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Our Content Management System

SHORT HISTORY

Hot Metal and Pagemill were some of the first tools web editors used to create websites way back in the 20th Century. We know because we used to use Pagemill.

Then other, slightly more advanced editors joined the frey until today, there is only one major HTML editor on the market: Adobe's [used to be Macromedia's] Dreamweaver.

Somewhere in that history, large, enterprise-level websites emerged like amazon.com. These websites stored all their content in a database that was programmed to work with web browsers. We started to notice something was different because the web addresses started to get very long and have strange characters in them like this one from amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470259337/ref=s9int_c4_img2rfc_p?pf_rd_ m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center2&pf_rd_r=0QFVRY9J1195P9Z79M73& pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=371408701&pf_rd_i=507846

If you're a programming geek, you'll recognize the above URL as a coded database query because that's what it is. But it's nothing you can write down or say over the phone to a friend. Our Content Management System uses a method to simplify the kind of URL like the one above to something humans can read, understand and remember. Large websites like Amazon.com couldn't use "over-the-counter" editors like Dreamweaver and often had to create their own custom-made editors. And as you expect, that all cost well into seven figures back before the turn of the century. But it offered a way to manage large amounts on information on a website.

Not long after the turn of the century, affordable Content Management Systems like the one we use, started to come on the scene offering some basic features and the ability of small to medium sites to grow into larger ones in a manageable way.

TODAY

There are many Content Management Systems on the market aimed at all kinds of applications. Most are commercial, proprietary softwares that run on specific server environments and cost $$$$$ or more. We decided to use the open-source Drupal CMS since if the proprietary CMS company goes out of business, so do you. An open-source, data-driven Content Managment System [CMS] like Drupal has advantages over the traditional HTML code website that would fill a New York phone book. Here are just seven quick advantages:

  1. First and foremost is its inherent advantages with all the search engines.
  2. Its global editing capabilities that go beyond 20th century template and "page include" pages.
  3. Its ability to completely change the theme or the basic design of an entire website by checking a box.
  4. The availability of over 1500 features that can be added to a website without a lot of custom programming.
  5. Browser-based administration: no need for 3rd party editing programs like Dreamweaver.
  6. Friendly URLs: page addresses that are not only written in human language, but search engine friendly.
  7. Supported by a world-wide community of thousands of developers.

The greatest advantage is that you can start small, and keep growing without having to worry that you are out-growing your system. Plus, Drupal is continuously evolving with new features and versions coming out regularly. A major core upgrade comes out annually.

Drupal makes it possible for small organizations to start building their communities today, cost-effectively and be able to afford expanding it into the future by adding on features and upgrading to new levels.

Contact us to find out exactly what this can mean in your case.