Concrete5: The basic building block of any CMS
Updated September 30, 2015
Concrete5: The basic building block of any CMS
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Software Version
5.6.3.1
Modules Used
- Easy Accordion
- Easy Tabs
- eCommerce
- eCommerce Importer
- Formidable
- ProBlog
- PopupPro
- MegaMenu
- ProForms
- ProEvents
- Register User Pro
- Lerteco Membership
- YouTube Channel
- Studio Testimonials
- YouTube Plus
- YouTube Gallery
- Pink Spoon Marketing
- TC Photo Gallery
- Foundation 5 Theme
- Structura Theme
- Neuron Theme
- Slate Theme
- Grandeur Theme
- The Void Theme
- Featurist Theme
Overall Satisfaction with Concrete5
As a web development company, we've seen the move from static HTML web pages to more CMS style pages. This has been for both our clients, who have requested the ability to maintain, update and add their own content, as well as ourselves to be able to better manage development and deployment. Almost all of our projects over the past two years have been done using Concrete5.
- Fast setup on both local and remote web hosting servers, either via "one button" installs or manually
- Does not require Windows hosting or software, so it's less restrictive and allows for a larger selection of hosting environments
- A very active and supportive community both developers and users
- Uses common, open source software like PHP and MySQL
- Custom theme development much easier compared to other platforms like Joomla!, Drupal and WordPress, or can easily integrate into existing design
- Many addons are free or reasonably priced, or you can write your own custom ones
- Migration from host to host relatively painless
- Page rollback and backup functions are great features for clients
- You have to really find a web host that runs well or maybe even a dedicated/virtual server to see the best response.
- Though you can often see live demos and documentation for addons and themes, it would be great to be able to try the product to see if it's a fit for your project.
- Though its UI is one of the easiest to use for clients, there is always room for improvement. Two things come to mind, the first being the Layout block needs improvement, updating or replacing. It doesn't always behave as expected and sometimes to make changes requires you to rebuild the whole thing (especially if you use layouts within layouts). The other item is that you don't always see the correct display while you are logged in. I fought the code for days trying to figure out a formatting issue, until my client said they were seeing it differently from me, and I realized it was because they weren't logged in. I had fixed the code and never knew it! I have to say here that this might not have been an issue with C5 directly, but maybe with the theme I was using. In either case, you have to make sure that you check it both ways.
- Project turnaround is more efficient, therefore we can take on more jobs and increase net income
- Changes can be implemented quickly; prototyping for clients is a breeze
- Designs can be modified while maintaining the content, so client cost for new designs is less expensive
- Drupal,Joomla!,WordPress
I find significant advantages over these other products. As a designer, I appreciate not having to design within a rigid structure, or shoehorn a design into particular format. As a developer, the security, useability and developer support from the core Concrete5 developers and the larger community is terrific. As an end user, the comparative ease of being able to manipulate content and resources for a project, is much easier. The other products, while powerful, can't seem to make the leap from power to ease of use. Most end users don't have the knowledge or experience to be able to use these products and can be easily overwhelmed with the administrative backend of these other products.
Using Concrete5
Concrete5 Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Immediate help available Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | None |
No
The standard and community support cover my needs quite well. The forums are well organized and people genuinely seem to want to help other users. Users, 3rd party developers and core developers all work together to make a solid support structure for the product. The only thing I have ever found to be an issue is that the development community is world-wide so sometimes time-zone plays a part in response time.
Yes - Unfortunately, this happened over a year ago and I completely don't remember the situation. However, this is one of the nice things the Concrete5 website keeps tracks of, like awarding badged for various contributions and accomplishments.