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I've been asked to create a website for a very small church. Given the limited budget and lack of technical staff, what is the best option for building a site that is low-cost (or preferably free) which a church member can easily maintain and modify?

The church's previous site was hosted on Geocities if that gives you any idea of the type of site they are looking for. The site doesn't necessarily have to contain a CMS, the emphasis here is on cheap and easy.

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  • -1: needs expansion(or closing). This is equivalent to every other "recommend a CMS based on minimal information" question that gets the usual flood of "use WordPress" answers. Is the fact this is being built for a church actually relevant in some way that makes it different? There are, for example, several content systems and hosted apps that are explicitly targeted at church groups, if that's a real factor. (That site is outdated, but the actual products reviewed are generally still around.) Otherwise, sure, go ahead and use WordPress.
    – Su'
    Jun 29, 2011 at 18:24
  • @Su' Please link to another CMS based on minimal information answer to make your comment constructive. Also, your link to church related content systems would make a fine answer to this question. The fact that there are CMS dedicated specifically to churches is intriguing to me, and seems to lend credence to the idea that this is actually a legitimate question. The fact is, churches and other small non-profits have specific needs in relation to budget and cost of operation / maintenance. As for the flood of WordPress answers, if it's a bad answer, vote it down.
    – user42
    Jun 30, 2011 at 0:34
  • I covered everything I intended. Your question includes nothing that makes it particularly church-specific. There's nothing for me to link to; I think the question should be deleted, and downvoted. If it stays, use WordPress; I just voted for John's answer for no other reason than he was first. Provide more information, and I'll happily point at something else. Meta topic already posted, should you choose to join.
    – Su'
    Jun 30, 2011 at 1:06
  • @Su' My point is if there is another question with options for building websites for small organizations with limited budgets and no technical staff then link to it and I'll vote to close this question. The fact that it is a church is only relevant in that it pertains to the type of organization (non-profit) and references why the organization doesn't have a lot of dough to throw around. By all means link to an alternate question that covers the same points of limited budget and staff and I will vote to close.
    – user42
    Jun 30, 2011 at 1:12
  • @Su' Yes, the fact that it is for a church does make it different, as churches are broadly going to want to have the same sort of things on their websites (how to find us, service times, upcoming events, download sermons), so a CMS targeted at them is probably going to make a good fit. I also think you should make your comment an answer.
    – paulmorriss
    Jun 30, 2011 at 8:10

4 Answers 4

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WordPress is very easy to use as a CMS. It provide a GUI that allows them to create new pages and content with little knowledge of how the Web works required. You could then get a cheap hosting plan from a reliable web hosting provider like Hostgator for as little as $4 a month. WordPress is very active and I believe open source so you don' have to worry about it disappearing on you. Hostgator is one of the largest webhosts in the world so the odds of them disappearing anytime soon is very small.

Or you could go with Wordpress' hosted solution and cut out the hosting provider altogether. It's free for the basic package.

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  • This is the option I am exploring first, though @paulmorris's answer is a decent alternative as it specializes in churches specifically.
    – user42
    Jul 3, 2011 at 15:21
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Guess, Google Apps for non-profit organization will suits your needs.

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  • You'd be looking at Google Sites atop Google Apps.
    – Nemo
    Jun 30, 2011 at 1:46
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I have no experience of Church123, but they are trying to do what you want - keeping it simple. Whether you count it low cost ($370/year plus more for domain names) is your call.

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WordPress is best option for small to medium business. Can easy installed by hosting provider hostrivers.com etc

In other hand Joomla is fantastic option for a website that requires multiple user privileges or custom database work..

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  • -1 for Joomla: it does require technical staff, so wouldn't help in this case.
    – paulmorriss
    Jun 30, 2011 at 8:14

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