How to Choose The Right Web Content Management System for You.
Not to date myself but I used to hand code websites way back in the olden days of the internet (15 years ago) and I've seen plenty of changes come down the line when it comes to website construction tools. Many of the everyday WYSIWYG web design programs in use now would have seemed miraculous to me when I was sweating bullets over HTML 1.0. Now a whole new paradigm of website design and development tools has come over the horizon, changing the way websites will be constructed in the future. Content Management Systems, or CMS appears to be the wave of the future when it comes to developing your next website, but as it is with all new technologies, it's hard to choose which of the new and sparsely tested technologies out there are best suited to your individual needs. Sure, they each claim to be able to provide almost everything for almost anyone, though you have to wonder if most of that talk is just marketing hype.
First off, for the uninitiated; what is a Content Management System and do I even need one? The Content Management Systems we will be discussing are Web Content Management Systems, or WCMS. A WCMS is a web publishing system that allows even users with little or no technical skill update, manage and modify a website. Depending on the type of WCMS you choose to use even unskilled web managers can theoretically add interactive functions and employ complex scripting functions that were previously only possible through computer code programming. Simply put, with a well-implemented and robust WCMS even your grandmother could run your website. But how do you know which WCMS is best for you and Granny?
The good thing is that all the top three contenders for the WCMS crown are not only free but open source as well. This means that developers around the world are able to use, test and modify each WCMS individually to see how it suits their own needs and tastes. Of course not everyone has the time to put each of these complex tools through all the paces so we'll discuss the pros and cons of each for you here. Hopefully we can help you make up your mind and save you some time.