Is there a "Typepad" style solution for a full, complex web site?

February 25, 2006 10:41 AM

Is there a web site development solution for full sites that's as simple and to-the-point as a service such as Typepad?

I've tried Googling this, but the necessary search terms just keep bringing up the same Templates For Sale sites.

I'm trying to find a site which would streamline the development of a site for a non-profit. Ideally, I'd supervise the creation of the site, then multiple users could use some form of CMS to add content.

I *could* pull this together myself (well, without the CMS...), but, as the question says, I'm looking for that nearly-magical combination of simplicity and depth.

posted by baltimore to Computers & Internet (15 answers total)

I don't know about typepad, but google just came out with a service for creating full web pages as opposed to just blogs. I haven't tried it yet though, so I don't know if it will have everything you're looking for. I believe you have to have a gmail account to use it.
posted by gauchodaspampas at 10:47 AM on February 25, 2006

Google's service is invite only - I still haven't gotten one.

You could use a CMS like Mambo or phpNuke and download a skin or two for it (people do tons of them in all color schemes).. then just fill it in with data and you're set.
posted by twiggy at 10:55 AM on February 25, 2006

I never got an invite for Google Pages; I just logged in.
posted by gramcracker at 11:09 AM on February 25, 2006

Action Potential does exactly what you ask for, and is specifically directed at non-profits. It has a nice, simple CMS and also other tools that should be useful to non-profits (member/contacts lists, fundraising tools, etc).
posted by cushie at 11:20 AM on February 25, 2006

I think you might be a good match with Public Square; they're letting people use it as beta now.
posted by RJ Reynolds at 11:32 AM on February 25, 2006

Second Mambo, although I think it's called Joomla. It takes some work to get it going, but after it's set up it's as you describe - people log in, add content, publish.
posted by drobot at 11:33 AM on February 25, 2006

Although, don't forget: Seed did their entire website using MT.
posted by RJ Reynolds at 11:35 AM on February 25, 2006

Try Squarespace. Customer service is exceptional and the sites you create will without fail look professional.
posted by superfem at 11:38 AM on February 25, 2006

Wordpress isn't just for blogging any more, so to speak.

I know someone who maintains quite a large, complex site with only Wordpress. The key thing is that you can create new free-standing pages based on the templates, not just blog posts.

If by "like typepad" you mean "hosted" I can't help you, but Wordpress is so ubiquitous it must be pretty easy to get it set up.
posted by AmbroseChapel at 12:40 PM on February 25, 2006

I echo the suggestion for Wordpress -- I've used it for exactly the sort of thing you're talking about. They have a hosted service now.
posted by katieinshoes at 12:53 PM on February 25, 2006

It's not a hosted service, but.. MODx is basically the WordPress of CMSes.. takes five minutes to install, great interface, XHTML/CSS standards compliant, etc.. I've been loving it lately.
posted by wackybrit at 1:01 PM on February 25, 2006

Try City Desk - sounds like just what you need. There's a demo on the site that shows just how easy it would be for your users.
posted by madamjujujive at 1:02 PM on February 25, 2006

Textpattern is wonderful, though it has a relatively steep learning curve for site development. Content management is a breeze, though.
posted by charmston at 4:37 PM on February 25, 2006

If you're wanting to host a service for friends or to sell to others that is as simple for the end user to use as Typepad, get Movable Type. There'll be some work needed on the back end (setting up MySQL or another database, apache, perl, php if you want, etc). But, the user side is all pointy clicky, pretty close to the Typepad interface.

I use MT on my website. I enjoy the nuts and bolts of the deal. My friend doesn't. I host his site, and after I set up his username and created the blog config settings (translate: clicked "New Blog" and accepted the defaults), he did the rest with no HTML or prior experience with MT.
posted by jeversol at 6:33 PM on February 25, 2006

I also vote for wordpress, easy to set up and customize. Do whatever you want, tons of user support on forums.
posted by maxpower at 6:38 PM on February 25, 2006