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Which cms system to choose. Comparison of free CMS: Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal, etc. The easiest way not to make a mistake in choosing an engine

CMS (Content management system) is a system or program (software package) designed to manage, edit, create the content of a website, page, blog, allowing the administrator to interact with visitors.

The CMS creates a unique page for each visitor in response to his request, in a matter of seconds, from the content available in the library (photos, videos, texts, charts, graphs, etc.) and site page templates. Moreover, this uniqueness is absolute. For example, by visiting the website of an online store and adding a purchase to the cart, only this visitor will see this information, and it will remain invisible to other visitors.

In this case, the CMS performs the following functions:

  • Provides the administrator with a set of special tools that allow you to edit, create and change site content, organizing collaboration. That is, the administrator sets a set of commands, and the CMS does everything else according to his requirements.
  • The site engine can independently support and change the content. It performs storage functions, controls versions, regulates access, manages and distributes incoming data (customer personal data, reviews, ratings and other types of content), etc.
  • Has the ability to publish content.
  • In addition, the system provides information in an easy-to-search and navigate form for both the administrator and the visitor.

Choosing an engine (CMS) for a website has many myths that are created by competitors and engine creators. Therefore, in order to choose the right engine for a website, you need to discard the “marketing fluff” and proceed from your goals. Honestly answer yourself the question and look into the future of your project: “What functionality will I need? Will I be able to implement my tasks using this CMS?”

There are no good or bad engines, there are specific tasks that a CMS must solve.

For example, the creators of paid engines come up with the myth that free CMSs are easy to hack because they are freely available and hackers can download them, study the code and find weaknesses. This is partly true, but it is not difficult to find paid engines on the Internet in the public domain. Therefore, throw away all these opinions and use common sense.

Let's start choosing

First, you need to decide on the type of your site - a blog, an online store, a catalog. Describe what functions you need. Do you have a budget to purchase a CMS?

There are many services on the Internet to help you choose an engine. But as a beginner, it is very difficult to use these services because they have characteristics that will not be familiar to you.

How do you know which programming language is better?

Therefore, if you are a beginner, then most the best solution- ask professionals on the forum or look for reviews about CMS in search engines ah, ratings, catalogs, look at reviews.

Pros:

  • This is the most popular engine of all.
  • It is easy to manage, convenient admin panel.
  • It has good support And a large number of free plugins.
  • It's not a problem to find specialists.
  • Frequently updated to fix security issues.

Minuses:

  • For a beginner, installation may be difficult. But if you do it once, you will realize that it is actually very easy.
  • The engine is heavy and puts a decent load on the server. It can be solved by installing caching systems, of which there are a lot for WordPress.
  • You cannot create the same URL at different levels of nesting. For example, you have a category /articles/. If you want to make two different categories with the same url name, but at different nesting levels. For example, like this: 1) site.ru/articles/ 2) site.ru/blog/articles/ - you won’t be able to do that. WordPress does not support two identical names in a URL.

Despite all the disadvantages, WordPress is my favorite system, and we even dedicated a whole section on the website to it, where we teach how to work with it.

What to choose for an online store?

pros

  • Free
  • Easy to install and manage
  • Has all the basic functions for an online store
  • Lots of templates
  • Nimble

Minuses

  • Not entirely SEO optimized, needs to be improved to fully optimize
  • Almost all necessary plugins paid
  • Inconvenient image loading system

What to choose for the forum?

The most popular engine for the phpBB forum.

pros

  • Free
  • Developed community
  • Many modules
  • Constant update
  • Doesn't load the system

Minuses

  • Spammers attack this engine very hard. We'll have to put up protection.
  • Difficulty in installing modules

What to choose for a corporate website?

pros

  • Flexible - it is possible to realize any desires
  • Not greedy for resources
  • Many specialists

Minuses

  • Confusing admin panel

Conclusion

You should take the choice of a CMS seriously and don’t be lazy - read reviews, try different engines and ask on forums. And only then make your choice.
You should not make the choice of engine based on one individual specialist. After all, everyone will praise their engine in which they worked and know!

Why is it so difficult to choose a CMS for a website?

Firstly, you should immediately understand one main essence of choosing an engine - you can create a full-fledged website using any CMS. The most popular blog engine is WordPress, you can also expand it and use it to create a full-fledged commercial project or online service, it all depends on the experience of programmers and content engineers. Well, the number of engines today is quite large, so there is plenty to choose from.

Reading the statements various developers and bloggers, you can come across statements that it is better to use one or another engine, since the others do not make it possible to implement all the ideas put forward. You shouldn’t believe such statements, since they are made by people who are used to working with only one CMS and have developed personal preferences. If a person knows how to work with Drupal, then he can speak negatively about Joomla or another engine.

But this does not mean that you can just take the first engine you come across and implement a full-fledged project on it. If a specific specialist will be developing the portal, it is better to entrust the choice of CMS to him so that he can work with familiar tools. In this case, the result will be much better. The only condition is that this engine does not affect the quality of the project or is inconvenient for the audience.

Although the project can be implemented on almost any CMS, each of them has its own specifics when working with different types of sites. It does not appear immediately and not always, but if after 5 years of the project you run into a problem that is practically impossible to solve on your CMS, it will be quite unpleasant. That is why it is worth studying the market of all available solutions in advance and choosing one that can cope with the task for several years.

Which type of engine is better not to choose?

Working with self-written CMS is very difficult and impractical. The exception is when the engine was written by you personally or by your developer. Websites without an engine should also not be considered, since their implementation is quite inconvenient.

