Instead of creating and saving the same information continually throughout your website, a CMS allows you to write it once and have the website work out how to include that content whenever it is needed. A CMS displays web pages by selecting the relevant elements and piecing them together in the right configuration. For example, if the top of every page is going to feature the same business logo, menu items and contact details, you shouldn’t need to repeat this information in each page file. Instead, the information that forms this part of the page would be stored in a single, separate file and each page file would contain an instruction to include this information in the right spot. Each page is therefore assembled in the web browser like a jigsaw; header from that file, footer from over there, images from there, copy from there – and so on. You only ever need to wr
A content management is an application that supports the creation and modification of digital content using a common user interface and thus usually supporting multiple users working in a collaborative environment.
Content Management features vary widely. Most of them include Web-based publishing, format management, editing videos, images, audio and creating flash files. By their nature, content management support the separation of content and presentation.
Such a content management typically has two major components:
- A content management application end user interface that allows a user, even with limited expertise, to add, modify and remove content
- A content delivery application (CDA) compiles that information and updates the Web site.
Digital asset management systems are another type of Content management. They manage such things as documents, movies, pictures and RSS feeds. Content management can also be used for storing, controlling, revising, and publishing documentation.
Let’s have a look at some of the prime reasons you need to be thinking about content management.
Easy administration
Too many business owners spend hours updating their website manually every time a customer buys something. How many products do you have? One? Ten? Five hundred? It can begin to overtake more important areas of your business when you find yourself frantically trying to type ‘out of stock’ onto the relevant pages before anyone else tries to submit an order. And then there are price changes, new stock listings, images to be added.
Online stores require constant administration, which is why most use a content management system (CMS) designed specifically for the purpose. Online stores aren’t the only websites that benefit from using a CMS. All sites that require regular content updates – blogs, news sites or any site more than a few pages – can either benefit from, or can’t survive without, a CMS.
Yet there is an even stronger reason for small business owners to consider using a CMS, even for small sites: ease of use.
How does content management work?
Instead of creating and saving the same information continually throughout your system, a CMS allows you to write it once and have your system work out how to include that content whenever it is needed. A CMS helps selecting the relevant elements and piecing them together in the right configuration. For example, if the top of every page is going to feature the same business logo, menu items and contact details, you shouldn’t need to repeat this information in each page file. Instead, the information that forms this part of the page would be stored in a single, separate file and each page file would contain an instruction to include this information in the right spot. Each content is therefore assembled in the database like a jigsaw; one just needs copy from there and use it wherever they want to – and so on.
There are many benefits of working like this.
- Your memory takes up less space and requires less data by reducing repetition.
- Should an element need to be changed, you only need to edit one file. Change a product price in the right place and, once saved and published, the entire area reflects the change instantaneously.
- New elements can be created very quickly as many of the elements already exist. Only the fresh elements, such as specific content or images, need to be created.
Each of the elements required to be displayed is stored in a database, housed on the server. Like any database, this is merely a structured collection of information, organised for easy access by the CMS. Databases can be created on the server for most hosting accounts and are merely a way of storing all this information in pieces, ready to be called up and assembled. A CMS allows you to create and control these pieces, invisibly converting your words and images into code and storing them in the database.
iteeach of these files into the CMS once and they appear wherever in the site they are instructed to. There are many benefits of working like this.
• Your website takes up less space and requires less data by reducing repetition.
• Should an element need to be changed, you only need to edit one file. Change a product price in the right place and, once saved and published, the entire site reflects the change instantaneously.
• New pages can be created very quickly as many of the elements already exist. Only the fresh elements, such as specific content or images, need to be created. Each of the elements required to build the website is stored in a database, housed on the server.
Like any database, this is merely a structured collection of information, organised for easy access by the CMS. Databases can be created on the server for most hosting accounts and are merely a way of storing all this information in pieces, ready to be called up and assembled. A CMS allows you to create and control these pieces, invisibly converting your words and images into code and storing them in the database.
