What is a CMS

A Content Management System or CMS , is an application that makes it easier for you to manage your website. Notice I said easier NOT easy. You are still going to have to do some work - but the amount of work and the knowledge required are greatly reduced by a well designed CMS.To illustrate how the CMS does this we will look at some of the typical chores you need to do to maintain your business website.

One of the most common things that need changing on any business site is the product price. If you are luck, the product price only appears in one place. But, as your site becomes more complex, it is possible to have a price appear on more than one page. Keeping track of all the places that need changing can be difficult. However, with your CMS you only need to change the price in one place. The CMS will automatically update all the other pages which display that price.

Just as common as changes in pricing are changes in the product line. Suppose you need to add a new product. Without a CMS, first you need to create the page (in HTML ), upload the page to your website, then you need to go every page that will link to that product's page and insert a link into the menu. A lot of work and it is easy to miss a something.

With a CMS, you still need to create the page, but this time you do it through the CMS using an input box that looks like the word processor you use every day. (No HTML) Then all you just have to 'tell' the CMS to publish the page and it will added to every menu. Alternatively, to delete the page, just 'tell' the CMS to delete the page and it will be removed from all the menus.

Finally, the CMS can easily do things that you wouldn't have time to do manually. It can automatically create online catalogues sorted by product name, product category or any other criteria you can thing of. It can have pages, such as a 'specials page', run for a specified period and then be automatically removed.

The Content Management System saves you time, and replaces the need to hire someone to do the day-to-day management of your website.