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In the past, building websites required advanced skills in internet technology and various programming languages. Webmasters needed to be well-versed in HTML, PHP, CSS, and other programming fields, in order to create even a relatively simple website. Many times website owners would have to pay web developers a hefty fee to set up their website for them, and in many cases this still happens today. However, as the the internet has become more user-friendly, and with the advent of web 2.0, website owners can now use what are called CMS (Content Management Systems) to build, organize and maintain their websites. Some of these content management system let users upload preset themes that can be customized easily within a user-friendly interface. One of the most popular content management systems available is WordPress.

What is WordPress?

Although WordPress is actually a blogging platform, it is commonly used to create static web pages and complete websites. WordPress is basically a website administrative interface that lets you control every aspect of the site using tools that even the most novice users can utilize. These tools let you post text, images and any other kind of media quickly and easily without having any programming knowledge whatsoever. WordPress is updated on a regular basis you don’t have to worry about it becoming obsolete at all. WordPress can be installed by a complete novice using tools provided by your web host such as Fantastico or Simple Script.

Wordpress Plugins

One of the most appealing aspects of WordPress is it’s expandability. By using a vast array of plugins, users can do just about anything they desire with ease. New plugins are being created everyday, and they can be installed in less than one minute by even the most inexperienced webmaster. Once installed the plugin resides in the left side of the WordPress interface in the navigational bar, where you can easily adjust the plugin settings and control every aspect of your site’s functionality. Using plugins like the All-in-One SEO pack, you can even automatically optimize your site’s pages for the search engines.

Creating Static Web Pages with WordPress

Since WordPress was originally a blogging platform, creating a regular website can present some challenges to the novice user. The main problem is that the latest post will always be displayed at the top of the main page, which makes it hard to design a website as you would like it. Every time you add a new post, the order of your content will be disrupted since the latest post will be displayed at the top of the front page. This obviously is not desired if you want to have your content arranged a certain way. So how do you fix it? Well the answer is actually quite simple – use a plugin! There is a plugin called StickyOrderer that will let you organize your posts in the fashion want them, and you can do this on every page of your site! Using this plugin alone you can create well organized websites, instead of scattered blogs.

Having a capable Content management system is one of the most important parts of maintaining and operating a website successfully. A good CMS will facilitate and expedite the process of uploading, organizing and editing content on your website within a centralized- user-friendly interface. Having a tool like this at your disposal will boost the overall productivity of your business, allowing you to focus on other aspects of the business, such as marketing and advertising.

It should be noted however that not all content management systems are the same. Each CMS has a list of features that differs slightly, and the user interface of each CMS also varies greatly. In this review we’ve outlined the key features of a commonly overlooked, yet very useful CMS – Cushy CMS.

Implementing Cushy CMS

Using Cushy CMS with your website is a simple process that can be set up in a matter of minutes. You also don’t have to worry about the risk of using a software that you may not enjoy, as the software can be tried for free with full functionality. This means you can use the software on as many websites as you’d like, and as many computers as well. Cushy CMS is an unlimited free CMS solution that is easy to use, and can be installed by even the most novice user.

Ease of Use

Aside from being free, one of the best aspects of the Cushy CMS is it’s user-friendly visually appealing content creation/organization module. In fact, the process is so simple, it is explained in less than three minutes on the official Cushy CMS website. Users can add content, optimize pages and create search engine friendly websites with a few clicks and some simple editing. The learning curve for the Cushy CMS is almost non-existent, as even the most novice user can add photos and text to their web pages with very little effort.

Branding Cushy CMS as Your Own

Perhaps one of the most appealing aspects of this CMS i that it can be redistributed as your own CMS solution, for whatever price you’d like. The only catch is you’ll need to purchase the Pro Plan for $28 a month to re-brand the software and resell it. Aside from having reselling rights, you’ll also have access to any future upgrades of the software as well. The Pro Plan also offers a plethora of features that make re-branding and customizing the software simple and fun. For example, you can change the color of the user interface, and you can even use whatever domain name you’d like to sell the CMS. With the Pro Plan users also have access to RSS feeds that let you easily track page changes and other site updates. The pro plan also includes direct email support, and compatibility with 12 different languages.

Conclusion

Overall, Cushy CMS is a very capable content management solution for both the novice and experienced user. Any web designer looking to create their own CMS for their clients should definitely consider Cushy CMS because of it’s reselling capabilities.

Building a website by yourself is a very difficult task. So difficult in fact that it is rarely done. If you do decide to build the website without assistance, unless you have extensive experience in website design, and you’re an excellent author at the same time, then chances are your site will be mediocre at best. Cooperation and collaboration is standard in the website creation industry. There are very few people that can establish a professional website without at least seeking the knowledge of another person before hand.

