A CMS (Content Management System) is software that mostly runs on the web and can coordinate the work of multiple users at once. The essence of the system is that users can share, publish and maintain digital content on the Internet without the knowledge of programmers or web developers. The most common form of these is publishing news, blog posts, or even various products for sale on the World Wide Web.
Today's CMS systems are usually interactive, giving visitors the opportunity to create their own user accounts, i.e. register so that the system can store different user data, settings, as well as comment on different content, rate them, and so on.
Web-based CMS systems store uploaded data or settings, which are the most common MySQL a server is used for this purpose.
functions
Content management systems are now very widespread, due to several useful functions. The most important of these are:
Administration interface
The administration interface allows site operators to conveniently configure all settings and monitor system status.
Manage users
One of the most important functions of a content management system is to allow visitors to sign up so that the system can:
- Assigning permissions / roles to users, allowing the system operator to define different access levels for different jobs, and fine-tuning who can access what data, modify it, and so on.
- Organize users into groups. This allows you to assign permissions to different groups of users, etc.
- User settings. Settings made at different parts of the page (e.g., display settings) can be stored in the user account, so that if you return at any time, you do not have to reset everything.
- Manage messages. This gives users access to the system to facilitate communication between users, and thus more efficient work sharing.
content Management
Content management is also the most important element of CMS systems, as their main task. This way, once the user permissions / roles are in place, it is now easy to determine who is allowed to publish or edit / delete what content.
Data and system security
The security of the data stored in the system, such as internal information, user data, and system stability is very important, which is why today’s modern CMS systems are effective in fighting attackers and various unexpected events. Here are some key security solutions:
- Using an encrypted channel a HTTPS connection. It is now essential that a portal system be able to use the HTTPS connection, if available.
- Data encryption
- Strong encryption of passwords and proper control of login forms
- Filter URL parameters
- Filter data fields entered by users
- Adequate protection of the database against various SQL injection attacks.
- Load attacks (DoS, DDoS), brute-force attacks
- Protect the file structure by setting the appropriate permissions
- Storage monitoring. Low storage space, alarms, etc.
- System environment monitoring, eg processor utilization monitoring, especially in shared storage
- etc. ...
Speed
Speed is also a very important consideration as it greatly determines the user experience index. Therefore, some basic things are also needed in this area, such as:
- GZIP compression. Complete compression of the web page to reduce bandwidth usage, thus saving bandwidth.
- Using different caches. Less frequently modified parts are cached, so you don't have to retrieve them from the database every time you load a page.
- Use optimized queries to avoid overloading the database engine with even more content and / or traffic.
- etc. ...
Modular design
The success of today's CMS systems is largely due to the fact that it is not necessary to download and install the complete program package at the same time, but only to install the basic system and later install additional modules according to the needs, which perform the appropriate tasks. Thus, the website does not contain a lot of unnecessary program code, which would slow down the system.
For the more popular CMS systems, up to tens of thousands of modules can be downloaded, most of which are created by third-party developers.
Customizable appearance
In most CMS systems it is possible to so-called. to install themes that are responsible for the external display of the page. They also allow you to set a custom display. These themes are also largely created by third-party developers, as are the gadgets, and today almost every theme is mobile-friendly, so the website looks optimal on all devices.
Easy to install
Another great advantage of these systems is that they are easy to install and do not have a high system demand, so they run on average dynamic web hosts. Mostly they only need a database and PHP environment.
Regular updates
Developers of CMS systems are constantly working on bug fixes and new features. This way, when developers reach another milestone, they release an update package, which is often monitored by the content management system, and when they find a new release, they notify the administrator of the update task.
Internal search engine
In the case of a portal with more content, it is especially important that the uploaded and organized content can also be searched within the page so that users can easily find the information they need.
Keresőoptimalizáltság
Achieving good search engine rankings is very important in today’s internet, so website developers / operators are making great efforts to achieve better search engine positioning. CMS systems are created by professional developers who are also up to date in the maze of search engine optimization, so the system is already prepared in advance with the latest SEO solutions, so users do not have to deal with this field.
Types of CMS systems
The following names are used for content management systems that are specialized in different application areas:
- enterprise-level content management system (ECMS)
- web content management system (WCMS)
- Document Management System (DMS)
- mobile content management system (MCMS)
- component content management system (CCMS)
- digital asset management system (DAM)
- educational content management systems (LMS)
(Source: Wikipedia - Content Management Systems)
Better known content management systems
Some of the more well-known open source CMS systems (there are no updates for all of them):
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