5 CMS tools to publish your portfolio
This is definitely not a typical post for Swiss Legacy, but since I receive a lot of emails about portfolios and you are you readers, I am sure, always looking for new, easy and nice way to publish your work without having the trouble of making your own website… The 5 CMS that I present below are very straightforward in terms of integration, although, you’ll have to get a little bit of dirt on your hands if you want it to look like you want.
Cargo
Cargo, created by the team behind Space Collective, got a lot of buzz lately thanks to all the designers that chose this solution to showcase their work. More than just being a CMS tool, Cargo is also a community itself. Once you’re on Cargo you can follow other portfolio and vis-versa.
Installation: None. Cargo hosts your portfolio.
Price: Free (for now). By invitation only
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Stacey
Stacey is an easier way to create a portfolio site. No database setup or installation files, simply drop the application on a server and it runs. Your content is managed by creating folders and editing text files. No login screens, no ‘cms’.
Installation: Need PHP 5+, Apache (with mod_rewrite enabled), htaccess file support
Price: Free.
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Core CMS
Core is a Content Management System (CMS) made with the designer in mind, someone who want to show off all their work with an easy updateable and customizable website without having to deal with databases, scripting and extensive php.
Installation: Need PHP 4+, Apache, htaccess file support
Price: Free.
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Indexhibit
Indexhibit is a web application used to build and maintain an archetypal, invisible website format that combines text, image, movie and sound.
Installation: Need PHP 4+, Apache, htaccess file support
Price: Free
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Arlo/Artists
Arlo is a suite of hosted applications tailored to specific use cases like running an art gallery, building your artist portfolio or growing your band’s audience. Arlo apps are designed to make it easy for just about anybody to create a good-looking and usable website that helps them run their business more effectively in just a few minutes.
The apps share an easy-to-use interface, flexible architecture and opinionated approach to web software.
Installation: None. Arlo hosts your portfolio.t
Price: 2 weeks Free then $100/year
I use Cargo and I love it. Great solution for designers like me with no need for a server or hosting—get a domain name through Google Apps so that you have email and stuff, Cargo lets you use a custom URL.
Thanks for the mention about Arlo, Xavier. It was nice to find it in my feed reader today. Just a quick thing, tho, it doesn’t look like there is actually a link to our website in the text above. So for other readers, I am including it here:
http://arlosites.com/artists
Thanks again!
sorry about that. Link is on.
Another great free and open source CMS for portfolio sites is Zenphoto: http://www.zenphoto.org.
Thanks for the info Xavier! I used Indexhibit and have played around with Cargo recently. I’ve been considering trying out Stacey for my portfolio redesign and this is really a great resource.
Glad it is useful.
Xavier,
Thanks so much for this post – it is EXACTLY what I needed.
Cheers,
{doug}
Out of the self-hosted options:
Stacey = not a real browser-based cms
Core = dead
Indexhibit = backend unnecessarily complex, development too slow
I also found one called Indxr
Indxr = dead
Any other suggestions?
There Subfolio from Area17: http://www.subfolio.com/ and Steer.io http://steer.io/
Here’s another suggestion:
We’ve been working on http://elementalise.com which is a sort of hosted CMS. It doesn’t force you to use templates, but instead lets you move elements around a canvas online, much like you would manipulate design elements within Photoshop, and then when you’re ready you press the ‘publish’ and your site is live online.
Currently accounts are by invite only but we will release the pay plan shortly. If you want to try it out we can hook you up with a beta account.
This is definitely not a typical post for Swiss Legacy, but since I receive a lot of emails about portfolios and you are you readers, I am sure, always looking for new, easy and nice way to publish your work without having the trouble of making your own website… The 5 CMS that I present below are very straightforward in terms of integration, although, you’ll have to get a little bit of dirt on your hands if you want it to look like you want.