Content Management System (CMS)

A content management system (CMS) is an application or set of integrated software services that can be used to manage or create content in the digital form. CMS is generally used for enterprise and web. In the enterprise it facilitates collaboration in the organization by throwing together document management, digital asset management and other type of records holding features, and providing end users with role-based access to the organization’s digital assets. On the web a CMS facilitates collaborative authoring for websites. Enterprise software often includes a web publishing feature, but enterprise webpages normally remain inside the company firewall.

Both these content management systems have two components : a management and a delivery component. The management component is a graphical user interface (GUI) that permits the operators to manage the design, generation, change and archival of content from a website without needing to know anything about programming or coding. The delivery component provides the back-end services that support management and delivery of the content once it has been created in the management component.

Features of any CMS

- Features can vary amongst the various CMS offerings, but the core functions are often considered to be indexing, search and retrieval, format management, revision control and publishing.
- Intuitive indexing, search and retrieval features index all data for easy access through search functions and allow users to search by attributes such as publication dates, keywords or author.
- Format management facilitates turn scanned paper documents and legacy electronic documents into HTML or PDF documents.
- Revision features allow content to be updated and edited after initial publication. Revision control also tracks any changes made to files by individuals.
- Publishing functionality allows individuals to use a template or a set of templates approved by the organization, as well as wizards and other tools to create or modify content.

A CMS may also provide tools for one-to-one marketing. One-to-one marketing is the ability of a website to tailor its content and advertising to a user’s specific characteristics using information provided by the user or gathered by the site — for instance, a particular user’s page sequence pattern. For example, if the user visited a search engine and searched for digital camera, the advertising banners would feature businesses that sell digital cameras instead of businesses that sell garden products.

SEO-friendly URLs Integrated and online help, including discussion boards
Group-based permission systems
Full template support and customizable templates
Easy wizard-based install and versioning procedures
Admin panel with multiple language support
Content hierarchy with unlimited depth and size
Minimal server requirements
Integrated file managers
Integrated audit logs

About the Author

Jiju Thomas Mathew

Jiju is a core technology evaluator and an active participant of the FOSS world. During his 30 years of career, he has implemented combinations of Free and Open Source Software to multiple walks of life, which includes Publishing, Information Technology and Cloud.