How a Content Management System Can Help Create Your Own Brand New Website

In the past, developing a website used to be an extremely tedious task and only web professionals could do the job of site development. Designing a website included everything from creating a logo and template for the site to writing the backend HTML code which would define the appearance of the whole site. This required plenty of knowledge and skills in web development and design, so much so that novices could hardly even think of designing a site from scratch on their own and the only option they had was to hire the services of a professional web development company. The task got even more complicated in instances where a dynamic website was required, for example an airline reservation site or a hotel website where the data to be presented had to be generated on-the-fly depending on the custom requirements of the end-user. A choice had to be made by the developer as to which scripting language to use for a particular project, i.e. PHP, ASP, JSP etc. Scripts had to be embedded within the pages and it would take a long time before the project got ready for deployment.

The above scenario has changed altogether with the arrival of content management systems. Contrary to a web development software which requires plenty of knowledge and skills, a content management system allows novices and professionals alike to develop a stunning looking website. All you have to do is log in to an administration control panel and play around with the installed components in order to get the appearance as well as functionality you need. Within the category of content management systems, there are certain packages that are commercial and others which are open source. In order to use a commercial content management system, the end user has to purchase a license in order to be able to deploy the software. By contrast, open source content management systems are free and are developed with the intent to enable the general public to create a variety of websites without having to invest a lot of money into the backend administration system, which is only possible for gigantic organizations. Consequently, open source content management systems have become the platform of choice for web development by businesses and individuals alike to create their own corner of the World Wide Web.

A variety of open source content management systems are available such as Joomla!, Drupal, WordPress etc. Each content management system has its own pros and cons and there is no universal CMS that can be considered to be an outright out-performer in all areas of assessment. Some CMS are good only for developing a blog while others can be used to develop a variety of websites. For example, WordPress is considered to be an ideal platform for creating a blog. By contrast, the Joomla! content management system can be used to create a wide variety of websites and is very popular among a huge majority of web professionals. The choice of which content management system to use depends on a variety of factors and only after you have carefully figured out your specific requirements can you decide as to which content management system would be the ideal platform for your website. The Joomla CMS is very famous for its ease of use and flexibility. However, it is not possible for a beginner to start using this content management system to benefit from day one. Instead it takes a while and quite a bit of effort before the user starts feeling comfortable with the back-end administration panel as well as the front-end live website. However, once that hurdle has been crossed, creating, modifying and managing a website with Joomla becomes a breeze.

Although a high level of skill and knowledge is not required in the case of a content management system, the user still needs to be aware of the fundamental elements of the CMS at hand in order to be able to exploit the functionality successfully. However, becoming familiar with a content management system is far easier than having to acquire training in a specific web development software. Furthermore, creating a dynamic website using a web development software is an even bigger headache than one can ever imagine. If you have a website that is built around the PHP scripting language, adding a new function such as a search function would require writing hundreds of lines of PHP code. After a suitable function has been created, the file with the required PHP code would need to be included in every single page of your site. On the other hand, the source code of an open source content management system can be accessed by web developers across the globe and so they can develop a variety of extensions that can enable the end-users of that CMS to incorporate different functionality into their sites. As a result, adding a new functionality is as easy as searching for it in Google, downloading the required component or module from the results and installing it into the content management system.

Another advantage of an open source content management system is that it can be used to custom tailor a website as per user's requirements. This is referred to as modularity and results in a great deal of flexibility. The content management system is divided into a number of components and/or modules that can be installed and uninstalled as and when required. For example, if there are two users and one of them manages an information technology site while the other owns and operates a baby clothing website, visitors coming to their respective sites would never be able to judge that they are both using the same content management system. The reason behind this is that the CMS being used is so flexible that the whole design and functionality of the site has been tailored to the requirements of that specific user. As a result, people migrating from manual websites, i.e. those developed using a web design software can have the peace of mind that moving to a content management system will not result in loss of functionality and/or appearance, instead it is bound to improve the experience of their visitors. If you're planning to migrate to a content management system, don't hesitate. Instead take the initiative as soon as possible to reap all the benefits that a content management system has to offer.

About the Article

This is a genuine article custom written for WHL (WebHostLead.com). WHL is an impartial top hosting reviews directory based on editorial as well as webmaster reviews about the best hosting providers. It also offers quality articles on a wide variety of subjects related to web hosting.

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