Ask HN: Best CMS and host for a nonprofit? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Best CMS and host for a nonprofit?

2 pointsSkyMarshal8 comments

I'm helping a friend's organization get a website up, and they have no tech staff and a low budget. They need several CMS features:

* private pages and document repository for staff only

* public pages and document repository

* event calendar

* ability to manage it without coding

* low-cost (preferably free) hosting (cloud-based or otherwise)

Site traffic will be relatively low, highest expected load is when they run their yearly conference of several hundred people.

The first thing that comes to my mind is a Django-based CMS on GAE, but anyone have any other/better recommendations for such a stack? Any technology is fine. Thanks!

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The 42Homes project provides free hosting to region-specific non-profits - http://42homes.com/

Like some others have said, WordPress with some plugins is probably the best bet. You could also look at Joomla, but it's quite a bit more advanced and might require a small amount of real training for them to be able to use effectively.

I'd suggest wordpress. I would also suggest paying for hosting. Good shared plans can be had very cheaply.

Seconding Wordpress. Wordpress.com offers free hosting, and premium options (hosting it on your own domain, no ads, etc.)

Thanks, I was checking out Wordpress yesterday but didn't see any obvious way to secure parts of the site to members-only. Is that an addon, or something that comes with their premium version?

Wordpress can be easily extended (for free), see for example this:

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/ft-password-protect-chil...

I'm using the Registered Users Only plugin, and it's great so far: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/registered-users-only/

I think you can use Google Apps for this too.

I believe Google Apps offers everything you're looking for, including WYSIWYG editing. Get them a domain e.g. at Namecheap. Do the initial DNS configuration (Google Apps' help will tell you what to change). This will also give them separate, Gmail-backed email accounts. The free version currently offers up to 50 accounts. There is also a non-profit version that adds some Premier level features. I haven't looked into how one qualifies, but it probably involves significant documentation of one's non-profit status.

Note: "Powered by Google" appears at the bottom of the page, in the free version -- removable at the Premier level. Also, site design is limited particularly in overall page layout, but there are good options/settings and if you are interested in function over form, and free but robust, it's worth a look. The one limitation is space; for most small organizations it should be plenty, but if you are going to load up with bulky content and/or video, you may want to look elsewhere or be sure to qualify for the non-profit Premier version.

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