how is a portal different than a cms?

A CMS is a content management system. It is a script that allows a site to have multiple different types of content such as articles, forums, blogs, downloads, etc. A portal is a frontpage for a site (such as a forum) that provides links to all the different sections the site has to offer.

For example, a forum portal will have a listing of latest threads, a login / register box, etc. A CMS will have extra functionality such as articles, etc.

A CMS is a content management system. It is a script that allows a site to have multiple different types of content such as articles, forums, blogs, downloads, etc. A portal is a frontpage for a site (such as a forum) that provides links to all the different sections the site has to offer.

For example, a forum portal will have a listing of latest threads, a login / register box, etc. A CMS will have extra functionality such as articles, etc.

Dani, which does your site use. It looks like it's a CMS because it has articles/tutorials. Am I right?

Thanks.

DaniWeb actually uses a custom script that I wrote by myself. It's a CMS that is built on top of vBulletin, but it is not based on vBAdvanced, vBIndex, or any other portal or CMS that has ever been released.

How does your CMS differ from the other CMS's that have been released to work with vBulletin?

Thank you.

vB has two pretty good portals - vBIndex and vBAdvanced. The only CMS I know of for vBulletin is vBAdvanced CMPS (Content Management & Portal System). I'm pretty sure that the only CMS like feature it has is the ability to extend vB to create new pages and create new articles. Two other content management systems that exist (though aren't vBulletin related) are phpNuke and postNuke.

Regardless, DaniWeb's CMS has been custom written to include exactly the features I want it to. For example, take our code snippet library. It categorizes by language, does syntax highlighting and indenting, etc ... of course those are features that you won't find in a generic CMS unless it was a CMS meant specifically for programming sites.

Did you use to use vBadvanced?

I noticed in the following thread that you felt vBindex was more robust than vBadvanced. In what way(s) do you feel vBindex might be a better than vBadvanced?

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/showpost.php?p=15230&postcount=14

That post was from when both hacks were just released. I felt vBIndex had more robust code at the time. vBAdvanced has caught up and is a competitive alternative now. However, I no longer use either. All hacks on DaniWeb are custom-written by yours truly.

I think this is very good question and I think you will find that your replies will differ, depending on who you ask.

I have never liked the phrase CMS for describing these new Hybrid's, mostly because the phrase has been used for so many years to describe a completely different type of program. Namely desktop Contact Management Systems, such things as ACT, Goldmine, Telemagic, ActionPlus and such.

And as for the word Portal, really what is that? Isn't that some new docking station? LOL

Some people in the know, refer to Amazon and Yahoo as Portals. My personal definition of the word Portal is a community oriented site of people one common theme/topic/subject and many resources. (such as Forum, Links, Articles, Downloads, Theme Topic News, Newsletter .. and so on.)

I'm sure there are a lot of people that will disagree with me and have examples to support this. But there is one good thing about this word "Portal"; I feel it’s really not defined in concrete. I'm using the word within my Domain name, yet by current definitions my site is actually more of a CMS.

I decided to use the word in my domain name, because I feel it says, "This Site is going to be a bit different" and has a lot of resources for the community to use in regards a certain subject. But, actaully I don't care for the word and if I had more time or more active brain cells at that moment of naming the site - I would have created a new phrase.

.. don’t forget this is the opinion of a Toad stuck in a glass jar :)