A Quick Review of the 7 Best ASP.NET Content Management Systems

Deciding what content management system to use is one of the most important decisions which is not easy to make, this can be especially true if you are deciding on an ASP.NET CMS. There are a variety of options available, both open source and commercial. In order to make a solid decision, it is important to identify your specific needs and find a content management system that matches your needs. Here is a quick look at 7 of the most popular and most powerful ASP.NET content management systems available (in no particular order).

Top 7 ASP.NET CMSs

1. DotNetNuke

DotNetNuke is considered to be one of the most popular ASP.NET CMS systems around. It currently has more than 1 million users (including all four editions). The free edition is known as the Community Edition. The commercial options include: DotNetNuke Professional, Elite, and Elite Premier. It is known for being extremely flexible because it uses open API's which allows for easy integration with other applications.

It features 25 standard modules as well as a large number of commercial modules as well. From an administrative standpoint, DNN stands out because the administrator can support multiple websites from one location. The more websites you have, the more important this feature is. In the area of support, it is important to understand that the Community version has no official support available, however there are a variety of support forums with a very active DNN community. With the paid versions, there are different levels of support available. In total, DNN has built a strong community and consistently proves itself to be a strong option.

2. Orchard

The Orchard CMS is still very young. While it is still in the development stage, it was launched early to help create greater participation from the development community. It is an open sourced project that is completely free and is being designed to create reusable components using the ASP.NET framework. The goal of the shared, reusable components is to serve as a basis for new extensions and applications on an ongoing basis.

Currently, the Orchard Project has clearly identified 3 goals that it wants to pursue. First, they want to create individual applications that will appeal to not only end-users, but also developers and scripters. Second, they want to develop a large base of reusable components that can act as the base of all 3rd party components. Finally, they want to create a large and active community to help define and create these applications. The Orchard CMS is still a ways off from being stable and widely used, however it is worth keeping an eye on. If it actually achieves all of its goals, it could prove to be a very powerful CMS option.

3. Kentico

Kentico offers a variety of different licenses. The free license offers limited features compared the commercial licenses, and you must keep the Kentico logo and link in the footer of your website (for the free version only). Depending on what type of license you need there are a variety of packages available. A license for 1 website will range from $1999 to $14,499, for 1 server (up to 10 websites) it is $5999 to $23,499, and for 1 server (unlimited websites) it is $9999 to $32,499. Additionally, prepaid consulting services are $1000 for 10 consulting credits (1 credit = 30 minutes).

The biggest benefit of Kentico is that it was designed to be very easy to use for non-technical users, while still allowing for rapid site development. Kentico is a complete solution, which means that there is no need to purchase additional software or 3rd part components. It can also be fully customized as the source code is available with certain licenses.

4. Umbraco

Umbraco has really come alive over the past few years. It was first released in 2004 but it took a little while for it to gain traction. In 2009, CMS Wire dubbed Umbraco as one of the best open-source .NET CMS options available. In 2010, it is currently averaging 100 downloads a day and is ranked as a top 5 download via the Microsoft Installer and 12th via Codeplex.

It is no surprise that it has become a favorite among designers. Umbraco features a completely open template system with a focus on web-standards. Designers can even add their own custom editor guidelines so that editors can focus on copywriting instead of editing. The User Interface is very intuitive and easy to understand. It is not overly complicated and is very easy to work with. Umbraco is designed with developers, designers, and end-users in mind, which makes every aspect of it easy to understand and easy to use.

5. mojoPortal

mojoPortal is another open source CMS option based upon the .NET framework. It has a very active developer group and is consistently being updated. While it is free to download and use, there are a number of commercial add-ons that are used to help fund the project. When it comes to developing your own applications, many people prefer mojoPortal because it can act as a starter kit for advanced .NET sites or portals.

mojoPortal is also considered to be very strong as a standalone CMS. It is easy to learn and very simple to use. It includes a variety of different tools such as blogs, photo galleries, chat, newsletters, pools, forums, and much more. It also has a very strong community which makes troubleshooting extremely simple.

6. SiteFinity

SiteFinity is a commercial .NET content management system that is regularly priced at $899. The license will last for 1 year and during this time, you will get every update and free technical support. Once the year is up, you can still use SiteFinity to run your sites, however you will no longer receive free support or software updates. It is also important to note that the standard license is only good for one domain.

Currently SiteFinity is responsible for powering more than 200 government websites as well as large companies. Some of their most prominent government websites include: The White House Federal Credit Union, United States Courts, Downtown Fort Worth, and the Canadian Securities Transition Office. Additional customers include: Toyota, Vogue, IKEA, Chevron, Bayer, and Coca-Cola.

7. N2 CMS

N2 CMS is designed to be ready to go, right out of the box. It is an open source CMS option for .NET users. Its biggest advantage is the multiple editing interface options. This makes N2 CMS easy to use for everyone, regardless of how tech savvy they are. The Edit Mode provides an overview via a tree pane and makes for easy administration of an entire site without the need of a template. There is also a Drag and Drop option that allows users to select zones and drop them directly on to the page, as well as re-arrange the way that they are organized. The final option is to edit directly on the page while navigating the site. You can even create new pages and delete pages this way.

ASP.NET seems to have more and more quality options regarding extensible content management systems with each passing year. Depending on your needs, there are excellent options available both with commercial licenses or open source code. In order to determine which one is best you, it entirely dependent on what features you want included. While there are other options available, these Top 7 ASP.NET CMS options are all excellent choices.

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