When you work on a site building project with multiple users, having the ability to set restrictions and delegate website duties is imperative. You’ll need to be able to run the operation with precision and authority, in order to same yourself time and frustration. To do this you’ll need a good content management system. Selecting the right open source content management system be a difficult task in and of itself. To make the task easier on yourself, perform the following steps.

Assess Your Needs

The first step is to find out what kind of features you’ll need in a content management system. Will you be delegating work to authors? Will you be working with multiple programmers and designers? If so then you’ll definitely need a secure administrative interface that will give you the ability to designate certain tasks to each of your team members. Write down what kind of features that will be most essential and then you can begin the search.

Look For Compatibility

It is important to remember what kind of operating system you’re using and remember that not all content management systems are compatible with all operating systems. You’ll also need to remember what kind of operating system your sever operates on. It is also important to note which programming language your site uses. The most combination that you will find is PHP language and MySQL databases, being run on an Apache servers. If you don;t want to go through the hassle of finding a compatible content management system, then you may want to find a host that has these features, which most content management systems will be compatible with.

Compile a list of Suitable CMS

Now that you know exactly what you’re looking for it is time to compile a list that will narrow your options and make the final decision easier for you. Open a word processor  or pull out a sheet of paper and a pen and get ready to do some web searching. Finding the top content management systems will not be as hard as you would think. There are many review sites that have already compiled long lists of all of the top content management systems for you. All you have to do is eliminate the content management systems that are not compatible with the needs we assessed above.

Narrow Your Options

Now that you have a large list of CMS to choose from, all that is left to do is to narrow the list down to one CMS. One by one, check of each one as being compatible or not compatible. When you’re finished you should have a list of about 3-5 content management systems. Next visit each one of their websites and test their support team. The final decision will come down to reliability and cost efficiency.

Having a useful content management system is a great way to boost the productivity of your online business. Once you become familiar with the administrative interface you can gain supreme control over your entire website, accomplishing tasks in minutes that could normally take hours. You can update your site every day in just a few short clicks, and you can even assign tasks to your workers form within the main interface of your content management system. Using one of these systems as-is is a great way to increase your efforts towards building a successful website, however adding web applications to an already qualified content management system is a sure way to boost productivity beyond comparison.

Creating a Website on Autopilot

Creating and maintaining a website without a good content management system can be a hassle. However simply using a content management system with the included features is not enough to completely streamline website management. There are actually ways to setup a website, put in a few hours of work and let the content management do the rest. By installing highly capable web applications, users can gather content form website automatically via RSS feeds, spin the content automatically, add related pictures, video, or audio to the post and schedule daily postings at any desired frequency. All of this can be done by setting a few preferences and inputting a few RSS feeds into the right web application. To make sure your content management system will be able to accomplish tasks like this, it is important to find out what the most popular web applications are for any prospective content management systems.

Marketing with Web Applications

Content management web applications not only help you build and maintain your website, but they’ll also assist you in marketing your website to a larger audience by automatically handling SEO and viral marketing tasks. For example, there are social bookmarking web applications that will automatically submit every post on your website to a wide selection of social bookmarking sites as soon as they’re posted. There are also web applications that will spin content to be as search engine optimized as possible.

Enhancing Appearance with Web Applications

The right web applications will also help you enhance the appearance of your website by making the changing of templates and other design factors simple and quick. In fact, there are many web applications that are specifically created to automatically improve the appearance appeal of your website. Some applications can even schedule template changes for you, to create the most diverse experience possible for your website’s visitors. There are also applications that automate the tedious tasks involved with adjusting template attributes such as font size, color, and style. Using these kinds of applications is a good way to save time and money on the design of your website.

Final Thoughts

While having a content management system that doesn’t include any web applications may suffice for many online business owners, having the right web applications will undoubtedly boost anyone’s productivity. In the world of online business, productivity is the single most important factor.

With so many choices available, picking a content management system for your business website can be a very difficult task. All of them claim to be the best, and the truth is that most of them are capable of the same basic functions. However there are some CMS that go beyond the boundaries of what a normal CMS is capable of by offering unlimited expandability within the software. These CMS are called “open source” CMS, because they are an ongoing open project.

Any developer or programmer  that is interested in designing web applications for these CMS can do so without any limitations or legal ramifications. Fir this reason, the features and capabilities of these CMS are rapidly expanding. As the capabilities of your CMS expands, so does the capabilities of your website, and ultimately your online business.

