Mercury Documentation

OpenCms Frequently asked questions - FAQ

Simple answers and helpful tips to common questions about OpenCms - from setup and development to usage.

OpenCms is a very stable and mature CMS that is successfully used by many companies and organisations in large projects.

It is a proven open source CMS that has been continuously developed since its introduction in 2000. 

With each new version, additional functions are integrated and existing functions are improved.

The existing code base is regularly reviewed to ensure security and compatibility with the latest technologies.

OpenCms is a very good solution for large installations with many websites and centralised user administration.

OpenCms is also suitable for projects where a server-side Java backend is preferred.

OpenCms is based on Java for the application logic and relational databases for storing the contents.

OpenCms offers a dynamic template engine to separate content and design. These templates are created in Java Server Pages (JSP).

OpenCms is database agnostic and supports various relational databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, MS SQL Server, Oracle or DB2.

OpenCms is accessed by the editor via a completely browser-based user interface. It provides editors for websites with a predefined design and for structured content with defined fields.

OpenCms is free software and can be downloaded directly from Github.

Every 6 months, usually in April and October, a new OpenCms version is released with security patches and new features.

OpenCms is free of charge as it is licensed according to the LGPL (Lesser General Public Licence). It can be downloaded, installed and used without licence fees.

In reality, the costs depend on the specific requirements of the project, especially in the areas of hosting, development and support. For many projects, OpenCms can be used with almost no development costs by using the Mercury template. However, For more complex requirements, external services or more in-house effort are required.

OpenCms is licensed under the LGPL (Lesser General Public Licence).

This licence allows the free use, modification and distribution of OpenCms for private and commercial purposes. However, there are requirements for the modification and distribution of the source code.

If you are looking for support for your individual website project, there are several OpenCms partners at your service.

In addition, Alkacon Software offers various options for supporting your internal development team and for implementing specific OpenCms Core Extensions.

OpenCms is completely browser-based.

Editors work directly in the page preview. Thanks to drag & drop and the WYSIWYG editor, they can design pages intuitively and see the result immediately.

Developers can create content types in OpenCms using XML schemas.

Website templates are developed in JSP and generate the necessary HTML, CSS and JavaScript to display the pages.

Server functions can also be programmed in Java. An extensive documentation helps you getting started in the world of OpenCms.

With the OpenCms Live Demo you can test OpenCms extensively without having to install it by yourself.

If you want to install OpenCms for your tests by yourself, we recommend to use the official Docker image.

Alkacon Software offers a variety of training courses. These have been specially developed for OpenCms and include a wide range of materials and exercises.

The Alkacon Software team values security very highly. We support you in reporting security vulnerabilities.

Please report security vulnerabilities in OpenCms using the provided form.