Content Management System

Why do we need Content Management System ?
If there is one thing that has changed web design forever, it is the advent of Content Management Systems. They have allowed us to separate the design of the website from the structure or the content. Not only have they dramatically simplified website maintenance, they have numerous other advantages over traditional static pages.
Time Savings

If you could only pick one reason to use a Content Management System, this would be it. Changes can be made to individual pages or to global elements of the site quickly and easily. Even something like changing the architecture of the site is usually done quickly and easily.

Security

While there probably is not a team of hackers sitting up late at night trying to hack into your site, security is always an issue. All of your better Content Management Systems have security teams constantly working to insure that they are one step ahead of the bad guys.

Some Open Source Content Management Systems have such large communities working on this that they release “patches” weekly. Rather than seeing this as a weakness, this is actually a strength. No one wants to trust their security to last year’s fix.

Search Engine Optimization

This is one area that varies widely from one Content Management System to another. Each one uses the key SEO factors, such as Meta tags, title tags and permalink structure differently. Everything else being equal, you need an SEO friendly CMS.

Customization

This will also vary from one Content Management System to another, but all of them have a wide variety of themes or templates available to change the look of your site. Some themes are free, while others are done for a price, but generally speaking, the more popular the CMS, the more theme options that are available for it. Just the official Wordpress Repository has over 1000 different themes, and that only scratches the surface.

Plugins

Most Content Management Systems have plugins available, which allow you to add more functionality to your site, such as forums, blogs or eCommerce options.

Reader interactivity

Many Content Management Systems have the ability to allow reader comments, thus increasing the interactivity of your website and also increasing your site’s sense of community. To do this with static pages would be almost impossible.

Reduced Tech Support

Because a Content Management System separates content from Design and Structure, your technicians are no longer using their valuable time to adjust content on individual pages. Almost all Content Management System were designed with the end user in mind, and a non-technical end user at that.

It makes them ideal for non-technical people who want a website, but have no ability to pay a technical team for constant updates. After the site is set up, the pages can be updated by anyone capable of using any standard word processor.

Content Scheduling

One other advantage to using a Content Management System to run your website is that most of them have the ability to future release content. In other words, you can write an article a week in advance and upload it, but it won’t “go live” until the time you set. This is a nice feature for news based sites as well as for webmasters who just want to take a day off every once in a while.

Database driven

Because the site is database driven, maintenance can be performed while using any common web browser. Additionally, the ability to be able to work on it from practically anywhere removes bottlenecks and should dramatically increase your team’s efficiency.

In short, there is every reason for having a Content Management System and very few for not. It is clearly a case where the advantages far outweigh any disadvantages. That being said, there are many CMSs on the market and picking the right one can be scary. Here is an overview on three popular options.

WordPress

While most people still think of Wordpress as a blog engine, it is already a quite functional Content Management System and moves closer that way with every release. With WordPress you have the ability to assign a static page as your homepage, to change the permalinks to make them more seo friendly and of course, its blogging capabilities are second to none. It is coded in PHP and runs on a My Sql database.

The largest advantage you get with WordPress, however, is the WordPress community. Thanks to them, there are thousands of themes and plugins that can dramatically increase your functionality. In addition, the large user base means that there is near instantaneous support via the user forums.

Joomla

Joomla is an open source, free Content Management System that is also written with PHP and uses MySQL databases. It is very powerful and very popular, with a huge user base and many fans that would use little else. With it, you have the ability to create forums, blogs, photo galleries, polls and much more. Joomla is designed to be very modular, and with the introduction of specific plugins, the introduction of additional functionality is quite simple. If your website needs are very complex, Joomla would be a better choice than Wordpress for your site.

Drupal

Another popular open source Content Management System is Drupal, which, like Joomla is modular in nature and like both Joomla and Wordpress, are written with PHP and runs on a MySql database. Much like Joomla, Drupal has an active user base and is very modular, but more so than Joomla. One gets the feeling with Drupal that the modularity was more planned that it does with Joomla, but that is likely a subjective feeling. One criticism voiced quite often by new Drupal users is that it is much more complicated than other comparable Content Management Systems, but that is often shot down by loyal users.

The decision to use a Content Management System almost makes itself. In fact, one is hard pressed to come up with a reason why you should not want to use a Content Management System. One thing is certain; whatever it is you are trying to do, there is sure to be a Content Management System out there to meet your needs.