Not one size fits all

Of course not every site needs the same solution, but not everything needs to be custom built either.

At CnA we've selected some great Open Source packages that will provide our customers with the best flexibility and performance for their investment in the web.

Manage your content (and site!)

First, for content management, there's DotNetNuke or DNN.  While it's got an odd name, DNN is one of the finest examples of open source software there is.  It's got a great track record and been in constant development and refinement for more than 4 years. DNN has an estimated installed base of more than 40,000 sites and has thousands of active developers. You can't find many professional solutions that can boast like that.

The "Nuke" part of the name comes from it's open-source, portal/content management heratige.  The original designers of DNN took the concept of a modular portal CMS and developed a professional level solution using the same basic architecture.  The CMS is based on a extensabile set of conent modules.  These modules can be placed on any page of the site and moved around using a simple interface.  The look of the site is controled by a skin that defines the HTML and CSS presentation.  Skins can be changed quickly and easily to update and refresh the site without having to touch any of the site's content.

DNN comes with an extensive list of modules that provide almost all the basic (and some advanced) needs of a website.  Here's a list of a few:

• Text/Html
• Document Repository
• Gallery
• Links
• FAQs, Surveys,
  
• Annoucements
• Events
• Wiki
• Forum
• Shopping
• RSS Feeds
• Banners

In addition, being open source and well documented, it's easy to create your own new modules or to purchase modules from 3rd part developers. 

We've been developing DNN based sites for 3 years now an have found it to be flexible from both the developer's and user's points of view.  You can use this CMS to create information rich sites that are maintainable by average people without any advanced training or technical experience.

eCommerce (not just a shopping cart)

DotNetNuke is a great content management system and even supports add-ons that do "lite" eCommerce.  But, when you're serious about retail and selling, you need to look other solutions.   Over the years, we've had quite a bit of experiance with solutions from Microsoft, ATG, DemandWare, StoreFront and even Yahoo.   The costs related to many of these platforms is really a barrier to allowing anyone other than a major retailer from developing a web store. That's why many turn to Yahoo or sketchy low-end shopping cart systems.

Now there's a real choice... Magento.

Magento is an open source eCommerce system.  More than just a shopping cart, Magento is a fuly featured eCommerce engine.  Out of the "box" it supports mutiple catalogs, layered navigation, mutiple ship to, customer reviews, social tagging, and many other features that you'd pay dearly for with the big guys. 

To quote the developers -

Magento is the new kid in town and we've developed using it and think that there's no better value for the money and time invested than this solution.