web hosting

The CMS Drives the Hosting Industry

Considering the opportunities the internet offers and heavy competition across multiple industries, the simple website that may have sufficed years ago is no loner enough for today’s online business owner.  As content is the major key to generating traffic, the CMS has become one of the hottest commodities in the web hosting business.

More commonly known as a CMS, a content management system is a type of software used to create, edit and manage content on a website.  These robust systems enable processes and workflows to be streamlined and typically involve the organization, categorization and structuring of information.  This technology allows you to store content as entire documents or configurable components, all while maintaining the links in between, making the CMS is great tool for search engine optimization.  Most systems enable the complete control of a website from working with scripting languages and building pages to managing files and actual programs.

Years ago, most web hosting companies only granted their clients with access to areas that permitted them to upload content to the server.  Rarely did they provide a means for controlling management and the structuring of data.  Even corporate users were limited as the tools provided didn’t allow them to monitor what changes had been made to their sites and who made the alterations.  With a CMS, users are fully equipped with tools that offer extensive control over the management functions of their website and all of its content.

Due to mass popularity, web hosting customers with a large amount of content now have various options for implementing content management systems.  With the development of open-source solutions, providers are offering these programs for next to nothing as a part of their monthly hosting plans.  Some of the options you will commonly find are Joomla, Drupal, PHP-Nuke, Mambo and Xoops to name a few.  Here are some other choices on the market:

OpenCMS

Hence the name, OpenCMS is an open source content management freely available to developers and users.  This software is preferred by many small to medium sized businesses as it enables them to create highly customized sites with interactive functionality.  OpenCMS supports a number of web-based programing languages including PHP, XML, Java, JSP and several others.

Microsoft Content Management Server

The Microsoft CMS is more suited for larger enterprises.  This system offers transparent content management and integration along with data transformation and syndication, all of which seamlessly combine various information and business processes.  The Microsoft solution is more advanced than most open-source packages as it has the ability to present information based on the customer’s needs.  The major difference between the Content Management Server and other systems is that it is a Microsoft commercial product, and therefore more expensive.

Regardless of what your requirements are, there is sure to be a CMS out there for you.  These programs go far beyond the basic tools offered by a provider and have the power to transform your site into an interactive, user-friendly platform.  As nearly every host is offering some type of system, it’s safe to say that the CMS is a driving force in the web hosting industry.

Joomla or Drupal? Which CMS is for You?

Many people have turned to the CMS to build and manage their dynamic sites.  When it comes to content management systems, there are several to choose from, but two are compared more than any others: Joomla and Drupal.  Joomla is a fork from the original Mambo CMS while Drupal began as a bulletin board system.  Both are widely used and considered as two of the best on the market.  So which one is right for your site?  Lets see what they have to offer.

Far from the Average

Both Joomla and Drupal are robust systems, meaning they are geared for complex applications and steep requirements.  For this reason, anyone with a small business or site would get more benefit out of a system such as CMS Made Simple or Website Baker.   What sets Joomla and Drupal apart from these small, simple systems is that they offer a greater level of flexibility but are also more complicated.  Both will grant you with extensive administrative capabilities including authoring, editing and the ability to grant privileges to others.  Anyone with a bit of knowledge of web-based programming languages can get by with a little training.

Joomla

While there are a few similarities, the differences set these two systems apart by far.  Joomla is perhaps most known for its plethora of templates and ability to handle complex layouts.  The software lets you arrange content in various locations, capable of creating a number of different looks from a single layout.  However, because the HTML generated isn’t always the cleanest, this freedom could make your content difficult to management.  Joomla designed pages also tend to load slower as the system makes a number of requests to the server.  Additionally, one of the biggest complaints from the user community is that it isn’t as search engine friendly as other systems.

Despite the drawbacks, Joomla works well and is responsible for some of the best sites on the internet.  With an active community, improvements are constantly being made along with numerous add-ons that increase the program’s value.  Many of these modules are templates which give you more options for enhancing the presentation of your site.

Drupal

The programming functionality of Drupal enables it to handle the complex layout issues you would encounter with Joomla.  Unlike like its competitor, the code generates clean and the pages load very quickly.  Additionally, Drupal is one of the most search engine friendly systems right out of the box.  This software goes beyond the average portal as it is extremely flexible and can be customized to suite your needs.  At the same time, its flexibility is heavily tied with technical jargon and complex coding that can leave the beginner stomped.  Apart from being more challenging, Drupal is an elegant system capable of doing much for your website.  Learning how to master this CMS is worth the frustration.

The downside to Joomla and Drupal are one in the same – coding.  Anyone without basic knowledge of CSS and HTML cold have a very hard time.  Because PHP programming and the MySQL database play a major role, learning about these technologies wouldn’t hurt either.