If your project can be created using a free CMS, then the choice becomes obvious. Why overpay a hefty sum for the annual use of the engine if you can do it all for free. Paid solutions are worth taking only if they are able to solve problems that free ones cannot handle.

Although sellers of paid solutions will try by all means to convince you of this. They have a lot of arguments for this, most of which will not be true:

  • Search engines rank sites using paid Engines better. This is a myth that was created by the developers of paid solutions for the site. The official blogs of search engines contain information that Yandex and Google do not care what engine your site is built on.
  • Free CMS are used only by schoolchildren. The most delusional argument that many continue to use. A huge number of serious commercial projects have been created on free CMS and have been working great for many years.
  • Open source vulnerability. Most often, paid CMS are closed source and, according to some experts, they are more secure. This is not an entirely true statement. Hackers can break both open and closed code. But the first of them are updated more often and in practice turn out to be more secure.
  • An offer that is overly functional and the best CMS in history, from some studio for a small amount. There are quite a lot of such offers on the market; for 2-3 thousand rubles they offer you a solution with constant updates and free support. But more than half of these studios close in the first year of operation or simply change direction. As a result, the CMS becomes outdated and cannot solve the assigned tasks.

The main argument that should be taken into account when choosing an engine for your site should be its functionality. Initially, develop a plan and describe the tasks that the CMS should solve. In cases where free solutions do not allow you to do this, you will have to use commercial solutions.

Thus, when choosing a CMS, it is worth making a list and separating the options into those that are suitable in a given situation.

All modern CMS for a website have a wide range of solutions and allow you to develop a full-fledged product. Naturally, the developers constantly claim that their engine is the best and makes it possible to solve all the tasks. It is difficult for a non-professional to understand exactly how CMS differ and which one is suitable for his business. You can compare the main capabilities of each CMS based on the set of available functions, and make a choice based on this data.

The main reason why many people abandon HTML and give their preference to a CMS is its simplicity and convenient editor, to publish new content. Using the interface, you can create and edit existing content on the site.

Many people also want to get an editor that will allow them to work with visual objects. This option is called WYSIWYG, which is an English acronym meaning “what you see is what you get.”

It is often necessary to additionally publish various codes on portal pages. This problem can be solved using an HTML editor. Therefore, it is worth choosing an engine that functions in both types.

You should also take into account the fact that many CMS have native (built-in) editors that are installed by default, but their use is not always convenient and solves all problems. But there are various extensions that increase functionality and give additional features. Let's look at some of them.

  • Joomla. This CMS by default has a rather inconvenient editor that does not allow you to solve all problems. All owners of this engine will eventually switch to the JCE editor, which has wider functionality and is easier to use.
  • OpenCart. This engine is designed exclusively for creating online stores. It has a built-in convenient editor with great functionality. With its help, you can visually make changes to the content and edit the page code. The editor allows you to publish meta tags for pages.
  • Drupal. The editor that is installed by default on this CMS has great minimalism. For normal operation you will have to find a more functional option, which will be TinyMCE.
  • WordPerss. The default editor on this CMS is already an excellent solution that can solve a lot of tasks. For most users it will be enough to work with the site. You can easily switch from simple mode to HTML code mode and back. If you are looking for another solution, you can select a special plugin in the catalog.

When choosing an engine for a future site, you can publish trial material and see how convenient it is to do it and what functionality is present.

This parameter allows you to identify several characteristics and functions and adapts the resource to the requirements of search engines. If you don’t want to manage all this functionality yourself, you can try searching which engine to choose for your website, which already meets the PS requirements.

Potentially, all CMS have the SEO-Friendly parameter, but their implementation is created differently. When choosing an engine for a site, you need to go through all the available characteristics of the CMS and evaluate whether they will be enough to work or whether you will have to select additional extensions.

In order to correctly evaluate the site optimization parameter for search engines, the following important criteria must be taken into account.

  • Code validity. In practice, many argue that the validity of the code affects the site’s position in search engines, although there is no exact confirmation of this. It is difficult to say whether compliance with W3C standards is an argument for ranking in the software, but a large number of errors is unlikely to have a positive effect on the project. Code verification is carried out using validators. To check, you will have to unpack the CMS itself and install a template for it. Find errors and ask the developers about options for eliminating them.
  • Image optimization. Today, search engines pay a lot of attention to page loading speed, so it is necessary that the images on the site are optimized and load quickly. Also, pictures should contain a description and an alt attribute, all this has a positive effect on their ranking. WordPress and Drupal have the ability to implement all these functions without installation additional plugins. On Joomla and OpenCart, you can download special extensions.
  • Robots.txt and Sitemap.xml. These two files are of great importance in search engine optimization site. From the point of view of the CMS owner, there should be simple solutions to create and manage these files. All known engines use special modules for this.
  • Analytics. A very important factor from the point of view of user-friendliness of optimization is the implementation of integration with various analytics services. They can be used without an engine, but it should be convenient for the user to implement the code of these counters on their website. On Joomla, Drupal and WordPress, these problems can be solved by installing special modules or inserting code into site pages. OpenCart is equipped with its own system, which, without installing additional extensions, allows you to analyze the effectiveness of sales on the site.
  • Prohibition of indexing archives and categories. This function makes it possible to get rid of duplicate content on website pages. To implement it on Joomla and WordPress, there are special extensions SEOSimple and All in One SEO Pack. Drupal and OpenCart also have a large selection of extensions.
  • Manage page titles and meta tags. A high-quality website engine should be able to easily change page meta tags. On Joomla, by default, you can enter data manually or install the SEOSimple plugin. There are also a number of extensions and templates for WordPress, where this opportunity implemented. In Drupal, to add meta tags, you must install a special module. OpenCart makes it possible to register and edit tags without installing additional extensions.
  • Canonical URLs. The rel=”canonical” attribute makes it possible to protect the site from creating duplicates. If a large amount of duplicate content appears on a site, search engines may reduce it in search results or impose sanctions. In the new version of Joomla, this function is installed by default. In WordPress, you can use special plugins for these purposes. On 1C Bitrix, the canonical must be entered manually for each page. Drupal has a built-in function that does not work very correctly.

