Content management systems

Content Management Systems

A Content Management System (CMS) is a software system used for content management. Content management systems are deployed primarily for interactive use by a potentially large number of contributors. For example, the software for our website is based on a content management system.

The content managed includes computer files, image media, audio files, electronic documents and web content. The idea behind a CMS is to make these files available inter-office, as well as over the web. A Content Management System would most often be used as archival as well. Many companies use a CMS to store files in a non-proprietary form. Companies use a CMS to share files with ease, as most systems use server based software, even further broadening file availability. As shown below, many Content Management Systems include a feature for Web Content, and some have a feature for a "workflow process."

"Work flow" is the idea of moving an electronic document along for either approval, or for adding content. Some Content Management Systems will easily facilitate this process with email notification, and automated routing. This is ideally a collaborative creation of documents. A CMS facilitates the organization, control, and publication of a large body of documents and other content, such as images and multimedia resources.

A web content management system is a content management system with additional features to ease the tasks required to publish web content to web sites.

Web content management systems are often used for storing, controlling, versioning, and publishing industry-specific documentation such as news articles, operators' manuals, technical manuals, sales guides, and marketing brochures. A content management system may support the following features:

• Import and creation of documents and multimedia material
  
• Identification of all key users and their content management role
  
• The ability to assign roles and responsibilities to different content categories or types
  
• Definition of the content workflow tasks, often coupled with event messaging so that content managers are alerted to changes in content
  
• The ability to track and manage multiple versions of a single instance of content
  
• The ability to publish the content to a repository to support access to the content. Increasingly, the repository is an inherent part of the system, and incorporates enterprise search and retrieval
  
• Some content management systems allow the textual aspect of content to be separated to some extent from formatting. For example the CMS may automatically set default color, fonts, or layout
  

• Edit all content pages
  
• Drive 'latest news' headlines
• Set up 'upcoming events' sections
• Request user registration
• Set up 'registered visitor' only content
  
• Send mailouts
• Add images to content
• Control RSS feeds
• Categorise content into three hierarchical levels
• Add and edit menu structures
• Have multiple administrators with varying permissions
• e-Commerce control
• Discussion forums
• On-the-fly site maps
• Categorised links pages

Content Management Systems
Static Websites were all very fine in their day, but the needs of modern businesses have changed, and now companies must be able to interact with their websites and update immediately if necessary. Using a CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM allows you or your staff, who are not experienced web designers, to add, delete or edit pages, through a web-based administration interface. They can paste their content (articles, service information or news) straight into web pages, click on a submit button, and have these pages immediately display on the web.

A major advantage of a CMS is in reducing the costs: This can result in big savings because instead of using a web designer every time you need to add or update your web pages, you or your staff can add/update the content during normal working hours.

This website is managed and updated using a CMS system!

Web sites with integrated Content Management Systems
Unlike a static website, which is a collection of "fixed" pages, a CMS is dynamically driven from a database. It makes sense to store your web pages in a database, rather than as tens or even hundreds of HTML files. Putting web pages into a database gives advantages including financial savings and fast updates.