If you can walk the steep learning curve, you will have the power to build several feature-rich sites that appeal to your visitors.

The Wonderful of Mambo

If you are planning on creating a large, content-rich site, you just may need a CMS to make it a success.  One content management system that can take your website to a new level is an extensive software program called Mambo.  Perhaps you have heard of Mambo, maybe you haven’t.  One thing is for certain – you have definitely visited a website running on the Mambo platform.

Mambo – More than a dance

Mambo is a fully loaded CMS that allows you to create and administer powerful web-based applications and websites.  The software is very comprehensive and can be an invaluable development tool for beginners and veterans alike.  There are many things you can do with the Mambo CMS.  A recent survey conducted on the Mambo homepage revealed that its most common use is to create blogs and personal sites.  This is no surprise as blogs have exploded to become one of the fastest growing phenomenons on the web.  Other common uses include portals, online communities and e-commerce sites.

One of Mambo’s greatest attributes is that it doesn’t require you to have any knowledge of HTML coding to build or manage your site.  This software provides a user-friendly interface, offering a simple point-and-click feature that makes it simple enough for the most inexperienced webmaster to comprehend.  Instead of freehand coding your pages, Mambo does it automatically.  All you have to do is configure and manage your content from the intuitive Administrative Panel.  Despite its simplicity, Mambo is very capable and loaded with useful features.  You can instantly change the appearance of your site with a number of built-in templates, manage databases and even implement polls and surveys.  With this powerful system, you site can be as simple or sophisticated as you wish.

Another attribute to Mambo is the exceptional support that comes along with it.  This product is supported by a large group of developers who are constantly making upgrades to improve the software.  There is also an extensive community of users who offer self-help resources throughout the web.  Furthermore, if you are hosting your website with a provider that offers Mambo, they probably have a few articles or tutorials in their support section.

Due to is popularity, many web hosts now offer Mambo via control panel programs such as cPanel or Plesk.  Because its open-source software, you can also download this CMS from a number of popular download sites.  After downloading, all you have to do is make a few simple configurations and upload it to whatever server you have access to.  Keep in mind that your site must have the PHP language enabled and access to a MySQL database.  With a program such as Fantastico, installing Mambo is as easy as creating a directory, login credentials and clicking the installation tab.

As an open-source CMS, you have the freedom to use Mambo however you desire.  This means that you have access to the code and can apply modifications that suite your site best.  With this type of flexibility, there is virtually no limit to the success you can achieve on the web.

Meet the CMS Lineup

A content management system or CMS, is a program many developers use to create and edit web pages.  This can all be done on-the-fly as it is essentially an application driven by a database such as MySQL or Postgre SQL.  The major reason why these systems have become so popular is because most of them are open-source and free to use.  A powerful CMS will allow you to create and manage a website with ease from any computer able to establish an internet connection.  Most of them support various add-ons which allow you to extend the system and give it greater functionality.  These systems are known for providing numerous templates to help you design your site and tend to be comprehensive enough for beginners.

Choosing a CMS for Your Website

Choosing a CMS can be easy or difficult which all depends on the requirements of your website.  If your requirements are relatively simple then any major software should be able to get the job done.  For instance, if you are trying to determine if a particular application supports a specific operating system or XHTML then your search should be fairly easy.  There are many systems that support virtually any platform and allow you to create custom templates that are XHTML compliant.  On the other hand, if your site requires something more demanding, you may have to purchase a commercial solution or search long and hard for an open-source solution that meets those requirements.

There are other factors that also need to be taken into consideration, many of which are universal.  For example, regardless of what your plans are, you want a CMS that is secure and SEO-friendly.  An SEO friendly system will convert your pages into optimized URLs for the search engines like Google or Yahoo, thus increasing your chance of receiving higher rankings.

The more important factor to consider is security, something that often gets overshadowed in the midst of a system’s features.  Because most content management systems are open-source, they tend to be less secure than commercial products.  This is due in large part to the fact that anyone can gain access to them, even hackers.  These systems have a reputation for being exploited and have lead some to target vulnerable websites and compromise sensitive data.  One of the most common exploits is called an SQL injection, an attack that is fairly easy to execute on an open-source CMS.

Recommendations

To make your search a little easier, we have listed some of the most widely used content management systems.  These programs are largely supported by developers and users and capable of producing excellent results.

• Joomla
• Drupal
• Mambo
• PHP-Nuke
• Xoops

While a CMS is very useful, they are not suited for everyone.  You should only use such a system if your content requires frequent updates or if you run a large site that is heavy with content.  If your website is small then using a CMS would not serve many benefits.  In fact, it could make your job as a webmaster more complex in certain situations.