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Noroff Case Studies

Umbraco Case Study

Author: Tor-Håkon Bergseng

Introduction

Umbraco CMS, or Umbraco as it is often referred to has carved a niche for itself in the field of web-development as being a highly flexible CMS, or Content Management System while also being open-source. Umbraco offers developers and businesses the possibility to create beautiful web applications and websites while offering a user-friendly interface with robust functionality. Umbraco offers options on bpth sides of the scale. Ease of use for the not-so-technical users, and endless customization options for the more technical developers. These combined makes Umbraco into a versatile choice for all sorts of projects ranging all the way from small websites to large-scale enterprise solutions.

Central to Umbraco’s design is its reliance on the .NET framework, harnessing the strength and adaptability of Microsoft’s technology stack which ensures superior performance and scalability. This foundation enables seamless integration with a wide array of other technologies, granting the developers the possibility to tailor Umbraco’s functionalities to fit the precise demands of each individual project. In addition to this, Umbraco’s dedication to open-source principles guarantees a lively and forward-thinking community which continuously adapting to address the ever-so-evolving challenges and changes of the digital realm.

Of the most standout features of Umbraco as a CMS is its focus on creativity and design. With a user interface consisting of easy-to-use drag-and-drop features, Umbraco is easy to use for both website/application owners. In other words, it is easily manageable without deeper technical knowledge. Still, on the other side, Umbraco still offers developers the possibility to integrate deeper technical functionalities.

All of this combines makes Umbraco a powerful CMS for constructing responsive and dynamic application and websites which is still accessible for non-technical users.

Brief history

  • 1997: Danish Niels Hartvig learns about Content Management system in his first job after finishing his education. Hartvig is frustrated by the already available CMSs out there and starts the creation of his own.

  • 2003: Umbraco 1.0 is released. Made in a combination of ASP, COM objects written in VB.NET and .NET webservices written in C#. This would be the basis version which would later turn into the open-source CMS we know today.

  • 2004: Umbraco 2.0 starts to take shape. 2.0 would be 100% .NET based.

  • 2005: Umbraco 2.0 is released as open source on February 16th. Codegarden, the first Umbraco developer conference is held with 23 developers attending.

  • 2006: Codegarden is held for a second time, this time with 45 developers attending.

  • 2007: Umbraco 3.0 is released. Umbraco gets its first full time employee. Umbraco nominates its first MVPs (Most Valued People). Codegarden gathers 60 developers.

  • 2008: Umbraco 4.0 is released. Umbraco has two employees. 95 developers attend Codegarden.

  • 2009: Our Umbraco, Umbraco’s dedicated community site is born. Umbraco has three employees. Codegarden gathers 140 developers.

  • 2010: Umbraco’s chief happiness officer introduces H5YR, or “HIGH-FIVE-YOU-ROCK” which is still the Umbraco-way of showing appreciation. Umbraco celebrates 5 years. 300 developers attend Codegarden. Umbraco has five employees.

  • 2011: Umbraco 5.0 is released. Umbraco has 10 employees. 300 people attend Codegarden.

  • 2012: Umbraco 5.0 is announced dead. This is why there seems to be a gap between Umbraco 4 and 6. 5 existed, but only for a brief time. Umbraco has 11 employees. Codegarden brings 380 people together.

  • 2013: Umbraco becomes available on GitHub, which made it even more open-source-friendly. Umbraco 6.0 is released in January. Umbraco 7.0 is released in November. The 9th Codegarden is held. Umbraco has 12 employees.

  • 2014: Umbraco becomes Umbraco A/S. The 10th Codegarden is held.

  • 2015: Umbraco Cloud, then called Umbraco as a Service (UaaS) is born. Umbraco celebrates its 10th birthday. The 11th Codegarden is held. Umbraco has 11 M. Danish Kroner in revenue.

  • 2016: Codegarden is held in Odense, the hometown of Umbraco, and not Copenhagen for the first time. Revenue is 14 M. Danish Kroner. Umbeaco has 20 employees.

  • 2017: Umbraco celebrates 400.000 active installs. 500 people from all over the world attends Codegarden in Odense. Umbraco has 30 employees.

  • 2018: The Documentation Curators and the PR team is assembled. Umbraco has 693 pull requests. 600 people attend Codegarden. Revenue is 37 M. Danish Kroner. Umbraco has 47 employees.

