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CMS 101: Intro to Content Management Systems Tech4Good Denver | 5.21.14. Agenda. What is a CMS? Common features Best practices How to choose. What is a CMS (Content M anagement System)? .
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CMS 101: Intro to Content Management Systems Tech4Good Denver | 5.21.14
Agenda • What is a CMS? • Common features • Best practices • How to choose
What is a CMS (Content Management System)? A CMS is a web application that allows non-technical users to add, edit, and manage the content on their website. Content = text, images, graphics, video, sound, documents, etc.
What it means for you The goal of a CMS is to provide an intuitive user interface for building and modifying web page content. This means that you can make changes to your site’s content without needing a developer or someone who understands HTML code!
Common features Publishing Revision control User management Media management Moderation Reporting and submissions Plug-ins Themes
Tips and best practices • WYSIWYG: What you see is what you get • Avoid copying and pasting from Word • Open external links in a new tab • Metadata: Fill in the titles, keywords, and descriptions for search engine optimization • Actually use your CMS!
First step to selecting a solution • What do you need? • What is important to your business? • What do you want to maintain control over? • How often do you need to make changes? • How often do you want to refresh your look and feel?
How to choose • Open source: • Built and maintained by groups of interested people all over the world. • The source code is available to all, so anyone can modify the code and create new functionality. • Proprietary: • Built and maintained by one company. • They typically don’t allow access to the source code.
Open source benefits • Generally quick and affordable up-front • Wisdom of the crowd: Larger developer user base and community • Also large groups of people who can help you customize your product • Often easier to port your content to a new system down the road • Well-funded systems often have a lot of great features built in
Open source cons • More generically created and designed based on a wide array of needs. Not as customized to your specific needs. • System upgrades can be harder because open source systems have to support old versions. This also means that they may not have the latest in best coding practices. • Pick one that is unlikely to lose public favor anytime soon. • Security risks
Proprietarybenefits • The potential for a fully customized CMS based on your individual needs • The CMS can be structured around your specific business needs: unique content, design, etc. • We suggest having access to the team that knows the CMS code inside and out, because they wrote the original code and can provide the best solution for you. • Less security risks
Proprietarycons • Cost is generally higher • You must be comfortable with the company behind them. • They must have the size and expertise to keep your website running and be able to invest in the continual development of the product.
Open source Proprietary • If you need a standard site with several pages of “typical” content • If you have a smaller budget • If you need customization based around your content Either way Make sure you have ownership and access to design and content