Q:

What tools should I use to build my website?

I'm looking to build a new website with user accounts and a few custom pages built from the account information.  I have access to MySQL, PHP, Python, and Ruby, along with some of the standard CMS's: (WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Django, etc) from my hosting provider (HostGator).  I'm very comfortable with MySQL and Java, but haven't done any PHP and only a little Python.  Would a CMS make sense?  What areas is it likely to help with?  what resources are there to help me get started with this sort of site?  Thanks!
Assuming I'm going to use PHP which excludes Django. WordPress seems very blog oriented.  Is one of these CMS's more suited for a simple data-centric site?

A:

It really depends on what you want out of your site, Joomla is cool but is too much for a simple site with less then 10 pages. You can go with anything just keep the User and content management  in mind. But if you care lots for your design, then go and have search for template in area that you want your site and then make the decision for CMS!

A:

PHP and Python are both easy to learn; PHP is more widely used, Python is (in my opinion) a cleaner language. YMMV.
Wordpress, Drupal, and Joomla are "ready-to-go" with minimal set-up; Django is more of a "write your own CMS" product.
My suggestion would be to start with WordPress right now - by the time you start running into things WordPress won't do for you, you will be much better informed for choosing a replacement.

