Content management systems are excellent tools for web developers, programmers, e-commerce businesses and even the average Joe. Content management systems store, facilitate, audit and edit large media files that may consume too much space on a web server and could cause slower access times.

In addition to storing bulky media files, content management systems have many other capabilities for which webmasters should take full advantage. These capabilities include:

• Content creation
• Editable content
• Content management
• Automated templates
• Publishing
• Presentation

Content management systems offer easy to use authoring tools to create new pages and update content without the need for learning web programming languages like HTML. This simplifies site implementation for the average user and allows them to maintain and upgrade the site from a remote location. This also allows users to edit and manipulate content utilizing the tools available.

Another capability is to be able to fully manage the content on the website. This includes keeping track of all versions of a page, ensuring user permissions, syncing with information technology systems and providing a range of work flow abilities. Also, users can create output templates which can be useful for any new and existing content. This allows all content to be virtually changed from a centralized location.

Once the final content is in the system, it can be published either directly to a website or to the internet. A huge advantage of using a content management system is the power they contain to publish media. This includes the ability to publish the same content to many sites as well as the page appearance and page layout of a site to be applied during publishing. Since graphic designers create the look of the site, authors are able to concentrate on creating content only.

On the other hand, content management systems do offer the ability to be creative and change the presentation of the site to enhance the quality and increase the number of views. Also most support many different browsers to accommodate those with accessibility issues.

Content management systems should be greatly utilized due to the numerous capabilities and benefits. They allow for content creation through easy-to-use tools and programs, content management with the ability to move and replace media, powerful publishing and presentation. When looking for content management systems, its best to find those with the most options and features especially if your website has or will have numerous media files.

Content management systems like WordPress are loved by the web community for their ability to simplify virtually every aspect of website building and management. Instead of learning the ins and outs of web design, a user can now simply download an attractive theme and then upload it into their WordPress admin for quick integration with their website.

Perhaps the most appealing aspect of this process is the ability to keep your site’s content the same while changing themes. If you were to try this with a standard HTML site then you would need to change the design of each page individually, and it would take a very long time in comparison. There is only one problem that most people have with using WordPress themes – there is only a limited amount of them. This means that the theme you are using has probably been used by someone else before, which can create a bad image for your site if you are trying to remain strictly professional.

Creating a WordPress Theme the Hard Way

WordPress is based on a simple programming language known as PHP, which has quickly become the web standard over recent years. PHP basically tells files what to do and how to interact with each other. If you wanted to convert a regular site into a WordPress theme you would need to do several things to make this possible, and the average person would not be able to accomplish it. You would need to learn HTML and PHP, and then you would need to learn how WordPress themes are built. Now for the average business this is not even plausible because there is simply not enough time in the day. Luckily there is a program called Artisteer which you can use to create custom WordPress themes using a drag and drop interface similar to Paintshop.

Creating a WordPress Theme With Artisteer

Artisteer is an incredible graphic program that lets the user build a template using a variety of drag and drop tools that bring all of the features of the theme together with ease. The user can select the background image, the header, the layout of the page, and virtually every other aspect with ease. Once you are finished building your theme you can export it into a WordPress theme and then upload it to your site using an FTP client.

Artisteer and Business

You can also sell WordPress themes to people for a hefty price. In fact you could use this program to build websites for other people and then start a web business doing just this. The beautiful thing about Artisteer is that it not only builds WordPress themes, it also builds Drupal themes. Another feature that everyone seems to love about it is the random theme button that will automatically generate a random theme for you to work with. If you would like to minimize the time spent on site creation and make your site look professional and unique at the same time, then I would most definitely recommend Artisteer.

Content management systems are the new standard in website management and development. In fact, many people would not be able to run their website without a CMS. These user-friendly, comprehensive management systems allow even the most novice user to carry out tasks that would otherwise be impossible. Even better, there are new features being added to every CMS daily, as most of them are open source software. This means that anyone is free to expand and enhance the software openly. Creating your own custom CMS is a distinct possibility to consider when starting a reseller hosting business, as it will allow you to effectively rebrand your business.

The Base of Your CMS

Instead of foolishly starting from scratch, there are a variety of open source content management systems that you can pull inspiration and source code from to create your own CMS. The method of creation really depends on what you’re trying to do with the CMS and/or your website. If you simply need to rebrand and redesign the user interface of the CMS to make it look unique to your hosting service then you can use any open source CMS and enhance it to your liking. In fact there is software available that will let you create your own CSM within a simple user interface.

Hiring a Coder to Help You With the CMS

Reseller hosting providers understand the importance of authority and branding, so many of them provide tools that will help you design interfaces such as the control panel. However, the CMS cannot be edited with these tools, which means you would need to hire a coder to help you with this task. There are many freelancing sites online such as Rent-a-Coder and eLance that will help you find qualified programmers and developer to assist you in your project. Perhaps the most commonly used site is eLance, as it provides an escrow system that can be sued to maintain trust an order during a project. The simplest way to create a desirable CMS using the help of a coder is to tell them what you want the CMS to look like, and continually work on the project in conjunction with your developers.

