Content management system or CMS for a website is a system which is used to manage the content of a website. Generally, a CMS consists of a Content Management Application (CMA) and a Content Delivery Application (CDA). The CMA element allows the content administrator to manage the creation, modification, and removal of content from a website without requiring to expertise in HTML. The CDA component uses and compiles that information to update the website.
However, choosing a CMS for website might be tricky because there are a number of features in picture and it is likely that you might not need all of them. Here are few points to consider while choosing a perfect CMS for your website.
Core Functionality Features:-
The very first thing to consider while choosing an appropriate CMS is the basic functionalities that are mostly used. Some of the features like Creating, Editing and Organizing web-pages are of major importance. Incorporating additional attributes might depend on the individual requirements.
The Editor
The editor is the prime interface through which content is added, removed and modified from the website. It also allows the proper text formatting such as font, color and alignments, etc. The best way towards ensuring the basic editor functionality is to list your requirements. Also, you can look for CMS that allow the editor to be replaced with a more appropriate solution.
Search Option
When it comes to the management of content, one of the most demanded feature is the relevance in searching of the content. Things to look for accessing search functionalities are:-
- Freshness
- Speed
- Customization
- Thoroughness
Customization Option
A good CMS is one that allows flexibility in the way content is retrieved and delivered. For example, you may want to arrange the content in a specific order and want it to be visible in the same order to the other apps. Sometimes you might also need to extract the most recent comments of the user and display them on the home page. So, a CMS must be flexible enough to carry out these tasks.
User Interaction
A powerful CMS must enable users or visitors to provide feedback or interact with the website and at the same time present the data to the administrator. User Interaction specification of a CMS depends on how you want to manage users.
Content Security, Roles And Permission
As a number of users have to access the content of the website, a good CMS must provide features to set permissions for every user as per their roles, content accessibility permissions and ultimately ensure security of the website.
Versioning
This feature of CMS allow users to undo any action if occurred accidentally. It also allows you to roll back to any previously specified content on your website when needed.
Multi-Website Support
This is very useful from the perspective of those organisations that needs to manage more than one website from their CMS. Whatever the reasons be, multi-website support provides flexibility to the CMS.
Multilingual Support
Although multi-language CMS support might not be of much importance to a lot of entrepreneurs, still, one might need in upcoming days to expand your business.
That’s all about a basic guide on how to choose a CMS. Though it is important to consider the features that you want to have in the CMS, but it is not all. It is also important to consider other factors such as licensing, support, accessibility, security, training etc.
