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I am currently designing an e-commerce site, and unfortunately my PHP is garbage at the moment so open source CMS's are out of the question. I am debating between Joomla and Big Commerce and as the title states I am unsure of whether to build first or try the CMS first to see what limitations I will face.

I couldn't find any previous questions on this site, forgive me if this is a stupid/commonly asked question.

Thanks for any feedback

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closed as not constructive by danlefree♦ Oct 12 '12 at 18:56

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If I were you I'd take a look at a few CMS programs, design a concept in photoshop or whichever program you use to design. After acquainting yourself with a CMS you like, take a look at how the inners work. Understand how said CMS template system is laid out. From there adept your concept maybe use the default template and edit it to match your concept design.

Most CMS softwares use some sort of template parser which is useful when creating a te

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Well the design is done in photoshop, I'm now slicing it up and doing the mark-up .. I guess I'll do what you said. Thanks .. I just hope it doesn't limit what I've already done. – Livingston Storm Oct 12 '12 at 16:46
If you have no trouble creating a template in dreamweaver you should have no problem editing a CMS template and changing the template. You just need to know how said CMS template works with the rest of guts, for that you can probably find wikis on said CMS. – RzK Oct 12 '12 at 16:56
Right that makes sense, thanks .. lastly would you recommend big commerce over joomla? I have been dealing with BC and I like it, but have heard better things about the latter. – Livingston Storm Oct 12 '12 at 16:59
I honestly haven't used Joomla since a few years, and a few years ago I didn't like it. I don't create e-commerce websites so I wouldn't be able to help you decide on what CMS to choose. Just find something you feel comfortable with, take a look around, drupal looks interesting too. – RzK Oct 12 '12 at 20:18
Ok cool - thanks for the help man. – Livingston Storm Oct 12 '12 at 20:33

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