The Cost of an Open Source CMS

With all of these wonderful benefits, you would expect an open source CMS to be very expensive. Surprisingly most open source software is free, including open source CMS! One such example is the ever-so popular WordPress which is used by millions of webmasters around the world to handle everything from everyday tasks such as email, to more complex tasks such as website design. WordPress even gives you the ability to outsource the work to multiple users within a single account. These users can be given certain permissions, such as uploading, content publication, and template administration. This feature alone really helps boost the productivity of your site by giving you a workforce that you can deploy with full control. It really is hard to believe that all of this comes at zero cost!

Just How Expandable are Open Source CMS?

Even without all of the incredible plugins and applications that are available, these tools provide powerful administrative capabilities. Now imagine adding an unlimited amount of features. Imagine having the ability to say “ I want this,” and then making it happen by hiring a freelance programmer. This is the kind of freedom and expandability experienced by open source CMS users on a daily basis! With literally thousands of applications available, even the worst open source CMS can be made into a fully functional super software with just a few additional applications. Although WordPress is already capable of just about everything one could ask for, the applications available for it really take it to the next level. Thanks to CMS like WordPress, webmasters can setup websites with pre-designed themes and templates in a matter of minutes.

Why Use a Free Software When You Can Afford an Expensive One?

The answer to this question is really quite simple – you don’t need to pay, because all of the features you’re “paying for,” are available for free through web applications that can be added to your free CMS in a matter of minutes. In fact some CMS  even have integrated applications that will make the installation of additional applications quick and simple. With features like these, the real question should be Why should you pay for a CMS, when you can get one for free that does the same thing…. and more?

I am sure you are familiar with the phrase “Content is King.”  However, poorly written and organized content is not going to do your website any good. Even a website full of well-written yet disorganized content is not going to prosper as much as it would with the use of a good content management system (CMS).  Adding content to your website manually is a tedious process that involves a lot of time and effort, and a successful website needs to be updated daily with quality content to keep the visitors intrigued. If all of your time is spent gathering, creating and updating content on your website, then you will not have time to focus on other important aspects of your online business. As you continue reading, the benefits of a good content management system will become more apparent.

Updates and Accessibility

All content management systems come with an administrative interface that allows webmasters to add content automatically throughout the entire website. Content can be organized into sections, and setup to be distributed on a certain schedule. This kind of scheduled content distribution is especially beneficial for blog owners and publishers with an expectant daily audience. Content management systems also allow the webmaster to create user accounts for multiple authors. The webmaster can then set permissions for each author account, giving them access to certain functions. For example, one author may be allowed to publish content, whereas another may only be allowed to edit site templates. This control of accessibility is especially useful for webmasters who employ the services of several  freelance workers.

Freedom of Creativity

Content management systems also allow webmasters to test various templates without changing the content of the website. This freedom of creativity gives your web designers the flexibility needed to edit your website and make judgments based on real results instead of guesswork. Each web page can have a new and unique template. You can even store entire folders of templates in your administrative database, establishing a vast collection of templates that can be used throughout the year. This will ensure that your guests do not become bored with the overall appearance of your website. In fact, it is even possible to schedule template changes in certain content management systems! Scheduling template changes will give your website a surprising new look every time your visitors return.

Ease of Use and Automation

Content management systems let webmasters control the content of their website from the comfort of their own operating system. All of the information stored on your website is also stored on your hard drive, making it easy to access your website’s content even without an internet connection. Another useful feature included with a good content management system is RSS. RSS feeds let your website’s visitors receive daily feeds of the content you publish. Likewise, you can use RSS feeds form other sites in combination with content spinning applications to keep fresh relevant content published on your site daily.  If you already have a hosting account with a hosting company, then chances are you already have access to a good CMS, as most hosting accounts come equipped with one. Make sure you investigate the features of the content management system before you decide to use it. If you are not in the position to buy a content management system, then of course using the one provided with your hosting account would be better than not having one at all.

A good content management system (CMS) is an integral part of web site creation and maintenance.  One item that is often overlooked when it comes to choosing a CMS is how effective it is for search engine optimization (SEO).  Pixelsilk is an excellent CMS program that was created with SEO in mind.

Located in Bend, Oregon, Pixelsilk has been in the business of building internet programs for corporations since 1995 and added SEO to their business in 1997.  Combining the two practices brought about the birth of Pixelsilk.

Features

Going beyond simple CMS functions, Pixelsilk brings several features to content management that most programs don’t:

• Full HTML control
• Interactivity with social media applications
• Open architecture and framework
• Real-time search engine optimization advice
• Theme and navigation flexibility

All of these features are critical in keeping up with the competition when it comes to search engine rankings.  Pixelsilk effectively adds on SEO tools without subtracting any of the standard features one would expect in a good CMS program.

