A Content Management System (CMS) is a web-based tool that allows you to keep your own website up to date via an easy-to-use interface.

This is especially useful in keeping your website's running costs down and keeping your information up-to-the-minute, as making general alterations to your website's text can be carried out quickly and easily by you and your staff, rather than contacting us to schedule an update.

Do I need a CMS?

Not everyone needs a CMS. If you have a website with very basic details, such as an introduction page, a map to your business and a page with your contact details on that will rarely, if ever, change then you can get by just fine without one.

On the other hand though, wouldn't it be handy to be able to add seasonal offers or greetings to your homepage? Or perhaps you have a catalogue of frequently updated products you'd like the be made available on your site?

Your website can be built to do pretty much anything you can imagine (within reason) and a lot of the added extras come at little to no cost to your bank account. With most websites now offering a lot more than a quick "hello", it could pay to spend a little extra engaging your customer and standing out from the crowd.

At Notanotherdotcom, we use two CMS's depending on the nature of the site; OmniSite, which is our own custom-built CMS, and MODx which is a third-party open source solution. Each have their own benefits as detailed below.

MODx 

MODx is perfect for sites that are mostly static (the content doesn't generally change much over the course of the year) and don't require complex functionality.

MODx allows our clients to update their own pages, altering text, adding or removing images and other basic functions. It is possible to do more with MODx, but these are the basic functions which the average internet user could comfortably perform.

Using MODx we can integrate your content and layout and configure some really useful tools such as a search form and sitemap (to make your site more easily readable by search Engines) for a little more than a static website would cost.

If you require something more technical for your site such as product catalogues, food menus or discussion forum integration for example, we would recommend using our OmniSite system to build a site desgned form the ground up specifically for your needs.

OmniSite

Omnisite is a collection of scripts from which we can build web applications tailored to a specific need. For exmaple, we built the back-end administration area and front-end user interface for the Piran Property Services website from our OmniSite code base, rather than starting with a completely blank slate.

With complex sites such as this, starting from our code base can keep our production and delivery time down. Whilst these tailored solutions do cost more, the added visitor interacion can lead to more revenue in the long run than a basic website.

Manual Updates

Having explained the benefits of CMS's, we're still more than happy to update your static (non-interactive) website for you. However if you are requiring regular updates, this could work out to be the more expensive option in the long run.

If you're unsure of which option might be best for you, please do get in touch and we'll talk you through the possibilities and costs.