ConcreteCMS Review

PROS: Highly scalable, especially from being a simple blogging tool for us. This is helping us create websites without consuming much time and without going through a lot of hassles. This is serving its intended web development purposes. Concrete5 has everything needed for creating different websites; right after installation.

CONS: Some tasks are more difficult depending on the integrations you’re using on the platform. However, in general, I still say that Concrete5 is an easy to use the tool.

PROS: The most popular benefit of C5 is its suitability for front end users. Making on-page editing is unbelievably easy. It lets you use customized attributes and codes to make more sophisticated websites too.

CONS: We have faced some problems when three or more developers work on the same site. It cannot seamlessly connect local and remote environments too. Moreover, it is not that suitable for big websites, such as those with more than 250 pages. Although, this might be a DevOp issue, instead of a problem in this content management tool.

PROS: You can use it immediately after installation. Its integrations and templates are easy to install as well. You won’t have any unneeded hassle because it is suitable for everybody; from newbies to pro.

CONS: I want to see more new plugins and templates. I haven’t seen a lot since the launch of the latest versions of Concrete5. However, the good old integrations that I like are still available.

PROS: Concrete5 is an open-source CMS tool. So, many developers have already created great plugins that users can easily search and use on their own sites. Concrete5 also lets us do any necessary tweaks on our websites, whether with the use of programming codes or with plugins. This makes it easier for us to customize our sites.

CONS: We can’t make the most out of our Concrete5 account. This is because we have bought it from a service provider that handles C5 for us.

PROS: Inserting blocks and on-page editing is super easy with C5. Our clients can pull those tasks off, regardless of them having no sufficient programming background.

CONS: Some of the themes load sluggishly. We’ve also observed that the quality of the plugins has decreased.

PROS: This tool helps in producing almost any application you need because of its ease of use and scalability, thus you don’t need to dwell on making basic-looking webpages. Codes are easy to understand and read on Concrete5 as well. Therefore, it keeps you away from the common problem of getting confused amid long strings of codes. It also has cool CMS features such as calendar, as well as lets you have full control over user accounts, role assignments and authorization. Moreover, you can select from plenty of available plugins to use with the CMS; although, most of them demand enough technical knowledge to integrate.

CONS: Concrete5 is only suitable for big custom application and website projects. It is difficult to learn, and it pushes you to prepare too many boilerplate templates for each project you start with. It has a smaller number of available themes and templates as well, especially when you compare it to options such as WordPress. These make Concrete5 a bad choice for small and quick website creation.

PROS: Preparing and planning for our work is easier with the help of Concrete5. Personalizing plugins for building websites is also hassle-free. Not to mention, it has a lively community with expert developers; ready to help us anytime.

CONS: I like the plugins in the Concrete5 marketplace. But I wish there would be more free plugins available for users.

PROS: I like that it features MVC framework. It is easy to personalize designs, themes and layout of websites through C5 too.

CONS: Concrete5 has a framework that consumes too much memory space. This makes it somehow slow to load.

PROS: Concrete5 is a lot better than other content management platforms. It helps me easily edit the sites I make. It also has plenty of plugins among other resources. The tool carries a lot of cool themes and designs too, and I can customize them depending on how I see fit. And I have lots of great experience from the support I receive in the forum for user support.

CONS: I am having some problems with the updates that I receive every few months. Some updates affect my sites’ operations, and such a problem pushes me to redo much stuff on my websites. In addition, the contact widget doesn’t feature filters for spams, even if it has a captcha tool. I often deal with huge piles of spam messages every day.

PROS: This CMS is very easy to use, robust and helps us improve. It is easy to personalize themes from pre-built themes without sacrificing proper arrangement. This helps us accomplish many things such as setting up automated tasks and completing packages.

CONS: Installing the tool consumes a lot of time, and installing updates means adding new parts to the platform. As a result, we’ve experienced some problems during installation such as the process failing or timing out. Concrete5 also needs some boosts for its quick versioning feature, as well as its community needs some improvements for providing support and creating plugins. We often find ourselves finding solutions for certain problems while using the platform.

PROS: Concrete5 helps us develop websites with great ease. We can make sites that are easy to use and maintain for our clients who have no web development expertise. It doesn’t give us difficulties when training new staff in using the platform. Such newbies immediately learn to use the Concrete5 without close assistance afterward. In addition, we appreciate the available templates and themes that make building a site easier. We do not need to start from zero anymore.

CONS: More number of ready-made templates can go a long way with this platform. Yes, it has some, but these aren’t enough to satisfy some of my needs. It is easy to make templates too. However, a larger repository of templates where you can simply search one would be super convenient. Similar to how WordPress works.

PROS: I’m already using C5 since it was newly launched, and I immediately noticed its unique on-page editing feature. Only C5 offers such kind of uniqueness among other options I know. I also had a smooth and easy learning experience back then. Plus, the user experience when building a website is terrific, since one can easily boost the themes from basic HTML codes. I love that I only need to insert a few lines of codes to make an edit box on a site.

CONS: I haven’t used C5 for some time now. Thus, I am not sure how it has improved. However, as I recall, it has sluggish load speed and problematic updates.

PROS: Prepping up the platform is super easy, and it boasts a seamless UI that is smooth to use for PHP professionals, front end developers, site editors, etc. It also has a good selection of plugins that have passed through the standards of Concrete5 developers. Meaning, you do not need to worry about conflicting codes while using them. Also, the platform came from the bootstrap framework, so it is easy to make a bootstrap website compatible with Concrete5. Moreover, the Concrete5 community has great and approachable expert developers who always help me deal with complicated PHP codes. As a result, I’ve been churning out dozens of sites with the use of this tool, even if I do not have enough PHP knowledge for my front end job.

CONS: I can’t find enough Concrete5 tutorials and training materials for PHP or front end developers. I have only found guides for site editors. Also, Concrete5 has a relatively smaller community of users. It has lesser popularity as well. This pushes me to do a lot of explanation to my clients and other developers because they know WordPress more. I often need to convince them that Concrete5 is better than other popular choices.

PROS: Concrete5 boasts many useful features, and it is super easy to personalize according to your demands. It also has cool integrations or add-ons that further improves the user experience. Moreover, I find its editor with WYSIWYG properties wonderful.

CONS: I am not satisfied with the support I receive. Although there is enough help for using Concrete5, I think that I need more as a user.