The CMS of any website must solve the problem of convenient placement and management of materials. After the engine is installed, you can publish trial material.

Customization is the adaptation of a website’s CMS to various types of publications, depending on the specifics of the project. If this is a commercial online store, then the ability to publish products should be implemented. When creating a blog, various publications should be displayed on the main page according to the date of their appearance or other criteria.

You can customize any CMS, but here the question arises of how easy it is to do this, and what requirements are necessary for this.

  • Customization with standard engine functionality. The standard functionality of most engines does not have tools for solving these problems on CMS WP, OpenCart or Magento. Joomla and Drupal in this case have more extensive tools. By default, you can only create a blog or a small commercial site on WordPress.
  • Customization using extensions. The best solution for this parameter is WordPress. For any task, there are several dozen plugins that simplify your work. There is almost no feature in WP that cannot be implemented using free plugins. Joomla and Drupal are significantly inferior in this component. Several useful plugins have also been created for OpenCart, but most of them are paid.
  • Customization through templates and themes. WordPress also takes a leading position in this component. It is for this engine that there are a lot of templates that you can use on your website for free or for a certain amount. Other CMS also have a large selection, but most often these templates will be paid.
  • Possibility of integration. The ability to customize integration is implemented on almost all engines and allows you to work with an analytics or social system. networks. But with CRM, this option is not implemented everywhere. On OpenCart this function is installed by default, as well as on 1C-Bitrix. And for WordPress to work correctly, you need to edit the template code.

Studio or home-made CMS are much more difficult to customize. Here you will have to turn to specialists for help or give the task to the engine developers. Naturally, all this will require financial investments.

This function is necessary for sites of any type. You can set rights to manage site materials, limit access to viewing them, and appoint moderators. For owners of commercial websites selling goods, you can implement special opportunities for loyal customers.

How this functionality is implemented on various CMS will be described below.

  • OpenCart - makes it possible to cluster users by “former” and “current” status. A registered member can be designated as an administrator.
  • Joomla - there is a setup of different groups of visitors with the rights to use the resource.
  • WordPress - it is possible to assign an access level for any site users. After registration, you can set settings manually for any project participant.
  • Drupal - has flexible settings to set the rights of different categories of site visitors.

Choosing an engine for an online store

You can create a full-fledged online store using any popular CMS. There are several criteria for online trading to be implemented and work correctly.

  • Customization. In this case, the best solutions are Drupal, Joomla and 1C-Bitrix. They are easier to adapt to the solution of the task at hand.
  • Functionality. The best options would be the following CMS: CS-Cart, Magento, OpenCart and 1C-Bitrix. If this criterion is important, you should opt for one of these engines.
  • Easy to manage and get started. Here the best solution would be to work with WordPress, OpenCart and PrestaShop. The last two engines make it possible to start trading almost immediately after installation. But with WordPress, to create a full-fledged store, you will have to spend time adapting and increasing functionality.

Before choosing an engine for a project, you should evaluate its scale and potential. Magento makes it possible to create an online store in the cloud, but it is suitable for selling stores with a small number of product items. With a constant increase in the number of goods, it is better to use Drupal or 1C-Bitrix.

If your goal is to create a corporate website, then you need to evaluate the CMS according to other criteria. Important components will be the ease of use of the engine and the functionality that this site needs. To create static pages and various sections with publications, WordPress is best suited.

You should not pay attention to the fact that many consider this CMS to be quite simple and not serious. For for long years it copes well with hundreds of assigned tasks and makes it possible to implement almost any project with minimal costs time.

To create a full-fledged project with a large amount of content, you can use any CMS. In this case, you should give preference to the engine that you are used to working with or that you like based on other criteria. Of course, it would be stupid to create a blog on a CMS, the default functionality of which is designed for creating commercial websites. But universal engines are suitable for solving this problem.

The success of such a project will depend on how high quality the content is, how it helps readers solve their problems, and how relevant the material is. The engine in this case is of secondary importance.

In order to create a full-fledged forum, you can use a ready-made CMS, which is configured specifically for these purposes. The most popular are IPB, vBulletin and phpBB. Moreover, the last of them is the most attractive and the best option. Therefore, if you don’t know which one to choose for your forum, feel free to take phpBB.

It is possible to install a forum on the main site as a subdomain or a separate section. In this case, you can use special solutions for popular CMS. If you use one of the popular CMS sites, then finding an extension for it will not be difficult.

If you have knowledge and experience, you can be guided by your personal preferences when choosing a CMS. If you only know how to work with one CMS, then it is best to choose this one. For convenience, we offer a small table comparing the functionality of the engines. In it you will find detailed information and you can make the right choice.

Tell friends:

Hello, my dear readers! Having your own website these days is a fairly profitable business. But in order for a website to generate income, you need to take into account a large number of aspects when creating it.

One of the most important points is the choice (of the means by which you will upload content to your resource).

Today there are many such platforms. I won’t tell you how to choose an engine for a website, which functionality is better, I will tell you about the most popular ones, and the choice is yours.

I’ll say right away that all management platforms are divided into 2 types: free and paid. The advantage of paid engines is fast website promotion.

