Faith and Web

What’s the Best Web Software for Your Congregation?

For many congregations wanting to start or overhaul a website, the most challenging decision is what application to use. I’ve decided to take this challenge on and analyze the major contenders for a congregational website.

No one solution works for everyone. The goal is to find the one that works best for your congregation.

In the early days of the web, the only option was to learn HTML, the lingua franca of the web, and the rudiments of web servers. That’s still an option. But since then an enormous variety of web tools have been created.

The two most common types of tools are (1) web development software that professionals use and (2) Content Management System (CMS) software, designed to focus more on the content and less on coding. The choices, particularly of CMS software, seem to be endless. For example, you could say blogging tools are a niche type of CMS.

I’ve experimented with quite a number of these tools, but a diva only has so much time, so needless to say I haven’t tried them all. Not even close. However, I have read all the substantive reviews I could get my hands on. My goal was to figure out the best options across the range of choices.

I used seven criteria to assess these options. You can see a summary of my findings in the graph below.

Criteria

I used a 1-to-5 scale, with 5 being the optimal.

1. Easy to set-up
2. Easy to maintain
3. Customizable: flexible design
4. Customizable: flexible architecture
5. Cost for software
6. Cost for time (whether explicit payment or implicit volunteer hours), including time to learn the software
7. Stability, including the viability of company behind it and the level of support

Of course my ratings are subjective. However, where I have less experience and information, I’ve put a question mark next to my rating.

The graph combines ratings of 1 and 2 for the horizontal axis (ease) and 3 and 4 (customization) for the vertical axis. I didn’t create this graph with any preconceived notions, but one conclusion is obvious: the more control you want over your site, the more you are going to need the help of a professional-level webmaster. The corollary is that the easier you want your site set up and maintenance to be, the more you will have to sacrifice flexibility and customization.

The applications broke into four main categories: standard Content Management Systems (CMS), church-centric CMSs, adapted blog tools, and professional-level web development software.

Standard Content Management Systems

Weebly
Weebly is the newest alternative. It focuses on just what a typical small church needs: making websites easy to set up and easy to use. You can read my more detailed review here. You can use it with your own domain, and easily download your site. However, it’s a new startup, designs are very limited, the navigation and number of pages are quite restricted, and who knows if it will last. It strikes me as at least a good interim solution for a congregation with no site. The price and time investment required are compelling.

• Category: Hosted CMS
• 4 Easy to set-up
• 5 Easy to maintain
• 1 Flexible design
• 1 Flexible architecture
• 5 Cost for software: Free
• 5 Cost for time
• 2 Stability

Joomla
Joomla and its earlier sister product, Mambo, are first-rate open-source Content Management Systems. They’ve been on the market since 2002 – gaining widespread acceptance and support. Joomla’s primary draw is ease-of-use for non-programmers. However, it’s generally considered harder for webmasters like me to customize than competing products like WordPress and Drupal. For more information, see Wikipedia’s analysis.

• Category: Downloadable open source CMS
• 1 Easy to set-up
• 4 Easy to maintain
• 3 Flexible design
• 3 Flexible architecture
• 5 Cost for software: Free
• 1 Cost for time
• 3 Stability

Drupal
Drupal began in 2000, with students bridging their dormitories, and since then has grown to full-fledged open-source software maintained and developed by thousands of users and developers. It’s even used by major sites like The Onion. (Not that you want your church site to emulate The Onion in all regards, of course.) To oversimplify, its reputation is that it’s easier for webmasters like me to customize, but a bit harder for non-programmers to learn. For more information, see Wikipedia’s analysis.

• Category: Downloadable open source CMS
• 2 Easy to set-up
• 4? Easy to maintain
• 3? Flexible design
• 3? Flexible architecture
• 5 Cost for software: Free
• 2 Cost for time
• 4 Stability

Other CMSs
CMS Watch is usually considered the best general resource for researching the wide variety of Content Management Systems. Be sure to check it out if you are thinking of using a CMS in a big way.

Church-Focused Content Management Systems

Extend Platform
ACS Technologies’ Extend Platform is a CMS that’s popular with churches. It began in 2003. Unlike Joomla and Drupal, it’s an online application, so you don’t have to have a techie to install it. The designs seem to be fixed, but the content on most of their sites is both up-to-date and timely. This means it’s a system that works for its customers. See, for example, the Archdiocese of Louisville or read background information about the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer.

