Stands for a Content Management System. A CMS is a web application that provides a graphical user interface for users to create, manage, edit, and publish web content without having to code it from scratch. CMSes often use WYSIWYG interfaces that allow website elements to be edited, resized, and removed by clicking a button, representing what they would look like if they were published online. In addition, the design and functionality of a website can be adjusted by installing plugins, predesigned templates, and extensions rather than hand-coding.
Without a CMS, website owners would have to hand code HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files, and upload them to the web server. If they wanted to make any changes to them, they would have to download them from the web server, open them, and manually edit the files by hand. Before uploading them to the web server, they would have to make sure that they did not break any links or make any other errors. Even though this sounds quite complex, hand-coding a site is ideal for people with experience in web development or people that want to learn the markup, stylesheet, and programming languages of the web.
Instead of webmasters building their own system for creating webpages and storing images and other content, the CMS takes care of that for them. With a CMS, webmasters can write their content in an interface that looks similar to Microsoft Word. Instead of directly interacting with their web server, they have the ability to browse the media library in their CMS.
Anyone with a web server and a domain name can install a CMS, as long as their web host supports it. Most web hosts support the installation of CMSes, such as WordPress. It is important to note that most CMS platforms do not provide web hosting services and that it will be required to find a web host along with a CMS that is fit for purpose.
What Is A CMS Made Up Of?
A CMS is made up of the following elements:
CMA (Content Management Application) - This is a graphical user interface that allows users to create, modify, and delete content from a website without knowledge of markup and stylesheet languages, such as HTML and CSS.
CDA (Content Delivery Application) - This element takes the information from the CMA to update the website and make it visible to all users. It provides the backend services that support the delivery of content and works behind the scenes once a user has created it in a CMA.
Advantages and Disadvantages Of CMSes
The advantages of CMSes are:
They enable users who do not have experience in web development or the time to code to quickly build, publish, and maintain websites.
They offer an easy method of collaboration - Multiple users can access and work in a CMS at the same time.
Content can be scheduled for publication at a certain date and time just by clicking a button and specifying the options.
CMSes are accessible to a wide range of devices with an internet connection.
User roles and permissions can be easily set with CMSes. (e.g. content writers could be set permissions that allow them to write, publish, and manage content, but not significantly alter the functionality of the website).
Most CMS platforms offer built-in features that optimise websites for search engines, such as XML sitemap generators, image alt text, simple customisation of page titles and meta descriptions, SEO-friendly URLs, optimisation for page loading times, and more.
The disadvantages of CMSes are:
In terms of design, the use of CMSes can lead to limited flexibility. Especially when using predesigned templates, some CMSes, such as Wix do not allow users to directly edit the HTML code of the website itself. Using a CMS will provide users with less control over how their website looks and functions compared to hand-coding a website.
For people wanting to get experience in web development, they are not suitable as they will not learn any of the markup, stylesheet, or programming languages of the web. All that they will learn is how to use that platform.
With complex designs and templates, CMSes can create a lot of excessive code that leads to webpages being large in size.
CMSes may come with hidden costs in the implementation, customisation, or support.
Examples Of CMSes
Common CMSes include:
WordPress - An open-source CMS written in PHP that provides plugin architecture and a template system. 43% of the World Wide Web is built on WordPress.
Joomla - An open-source CMS used for publishing content, such as discussion forums, user communities, ecommerce services, photo galleries, and more on websites.
Wix - A software company that provides a website builder, enabling users to create professional websites using drag and drop tools, web hosting, templates, SEO tools, and 24/7 customer support. Even though Wix has features that work as part of a CMS, Wix is more of a website-building platform that works in a slightly different way than other CMSes.
Blogger - A CMS owned by Google that allows users to post and publish blogs with time-stamped entries. Websites using Blogger can be identified by their subdomain 'blogspot.com'.
HubSpot CMS - A proprietary CMS that allows users to create custom templates and styles, perform A/B tests on multi-language content, view performance analytics, and more. Users can get started for free and if they want more advanced features, they can pay a monthly fee.
Magento - An open-source CMS written in PHP, used by ecommerce platforms around the world. Magento is now Adobe Commerce.
Drupal - An open-source CMS based on the LAMP stack. It is used by millions of people around the world to design, build, publish, and maintain their websites. It provides a modular design that enables features to be added and removed by installing and uninstalling modules. The look of a website can be adjusted by installing and uninstalling themes.
