What is a content management system (CMS)?
A Content Management System (CSM) is critical to the success of the vast majority of websites and intranets. However, many organizations and companies are still not familiar with this technology.
While most of the written articles are related to the strategy of solving the possible problems of CMS, we decided to answer the older question: What is a content management system?
In this article, our focus is on the more widely used concept of content management system, and at the end, explanations are provided about the most common problems of organizations and some misconceptions related to this system.
Content management system:
In short, Content Management System (CMS) is a system that is used for simple management of website content.
In general, CMS consists of two elements: the content management application (Control management applicant) which is called CMS for short and the content delivery application (Control delivery applicant) which is called CAD for short.
The CMA element provides the possibility of creating content, applying changes and deleting a certain part of the website content, without the need for special expertise and technical facilities in the field of the web, for website design. As a result, it can be said that using a content management system to create a simple website does not require familiarity with programming languages and does not even require familiarity with HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language).
The CDA element compiles this information and uses it to update the website.
Description of CMS functionality:
The operation of the content management system can be divided into the following sections, which will be explained below:
a) Creating website content
B) site content management
c) Publication of contents
d) Displaying content on the site
a) Creating website content:
In the content management system, a very simple and functional environment has been implemented to easily work with word software. In fact, without the need to have technical knowledge or specialized information or even familiarity with HTML commands, you only need to enter the terms you want.
Also, the content management system allows you to manage the structure of the website pages. For example, which pages should be displayed, or which pages should be linked.
It is also possible to easily copy content (drag-and-drop), without disturbing their structure.
Also, nowadays, most CMSs support the web-based design environment and provide the possibility of remote site content management.
In fact, one of the features that has made CMS popular is the writing environment and simple mechanism for entering site content and simple website maintenance.
B) site content management:
The various pages and related content that are imported are stored in the central core of the CMS. In fact, all the content and settings related to each page are stored there.
Storing all information in a central core creates the following functional features:
1- The ability to track the changes applied to all pages by employees and the date of the last changes
2- Ability to restrict user access to specific pages
3- Integration with existing information sources and IT systems
When a page is created, the page is automatically sent to the administration section and the relevant administrator must approve it. Then it is sent to the review team for final review and finally it is published on the site after the final review and corrections.
By using the content management system, CMS manages the above steps automatically and sends different parts to the relevant persons.
In fact, with this work, the possibility of managing the site by more people will be easily provided, and as a result, the quality, accuracy and stability of the information will be closely monitored.
c) Publication of content on the site:
After the content is prepared and finally approved, you can decide when the content will be displayed on the site.
The content management system includes very powerful publishing engines that allow you to manage the layers and appearance of the site pages when publishing content on the site.
Due to the many designs, CMS provides the possibility to create and change the appearance of the website pages easily according to your taste. In fact, you decide which article will be displayed in which section of the site.
As a result, the CMS will automatically publish the content on the site, and it is enough for you to focus only on the content of the site and then upload the content to your place on the site.
d) Displaying content on the site:
The content management system also provides another feature to increase the quality and effectiveness of the site.
For example, CMS supports the possibility of displaying the site in different browsers. They also provide the possibility of having a dynamic site.
Different scenarios of content management systems:
CMSs have different applications based on the scenarios and goals of individuals or companies. For example, an organization with the acronym AIIM (Association For Information and Image Management) offered two different services, ECM Enterprise Content Management) and WCM (Web Content Management) with different features, which is known today as Wikipedia. to be
In the following, we will describe some practical examples of the concept of CMS:
General and common use of CMS:
The most common use of CMS is the possibility of providing different levels of access to multiple users to manage the content of the site, including information, different sections, application software, etc.
Content management, in fact, in this view, includes creating, changing, publishing, archiving, distributing and sharing information and data.
For example, the following can be managed by the content management system:
1- Create, modify, publish archived pages
2- Create, modify, publish, archive articles
3- Create, modify, publish, archive blogs
4- Manage scheduled tasks
5- Create and view orders, invoices or printable forms
6- View reports, consumption and site statistics
7-Assign different levels of access
Use of other content management systems:
Another use of CMS is similar to WCM (Web Content Management System) provided by AIIM.
In fact, what is meant here by CMS is web-based software that provides the possibility of managing web content for users who do not have basic knowledge of HTML language, with different access levels.
For example, it allows users to create, edit and archive web pages or articles
Concept of ECM / ECMS:
Today, there are different developments of open source content management system software. Some of these developments are suitable for simple and basic functions suitable for small organizations, while other developments have more advanced functions suitable for large and complex organizations, which are called ECM (Enterprise Content Management System).
The concept of ECM / ECMS can be divided into the following three categories:
1- Content management system application software with the ability to save all reports and logs for large organizations and very large content management systems. In fact, ECM provides the necessary infrastructure for the new world of information technology.
2- Application software with multiple features for a large content management system suitable for processes and organizational bodies, its advantage is that for each function, only one general service is available. Thus redundant services, expensive and difficult to obtain similar functions are avoided.
3- Application software with tools and capabilities to manage, store materials and documents in accordance with the trends and processes of the company’s internal organs, ECM is used as a storage resource that combines and stores all the information in the company in one source with a uniform structure. . Redundant, expensive information and associated problems are automatically removed. All applications send their content to a single repository, which in turn provides the required information to all applications.
