What is a content management system?

Content management software equips organisations and businesses with integrated systems that manage web site and intranet content from the authoring stage through to publication. Designed for a decentralised publishing environment in which multiple authors with varying levels of technical expertise upload content to a customised interface instead of delegating this to an IT department, content management systems (CMS) follow ‘a distributed content model’, separating content from presentation and layout (Black , 2011, p. 185). Staff no longer create static pages; they create the information that the software will use to generate pages dynamically (Byrne, 2005, p. 32)

Essential features of a high quality CMS

Authoring tools

Collaboration tools

Document management tools

Administrative and design tools

Workflow management functions (including review, approval and publishing)

Ability to handle documents and content in any format and stored in any location (intranet, web site or database)

Both proprietary and open source content management systems are available, with a steadily increasing number of organisations opting for an open source option (Beal, 2012). Secondary service providers and products (link) exist to help users in the implementation of an open source CMS.

Sites which benefit from a content management systems

Sites that are updated frequently

Sites that are updated by non-developers

Sites which need a scalable site design that can be adapted to future demands.

Sites which need consistency in the display of information across a large volume of pages but cannot manage the administrative burden and the technical know-how involved (Black, 2011, p. 185).

E-commerce sites or a catalogues which need to generate content dynamically, displaying the same content in different combinations according to user preferences and input.

Sites for small businesses which do not have an in-house IT team but are perhaps able to hire a developer to create a site (Beal, 2012).

Older websites which are being revised or otherwise cleaned up, particularly if there are many redundant pages, inconsistencies in design, layout and naming conventions and the architecture is unclear to users (Hubble, Murphy and Perry, 2011, p. 190).

Downsides

Customisation

Many CMS are built for a generic situation and assume that users desire a single site or a limited variety or sites, whereas organisations have varying contexts and needs (Byrne, 2005, p. 32). More flexible CMS like Drupal (link) can require extensive and time-consuming customisation (Morville and Rosenfeld, 2007, p. 358).

User experience

Navigating the information architecture of the CMS itself is often a challenge for inexperienced users and non-developers. Many open source CMS overwhelm first-time users with a cacophony of ‘gratuitous features’ (Veen, 2004).

Change management

Moving to a CMS necessarily entails introducing staff to ‘a new paradigm’ of website development and sometimes a new terminology (Hubble, Murphy and Perry, 2011, p. 190). Many authors struggle with the transition to a ‘component-driven CMS’ and a new way of working. Moreover, some processes may become more convoluted, inciting user resistance. For example, users may object to filling in multiple metadata fields, some even circumventing the new protocols by resorting to methods outside the new CMS, such as collaborating via web-based applications like Yahoo! Groups (Byrne, 2005, p. 34).

A CMS is not a quick or simple solution and a carefully structured process needs to be followed through research, design, development, maintenance and review, with on-going testing during the adoption stage and the phased introduction of some elements if necessary (Robertson, 2005).

Choosing a CMS

Many usability issues arise because a poor choice of CMS has been made. It is important to recognise that content management is ‘very complex and very content-sensitive’ and that site content, organisational context and user experience and needs all need to be taken into account when making a selection (Morville and Rosenfeld, 2007, p. 22)

Functionality and usability are equally important in choosing a CMS, but usability can often be sacrificed for added functionality. As products have grown more powerful, they have also become more complex. Greater functionality can have an dramatic impact on ease of use for general authors, jeopardising user buy in for the new system (Robertson, 2007).

To enhance user buy in, users should be incorporated into the ‘technology solution’ by involving them in the CMS selection process (Black, 2011, p. 186).

Beal, V. (2012). Which open source CMS is right for your business? Retrieved from CIO website: http://www.cio.com/article/701452/Which_Open_Source_CMS_Is_Right_for_Your_Business_

Black, E. L. (2011). Selecting a web content management system for an academic library website. Information Technology and Libraries, 30(4), 185-189.

Byrne, T. (2005). Oh what a feature: Functional usability of web content management systems. EContent, 28(5), 32-36.

Hubble, A., Murphy, D. A., & Perry, S. C. (2011). From static and stale to dynamic and collaborative: The Drupal difference. Information Technology and Libraries, 30(4), 190-197.

Morville, P., & Rosenfeld, L. (2007). Information architecture for the World Wide Web (3 ed.). Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly.

Veen, J. (2004). Making a better CMS. Retrieved from Adaptive Path website: http://www.adaptivepath.com/ideas/e000365