Specifications

The Pixelsilk program is a proprietary web-based application.  This means no software downloads are required and one’s web site can be administered and accessed from anywhere.  While the program itself is proprietary and not open source, the framework is open and can be developed through the company’s client and server APIs.

Ease of use

The administration interface for Pixelsilk is much like any other CMS interface – blocked sections of commonly used admin tasks and easy to read pages.  Administrators can add specific user and group roles and modify and create pages just like most standard CMS programs.  The beauty lays in specific sections and tabs that help users create keywords and phrases, optimize for searchable page titles and even in giving on-the-fly advice to further SEO effectiveness.

Cost

Web sites wishing to use the Pixelsilk software must host through the company’s Single Domain Pixelsilk solution which starts out at $149 per month.  Self-hosted solutions are available but the company needs to be contacted and consulted with for further information.

At first glance, the monthly cost may seem a bit high.  However, what must be taken into consideration is that not only is a CMS offered within this monthly charge but hosting and search engine optimization tools to boot.  If one were to price out each of these services individually, the monthly cost does not seem overly prohibitive.

Downside

There is one downside to Pixelsilk.  The company web site really doesn’t give potential customers the ability to check out what’s under the hood unless a personalized walk through demonstration is requested.  The company would fair better if it allowed access to a very scaled down version of the CMS administration panel with test administration abilities incorporated.

Conclusion

It’s not easy to find a CMS solution that is both simple to use and incorporates much needed SEO tools.  Pixelsilk does this splendidly and at a fair cost.  When considering the overall cost of web hosting, web development and SEO consultants, the monthly price being asked by Pixelsilk ends up being a good business bargain.

In a market saturated with content management systems that basically do all the same things, it is important for software vendors to come up with new products that stand out from the rest.  Every other product is advertised as “easy to use”, rarely ever do you see one blatantly catering to webmasters rich in development skills.  A hosted software solution, BitsyBox is proof that the landscape could be changing as this CMS caters to experienced users with features that aim to make life much simpler for the savvy developer.  While the software requires an advanced skill set to maintain, it does offer a great deal of simplicity for site users.

Flexible API

The major selling point of BitsyBox is that it offers an API that allows developers to easily manage their data and programming code.  This hosted API outputs commonly used parse-able formats such as XML and JSON, which spares developers from having to learn a new skill.  BitsyBox also offers support for a PHP 5 client that ties everything together by giving developers the ability to manage the connection, caching and of manipulation of API data.  By simply adding a couple of lines to the code, authorized users can easily update content at their leisure directly from the dashboard.  This PHP client can be downloaded freely and easily incorporated into the BitsyBox framework.

BitsyBox’s API data can also be integrated with iPhone apps and sent to just about any location.  The API offers support for a wide range of technologies, including XML, JSON and PHP, enabling developers to perform their own tweaks and implement new features as needed.  For the most part, the goal of this CMS is the provide a simple way to transform a static website into a dynamic site that developers can make more flexible and one users have an easier time editing.

Robust CDN

BitsyBox users with static image hosting receive a free content delivery network to increase the speed of their site in major browsers around the world.  The CDN is powered by Amazon CloudFront and its extensive global network of servers to enhance the delivery of images to web pages.  The dashboard has been notably improved with enhancements that appeal to the less experienced user.  Features such as sliding windows make sure the content you need is always available, helping users work faster and more efficiently.

Scott Rocher, BitsyBox co-founder, explained that its main competitors are currently, Drupal, WordPress and CushyCMS.  He says that right now, BitsyBox is somewhere between Drupal and WordPress, yet a compelling package that appeals to developers.  Rocher also said that unlike other hosted CMS solutions, BitsyBox does not offer web page creation; just a platform for storing text and photos in a structured manner.

The BitsyBox CMS is available in three flavors.  The free package supports one five-page website and a single users, while the Basic Package is $10 with support for 5 users, up to 20 pages and 500 hits per hour.  Those with more demanding needs can build their own custom package at varying prices.

Being hacked is one of the unfortunate facts of life for a web site.  Of the most heavily attacked, open source and commercial CMS (Content Management Systems) programs are at the top of the list.  Secure information such as credit card numbers, banking information and other confidential items could be leaking from ones own web site and often one wouldn’t even be aware of it.  How can web site owners combat this constant barrage of attacks and security leaks?  Simply by utilizing security software that incorporates itself into an existing CMS setup.

