Content management systems (CMS) allow for website owners, with no web development experience, to manage the content within their website. Back when Digital Dogs started in 1998, there were two options for CMS. You could pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for one developed by a software company, or you could use a proprietary system built by a web development firm. The first option was usually a show stopper because of cost, and the second option had many issues. Most proprietary systems were not flexible, feature rich or well supported. In addition, proprietary systems often left customers tied to the web development company who built it, because the system was owned by the web development company.
With the advent of open source software and the development Joomla, Drupal and WordPress, the CMS world has changed dramatically. These content management systems are priced right at no cost, which means the only cost to the website owner is the development time to implement them. Each is well supported by a broad development community. There are modules that are pre-built to support most common needs, such as calendars, shopping carts and event listings to name a few. In addition, since they are open source, website owners are not tied to one web development firm. You have complete control over where your website is hosted and who manages the programing of it for you.
One of our favorite CMS is WordPress. Initially developed as a blog, it has evolved into a very robust content management system. As a matter of fact, the Digital Dogs website is built and managed through WordPress. It offers the flexibility to have creative themes, making a website custom to your design requirements. The site management is done through a very intuitive administration area, allowing for content to be updated and pages to be added with a few key strokes and a click of a mouse.
As the Internet has evolved, so have content management systems. For less of a cost than having a static website built in the 90s, you can now have a site that is easily updated, feature rich, well supported and, best of all, over which you have complete control.
