WHAT IS A SOFTWARE?
Software is a collection of instructions and data that tell a computer how to work. This is in contrast to physical hardware, from which the system is built and actually performs the work
Software is a set of instructions, data or programs used to operate computers and execute specific tasks. It is the opposite of hardware, which describes the physical aspects of a computer. Software is a generic term used to refer to applications, scripts and programs that run on a device. It can be thought of as the variable part of a computer, while hardware is the invariable part.
The two main categories of software are application software and system software. An application is software that fulfills a specific need or performs tasks. System software is designed to run a computer’s hardware and provides a platform for applications to run on top of.
WHAT ARE CONTENT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARES
A content management system is a computer software used to manage the creation and modification of digital content. A CMS is typically used for enterprise content management and web content management.
A content management system, often abbreviated as CMS, is software that helps users create, manage, and modify content on a website without the need for specialized technical knowledge.
In simpler language, a content management system is a tool that helps you build a website without needing to write all the code from scratch (or even know how to code at all).
Instead of building your own system for creating web pages, storing images, and other functions, the content management system handles all that basic infrastructure stuff for you so that you can focus on more forward-facing parts of your website.
1.Definition of content management systems
2.How does a content management systwem work?
3.Whch is the most popular content management system or software?
4..Advantages of content management systems
HOW DOES CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM WORKS?
To give you an idea of how a content management system works, we’re going to take a whirlwind tour of the WordPress interface WordPress a good example of a content management system).
Let’s start with creating a piece of content. Without a content management system, you’d need to write a static HTML File and folder upload it to your server (sounds complicated, right?).
With a content management system like WordPress, you can just write your content in an interface that looks a good bit like Microsoft Word:
How you create content with the WordPress content management system
That’s a lot simpler, right?
Similarly, to upload and manage media, like images, you can just browse the media library instead of needing to actually interact with your web server directly:
How you manage images and other media with a content management system
The content management system isn’t just a backend management interface, though. It also makes all of the content that you create show up for your visitors exactly like you want it to.
What Makes up a Content Management System?
On a more technical level, a content management system is made up of two core parts:
- A content management application (CMA) – this is the part that allows you to actually add and manage content on your site (like you saw above).
- A content delivery application (CDA) – this is the backend, behind-the-scenes process that takes the content you input in the CMA, stores it properly, and makes it visible to your visitors.
Together, the two systems make it easy to maintain your website.
What are the five most popular content management systems in use today?
The 10 Most Popular CMS Platforms
- WordPress (28+ Million Live Websites) Further reading: How to build a website using WordPress. …
- Wix (Paid) …
- Squarespace (Paid) …
- Joomla! …
- Shopify (1.8+ Million Live Websites) …
- Progress Sitefinity (Paid) …
- GoDaddy Website Builder (Paid) …
- Weebly (Paid)
ADVANTAGES OF CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
- 1) Keeps control intact. CMS tools provide total control over the website content & design written in the site. …
- 2) Modular Development. …
- 3) Contents looks Fresh. …
- 4) Numerous Pages & Features. …
- 5) Supports multiple Users. …
- 6) Security. …
- 7) Updates & Upgrades. …
- 8) Improved Customer Service.
The Disadvantage of a Content Management System
I previously discussed the benefits of using a Content Management System for your business. You should also know when it’s better to build a static site instead.
Let’s look at some of the disadvantages of a CMS Site:
1. Contains hundreds of files
A site that contains many files leaves itself open to errors. For example a client updating the site may create errors (i.e. inserting images that are too large, inserting flash, javascript, video files) that result in substantially altering the design of the template.
It may take the designer many hours to find the cause of the error. He may have to go back to redesigning the original site especially if the files were not backed up. This will cause much frustration for the site owner because his site will be offline. He may lose all the files he has created thus losing his customers and having to spend money again to fix the errors.
A static site only contains a few files that can easily be corrected for errors.
2. Limited flexibility in design
CMS sites primarily use templates for design. They are easy to recognize because they have a standard format i.e. 2 or 3 column design with boxes placed in various positions to accommodate the content.
The designer must stay within the confines of this type of template therefore he is limited in the flexibility and uniqueness of design that can reflect his business.
3. Limited SEO of web pages
The web pages of a CMS site are generated dynamically. This often means the URLS of the web pages contain long strings that are a combination of words, numbers and/or symbols. Search engines have a difficult time spidering these types of pages. Not all web designers will care to edit the code to make the CMS site search engine compatible.
Meta tags (a necessity for obtaining good rankings) are also often left out of dynamically produced pages.
Duplicate content can easily occur in CMS sites because it may use several style sheets to produce the same content i.e.
print style sheet plus the standard design style sheet.
If the CMS site contains a blog the content may be duplicated by appearing on the front age, in the archives, in the printed version and in the syndicated content.
4. SEO Maintenance
Since CMS sites often contain hundreds of pages it may be difficult to optimize them. For example it will take a long time to
change the keywords in the copy and meta tags for that many pages. Keywords for web pages need to be refined and altered
to keep pace with the changing demographics of peoples’ searches.
5. Slow loading
Because a CMS site is database driven you need to wait for the pages to be processed by the server. Since there are hundreds of pages they may be slow to load. This will cause you to lose visitors as most internet users have a short attention span. A site should only take a few seconds to load.
A CMS site on a slow server or on a server that includes many other sites will make also take a long time to load.
A static site that is built using CSS (cascading style sheets) and doesn’t use lots of tables in its design will load much faster than a CMS site.
6. Expensive design
CMS sites cost a lot more to design than static sites because a designer has to install and configure the database, design the
template, then customize it to include all the extensions i.e. menus, polls, banners, forms etc.
It will also require extensive testing to check for errors, browser compatibility and screen resolution.
Finally the designer needs to explain to the client how to manage the web site from the control panel i.e. add content, grant permissions to different authors etc. The web designer must include charges for time spent with the client on how to
administer the CMS site.
7. Maintenance costs
- What if your CMS site suddenly produces errors?
- As the owner of the site are you making constant backups in case the site goes down?
- What will you do if your database server fails?
- If not, is your designer doing the backups for you?
- How will you know if your designer is still around should your site go offline?
These are just some of the questions you should ask yourself when considering a CMS site for your business.
Conclusion
Before considering a CMS site for your business, determine what your needs are. If you are a small organization or business that needs less than a hundred pages consider building a static site instead.
If you are a large organization or business that will have hundreds or thousands of pages that need to be added or updated frequently with multiple authors, consider creating a CMS site.
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