Win a Free eCommerce and Discussion Forums License Package from concrete5!
Published June 29th, 2010 in Site Newsconcrete5, an up-and-coming open-source content management system, has offered to give a lucky blog reader an eCommerce and discussion forums license package! The total value of these two licenses is $145.
I first came across concrete5 in last year while researching a post on content management systems, and I was very impressed considering it was a CMS that I was not familiar with. concrete5 is free and open source, but if you don’t want to download it and set it up on your own server you can also host it with them. Hosting plans start at less than $8 per month and go up to a dedicated server for $250 per month (free trials available). Their hosting accounts come with support, which may be helpful especially when using a CMS for the first time.
One of the main features of concrete5 is in-context editing, meaning you don’t have to go to a dashboard or admin panel to edit the text and images on the site. For working with non-tech-savvy clients, this can be a great feature.
Other noteworthy features include:
- Automatic navigation menus
- Track versions and compare differences
- File manager with bulk upload and image manipulation using Picnik
- Detailed permissions – create editor groups, approve content, and see an audit trail
- Drag-n-Drop content
- Flexible meta data & vanity URLs for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Scrapbook lets you copy content and functionality from one part of your site to another
- See more
The system is also well-documented. Their site includes a “basics” section that includes documentation (including videos) on the various features and how to use the system. There’s also a developer’s guide that includes all the information needed to get started working with the CMS.
The concrete5 community seems to be rather active with a forum, job board, and member network all located on the concrete5 site.
There is also a marketplace where you can buy add-ons, such as the eCommerce and discussion forums licenses being given away here. The marketplace includes add-ons developed by concrete5 as well as others from various developers. The marketplace also includes themes for purchase ($20 – $25), as well as a number of free themes.
If you’re looking for the right CMS for a specific project I recommend that you see what concrete5 has to offer.
The Giveaway Details:
The winner of this giveaway will receive a free license for the eCommerce add-on and the Discussion Forums add-on. To enter the giveaway please leave a comment on this post, and be sure to leave a valid email address so we can contact you if you win. On Friday, July 2 we will select the winner using a random integer generator, and this post will be updated at that time.
Good luck!
UPDATE: The contest is now over. Thank you to everyone who participated. The winner is Rob Busby!
60 Responses
Let this one win..
I want to win
First
And I would like to win !
…and the winner is.. (drum roll)… MEEEEE!
cool thanks for the oportunnity
Me, me.
Pick me please!
You don’t have to pick me – but it’d be nice
I want to win
Having built only a few sites with Conrete5, I can say: this is my new favorite CMS. Well written, well documented end easy to use.
And I have just the project coming up for the eCommerce module.
Good¡¡¡¡¡
Great info about free eCommerce. I want to join it soon
Would love to see what concrete5 is all about!
Hook me up!!
I want to win!!
I’ve had sites with Joomla and Wordpress, and I’m ready for a new challenge! I’d love to try this. Thanks for the chance to win.
would be nice..
Would love to see the full potential of concrete5!
Concrete5 looks very interesting – all my clients want to be able to edit their sites.
Concrete5! COOL!
Great idea:)
Hi, great giveaway please count me in
Thanks
This sound really good.
I too hadn’t heard of this but… we learn something new every day!
I haven’t tried Concrete5 – I’d love to have the opportunity and have an upcoming project which would suit it well.
Thanks!
That would be nice to win!
I just love C5, and so does my clients, I recommend it to everyone I meet. I haven’t tried these two addons, but I would really like to! Cheers!
Very nice. I haven’t tried C5………yet.
Check out C5 if you haven’t yet because it’s both elegant and robust. It’s quick and relatively easy to theme if you’re a designer. End-users should be able to start updating content in under 15 minutes because of its intuitive WYSIWYG content-editing tools. The most recent update includes a bunch of useful improvements. I’m especially impressed by the ability for designers or end-users to drop multi-column text containers into content regions defined in theme templates. This could be a huge time-saver for bloggers who want to create individual art directed posts. I aslo like how designers can add customizable options to themes (such as link colors, fonts, sizes, etc.) simply by adding special comments to the theme’s CSS file. C5 can use plug-ins to add functionality, just like WordPress, Drupal or Joomla. There aren’t nearly as many, but the ones that are available cover almost all functionality you probably need. Many are free; paid plug-ins run about $20 to $150. You can buy them and install them directly from within the C5 application itself, through the built-in store. Very nice. Developers can quickly write their own extensions if they are skilled in PHP MVC development.
