There are a variety of different kinds of Content Management Systems, each of which is designed to serve a different purpose. Their common function however is, as the name would suggest, the management and publishing of content. I will attempt to explain some of the basics here and hopefully assist you to source content management systems that will suit your needs.

But what is content? Content can be anything from a video, audio or image file to an e-store database or electronic text document.

A content management system facilitates the creation, editing, indexing, searching, reviewing, publishing and even archiving of a whole range of media.

There are four major categories of content management system or CMS;

• Enterprise Content Management or ECM Systems facilitate the management of an organisation's 'in-house' information, business processes, and document-based processes. This delivers the benefits of a reduction in paper use, quicker access to information, improved security of important documents and streamlined business practices.
  
• Web CMS is software that allows you to create and manage HTML content, with the added benefit that the user does not require any prior knowledge of coding HTML in order to use it. It enables the creation, editing and distribution, publishing and control of web content as well as possessing many other useful functions
  
• A Document Management System is essentially the capture and storage of images of paper documents or electronic document files. You could say it is essentially filing. For example, do you have an old shoe box crammed full of old documents or photos? That's a document management system! Electronically filing your company's documents is highly efficient in terms of access, retrieval, security and retention of important documents, as well as delivering improved distribution and traceability.
  
• Component Content Management systems deal with the component content, rather than the finished document. Each component represents a single 'granule' or asset, for example a product description, image, or table of data. They can be individually tracked and has it's own 'life cycle' - meaning the version number, recorded use etc. can all be accessed with ease. CCM can stand alone, or be integrated with ECM or Web CMS systems.
  
  

The most popular content management system is Web CMS, as such a system brings substantial benefits to any web-based company or organisation using an intranet.

Imagine for a second that you are running one such organisation. Your business has grown periodically, which is great of course, but organisationally it could be better. You have accumulated so much content that keeping track of it all has become difficult and it is becoming out-dated. Your highly skilled web master has an ever increasing pile of updates in his in box, as he is the only person capable of updating your web content. What a nightmare!

These problems are more common than you think, and can plague any business utilising prgrammes such as Frontpage or Dreamweaver - and thankfully, these problems can all be solved with the addition of a content management system.

Content Management delivers a wide range of benefits for your business. these include but are not limited to;

• Streamlined authoring processes - The time taken to create new content for the web is greatly reduced.

• Speedy turnaround for new pages and alterations - Making quick changes can now be done with minimum effort with no need to forward all changes to a web master.

• Consistency - Easy comparison between items of content to ensure consistency flows through them.

• Improved website navigation and security - by utilising content management, it is easier to implement user friendly navigation processes and security processes.

• A reduction in duplication - Duplicate information wastes resources and can be curbed through effective content management.

• Reduced costs of website maintenance - with less need for the services of highly skilled web masters, the running cost of a web-based business can be significantly reduced.

• Growth - The combination of benefits naturally lead to an increased capacity and potential for the growth of your business.

By utilising good content management, you can expect to see improved sales as well as increased levels of consumer satisfaction, as well as facilitating improved communications with your customers.

Lets review the basic processes of a content management system, shall we?

The first feature is a user-friendly interface for the authoring or creation of your content. This WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) interface looks like Microsoft Word and makes it possible to create HTML content with absolutely no previous HTML coding knowledge. In web-based authoring this can even be done remotely. You can also mange the website's structure, sometimes by dragging and dropping your content, without so much as a broken link!

It's these features that really are the reason CMS is so valuable. By using a simple mechanisism to maintain and update your site, it is possible for the creation of content to be handed to the business itself. While your product management people are ensuring your catalogue is kept up to date, your marketing manager can be updating the site with your most recent press release.

Once your page has been created, it is saved to the 'central repository' of the content management system. All the content of the site and any supporting information is also stored here. This allows for your CMS to provide you with some handy features;

• You can track all versions of a page, seeing who altered what information and when

• Users can only alter pages or sections of the site that are their responsibility.

• the system can be integrated with your organisations current IT systems.

Once the finalised content has been saved, it can be published - either to your organisation's website or intranet. Content management systems have really strong publishing engines. this means that the layout and appearance of the page are automatically applied to your work, whilst publishing. This also opens up the potential for publishing the same information to multiple sites.

The CMS allows your web developers and graphic design people to specify how the site looks. This ensures consistency across the whole website and allows your authors to concentrate there efforts into the site's content, while the CMS deals with the tricky business of appearances, by using templates.

This is easiest to explain by way of an example;

A page is created by an author. It is then automatically sent to their manager for their approval and forwarded on to the web department to be editorialized. It is then sent on to the legal team, who must sign-off the document. Once the document has been signed off it is automatically published to the website.

That's workflow, folks! What this essentially does is allow more authors to be part of the creative process and site management, without comprimising the consistency, accuracy or quality of your output.

That about sums up some of the basics. So, the next time someone asks you 'What is Content Management?' or even 'what is content?', you will have all the answers you need! I hope this Hub has cleared up some of your questions surrounding content management and content management systems. If there's a question you think I haven't answered then please let me know in the comment box below.

If you enjoyed this hub, why not check out some of my other Hubs?

Sustainable Living is Green and Good

Energy Efficient Light Bulbs

The Treasures of my Local Environment

Recycle Old Mobile Phones for Cash

The Perfect Cup of Tea