More Information About Content Management Systems
Visit the Contao Official Website
Developer/Designer friendly CMS

Designers are free to push the boundaries of their designs without restrictions. Developers have a stable framework from which to develop custom modules and add-ons outside of the core project, unaffected by system updates. It ensures that developers and designers can keep sites modern with current techniques and technologies.

Client-Friendly User Interface

Clients can work within a consistent user interface that is similar even when new modules & functionality are added. Because Contao's framework requires developers to use it's built in UI features, all modules container a similar and familiar look and feel, unlike other open-source systems that allow developers to inject their own UI. The result is a client-friendly environment that doesn't require bouncing between different interfaces, unlike Joomla and Drupal.

Open source

Contao is open-source software, supported by a development community from all over the world. There are no licensing fees, no upgrade fees, and no “lock-in” to a specific system or developer. Because Typolight uses common technologies such as mySQL and PHP, there are always resources available to develop for the system, so other than our great customer service, there's no reason for you to stick with us for further development if you choose to take your business elsewhere.

Solid foundation

Contao uses a Model/View/Controller (MVC) framework, which provides a very solid foundation on which to build libraries of additional functionality. Winans Creative has an extensive library of add-on features that we make available to our clients as they are developed. Additionally, the system includes a built-in repository of community-developed modules available as one-click downloads from the administration panel, as well as one-click updates to new software versions. It ensures that Contao will continue to be upgradeable well into the future.

Value, form & function

Out of the box, Contao provides more functionality than most commercial systems, and it rivals other open-source options in terms of user-interface and extensibility.

Standard Modules
  • Form Generator
  • Calendar/Events Module
  • News/Blog/Comments Module
  • Member Management
  • FAQs Listings
  • Flash Content Editing
  • MooTools Accordions
  • Flash Photo Gallery
  • Lightbox Image Galleries
  • Downloads Module
  • TinyMCE Text Editor
  • Newsletter Management
  • Search Engine
  • RSS Feed Imports
  • Backend/Frontend Content 
  • Protection
  • CSV Table import
  • File Management
  • Backend Task Manager
  • Google Analytics Interface
Custom Modules Available
  • Catalog/Listings
  • Glossary/Terms Highlighting
  • Integrated eCommerce Management with Payment Gateways
  • Custom Search Filtering (search locations by radius)
  • Token/Download Management
  • Forums/Bulletin Boards
  • Highslide Image Galleries
  • AJAX Inline Popups
  • Automated Backups
  • Polls
  • Reviews
  • Backend Dashboard Manager
  • Audio/Video Integration

Content Management (CMS) Systems

A Cattle Prod for Your Website

When selecting a content management system (CMS) there are always many different factors to consider. How flexible is the system? Who will be in charge of day-to-day operations? Can the site grow and adapt with my organization? And then, most importantly, how much will it cost to develop and maintain?

We have a lot of experience with CMS systems, and we've seen a healthy mix of the good, the bad, and the just plain ugly. Some systems provided the functionality that made it easy to develop, but lacked real design integration and stylesheet management. Others were focused on looking pretty, but not offering a whole lot in terms of flexibility or a developer-friendly framework.

As both designers AND developers, it is important to us to develop using a system that can accommodate our design ideas, as well as provide a stable platform for developing new and custom functionality for our sites. Plus, the CMS has to be easy to use for our clients who would ultimately be the ones getting their hands dirty with the system.

When we discovered Contao (formerly known as Typolight) CMS several years ago, we knew we had stumbled upon a gem for all those reasons. Contao is a German-engineered open-source platform that provides a stable, user-friendly environment on which we can build our clients' sites for years to come. It is a LAMP-based platform (Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP), which means it is easily deployed, and being open-source means that there is never a shortage of developers who can jump in and work their magic. Best of all, it lets our designs work with the functionality, resulting in a package that we know our clients will find easy-to-use.  

Here are some highlights that we hope you will find useful. To experience Contao for yourself, feel free to visit the project website at http://www.contao.org/