Publishing Your Site with a CMS
Take control of your site with a Content Management System.
Feb 9, 2007
Let’s face it, this day in age, it just seems like there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done that we need to. This not only applies to our everyday lives, but if you are a Webmaster, it also applies to managing your Website content as well. As time goes on and your Website grows in size, it can get difficult to track, find items, and the basic overall management can be tedious work; things can get out of control rather quickly.
Using a web Content Management System (CMS) to publish your Website can help you gain control of your site, and maintain it faster and easier. The best part is that you don’t have to be a technical savvy person to use one! Before we move along, let’s take a look at some of the benefits:
- Simple Editing – Virtually anyone can create or edit content. Most CMS software has a WYSIWYG feature so that you don’t need a lot of experience to use the system, usually basic word processing skills will suffice.
- Templates – Giving your site a new look can be as simple as uploading a few files, and Presto! all your pages have the same look in a matter of minutes.
- Customization – You can customize your CMS with different features and extensions, which will allow you to add items to your site; such as polls, guest books, downloads and other cool features.
- Document Management – A web content management system has a systematic approach when it comes to organizing the pages on your site so that you can easily find and mange your documents. You can post and archive articles, create new content pages, and easily remove items from your site.
Depending on your needs, there are many different types of content management systems available that offer a wide variety of features, flexibility and simplicity. There are also different license types available; some are a commercial license product, while others are open source which is free for anyone to use. If you have never used a content management system before, I would recommend that you test out some of the free systems before going out and purchasing an expensive system.
Some of the most popular free content management systems out there are: Joomla!, PHP Nuke, and Post-Nuke. I’ve used all three of these systems and they are very straight-forward, and easy to get installed and running.
Lastly, before you decide on a system, make sure that you have your site planned out and determine all the features that you need right now, as well as what you may need in the future to avoid any long term expandability issues.
