The content management system

Subscribe To This Site

What is a content management system and how is it used?

A full description of a content management system (or CMS for short) can be found in Wikipedia , but basically it�s used to create, edit, manage, and publish website content in a consistently organized manner.

You should use a content management system if you�re going to be writing a lot of pages, or if several people want to write pages on the same site, and you want it to have RSS feeds and be easily searched by users.

It's also excellent if you don't like coding work.

Once installed, it's a bit like using a simple word processor to create an article ... you just write and publish.

It�s particularly useful if lots of people will have access, some limited and some at administrator level.

I�d recommend it for school, small business and club websites, but would suggest considering a straightforward blog if it�s just you going to be adding articles for the benefit of others.

What's available?

There are many content management systems available and although I won't go into detail about all of them on this page, here's a top 5 list that you should check out:

Mambo
Joomla
E107
Wordpress
Drupal

By the way, did I mention that these packages are free?

Big organizations spend millions of pounds developing their own content management systems, but some of the best are available on the web, free of charge.

Mambo vs Joomla

Mambo and Joomla are probably two of the best known and best supported content management systems available on the web.

They are both very similar in terms of what they do, though Mambo is the older of the two.

Joomla is an offshoot of the original Mambo project so they come from the same core, they've just developed differently over time.

Both are excellent CMS systems, have large support communities and are widely used on the net.

The winner is?

I have personally opted to use Mambo only because I get on with it better.

Here's a list of reasons I like it, but to be fair, most of these points are true for Joomla too:

It�s incredibly easy to use

It has a brilliant support network via the forums

It�s easy to train other people to use it if you�re making sites for them

It�s easy to upgrade

I�m happy with the straightforward solution to site security � you simply tick a checkbox to make your key configuration file unwriteable by others

It has loads of templates available

There are plenty of add-ons available

You can create your pages via HTML or WYSIWYG, and bolt of a variety of WYSIWYG editors into the bargain �

It uses a �banners� system which allows you to manage and move around your ad campaigns

It has a search system built in

It has an integrated passwords system, with password reminders and auto-authentication included

You can give users different levels of access to the site, so some can just write features, but others have the permissions to publish them.

More than Mambo (or Joomla)? Try E107 ...

Most of the time, Mambo and Joomla are absolutely fine, but on many of my other websites I�ve bolted in additional services like a forum or a photo gallery and to do this I�ve had to use a different bit of kit, like SMF for the forums and Flickr for the galleries.

The simple joy of E107 is that it incorporates a content management system, photo gallery and forum all in the same bit of kit � so you can administrate the whole thing via one admin interface and from a usability point-of-view your users only need one login to access the lot.

In addition, it comes with a great list of add-ons which are incredibly easy to install � such as Skype widgets and Captcha authenication, a vast range of extra theme templates and so on.

You'll read and find much less about E107 on the web than Mambo and Joomla, but if I�d known about E107 earlier in my web-making career I�d have seriously considered using it for some of my personal websites

So, if you�re getting into CMS and you want a fully integrated system, so take E107 out for a whirl � it�s a very impressive bit of kit.

Techie alert!

A word of warning about the content management systems on this page - they all use php and MySQL databases and installation is not for the novice webmaster.

However Mambo and Joomla are available via Fantastico which allows you to install the scripts and databases extremely easily, and update the software with great ease.

Also, Mambo and Joomla can be installed for a minimal cost (or free with hosting) via siteground.com which specializes in hosting for a few key Open Source products.

Unfortunately, E107 is not available via Fantastico, so it's best installed by someone who knows what they're doing.

CMS reviewed

You should definitely take a look around the CMS options available before you decide how you're going to create your home internet business website.

You should also look out for Wordpress which is, in my opinion, the best CMS tool for a basic website.

It's actually a blogging tool, and a very good one at that, but that doesn't mean that it can't be used as a basic CMS website.

There's more to come on Wordpress in the 'How to blog' section, but in the meantime do make sure you take Mambo, Joomla and E107 for a test drive.

Return from Content management system to How to make a website

Return from Content management system to Home Internet Businesses homepage