Content Management Systems

There are many different types of web sites, and they can be categorised in a number of different ways.

One of the main ways to differentiate them is to split sites into the two categories: static and dynamic.

A static site is one which will not change. That is, when you type the URI (Universal Resource Identifier) into your browser it retrieves the page matching that identifier. The entire page is held on the web server and is delivered to you complete. Almost. There may be images which need to be inserted, and there may be some styling which is defined in a separate CSS (Cascading Style Sheet). There may also be some javascript in an external file.

But all the text, the words that you read, are in one file and written in HTML, the markup language interpreted by browsers to render your page.

Dynamic sites are different. In this case the web page is constructed dynamically on the server and then delivered to you. There is typically only one page, or perhaps a few pages, but the content on the pages changes depending upon the URI entered.

Dynamic sites are written in a programming language – this site, for example, is written in PHP. The content is held in a database. The PHP program parses the URI and grabs the content from the database and puts it together into an HTML page before delivering it to your browser

A dynamic site is easier to update. New content can be added using a web application, and then saved to the database. This article, for example, is being written in my browser using a page constructed by PHP specifically for entering or editing content.

Which is the best way to go?

That all depends. For a site which will rarely, if ever, change then a static site is easier. But if new content is going to be added then a dynamic site, although harder to set up, is much easier to maintain.

There are two ways to get a dynamic site. One is to build it yourself, or have a programmer write the code for you. A number of people have done this, and I will be doing it myself when I get the time. But usually this is a waste of time. There are already a lot of CMSs, both free and commercial, from which you can probably find one to suit your needs.

A content management system is made up of a number of files which contain the code to perform a variety of functions. You load the files onto your server, set a few variable in a configuration file – such things as the database name, your user id and password – and then make whatever changes to the system you need to build the site that you want.

This site uses a CMS called Xaraya, which is a very powerful CMS, and one of the most flexible available.

My blog site uses WordPress, one of the most popular blogging systems in the world.

However, Xaraya can be used for blogging, and many people do. Similarly, WordPress can be used for a business site, and many people do. But each CMS has its own strengths and weaknesses.

Xaraya, because of its power and flexibility has a very steep learning curve. WordPress, can be set up in an hour or less, if you just want a simple blog.

Both of these systems are Open Source, that is they are free to use and you can change the source code to your hearts content.

There are dozens of open source CMSs available. And there are other systems ranging from $100 or so up to some which will cost tens of thousands of dollars.

If you want to try out a number of different CMSs then go to OpenSourceCMS and you can try out a whole range of systems.