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Tips for selecting and using open source applications in web development.

Before choosing an open-source application for your web site you need to decide what kind of content you’ll be including and the level of visitor-participation you’d like to encourage.

Type of content Blog CMS Forum Cart Gallery Wiki

General information

eg. Company details, products and services. Most applications can be adapted for this, but a CMS or Blog is probably most appropriate.

Online store

A specialised store application (sometimes called a shopping cart) is required. There are several different ways to implement this depending on your requirements and budget – please ask for more details.

News and current events

Blogs (weblogs, or online diary sites) are ideal for this. You can choose to allow visitors to comment on the articles, or ask questions. If you allow user resplies then a forum is also suitable.

Open discussion

A forum application allows your visitors to discuss any topics they choose, subject to rules you will need to define and enforce. Some CMS applications include a built-in forum.

User-created content

In cases where the visitors to a web-site create structured content themselves, a wiki application is ideal.