CMS programs covered

SecureLive is a CMS security tool that easily incorporates into many major CMS programs – WordPress, Joomla, Magento and more.  The products offered by SecureLive seem to be more heavily geared toward Joomla but it appears as though the company is striving to ensure as many different CMS and PHP programs normally used are included.  One CMS program that it does not work with just yet is Drupal.  However, support for Drupal is pending and should be released soon.

Live monitoring

This program works in real-time and is a live monitoring service that increases the security for web sites containing secure information.  As soon as a web site has been attacked, SecureLive immediately sends a notification of the attack to the server administrator.  Information regarding the attacker is captured and saved.  A notification is also sent to the SecureLive staff enabling them to file a report with the appropriate entities so that immediate action can be taken against the attackers.  All alerts and notifications can be sent either by text messages or emails.

Products offered

SecureLive offers ten different products to suit specific needs.  There are products specific to online blogs, shopping carts, forms, forums and analytics.  All separate software programs run $197 each.  If needing a complete system encompassing all different aspects of an online web site, SecureLive offers SecureLiveMax.  At $497, this software is a combination of other products offered – SecureBLOG, SecureCART, SecureFORM, SecureFORUM and SecureANALYTICS.

Add-on services

Beyond the actual programs offered, SecureLive also offers add-on products.  SecureLive PLUS is an add-on that places a dedicated admin within one’s system to allow for system adjustments and quick follow ups on site security violations.  For a complete server security optimization, the company offers SecureRX as another product add-on.  For those who have had the misfortune of already being the victim of an attack, SecureLive also offers SecureRESCUE – a de-hacking service that repairs a hacked server and gets it back online as soon as possible.

Support

The SecureLive web site has a few areas one can utilize for support should it be needed.  The support forum area and Q&A area seem to be rather sparse but the company does offer a toll free support number to call.  Perhaps as the product grows and becomes more well-known, the support sections for the company’s web site will be expanded.

Conclusion

As threats and attacks to web sites increase on a daily basis, growing not only in number but sophistication, the need for employing good security measures is paramount.  One of a business’ most important assets can be their online web site – ensuring good customer relations, gather new customers and getting their product or service out there for the general surfing public.  Putting into place a good, solid security program to safeguard not only the web site but the secure information that is entailed with customer relations is just good business sense.

Open source technology has been around for quite some time and has struggled over the years to place itself in the higher echelons of business and government.  The United States’ current President, Barack Obama, has been a vocal proponent of an open and transparent administration.  To further emphasize this, the President recently approved the use of the open source CMS (content management system) Drupal for the WhiteHouse.gov web site.

About Drupal

Drupal is a free open source CMS that allows easy publishing and managing of web sites.  There are tens of thousands of web sites online now that utilize the program and include site types such as community web portals, corporate web sites, resource directories and even social networking sites.

The program is designed to allow quick additions of modules that enable a web site to expand its functionality.  Some of these modules allow for newsletter publication, picture galleries, e-commerce and much more.

As Drupal is open source software, it is constantly being checked, debugged and new updates are constantly being released.  The advantage of this is ensuring that the safest and most secure edition is available to its users.

The word from Dries Buytaert

According to Dries Buytaert, creator and founder of Drupal, his software is well matched and up to the task of helping further the platform of an open and transparent government.  He goes on further to state “Drupal’s flexibility and modularity enables organizations to build sites quickly at lower cost than most other systems.”  Dries feels this move to use open source technology and software indicates that governments are realizing that open source does not present any added risks when compared to propriety software.

One important point Dries brings up is the ability for the Drupal-run WhiteHouse.gov web site to allow for open communication and participation.  This, by itself, is worth seeing the new site and checking out what one can accomplish with respect to open participation.

Not the only government site

Surprisingly, the WhiteHouse.gov is just the pinnacle of government offices using Drupal to publish their web sites.  The Department of Defense, the Department of Commerce, the General Service Administration and the Department of Education have all been using the Drupal CMS for some time.

Other large business, company and entity web sites currently running on Drupal include the New York Observer, Yahoo! Research, Christian Assemblies International and Sony Music.  The list of Drupal-run web sites continues to grow at a rapid pace.

Future looking open

Going on into the future, the hope is that with Drupal’s latest coup of the White House web site, other government agencies, big businesses and even government entities world-wide will see the awesome potential of open source software and technology.  Further, this may also show the world that open source technology is a huge step in the right direction – especially in the area of cutting costs.  Perhaps this recent Presidential approval will start a web site trend and we’ll begin to see more and more “big guys” realize the advantages of open source.