My Experience with Content Management
CMS is fairly new to me but I dabbled with it last year and managed to create a systen where I could fill in an online form, submit it and the content would appear on one of my web pages.
The News page on this site works this way but the downside is that you have to know a bit of HTML to get it to look right on the page. In fact, the more you know about HTML the better you can make it look. It is also a bit tedious having to remember to put in all the tags properly but it does work and forces you to write HTML whis is not a bad habit to get into...
However, imagine a site where you can create new pages and update them online with a text editor that is as easy to use as a word processor, lets you write links at the click of a mouse and put in images exactly where you want. Well that is what Content Management is all about.
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To the left is a typical text editor you would find in sites like Moodle.
They allow you to change to HTML mode so if you are good at code you can be just that bit more creative by adding more content.
It means a non-technical person can easily update or create content on the site. A saving in money as the web designer is spared this task. |
These type of sites are generally written using PHP code and it is a very specialised task to create a site completely from scratch. Usually you would get a web design firm to do this for you and it would cost thousands of £'s and you would be a bit at their mercy as to what it would contain and how it would work. You would need to understand the limitations of such sites before you committed your cash into such a venture!
I have met people who have has sites built and every time they want a new picture on the site it costs them £60.00. Others have asked if they can access their own site files to change content and the design company has refused as they have the copyright to the site scripts and not the site owner!
You can understand this stance in respect that someone who got into the files and did not know exactly what they were doing could destroy a site and the designers would then happily charge a fortune to repair the damage.
Is there a cheaper way?
There is another way if you are prepared to accept limitations that working from templates would impose but the incentive is that it would cost you nothing at all.
Nothing at all you say!
Well that is not strictly true as you would need a web host that provides the special facilities you need to run such sites.
You need a host that has PHP, MySQL databases, FTP access and if you can get it, a 'Fantastico' control panel.
What does all that mean?
PHP
This must be resident on the server as the site runs in this code and without it the site would not work. Most web servers have PHP now.
MYSQL
This is simply a database which runs on your server and is like any other database with fields and records but integrates well with websites. Most hosts have MYSQL in all but their most basic hosting packages.
FTP Access
Not only do you need to upload the site files but you will need to change some of the graphic files to take on the look you want. E.g the main logo and any images you want to include.
Also you may want to alter the CSS file that controls the way the text looks, colours of backgrounds, the colour of links etc.
Fantastico
This program changed my life!! For ages I had tried to use free scripts from the web such as Mambo, Joomla, OSCommerce, Zen Cart and others only to find that I had no idea of how to install the scripts properly and link to a database. I eventually did manage it and learned a lot on the way but it was never easy.
Then I heard about Fantastico. This is essentially a program provided by many hosting companies and it allows you to choose a ready-made site such as Joomla and just create a directory on the server, choose a username and password, then a click of a button and in under ten seconds the whole site is uploaded, configured, linked to a MYSQL database and is ready to use!!!
It just takes away all the technical stuff and allows you to experiment with your new site and learn how to use it. If it all goes wrong you just return to the control panel and delete the entire site and set up another.
Here is a screen-shot of my Fantastico Panel showing the Joomla sites on my server.
I can add or delete sites from here.
