Content management tools all follow the same principle: the separation of content and layout (programming). Other possibilities allow it to be used from project workflow tasks to even more powerful tasks such as Web site personalization targeted at specific users in the creation of more complex sites. Currently, there are many different solutions on the market that cater for different project needs, but the fact still remains that increasingly more Web sites are taking advantage of the benefits of such systems.

Usage

Content Management enables Web sites to be maintained without any prior programming knowledge. This means that employees remain focussed as only their core competence is addressed. The Web site programmer need not be concerned about the content that is to appear, and can concentrate only on the technical aspects while the content author, on the other hand, need not worry about HTML generation to get the content live.

Classical Web publishing methods consume 90% of the project costs just in the maintenance of a Web site with only 10% allocated to the design and development. Built-in automization within a CMS enable the maintenance effort to be reduced considerably. The major problems associated with classical publishing methods, such as link management, adherence to Corporate Identity, team co-ordination or security concept awareness, are all taken care of within the CMS.

Characteristics

Information is the raw material of interesting Web sites. Up until the introduction of Content Management Systems, this was always hard-linked to the page's HTML code. Once the Web site's content could be freed from the surrounding HTML code, completely new Web publishing opportunities arose. Web site Templates became the new boy on the block, and these enable the once static content to become interestingly dynamic, as it is now removed from its bounding HTML code and put to use in a media-independent manner.

A CMS stores the content, not as complete HTML documents, but as building blocks (images and text, for example). The appearance of the resulting Web site is controlled by the template, which contains pre-defined areas that govern which type of content should appear, and when. If the document is called from a server, then the individual components are loaded, placed in the pre-defined locations, and output to the screen in a formatted manner. Information can now be presented in a completely homogenous manner, without detracting from the Web site image, or having to create new documents each time - the required items are simply picked from a database, formatted according to the template design, and output to the screen.

Advantages

One clear advantage compared with more classical Web publishing methods is the integrated document/component management system offered by a CMS. All document texts, pictures and other components which make up the Web design are stored and administered in a database. This content can then be called upon for different purposes, archived or even kept to preserve the different variants so that the Web site can always be returned to a former state. The content is always kept separated from the design.