WordPress

In first place, of course, is WordPress. The main advantage of this engine is that it is very easy to use and absolutely free. Installing this platform on your own website is a very easy process, which undoubtedly influenced a large number of fans.

WordPress also has a very large number of plugins that allow you to optimize your site for any type of resource and content. Most often, blogs are created on WordPress, although it is possible to create your own online store.

A large number of SEO specialists prefer WordPress for its simple interface and maximum versatility. The disadvantage of this functionality is its separate ability to edit the resource. That is, you will not be able to correct an error on the page directly in View mode; you will need to go to WordPress itself and make changes there.

You don’t need any special knowledge to start working with this engine: the Russian-language interface coupled with simple navigation will allow even the most inexperienced user to understand the controls.

The structure of the software itself is very simple. All the features and options you need are in a column on the left side of the screen, but the WordPress workspace takes up most of the screen. All fields that need to be filled out have their own name and description in Russian. This form of filling out is perceived as a regular registration on an extraordinary portal or social network.

In addition to all that has been said, you can choose the WordPress design with your own settings and algorithms at your own discretion. Despite its incredible versatility, the engine itself takes up very little space. So if your hosting has a small number available traffic, then the only one a good option- This is WordPress.

Drupal

Drupal rightfully takes second place according to reviews from most programmers and SEO optimizers. It should be noted that Drupal is also completely free, like its predecessor. The difference between Drupal and WordPress is that the former is more complex to manage. Drupal has a much larger number of additional functions and settings, which significantly affects its management.

Business card websites are often created on this platform, although thanks to the expanded library of plugins, Drupal will allow you to create and information portals, and blogs, and even online stores.

Note! It should be noted that the Drupal engine has a very large number of awards, starting with best service on the Internet - WebWare 100 and ending with Best open source applications 2010, as the best software to manage the site.

The Drupal interface supports more than 100 languages ​​from around the world, which makes it possible to use the platform anywhere in the world. Most creators of their own Internet portals use Drupal because of the ability to upload information of absolutely any size.

This platform provides a function for searching information directly on your resource. Also on Drupal you can create multi-level online applications of any complexity.
Often, for a good and high-quality website, Drupal services are used.

Of course, its management is a little more complicated than WordPress, although even a person without deep knowledge of programming can easily work with this engine after a little practice.

If you have any questions while working with Drupal, you can safely ask them to the administration or consultants, whose contact information is stored on the official website of the management service.

Note! Drupal Corporation created trial version of its product, intended for visually impaired people. The differences between this version and the original are a more organic main menu and a larger font in the work area.

Joomla

Joomla is an equally popular platform for uploading content to your own resource. Joomla has won its number of fans thanks to its ease of control and settings.

This engine has a very large number of add-ons, which will allow you to create resources of absolutely any type, from business cards to information portals. The disadvantage of this engine is its limited functionality. You will not be able to independently choose where and what heading to use.

Note! The largest online store in the world, eBay, uses this platform for content management.

On the shell developer’s website you will have access to absolutely any information regarding the engine. If you have any questions, you can ask the administration. Visit the official Joomla page, as it appears on it very often. interesting information about this content management platform.

Note! Joomla is a multilingual content platform, so navigation should be absolutely no problem.

MODX

It must be said right away that if you want to create your own website, but do not have any knowledge of programming, then it is better not to use this functionality.

Its main drawback is its incredibly complex and confusing controls. To be honest, many programmers and SEO specialists are not particularly keen to call MODEX an engine; to a large extent, it resembles a framework, but with an administrative part of management.

Bitrix

The options for free website engines were given above, but Bitrix is ​​not one. This is a paid platform that has both pros and cons.

The first advantage of Bitrix is ​​its adapted SEO optimization panel, which allows you to promote your own website without much difficulty. Many online stores and other resources that engage in online sales work on this CMS.

The big disadvantages of Bitrix are, of course, high price maintenance, complex management and very slow data processing.

But such sacrifices should be made in order to promote the resource in World Wide Web. If you want to achieve great popularity of your Internet project in the shortest possible time, then you will not find a better content platform than Bitrix.

Conclusion

If you want to have your own website, then you need to choose a good engine. We have provided you with an overview of the most popular and practical platforms for uploading content.

It's up to you to decide what suits you best. Choose an engine for your site according to the type of resource. Study in detail all the advantages and disadvantages of content management tools and only then start creating a website and promoting it on the Internet.

Sincerely! Abdullin Ruslan

With the recent release free version Unreal Engine and the announcement of the free Source 2 give you even more opportunities to make your own games. But choosing an engine that suits your needs and skills is not the easiest thing. Let's take a look at the best examples of free (well, almost, as discussed below) software for beginners and professionals.

In addition to the engines in this collection, there are also a lot of not very well-known, but, to put it mildly, very cool second-tier engines. As a rule, on the developer’s website there is a mention of the possibility of licensing, but in a very crude form, you will have to contact them directly. All engines have their pros and cons. For example, the recent Dying Light engine, developed by Techland, is good for open world games, but it has draw distance issues.

To delve seriously into most of these software, you will need at least basic programming skills. But in some cases it will be possible to do even without them and get down to business right away.

At the forefront of technology – CryENGINE

CryENGINE is an extremely powerful game engine created by developer Crytek, first introduced in the game Far Cry. It is designed for development on PC and consoles, including PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Its graphics capabilities are superior to Unity and UDK, and are at times a step ahead of Unreal Engine 4: cutting-edge lighting, realistic physics, advanced animation systems and much more. Last game on CryENGINE there was Ryse: Son of Rome. Similar to UDK and UE4, CryENGINE has powerful and intuitive level design features built into it.