• Category: Hosted church CMS
• 4? Easy to set-up
• 5 Easy to maintain
• 3? Flexible design
• 4? Flexible architecture
• 3? Cost for software: Starts at $19.95/month
• 4? Cost for time
• 3? Stability

E-zekiel
Axletree Media’s E-zekiel is also a “turnkey solution” for starting and maintaining church sites. It seems to be most established and well reviewed of Christian CMSs and has been adopted by the Methodists. E-zekiel sites I’ve seen are also current, and the layouts are more varied than many other hosted solutions.

• Category: Hosted church CMS
• 4? Easy to set-up
• 5? Easy to maintain
• 3? Flexible design
• 3? Flexible architecture
• 3? Cost for software: Starts at $19.95/month; free 30-day trial
• 4? Cost for time
• 3? Stability

Other Options
As is true with the larger CMS world, there are many more church-based CMSs. See, for example, this list. Although it’s a bit out-of-date, it gives you a sense of the variety of options. All that I found, however, are Christian-focused. It appears that the market is wide open for other faiths, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism

Adapted Blogging Applications

TypePad
Those who use TypePad love it. It’s easy to set up, easy to use and well-supported. Its parent company, Six Apart, has been in the business since 2001, and is an industry leader. It also has attractive designs, but you will, of course, be confined by a blogging framework, limiting designs and overall flexibility.

• Category: Hosted blog
• 4 Easy to set-up
• 5 Easy to maintain
• 2? Flexible design
• 1? Flexible architecture
• 3? Cost for software: Starts at $4.95/month
• 5 Cost for time
• 4? Stability

WordPress.com
WordPress.com is a simplified version of what many bloggers, including me, consider the gold-standard of blogging applications. The difference is that it’s a hosted solution, which side steps a bevy of techie tools and knowledge. As is true of all hosted solutions, however, it’s more limited than its cousin, the open source package. But it’s easy to use and has a solid company behind it.

• Category: Hosted blog
• 4 Easy to set-up
• 5 Easy to maintain
• 3 Flexible design
• 1 Flexible architecture
• 4 Cost for software: Starts with free account
• 5 Cost for time
• 4 Stability

Industry Standard Web Building Tools

Dreamweaver
Adobe’s Dreamweaver is the gold-standard for professional webmasters. If you know great webmasters, chances are this is their primary tool. But it is a professional-level tool. Thus it’s not something you can learn overnight – unless you already have a solid understanding of HTML, CSS, FTP, scripting, and various other aspects of web development. Because I construct websites for a living, it’s my tool of choice. When I’m doing anything web-related, aside from the simple blog updates, you can bet Dreamweaver is involved. I used it with Photoshop, for example, in constructing the Wordpress template for this blog. If you really want to get serious about building websites, Dreamweaver is the way to go.

• Category: Proprietary web design and development application
• 1 Easy to set-up
• 2 Easy to maintain
• 5 Flexible design
• 5 Flexible architecture
• 4 Cost for software: $399 list
• 1 Cost for time
• 5 Stability

Microsoft Expression Web
Microsoft Expression Web is the new kid on the block. It came out in late 2006, replacing FrontPage. However, it’s an entirely different product, addressing many of the concerns professional webmasters had about FrontPage. I haven’t used it, but reviews are good. The same caveats about Dreamweaver would apply to Expression Web. However, in addition, it doesn’t run on Macs and doesn’t support PHP, which makes it more limited than Dreamweaver and eliminates a lot of webmasters from its user base, including me. My overall assessment is that it’s not worth it for people like me to switch, but if you are new to web design and Microsoft-based, download a trial version and see what you think.

• Category: Proprietary web design and development application
• 2 Easy to set-up
• 2 Easy to maintain
• 5 Flexible design
• 5 Flexible architecture
• 4 Cost for software: $299 list
• 2 Cost for time
• 4 Stability

In the Final Analysis

My hope is that this brief overview has given you some sense of both what your options are and how to make an educated decision in choosing a solution for your site. There’s no way I could cover all the options, and there is no silver bullet for churches or other faith-based organizations wanting to create a website.

The key is to figure out what your congregation wants and can support long term. Assess your goals and resources, and then pick the best match.

The more you want from your website, the greater your need for professional-level support, whether hired or volunteer, will be. If you have in your midsts web professionals who play nicely with others and are willing to volunteer their time, then use these people and play nicely with them. Or if you are a web professional, then vice versa. If the congregation plays nicely with you, then by all means do what you can to help.

As to how to play nicely, that’s a whole different conversation.

See also:
Starting a Church Website on a Shoestring: Part 1 of 2

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