Therefore, ECM is a set of infrastructure components that adapt to a multi-layered model and include all Document Related Technologies (DRT) for handling, transferring and managing data that is loosely structured.
It is important to note that in this article, the most famous use of CMS, i.e. creating blogs, articles, stores or events, assigning access levels, creating, editing or archiving content in content management, is discussed.
Features of content management systems:
The features of content management systems are very wide and most of these systems include the following features:
1- web-based publishing
2- format manager
3- revision control
4- search
5- Index
6- retrieval
Below is a brief description of each of the above features:
web-based publishing:
The web-based publishing feature provides templates or a set of templates provided by the organization to the users of these organizations. These templates can be considered similar to wizards or similar tools for creating site content or making changes.
formed management:
The feature of structure management (formed management) provides the possibility of converting electronic documents and scanned documents into widely used formats such as HTML or PDF (portable document format) and…
revision control:
The control revision feature provides the possibility of updating the content of the site to newer versions as well as changing the content to older versions. This feature also allows the tracking of any changes made by users in the files and It also provides logs.
Other features:
Another useful feature of CMS is indexing, searching, and information retrieval. The CMS system provides the possibility of indexing all the information of an organization. As a result, users/employees of the organization can extract relevant information from the content management system by searching for the desired terms.
Commercial applications and benefits of using CMS:
Using a content management system has many functions and many advantages. Some of the benefits and uses of CMS in companies are as follows:
1- Simplifying the website design process
2- Spend less time to create new pages or changes
3- More stability
4- Easier navigation of users between different sections
5- Increasing website stability
6- Support for decentralized design
7- More security
8- Avoid using redundant and redundant information
9- Easier growth and development of the Simple Web
10- Reducing site maintenance costs
Beyond all the mentioned things, the most important capability of the content management system (CMS) is to support multiple strategies and goals of organizations in website design. In general, CMS increases the level of customer satisfaction, sells more products, and communicates more with users.
It is also possible that you have already designed a website and with the passage of time you feel the need for fundamental changes in your site. Certainly, in today’s competitive arena, updating the information and updating the website according to the needs of customers is one of the main challenges of different companies.
Due to the fact that over time many of the content of the site has become old and the need for fundamental changes is felt in them, on the other hand, the need for an expert in this field is necessary to review and modify the old content.
Also, in this situation, it will be very difficult to track the old information of the site. For example, if one of the customers has a claim for a petition or revision of the content or a certain form related to the past months or even years, it may put the organization in a difficult situation.
The good news is that you are not the only organization that faces such problems. Most of the companies/organizations that use manual tools such as Dream weaver or Front page to design and implement their website face such problems.
Fortunately, these problems are part of the goals of content management systems that provide organizations with the ability to easily manage and organize information.
In fact, for each page of your website, it provides the complete life cycle from creating content with simple tools, editing content, publishing content on the site to archiving content.
Also, it is possible to manage the structure of the site, change the appearance of published pages and guide users easily with CMS.
Organizations and companies to invest in content management systems, organizations should consider the following two important factors.
The first factor is the size of the organization. Also, the geographical distribution of the organization, especially when the organization has different branches in different cities or countries, is influential in choosing the right system.
Keep in mind that in larger organizations, transferring data and information to the content management system is more complicated and difficult than the current system.
The second factor is the variety of documents and information forms that are used in the organization. If various formats of text documents, graphics, video, audio information and diagrams are used in the organization to transfer information, content management will be much more complicated.
Some misconceptions about CMS:
1- The biggest misconception of the public about CMS is that they think that the use of a content management system is the biggest factor in the success of websites. While the reality is that CMS is used to simplify content management and distribution. The success of a website depends on the quality of content, quality of services, marketing and many other factors.
2- Another common misconception is that using a CMS does not require a website designer or a web expert. In this regard, it should be noted that CMS are open source programs and it is possible to customize it by designers to achieve the goals of organizations. For example, considering that with the Drupal content management system, any type of website can be launched, the launch and related settings require expertise and must be done by the website designers according to the goals of the organizations. be launched
3- Another common mistake in this field is to create an authentic and memorable brand that attracts more visitors. Unfortunately, most web designers do not have enough experience in brand design and most CMS are open source in advance. Do not assume this case and it must be customized by experts.
A goal beyond the web:
In the past, web designers focused on creating HTML pages to integrate the site. Although this is one of the important features of content management systems today, countless other features have been added to CMS. For example, as presented earlier, most systems can provide only one single format, while in CMS, it is possible to provide various formats such as PDF, Microsoft Word, WAP, XML, etc. is.
In the topic of CMS store builders, thousands of powerful content management systems with multiple capabilities can be mentioned.
Our recommendation is to spend enough time to determine the needs of the company and then carefully evaluate the products and the way they are offered based on the needs of the company.
Each company will use the content management system in a relevant way based on the requirements and the type of products it offers. In fact, it is practically impossible to integrate these systems and provide a single solution for all companies.
Conclusion:
Considering the countless advantages, simplicity and growing use of open source content management systems, choosing the best and most suitable system for the growing development of your activity on the Internet and internal networks is of particular importance.
By spending enough time and resources to choose the best content management system, you will be sure that you have chosen the most suitable content management system.
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