Study Curve

The best options are generally pre-packaged systems that use a database to store content. These are general CMS systems that can be used for a large variety of sites. I.e. a blog, a photo album, or just an informational directory of pages.

The most popular system is called wordpress, and can be used at its own site www.wordpress.com or as a downloadable program that can be installed on a user's hosting, find it at www.wordpress.org. The later option is by far the best for customization. All of the wordpress functionality allows for configurable CSS and themes. My experience has lead me to pretty much clear out all the starting CSS and begin from scratch. This is the way to get optimal control over the site.

When it comes to installing wordpress I highly recommend checking with your host's pre-set addons. Many hosts have a package called fantastico that has wordpress as an install option. This makes setting it up extremely easy because there is no need to create the database and set the permissions for the editing files. Further, if Fantastico is managing your wordpress installation it will prompt you to update to the newest version when available, a good feature for staying on top of website security.

Other options I know of include: movable type, cute news, Drupal, Mambo, and PHPNuke.