ocPortal 9

I think that there are several reasons why ocPortal has a lower rating than it deserves, and that it proves the point that you cannot go based on rating alone - you really have to try out the product, and I mean more than just a quick test, to see if it is the best for you or not.

Reason 1.) Many simply test it out real quick and don't immediately see anything great about it. So they quickly rate it with a low score. Most of those only test it out by testing the demo here.

Reason 2.) Some might try to install it and quickly run into an issue. Instead of going to the ocPortal forums (and discovering just how awesome they are there) to get help, they quickly give it a bad rating and move on. This is a shame because not every software is going to work perfectly all the time everywhere. So a good judge of if the software is good or not is the support. ocPortal excels here with Chris Graham, one of the main developers, giving support right in the forums.

Reason 3.) They don't see a lot of themes or add-ons/extentions/etc, and therfore think it is of poor quality. This is also a shame. a.) Theme making is so easy it is not even funny in ocPortal. b.) There isn't the need for large amount of add-ons because ocPortal can already do most of what you could need out of the box.

Reason 4.) It is also likely that fans of other popular CMS's are down-rating ocPortal. This is also a shame if true as I believe that there isn't a one shoe fits all CMS. Instead everyone has their own and unique needs. Drupal is awesome at making supre complex sites and blogs. Joomla is awesome at giving its users a quick and easy way to build their site. Wordpress is awesome at blogging and making a blog-based site. Can all of those do more, sure, but honestly each has their specific target designs. ocPortal is like that, built to make awesome communities in its own way. No need to downvote other CMS'es just because you think one is the best that everyone should use....

But yes, give ocPortal a goof, fair try - a couple weeks at least, and see how it fits you. If ocPortal is not right for you, that's ok. I am sure there are many other awesome CMS'es out there ready to fill your need. But ocPortal just could be the CMS tool that you are looking for.

ocPortal is hugely underrated here. And I mean that. I think that every one should try it once. Not only is it a swift way to update content on the site, but is a breeze to theme and modify according to one's need. Definitely a 5 star here.

I don't understand that ocPortal 9 has 3 stars and a half rating when reading the comments, 90% are very favorable to it ??? don't get that ? anybody could explain ?

So, why doesn't OC Portal have a higher rating (more stars), around here?

It's not intended as a loaded or trick question. From everything I can tell, it may or may not be as easy to get started with as some other tools, but it's so generally potent and feature-rich; and also those who have actually tried it tend to sing its praises...

...yet it doesn't have as many stars as one would think it should, then, have.

Why, I wonder? Thoughts, anyone?

_______________________________
Gregg L. DesElms
Napa, California USA
gregg at greggdeselms dot com

I've been looking for a suitable CMS for my online project for quite a while and OcPortal was the answer to my prayer.

It has enough features and flexibility to organize a vast array of different types of websites. It's programming is easy to learn and their online community has gone out of their way to help this ocp virgin figure out various kinks and bugs.

Don't diss it till you try it.

I wanted to update my thoughts based on recent developments at ocPortal/ocProducts and my better understanding of the software after a few months of use.

Compared to many other CMS systems which are largely created by committee with a great deal of third-party development, I think ocPortal has the three Cs necessary to a successful software deployment: coherence, cohesiveness and consistency.

Since ocPortal is not cobbled together by committee, there is a coherent strategy for its development based on the commercial projects the company works an - and yet, ocPortal is free.

Since ocPortal tries to include all the basic things which are often provided by third-party add-ons in other CMSes, the product is more cohesive. You can rely that the included add-ons will integrate well with the base code. This is one of the great challenges for other CMS products.

Finally, there is consistency. Much is made about large third-party development communities but without meticulous code review, the code often lacks the consistency that facilitates both maintenance and customization. Again, since ocPortal is created and supported by a commercial company, the code tends to be more consistent because code review is enforced from the time the code is written largely by the same group of developers.

All products have their pros and cons, but you will see that ocPortal has virtually all pros with the only downside being that the community is still somewhat small. That will change as more people explore the benefits that ocPortal has to offer.

The other shortcoming that is sometimes cited is the lack of themes but with ocProducts just delivering 30 professionally-designed reasonably priced themes (http://ocportal.com/site/downloads/misc/addons/version-70_4/themes_13/professional-themes.htm), I don't think this will be an issue much longer. This, along with the growth of the third-party theming community, should soon deliver a myriad of choices at competitive prices for those who are in need of an inexpensive solution to site design.

It is rare that you will find such feature-packed software for free which is based on a commercial product in the CMS arena. When you add in the fact that ocProducts, the commercial arm of ocPortal, offers a range of support options and services - including full agency design services (http://ocproducts.com/start.htm) for those businesses who would prefer to outsource their website design or customization (by the same people who wrote the original code) - you have a really great CMS solution for needs large and small.

To sum up why my CMS choice is ocPortal, I’ll mention a 4th C - comprehensive. ocPortal really is about offering a complete solution for your CMS needs. ocPortal provides the tools for beginners to build a complete site with the prospect of using the additional tools provided as their needs change. DIYers will find helpful theming tools and well-structured code making their changes that much easier. Finally, businesses can choose to go with the full-agency treatment making certain that their online presence is unique in terms of appearance and any added functional needs. And they back it up with top-notch support.

