Are there any .NET content management systems that focus on usability and leave out the bloat?

Question

I work in a shop that is mostly .NET based, and we're trying to pick out a content management system to use. This means we mostly likely won't be able to use any of the common open source CMS projects (Plone, phpNuke, anthing not based on .NET, etc.).

Since I'm a huge usability nerd (just finished reading The Design of Everyday Things by Norman), I've been looking at them from that point of view. Frankly, I haven't been too impressed. This quote sums it up:

Most open source content management software is useless. The only thing worse is every commercial CMS I’ve used. - Jeffrey Veen

Here's a short list of our requirements:

• Has to be .NET based
• Prefer open source or on the inexpensive side
• Limited feature set (we don't need too many features and they make things harder to use)
• Does need Active Directory integration and robust permissions
• Should be focused on web standards and usability

I know it's probably an impossible feature list, but are there any content management systems that kinda sorta look like they might not suck more than a Dyson?

Edit:

Here's the current situation:

• I'm going to push for N2. I've got Active Directory integration working well (I even wrote a custom role provider). The only thing missing is workflow functionality. Hopefully I can get something going with that since it's the last sticking point. The N2Contrib project might provide a starting point if I can figure it out.

• I would still love to check out Stencil CMS if/when it gets off the ground.

• One of my co-workers was trying to get Umbraco going but wasn't having much luck.

Thanks for the help!

Answer 1

Self-plug is lame, but what you're describing is pretty much exactly what I am getting ready to release for $79 a pop. If you're still looking in a few weeks, take a peek. If you'd like, shoot me an email ([email protected]).

I've heard both positive and negative feedback about Umbraco. A lot of people like Graffiti, but it's more blog-oriented than a full-blown CMS.

Answer 2

Check out N2 (http://n2cms.com/). I think that it covers most, if not all, of your requirements (I don't think it has Active Directory capability at this time). We are using N2 and I have really enjoyed how flexible it has been.

Answer 3

My company just completed a review of several commercial .NET-based CMS/portal platforms and, while I can't reveal who was in them (thanks, NDAs!), I can tell you that IMO they all sucked very, very badly.

Good luck on your search. I'll keep an eye on this thread in the hopes that there's something we missed.

Answer 4

We had a similar set of requirements and chose Telerik Sitefinity. It's got it's faults but overall I've been happy with it so far.

Answer 5

Unfortunately Jeffery speaks the truth. Which is probably why I build a new custom cms from the ground up every few years. Basically, the motivation for "boxed" CMS packages is to have every feature on earth and be everything to everyone and therefore do nothing particularly well for anyone. With the feature bloat comes the usability nightmares. Unless you start customizing and then you usually end up forking the project and losing the advantage of community updates.