content management system - code and examples

Content management systems

By Tristan Griffin, Ryan Roveda and Enya Darragh

The History of CMS

What is  a CMS or Content Management System
A content management system (CMS) is a computer application used to manage the content of a  Web site from a central interface.
CMSs are often used to run websites containing  blogs,  news, and  shopping and many corporate and marketing websites use CMSs. CMSs typically aim to avoid the need for  hand coding, but may support it for specific elements or entire pages. Managing content refers to creating, editing, archiving, publishing, collaborating on, reporting, distributing website content, data and information.


History of CMS
CMSs have been available since the 1990s, and has seen three clear phases of development.
90s - 2000 marked by the DotCom crash
2000 - 2013
2013 to present

The 90s

Early CMS applications written by web design agencies rather than software companies and every agency had their own platform. An example of this is 'Roxen' released in 1994 by swedish developers Roxen Internet Software . The main features were a very structured development environment and you had to use tags and templates as WYSIWYG text editing was yet to be developed. The learning curve was steep and if you did not know HTML you probably weren’t going to edit your site.

ABOVE: Roven CMS (1994)

With the dot.com crash of March 10, 2000 came a refocus as most marketing agencies back from coding development and focused on design.

Vern Imrich said “Back in the late 90s the concept was too undefined - part app dev, part portal and tons of “Web 1.0” bloat, you name it, you could build it!”

CMS in the noughties

The second wave of CMS platforms were developed by specialist software houses such as RedDot, DotNetNuke and Mambo(now Joomla). Key features which were built in included WYSIWYG text editing, search engine optimisation, improved HTML and graphical user interfaces that allowed web development with minimal coding and what is now the standards for content (image,file,page,database and text) management.

ABOVE: DotNetNuke


These early second wave platforms, often cost thousands of dollars in fees to use, this caused an open source movement to be established which was characterised by paid and free application development. The open-source movement grew as skilled coders and designers were brought together by agencies creating open source applications such as Wordpress, Blogspot and Tumblr. These applications allowed users with little or no programming knowledge to easly create websites.

As of 2014 the CMS industry split into enterprise document management (EDMS) and web content management (WCMS) which itself is further divided into free, open-source and paid-for solutions. A large number of Content management systems are available.Each targeting broadly at enterprise, mid-sized companies, small business and private use. It is important to not that while in the 90's it was common for large corporations to develop their own content management systems it is the current trend for them to outsource for applications.



NEXTGEN content management systems

The lastest change in CMS development is based on an individuals ability to code versus their skill to design. This rift has been brought about by some well publicised hacks on open-source platforms that had been commercially applied. 'Black hat Hackers' are now disabling opensource CMS sites and inserting malware into ecommerce platforms to harvest credit card details. The Youtube, Ebay and Facebook being the most publicised attacks.

The CMS industry has become increasingly designer led with a move away from coders which has enabled the new third generation of web CMS tools to be developed.What previously had to be done by a programmer server-side with back-end code can now be achieved entirely with front end client side applications. The key features of third generation CMS are:
•      a hosted platform
•      resold exclusively by design agencies or affiliates
•      integration with CRM, database, e-commerce, email as modules not plug-ins
•      Modular development so there’s minimal custom coding for integration
•      SaaS pricing model including reseller/affiliate earnings
Noteable applications in this new generation of CMS are Contegro, Basekit and CushyCMS with Adobes Business Catalyst, currently the market leader as of 2015 (BELOW).

Mikal Ali (a prominent Interactive designer) says “Times "are-a-changing", web development includes a lot more these days not just open source communities where "you" can do cool stuff no one else can. CMSs now allow the "new web developer" to actually help the client make money with a few very good integrated tools that seem to get better all the time.”

General Public CMS systems have revolutionised and globalised the ability to make websites, giving the unskilled or people that lack a coding background the ability to make a simplistic responsive website that works to their desired needs. Due to this the cultural implications of CMS systems has been drastic, CMS systems are now a mainstream web structures and are even considered 'fashion' forward and stylish – as having the ability to manipulate and create a CMS is a key element in being a successful designer or business in contemporary society. Ultimately CMS allows those without web html design code knowledge to establish and create a brilliant website for their brand or blog with all the coding done for them, there's no longer a need to hire multiple people and jump hoops – CMS allows creative freedom all on your own, no checkpoints or stop signs. Some of the most well-known and commercial forms of CMS are Squarespace, Wordpress, Blogspot, Tumblr and Weebly     

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Small Business CMS enables small business the ability to create and shape a quick and functional website for their company, offering a point of contact with easy to use Contact Forms and basic product management for those wanting to sell their products online. Overall CMS creates an entirely new platform for small businesses to offer their product on a larger scale, without CMS creating a brand and marketing it online would be far more difficult for small business.

For web designer CMS has touched and changed everyone and everything that is connected to CMS in relation to any sort of financial involvement that informs web designers earning a wage. The problem is that simple businesses who want to set-up their new online business or e business just need to find a great CMS website, take the tutorial and begin to design their webpage.  They will get several tools and a well-developed control panel to manage and operate their page, web designers are then able to create and charge these businesses to purchase their CMS themes they've created – there is still plenty of business in CMS for designers.

For professionals and executive managers: For those running a large company or corporation, which controls huge amounts of financial matters, a large number of employees and deals with a considerable yearly turnover. They will likely need someone else to manage all of their documentation, the person whom managers the documentation can use a CMS to access each piece of content and every minute detail of the company and its working. This can also be considered a document management system and is the appropriate thing large businesses need; it not only manages the businesses documents but it also provides features to store, link, restore, connect and advertise.

