Content Management Systems

A content management system or CMS empowers users to edit their own web sites. A CMS involves using a database to store all the content and providing the end user with an interface to allow them to write (or paste) text into the site without any knowledge of HTML.

We've used several ready-made content management systems, and we've even built a couple in-house over the years. Now however, we find ourselves recommending the popular open source system Drupal for an increasing number of projects that require a custom CMS. Our article why we like Drupal explains why.

Isn't a bespoke system better than 'off-the-shelf'?

It depends what you need. For a simple blog, WordPress has the advantage that many people already know how it works and so other bloggers will be familiar with it and will be able to leave comments easily. In this case the ready made product has the advantage.

In the case of something more complex, with a functionality that will be specific to your project, Drupal will often be the best solution. Drupal is a mature project with thousands of contributed modules to extend the functionality of the core software. It also has a large and active community of developers around the world. Most importantly for us, because of the well documented infrastructure, it's easy for developers to extend. So if you think your modest site might become a community portal with user contributions, or a pay-for-content publishing system with complex editing workflows or need to integrate with a CRM so you can effectively track leads and relationships then talk to us about Drupal.

What's right for our project?

We will always assess your needs before coming up with a solution. However, the fact that WordPress and Drupal are open source and have no licence fees attached, means that we can keep costs down and offer increased value for our clients. Joomla also has some good features although a lot of the really useful modules are not free.

Call us on 0117 909 6967 to find out how we can help your business with solid, reliable open source technology.