What is Dotcms?
Pros from reviewers
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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
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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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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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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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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.
Cons from reviewers
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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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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.
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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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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
Main features
Starting Price
Free Plan
Multi-Language and Multi-Site Support
Enterprise-Grade CMS
Integration and Custom Development
Scalable and Secure
Open-Source
Starting Price
N/A
Free Plan
No
Multi-Language and Multi-Site Support
Enterprise-Grade CMS
Integration and Custom Development
Scalable and Secure
Open-Source
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?
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.
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
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
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
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
17 Dotcms Reviews
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William R
New Hire Navigating dotCMS: A Fresh Perspective
As an employee at a large college within a university, I found that we needed a solution to centralize and organize all our websites. dotCMS provided us with a platform to manage each department's sites, enabling us to share content between different units. We defined content types and used the template tool and widget editor to display these content types in reusable ways. Training regular content creators was initially challenging, but they've become more intuitive over time. We had to customize many solutions ourselves, but dotCMS was very helpful with difficult questions. The software offers ample room for customization, robust templating and layout options, easy file management, personalization features, and the ability to establish workflows for publishing content. It's also reasonably priced for its size. However, it can be complex for non-power users, the documentation can be overwhelming, and the Velocity feature can be limiting when programming certain features. Additionally, while it has a large macro code base, it doesn't always function or stay.
July 27, 2024
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Anna E
dotCMS: A Commitment to Excellence through Continuous Updates
Lastly, the continuous updates and improvements to dotCMS show the company's commitment to providing a top-notch product. It keeps getting better with each update.
July 21, 2024
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Gerald
Enhanced User Access Control: dotCMS Granular Permissions Review
The granular permissions in dotCMS provide excellent control over user access, ensuring security and integrity of our content
July 13, 2024
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Sarah
Efficient Content Management with dotCMS's Push Publishing
I've found the dotCMS's push publishing feature particularly useful for managing content across multiple sites simultaneously. It has saved me considerable time and effort
July 7, 2024
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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
