Understanding CMS Software

The overall concept of a CMS is to provide for a system which separates design from content, yet function cohesively to publish both creations together.  A reputable CMS should bring four core functions to your online venture: Content creation, content management, publishing and presentation.  Within each of these four categories is the ability for storage, organization, creation, publication and development.  Although typically used for blogs, a CMS proves to be just as useful for developing and maintaining websites, e-commerce, as well as marketing a product or service.  Most CMSs are an Open Source software system that’s based on PHP and requires a MySQL database.

Many online business owners opt for a CMS because of the ease and convenience it offers when developing or updating a website or blog.  In fact, users aren’t necessarily required to be proficient, or even understand, HTML coding or other advanced programming languages.  CMS content may be viewed as online news and entertainment articles, instruction manuals, how-to guides, and informative brochures in a wide array of formats including web content, e-documents, as well as data, media, audio and video files.

Benefits of a CMS

Besides making the task of managing a website much less complicated, a CMS also offer other valuable benefits.  One such perk is offering built-in applications such as blogs, contact management, databases, forums, calendars, mail forms, newsletters, search engine, product management and a site map for easier navigation.

Security is another benefit of utilizing a CMS.  The basic security features include: login history, content approval, e-mail verification, SSL compatibility and session management just to name a few.  Commerce capabilities are another huge CMS advantage.  Those seeking an e-commerce venture appreciate features such as affiliate tracking, shopping carts, wish lists, inventory management and pluggable sales’ transaction data information.  Finally, support is yet another benefit of using a CMS.  The power players in the CMS industry understand with the fluidity of code being updated, users must have quick access to dependable support options. As a user, you can expect to find readily available online manuals, commercial support and training, online assistance, professional hosting, and the developer community.

While the complete list of benefits far out cedes our scope here, regardless of the CMS you opt to use to make life simpler, you can be confident that a CMS is essential for doing business in the 21^st century!

Related posts:

• September 2, 2011 – When to Transition to a Content Management System
• October 12, 2010 – Content Management Systems for Multi-User Blogs
• May 28, 2010 – Content Management Systems and Site Design
• April 22, 2009 – Is WordPress Really a CMS?
• April 1, 2009 – Introducing the phpWebSite CMS
• September 15, 2011 – Alternative’s to WordPress – Other Content Management Systems do Exist
• September 7, 2011 – An Overview of PHP-Based Content Management Systems Beyond WordPress
• June 15, 2011 – Drupal 7 to Further Simplify Website Management
• May 6, 2011 – New Content Management System Released by TYPO 3
• January 17, 2011 – Understanding the Benefits of CMS

Fortunately for the owner o the multi-user blog, all of this content helps their search engine ranking, and it is absolutely free. Advertisements then generate profits for the owner of the blog, and are placed above, under, beside and even in the middle of article sand posts made by the guest bloggers.

Controlling Authors with a CMS

The abilities of the bloggers to edit content on the site can be limited by setting preferential restrictions and author permissions within content management systems. In fact, content management systems are an integral part of the development and management of multi-user blogs. If you’re interested in building your own multi-user blog then you may want to consider the following information about relevant content management systems.

WordPress MU (Multi-User)

WordPress is generally the most popular multi-user blogging platform, which is not surprising considering its ease of use, non existent cost, and overall flexibility. The WordPress plugin library is perhaps its most appealing aspect, with thousands of plugins available for easy install. WordPress MU supports unlimited users, domain name mapping, supportive administrative functions, and a plethora of other features. WordPress also has a lot of compatible themes available, which will help you design your site quickly and efficiently.

Movable Type Multi-User

For webmasters that want a more ‘professional’ (read: ‘paid’) solution there is movable type multi-user, which is a $1300 software that has a user limit of only 50, but comes with integrated robust features that can be utilized on an unlimited amount of blogs. Unlike WordPress, Movable Type publishes actual static HTML pages, which are considered to be much better for search engine optimization. Movable Type also lets the user manage and build hundreds of blogs from a singular interface, and all of these blogs can be maintained within the same control panel. Although the installation is somewhat difficult, and the cost is undeniably high, the software comes with a 30-day money back guarantee and comes with unlimited tech support.

