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Content management is becoming more important these days as sites grow larger. Using content management software has been the solution for handling large content driven sites.

Content Management Software

What is content management software? Quite simply it is software that allows even the non-technical to update a website in the same way someone uses MS Word. Often referred to as CMS, content management software has a front end and a back end. The front end is what the website visitor sees...the content of the site. The backend is where the magic happens. When content management software is installed an administrator is assigned. The backend most always requires a user name and password to enter. This security function helps to protect your content. The backend is where the content is added, and the functions of the site can be altered. One of the most important fuctions is the templating system used by the software. This is where to look and feel of the site is created. This will usually include editing an HTML template and placing snippets of code in the template. It will also require editing some sort of cascading style sheet. The greatest benefit of this template system is the fact that you can make site wide changes to the look and feel of the site without having to edit every individual page. Imagine changing the template on over 400 static pages....GGGRRR.

If you decide to use a community / portal type of content manager the admin area will have controls for things like link directories, image galleries, news area, FAQs area, and maybe a downloads area. Regardless of your needs these features usually can be turned on or off to fit your needs.

Adding Content

As mentioned before the most important reason for using a CMS is to easily add content. Large business websites might have a few different people that contribute to its website. Along with an administrator, Super-user log ins can be assigned with different levels of access. An example would be a person the works in the HR department might need to post jobs available on the site. A Super-user account can be set up for that person that will only allow them to edit the jobs area. This fuction allows different people different levels of access to the backend, and relieves some of the burden placed on the Administrator.

Most CMS have a WYSIWYG editor built into the back end. This is used to add the content to the site. Most WYSIWYG editors work similarly to word processing software. Along with the ability to input your text, there are features like bolding, italicizing, and underlining text, adding hyperlinks and adding images. If you have knowledge of HTML some WYSIWYG editors will have a toggle mode to allow the user to the HTML and edit it if they choose.

Along with adding and editing content the admin can also turn off or delete old content. Some content managers will have an archieve section that will let you place some of the old content into it, so that it can still be viewed instead of deleted completely..

Are You Ready for Content Management Software?

In the early days of CMS one of the biggest pitfalls was the the urls generated by the software were not search engine friendly. At the time most search engines could not index urls that contained "?" (often a result of dynamically generated pages). Nowadays programmers have stepped things up to allow the web server to rewrite these urls to allow search engines to index all the pages of the site. With that aside all there is to do now is enjoy the ease associated with using content management software to power your website.

About the Author

Adem Martin del Campo is the owner of Template Hunter.
If you are interested in having a content manager installed for your site feel free to visit Adem's Web Design site for a Free Quote
http://www.graphicwebdesign.net/contact.html