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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cascade CMS

    Score8.2 out of 10
    N/ACascade CMS (formerly Cascade Server) by Hannon Hill is a content management system, with built-in tools to help users eliminate stale content, increase digital outreach, and promote end-user adoption and accountability. Cascade CMS is designed for decentralized web teams in most major industries, including higher education, government, healthcare, and technology. Included is Clive, an engagement and real-time personalization tool for collecting information and using it to craft personalized…N/A

    DreamHost

    Score9.3 out of 10
    N/ADreamHost is a website hosting service with features such as managed VPS hosting, public cloud computing, and dedicated servers. Managed options include WordPress with the DreamPress upgraded service with staging and coaching, WooCommerce hosting, as well as dedicated server hosting.

    $3.95

    per month

    Pricing
    Cascade CMSDreamHost
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Shared
    $3.95
    per month
    DreamPress
    $16.95
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cascade CMSDreamHost
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    Cascade CMSDreamHost
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of Cascade CMS and DreamHost
    Feature
    Cascade CMS
    8.0
    19 Ratings
    3% below category average
    DreamHost
    -
    Ratings
    Role-based user permissions8.019 Ratings00 Ratings
    Platform & Infrastructure
    Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Cascade CMS and DreamHost
    Feature
    Cascade CMS
    7.1
    13 Ratings
    9% below category average
    DreamHost
    -
    Ratings
    API7.012 Ratings00 Ratings
    Internationalization / multi-language7.37 Ratings00 Ratings
    Web Content Creation
    Comparison of Web Content Creation features of Cascade CMS and DreamHost
    Feature
    Cascade CMS
    7.1
    19 Ratings
    10% below category average
    DreamHost
    -
    Ratings
    WYSIWYG editor6.119 Ratings00 Ratings
    Code quality / cleanliness6.018 Ratings00 Ratings
    Admin section8.019 Ratings00 Ratings
    Page templates9.017 Ratings00 Ratings
    Library of website themes5.52 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile optimization / responsive design7.015 Ratings00 Ratings
    Publishing workflow9.019 Ratings00 Ratings
    Form generator6.47 Ratings00 Ratings
    Web Content Management
    Comparison of Web Content Management features of Cascade CMS and DreamHost
    Feature
    Cascade CMS
    6.9
    18 Ratings
    8% below category average
    DreamHost
    -
    Ratings
    Content taxonomy8.013 Ratings00 Ratings
    SEO support7.014 Ratings00 Ratings
    Bulk management9.014 Ratings00 Ratings
    Availability / breadth of extensions6.011 Ratings00 Ratings
    Community / comment management4.85 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cascade CMSDreamHost
    Small Businesses
    Umbraco CMS
    Score7 out of 10
    AccuWebHosting.Com
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Square Online
    Score7.7 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Enterprises
    RWS Tridion Sites
    Score9 out of 10
    AccuWebHosting.Com
    Score9.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cascade CMSDreamHost
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.9
    (44 ratings)
    7.0
    (10 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.1
    (26 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    6.7
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.1
    (5 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cascade CMSDreamHost
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Hannon Hill
    Cascade Server is well suited with it's WYSIWYG editor being better than most editors that I have used in other systems. In context, editing makes adding content easy compared to the last CMS I used where you had to wing it and view the page outside of the CMS to see if it was correct. The ability mix HTML, CSS, and the Script of your choice anywhere and with ease.
    The scenarios were Cascade Server is less appropriate would be in the use of compilers or programs like Visual studio. You need to go out of Cascade Server and go to other environments to perform tasks and then copy the result to Cascade Server. You can write directly in Cascade Server, but it's easier to do in and editor that is specific to a function.
    Incentivized
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    Dreamhost
    Dreamhost was previously a great web host with reliable service and top-notch features, but I can no longer recommend them. If you're looking for web hosting on a Linux platform (such as running PHP or platforms like Wordpress, Jooma, or Drupal), with simple pricing services, then this is the great service for you. One big downside is lack of phone customer support. This is especially frustrating because of their many issues the last few weeks, which aren't easily resolved or addressed by their team.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Hannon Hill
    • Cascade CMS makes no assumptions about your content. Templates control how the content gets displayed.
    • Workflows are intuitive and allow for one or more people to review content before it is published.
    • The published site is static (no database connection) which allows for faster page loads and reduced risk of attack.
    Incentivized
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    Dreamhost
    • Customer service is industry-best. We've never had a problem that wasn't solved by them almost immediately.
    • Their dashboard is extremely easy to use and doesn't cause any confusion at all.
    • Their website speeds are good but not great. In an age when speed is important, they are good enough, especially for the price.
    • They have a great backup feature.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Hannon Hill
    • Cascade CMS is not an out-of-the-box pre-built system that you can install, turn on and expect to be serving sites and pages on day one. It's not a blogging system like WordPress, or a drag-and-drop system like SquareSpace (both of which I've used for their own purposes). You need to have someone tasked with management and system administration – and if you implement the on-premise self-hosted version, you ought to have several people. We have the university's IT shop handling infrastructure (server hardware, containers, clustering, operating systems, load-balancing, DNS, database servers, NAS/SAN drives), our Web & Design team managing Cascade CMS (system settings, sites, templates, permissions) and managers coordinating each respective academic unit (A&S, business, education, law, marine science).
