Web Design CMS June 2009

Web design Sunshine Coast

When 12website.com.au meets with a customer to discuss their website design requirements, one of the questions is: How do you want to handle updates to your website? Would you prefer to update your website using a CMS - Content Management System or would you like us to handle the updates or you? All of our web shops, online newsletters and real estate websites have a CMS as these are constantly being updated by the owners.

In the case of the our brochure / business information / accommodation websites, the majority of these owners or managers choose to contract 12website to maintain their websites. One of the distinct advantages of this is their web design remains professional. We are based on the Sunshine Coast however we manage websites all over the world. More on global web design.

Web Design CMS

For our customers who want to update their own web design we provide our content management systems and training in these. These also allow non-technical individuals to manipulate the contents by using WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editors that are fairly simple to use.

Once it has been set up and is fully functioning, all that’s left to do is for the content editors to upload the necessary documents and that’s basically it.

Making use of a CMS also saves you turnaround time and allows you to display current content on your website. Apart from allowing people to easily organise the files and images in a website, content management systems are also used for streamlining business processes and enabling safe and secure file sharing within a company.

Features of content management systems in web design

A CMS makes content organisation and publishing very simple thanks to several features. With a CMS, you can easily schedule when your content will be published online, set permissions for each file in order to control access, and allow you to edit web-pages using rich text editors even if you don’t have any knowledge of web design or what makes websites work.

An important feature of a content management system is usability and how you can quickly integrate it in your system to work well with your existing website and its layout. Most content management systems have plug-ins that you can install in order to improve your site’s functionality. More on web design function.

You will also find that some available systems can already create an editable template for your website and others also go as far as allowing you to build your site structure and layout.

The interface also tends to be simple and user-friendly with a lot of simple tools that make it easy for everyone to work with website content.

Before choosing the right content management system, think about why you need one and what kind of website you intend to set up. More to the point we'd suggest you look at your customer, their demographics and their specific need. More on web design for customers.

How to choose a web design friendly CMS

Do you plan to set it up for your business?

Is it for a webzine or an online magazine that would require you to publish articles regularly?

Maybe you want to set up an online store or a forum, or perhaps you’re simply setting up a website as a hobby.

Whatever kind of website you need, we will advise you on the CMS that will be capable of handling your needs. You also need to determine if your server supports databases such as MySQL or Oracle, which are needed for your CMS to function and other hosting requirements. We also supply world class web hosting and are able to host your website on our servers. Another requirement is having the ability to track visitors to your website. More on web design statistics from April 2005.

Commercial or Open Source Web Design

Presently, there is a lot of CMS software available. Some of them are used for commercial purposes and retail for thousands of dollars, however our solution is $300. There are open source software providing a powerful set of features and capabilities, but which are free to use and can be easily installed on your server. The downside to using open source is that the code is open to everyone and trying to put all the pieces together to run your business can cost you weeks or even months of wasted time and resources. At Sunshine Coast Web Design we can work with retail or free software, both have their weaknesses & strengths.

It does require a little extra knowledge about how to set up a database and how it will work with your CMS platform, and we handle all of this for you. If you have already tested various content management systems and found them lacking in the features you are looking for, we create a system that is fully customised according to your specifications and your site’s marketing requirements. More on website marketing.

In choosing the right content management system, you have to determine your needs as well as consider several factors. If you want regular software updates and good solid tech support, you might want to shell out more for a commercial CMS.

The downside of commercial CMS is usually the cost, which really works against companies with a budget. Open source CMS, while usually reliable, provide a bit of a challenge when it comes to product support; product stability and security can be uncertain especially since this kind of CMS doesn’t usually have a regular team of developers devoted solely to its development.

A custom CMS, meanwhile, scores big on the fact that it was built to accommodate your specifications; but developing and improving its features, as well as installing additional updates in the future, may use up your resources and take a lot of time to implement.

It’s always best to choose a content management system that is customisable from your admin panels and can be readily updated.

That way, your website can freely develop and expand and have a good working CMS that will be able to accommodate and manage all possible changes.

If you can’t decide which content management system will best suit your needs, it’s always wise to run one from a test site and check its functionalities.

That way, you would be able to fully explore its features before attempting to integrate it with your website. Good luck!

Disclaimer

12website.com has prepared the supplied information as a voluntary service to the online community. The information is necessarily web design and small business in nature and is not intended to be relied upon other than as general background material. This should not be used as specific advice, recommendations or guidance, and specialist assistance should be sought by anyone in need of such help. 12website.com accepts no liability under any circumstances for any loss, expense, damages or costs whether direct or indirect (including loss of profits / damage to business) which may be incurred by any person as a result of relying on or using in whole or in part any of the supplied information.