CMS/Blogging Software Question-Which plan?

[markw10]

I am planning on launching a content site in approximately a month. It will contain a lot of information, tips, reviews, and articles. I hope to someday post on it daily and at times multiple articles daily.
First, I see HostGator has 3 plans. Which plan would be best for this type of use?
Originally I was planning on going with WordPress for a simple blogging site but now think I may want to look at another solution.
I plan to have several categories for the type of articles, etc. I will be writing and like to be able to sort them by month, etc. What I like is being able to have a main page where the articles can be posted to daily but also that someone can easily browse by category if they are interested in a specific category. It would be nice if I could make certain articles front page articles. I have used Joomla in the past and it seems to do something like this.
What is very important is I will be both sending people to my own e-commerce website for some products but also I am setting up a lot of affiliate programs where I want to be able to use ad boxes. I'd like to either be able to put these along the sides of the main screen or even have a 'mall' area where someone can go in to view affiliates. Also, I'd want to be able to use the html code within actual articles so I could simply review a product and then have a link to buy from the affiliate.
Also, I'd like to be able to future date articles to post at specific times. I'd likely use a free template at first and with time will have a custom designed template that would have my business logo on it.
Originally I thought that Wordpress would be perfect but honestly I think I may want more. I have used Joomla and like it but also have heard Drupal is very powerful and also Expression Engine. Would one of these two be a better choice for me or are there other options that would be better?
Thank you for your help.

[citawds]

Originally Posted by markw10

Originally I was planning on going with WordPress for a simple blogging site but now think I may want to look at another solution.
It would be nice if I could make certain articles front page articles. I have used Joomla in the past and it seems to do something like this.

Originally I thought that Wordpress would be perfect but honestly I think I may want more. I have used Joomla and like it .

Since you have some experience with Joomla which would give you the e-commerce side that you desire and like Wordpress why not integrate the two?

Check here for additional info: http://www.corephp.com/wordpress/wor...oomla-1.5.html

Steve

[Goddess Dix]

i'm not a fan of integrating packages unless there is a strong need for it, as it significantly complicates your upgrade path.

i didn't see anything in your list you could not configure wordpress to do, with the proper selection of addons.

as far as which is best, it depends on your needs and how you're going to use it. wordpress, joomla and drupal each have their strengths. (can't speak to expression engine because i haven't used it.)

for simplicity, i like wordpress. especially since 2.7, it's easier to work with than most, although since it's blog oriented, using it as a cms requires more forethought than on the other systems.

drupal is amazing for sheer power under the hood from what i've found. however, there as (at least taking version 5-haven't done 6 yet) a significant learning curve and much of the functionality comes from modules installed. so factor this in.

my experience with joomla was that it was kinda in between the two. it relies on components (the same as WP plugins or Drupal modules) for extending functionality. my implimentation of joomla was sluggish and somewhat buggy, although others have different experiences.

if you're seriously unsure, i'd start with a list of desired functions and browse the addons/modules whatever for the various packages, paying special attention to what's required to set up your core functions. this should give you an idea of which package might be a good fit. then try a test install and play around with the one that looks best to you to see how it works.

[gwyneth]

Originally Posted by citawds

Since you have some experience with Joomla which would give you the e-commerce side that you desire and like Wordpress why not integrate the two?

This sounds like a nightmare for a new user, who'd never be sure if behavior was caused by Joomla, Wordpress, or the product you are pushing.

Joomla, Wordpress, and Drupal all have ecommerce modules.

[citawds]

Originally Posted by gwyneth

This sounds like a nightmare for a new user, who'd never be sure if behavior was caused by Joomla, Wordpress, or the product you are pushing.

Joomla, Wordpress, and Drupal all have ecommerce modules.

Gwyneth, mostly likely you are correct, I made the assumption that the O.P. was already familiar with both Joomla and Wordpress.
I will confess that to date I have not tried to integrate the two ;-) I have install both but to different domains. Certainly from the standpoint of a beginner or someone unfamiliar with these programs attempting to integrate the two as you rightly point out would be a nightmare and without a really specific error message (when do we see that?) it would be hard to determine which program was at fault.

I might attempt a Joomla/Wordpress install sometime in the future as a learning experiment to see how it goes.

Thanks

Steve

[abhishekcis]

You can prefer wordpress with Joomla. This is great combination for CMS!!!

Joomla Development