How to Evaluate a Content Management System - How long will it be supported

How to Evaluate a CMS — How long will it be supported?

For several years, you pour all your creative energy into your new website.

Then the developers of your CMS announce that the CMS is ending.

Now what?

Your options are not good. Whatever you do, it will rob a lot of your time. And your money.

Here are three likely steps:

Are you capable of doing those things?

Do you have that level of expertise? If so, hurray! You can do it yourself.

If not, you will need to hire somebody to do it for you. You will need to be willing to pay them.

Depending on a lot of variables, it could take days or weeks of developer time. Or months.

Or you could avoid all that drama.

You can avoid it by selecting a CMS that, as far as you can tell, will be around for a long time.

How can you tell if a CMS will be around for a long time?

Here are three hints:

Hint 1. Age

How old is the CMS? Generally, the older the better.

Some have been around for a few months. Others have been around for years. Or decades.

What is the market share of the CMS? Generally, the bigger the better.

The Internet is dominated by a small handful of behemouths.

Here they are, with their market share, as of this writing:

I got those market share numbers from W3Techs.

How many developers help improve the CMS? One? Dozens? Hundreds?

Generally, more is better than less.

Originally published on December 25, 2018

Last updated on October 29, 2022

TOPICS: CMS, Website,