Using CryENGINE productively will require some time to learn, and you may have difficulties if you do not have experience with other engines. If you don't need Crysis 3 or Ryse: Son of Rome-level graphics, you might want to look at something more user-friendly.

CryENGINE's pricing model is somewhat different from its competitors. For using the engine. It's not completely free like UE4 or Unity 5, but it's royalty-free, so $9.90 is all you'll have to pay Crytek. Depending on the size of your studio and team, no royalties can be a huge benefit.

For beginners – Stencyl or GameMaker

If you're just starting out making games and don't have any programming experience, you're better off starting with the simplest tools. Of these, the most popular and generally recognized are Stencyl and GameMaker. Both are easy to learn for beginners and have already produced several quality games.

Stencyl allows you to make games without programming. The interface is entirely drag-and-drop, and games can be released on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, and Flash. If you've ever worked with something like Scratch, you'll immediately recognize the LEGO-like approach to building code by arranging blocks. Stencyl is designed for easy creation sprite games, so it often serves as the basis for puzzles and side-scrollers. It will be problematic to do anything complex, so if you decide to work on an RPG or strategy, take a closer look at other software. Stencyl has powered several popular games, including Impossible Pixel and Zuki's Quest. It also has built-in training that will teach you everything you need to know.

GameMaker is different free utility for beginners, with which you can make games for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android. Like Stencyl, almost everything is drag-and-drop, but there are also hooks for multiplayer games, links to external SDKs, the ability to dig into the code, and much more. The free version does have a watermark when exporting, but GameMaker is still great for first time use and has built-in tutorials for the basics. There is no such genre restriction as in Stencyl, and you can find separate guides for different types of games. GameMaker made the original version of Spelunky and Hotline Miami.

Of course, everything is not limited to these two options. Buildbox is a relatively new utility available for trial period and offering a training program to learn how it works, and GameSalad has been a well-known popular platform for a long time, although they complain about it because of bugs and unstable operation. Construct is worth a look if you want to make games in HTML5. In every case the main problem is that you have to restrain your design ideas. This is software for beginners, and you will simply break it trying to do something complicated. That is, the games will turn out to be buggy and non-functional if you try to go beyond the intended system. Still, this is an excellent place to start and a suitable option if you have no programming experience.

For intermediate programmers targeting 2D games – Cocos2D

Cocos2D is an open source program for creating 2D games. Games can be released on Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Windows Phone or on a web platform.

Most of what you'll do in Cocos2D is C++ (there's also support for Lua and JavaScript), so you'll need to master that programming language before taking Cocos2D on at all. However, with knowledge of the mentioned languages, the program becomes quite easy to use. It has a full-fledged IDE and is completely free, without any strings attached. As the name suggests, the utility is designed for creating two-dimensional games, so it works better with simple sprite games where 3D is of no use. 2D games can be made in Unity (which we'll look at a little later), but Cocos2D is easier to get into if you're just starting out (and of course, you know C++).

Cocos2D has created many successful games in various genres, including the award-winning Badland.

Developers targeting mobile platforms - Unreal Engine or Unity

If you're interested in complex, 3D games, the two most popular tools for creating them are Unreal Engine and Unity. Both have their own strengths and weaknesses and different licensing agreements to consider before making a final decision.

Unity allows you to make 3D and 2D games for almost any platform, including Windows, Mac, Xbox, Playstation, Android, iOS and more. It supports game assets created in 3ds Max, Maya, Softimage, Cinema 4D, Blender and other software. Unity uses C#, along with its own programming language, so it doesn't hurt to learn them well first. If we compare Unity and Unreal, the first one is perhaps easier to learn. It has a rich set of ready-made behaviors and a built-in library of game resources that are quite easy to keep track of. While writing this text, I spoke with several developers, and they think that Unity is a better engine for first projects because it is easier to understand and learn than Unreal. If you've already made a game, say, on GameMaker, you'll immediately understand what's what in Unity. Unity also supports alternative models payments directly in the engine, including several free-to-play monetization models.

The functionality of the free personal version is already rich enough for your first project. By creating a game on the free version, you don't have to pay licensing fees or royalties, but there are some caveats, namely that you won't be able to get more than $100,000 in sponsorship/profit. Many educational articles have been written to help beginning Unity developers. Popular games on this engine: Alto’s Adventure, Gone Home and the currently in development .

Unreal Engine 4 uses C++, so if you have proper knowledge of this language, you can opt for it, however, games can be created without delving into the language itself. Games made with Unreal Engine can be released on PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Xbox One and Playstation 4. Unreal has almost everything you need built into the engine, including 3D modeling and terrain manipulation. Due to its rich content, Unreal Engine 4 is more difficult to master than other development tools, and even if you have a good knowledge of C++, you should be prepared to learn a lot of new things. But you can create truly impressive games. You can learn more about the intricacies of the Unreal device using reverse engineering, but still, without prior experience it will not be easy to understand it. Unreal Engine 4 is a relatively new engine, but games such as Daylight and Tekken 7 have already been released on it.

To use Unreal Engine 4, you must agree to pay royalties if your game sells. Once sales of a game or application begin, you pay per quarter. This may seem like a lot of money, but considering the profit that the game will bring in, it is not that much.

It's also worth taking a closer look at Valve's Source 2 engine, which is also due to become free this year.

Updated 10/01/15: In August at GDC. Stingray runs on the Bitsquid technology core and is based on a 64-bit architecture. Stingray was designed to be highly flexible and work with all popular platforms, from mobile to virtual reality. Technologies modular structure and managed data means it's much easier for developers to make changes and see results immediately across multiple connected devices, without re-compilation. Plus, you can quickly transfer objects between Autodesk products. There has not yet been a breakthrough with development automation. If you are already using Unity or Unreal, then you should not switch; the gains are not very noticeable yet. We will tell you in more detail later.

