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ABSTRACT
In this paper, I will be discussing the following:
What is a Content Management system, Categories of Content Management Systems, Web Content
Management Systems, Benefits of Content Management Systems, and a Web CMS Application, Drupal.
I will also talk about the benefits and key features of both CMS and Web CMS
Keywords
CMS, Web CMS, Drupal
1.INTRODUCTION
In the beginning, websites were simple. We used HTML web programming language for editing the contents
of a web page. That was easy for us as website programmers. However, we found that some people who
doesn't now such languages existed, also have useful information which they would like to share as well. So
the Content Management System (CMS) was born.
2.WHAT IS A CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM?
A Content Management Systems are computer software systems for facilitating, organizing and displaying
collaborative creation of the content. So we can say that a CMS is simply, a system that manages content.
"A CMS is a tool that enables a variety of (centralised) technical and (decentralised) non technical staff to
create, edit, manage and finally publish (in a number of formats) a variety of content (such as text, graphics,
video, documents etc), whilst being constrained by a centralised set of rules, process and workflows that
ensure coherent, validated electronic content".[1]
One principle of many content management systems is, to separate the content from the layout.
Which:
1. Makes it easier to present the same content in different layouts.
2. Enables website designers to concentrate on the presentation, while others attend the content.
3.CATEGORIES OF CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
There are three main categories of CMS
• Enterprise CMS
• Web CMS
• Component CMS
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The First MiniConference in Web Technologies and Trends (WTT)
© 2009 Information Technology Department, CCIS, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
3.1Web Content Management Systems
Many years ago, website builders like Front Page, Adobe Dreamweaver, Coffee Cup and other HTML editors
didn't exist. Therefore, creation of complex websites involved learning about a text editor to construct pages in
a language called HTML or, hiring a web programmer who is centralized in programming HTML web pages
but not only that after the creation, you will still need someone technical to modify on it, as it involved
reading the whole HTML code to determine where to add or remove the content.
Web Content Management systems were developed to solve this issue. It exists to allow non technical staff to
create or amend web pages without the need to involve the technical staff.
Web CMS is a computer software system which can be used by anyone, with or without IT background to
create, manage, edit and publish the content of a website. The user can do this without the help of the web
master.
3.1.1Elements of Web Content Management Systems
There are two elements of CMS frontend and backend
3.1.1.1Frontend
"Frontend represents the appearance of the webpage as the user browses it on the web, like images, forms,
content and other". [2]
3.1.1.2Backend
"The backend is the interface with the system's database that holds the contents and the templates of the
website. It is protected with a password so that it cannot be accessed by unauthorized people". (See Figure
1) [2]
3.1.2Types of Web Content Management Systems
There are three types of WCMS:
3.1.2.1Offline Processing
These systems preprocess all content, applying templates before publication to generate Web pages. Since
preprocessing systems do not require a server to apply the templates at request time, they may also exist
purely as designtime tools.
3.1.2.2Online processing
These systems apply templates ondemand. HTML may be generated when a user visits the page, or pulled
from a cache. Most Web application frameworks perform template processing in this way, but they do not
necessarily incorporate content management features.
3.1.2.3Hybrid Processing
Hybrid Processing is a combination of the offline and online approaches. However, some systems write out
executable code rather than just static HTML, so that the CMS itself does not need to be deployed on every
Web server. Other hybrids are capable of operating in either an online or offline mode. [3]
3.1.3Capabilities of Web Content Management Systems
A WCMS provides the following key features:
3.1.3.1Automated templates
Create standard output templates (usually HTML) that can be automatically applied to new and existing
content, allowing the appearance of all of that content to be changed from one central place.
3.1.3.2Easily editable content
Once content is separated from the visual presentation of a site, it usually becomes much easier and quicker
to edit and manipulate. Most WCMS software includes WYSIWYG editing tools allowing nontechnical
individuals to create and edit content.
3.1.3.3Scalable feature sets
Most advanced WCMS software can be easily extended by the technical developers to extend the site's
functionality.
3.1.3.4Web standards upgrades
Active WCMS software usually receives regular updates that include new feature sets and keep the system
up to current web standards.
3.1.3.5Document management
CMS software may provide a means of managing the life cycle of a document from initial creation time,
through revisions, publication, archive, and document destruction.
3.1.3.6Content virtualization
CMS software may provide a means of allowing each user to work within a virtual copy of the entire Web site,
document set, and/or code base. This enables changes to multiple interdependent resources to be viewed
and/or executed incontext prior to submission. [4]
3.1.4Drupal: Open Source Content Management System Application
Drupal: believed to be the best, most powerful CMS available. "It is a content management system that
makes use of modules to allow site administrators to organize and display content, customize appearance
and manage routine tasks, such as registration for websites requiring user names and passwords…"[5]
4.BENEFITS OF CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
♦ Historically, publishing a website requires technical skills (HTML Programming). A good CMS allows
nontechnical authors and editors to easily and quickly create, edit and publish contents in a web
page
♦ People can concentrate on modifying the content of a document while others care about the template
that displays the content.
♦ CMS saves a lot of time. It cuts down the timetopublish of documents. Allowing you to get content
published faster.
♦ CMS allows many way of viewing a document. A normal view for webbrowsers and a printer friendly
display.
♦ CMS makes it easier to create new documents caring about the content and not paying attention to
layout.
♦ CMS makes it easier to track who can edit what, whether outofdate contents are removed quick
enough and how quickly contents are being published.[6]
5.CONCLUSION
Content Management Systems are very useful and helped us a lot in publishing web sites. But be careful.
Content management vendors are often obsessed with developing complex, convoluted and expensive
technology. Be warned: a bad CMS can be worse than nothing at all. And there are a lot of bad ones out
there.
6.REFERENCES
[6] CMS, located on the internet at http://docs.phpcms.de/index.php/CMS_Introduction
[1] Content manager, located on the internet at http://www.contentmanager.eu.com/cms.htm
[2] webupdates, located on the internet at http://webupdates.avenuesnepal.com/webcontentmanagement
systemwcms/
[3], [4] Wikipedia, located on the internet at www.wikipedia.org
[5] Wisegeek, located on the internet at http://www.wisegeek.com/whatisdrupal.htm, 9282008