No CMS is perfect. Here are some caveats to consider. For starters, some functionality you might normally associate with a CMS, such as tools to power a blog . You’ll need to buy a module from the C5 store to make it happen. C5 also doesn’t’ have a built-n system, but it’s easy to integrate Disqus. While the documentation looks comprehensive, it really doesn’t go much deeper than the tip of the iceberg. Some of it isn’t especially well written, It’s ambiguous, and it sometimes contains errors. The C5 folks have been working hard to improve the documentation,by organizing it t in a more useful way and correcting errors directly in the documentation instead of having to hunt for them in the discussion forums.
For most folks, it only takes about 5 minutes to download and install C5 on a test server thanks t its easy installer. Or you can sign up for a trial account at C5’s hosting facility. If you do take C5 for a test drive, please leave a comment here with your thoughts about it.It miaght make for some useful discussions.
Thanks. Ciao,
Len Fischer
Arlington VA 22201
len(AT)geniuscurations.net
CORRECTED from above….
Obviously, I shouldn’t be dashing off extended comments, such as the one the one above, at 7 am. and before my first cup of coffee. Somehow I managed to mangle the top of the second paragraph rather badly. Here’s a corrected version.
No CMS is perfect. Here are some caveats to consider. about C5 For starters, some functionality you might normally associate with a CMS, such as tools to power a blog . is missing from C5. You’ll need to buy a module from the C5 store to post and maintain traditional blog entries. C5 also doesn’t’ have a built-n system for comments, but it’s easy to integrate Disqus.
Apologies for any confusion. L
Looks like a great cms.
Don’t want it……..don’t need it……….can’t use it.
MY GOD MAN YOU ARE SUCH A LIAR.
Is the license for one site only or unlimited use? Oh did I say. I haves till to find a satisfactory e-commerce offering, perhaps this will be it. I have 3 projects lined up that could make use of it
Sounds like a good deal. Checking out a new CMS system in it’s early stages. Count me in!
I’ve been watching Concrete5 for some time now, but haven’t tried it. Seems like a great option for those clients who aren’t comfortable with admin areas, such as WordPress.
Would love to win!
Forget Magento, this looks promising!
/crosses fingers
would be awesome if i’m the lucky one =)
choose me please (‘ ,’)
We love this CMS and so do our clients. The in-context editing is really user friendly as clients can find the block to edit directly on the website page. We haven’t used the e-comm or discussion modules yet but it would be great to try them out.
I am porting travguru.com to 4.5.1 (svn) right now. eCommerce and Discussion Forums License packages for free would be awesome feature for this site.
Here we go… it seems interesting!
We would love this cms.
If you’ve used concrete5 for anything you know how great it is. If not you’re probably still floundering with drup-ooomla.
Could I have a free license for this pack ?
Would love it, so why don’t just pick me.
Nice giveway. I want.
Interesting stuff, want to try this CMS
Win, win, win!
We’ve started selling all of our clients on Concrete5… even the ones who can’t afford a CMS… we’ve found that the development time is significantly reduced, and our clients are happier!!!
Thanks Concrete5
Philip M
i’m trying to find a better cms to create an online shopping portal. Right now i’m looking into wordpress. Hope i could win this just to get my hands dirty with this new cms. Hehe…
Awesome looking CMS! I hope I win.
I would love to win these 2 blocks – Concrete5 rocks!
Love it!
Totally enter me for this contest!
Oooh, Nice giveaway. thx Vandelay & Concrete 5
Pick me!
Concrete5 is best E-commerce content management system.
thanks for the information and for the opportunity….very interesting,
Love C5! It’s a great solution for designers and clients. Super easy to turn your static HTML sites into templates. Pretty good ecommerce extension as well. I use it for 90% of my client work.
This is great!!! C5 is the best for designers. Hope to win the giveaways.
yes, It’s a great solution for designers and clients.
fatbit technology
fatbit.com