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Smooth User Interface: Many users have praised the smooth user interface of the product, stating that it is intuitive and easy to …
Overview
What is Concrete CMS?
Concrete CMS (formerly Concrete5) is a free and open source, PHP built content management system for content on the web and also for intranets. It is optimized to support the creation of online magazines and newspapers.
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Popular Features
- Admin section (40)10.0100%
- Page templates (40)10.0100%
- Mobile optimization / responsive design (39)9.797%
- WYSIWYG editor (42)9.292%
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What is Concrete CMS?
Concrete CMS (formerly Concrete5) is a free and open source, PHP built content management system for content on the web and also for intranets. It is optimized to support the creation of online magazines and newspapers.
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What is Concrete CMS?
Concrete CMS (formerly concrete5) is an Open Source Content Management System for teams. The vendor states users can run a secure website that content contributors will love using with Concrete CMS. Concrete is a platform that grows with the user's needs.
The user experience is built around in-context editing and is designed to be as easy to use as a word processor so that users spend less time training people, and less time having to fix things.
As an open source framework the user can build complex applications as features like permissions, workflow, file management, calendar, forms, SEO and so much more are built right in. A marketplace of add-ons & themes and an active community can help quickly deliver solutions using Concrete CMS.
The vendor boasts fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, individuals and the U.S. Army as users of Concrete CMS to power critical parts of their web presence.
Concrete CMS Features
Web Content Creation Features
- Supported: WYSIWYG editor
- Supported: Code quality / cleanliness
- Supported: Content versioning
- Supported: Admin section
- Supported: Page templates
- Supported: Library of website themes
- Supported: Mobile optimization / responsive design
- Supported: Publishing workflow
- Supported: Form generator
- Supported: Content scheduling
Web Content Management Features
- Supported: Internal content search
- Supported: Content taxonomy
- Supported: SEO support
- Supported: Browser compatibility
- Supported: Bulk management
- Supported: Page caching
- Supported: Availability / breadth of extensions
- Supported: E-commerce / shopping cart extension
- Supported: Community / comment management
- Supported: Import / export
Platform & Infrastructure Features
- Supported: API
- Supported: Internationalization / multi-language
Security Features
- Supported: Role-based user permissions
- Supported: Multi-factor authentication
- Supported: User-level audit trail
- Supported: Version history
- Supported: Simple roll-back capabilities
CMS programming language or framework Features
- Supported: PHP
Concrete CMS Screenshots
Concrete CMS Videos
What problems does Concrete CMS solve?
Testimonial from a customer
Concrete CMS Technical Details
| Deployment Types | On-premise, Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Windows, Linux, Mac |
| Mobile Application | No |
| Supported Countries | anywhere |
| Supported Languages | arabic, bangla, bosnian, chinese, czech, danish, dutch, english, estonian, finnish, french, german, greek, hebrew, hungarian, icelandic, indonesian, italian, japanese, korean, lithuanian, malay, persian, polish, portuguese, romanian, russian, slovak, spanish, swedish, thai, turkish, vietnamese, welsh |
Frequently Asked Questions
Concrete CMS (formerly Concrete5) is a free and open source, PHP built content management system for content on the web and also for intranets. It is optimized to support the creation of online magazines and newspapers.
Reviewers rate Code quality / cleanliness and Admin section and Page templates highest, with a score of 10.
The most common users of Concrete CMS are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Community Insights
TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!
- Pros
- Cons
Smooth User Interface: Many users have praised the smooth user interface of the product, stating that it is intuitive and easy to navigate. Several reviewers have mentioned that they appreciate the clean design and well-organized layout, which enhances their overall experience.
Reliable Performance: Numerous customers have commended the reliable performance of the product. Several reviewers have stated that it consistently meets their expectations and performs tasks efficiently without any glitches or slowdowns. Users have expressed satisfaction with its stability and responsiveness.
Versatile Features: A significant number of users have highlighted the versatility of features offered by the product. Some reviewers have mentioned that it provides a wide range of functionalities, allowing them to accomplish various tasks effectively. The availability of customizable options has also been appreciated by several customers, as it caters to individual preferences and requirements.
Confusing User Interface: Many users have expressed frustration with the confusing and difficult-to-navigate user interface of Concrete5. They find it challenging to complete tasks efficiently due to the lack of intuitive design and organization.
Slow Rendering of Admin Pages: Some users have reported experiencing slow rendering of admin pages, particularly when using older computers. This sluggish performance hampers their productivity and can be frustrating during day-to-day usage.
Limited Customization Options: Users have voiced their concerns about the limited customization options in Concrete5. They feel that these options are buried within the software, making it harder for them to personalize their websites according to their specific preferences and requirements.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(51-59 of 59)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
I've worked with Concrete5 for a number of different websites. This has included both personal as well as websites for small business clients. Use cases vary, including personal sites, marketing, an eCommerce site selling product, and for small business. Of course there are a tremendous variety of ways it can be used, and the number of add-on's in the marketplace for all sorts of additional functionality further support this, without any custom code.
- It is very intuitive right out of the box so-to-speak, so getting a basic site up can be done relatively easily.
