The time when you had to know html and be an expert in database and graphic design just to run a website is gone; out with the old and in with Web Content Management Software.
There are a ton of awesome content management systems that are completely free and extremely easy to use, such as WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Mambo and Windows Sharepoint Services. My favorite by far is WordPress, so I’ll start with that.
WordPress CMS
WordPress started of as basic blogging software and has morphed into what I consider the best web content management software on the net. With thousands of themes, plugins and configuration options, WordPress can create a professional looking website that looks like you spent weeks developing.
Themes: these are the look and feel to your site and with so many free themes available, you are sure to find one that fits perfectly with your style. These themes are developed by coders around the world and made available by wordpress for free.
Note: WordPress has requirements for themes that make them safe to download, but when you download from some of the free WP Theme sites, it is possible that code may be embedded into the theme that will display links to sites you know nothing about (or worse, such as a security hole) – this code is usually scrambled and found in the footer.php file – so use caution when downloading from third party sites.
Plugins: These are mini programs that you can download and use without paying a fee. They enhance your web content management software in a number of ways, such as adding a calendar, stock ticker, antispam and image galleries. There are litterly thousands to choose from and as with themes, download them only from WordPress.
Site: WordPress.org
ASP Content Management
Looking for lightweight content management software that runs on Windows without chewing up resources? Check out this free open source software. The beauty of this is that you can actually modify the source code to fit your needs.
Site: AspContentManagement.com
Joomla
I gave this software a run before I started using WordPress and it has a ton of power, but it’s geared more for the administrator and I was looking for something that friends and family could get up and running without technical skills.
Joomla started off as web content management software whereas WordPress started off as blogging software, but not that WordPress has morphed into a complete CMS pakage, it’s the more popular of the two and has a lot more themes, plugins and support.
Site: Joomla.org
I’m working on adding to this free cms list and will be updating it as time permits. Free free to comment with suggestions.