I don’t know why i’ve kept this little gem of a site from readers for so long as it’s a site all bloggers should know about – ive personally used it for years! The site i am referring to is Open Source CMS. Open Source CMS is a website which allows you to test out every major blogging, forum and content management script (CMS).
Most script websites have a test area where you can view the user end of a script and also the admin area using a test or temporary pasword. This is a fantastic way of trying out a script to see if it’s worth downloading and installing on your host – it’s essential for commercial script webstes to have this as most web developers would be unlikely to shell out a few hundred bucks for a script before even getting a chance to see it in action. Open Source CMS have taken this one step further and have installed the most popular scripts on their server. They allow visitors to test each script with a test username and password and every script has a brief summary, link to the official website where you can download the script and a review area underneath the summary with hundreds of comments and feedbacks from other webmasters.
If you are wondering which blogging script is right for you then Open Source CMS will save you a lot of time and effort in doing just that.
Enjoy!
Thanks for sharing. I will have to see this in action!
Why would web developers shell out a few hundred bucks for FREE software??
Any web developer that is interested in these apps installs them on their laptop to play with, where they can hack the code….
All the os sites themselves have up to date demos you can play with, better than these…
This site adds no value IMO, all they have done is take other peoples work and cover it with spammy adds, ….
Furthermore it is missing the daddy of E-Commerce apps virtueMart… sorry but this site is not cool (in my humble opinion).
I've used OpenSource CMS for years without issues. Sure, you can install the software on your server and play around with it (as you always should when researching) but I do find it to be a very useful site for my initial CMS research.
Yeah I spose your right, seeing them all in one place could be of value for an initial assessment…..
Jez – im a bit confused by your comment if im honest. Which web developers are paying hundreds of dollars for free software, Open Source CMS is a free site. Can you clarify what you said?
I have tried this before. This OpenSource Content Management tool is awesome. Also it is easy to install as well. In the inital stages I felt little touch though.
Ki Kevin,
I was referring to this:
"it
hi jez,
yes i think you have misunderstood me…or perhaps i didnt explain myself well.
infact…reading what i wrote it definately isnt too clear haha 
basically what i meant is that software companies need test areas for people to try out the script. Most script companies do this however its essential for commercial companies to do it since no one is gonna buy a script without testing it first.
dont need to apologise – i welcome debates and discussions here.
my bad for not explaining myself properly:)
Yeah but these scripts are open source / free…. you dont have to pay anything for them…. you can download and install them within a few minutes.
that is true but it your deciding between 4 or 5 different scripts this can be incredibly handy and saves you having to setup databases etc to install the scripts.