Pros from reviewers
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Robust templating and layout options: dotCMS provides robust templating and layout options, easy file management, personalization features, and the ability to establish workflows for publishing content. It also offers ample room for customization, making it a powerful tool for managing complex content and relationships.
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Customizable to meet specific needs: dotCMS is highly adaptable and can be tailored to meet the unique requirements of any team, whether for content delivery or website management. It offers numerous features, custom content types, and flexibility, making it a versatile tool for developers
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Enterprise-level CMS with reasonable pricing: dotCMS is an ideal CMS for enterprise environments that require a flexible, highly customizable, and reasonably priced product. It also includes license, support, and hosting in its enterprise cloud-hosted service
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User-friendly content editor interface: dotCMS provides a straightforward method for front-end users to edit and add content to their pages, regardless of their technical abilities. It also offers the ability to create widgets and place them anywhere on the page for flexible content display
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Comprehensive API and excellent templating language: dotCMS features a comprehensive API that employs Java viewtool objects for programmatic interaction and coding with data. It also uses Apache velocity as a powerful templating language for front-end development
Cons from reviewers
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Complexity and steep learning curve: While dotCMS offers a great deal of flexibility and customization, it also comes with a high level of complexity. This can make it difficult for users who are not developers or familiar with the language to navigate and utilize the system effectively
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Lack of one-click upgrades and theming: dotCMS does not offer one-click upgrades or theming, which means it requires competent development support for updates and customization
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Occasional bugs and issues: Users have reported encountering occasional bugs and issues with dotCMS. These are usually resolved through a hotfix or deferred for resolution in the next iteration, but they can cause temporary disruptions
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Unfriendly developer interface: Some developers find dotCMS's interface unfriendly, with small built-in code editor fields that make it necessary to copy and paste code between dotCMS and a text editor
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Limitations on datatypes in content structures: Users have reported limitations on datatypes in content structures, with identical limits for text and date fields, which can be restrictive for certain tasks.
Main features
Starting Price
Free Plan
Multi-Language and Multi-Site Support
Open-Source
Enterprise-Grade CMS
Scalable and Secure
Integration and Custom Development
Starting Price
N/A
Free Plan
No
Multi-Language and Multi-Site Support
Open-Source
Enterprise-Grade CMS
Scalable and Secure
Integration and Custom Development
What is Dotcms?
How Dotcms compare to similar software?
Product
Price
N/A
Free plan
No
Main features
Pros
Cons
Alternatives
Deal
No available deal at the moment
Who is Dotcms best for according to our reviewers?
Enterprise-level teams: These teams require a CMS that can be customized to meet specific needs, whether it's just for content delivery or for both content and website management. dotCMS offers numerous features, custom content types, and flexibility, but requires competent development support due to its complexity
Web developers: dotCMS is like a playground for developers, offering a great deal of flexibility for content display. However, there is a steep learning curve to code Velocity, and some features that require little or no setup in other systems need customization in dotCMS
Front-end users: dotCMS provides front-end users with a straightforward method to edit and add content to their pages, regardless of their technical abilities. However, there are some UI bugs and the documentation could be improved
Organizations wanting regular content updates: dotCMS is ideal for organizations wanting their employees to regularly add content to their website. Its familiar concepts and simple interface make it user-friendly, but it is not very developer-friendly and the built-in code editor fields are too small
Large organizations with complex ecosystems: dotCMS offers flexibility and a vast array of features, making it suitable for large organizations with complex ecosystems. However, it may not be suitable for small teams due to its complexity.
Dotcms Reviews
4.4
Dotcms rating
3.5
Ease of use
4.0
Customer service
4.2
Value for money
3.9
Likelihood to recommend
4.1
Features
13 Dotcms Reviews
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Keith C
Intuitive CMS with Top-Notch Support, Continually Improving
I find the dotcms software user-friendly due to its folder/html-page style site interface. I value its comprehensive API that employs Java viewtool objects for programmatic interaction and coding with data. I also appreciate Apache velocity as an excellent templating language for front-end development, and the process of creating and managing new structures is simple. However, I find the task of setting up and maintaining permissions quite challenging. I also encounter limitations on datatypes in content structures. While this is understandable, I question why the text limit and date limit should be identical. I frequently hit the text type limit as many field types utilize the text data type. On the other hand, I've only used the date data-type twice in a structure, so I don't see the necessity for 25 date fields.
June 30, 2024
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Johnny G
Excellent CMS for the Non-Tech Savvy
As a web developer experienced in frameworks and content management systems like Drupal, WordPress, and Laravel, I find dotCMS ideal for organizations wanting their employees to regularly add content to their website. Its familiar concepts and simple interface make it user-friendly, even for those without specific web development knowledge. The support team is also very polite and responsive. However, from my perspective as a developer, dotCMS is not very developer-friendly. I often find myself copying and pasting code between dotCMS' interface and a text editor like Notepad++ because the built-in code editor fields are too small. Despite its WebDAV support, I've never managed to get it to work, even after numerous attempts on different computers. The closest I've come to getting WebDAV to work is getting a list of all folders in the dotCMS installation, but no files.
