Content Management System
A Content Management System (CMS) is a system for creating web content that allows the editor to maintain and manage content independently of the source code. No programming knowledge of the editor is required, since editing is done in a special WYSIWYG-editor. With an access administration, several users are able to work in the system. The most well known representatives of open source CMS are WordPress, TYPO3, Drupal and Joomla. The web application Magento also contains a CMS. Content management systems can be available both for a fee and free of charge.
Function
A content management system can perform a number of functions to enable website operators or authors to create a website quickly and easily.
Website structure
In CM systems, it is possible to create a website structure relatively trivially. Directories and folders can be easily managed and organized in the backend. Creating and deleting web page folders does not require any special knowledge. A CM system usually updates itself dynamically.
Editing
The content is edited with a rich text editor, which provides all formatting options with a WYSIWYG tool. In addition, the tool ensures the integration of multimedia content and dynamic image processing. This makes it easy to insert videos, images and other interactive content.
Design and templates
Another function enables the user of a CM system to display designs, templates and CSS without great effort. The separation of the development environment and the editorial area makes it easy to create designs and templates.
Hosting
Content management systems support most hosting service providers that offer PHP and MySQL. The users of a CMS only need a browser to work in backend administration. In addition, an access system makes it easy to manage uploads and maintain document files.
API
The use of APIs in a CMS framework makes it possible to extend the existing functionalities and develop new types of content elements in a very flexible way. There are many communities on the internet for the extension of content management systems, especially for open source solutions such as Typo 3.
Conclusion
Content management systems have many advantages over a "handmade" internet presence. As a rule, CM systems are very easy to handle and usually require less development effort than self-programmed solutions. This helps webmasters without programming knowledge. The numerous pre-defined functions, such as captchas, make it very easy to create websites, and customize them to suit the target group.