CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (CMS)

By Joseph Stern

Are Custom Coded Websites Dead?

Why Use a CMS?

CMS is simply just a pre-built system from which to build a website that includes:

• Content Creation • Content Management • Publishing • Presentation

Why use a CMS? – Videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRLJ-Lie_ks&feature=related

Overview

• Global Developer Communities• Definition of CMS• No HTML Required and it's Free• Most Popular CMS Platforms• Differences Between Popular CMS Platforms• Some Notable CMS Sites• Wordpress Dashboard Demo• CMS Features and Benefits • OMG - I want a CMS! What do I need?• References / Web Resources• Questions???

Global Developer Communities

Definition of CMS

• A content management system (CMS) is a system providing a collection of procedures used to manage work flow in a collaborative environment. These procedures can be manual or computer-based.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wikiContent_management_system

Definition of CMS Continued

• The procedures are designed to do the following:

• Allow for a large number of people to share and contribute to stored data.

• Control access to data based on user role (i.e., define information users or user groups can view, edit, publish, etc.)

• Facilitate storage and retrieval of data.• Control data validity and compliance.• Reduce duplicate inputs.• Simplify report writing.• Improve communication among users.

No HTML Skills Required!

Most importantly, an open CMS offers small business's and non-technical users a way to put content into a pre-established framework.

Isn’t Everything These Days?

CMS platforms are free to download, install and customize.

However, the freemium pricing model for add-ons and modules will cost you for functionality build outs.

Most Popular Open CMS Platforms

Top 3 in Order of Community Prominence1. Wordpress 2. Joomla3. Drupal

CMS Usage for Websites

• Diagram shows the percentage of websites using various CMS in 2012.

Grey: CMS Usage Green: CMS Market Share

http://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/content_management/all

Differences Between CMS Platforms

Wordpress• Pros: Best blog platform by far. Easiest to

install. Very intuitive to non-techy users. Allows quick posting on pages. Largest user community. Has a WYSIWYG Editor.

• Cons: Least developer friendly. More limited options with respect to customization.

Differences Between CMS Platforms

Joomla• Pros: Platform is harder than Wordpress but

easier than Drupal to develop. Has second largest user base and solid community forums and video tutorials.

• Cons: Low usage in the United States relative to Wordpress and Drupal.

Differences Between CMS Platforms

Drupal• Pros: Best platform for developers and hand-

coders. Custom tweaks are easier. The basic architecture options are very advanced.

• Cons: Not as user-friendly for novice developers. Thus, Drupal developers charge more on average and it takes more time to build out.

• http://www.cmsmatrix.org/matrix/cms-matrix

Some Notable CMS Sites

Wordpresshttp://www.nytimes.com/interactive/blogs/directory.html

Joomla http://www.ikea.com.sa/Drupal http://www.whitehouse.gov/

Wordpress Dashboard Demo - CMS Common Features

• Theme• QuickPress• Posts• Media• Pages• WYSIWYG • Plugins• Users • http://josephstern.com/wp-admin/

Key CMS Benefits

• Simplifies activities such publishing content, revision control, search, indexing, retrieval of content, etc.

• Data can be defined as nearly anything: documents, movies, text, pictures, phone numbers, scientific data, and so forth.

• Easy to avoid duplicate content.• Frequently used for storing, controlling, revising,

semantically enriching, and publishing documentation. • Serves as a central repository, the CMS increases the

version level of new updates to an already existing file.

OMG – I Want a CMS!

So how do I choose one? How do I know what’sright for my needs?

Focus on Main Functionality

What does your website do?

• Blog • E-commerce • Video • Informational• Other

Intuitive UX for All Users

• Think about the average user in the organization - not a developer. What is too much?

• At the most basic level, it’s important that it is easy to post pages, edit pages, change themes and add photos for the users.

• The developer must involve the administrative team who will assume control of the website.

Logical and User-friendly Backend

• The backend layout and functions must be grouped and positioned so they are easy to navigate.

• Plugins should be easy to find, integrate and do their job.

• The basic backend architecture should be easy to ascertain to the average user.

Functionality that Fits the Project's Scope

• Advanced functionality that you’ll never use just slows down the whole website.

• Find a CMS that does the one thing you want to do really well and forget about the other features.

• Do you really need? e-commerce, photo slideshows, video playback or is it just a simple blog.

WYSIWYG Editor

• WYSIWYG editors make life easier for your users – especially novices.

• Most users don’t know HTML and don’t care to learn.

• This allows for ease of editing things like: pages, header tags, text, bold, italics, etc.

Btw, WYSIWYG – “what you see is what you get”

Simple Code = Fast Loading Pages

• There shouldn’t be a lot of extra code or provisions for unused functionality in the final page code.

• This makes the page load times faster.• This lowers the chance for misrenderings and

errors.

Creative Control of Template

• Some CMS templates have very set ideas about what a website should look like.

• Whatever CMS you choose should let you design pages the way you want and should work around your needs.

• Also, there are many CMS template factories where you can buy designer templates.

• Ie: http://www.rockettheme.com/

Support and Documentation

• You will eventually run into problems with any CMS you choose. Ie: Updates, add-ons, custom modules, etc.

• The more active and helpful the user community is, the better off you are.

• Searchable documentation and video tutorials are also extremely helpful.

• Documentation should provide information on everything from basic use to advanced functionality.

Web Resources

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system

• www.Wordpress.org• www.Joomla.org• www.Drupal.org • http

://wp.smashingmagazine.com/2011/11/29/wordpress-cms-crown-drupal-joomla/http://

• www.cmsmatrix.org/matrix/cms-matrix• http://www.rockettheme.com/

Questions Please