My requirements
What am I looking for in a CMS? Here is a list. This list will develop over time.
Essential features:
If PHP, then PHP5
Separate CSS-based styling
Multiple content blocks on a page (complex home page)
Custom fields, more or less without limit
User registration/protected areas
Blog
News with trailers
Desirable features:
Newsletter generation
Multiple sites from one installation
Forum (could be external)
Ad management
Editing in front end
Instant site cloning
Neat handling of XML data