Using your Custom CMS as a Selling Point

Perhaps the most beneficial aspect of having your own content management system created is the fact that you can use this unique software to generate interest and attract potential customers. In the reseller hosting industry it is very important to separate yourself form your provider, as you don’t want to appear to be a middleman. Having a custom CMS that is specifically branded by your company can help you improve sales rates and establish instant authenticity, instilling confidence and trust in prospective clients. Adding or emphasizing features that are not commonly seen in other content management systems will help you distinguish your hosting plans from those offered by the thousands of other hosting providers on the internet. Having control over your CMS also gives you the opportunity to provide frequent updates, which is another advantageous feature for your clients to enjoy.

We all know that content is critical to the success of our online endeavors. Content improves page rankings on popular search engines allowing more users to view the site. For e-commerce sites and internet marketers this denotes more sales and for freelance writers this suggests more page views. Content management systems allow this to occur more easily and efficiently.

A content management system (CMS) is a system that manages the content of a website. The software organizes and aides the creation of documents and other forms of media. A content management system is most often a web application that manages the sites and created content. Most websites would not exist if not for the availability of content management systems.

Most Popular CMS Examples

There are hundreds if not thousands of content management systems available on the web. Since it’s too difficult to collect all of them, the most popular content management systems include:

• WordPress
• DotNetNuke
• Joomla
• Freestyler
• Drupal
• Metadot
• PHP-Nuke
• RedDot
• Mambo
• Ez Publish

The main appeal of utilizing a content management system is the ability to update the content on a website with little hassle. This is extremely attractive to those with little technical knowledge as they can maintain their website without needing to know any advanced techniques.

There are many reasons website owners want to update their content depending on the type of site. Some of these reasons include; updating news and events, displaying the latest products and services, updating contact information, creating case studies, formulating articles and showcasing clients.

Content management systems can be used in many ways such as a product catalog, for document tracking, as a corporate intranet site, for job postings, for e-commerce applications, and as real estate portals. The diversity of uses of a CMS is limitless allowing for flexibility and growth.

The best features of a content management system include the easy handling of multiple users according to their roles such as an administration role, editor role and viewer role. Also, continent management systems allow for an easy update of website content through backend forms.

Content management systems are the most viable option available for the organization and updating of content, handling of users as well as the diversity of uses and number of systems. For web newcomers and veterans alike, content management systems can improve business, organization and overall online presence.

You have all heard about the more popular open source content management systems such as Joomla and Drupal. However, there are many more open source content management systems out there that are more than capable of accommodating the needs of your website. In fact, some of the less popular CMSs actually provide features that cannot be found in the standard CMS. Not all CMS live up to their developer’s hype though, so we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of the top 20 open source content management systems.

1. Drupal: One of the most popular and powerful content management systems available. Many believe Drupal is the best.

2. WordPress: While this CMS was originally made for blog publishing, it has quickly become a one of the most popular CMSs on the planet.

3. Joomla: Considered to be in the top three of any CMS list, by any CMS user. Joomla has been used to build many corporate and professional websites, such as the United Nations page.

4. b2Evolution: A fully functional weblog creation utility/CMS that provides support for several categories/sub-categories, skins, multiple blogs, comments, statistics, photo management, and anti-spam filters.

5. Movable Type: Similar to WordPress, Movable Type is also a very capable blog creation utility which is commonly used for creating dynamic sites.

6.Alfresco: A very capable professional CMS providing a variety of document management features.

7. Xoops: This expandable object-oriented CMS is extremely simple to use, and is very popular amongst PHP coders.

8. e107: Another popular PHP-based CMS specifically designed simple and fast creation of community portals and professional sites.

9. DotCMS: A Java wCMS (Web Content Management System) with included events management e-communications,  and personalization/CRM tools, an AJAX calendar, eCommerce hooks and much more.

10. ImpressCMS: An open source CMS designed for efficient site building and maintenance. This CMS is supposed to be an excellent solution for business users who are building a business oriented community website.

11. Exponent: A competent CMS that lets webmaster conveniently create and maintain dynamic sites   with absolutely zero coding experience.

12. KnowledgeTree Document Management System: A comprehensive document management system specifically designed for business collaboration and easy document storage and organization.

13. Liferay: This CMS provides an enterprise portal solution using Web 2.0 and Java technologies.

14. Pivot: A CMS utility designed for the management of dynamic websites, blogs and online journals. Includes a variety of post organization features.

15. Magnolia: Commonly used by Government websites, this CMS provides a user-friendly editing interface that lets authors preview content exactly as it would be seen by the website visitor. This CMS has the top of the line (best-breed) JAVA technology.

Conclusion

The above list is by no means a comprehensive one, however. There are many more open source CMS available, and the only way to make a fully informed decision would be to review every CMS you can find. If you;re not willing to do so, then the above list will help you decide which CMS is right for you based on the key features of each CMS listed.