A content management system is a website that allows the owner or designated user(s) to be able to update the information on the website. It is used to manage and control a large, dynamic collection of web material (HTML documents and their associated images). A CMS facilitates content creation, content control, editing, and many essential web maintenance functions from a backend administration panel.

You will be provided tools which are designed to allow users with little or no knowledge of programming languages or markup languages to create and manage content with relative ease of use.

A Content Management System (CMS) differs from website builders like Microsoft FrontPage or Adobe Dreamweaver. A CMS allows non-technical users to make changes to an existing website with little or no training.

Are you an audible/visual learner?  Watch our online video to learn and understand the benefits of a Content Management System presented by Web Developer, Carole Galassi. Click here to read about CMS in our blog.

Here are some key features in our CMS websites:

Automated templates
Create standard visual templates that can be automatically applied to new and existing content, creating one central place to change that look across a group of content on a site.

Easily editable content
Once your content is separate from the visual presentation of your site, it usually becomes much easier and quicker to edit and manipulate. Most CMS software include WYSIWYG editing tools allowing non-technical individuals to create and edit content.

Workflow management
Workflow is the process of creating cycles of sequential and parallel tasks that must be accomplished in the CMS. For example, a content creator submits a story but it's not published on the website until the copy editor cleans it up, and the editor-in-chief approves it.

Document management
CMS solutions may provide a means of managing the life cycle of a document from initial creation time, through revisions, publication, archive, and document destruction.

Content virtualization
CMS systems may provide a means of allowing each user to work within a virtual copy of the entire website, document set, and/or code base. This enables changes to multiple interdependent resources to be viewed and/or executed in-context prior to submission.