Why we like Open Source web platforms

Here at Chilli Chocolate Marketing we manage websites for a great and diverse group of clients. Some of the sites we built ourselves, some we didn't; some we host ourselves, some are hosted elsewhere. This has brought us into contact with a wide range of website-server tools and management platforms. We're sometimes asked what we prefer, or "what's good". Well that all depends on the requirements of course - use the best tool for the job, as the saying goes. But as a general rule we advise each of our clients to use website tools that are well-known and widely-used. That means that the client isn't tied to using one particular web host or website company.

If your website is running on some custom platform that no other company in the world uses, then you are locked in to your present web hosting arrangement. If anything goes wrong, there's only one place to turn for help: the person or company who originally made your website. That's not a good situation to be in, especially if that person is unavailable or is too busy to help.

We're big fans of open-source Content Management Systems not just because they're easy to use and powerful; we're fans because they're freely available and how to operate them is close to common knowledge in the website community. If your website is built using such tools, then you are able to pack it up and move it to anywhere such tools are supported if you need to - and that's pretty much everywhere.  If your website is built and dependent on closed proprietary tools from one provider, that means you're tied to that one provider and only that provider can help you.

If you have any questions about this sort of thing, feel free to ask. Your website is your most important marketing tool, and we're happy to help!

--Simon