- End users and clients also find the Admin very intuitive and easy to use, in large part due to the in context editing. Therefore, training and hand-off to clients is relatively painless. Not only that, a high percent actually will do "Content Management" . And isn't that the promise of a CMS after all?. This last point, however, is where other CMS's often fail (including the "Big 3" -Wordpress, Drupal, and Joomla)!
- The over-ride system allows an easy way to make modifications to core functionality as well as add-ons without actually hacking the core code.
- While using jquery in a custom theme isn't necessary a problem, there is potential for conflicts with the system's use of it. However, this is being addressed in the 5.7 release (coming soon), which is a major upgrade with significant improvements.
- The lack of market penetration when compared to the "Big 3" (Wordpress, Drupal, and Joomla) means there is currently far fewer themes available. However, it's a situation that is continually improving.
June 13, 2014
Concrete5: Our Perfect Solution
A problem many organizations face is communication between departments. A library system is no different. I am the only IT person for the system so in addition to maintaining the network and supporting end users I am also the web developer and webmaster. Developing a website is the easy part. Maintaining the content is the struggle. Mainly due to the fact that updated information is never passed my way. When it came time to revamp our library website I wanted each department to be in charge of updating their own content. To do this I needed a CMS. I downloaded and installed several of the common CMS solutions but I found there seemed to be a significant learning curve. I am used to constantly learning new software. But if I wanted our staff to embrace updating content on our website I knew I had to make it easy. One day I was reading some reviews online and came across Concrete5. The part of the review that stood out to me was mention of an "easy interface". I installed it and in no time at all determined it was the solution for us.
- Concrete5's editing features was the big one for us. If you can edit a Word document you can edit content on your website.
- Permissions was another deciding factor in my choice to use Concrete5. I wanted to give staff permission to only update certain areas. Not only does this help to protect the website but it simplifies the process for staff. They do not get confused with too many options. Their mission is simple.
- The Concrete5 Marketplace has several addons and themes available, many of which are free. This was huge for us considering we are a public library working with a limited budget.
- The Concrete5 community is great. Many communities have a lot of participation but sometimes the tone can be a bit pretentious thus helping no one. Although the Concrete5 community might not have as many participants as some of the others I've always found the people extremely helpful.
- I found the built in Composer to be cumbersome. I opted to purchase the ProBlog addon for more features and ease of use.
- At times Concrete5 can be a little sluggish.
June 10, 2014
Great CMS for Savvy Developers and Novices Alike
I used Concrete5 to help several non-technical people design and publish web-based portals for their business.
- Providing a WYSIWYG interface for deploying enterprise-ready web portals for marketing and social media.
- Allowing non-technical designers to produce web technology using standard frameworks.
- Creating social media portals with role based authentication with very little effort.
- Better templating and cross-browser uniformity.
- A more cohesive framework for writing plugins.
- Expansion of the Concrete5 widget marketplace.
June 07, 2014
Concrete5 - A strong foundation for your website.
Concrete5 is being used as our Content Management System for our Corporate Website. It is being used primarily by the Marketing department but it also is being used to provide access to Product Documentation for our clients by our Customer Success department.
- Super simple interface that even non-web developers can use and get the most out of. This made the training curve extremely fast and very easy to on-board new contributors.
- Built-in version control system so if someone screws up it can be rolled back without hassle.
- Very active marketplace with very cheap plugins that meet particular business needs. We have purchased and used several modules with successful results however we do try out our new purchases on a test bed platform before deploying live to ensure compatibility and verify functionality.
- Built-in permissions for every page that is easy to manage. This ensures that prospects only see what they have access to and clients can see what they have access to, even if they are passed a direct URL.
- It can be difficult to set up on a Windows server. Not impossible mind you, just a little more difficult than your typical Unix server where most even will do automatic installs for you.
- The plugins could be vetted by the company a little better to ensure that plugins that are on the marketplace are always compatible and fulfill the promises they make.
June 06, 2014
Solidify Your Company Foundation With Concrete5
Concrete5 is a great CMS with tons of potential and because of this we built our web presence platform around it. We needed a comprehensive, simple and elegant backbone to our client website without the need to hack or "fix" add-ons or worry about updates going awry. Concrete5 was able to put those worries to rest.
- Concrete5 has a very easy to use and comprehensive admin panel that left little confusion as to how to update and manage.
- The add-on's and modules work! With Concrete5 we were never left wondering if the add-on would work as described based on our install configuration or if we would have to modify them to make them work or achieve our need.
- The end-user result is phenomenal! Concrete5 delivers a clean and code standard HTML rendition of your website to user resulting in lower bounce rates, better asset delivery, and more return viewers.
- Unlike other CMS's out there, Concrete5 uses minimal mySQL connections which is great for server load. Couple this with the fact that the add-ons and modules also use limited resources and you're left with a lighting fast website without having to compromise.
- The first thing we noticed was many of the best add-ons cost money and some a fairly high dollar which could be limiting to smaller companies and freelance developers.
- Often going into a stack or section to configure or edit you find yourself lost when closing out or exiting from the edit screen and are left with just a blank screen with no way of returning to where you were. This results in going back to the dashboard home page and starting the process over.
