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Content management systems and you – one size never fits all

14th June 2011

Managing the content of your website sounds as if it should be a simple affair. Word processors have been helping us to manage document content for many decades now, and have undoubtedly increased our productivity in the workplace (in a way that Facebook and Ebay never seem to have been able). Understandably, you want to be able to manage your website content with similar ease, but the demands on content management systems differ somewhat from the demands you're ever likely to put on your computer's word processor.

• Content management systems need to provide control over a mixture of textual content, images, audio, movies and other emerging media. Each medium has differing requirements from the underlying website structure and management tools, some of which may be specific to your company's needs.

• While providing the means to manage key website content, content management systems need to guide the user to ensure that the overall website structure is maintained and not compromised. With an increasing choice of available web browsers, it is increasingly important to provide an overall website design and structure which will work for all website users and for the amount and style of content which is likely to be managed. In the wrong hands, a completely flexible content management system can often lead to the downfall of a website's usability and accessibility.

• Your company may require a content management system with differing levels of access to different users to best serve your company's way of working. Your sales department may want to update a 'promotions' area on your website, but your marketing department may only be concerned with your 'press releases' section. You may have a large public relations department in which articles can be submitted or updated by anyone, but which need to be approved by the team leader before they appear on your live website. It's likely that your company's needs in terms of your users, the simplcity/complexity required from your CMS and your internal workflow are more unique than you might at first think.

• It is possible that your website has at least one bespoke aspect, be it an ecommerce system, a 'quote and buy' process, a timesheet management facility or any other feature which exposes your company's products and services to the outside world (or even to the inside world). Bespoke website functionality is not the remit of content management systems, but it's understandable that you want to be able to administer your entire website using a single administrative interface with a common look and feel.

Thirdrock are experts at understanding your users' and your website administrators' needs from content management systems, and we can recommend a content management system to suit your needs. We have worked with a range of off-the-shelf content management systems such as Drupal and Wordpress, and also have our own modern content management system which provides a higher level of customisation and integration with your more bespoke web development.

We have over 15 years of experience in providing our clients with secure and appropriate levels of control over their own websites. Please get in touch to find out how our content management systems can help your online presence.

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