    Read full review
    Dreamhost
    • They could have better deploy solutions for not so experienced users
    • More integration with external services to automate some tasks
    • Better ways to track hosting performance
    • The user management could be easier to understand
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Hannon Hill
    Changing systems would require too much effort. Our institution is using Cascade Server, WordPress and Drupal but we only serve 2200 students so we have 1 too many content management systems. Reflecting on current technical resources we would like to drop down to 2. This effort hasn't moved forward because of the extensive work required to migrate content and train users in a new system.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Dreamhost
    We have every intention of staying with Dreamhost, but we are a tad concerned with the company's recent involvement in high profile litigation and controversial topics. While we don't take a position one way or another on what type of content they should host, one concern we have is that repeated attacks on their infrastructure have caused significant downtime during business hours for us, and that's something we'll have to take into consideration going forward.
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Hannon Hill
    Cascade CMS is completely usable on mobile devices, we can train our content editors in a single 2-hour session, and we support 1,000 users with a very small team.
    There is a level of complexity for the system administrators, site managers and web programmers who implement templates and content types. But the complexity is neither arbitrary nor inconsistent – and once learned provides a powerful environment within which we can develop robust sites that are beautiful and powerful, yet easy for our content editors to manage.
    Read full review
    Dreamhost
    No answers on this topic
    Reliability and Availability
    Hannon Hill
    Amazing customer service and VERY customizable.
    Incentivized
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    Dreamhost
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Hannon Hill
    Does a great job.
    Incentivized
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    Dreamhost
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Hannon Hill
    They have always regarded any question or problem we encountered as very important. We have never felt that they ignore or downplay any issue and not once has anything been left unresolved. They also hold an annual conference where users are invited to attend and share their experiences and wisdom with the entire Cascade community. And with the care and support the provide, we all feel a part of that community.
    Read full review
    Dreamhost
    Whether we're calling in on the phone, live chatting or emailing, we get immediate high-quality, native English-speaking support. This cannot be overstated when it comes to hosting, because support tickets are usually time sensitive and high stress. I've always had great experiences with the limited times we've needed to use DreamHost support. We've dealt with support for many other providers and no one comes close to DreamHost.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    Hannon Hill
    Training was helpful.
    Incentivized
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    Dreamhost
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Hannon Hill
    Still needed that physical help
    Incentivized
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    Dreamhost
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Hannon Hill
    The key to any CMS implementation is PLAN, PLAN, PLAN. Proper planning with Cascade can increase your satisfaction exponentially once the site migration/creation is complete. When all is said and done, your implementation can make your site run like a Yugo or Maserati. Be smart and deliberate in your decisions. Drive the Maserati. It is already paid for.
    Incentivized
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    Dreamhost
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Hannon Hill
    We selected Cascade server seven years ago, and the CMS environment at the time was clearly different than it is today. We decided to go with a vendor solution rather than a free solution because the long term cost in hosting a free solution is not, in fact, free; we've found Cascade to have been an excellent choice for us.
    Incentivized
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    Dreamhost
    We've tried a few other WordPress-specific hosts, as well as other shared hosting providers (Rackspace, WPEngine, and others). We have found that DreamHost gives the best balance of cost, performance, and features, for our needs. All vendors have their own pitfalls and shortcomings, and DreamHost isn't without its own, but it works for us.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Hannon Hill
    I used it only a few times.
    Incentivized
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    Dreamhost
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Hannon Hill
    • Initially, ROI was positive - because we completely redesigned the website when we implemented Cascade.
    • Over time, the inability to keep up with the latest interactive tools has reduced visitors time on site.
    • Also over time, the difficulty of use has led to less buy-in by backend users, leading to outdated pages, little timely information, and lower visitors.
    Incentivized
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    Dreamhost
    • The service can really be a positive value with its very solid performance and lack of downtime issues found with other services.
    • For those with limited hosting or web development knowledge, the service can be a challenge to fully utilize. Sometimes this may mean additional training.
    • The service also provides a number of expansion opportunities for growing with greater functionalities.
    Incentivized
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