| What's a Content Management System? - Part 1 |
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| Thursday, 15 April 2010 00:52 |
 I was explaining to a potential customer on the phone yesterday what a Content Management System is. The customer had a great knowledge of html and even manages a site for a professional organization. But I was struck with how far we need to go to get the latest Web 2.0 technology into the hands of small businesses and every day non-profits.We laid Dreamweaver, building a site with Godaddy or Network Solutions, and content management systems like Joomla or Wordpress, all side by side. Dreamweaver builds static websites. This results in archaic Web 1.0 sites. Good for a few-page website with zero interactivity and the website owner still needs a web developer for the tiniest changes. Then we considered those sites that you can build with Homestead or Network Solutions. Here you have a control panel where you can build your site yourself with no knowledge of code. But often times they look boxy and graphically disconnected. The range of interactivity for the end-user is limited - you can get an email sign-up or contact page, maybe even a calendar - but the addons or aps are typically minimal. There is also a common frustration with managing content with the site. The WYSWIG editor is frequently limiting. I just spoke with one other potential customer, who was complainging that they can only pick from one font - TimesNewRoman. Then there are Content Management Sytems like WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal. They have hard-to-pronounce names and many people are still trying to figure out if they are better? When I try to explain, I always have to remember to start with the basics because I have been developing Joomla and Wordpress sites for over five years. A content management system is a robust control panel where the website owner can control most aspects of the site him/herself. He does not need to call every time a change needs to be made. With Joomla there are over 4500 applications that can be installed. This means unheard of functionality for your website that used to be only affordable for large corporations. Some of these apps are editors. In Joomla, for example, there are at least three different editors. This is important because this is where the website owner, where you, live every day. It either makes you happy or frustrated. Next time, I will finish by hilighting the differences between Dreamweaver and Joomla and do-it-yourself third-party website builders like Network Solutions. Newer news items:
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