If you have been researching how to build your website you have probably heard the term “CMS” which stands for Content Management Systems. These are systems which allow you to manage the content on your site, fairly self-explanatory. They have revolutionised web design for the common man, taking all the difficult coding and testing process out of the equation. After getting your web hosting and installing your CMS, all you need to do is type in your content, upload the pictures you wish to use, pick your colours and you have a professional looking website up and running. There are many CMS available, you probably have heard of three of the most popular, Wordpress, Joomla and OSCommerce. Domainmonster.com offers all three of these systems as one click installers, to make it even easier for you to use them! We will focus on all of these in depth throughout this week in this series so keep an eye out for the rest of the articles in this series!

There are a million and one advantages to using a CMS as any web developer will tell you. Let’s explain just a few of these now:

• Simplicity – First and foremost is the whole reason CMS were invented. Simplicity. You don’t need a lot of HTML or PHP or CSS knowledge to make a website with a CMS. You set where you want your content to go. You type your text as if you were using a word processor. People who create their first site using a CMS are amazed at the quality of the sites they can produce using such simple and familiar technology. 10 Years ago you would have had to pay hundreds if not thousands for a website the quality of which you can now produce using CMS.

• Real-Time updates – With a CMS you get instant results. When you log into your back end control panel in Wordpress or Joomla, type out a new article and press the upload button, that’s it! There’s no delay while you change lots of text formatting and sorting out style sheets to align the text. On OSCommerce you can add products in a flash and include pictures, details, prices and reviews. As everyone knows content is the key to any site and the CMS ability to update your site so quickly and easily is a great advantage.

• Multiple User Integration – Using a CMS allows you to create multiple users who can access your site and upload content. No more worrying about databases and logging in with various security technologies. It’s now as simple as filling in a registration form. This allows you to give friends, family and business partners the ability to upload their own content to your site easily.

• Consistency – People love a website to look and feel consistent. Websites where different pages use different colours and different formats are easy to get lost in. Using CMS ensures that your site is consistent. The template that you use on your CMS will be applied to all the pages that you need it applied to. In Wordpress, every blog post you make will be formatted in the same way. In Joomla, you can make all your different pages display consistently. In OSCommerce your store will always be easy to navigate and familiar to your customers. This isn’t to say you can’t have some pages looking different if you want them to! You can apply different templates to different pages.

• In-Depth Control – Not just simplicity is needed. More confident coders need their control too! It’s part of the beauty of CMS that more knowledgeable users are able to have the traditional level of control that’s expected when designing a site! Using traditional coding skills on the websites files to create the exact site they want, as well as retaining all the other advantages of CMS.

At Domainmonster.com we offer a range of one-click installers for various CMS which will get you up and running with our hosting instantly. There’s no denying that CMS have revolutionised the web, allowing almost anyone to create exceptional websites. Use a CMS for your first site and you will be amazed at the site you produce!