The rise of the Content Management System

Posted by Rob on 20 Sep 2008 in Content management | Permalink

Having control over your sites content is an attractive proposition for any site owner. In reality paying your web designer every time you want to change bit of text can get expensive, unless the updates are once in a blue moon. And that’s where Content Management System’s (CMS’s) come in.

Over the years CMS’s have matured and offer a wide range of applications to suit the needs of virtually any type of site. The sheer number of them is often daunting though and choosing the right one requires some homework.

Here’s my take on two applications that are widely used as CMS’s:

Wordpress

There’s no denying that Wordpress is the worlds most popular blogging system and you’ll see endless people singing it’s praises whenever someone asks for CMS recommendations. However, it has to be remembered that it is still a blogging system and not a true CMS. That said, it has a myriad of plugin modules that can extend it’s functionality to do most things, including making it work like a CMS.

For running a blog based site, WP is hard to beat. For the average site owner it makes blogging as straighforward as it gets and the admin interface is quite intuitive and easy to use. If you want to expand it’s functionality beyond being a simple blog you must use “plugins” and here lies it’s weakness.

As WP is largely Open Source many plugins are free to download and use, but when it comes to upgrading the core installation you inevitably have to update every plugin you have if they are compatible. If you run several dozen plugins (not an unknown scenario!) it can sometimes be a frustrating experience trying to get everything working again.

As with most Open Source applications you have to reply on peer based support since there is no proper commercial support available - none that I know of at least!

Pros
Popular, many plugins, free, CSS based templates

Cons
Requires plugins to do basic things, lack of commercial support

Expression Engine

Although EE started out as a blogging system it has evolved differently to Wordpress into a proper CMS. Whereas WP attracts a wider user base, Expression Engine is often the choice of leading web professionals, simply because of it’s flexibility out of the box - no plugins required!

Just like the true CMS it is, Expression Engine can be tailored to virtually any type of content, and not just blogs. For the site owner the administrative interface can be customised to suit the type of content inputting, or even based on the users permissions (ie what they can and cannot have access to. This makes it ideal for running sites that have multiple authors (note: WP does have a user levels system but it’s not as comprehensive).

For most sites no plugins are needed, even to run the most comprehensive of sites. That said there are plugins/modules/extensions available that make life easier for the less technical savvy, but the same functionality can usually be achieved without them. When it comes to upgrading, for the most part, existing addons just work - this is due to the way the core system has been built.

Expression Engine is a commercial product and owners get professional paid support if it’s needed, though peer to peer support is also available for DIY’ers. Certainly if you’ve ever had a problem with a site that needed pro support you’ll realise how valuable this can be.

Pros
Out of the box functionality, suits any type of content, CSS based templates

Cons
Commercial software (though cost is not an issue to pro web developers)

Summary

Both systems have their good and bad points and it’s important to weigh up each to see if it matches the requirements of your site, not just short term but for future proofing as well. If budget is tight and you don’t want to stray too far from blogging/news posting then Wordpress is hard to beat. If your needs scope beyond blogging/news posting then Expression Engine is well worth considering.

When you choose an application to base your site on it’s a mistake to choose on price alone. What may seem cheap now may come back to bite you in additional development time, and in some cases can prove many times more expensive that going for a paid application in the first place.

I’m happy using both systems - at the end of the day the needs of the site and the site owner usually dictate which is the better of the two.