A Content Management System (CMS) is a system that allows the creation and management of digital media content such as text, images, video, files and so on. A typical website CMS will allow the user (or multiple users) to create, edit, publish, categorise, search and archive this content as well as control how it will be displayed on your site.
So, why use a CMS? There are lots of reasons;
- Ability to easily update content
New articles, images, posts and other content can easily be added via the CMS. This means you are in control of your site, meaning lower maintenance costs as you do not have to go to your website provider to perform updates.
- …even if you don’t know your RSS from your CSS!
Updates will be made with a user-friendly interface that ‘hides’ the technical workings of the site. So even those with little technical knowledge can perform updates and maintenance.
- Workflow management
A CMS will usually have the ability to track content revisions, schedule publishing, and automatically archive old content when no longer required.
- User access control
Most CMS’s will provide a means to allow differing access privileges to users, For example, a copy-writer may write an article but it will only be published when an editor approves it. Or an administrator could access the CMS but would only be allowed to view and edit certain areas.
- Greater consistency
Generally, the content of the site is kept separate from the design. A design ‘template’ will determine how the content of the site is displayed, which means greater consistency across the pages of your site.
- Improved search
You will usually be able to provide a search facility on your site allowing your users to easily find the content they need.
- Always up to date and secure
Regular software updates ensure your site will be more secure and safer from potential attacks. This will ensure you are keeping up to date with the latest technology and relevant web standards.
- Add-ons aplenty
Most CMSs will have a wide range of add-ons (often called plug-ins, modules or extensions) that allow you to extend an your site’s functionality.
- A sense of community
Often a devoted and loyal community will be driving the development of a CMS, meaning quick fixes to bugs, lots of add-ons and a community to go to for assistance.
So what are the downsides?
Well, there is the initial learning curve and there will be a certain amount of maintenance required to keep the CMS up-to-date. But this is usually far outweighed by the time that is saved as the CMS does its job (such as automatically creating the navigation – a real time-saver!).
Perhaps the main risk is that the CMS you choose may cease development. But if you go for one of the more popular ones you should be okay for at least a few years and if the worst does happen there will be a strong user-base ready to assist for years to come.
Examples of CMSs
There are loads out there, but here a few of the more popular ones;
- Drupal
- Expression Engine
- Wordpress (strictly speaking, not a CMS)
- Joomla
- CMS Made Simple
- ModX
What does Post Creative use?
The Post Creative site is built using Wordpress – we are big fans of Wordpress here and we use it a lot for client work too. However, it has its limitations and for more complex sites we use Expression Engine and occasionally Joomla or Drupal. Each have their strengths and weaknesses but we can recommend all of them and are happy to advise further for a particular job as well as provide training and support.
Further Reading
- Web Content Management System on Wikipedia
- Open Source CMS – try before you install
- The CMS Matrix
Last modified: August 1, 2009