Webupon

Content management systems have become very popular over the last few years and now
even the most basic cms allows:

1. A lower barrier to entry – A cms allows anybody with basic computer skills to edit a website. It is no longer necessary to know HTML or understand specialist applications. If you can use a word processor you can edit a website.
2. Decentralized management – A lower barrier of entry means managing web content can be distributed across the organisation, rather than resting with a few web specialists. Because most content management systems are browser-based this editing can be done anywhere at anytime.
3.  A reduction in management costs – With maintenance shared across the organization it become less necessary to employee web experts.
4.  Faster updates – Without the bottleneck of a web team and the time involved in briefing that team, updates happen faster. A cms also makes it considerably easier to implement site-wide changes such as updating navigation or editing the sites footer.
5.  Greater control – A cms allows control over permissions, making it possible to restrict who can edit which page. More advanced system also allow work flow meaning that a page can only be made live once approved by specific individuals.
6. Consistency of design – Having multiple users updating a site’s content can lead to inconsistencies in presentation. A cms addresses this through the use of templates that standardize the design.

More sophisticated solutions, like those explored later in the chapter, provide even greater benefits. However, the list above makes it obvious why overworked web teams are attracted to content management systems. They are even more attractive to organisations who pay external agencies to update their site.

A content management system can look like the ideal solution when content is out of date and there is nobody with the time or skills to update it. Why then is it that so many organisations complain about their cms? While the benefits of a cms are obvious, the drawbacks are harder to spot. Yet they do exist and can come as a painful shock if you are not prepared.