CONTENT MANAGEMENT

            The basic principle of content management is to separate content from its presentation.  A Content Management System stores plain text and images in a discrete repository (either in a database or in a separate file system) to be plugged into HTML templates on demand.  Site content is then updated without having to change the HTML, or the basic look and feel of the site without affecting the content.  Any content that appears in several places on a Web site can then be updated in one place, without fear of inconsistency.  The major benefit is that once templates have been built, non-technical users can publish any and all content to the web and update it without needing help from the IT department.  Whether delivered as a specialized, packaged software application a custom developed solution or as a service, content management systems seek to provide both efficiency and predictability to web publishing, while putting powerful tools in the hands of largely non-technical users. 

            Separating content from templates is just the baseline.  CMS applications play a big role in content delivery.  They do so by serving content to the user's browser and supporting some level of interaction.  Content Management Systems are specifically designed to help users get a handle on sites with dynamically changing content. 

            Content Management Systems allow for much faster updates to the site.  With many companies if a site change is needed the request goes to the content owner, then if approved, the owner pushes it through the work order system.  With a CMS, the owner could make the change directly, and can bypass the work order completely.  Essentially, the request is sent through the content management tool, and on to the owner to approve.

            Another great advantage of a CMS is the lack of need for HTML.  Instead of adding a link by entering in the link title, URL, and description into different fields in the content manager form, the content manager form would build the link for you.  Content Management Systems are able to add paragraph tags, make links, clickable, and put in other formatting.

            Accountability and security are an essential part of today's business web sites.  Content Management software can set up various accounts with various access rights.  This means that some pages may only be editable by specific accounts.  Any changes made to the web are tracked.  It is possible to back out of a change that was made in error. 

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