  • 2019: Umbraco 8.0 is released. 500.000 installs. 1932 pull requests. Revenue is 43 M. Danish Kroner. Umbraco has 59 employees.

  • 2020: Umbraco Uno is released, a no-code solution for producing websites. Codegarden cancelled due to covid. The Unicore Team was founded to transition Umbraco CMS to .NET Code through the help of the community.

  • 2021: Umbraco moves codebase to .NET 5 and ASP.NET Core framework with the release of Umbraco 9.0. 2400 people attend Codegarden! Umbraco has 731.438 active installs and 105 employees.

Main features

  • CMS (Content Management System) features: Umbraco provides a rich set of tools for the editor to manage their content easily. Editors may preview, schedule and publish content among other features. All of this is accomplished within a user-friendly interface designed with ease-of-use in mind.

  • Project Management: Managing all the projects of the user becomes efficient and streamlined with Umbraco Cloud. The intuitive interface offers centralized control over deployments, permissions and management in general.

  • Intuitive User Interface: The building blocks and rich integration possibilities that Umbraco offers is greatly appreciated by developers as this offers the possibility to create customizable solutions. At the same time, they find the interface easy to use and intuitive.

  • Workflow-customization: The flexibility of Umbraco CMS offers the customization of workflows for it to match the needs of the content editors and their prospective tasks.

  • Integration: It stands out due to its ability to integrate with basically any software or service out there.

  • Security and Deployment: When using Umbraco Cloud one can clone, deploy and transfer content securely across environments together with configurable security settings and free TLS certificates.

  • Media library: Umbraco’s integrated media library allows for flexible management of media items, including the ability to track the use of the media items within the project.

  • Headless CMS: Umbraco offers the use as a headless CMS alongside the more traditional CMS functionalities.

Market Comparison

  • Flexibility can be a double-edged sword in this case. As Umbraco offers extensive customization, it can also lead to increased complexity and a steeper learning curve for the users.

  • Initial setup and configuration time can slow down project timelines due to the “blank slate” approach.

  • Out-of-the-box functionalities are limited compared to competitors such as Wordpress. This leads to the need for more custom development for common features.

  • Higher costs due to it running best on the Windows stack where there is a licensing fee (while it on Linux being open-source).

Getting Started

  • Step 1: Download Umbraco from the official Umbraco website. Choose the version correct version for you.

  • Step 1: Install Umbraco with one of the available methods. This can be via the standalone installer, deploying via VSCode or set up manually. This section will cover the Umbraco installer:

    • Run the installer package you downloaded.
    • Follow the on screen instructions and choose the installation type (typically the default settings, unless you are setting up Umbraco in a specific setting).
    • Select your database options. One choice is to install Umbraco with SQL Server Express which is suitable for development environments. You can also connect to an existing SQL Server instance for production environments.
    • Complete the installation process where the installer will set up Umbraco and any necessary dependencies.

  • Step 3: Configure your site within Umbraco.

    • Navigate to the URL where Umbraco was installed, this can often be something such as http://localhost/umbracosite.
    • Choose your starter site, or choose to start with a blank template with Umbraco setup wizard.
    • Follow all the needed prompts to complete the configuration of your site, including setting up an admin account.
    • After completion you will be brought to the Umbraco backoffice where you start building your site.

  • Step 4: Explore and build your website.

    • Explore and familiarize yourself with the Umbraco backoffice which is the place you manage all your content, templates, stylesheets, scripts and much more.
    • Go through tutorials and read documentation if needed.
    • Use Umbraco’s community for more help and/or information.

    Conclusion

    Umbraco has evolved from a simple CMS into a comprehensive platform which to this day servers more than 700.000 active installations worldwide. The flexibility, integration capabilities and strong community support sets Umbraco apart in the CMS market.

    Umbraco balances the ease-of-use for the not-so-technical users combined with deep customization options for developers. Still, a learning curve will absolutely be present for the less technical users. Umbraco also leverages the .NET framework which improves performance and scaleability.

    As the digital landscape evolves, Umbraco remains committed to staying at the forefront of web development trends. For organizations seeking a versatile tool that adapts to changing needs, Umbraco offers a powerful foundation for creating engaging digital experiences.

    References

    Additional Resources