Website Management
A Look Inside Content Management Systems
You don’t need a developer or programmer to make changes to your website or to browser-based simple applications (such as knowledgebase, intranet). Use a Content Management System to take control.
Content management systems (CMS) are computer programs that allow you to manage written materials, photographs and other items for use on your website or in other types of publications.
CMS is designed to give your company control of content creation, content management and publishing the data.
Content Creation
Data Separation – You can publish your web page to fit mobile devices and desktops with out having to create two separate websites. This is what a good CMS will do – it will separate the content from the means of displaying it. This allows the same data to be used in different formats.
Authoring – A good CMS program gives the capability for more than one person to use the application/database simultaneously. The system allows the author to either type content in plain text format or in a built-in [HTML] editor as part of the program. That way anyone who can use a word possessor can create the content. Content Management
Metadata and linking – the CMS allows you to enter metadata (e.g. author, subject, keywords, etc) and preserve links. This will help for you to create appropriate search facility and/or indexing. If the system generates pages dynamically, fewer broken links will occur when changes are made.
Ease of use – For a CMS to be successful, it must be easy to create and maintain content otherwise your employees will not use the system.
Security – CMS applications give the ability to create different user roles with different permission levels, audit capabilities, version control and archiving. This is very important and useful. What this means, you can have control on who authors, who checks and who publishes a document.
Reports – generally CMSs provide an extensive range of reports, for both users and administrators.
Publishing
Professionalism- Using a good CMS system will make anyone a good web developer. It provides style sheets and templates so that your page layouts are professional. Another nice feature is the ability to integrate code snippets such as java script to provide added functionality.
Page formats – Generally, the CMS systems allows to publish to multiple formats, such as: HTML (web), printed, PDF, hand-held (WAP), and more. It allows cross browser support (Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera and Safari).
When Should You Use CMS?
Both large and small companies can benefit from a CMS if your company publishes a lot of content on a regular basis for your websites or printed materials. CMS programs range from very basic to extremely complex and from relatively inexpensive to a major investment.
There is no doubt that a CMS will give you greater control of your data. However, there are several factors to consider. If a system is too complex, your employees will not use it and you investment will be wasted. So it is extremely important to get the right system for you needs. In any case, there will be a transition period and employee training involved.
Consulting an expert is probably the most cost effective step you can take so you get a system that meets your needs without being too complex for your employees to actually use.