What is a Content Management System (CMS)?

A content management system is a website program that allows you to update or add new content to your website without the use of HTML or standard web development programs.

Is a CMS right for your organization?

If you aren't interested in learning how to program a web site yourself, but need the flexibility to be able to publish your own content, edit pages, make blog posts, or any other ability to manage your organizations content, then you need a CMS.

Which CMS do you recommend?

CMS products come in many different "flavors". As with many software programs, there are many different providers of CMS systems. These range from very basic blog systems like Wordpress to major organization CM systems that cost tens of thousands of dollars per year in licensing. There is one system that in my opinion stands out above all of them. Drupal is a Content Framework System - meaning it is a system that allows developers to add free modules to extend your site as it grows. The wonderful part is, it is an open source product, meaning that it is available free of charge to developers like me who then set it up for your organization, lowering your cost of ownership.

What is Drupal?

From the Drupal web site http://drupal.org/getting-started/before/overview :

"Effective Web design is driven by the need to balance flexibility and simplicity. If a system is too simple, it can only be used for a single purpose - but if it is too flexible, it may be too difficult for new users to learn.

Drupal strives to reconcile these conflicting goals by providing its users with the tools they need to make their own content management solution, while still providing some prebuilt components to help them get started. Thus, it can be described both as a content management system (CMS) and a content management framework (CMF) - one system which strives to have the strengths of both, without their deficiencies.

Most CMS's are like a toy boat or toy truck - specific assumptions have been made about their use, assumptions it would be hard for you to override. Frameworks, on the other hand, provide you with raw materials only - you need to know a programming language, and have a clear design vision, to put them together.

Drupal is like a Lego kit. Skilled developers have already made the building blocks - in the form of contributed modules - that you need to create a site that suits your needs, whether that is a news site, an online store, a social network, blog, wiki, or something else altogether."

WeCre8 knows this Lego kit. Please see our Portfolio page for more information about how we have used the Drupal Content Management System to meet the needs of small and medium businesses.