In the era of international marketing and digital transformation, it is good to get used to some tools, such as CMS. CMS stands for content management system.
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Content Management System (CMS): what it is
A CMS is an application accessible via browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, etc.) that enables the insertion, modification and removal of content within a website. In general, CMSs have a user-friendly interface, which allows even those without programming experience or specific computer skills to manage the domain quickly and easily.
The graphical user interface (GUI) made available to users is called “control panel”: from here, it is possible to create and edit content, add images, videos, new pages or even set up the entire general design of the website in CSS and JavaScript.
How it works
Without today’s content management systems, users would have to use multiple programming languages and upload content manually; fortunately, today a modern website consists of two parts: front-end and back-end.
The front-end is the part that is visible from the browser (posts, images, videos, contact forms, etc.); the back-end is what “stands behind”, i.e. the database and, trivially, the settings menu that allows you to manage the various functionalities of the website.
In the front-end, text is “formatted” by mark-up languages, a set of rules that describes the mechanisms of representation (structural, semantic, performance) or word layout. On the web the Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) is used, whose peculiarity is that it links pages together. The back-end, on the other hand, is written with different programming languages; the most common are PHP, Python and JavaScript.
Plug-in
Extra functionalities, called “extensions”, are installed via plugins. A plugin is a small programme that interacts with the CMS and allows you to add, for example, search engine optimisation (SEO) tools, security settings, contact forms, etc.
Most popular CMS
In 1995, CNET, a US website that still publishes articles, blogs and podcasts related to technology and consumer electronics, made its studies and software available to users under the label “Vignette”. For the first time, it was possible to easily create a website using the CNET interface. Other companies immediately did the same and developed the forerunners of today’s CMSs. Today, the best known are those listed below.
It is the most famous; it started out as an open source publishing platform for online blogs, but thanks to its “pliability” it is now used to create newspapers, portfolios, company websites and online shops.
It is another colossus; translated into more than 60 languages, it is suitable for any site that needs comprehensive content management and can also be used for small social network sites (SNS).
It is usually chosen by major companies such as NASA. Drupal sites are characterised by high page loading speed and are secure. Drupal integrates perfectly with the most popular analysis, web marketing and e-commerce tools.
It is a writing-focused CMS, has a minimal interface, uses Markdown in the editor and already integrates sharing and SEO tools.
It is mainly used for online shops. To date, it boasts about 270,000 users. Within it, there is the possibility of configuring taxes according to location, making the payment procedure compliant with local laws and easily inserting disclaimers with the regulations in force.
It allows you to create a complex online shop; it gives you the ability to generate professional product pages and manage inventory, orders and shipments. Coupons, landing pages, up-sell and cross-sell campaigns can also be inserted in Magento.
Summing up: why have a CMS
In summary, a CMS makes it possible to:
- add new pages without having any programming knowledge;
- manage a blog independently
- open an e-commerce;
- create a forum or community.
Ease of use, customisation of content and plugins make CMSs pivotal tools for those wishing to build – and perhaps maintain – a valid online presence.
At Moka Adv, we implement the best CMSs in addition to building showcase websites or multilingual e-commerce. To find out which one is best for you, contact us by filling in the contact form below; we will help you get your story out there and manage it in the best possible way with a good CMS.