Content Management Systems Defined

Web content management system (CMS) software manages and controls a large, dynamic collection of web material (HTML documents and their associated images). The CMS provides authoring (and other) tools designed to allow users with little or no knowledge of programming or markup languages to create and manage content relatively easily.

Unlike Microsoft FrontPage or Adobe Dreamweaver, a CMS allows non-technical users to make changes to an existing web site with little training. Once experienced coders set up a CMS and add features, non-technical users will find that they now have an effective and friendly web site maintenance tool.

Benefits of a CMS

• Separation of design, structure, and content. The design layer can be completely reworked for a new user interface without the need for any adjustments to structure or content. The structure can be adjusted for additional functionality with no changes required to design and content. Content can be changed with no need to adjust the front-end design or functional structure.
• Decentralized maintenance. Based on a common web browser. Editing anywhere, anytime removes bottlenecks.
• Designed with non-technical content authors in mind. People with average knowledge of word processing can create the content directly. No HTML knowledge needed.
• Configurable access restrictions. Users are assigned roles and permissions that prevent them from editing content that they are not authorized to change.
• No headaches over design. Because content is stored separately from design, authors simply add content, while the CMS presents it in the same consistent design.
• Content is stored in a database. Central storage means that content can be reused in many places on the web site and formatted for any device (web browser, mobile phone/WAP, PDA, print).
• Content scheduling. Content publication can often be time-controlled, hidden for later use or require user login with password.