Forum Moderators: open
Whoever said it was something like Frontpage has likely never used a CMS before.
You manage websites with a CMS... that is, you use its WYSIWYG interface to make small changes, additions, deletions... you don't code entire pages using a CMS interface, as that would basically pan out to you using an abridged version of a WYSIWYG HTML editor. And, more importantly, it would be like trying to build a 2-story house from inside your toolshed.
If you don't know how to write HTML and you want to build an entire site, use a WYSIWYG like Dreamweaver. If you're looking to make text/images/other content easy to update without having to go into the code of the pages, you use a CMS.
Actually, a CMS is meant to benefit clients for whom a site has been designed... not the designer him/herself. It provides a WYSIWYG-type interface for making slight changes to a page; obviously this is a lot like an actual WYSIWYG editor, but seeing as it's not very practical to force a client to purchase a multiple-license copy of Dreamweaver or Frontpage (not to mention it would still be more confusing), the CMS is the way to go.
But CMS tools can do many other things; there are a ton out there, and which one gets used on which site depends on the clients' needs. This is why I said that Typo3 is not like Frontpage in disguise, as your friend had stated. It's there to make the client's website useful for themselves, not just to format code.
Does anyone here use Typo 3? It say´s that it´s a content management system but i´ve heard refered to it as a open source Frontpage, by a person not so knowledgable b.t.w.
But, can I use it to build and manage websites?
If this is an extremely stupid question I appollogize beforehand.
Oh boy... :)
TYPO3 has been referrring to itself lately as a content management framework, but 'CMS' will do. As has already been pointed out, the usual job of a CMS is to help manage content generally within an existing design.
As for the question about using it to build and manage websites, the answer is a qualified 'yes'. TYPO3 is a fantastically powerful tool, but it takes time to learn how to use it to best effect. Do not expect to download it and be completely comfortable with it in a couple of weeks, because it won't happen--think of learning TYPO3 in about the same terms as you'd think about using a powerful desktop software package like Photoshop and you'll get the idea.
Generally speaking, I'd recommend that only people who need to build a lot of websites bother to learn how to do it using TYPO3--if you just need one or two sites, you'd be better to have someone more familiar with the software build the site for you and use it to manage your site. Alternatively, look into another CMS [cmsmatrix.org] that's targetted more at end-users than developers.
On the other hand, if you do need to build many sites, and you have time to spend learning a new tool, you'll find that TYPO3 has an unparallelled feature set [typo3.com] (learning how to do / use all these features is, of course, what makes TYPO3 time-consuming to learn...)
-b
I had been thinking of learning to use Visual Web Developer from Microsoft for this project I have in mind but typo3 does look more promising and better suited to my needs (actually I have no idea if VWD would suit my needs since I get totally lost in the very poorly organized help pages).
All the inbuilt features such as unlimited history (unlimited undo button), rss feeds and other cool stuff is just what I need.
Does there exist a good book on typo3? I can only find one on amazon and it gets poor rewiev. If not are there any good tutorials and/or learning resources online that you know of besides the official site?
Thanks again
Firstly, can I begin to learn Typo3 from scratch, relying only on the documentation presented there or must I have some knowledge of PHP to get anywhere, or somthing other?
Secondly, can I start a website that will only be getting input from me and later, when I have learned more, add a function that makes it possible for users to contribute like in a forum or wiki, or will I have to plan for that from beginning?
