Content Management Systems

Content management systems are used to administer content on websites and intranets.  CMS assist in the creation, management, distribution, publishing, and discovery of organizational information in a strategic way. 

"OK - enough of the academic speak.  Talk to me in terms in which I can relate!"

Let's look at content management systems using several case studies which will illustrate why a CMS should be part of your organization information stategy.

Case #1 - Updating Content

Help The Helpless (HTH) hired a web designer to develop their web presence.  The result was a stunning site full of well organized wonderful content.  The Director was pleased, the Board impressed, and the overall HTH community was happy.  This state of bliss lasted for several months. 

Then, like all websites, content need to be updated.  Ava, the new staff member in charge of web communications was ask to update the page listing Board Members on the site.  Lucky for Ava, she was given a WYSIWYG web page editor already configured to retrieve and update files on HTH's web host's servers.  (For many organizations, just getting the files to edit is a task in itself.)  After Ava opened the Board Members' page, she made her edits but in the process of removing one member's name, the whole navigation bar disappeared.

Had HTH used a content management system, the page content (i.e. the list of Board Members) would have been stored separately from other page elements like the navigation bar.  Using the CMS, she would have just pull up the Board Members and updated the list.  The new content would have automatically been correctly placed on the web page. 

In the old days (pre-CMS), web pages were considered as whole entities, just like a Word document.  If you want to change one part of the document, you need the whole thing.  A CMS separates the parts of a web page into individual blocks and gives content managers easy access to updating certain blocks while protecting other blocks from those The problem is The key here is how the CMS separates part of a web the content

A key requirement solved by a content management system is that people need a really easy way to manage and categorise their content. So if you write an article about a project your company has just finished you can store it under “Projects”. If its about a new member of staff then it can be filed under “Staff”. A good CMS is something your grandmother could understand and run.

Ava, the new staff member in charge of web communications was asked to add a notice about HTH's upcoming fundraising event - Walk for the Wanting.  Ava