What is a Content Management System (CMS)?
A content management system (CMS) is a computer application for the creation and management of information. The most common type of CMS application is web-based publishing, such as a blog, that includes the capability to create and publish information on a website. While the term CMS is most frequently used to refer to web-based applications, any software that supports the creating and management of information is considered a CMS. For now, let's look at web-based CMS applications.
Two parts to every CMS
A CMS application usually has two primary functions. The first is the capability for the user to create and add information. Since this is a computer application, all of the information is in the form of computer, or digital files and the information is commonly referred to as “digital content.” Digital content can be a text file, photo, illustration, maps, video, audio or another type of computer file.
The user of the CMS creates the content using their preferred computer applications (such a word processor to create text), then publishes the digital file to the CMS using features included in the CMS software for adding content. Files are added to a built-in database which keeps the digital content available for the second function of the CMS to use.
The second part of the CMS application handles the display and delivery of the digital content. Features in the CMS application include ways to create and manage the appearance of the web pages in a consistent manner with a template. These formatting tools apply the template design selected by the website manager anytime a page is displayed and pulls text, photos, videos, or other digital content files from the database.
With a CMS, the way the content appears on the webpage is independent of the way it's stored in the database. This separation of content and delivery is one of the most powerful capabilities of content management systems and why they are used as the software to power what is estimated to be more than 50% of websites on the Internet.
Why are they useful
Content management systems give website owners the capability to create a design for their entire site once, then let the software do the work to display the content depending on what the reader wants to see.
In older website design applications, the content and design of every web page are in one file. As a result, changing anything on a page requires a person to modify the appearance and content on that page. Adding new pages takes more time also.
To add a page, a new file that includes the content plus the layout coding is created. The requirement for a site owner to create a new file with all of the coding and content makes adding content time-consuming and requires more technical staff.
Instead, with a CMS, once the template for the design is created, the software takes care of building and formatting every web page, pulling the digital content from the database and displaying it. Having the digital content in a database makes it makes it possible for the software to do some other things, like manage the content, which is one reason why this type of application is called a content management system. So what 's managed?
Since each piece of content, like a photo or text file, is a file in the CMS database, it's possible to use database features such as search and sort to manage the digital content. Typical CMS features include the ability to place a search option on the template to give users the ability to find content by a word or phrase.
Other standard features of a CMS give the site owner the ability to keep track of the date the content is added or modified, and if there are multiple authors using the CMS, which author created or edited the content.
In addition to standard features included with a CMS application out-of-the box, most CMS applications allow customization and the use of add-ons for additional features such as shopping carts or discussion groups. This add-on capability gives CMS based sites the ability to grow and expand as the owner's needs change.
Another type of CMS
While web-based CMS applications are the most common, any software that supports the two features, adding content and delivering it, is considered a CMS. Digital Asset Management systems are a type of CMS that might be used to store and retrieve an e-book library, a movie database, or company-eternal documentation. Some of these are tailored for specific industries, such as architecture, law-enforcement, or company manuals. Since much of our paper-document based information is in a digital format now, content management systems are used in many ways.
To my way of thinking
Content management systems make adding content easier, offer the ability to fret websites ranging from simple to sophisticated and give the site creator an application that requires little or no programming skill. Whether you own a website, want to create one, or are just curious about what the term means, CMS makes the web a richer place for discovery.