What is a Web Content Management System (CMS)?
A Web CMS is a database of information combined with a series of templates (designed by a web designer) which are used to create or edit internet pages as required.
Once the overall website design has been created, the end user has complete control over the content that is displayed. No specialist knowledge of web design technology is required. Users simply log in to their own password protected online administration pages and update the content of their website themselves, using a simple system similar to standard word processing software.
Example Screenshot:
The Benefits of using a Web CMS:
Web pages can be created or edited quickly and easily, by the user, with no additional design costs.
You can work from anywhere with an internet connection
Common features of Web CMS are:
- Standard web pages
- News Articles
- Contact Forms
- Image Galleries
- Forums
- Blogs
- Online Shops/e-Commerce
- Private membership areas
Almost every internet application can be managed using content management systems.
Which CMS to use?
There are a wide variety of different Content Management Systems currently available and it can be difficult for non-specialists to choose the most appropriate system. There are four main factors to take into account:
- Features required
- Price
- Reliability
- Availability of support
EmmsIT use eZ Publish for our own website and recommend it to our customers. The eZ system provides a powerful, flexible Open Source Content Management System, fully supported by a community of dedicated developers, with a range of additional support and maintenance agreements also available.
Recent eZ Publish Clients
The Papal Visit website - The Official Catholic Church site for the visit of the pope designed for very high levels of traffic (potentially millions of visitors a day) with multimedia content and community interaction. eZ Publish allows the use of multiple servers and works very well with systems to deal with periods of very high demand.
A community website for a village - with contributors from the community, using eZ Publish to add content, including the Parish Council, the Residents Association and Neighbourhood watch
An eZ Publish content managed site integrating content from blogspot.com for The R Consultancy a Reputation Management Company based in the North West but serving the whole of the UK
Tenants Tips approached us to complete their partly built eZ Publish website and to build a Paypal Pro extension for eZ Publish. In addition to this other extension work for DAO Pay and Oodle was undertaken.
VET approached us to modify their existing eZ Publish website - making substantial changes to the way the site operated and upgrading to a newer version of eZ publish.
A website for a choral society which employs export functions allowing mailing of registered users for promotion of concerts