The Structure of a Good Web Content Management System

Online content is the most important part of the world wide web. In definition, content represents virtually every piece of digital information (photos, videos, music, documents, flash, etc.) that a person might have access to. In order to be easily accessible, all this content needs to be firmly stored and managed. Therefore, this is the reason why a new and professional type of software had to be implemented. A web content management system (WebCMS for short) represents a web based application that is used for working with both HTML and XML content types. A WebCMS has the purpose of managing a dynamic collection of web content, controlling and facilitating all the essential functions of web maintenance, such as content creation and editing.

Even the top WebCMS applications are usually targeted for general use. Simple CMS users don’t really need to have a solid background in programming or markup languages. Their only requirements are to create and manage the content as quickly and as smoothly as possible. CMS software uses a database in order to safely store the content that is being used by the system. For a more flexible access and presentation, content is likely to be stored as XML. The management of a web content management system is done using an easy to use browser interface. Lately, a large number of WebCMS’ have implemented the „server-side caching” technology in order to improve the performance and to speed-up the management process.

As said before, a web content management system has the purpose of allowing easy and effective website creation and maintenance. WebCMS’ are usually comprised of three important components: a database, an administration area and a presentation website. The database enables fast storage, retrieval and updating the information held. A web content management system stores content of a website – text and graphics displayed by the website pages – such a database. Every time a visitor loads a page, his web browser will extract the appropriate content from the database, and will display it on the page. If the site owner uses the WebCMS in order to change a page, he will  also change the information stored in the database. Every time a visitor arrives on a page, content will be extracted from the database so the visitor will always see newly changed content on the page.

Web content management systems have a custom administration area represented by a number of pages where the site owner can add, delete and modify the text and graphics that serve as web content. Management systems also offer content security. Each person will have to log in via an username and a password in order to register to the administration area. Modifying the content needs only a small amount of training. There are certain rules that need to be followed in order to use the management system without problems. For example, in order to add a paragraph of text it is necessary to introduce a text into a text box. To add a graphic image, a click on the Upload button followed by selecting the graphics file is enough.

The functionality of a good Web content management system can be divided into four basic categories:

a) Content creation

WebCMS’ main objective is to ensures a non-technical way of creating and updating new pages and content. The authorizing environment is key to every popular WebCMS’ success. By providing a simple mechanism for managing the site, approval may reach the stage of a small business. For example, a marketing manager takes care of the press releases section while the production manager updates the product catalog. The CMS will also allow the management of the site’s structure by adding menus, pages and links.

b) Content management

Once the page is created, the CMS saves it within a a centralized storage area. This area allows the CMS to offer a range of useful development features such as keeping track of all versions of a page, who changed what and when, as well as ensuring that each user can modify only the section of the site that he is allowed to modify.

Most important, a web content management system provides a large number of workflow capabilities. Here is the example of an enterprise workflow. When a page is created by an author, it is automatically sent to a manager in order to be approved. After the page is approved, it reaches the central web team for editorial review before being published on the site. At each step, the CMS manages the page status on and off the net, bringing it to the attention of those involved and escalating the duties withing the company when required. Thus, workflow capabilities allow a large number of authors to be involved in site management, while maintaining a tight control over the information’s quality, accuracy and consistency.

c) Content publication

Once the final content is stored, it can be published on both the website and over the Internet. Web content management systems benefit from powerful publishing engines which allow the presentation and page layout to be applied automatically to the publication. It is also possible to publish the same content on multiple sites, hosted on different servers.

Because sites may have different aspects, WebCMS software allows Web developers and graphic designers to specify the exact design that is going to be applied by the system. These publishing capabilities ensure consistent pages across the site and they offer a very high presentation standard. Therefore, authors may focus only on content, leaving the website layout on the WebCMS’ care

d) Content presentation

Web content management system can provide a number of features that will improve both the quality and effectiveness of the site itself. For example, such a system may handle navigation by directly reading the site’s structure from the storage area.

The system also can provide improved support for multiple browsers and operating systems (such as Windows or Linux) or for users with accessibility issues. Web content management systems can also be used in order to create dynamic and interactive pages (written in either ASP.net or PHP), thus having a positive effect over the website’s impact.

Content management software is easy to find as there are multiple options on the market. There is the possibility of downloading a free, open-source version. However, this may not always be the best solution as cheap software tends to be quickly outmatched by other professional and affordable versions.

Choosing the best web content management system for your business is no simple task. There are lots of details that have to be taken in consideration, the price being probably the most important one. Before you buy such a WebCMS, ask to test it for a few weeks. Also, don’t forget that nowadays content management systems offer a number of SEO tools that are meant to improve a website SERP rankings or to provide useful comparisons with other similar websites.