- Adding and manipulating the menu(s) is a task and at first very confusing. Other CMS's you have the ability to create custom menus and place them at will by assigning their location. This feature in Concrete5 would be helpful.
June 06, 2014
Concrete5 - A Solid Foundation for Any Website
As a freelance web designer, I have been using Concrete5 CMS almost exclusively since 2009. I use it to build nearly all of my clients' websites, and it is easy to teach to novice computer users.
Recently, a client switched from Wordpress to Concrete5, because they felt that Wordpress was too confusing to use, and found Concrete to be much more user-friendly and easy to understand.
Recently, a client switched from Wordpress to Concrete5, because they felt that Wordpress was too confusing to use, and found Concrete to be much more user-friendly and easy to understand.
- User-friendly interface: both front-end and back-end
- Easy search engine optimization tools
- Lots of built-in features
- Innovative workflow and page archiving system
- Active and reliable community / support
- Highly flexible in way of presentation of content
- MIT-licensed - can be white labelled to match your own company
- Lacks complex features for more complex websites (eg. social networking and ecommerce)
- Customization options are a bit "buried" in the current version
- Some of the paid add-ons or themes are a bit pricey
June 04, 2014
Concrete5: the CMS for easy website maintenance.
We use Concrete5 as our primary website platform, because we find it to be the most intuitive CMS. It's far easier for our clients to edit their website when they can see it IN their website. When they see how easy it is, you can see the look of relief on their face when they think "oh I can do this".
- It is very easy to know where in your site you are editing.
- Taking a website template and implementing Concrete5 into it isn't complicated at all.
- There are various plugins supporting Concrete5 to enhance its capabilities.
- The more plugins the better!
June 03, 2014
Concrete5 is a Solid Choice for Web Sites
Concrete5 is the primary content management system used by our company. Unless a client requires very specific needs and requests a different CMS, we implement Concrete5 for their project. Concrete5 is easy to use by nearly everyone that can be involved with the project, including the web designer, web developer, and, most importantly, it gives just enough access to the client to make their own basic updates to their content and web site.
- Community and Support : Concrete5 has a large community base with many users responding to questions within 24 hours. C5 has forums, newsletters, and other means of communication including chat. There is a lot of useful documentation available on the site.
- Customization : Concrete5 is easily customizable by the web developer and web designer. You are able to tinker with almost any setting and decide what the client should or shouldn't be able to alter. It's very flexible, and can be used for almost any type of site. It's better for general web sites than for web sites with one or two very specific features like blogs and videos and photography, but it can still be useful for people who want to use C5 solely for one of these purposes. Depending on what you want to accomplish and how flexible you are.
- Usability : Like some other CMS, Concrete5 is easy to set up and implement for the client. There is plenty of documentation available to assist you. Clients find that C5 is one of the easiest CMS to use from their point of view. They can easily make basic changes and move pieces / modules of the web site around as they wish (if you enable this for them). There is a lot of dragging and dropping. The Dashboard is relatively easy to use once you find the page or area you're looking for. There are many extra features available in the back, including analytics and a file manager. Editing the web site in the "Live" editor is very simple and intuitive.
- Because Concrete5 is a CMS, it's still not at the level of flexibility that building a CMS or site from scratch will allow you to have. But it's one of the simplest, free ones available right now.
- The Dashboard is easy to use once you find what you're looking for, but could be better. It's not always easy to find the section or feature you're looking for to view or modify. Items are in different categories, and once you figure out where something is, it's obviously easier the next time you want to visit the Dashboard. A better search to find items could be very useful. As of right now, the documentation will help with this.
- Concrete5 is not as large as Wordpress yet, which means it has less support and plugins / add-ons. Still, there is enough for most people. The CMS is gaining more users each day.
- Concrete5 is not really appropriate for niche sites. If you solely want a blog, for example, Wordpress may be a better choice.
- Can be slow when you have very complex sites with many pages.
June 03, 2014
.NET developer's favorite CMS is Concrete5?!
As a web developer, I'm always interested in content management and blogging tools. Many of my customers need an easy-to-use tool for managing their websites. However, too many CMS applications make it very hard on the developer to do what needs to be done. When I came across Concrete5, I found it to be one of the easiest to develop for without sacrificing ease-of-use for the content managers. The support by the Concrete5 developers and other users on the Concrete5 forums has been excellent and the documentation has been very useful, as well. Concrete5 also has an excellent marketplace for plugins and themes. Concrete5 is still my favorite CMS!
- Setting up templates in Concrete5 is easy. You can do normal HTML/CSS development and then convert that to a template without excessive CMS-specific alterations.
- The administration functions of the site are easy-to-use and look really sharp.
- Adding your own functionality to the site is not as difficult as other CMS applications.
- Converting an existing website to Concrete5 can be a challenge, especially if each page is a little different.
- Getting the application setup and running isn't hard and the process is well-documented, but if you have your own hosting provider and you get stuck, it may be hard to get assistance. Hosting providers often don't provide specific application support.
- Be thoughtful about upgrades. Upgrading Concrete5 can break older add-ons and any customizations that have been made.