CMS vs HTML

[CaldwellYSR]

This will be a two part question.

First, besides being easier to update, are there any advantages to using a CMS for a website that won't be making alot of posts?

Second... I have a meeting with a client on Thursday to discuss this website. This is actually the second website I've done for him, the first being a WP blog. Now, it turns out, he wants a website for the same company I made the WP blog for a couple months ago. I didn't realize at the start of this that the blog and site were for the same company (different names... I don't know I'm confused by him). Anyways, he wants this site to be done in wordpress also. I've mostly finished a "mockup" with static html (mostly just layout and some color scheme and typography stuff) and I'm starting to realize that most of this content isn't going to change.... like ever. Since he has the blog, the only content that is going to be updated is a "recent news" section that will be the same posts as the blog. So going into the meeting thursday... I'd really like to talk him into letting me do this as a static site and use php to read in posts from his blog's rss feed into the recent news section. Can anyone see any major disadvantages to this plan? Also for bonus points, what do you think would be the best way to talk him into going for static html for this?

 

[Phreaddee]

Cant say I ever try to convince a client to go static these days.
even if its a onepager.
future proof it by making it expandable, so therefore I would suggest dropping it in a CMS
it might not seem like a worthwhile exercise, but it is...

 

[CaldwellYSR]

Do you think it would be worthwhile to go with something as big as wordpress? Seems like it doesn't need that much.

 

[ronaldroe]

I'm with Phreadee. I've pretty much dumped static sites unless specifically requested by the client. You can just as easily make a 1 page site with WP as you can a huge blog. And, it has the bonus of being easy to update. I've also found WP templates as easy or easier to make than static ones. Throw child themes on top of that, and it just got easier still. Hell, sit down and write you out a solid, fully functional theme to work from and just create child themes off of that (runs off to do just that).

 

[CaldwellYSR]

Alright then I think I need to change up my approach a bit then. Thanks guys

 

[Nathan Joshua]

If you want a lite version of WordPress try out Get Simple CMS.

 

[Matthew3man]

Wordpress might be a little overkill for a simple site. I would recommend CMSMS (Content management made simple). It's pretty simple and gives you the option to put HTML templates in and have simple content in there.

Wordpress is the best option if he plans on expanding though. Good luck.

 

[grame]

Content management systems can be improved and expanded upon infinitely because they are open source software. As a result, there are hundreds of plugins available for popular CMS like WordPress, all of which enhance the functionality of the software allowing you to perform tasks that were previously impossible, or simplifying tasks that are currently mundane. Some content management systems even have SEO plugins that will improve your search engine ranking. Instead of designing a page from scratch you use predesigned templates, and then simply edit the CSS/Style sheet of the template to change colors, font, borders, and various other aspects of the site’s formatting.