Content Management System - CMS

The existence of a website in itself is not enough for its success

How to choose the right CMS

Τhe Content Management System has become one of the most powerful tools for developing Web sites since the establishment of PHP.

In a market where websites need to grow faster and easier, many developers are turning to CMS open source to complete a job. Unfortunately, there are now thousands of CMS hanging around the internet and finding the right solution has become a kind of test.

What exactly is the CMS

The Content Management System (CMS) is a web application that interfaces with a database ( usually MySQL ) or other methods in order to create or edit HTML content which makes us your website. The content is created and edited in an administrator space of your web application, usually reffered to as the backend. That content in effect is displayed to the visitors of your normal website usually reffered to as the frontend.

Why should I use a CMS?

There are many reasons why you should use a Content Management System but the main one is because it makes managing your website content fast and easy. Often developers are constantly looking for more and more features, forgetting that this is the main purpose of CMS, thus making things complicated for both themselves and their customers. But, content does not only contain text. Sometimes the content you need on a website is a contact form or a user authentication system. The ideal is to build a CMS that provides functionality without sacrificing ease of use.

A good CMS should allow you to invest most of your time on your business rather than the management of your website content.

The 3 Most Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Selecting a User-friendly CMS Environment

First and foremost, CMS developers are aware that as they build websites for their clients, they are not all familiar with software applications.

The most important factor that affects the structure of CMS is that the client can manage the application as it would have been imagined. Therefore, in the long run, it would be better to choose a simple user interface, even if it means that more needs to be done by developers to achieve this.

Error 2: Larger CMS Equals Best CMS

Beware of CMS, whether open source or not, that presents as the "paper" the enormous follow-up that it has in order to use their system. It's a trap!

Just because most people use a particular CMS does not mean it's the best. Choosing a CMS based on its degree of success is a very bad idea.

Another reason many people choose this kind of CMS is because they see that there is a huge community of developers behind or a huge amount of money invested in one application.

This reminds us of a story that Steve Jobs said and stayed in the story, explaining why it is not best to be a giant: " I wish developing great products was as easy as writing a cheque. If that was the case, Microsoft would have great products. "

What really matters is the people behind the product and that they are the right people for the job and not how many people work for you.

When it comes to open source CMS, we often see that there is no one to systematically monitor the development of a program or there are not the right people to offer what end-users really need. The average community members become the main source of functionality and the result is a huge patchwork of expansions and functionalities with some nuggets that are buried so deeply that we will never find them. We repeat, therefore, that our advice is to watch the giants.

Mistake 3: Going Smaller

Again, this error is similar to # 2, where in an attempt to get back from an unfortunate move with a giant you choose an oversimplified CMS. Always be sure to check that the CMS you are interested in includes extensions with the functionality you will need. Many times you can fall on a promising CMS, but do not rush to invest in it until you make sure it offers you everything you need.

What To Look For In A CMS

There are a lot of things to look for in a Content Management System, but here are some of the most important ones:

• Quick and easy installation
• Simple management interface
• Quick and easy extension of CMS for additional functionality
• Attractive design: It's one of the best indicators that CMS management will be user-friendly.