Conclusion

Aside from WordPress and Movable Type there are many blogging content management systems available that can help you manage multiple blogs and multiple authors. In fact, any open source content management system can be amended to support multiple users if you have the right development assistance or expertise. If you’re a novice webmaster looking to establish your first multi user blog, then you may want to consider a solution like WordPress MU or Drupal MU.

Related posts:

• December 31, 2010 – Why a CMS is Essential for Doing Online Business in the 21st Century
• September 15, 2011 – Alternative’s to WordPress – Other Content Management Systems do Exist
• September 2, 2011 – When to Transition to a Content Management System
• June 15, 2011 – Drupal 7 to Further Simplify Website Management
• May 28, 2010 – Content Management Systems and Site Design
• April 22, 2009 – Is WordPress Really a CMS?
• April 1, 2009 – Introducing the phpWebSite CMS
• September 7, 2011 – An Overview of PHP-Based Content Management Systems Beyond WordPress
• May 6, 2011 – New Content Management System Released by TYPO 3
• January 17, 2011 – Understanding the Benefits of CMS

DotNetNuke

September was a very busy month for the DotNetNuke project.  Shaun Walker, co-founder and Chief Architect of the project, was appointed on the Board of Directors for the Microsoft CodePlex Foundation, where he will lend the expert perspective that helped DotNetNuke become one of the most successful open-source CMS platforms built on the Microsoft technology stack.  Last month also saw the launch of the DotNetNuke Fusion Partner Program, a partner program that offers Registered, Certified and Gold memberships to web hosting providers, system integrators, web designers and training partners.  The most noteworthy news was DotNetNuke’s anointment as a Network Partner in the Microsoft Website Spark program.

eZ Systems

In September 2009, software vendor eZ Systems released version 4.2 of its eZ Publish CMS.  This version release emphasizes usability, better performance and more advanced capabilities for built-in search.  There are also many new extensions as well as a new version of the eZ Find tool, the company’s innovative search engine.  eZ Systems plans to keep itself occupied in the month of October by attending the IFRA Expo in Vienna, Austria on from the 12 to 15^th and hosting its own seminar in Paris for its French base of users and customers on the 16^th.

Hippo CMS

In October, the Hippo team will be organizing an International Forge Friday dedicated to the communities of Hippo and Jetspeed Portal.  The purpose of these gatherings is to bring, developers, system administrators, technical support staff and others together to discuss plugins, add-ons, components and other items that could become Hippo Forge projects.  The event is taking place on October 30 at 9 am to 2 pm PDT from the Hippo San Francisco office and 14:00 to 21:00 CET from the Hippo Amsterdam office.  Interested parties can also attend the event online.

Movable Type

The latest version of Movable Type, 4.32 was just released last week.  This version is mainly a bug release fix as it addresses a number of small bugs.  Version 4.32 also includes the Zemanta plugin, which acts as an editorial management tool that recommends content relative to your blog entries.  The latest version of Movable Type is available free at the official website.

Nuxeo

This October, software vendor Nuxeo will launch a new release of its Nuxeo EP CMS.  Some of the most notable features of the release include a new tag service, an enhanced import/export function, support for Microsoft SharePoint, OpenSocial widgets and a CMIS implementation based on the Apache Chemistry platform.

Xoops

This past September, the Xoops CMS project launched the RC (release candidate) of version 2.4.0.  The enhancements targeted for this particular version emphasize productivity and better usability, focusing on areas such as a new graphical user interface for administrators, the ability to modularize and extend the core via preloads, a much improved installer and centralized support for jQuery among others.  The final release for Xoops 2.4.0 is expected very soon.

Related posts:

• June 17, 2010 – Under 35: The Top Five CMS Executives
• November 25, 2008 – The CMS Drives the Hosting Industry
• December 31, 2010 – Why a CMS is Essential for Doing Online Business in the 21st Century
• October 12, 2010 – Content Management Systems for Multi-User Blogs
• December 24, 2009 – An Overview of Xoops CMS
• July 1, 2009 – Umbraco: The Microsoft .NET-based Open-source CMS
• April 22, 2009 – Is WordPress Really a CMS?
• March 20, 2009 – Meet the Xoops CMS
• February 25, 2009 – Content Management with Post Nuke
• February 11, 2009 – Top 7 Reasons to Drupal