Recently I started a website project using Drupal 6 as the CMS but became quickly frustrated with many aspects of the system….and even though I'm familiar with Drupal things weren't going my way. SilverStripe had been in the back of my mind for some time, so I gave it a go. Having now nearly completed the project it was the best decision I could have made...

1. It's easy to get started

There are some simple tutorials to work through that help you get the basics nailed. Also it's in a workable state from the moment you install it on your server. Theres no need to add essential functionality like a wsiwyg editor. At the beginning they mention that you need a good understanding of PHP, Javascript, HTML and CSS, but I don't think that necessarily true if you were creating a simple website. Which brings me to my next point...

2. There are plenty of extensions to be used

I haven't checked out any of the contributed themes as my design was fairly unique, but there are many to choose from if you want to go with something more generic to save time.

Every website has different needs, and the modules available reflect this. There are many modules that have either been created by SilverStripe themselves or community members. All the major ones are there such as blog, workflow, forum, link checker, maps, payments and galleries plus many others, and the documentation for the most part is good.

3. When you get stuck there is help

There are always 'bang your head against the desk' moments with a new website build. There is a fairly active community on the forum which helped me overcome problems in desperate times. Usually I could find the answer by searching the forum and the few times I had to post a new topic they were answered fairly quickly. A good documentation site and IRC channel are at your fingertips also.

4. The CMS backend is user-friendly

It's a nice interface, with a mixture of drag and drop and tabbed areas. Most actions are performed using AJAX so there's no flicking off into other pages all the time as with Drupal. With a short lesson I'm confident that most computer literate content authors could learn to edit content easily.

5. It's local and it's free

SilverStripe is an open source CMS that is largely developed by a company based in Wellington, New Zealand. The community is from all over the world however which means there are people on the forum 24 hours a day if you are needing help. If you are able to contribute there is ample opportunity through themes, testing new releases or modules. Even though it's free to use, Silverstripe offer paid support if you need help. They can also design and develop your site for you.

Silverstripe has been around for a couple of years but it's just starting to pick up some good momentum. Version 2.4.0 has just been released with some major improvements. It's now scalable to over 10,000 pages and has hierarchical URL's for example. My verdict is that it blows other opensource CMS's like Drupal and Joomla away. You should seriously consider it for your next website.

Check out SilverStripe