King of Development – ​​Source 2

At GDC 2015, Valve made several high-profile announcements, and the most important for gaming community One of them was probably the announcement of Source 2. This is the successor to the Source engine, used in Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life 2 and many other games. Developers have been eagerly awaiting the next generation engine in Valve's arsenal for several years now. At the press conference, Valve's Jay Stelly said, "For content developers. Along with the Epic and Unity announcements, this will help PC remain the dominant content creation platform." Valve has apparently decided to join the engine race with Epic and Unity, giving developers more options to choose from. However, it is not yet entirely clear what “free for content developers” means: are we talking about any reputable developers or is this some special category?

There is no specific information about the release date, we only know that Source 2 will be released in the near future. Jay Stelly also stated, “We are focused on making content creators more productive. Given how important user-generated content is becoming, Source 2 is not just for professionals, it also allows gamers to take part in the development of their favorite games." These words suggest that Source 2 will be available not only to professional studios, but also to hobbyists and modders, which has made many Valve games so popular.

We turned to Valve for additional information, and this article will be updated when more is known about the new engine. But now we can say for sure that Source 2 will become a serious competitor to the heavyweights represented by Unity and Unreal Engine 4, because, according to Gelli, it will also be free.

Writers – Twine/RPG Maker/AXMA

Not all of us are programming experts, and even Stencyl can be a bit complicated for many. If you see yourself more as a storyteller, you have two great options to choose from: Twine and RPG Maker.

To create interactive non-linear stories. Simply put, you can make a choose-your-own-adventure game. The utility is incredibly easy to use. You connect story segments using various transitions, much like in mind diagrams. Each choice available to the player leads to a new text. When finished, you can immediately post the result on the website. Everything is quite clear, but if you get stuck somewhere or want to add something else, the beginner's guide will help you. Popular games created by Twine: A Kiss and Cry$tal Warrior Ke$ha.

If Twine seems too old-fashioned for you, try RPG Maker. The free version has fewer features than the paid alternatives, but it is still capable of a lot. The system is simple to learn: graphics can be dragged and dialogues can be added in one click. To make something more interesting than the usual RPG, you have to think outside the box, but examples such as the warmly received To the Moon and LISA make it clear that it is possible. You can use free music and images, so you don't even need to know how to draw. Built-in training, again, will help you create your first game. Popular games on RPGMaker: Clock of Atonement and One Night. Twine has a domestic analogue, AXMA Story Maker, which is also worth a closer look.

Free software for gaming resources

Of course, the game is not only the engine. You'll need all sorts of game assets, including images and sounds. Several indie developers I interviewed shared useful links:

Tiled is a simple map editor for Cocos2D, Unity and other tools.

OpenGamesArt - Free images and graphic stubs.

Free Music Archive – free music with Creative Commons licenses.

FreeSound is a collection of free sound effects.

All this will help you make games without much expense. Of course, you will have to invest your time, blood, sweat and tears into them, but at least your wallet will not take a hit.

CMS (popularly called engine) is a website content management system. This is the backbone on which everything is built. The ease of filling the site, its “friendliness” for search engine promotion, and the ability to connect additional services depend on the engine.

We gathered specialists from the WebCanape Development and Internet Marketing Departments and passionately interviewed them about the good and bad of different CMSs. This article will help you choose an engine so that it won’t be excruciatingly painful later.

Universe of engines: variety of species

All existing CMS can be divided into 4 large categories:

  1. Self-written
  2. Boxed
  3. Constructors
  4. Studio

1. Custom CMS

A self-written CMS is a content management system that is written from scratch for the tasks of a specific business. This is a non-serial solution. It is created for one project and is not replicated.

☺ Full compliance with your business objectives

Boxed engines and designers have sets of modules to expand the functionality of the site, but in ready-made solutions there are always limitations and you will have to make compromises.

A custom control system will fully meet the tasks specified in the technical specifications, because it is not being developed in order to then be sold to a diverse audience. The developer keeps only your needs in mind.

☺ Integration of the latest achievements

Technology is constantly outpacing the market. Even if you buy the latest version of a boxed CMS, you cannot be sure that all the achievements available on this moment. By creating an engine for you, the developer has access to the latest programming technologies and, if you are lucky, will use them in working on your project.

☺ Exclusivity

You can brag that you are the owner of an exclusive solution, unique functionality, and breakthrough development. You are guaranteed the honor and respect of your colleagues, the indignation and envy of your competitors, and the bewilderment of knowledgeable people.

× Unproven technology

Serial solutions are being tested on thousands of sites (for example, more than 2,000 projects have already been created using Canape CMS). In each subsequent build, bugs found in previous versions. This means you don't have to deal with your own problems.

If your site is created on a custom (that is, non-serial) CMS, you will be a pioneer. Setting up processes, adjusting algorithms and programming the necessary modules from scratch will fall on the shoulders of your developer. And he will have to deal with mistakes himself.

× No technical support

All problems will have to be solved on your own. And the forums will most likely not help.

× Difficulties with SEO promotion

Usually in such systems, if there is any SEO functionality, it is presented rather sparsely, because programmers and SEO specialists are creatures from different worlds. A lot will have to be added in the process.

× Complete dependence on the developer

By agreeing to a self-written engine, prepare to be with the developer for centuries, in sorrow and in joy, until death do you part, and further in the text... We categorically do not recommend quarreling, since the viability of the self-written site depends on the author of the code.