June 22, 2024
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Bobby J
Commendable Customer Support at dotCMS
The customer support team at dotCMS is commendable for their prompt and helpful service. They've assisted me in navigating through complex issues with ease
June 18, 2024
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Willie W
dotCMS: A Scalable and Integrated Content Management Solution
I've been impressed with dotCMS's scalability, it has effortlessly kept pace with the growth of my business. The software's seamless integration with third-party applications has enhanced its functionality and made it a one-stop solution for all my content management needs
June 10, 2024
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Yael D
dotCMS: A Powerful and Adaptable Content Management System
I appreciate dotcms's content model for its flexibility and power in structuring our website content and its adaptability to our business needs through plugins. However, I find its administration complex and challenging, requiring more resources to operate and making upgrades difficult.
June 2, 2024
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Christopher R
dotCMS: A Powerful CMS and Development Platform for Large-Scale Enterprises
I use dotCMS to manage over two dozen websites and web applications. It's integrated with our custom internal tools and various third-party integrations like Eloqua, Taleo, and Google's complete SEO toolset. We also link it with numerous APIs and backend infrastructures. The flexibility and toolset that dotCMS offers give our team many options and ways to integrate with our complex ecosystem. However, I believe dotCMS may not be suitable for small teams due to its complexity and the vast array of features it provides, which can make it difficult to get started with.
May 26, 2024
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Grady G
Robust CMS for Intricate Content Management
dotCMS has greatly simplified our website management by consolidating thousands of individual files and pages into a well-structured CMS. It has also empowered other users in our company to add and edit content without the need for the web team's help. dotCMS has proven to be an excellent ready-to-use solution for our organization, capable of managing complex content and relationships. It has made building our website or app around our content and data relatively easy. The interface and learning curve can be daunting for first-time or casual users, but it has significantly improved over the last few years, with more improvements anticipated in the future.
May 18, 2024
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Benjamin J
dotCMS: Empowering Us with Unprecedented Freedom
Overall, dotCMS has unlocked new opportunities for me that were previously inaccessible. I am generally very satisfied with the flexibility this software has given my team. We value the ability to make necessary adjustments and modifications to tailor the platform to our needs. Thanks to dotCMS, we can provide our front-end users with a straightforward method to edit and add content to their pages, regardless of their technical abilities. We also have the liberty to push to production without the need for System Administrators, which significantly accelerates our turnaround time. If there's an issue in production, we can rectify it within minutes, which delights our clients and minimizes their revenue impact. However, the software sometimes falls short. We've come across some UI bugs that annoy us because they seem so basic that they shouldn't have happened with some UI/UX focus. Improved documentation could also be of great help to us. When we face problems, it can be incredibly frustrating to find the right solution or fix our issue, as the information is often outdated.
May 14, 2024
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Una M
dotCMS: Boosting Online Visibility with SEO Tools and Multi-Language Support
As a marketing professional, I appreciate dotCMS's SEO tools which have helped improve my site's visibility online. The software's multi-language support has been invaluable in reaching a wider audience
May 5, 2024
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Gary Williams
DotCMS (Hosted/Enterprise Edition): Not Our Cup of Tea, But Could Be Yours
I believe the main problem with dotCMS over the years was the absence of a consistent working relationship, which resulted in us missing several updates and going through a difficult phase of system failures as we upgraded our system version by version. This led our stakeholders to lose confidence in dotCMS, and when it was time for a site redesign, we chose to switch to another platform despite the strong capabilities of the updated software. The software does offer the ability to create widgets and place them anywhere on the page, offering a great deal of flexibility for content display. The content editor interface was generally user-friendly. However, if you're not a developer familiar with the language, there's a steep learning curve to code Velocity to do what you want. Some features that require little or no setup in other systems need customization in dotCMS, such as generating friendly URLs. We also encountered problems with the odd URLs auto-generated for file assets and buggy permissions, partly due to some of our files being very old.
April 28, 2024
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Eric C
Effortless Content Management with Intuitive Interface
its intuitive interface has made managing my website's content a breeze. The software's robust features, such as the drag-and-drop functionality, have significantly streamlined my workflow
April 23, 2024
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Johnny A
Robust Enterprise CMS in the Cloud
My overall experience with dotcms has been largely positive. I utilize their enterprise cloud-hosted service, which is reasonably priced and includes the license, support, and hosting. I would advise investing in a training package to get started, as it can save time in learning how to optimally use the system. It's crucial to familiarize oneself with the Velocity language, which is related to Apache/Tomcat/Java. I consider dotcms to be an ideal CMS for an enterprise environment that needs a flexible, highly customizable, and reasonably priced product. However, there are occasional bugs that are either resolved through a hotfix or deferred for resolution in the next iteration. I've received emails informing me that a bug has been identified and proactively fixed. But there are instances when I come across an issue that is documented as a feature, yet it doesn't function and I have to wait until the next iteration is released.
April 15, 2024
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Richard F
dotCMS: Versatile and User-Friendly Platform
I have found dotCMS to be an incredibly versatile and user-friendly platform
April 14, 2024