Managing Your Web Site’s Content

December 28th, 2004

Sooner or later, every web savvy organization faces the challenge of how to provide current content from many different sources while maintaining a unified look across their web site. The challenge is multiplied many times for each content provider an organization relies on as each person has different stylistic preferences and abilities.

Through my research over the past year, I have come to the conclusion that there are at least three viable options: a web content manager on staff or contract retainer, a Content Management System (CMS) like Plone and PHP-Nuke, or a hybrid Content Management Platform such as Macromedia Contribute). These options allow varying amounts of flexibility in design aesthetics and centralized control over the organization’s visual identity.

Hiring a Content Manager

Cost Analysis:

Organizations with existing sites will often choose to hire a content manager. This way, the start-up cost of redesigning a web site to accomodate content management software can be eliminated. Most web content managers charge an hourly fee to change text and images on a web page, and it is becoming common for web designers to include some content maintenance time in a web hosting fee. If your organization uses an hour or two of content management time each month, this is often a cost-effective way of maintaining your content.

Flexibility:

Hiring a content manager provides the most flexibility of design for your web site. Most Content Management Systems require a limited number of templates, often just one. A content manager, if also a web designer, can create new page designs as needed for almost unlimited flexibility within your organization’s visual identity.

Using a Content Management System

Content Management System (CMS): A software package installed on your web site’s server that enables the management of web based content without the knowledge of HTML or other web site design technologies.
Hybrid Content Management System: A software package that does not need to be installed on a server, has minimal impact on web design choices, and enables the management of web based content without the knowledge of HTML or other web site design technologies.

Cost Analysis:

Content Management Systems are not all created equal, and often the most difficult choice is which system to adopt. Many useful open source software packages are available free of charge. These can limit your start-up costs provided your orgainization has access to a designer with the technical expertise to modify their templating system or “skin” the Content Management System. Since open source Content Management Systems are developed by a community, the longevity of the software and availability of support are determined by the strength of their development community. This can be judged by the activity of the various community bulliten boards and mailing lists.

Often it makes better sense to purchase a CMS from a company that has developed it for sale. Such purchases usually include installation on your web server along with technical support for the customization process (technical support issues often abound with open source software). Your web designer must always be brought into the selection process at this point, because their ability to customize the CMS easily will directly affect your start-up cost.

Flexibility

All Content Management Systems are driven by templates (even hybrid ones like Macromedia Contribute). However, it is rare to find one that allows for more than one template site-wide. Some do allow for two templates: one for the front page, and another for the rest of the site. This means that the site will have a unified appearance, but limited variety when using any CMS.

Using a Hybrid Content Management System

Cost Analysis:

Hybrid Content Management Systems are now becoming available, and although there are some popular open source options available, the low price of Macromedia Contribute makes dealing with the uncertainties of the open source community for this type of software unnecessary. Start-up costs include a nominal purchase fee for the software and, if needed, the creation of Dreamweaver templates for your web site. While the start-up costs may be higher for this method than for others, it gives you a great deal of flexibility without having to pay a web designer for every change you need to make to your web site’s content.

Flexibility

Even Hybrid Content Management Systems like Macromedia Contribute need templates to function correctly. However, the number of templates that can be used with such systems is practically limitless (limited only by design budget and the designer’s creativity within your visual identity constraints). One drawback of this choice is its dependence on software that runs on each web content provider’s computer rather than on a web server. This means that there are many copies of software that must be purchased, updated, and maintained. The added flexibility of this choice makes it a good option for aesthetically discerning organizations.

Entry Filed under: Content Management