Usually there is no regulated technical documentation for such engines, and if you suddenly decide to change the development team, there is a high probability that the site will have to be rebuilt on a different engine. Digging into someone else's code is a dubious and expensive pleasure.

2. Boxed CMS

Boxed CMS - ready-made software. Such a system can be downloaded (in the case of free solutions) or purchased (commercial engines). Compare free and commercial products it would be incorrect, since they have fundamental differences that are important for business.

Free engines out of the box

Examples: WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Opencart, Magento and others like them.

☺ Open relationship with the developer

Thanks to their free nature, many people know about such products. This means that it will not be difficult for you to find a developer. And it won’t be a problem to replace it if your paths diverge.

☺ Cheap (if you make compromises)

Creating websites on such engines is relatively inexpensive. Basic functionality is usually free. Can be found great amount plug-ins to solve a variety of problems, and many of them are also free.

☺ Change design in 2 clicks

Boxed engines have the ability to add design templates - if you are tired of the design, you can download/buy a new one and put it on the site. Sometimes this is done in 2 clicks.

× Lack of a uniform standard

Open source solutions do not have a single development standard, so even despite the huge army of WordPress developers, every next specialist will want to remake your CMS for themselves.

× Module selection problem

A large selection of modules can also turn into a problem. Since they can be created by completely different people, the network produces a huge number of solutions for the same problems. It can be difficult to determine which module is suitable for a specific task. When connecting, it's best to cross your fingers; it may not be compatible with your version of the engine.

Scary story for the night:

Sometimes free modules are created solely for the purpose of spreading viruses. That is, the plugin seems to be useful, but is essentially a loophole for infection. This is the problem with many free templates for WordPress and Joomla; template developers use them to post links and even viruses to make money. Here Joomla-Master.org, they say, has especially many templates with links.

× Vulnerability

Vulnerability is the price you have to pay when choosing a free engine with open source. Thanks to (or because of) the popularity of such solutions, sites using them are hacked much more often. At least in source code and there are no viruses, but it costs attackers nothing to hack the site and infect it. We have to develop countless patches to get around the problem.

× Non-compliance with the requirements of the laws of the Russian Federation

Free boxed products, as a rule, are not produced in Russia. Nobody adapts them to Russian realities, and the requirements of Russian legislation are also not taken into account.

× No technical support

But there is a large community of developers, and the forums will most likely help you. But there is no technical support. That is, finding a solution may take a lot of time, and the effect is not guaranteed.

Exit: enter into a technical support agreement with a contractor company that developed the site using a free engine.

× SEO restrictions

Promoting such sites is difficult. Either there is no way to edit meta tags (you need to connect a plugin in WordPress), then rel="canonical" cannot be written on some templates.

Joomla, for example, is famous for its dirty code. It creates several duplicates for each page of the site, so it will be extremely difficult for you to get to the top of the search results. That's why Joomla sites are poorly indexed. And they load slowly for the same reason.

Drupal also generates a lot of unnecessary stuff. If you finally figure out which modules you need for SEO, then be prepared to rack your brains about how to get rid of the extra technical pages that the system will produce.

× Inconvenient to edit content

In many free CMSs (hello, Joomla), in order to make minimal modifications to the display of one page, sometimes you cannot do without the help of a developer, not free of charge.

Commercial boxed CMS

Examples: 1C-Bitrix, NetCat, HostCMS, UMI.CMS, CS-Cart, etc.

☺ Easy to select and change developers

To work with popular paid solutions (as well as popular free ones), you can easily find a developer.

☺ Specialization

Many commercial serial engines are tailored to solve specific groups of problems. For example, there are CMSs that are convenient for building online stores (Amiro CMS, CS-Cart).

☺ Compliance with Russian realities

Popular paid engines in Russia are adapted for Russian business. And 1C-Bitrix is ​​generally a Russian development, which a priori takes into account all the requirements.

☺ Serious technical support

You will not be left in the lurch if you have questions about service integration, problems connecting modules or software bugs.

× Annual license fees

You will have to renew your license. Without purchasing a license for the next year, you will not be able to update the CMS to latest version and fulfilling the requirements of search engines, for example, will be much more difficult.

× Need for improvements

If you change the developer, you will still have to update it.

× Unfriendly content editor

Typically, such CMS have problems with content; it’s difficult to figure it out without a developer. Content managers scare children with tales about sites on 1C-Bitrix.

A riddle for the little ones: which button needs to be pressed so that your three-hour work on the layout will be saved.

And here you will have to think hard to find the right page to edit.

× Paid technical support

They will help you, but not for free.

3. Website builders

Designer is an online platform for creating websites. To build a simple website using a website builder, you don’t need to bother with code, databases, or hosting. There is no need to download or install anything. You register on the platform, indicate required settings, choose a template - the site is ready. This is a cheap and often beautiful solution for one-page and simple sites.

Examples: Tilda, Nethouse, Wix, uKit, Weebly, etc.

☺ Fast (and on your own)

The constructor allows you to quickly (and on your own) create a landing page or a simple website.

Most often, no special knowledge is required. You can make a website to run advertising on it in a day.

☺ Popular

If you don’t want to do it yourself or need to tweak something, you can easily find a developer for a website using a popular website builder.

True, improvements are possible only in terms of the front end and content. Don't worry about functional improvements.

☺ Cheap

On Wix or Tilda you can cheaply put together a beautiful one-pager or a simple website that can collect applications.

× Forget about complex functionality

If complex software modifications are required, compromises will have to be made. For example, using Tilda it is not possible to ensure that notifications about applications are sent to additional email. The technical support service will answer that such functionality is not available, but may be added in the future. Or it won't.

