

Ask HN:  Best CMS and host for a nonprofit? - SkyMarshal

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:<p>* private pages and document repository for staff only<p>* public pages and document repository<p>* event calendar<p>* ability to manage it without coding<p>* low-cost (preferably free) hosting (cloud-based or otherwise)<p>Site traffic will be relatively low, highest expected load is when they run their yearly conference of several hundred people.<p>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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Rust
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.

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

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SkyMarshal
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?

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

[http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/ft-password-protect-
chil...](http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/ft-password-protect-children-
pages/)

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slantyyz
I think you can use Google Apps for this too.

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pasbesoin
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.

