Will Omeka work for my project?
The only person who can really answer that question is you. Both Omeka S and Classic are designed for publishing collections and exhibits of cultural heritage content, for example photographs, manuscript letters, and oral histories. If your project involves things which you want to describe on an item by item basis, either Omeka may be your solution.
Read through the Classic site planning tips to help think through your project as an Omeka site.
Try browsing the directories of Omeka Classic sites and Omeka S sites to see how Omeka has been used, and if any projects exist which you might be able to use as a model.
One of the best ways to tell if Omeka will work for you is to test drive both Omekas, through the Omeka S Sandbox and a trial account on Omeka.net (for Classic) with a sample set of your content.
Which Omeka is right for me?
For many projects, the answer of which Omeka to use may simply be which interface works better for you. However, here are some differences to consider:
Omeka Classic creates a publicly available web presence from the moment you create the installation, which you can build out and customize from there. Every Omeka Classic site initially includes pages for browsing Items and Collections as well as a home page. You can use these items in as many Exhibits as you or your users want to build.
Omeka S allows you to create linked data, using existing resources (items) to describe new resources. This functionality can be very helpful if you have multiple datasets which would benefit from relationships between the items (for example letter writers and their letters). Omeka S sites must be built from scratch and so may take more planning than an Omeka Classic site. Omeka S can host many sites building from a shared pool of resources.
You may also want to compare the technical requirements for S and Classic, depending on your hosting situation.
Is Omeka S a replacement for Omeka Classic?
No.
The team continues to develop both Omeka S and Omeka Classic. While both Classic and S are open-source web publishing platforms for sharing digital collections, they serve different needs.
Can I move my content from Omeka Classic to Omeka S?
Yes, mostly. The Omeka Classic Importer module uses Omeka Classic’s API to move items, collections, and users from an Omeka Classic installation to an Omeka S installation.
However, because of the difference in how Omeka Classic and Omeka S build their public-facing content, the importer will not move exhibits or most other plugin-generated content. For more information, see the module’s documentation.
Can I move my content from Omeka S to Omeka Classic?
At this time there is not an importer from S to Classic.
Why would I use Omeka S for a single project?
While Omeka S was designed for institutions managing a shared pool of resources, it can be useful for some smaller-scale projects. If your project needs to use a vocabulary other than Dublin Core, or would benefit from the functionality to use existing resources as the property of another resource (creating relational data), then you might want to use Omeka S. You might also use S if you wanted to share your work as linked open data, beyond the API functionalities of both S and Classic.
Do I need a server to run Omeka?
While you do not necessarily need a server to use Omeka S or Omeka Classic, you do at least need hosting which meets the system requirements for [S] or for [Classic]. You can also sign up for Omeka.net, which runs Omeka Classic and provides not only hosting up pre-installed plugins and themes and automatic updates.
How much does it cost to use Omeka?
Omeka S and Classic are free to use, although you may need to pay for hosting. There is no cost for using the forums.
We do offer support plans for Omeka S and Classic for those seeking direct support, including access to a dedicated support request ticketing service and email support for site configuration and set-up.
Omeka.net offers a free trial plan and paid plans ranging from $35 to $1000 annually (US dollars).
How many items can an Omeka S or Classic site handle?
The practical limit of an Omeka S or Classic installation has more to do with storage for the files you add to items than the number of items themselves. As of May 30, 2018, the Omeka Classic-hosted 9-11 Digital Archive had over 150,000 digital items.
Is there a limit to the number of users I can add to my Omeka S or Classic site?
No.