What is CMS Software?
A content management system (CMS) is a software application that handles the basic infrastructure of creating websites. With a CMS, users can focus on the front-end areas of website building, such as customizing the website design and managing content.
- There are multiple types of
content management
systems available. Three of the most popular ones are:
- Open-source CMS- a community of developers maintains the software instead of a single company owning it. Third-party developers have access to the source code and can develop and improve the software’s functionalities.
- Cloud CMS- stores content in one place, in a consistent fashion.
- Proprietary CMS- comes with a license fee as it is the legal property of a company, organization, or individual that created it. The cost can be a one-time initial payment, a monthly fee, or an annual charge.
A content management system (CMS) is a software application that handles the basic infrastructure of creating websites. With a CMS, users can focus on the front-end areas of website building, such as customizing the website design and managing content.
Learn More
How Does a CMS Work?
To understand how a content management system works, you first need to know what makes a website and how to build one from scratch. A website consists of two main parts ‒ the front-end and the back-end. The front-end is the part an end-user sees in their browsers, such as blog posts, galleries, and videos. It comprises standard markup languages called HTML, CSS stylesheet language, and JavaScript.
Meanwhile, the back-end consists of the database and the functionality of a website. Different programming languages that are used in its construction are PHP, Python, Ruby, and Java. To make your website visible on the web, you also need to manually upload all of your website content into a web server. The web server database will store your content and push it from the back-end to the front-end whenever a user accesses your site. A content management system lets you streamline these processes. Besides eliminating the need to code, a content management system also makes uploading content easier.
The user-friendly content editor allows you to create content like posts and pages hassle-free. Besides text-based files like .PDF documents, the content editor software also lets you organize web pages, images, videos, text, and audio files, among other different file types. Most CMS software also provides you with an interface through which you can have revision control. You can also use it to configure the settings of your website and set permission systems. The entire process is beginner-friendly and requires no technical knowledge. Keep in mind that a content management system is different from an enterprise content management system (ECM). The ECM focuses more on document management and business-related processes, such as digitizing paper documents for better organization, security, and traceability.
What are some examples of a CMS?
- While there are hundreds of CMS platforms each with their own
unique functionality, some of the best and most popular CMS providers are:
- Wordpress
- Drupal
- Optimizely CMS
- Contentful
- Squarespace
- Wix
Specifically for online stores, although Optimizely Monetize, Adobe Magento and Shopify also manage content similar to a CMS, they are typically not considered a true CMS as much as an ecommerce platform with some added functionality.
What is your budget?
If you have infinite resources to spend, there are some very complex content management systems with features designed to make content creators’ and editors’ lives easier. With a limited budget, however, your choices will be more limited. Your web content management system will need hosting, so it's good to take costs for a domain and web hosting into account when deciding.
- Common components that make up a CMS's costs are:
- The hosting-where your website lives
- The domain name-'example.com'
- The content management system itself-the piece of software that stores and manages all the content
- Any development work required- for example templates, custom functionality
- Maintenance fees-where your website lives
How many people will work on the CMS?
Depending on the size of your website or company, you will have different requirements. Larger companies typically have more strict requirements for content management applications and may even require features only found in enterprise content management systems.
Some examples of features enterprise companies might look for are: Single sign-on (SSO), scalability and what cloud-based services the back-end is built on and integrations with. Small business however, should focus on picking an easy user interfaces and maintenance as the teams who manage the website are typically smaller and roles are shared between team members.