× Captive of someone else's hosting

By choosing a SaaS solution to create a website, you become dependent on someone else's hosting. The ability to transfer to another hosting is only available in rare designers, and if there is, it costs a lot.

In addition, if the designer’s pricing policy suddenly becomes not close to you ( subscription fee, say, will grow 4 times), you will have to redo the site in another place, either on a different designer, or already on a CMS.

× Incompatibility with Russian realities

Many designers are foreign-made and are not adapted to Russian realities. There is a recent story about how Yandex stopped indexing sites on the Wix builder due to javascript errors.

In addition, usually the offer agreement of the owners of the constructors is drawn up in such a way that the company does not bear any responsibility to you:

  • not for hosting downtime,
  • not for system failures,
  • nor for non-compliance with the law,
  • not for “sudden” updates,
  • not for blocking.
  • These are all your risks, reputational and financial.

× Subdomain name

On many website builders (for example, Tilda) with a free plan, you will be asked to register a site name on a subdomain like site.tilda.ws. This will not add trust to the site on the part of users, although search engines hardly care about such trifles.

4. Studio CMS

Many web studios develop their own engines to build websites for their clients. Some of these control systems are sold as an independent product, that is, any third-party developer can buy such a solution to implement their own projects. However, such cases are rare.

Examples: Canape CMS, UralCMS, Argilla, MediaPublisher, etc.

☺ Detailed technical documentation

Unlike self-written CMS, when working with a studio engine, a third-party developer can easily understand the code, since for Canape CMS, for example, there is a detailed technical documentation. documentation that is supplemented and updated from release to release.

☺ There is a support service

Web studios usually have closer contacts with clients, which is why technical support for studio CMSs is usually more responsive. They will always answer you, help you, and advise you if problems arise.

How Canape CMS Help Desk Works

☺ SEO-friendly functionality

If the studio that developed the engine provides search engine promotion services, it is highly likely that the CMS meets all the requirements of search engines and has the necessary functionality for SEO. When developing a website on Canape CMS, basic SEO parameters are configured by default, and all opportunities for further promotion in search engines are provided.

☺ Customization for business tasks

Working with engines out of the box is like turning a sculpture out of a block of stone. You take a rigid product, cut off unnecessary things, and mold additional modules. Things don't always work out as originally planned.

With studio CMS, everything is different - the necessary functionality is collected according to your business requirements with the possibility of expanding and scaling it.

☺ Test sites

This is a design standard that is not always followed, for example in constructors. Canape CMS has a test platform where developers can test the implementation of a particular solution on the studio engine. This is safe for a “combat” site and useful if outside developers are involved.

☺ Focus on the client, not the developer

If boxed solutions are aimed at the developer, who is their target buyer, then studio solutions are created with an eye on the end consumer - the company for which the site is being created.

Studio CMS take into account individual business needs to a greater extent, and usually have a specialization (online stores, information portals, etc.)

Different types websites built on Canape CMS

☺ Security

The security of such engines is many times higher than free or popular paid solutions. Not many people are familiar with the code of studio CMSs, so they are hacked much less often.

WordPress, for example, gets broken quite often. An attacker can easily gain access to the admin panel if the user is not very experienced. Websites are usually hacked to extort money from the owner or to frame him for malicious code. The same situation occurs with OpenCart and MODX.

× Difficulties for third-party developers

Such solutions are less widely replicated, and a third-party developer has to understand someone else’s code (Canape CMS has test sites and technical documentation, and the code is open and standardized, so the problem is not too big).

× Dependence on studio services

There may not be integration with popular services, since studios usually have their own alternatives. Therefore, if you need to implement a popular CRM, the site will have to be slightly modified programmatically.

× No one is safe from untimely death

If the studio closes or abandons its CMS, the engine will stop updating.

However, users of popular engines are not immune to this. Although the likelihood of such an outcome is lower for them.

The easiest way to avoid making a mistake in choosing an engine

The mistake many business owners make is hyper-involvement. If you don’t understand programming or SEO at all, entrust the choice to someone who will promote the site. At the same time, it is very desirable that development and promotion be carried out by one contractor or contractors who work in conjunction. Anyone who does not promote sites themselves will hardly be able to foresee everything at the development stage, but a company working with specific CMSs has precisely studied all their capabilities and will certainly be able to use them to your advantage.

If they write a website for you in one place, and then you decide to take it to another web studio for promotion, be prepared for unexpected expenses:

  • You will have to pay for connecting additional modules or third-party development of the necessary functions in order, for example, to be able to edit meta tags. Typically, these expenses are unexpected for a business owner.
  • You may be asked to move your site to another CMS that is more suitable for promotion (or that your new contractor is more familiar with). The cost is often comparable to the development of a new website.
  • Promotional activities will be less effective and will require much more than if you did everything in one company. That is, again, spending.
  • Some CMS have extremely inconvenient tools for editing content. If you are “lucky” to have a website on one of them, you will have to involve developers, even to change the phone number on the pages.

Regardless of the engine you choose, the easiest way to save money is to avoid hassling with the developer. Even the most popular CMS does not guarantee that the site will not need to be modified when changing the contractor. Therefore, you should not be afraid of less popular studio engines. In addition, implementing improvements, for example, on Canape CMS will not be a problem for a third-party developer, since the code is standardized and all technical documentation is available.

For a manager, it should not matter what CMS the site is built on if it occupies the top positions in search results and brings you applications. Choosing an engine is the task of an SEO contractor, from whom you will require specific KPIs for promotion. By imposing your preferences on the CMS, you complicate the work of specialists and, most likely, increase your own costs for Internet marketing.