Education and teaching related For those who want to host or launch some learning classes then they could potentially use a learning Content Management System which helps connect people, whilst also delivering content at a fast and efficient rate. It helps teachers to advertise their programs over the net. Because of the way these systems save and allow you to view content, it gives the manager the ability to make a proper schedule and thus you can make a pre-planned routine, this helps you to teach in a systematic way using the CMS to its fullest.

For mobile operations Using CMS on mobile is just as fast and efficient as using it on the desktop or laptop screen. Users can update mobile software, download various free applications, themes, wallpapers and many other files to their mobile via the use of Mobile Content Management System. Thus they can stay in touch with all the latest updates on their mobile, whilst connecting seamlessly with their main web content on PC – as the CMS systems adjust to the screen change size.

For systematic management It helps you to share and divide the workload among the working individuals. Assigning multiple roles allows for diversity in multiple areas, individuals can focus on their desired strengths and different areas of the CMS can be assigned accordingly.

The Content management system has brought to the forefront a huge revolution in the virtual world and broadcasting fast sharable information on the internet. Through all sorts of features bolstered along with 3D detailing, the features within CMS allows users to come up with new ideas that it has uniquely made possible through content managing, which has made a revolutionary change. It has further allowed a huge amount of people around the world to interact with each other through sharing information using these systems and thus has become a central part in constant online growth and development, plus through this CMS has made storage and retrieval of data amongst people extremely easy and reliable. Hence, we can say that Content management systems have helped shape and develop communication systems infinitely, as they not only contribute to work, but also take care of entertainment, gaming, blogging, music sharing and online shopping and advertising – the fun parts of life. Thanks to CMS non-tech savvy people are finally able to host and share their own websites - films, videos, photos and many other forms of important information that can all be managed using CMS. It is now evident in contemporary society that CMS has touched everyone’s lives in some way or the other, whether creating, designing or just generally browsing.

The Uses of CMS within the Web, art and design

ontent Management Systems (CMS) have created immense change within the web, art and design contexts. CMS has allowed blogging to become so prolific. This has radically changed how people interact and what they create especially within an art and design context. Many CMS systems are free and open source e.g. WordPress (even though there are add on features that cost money, which extend the use of the CMS). This has allowed the web to become a more democratic place as now anybody can create a website or blog to communicate their ideas, design and art. In turn this has allowed a more global dialogue between artists and designers which has provided opportunities for collaboration. It has also allowed designers to gain a broader audience thereby providing them with more exposure and work and life opportunities.

However CMS is not limited to the fields of art and design. It is making impacts in all area of the web. It is safe to say that nearly every website that is up to date today is using some form of Content Management System, which is facilitating the following:

• Online commerce
• Knowledge management
• Document management
• Information management and dissemination
• Integration with accounting, distribution or business systems
• Seamless login to the CMS from the network, such as Microsoft Active Directory
• Moving business processes online
• Business process engineering
• Interaction with community, whether staff, customers, suppliers or other trading partners
• Self- service capability, providing a more effective and lower cost of service
• Compliance
• artist portfolios

CMS has concurrently enabled democratisation and economisation of the web by allowing people to create web and blogging sites to their personally level of knowledge whether it be a free website template that allows them to customise using a set variety of themes, or to more individually personalise already existing themes by using their html and css knowledge. Or maybe even creating their own personal cms system and in some cases marketing this for free or with extra add on that extend the function of the cms in exchange for money.

The popularisation of cms is due to the ease it brings in the following ways:

• You are no longer dependent on the web designers making changes for you.
• Changes can be made any time they are needed, day or night. This is increasingly important as your business comes to rely on the website as a communications channel.
• All the technical details are simply handled by the CMS, allowing anyone to manage and update the site.
• Multiple staff can keep the site up to date, instead of being restricted to just one person. The CMS will track who is doing what, avoiding potential confusion.  
• You can even ensure that each staff person can only update the sections of the site they are responsible for.
• The CMS ensures that all the pages are consistent in design, and will build all the menus and other navigation for you.
• CMS software automatically handles aspects that are important in a social media driven environment such as tagging, categorisation and managing a search engine for you that would otherwise have to be done manually in an offline editor.
• The many other powerful features of the CMS allows the site to grow in sync with your business.

In an increasingly globalised world where collaboration has become the norm between people on a global scale CMS has proven to be a useful tool as it allows for a cohesive functional and aesthetic design. This eliminates a great deal of problems in a fast paced and deadline oriented work environment. One great example of this is the design duo Craig and Karl who live in New York and London respectively. They are able to maintain a good working relationship as well as concurrently creating a unified dialogue and presentation of their work using their tumblr site. This is important in gaining both clients and press attention.

However Content Management Systems do have some drawbacks. They handle all aspects of website design but are restricted by the Content Management Platform for example the themes, content structure and plugins. If you are using a Content Management System that is ready made there are security risks as there can be loopholes for hackers in the code used to create it. The CMS user relies on the makers to make any upgrades that might diminish these risk factors, these upgrades can occur at anytime. These upgrades can make your site unusable as it relies on changes to the script used to configure the cms database. Spam and advertising can also be a problem on many CMS platforms, particularly those made available for free. However these can be moderated and deleted if need be.

CMS has become the very fabric as to how our online world is morphed and generated. With the ever increasing loss of distinction between the online and the physical, the local and the global it will be interesting to see how CMS is used in the future.

The following are links to our examples of Content Management Systems
NOTE: this website had been made with the CMS weebly.com

Enya Darragh
https://howtoguidefor.wordpress.com/  how to guide for wordpress made with wordpress
Ryan Roveda
http://how-2-guide.tumblr.com how to guide for tumblr made with tumblr

Tristan Griffin
http://artworkprocess.blogspot.com.au/p/how-to-wcms-web-content-management.html  how to guide PDO PHP SQLite CMS application handler and public webpage, made with blogspot