Why You Need a Content Management System.

If you are not into HTML and you are contemplating of putting up a website in Joomla and WordPress with lots of content, the best available option for you is to consider using a “Content Management System” (CMS). The greatest advantage in using a CMS is that your website’s entire content can be stored in a database away from your website’s templates, thus, making it impossible to destroy the structure of the site’s design during editing process. In content management system, you don’t actually need to have the technical know-how to be able to edit your website. In any case, you can add and change web pages easily without bothering to know the intricate coding.

However, when you avail of the benefits of the content management system, you need to install the system on your web server and in all cases the system also requires that you install PHP and MySQL which are all available in Joomla and WordPress.

What is a Content Management System?

In simple terms, a CMS is a web-based application or program that gives you the power to edit, create and manage your website content. If you have a limited skill in web design, you can ask your web designer to create a custom design for you and integrate the design as a template or theme for the CMS that is being used. What is good about using a content management system is that most of the data of your website is kept in a database instead of flat files or multiple HTML files linked together. This is the reason why CMS websites, like Joomla and WordPress, are referred to as dynamic websites because their data are kept in databases, not in flat files.

In using a content management system, you have more advanced functionality than a flat file website. In fact, you can include such features as news and blogging tools, simple file/image uploading, contact forms, user roles or permissions and photo galleries. These features are available in Joomla and WordPress.

The benefits of using Content Management System

Aside from the greatest benefit of having your website’s content stored in a safe place during editing, there are two important benefits of using a content management system:

• Ability to make updates. When you are using a content management system, you are able to make updates to your own website without having to hire web designer. This is particularly true if you maintain or own a website or blog on Joomla and WordPress.

• Lower the maintenance cost. Since you are able to make updates to your own website, you lower the cost to maintain your website because you don’t need to hire a web developer to do the maintenance for you. You can update and publish content by yourself.

However, CMS is not for everybody. There are certain requirements which are not open for other people since they have their own needs. The most important thing to do is to analyze your needs and see what is best for you. As a solution, Joomla and WordPress seem to be the answer for everybody’s needs.

So how to evaluate if indeed you need a CMS?

There are three simple questions that require positive answers to determine if indeed you need a content management system:

• Do you intend to make updates on your website more than a month?

• Do you have updates that need immediate publishing?

• Do you prefer paying upfront but save on hourly rates for updates?

If your answers to these questions are positive, it may be about time now to consider a content management system over a flat file website. Now if you are maintaining a brochure type website and you are constantly updating your content, then setting up a content management system for your site may not really cost you a lot. In the end, Joomla and WordPress are perfect for your needs.