I know this may sound a bit like marketing (which is my background) but I have no affiliation with ocPortal other than as a very satisfied user/customer.

To find out more about ocPortal’s features, check out http://ocportal.com/site/features.htm or, if you’d like the quick rundown, http://ocportal.com/start.htm.

I searched for about 4 months trying to find the right CMS to use, it had to be easy to understand and it had to have a great community to back it up.

I tried joomla first and although it was very attractive I found it very frustrating and not as easy as it looks. Then I came across ocPortal and tried it and thought it was pretty good. After that I wanted to make sure ocPortal was for me, so I tried many different CMS software and I found myself liking ocPortal even more after comparing it to all the others that I tried.

I am new to the whole CMS world and I can tell you that if you find yourself in the same situation you owe it to yourself to try ocPortal. Whats even better is the fact that they have an amazing community full of very knowledgeable and helpful people to help you on your journey.

Just started learning ocPortal and while it may seem a little daunting to learn for some it is actually quite easy to get a robust site up quickly without too much complexity. What is nice though is if you would like furtherintegration of exciting features it does have some more complex gears under the hood for those techie types who want more control. A fantastic CMS I wish I had discovered a long time ago!

Furthermore the Philosiphy of the Developers is truley refreshing and I think this is the kind of CMS that has greater potential than many might think. You would bedoing yourself a disservice if you did not give ocPortal serious looking over!

With limited experience I have been able to set up a community portal and forum in fully customised set up.

This is a great piece of work.

Thank you ocPortal

I have used several CMS systems over the years and, each time, became frustrated with dealing with upgrades and add-ons.

ocPortal is different in that many and, most importantly, most of the features requiring add-ons are built into ocPortal. Those that aren't are frequently delivered by add-ons maintained by the ocPortal developers. The result is that updating to the current release is much less of a crap shoot and instead just works subject to any mods you have made.

The software is very stable to begin with and benefits from developers whose attitude is that bugs should not be put on lists, they should be fixed.

Yes, there are areas that can and should improve, but at this point, I consider ocPortal the best solution for a "canned" CMS. For a current project, I decided to take a look around once again at what was available and chose ocPortal - and I am happy that I did.

I don't agree with what i have written either now. I did not take sufficient time to evaluate this product. It is simply the best CMS bar none....and yes Mythus you are correct it is not that difficult to make a themes, and likewise I would go further and say its actually easier to create a theme in this product than most other products and believe me I have tried just about everything. In fact my community website is now based on this product.

I don't agree with you Chris Jones. While there is a lack of a lot of themes, to say that there are none is completely wrong. There are several themes that can be downloaded from ocportal add-ons page. Some great themes made by the CMS's user base can be found there, and you can even find demos and screenshots of some of these themes in the ocportal forums.

Besides I find it extremely easy to make a theme. I have made several myself whereas I have been unable to do so in other CMS'es.

So yes, there are not a lot of themes, but there are some. 9 out of 10 on any CMS, if you truly want a unique website, you aren't going to want to use a premade theme, you are going to want to make your own (or hire someone to do so). Theme making in ocportal is at lease very easy to make simple themes, and you can of course make very complex themes if you so desire.

Without doubt, the very best CMS, with more options than you can shake a stick at.

Where the product lets itself down is themes, there are none, not even commercial themes.

I somewhat think that the developers in their haste for technical excellence, have forgotten the most basic of all user requirements and hence their product has not gained wide popularity.

Whilst they have made an attempt to address this issue, they have not gone far enough and still continue to develop the product unnecessarily,

The latest version does make it easier to change most of the very basic elements of the design, but further than that, my experience has been, that this is difficult to achieve unless you are a programmer.

In summary this is technically a great product, feature rich,free, probably without equal, but let down by lack of themes and difficulty to personalize the product.

I want to use this CMS but essentially I cant for this very reason.

I suspect that the guys developing this are primarily programmers and would explain why the product lets itself down.

They would seriously benefit from hiring someone that understands something about aesthetics and the desire for the average user to create a site that is unique and that the importance of this aspect is equal to if not greater than the technical capabilities.....otherwise this would be the product of choice for 80% of users looking for a competent/world class CMS.

Chris

I did search many months for the right CMS, you know, a CMS that you can make looking less as a CMS, thats stable and has a lot of options within the source. Two major points where a forum thats good and no bridges or member shares, and the Dutch language in it. I tested many CMSs, installed them, even found some that where almost good, till I found a drawback and deleted them. I spend most of the time waiting till promissed upgrades from third party addons where ready; some never did appear.
Then I find ocPortal, the first with a buildin fully powered full grown forum and the Dutch language. They even have some minor wishes, I tryed to get to work trought third party software, build in allready.
Now I can finaly build my site like I wished and I'm happy!!!
Greetings Puran.

OCP is refreshingly *complete*.

It's got a built-in forum with a wide array of importers; a very clean and intuitive admin panel; and an overall structure that's very flexible and extensible.

If you want to avoid development time, and want to skip the hassle of trying to lash together different apps and keep them integrated, OCP is probably the way to go.