Common questions about Content Management Systems

[cj cunniff]

I've been working in the higher education arena for a long time now and one thing I find over and over is confusion regarding CMS systems. Some of the more common questions I hear are:

1. What is a content management system process and how does it work?
2. What is a Content Management System (CMS)?
3. What are the benefits of using a CMS? What are the cons?
4. How much do CMSs cost? What about maintenance costs? Labor costs?
5. What processes work best in higher education institutions for the flow of web content if you are using a CMS? (i.e. authors, approvers, etc.)
6. Do CMSs address accessibility?
7. What features are critical for a CMS to include?
8. What features are “nice to have” in a CMS?
9. What technical implications should be considered when assessing CMS options (hardware requirements, bandwidth requirements, etc.)?
10. What’s the best way to go about choosing a CMS?
11. What are some of the most common mistakes/oversights made when it comes to implementing a new site in a new CMS?

These are all very good questions and I think they deserve some serious thought by anyone who has a stake in an institutional website. Over the next couple of months I'm going to try to at least touch on these issues. With that said, I will also be hosting a roundtable discussion at this years Sim Tech Conference hosted by Stamats in St. Petersburg, Florida November 5-8.

If you are interested in this topic and have some additional questions or thoughts I would love to hear from you.

[cj cunniff]

It seems like the answer to what a content management system is should be very straight forward. But then I started looking around at different so called CMS systems and I realized that i wouldn't offer most of them to my clients because I didn't feel like they were truly contment management systems. So what is the big difference?

There are some systems out there that basically do nothing more than let you type in some text and place that text somewhere on a page. Well... that is all well and good, but how does that help you manage you content?

The key point to a CMS should not be that it has some kind of a pretty bell or whistle, it should be that it is able to help you provide the information to your audience in a way they want it, in a way that is accurate, and in a way that is timely.

I think in order to be called a cms, the system you are looking at should:
1) Have a workflow process built in
2) Have flexibility in its programming capabilities to meet you needs
3) Help ensure up to date content, by allow you to select go live dates for you content
4) Provide options for the presentation of your content to different types of users (mobile users for example)

If your system can do at least those basic things, then I would say you have a solid CMS on your hands!

[cj cunniff]

I was thinking about my first question today: "What is a content management system process and how does it work?". I think, unfortunately that too many people rely on the standard "what is built into the cms in terms of workflow" mantra. The problem is that if you are starting your cms process at that point, you have already lost. All you will focus on is what to do IF someone bothers to update a page on the site. I larger question is what process should be in place to encourage people to edit pages on THEIR site.

I think the part part of a CMS process should be developing a full plan for campus wide buy-in (or at least as much buy-in as you can reasonably hope to attain). From there, you need training. Not just on how to use the system, but how to write for the web, keywords to focus on, etc. Once you have a solid team in place, and a lot of excitement, then it's time to start worrying about User groups, workflows, site maintenance schedules, etc.

I would love to hear feedback from anyone who has been involved in a CMS process, and how it's worked for you. What have been your biggest successes, and your biggest pit-falls so far? How can the community help provide you with feedback to overcome some obstacles or just improve what you've got in place so far?

[Eddie Merille]

Looking forward to this discussion. Thanks!!