CMS Software – Factors to consider before building a CMS web site

Recently I was asked to design a web site for a non-profit organization. Since it would mostly contain articles it would need to be built with one of the web content management systems.

Factors to consider when looking for Content Management System Software

1. Structure of the web site

Simple Structure

For a simple CMS web site that only needs a home page and article pages use WordPress. Even though it’s used primarily for a blog you can set the home page as a static page. The static page is basically a html page that can be beautifully designed so it will captivate first time visitors. WordPress enables you to create as many categories as you wish. Each category can have 100s of articles. You can also build stand-alone pages.

Another option is to use Web Baker. It’s easy to take a web site template you’ve already designed in html and convert it to a CMS site. You simply insert the php tags into your html template. You can manage the site from the administration panel where you add as many pages as you like.

For more details please read: http://help.websitebaker.org/pages/en/advanced-docu.php

Complex Structure

Joomla

For a more complex CMS web site that needs a separate design for multiple pages consider using Joomla or WPRemix software. If you’ve never used Joomla there is a fairly steep learning curve because it has so many features and options. It takes a while to figure out how all the elements work together.

Pros of WPRemix

Another option is to use WPRemix which uses the WordPress software to build different static pages plus you can add a blog that integrates nicely with the theme. It contains 50 static templates that can be easily customized as needed. Each template can be edited from the visual editor within WordPress (a great help for clients who don’t know html).

Cons of WPRemix

The templates don’t always display correctly in the visual editor. How the template appears in the visual editor may not equal the appearance in your browser. To remedy this make sure you preview the template after editing then publish it. It helps if you know some html (you can switch to html view in the editor) so you can correct display errors.

Technical support is only offered through a forum. It’s often slow or non-existent so you’re mostly on your own however often times forum members jump into help.

Tip

Plan out the structure of your CMS web site before deciding what CMS software you’ll use. You’ll make a more informed decision which will save you many headaches down the the road.

For more information read The Top 12 Benefits of a Content Management System

Open Source CMS – WordPress

WordPress is another open source content management system that is primarily used for blogging. It provides anyone with a simple
and fast way to quickly publish content without the need to know html. If you have a web host that already includes Word Press you can install it in a few minutes with the click of your mouse.


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Open Source CMS – Website Baker CMS

Website Baker is the easiest open source content management system to install, set-up, customize and use. It’s a PHP-based CMS ideal for small and medium sized websites.

Features


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Open Source CMS – Comparison of 3 Types

Before building your CMS web site you should think about your site’s purpose, what you wish to accomplish with it, what features you need, the time it will take to build and what price you are willing to pay for its development.

An Open Source Content Management System may be sufficient for your personal or business needs if you intend to publish lots of
content, have multiple contributors, want to build a community around a particular topic and users are non-technical i.e. they don’t need to know HTML or how to FTP pages to the server. You can either build it yourself or get a web designer who is familiar with content management systems to build it for you.

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Content Management Software Solutions

Content Management Software provides community building through blogging, personalization, forums and message boards.
It helps build customer loyalty with subscriptions and RSS feeds. It allows you to easily manage lots of content from multiple
authors.

How do you decide what CMS software to use for the management of your web site content?
What CMS authoring tools should you use?

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The Disadvantage of a Content Management System

Previously I discussed the benefits of using a Content Management System for your business. You should also know when it’s better to build a static site instead.

Let’s look at some of the disadvantages of a CMS Site:

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Content Management System Benefits

If you are planning to build a site that contains hundreds of pages, needs constant updating without needing to upload web pages to your web host, consider using a content management system or CMS.

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