in choosing a CMS for your website since it may be with you forever. Eg: if one decides to choose on a particular CMS, and you find it is not its cup of tea after some time (eg 1 year). It may be a headache to transfer your contents from 1 CMS to another.

As you know they are limited in features and ability. So what they really give is only simplicity: easy to install, very smooth learning curve etc.

For a lite/simple CMs which have (very) few features, will it be risky to use them? For example, when I find out I need some features which my CMS doesn't offer (nor do its plug-ins or add-ons or its similar). How can I do at that time? I'm not a programmer or CMS developer. Trouble!

So the best bet seems to fall on all-in-one CMS which they have many features (whether core or as modules/addons) and many people who support this CMS. In this regard, I don't need to worry about the lack of features in my chosen CMS.

In conclusion all-in-one seems to be always the first choice, while lite/simple CMS is the second choice. That's what I think.

Am I right? What do you think?
Do you think all-in-one CMS is always the safest or best bet?
Is there really any point of choosing lite/simple CMS?
Thanks a lot.

[Wai_Wai]

Any Help?!

[masterJanus]

Well, you make some good points but let me throw in a few of my own.

I think the main problem with the simple CMSs out there is that they are mostly crude and take some knowledge to install, maintain etc. You rarely see a simple CMS that is easy to use _and_ doesn't require any technical knowledge. Advanced systems also take some tech knowledge unless they are hosted (and expensive) systems.

For my clients I either use Typo3 (www.typo3.org [typo3.org]) or Nozomi CMS (www.nozomi-cms.com [nozomi-cms.com]). Those two cover the needs of all my clients. Typo3 has become very advanced and you can do loads of stuff with it. It's great for advanced sites but it does take a lot of time to learn - and if you are making a site for a client you need to take some time out to teach them how to use Typo3.

Nozomi CMS, on the other hand, is for simple sites. It is extremely easy to use and is hosted by the company behind the CMS. Not always the most ideal solution but it's great if you need a turn-key solution that just works, i.e. you or your client will never have to worry about the server software, updates etc.

You can't make super advanced sites with it but developing a simple site is soooooo fast.

There are up- and downsides to both types of systems but I feel it's great to have both kinds in my arsenal depending on what my clients need...

Just my 2 cents.

[physics]

If all you ever want to do with a specific site is post some information and not get fancy then yes a 'simple' cms would probably be a good choice. One reason being that the fewer features there are then (theoretically) the easier it will be to use and the fewer the exploits will be.
But if you have any plans at all to expand it I'd say go with a feature-rich CMS so the features are there when you want them.
Figure out what you want to have on a site and head over to CMS Matrix [cmsmatrix.org] and find one that has all those features and good reviews.

[Wai_Wai]

Thanks for all your replies.

Currently I am making an article-based websites.
So there will be a lot of articles to manage.

I would like to have:
- good link management, versioning, comment systems,
- auto-generated Table of Contents, Index, Glossary/Terms
- auto-generated site maps, auto-categorization systems, auto-translation system,
- search engine optimization

There're also other elements like blogs, forums, polls/surveys, tests/quizzes and so on

Temporarily I'm trying Drupal.
Since it is said to be a developer-friendly CMS, that's why I try it although I am not good at hacking/programming.

Now I wonder if I should switch to wiki CMS instead. However wiki CMS should not be good at managing other parts like blogs, forums as I mentioned preivously.

So I'm trying to find a way which can integrate a wiki CMS into Drupal.
Any idea?