Content Management Tips
Read these 15 Content Management Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Web Development tips and hundreds of other topics.
Simple Content Management
To make site maintenence easier, try separating your design from your content. You can do in the most basic way by using "Include files". Include files are files "included" in your main pages - for example, you have your index.asp file that has your layout outline... your tables, stylesheet links, etc. Where you need your content, your text.. images, etc., you actually have a pointer to an included file that has all that in it, OR database calls to a table that contains that information. The reason? When the time comes to update the text, the images, etc., you wont have to plod through all your design html to figure out where that one line of text is that you need to change. Also, when you need to redesign a site, the content can stay the same, and not be tampered with while you make your site design changes. Include files are nothing new - many sites use include files to reuse code - for footers, headers, navigation, etc. For an example, see www.meridiandevelopmentsystems.com/lifetips/01.htm and a good resource for more information is here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnfp2k2/html/fp_includefiles.asp
Extending your CMS: Syndicated Content
If you operate an information resource website with your content management system, you might consider syndicating your content to websites with like interests. This will generate revenue and get your information out to more customers. Most CMS systems handle this with RSS feeds or traditional object sharing.
What is Content Management?
Content management systems are web applications that are deployed when a site has a large amount of content, often contributed by many authors. CM systems separate your content from the presentation of your website by serving your content from a database and populating your templates for publishing.
The Downside of Content Management
Implementing a content management system can be a lot of work, but with the right service provider, you should easily avoid any headaches. The one thing to think about with CMS is that once you commit to one system, it can be hard to convert to another if you are dissatisfied. You should consider all of your options and make sure that the CMS you choose will be effective and scalable. If you have hired a web development firm, they will usually have a CMS recommendation that will work with the platform in which they are developing. If this is the case, there is nothing wrong with following their recommendation, but make sure you learn about it prior to implementation.
The Benefits of Content Management: Template Create Consistency
Using templates, your content will be displayed consistently across your website and reduce your time and effort when it is time to revisit your brand. Unfortunately this benefit can also become problematic when you need your page layout to be more flexible.
Taking Content Management Further
Content management systems are often deployed to simplify the publishing process and ease the pain of a redesign. However your CMS will continue to work for you long after your initial implementation. You can also use CMS to improve your site search results, deliver personalized content to your users, streamline internationalization, extend your web applications or syndicate content to sites with similar interests.
The Benefits of Content Management: Implement Workflow
Imposing a workflow on your publishing projects giving you an automated way to manage the writing, editing, reviewing and approval processes in your workgroup. This can be a revealing situation for an organization, allowing them to discover and adjust workload bottlenecks.
Extending your CMS: Don't Fear the Redesign
One of the greatest things about implementing a content management system is that it will allow the site redesign process to be simplified greatly. By removing the arduous production nightmare of moving all your content into a new template, you can concentrate on getting the design right and 'flipping' the design when you've perfected it.
The Benefits of Content Management: Version Control
One of the biggest benefits of having a Content Management System is the ability to maintain version control history for your documents. Content changes can be tracked and monitored. You even can quickly and easily revert content to a previous version if necessary.
The Benefits of Content Management: Share the Workload
Struggling with the bottlenecks associated with maintaining a medium to large-sized website? Content Management allows you to share the workload of adding, editing and maintaining content. Tasks are defined in the system and distributed across multiple users in your workgroup.
The Benefits of Content Management: Keep it in One Place
Content Management systems maintain all your content in a dynamic content repository that allows you to manage and reuse content, images, page templates and binary files. Having everything in one places allows you the ability to maintain version control, ensure contributors only have access to their own content and more easily integrate with other web applications.
Extending your CMS: User-Friendly Search Engines
A CMS system can integrate with your website search engine allowing you to further assist your users in their search. Tag your content to establish categories that will simplify -- and improve the usability of -- your search engine results.
Extending your CMS: Go Global!
If you're thinking about going global and localizing your website to new overseas markets, your CMS system can help streamline the internationalization process by modifying established workflows to accommodate translation and review. Even third-party translation houses have experience working with CMS. Be wary though! It is important to research some of the cultural aspects of website usage in the countries you're targeting.
Simple Content Management
To make site maintenence easier, try separating your design from your content. You can do in the most basic way by using "Include files". Include files are files "included" in your main pages - for example, you have your index.asp file that has your layout outline... your tables, stylesheet links, etc. Where you need your content, your text.. images, etc., you actually have a pointer to an included file that has all that in it, OR database calls to a table that contains that information. The reason? When the time comes to update the text, the images, etc., you wont have to plod through all your design html to figure out where that one line of text is that you need to change. Also, when you need to redesign a site, the content can stay the same, and not be tampered with while you make your site design changes. Include files are nothing new - many sites use include files to reuse code - for footers, headers, navigation, etc. For an example, see www.meridiandevelopmentsystems.com/lifetips/01.htm and a good resource for more information is here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnfp2k2/html/fp_includefiles.asp
Extending your CMS: Personalize Their Experience
Although there are differing opinions on the use of cookies – little files left by websites you visit – they quite effectively allow content management systems to deliver personalized content to users based on information retained in cookies or a login schema. Additionally, if you implement multiple templates, users can choose to view your content the way they like to see it.
| Guru Spotlight |
| Carma Spence-Pothitt |
