integrate CMS with an existing ASP.NET web site

Question

I am trying to integrate a CMS into an existing ASP.NET Web site built with .aspx files and .aspx.cs code behind files (not compiled).

My research indicated that my best candidate is N2 CMS.

My ideal approach is to configure the editor with various editable content types and have my existing pages and user controls use the API to retrieve the content and place it pro grammatically into containers.

I couldn't find how this can be done, anyone have any idea how and if can this be done ?

Is there any other CMS that is better suited for the task?

Answer 1

We have had this exact setup existing web applications (WebForms + MVC) integrated with N2 in the same manner as you have described in previous projects and it was fairly simple to implement, but by now we have switched to using umbraco for the same purpose for the following reason:

• better support (larger community)
• better backend editors
• more ready avilable modules (even commercial supported ones)
• richer backend ( proper multi language support)
• configurable rather than code oriented (this is a pro/con depending what you need)

One important note:
Don't waste time host the CMS + the actual application in the within the same ASP.NET application. We have all of the installations separate and we would have not done it differently looking back, especially when you have existing web applications with routing etc. in place already. The CMS is just going to mess this up at some point. Also this is not CMS specific.

Answer 2

Traditional CMS are pretty intrusive, they dictate you the way you must build your system. And if you already have a web site, and just want to add some Content Management functionality into it you are out of luck - all traditional CMS want you to demolish your old web site and rebuild everything from scratch.

It's actually a good idea to keep CMS and web application separate. In that case all you need is some kind of markers on your web pages telling the CMS what should be manageable. "Software plus Service" solution. This is what ElasticWCM (http://www.elasticWCM.com) is trying to do.

For a web site developer ElasticWCM is just a set of ASP.NET controls you can wrap around your Html to make the content manageable. When you click on the "Edit Page" button on the PageToolbar control you get redirected to the rich page editor where you can manage all your content fields. Nothing to install, just reference the controls' DLL.

You can't get less intrusive than that. As a bonus you receive all bells and whistles of a full-scale multilingual CMS and a bunch of unique features.