Case Studies & Examples

Content management systems (CMS)

Content management allows you to be self sufficient in the addition and editing of your website content

What is a content management system (CMS) ?

A content management system (CMS) is a system used to organise and facilitate creation of documents and other content.

A CMS is often a web application used for managing websites and web content.

Features of a content management system

CMS's allow users (typically authors of some sort) to provide new content to the website or in the form of articles. The articles are typically entered by someone not familiar with HTML programming as plain text. The Nexus systems allow formatting using a toolbar similar to a Word processor toolbar to indicate where other resources (such as pictures) should be placed.

Page details edit

The system then uses rules to style the article, separating the display from the content, which has a number of advantages when trying to get many articles to conform to a consistent "look and feel". The system then adds the articles to a larger collection for publishing.

The systems also often include some sort of concept of the workflow so that authors pass on to editors and publishers and so on.

For example a system for managing a web portal. In such a system the authors write articles in the system, which stores them in a database. Along with the article the system stores attributes, including keywords, the date and time, the reporter's name, etc.

More recently the term has been associated almost entirely with programs for editing web sites. Such systems span a wide variety of needs, from small systems with almost no workflow for small user-groups, to large database-based systems for running large, very active web sites such as those for an international corporation.

The Nexus system advantages

• The pages are search engine friendly they are rendered as HTML to give your site maximum exposure.
• The markup can be forced to produce accessible code
• The outer part of the site design, the template navigation and styles remain consistent
• The data can be rolled back to a previous version
• Previews of the data allow you to see the page before publication.

The CMS system

The Nexus Internet Solutions Ltd. content management system (CMS) uses compliance tested technology in a user friendly and intuitive interface, as shown in the administrator console screen below:

CMS administrator console.

The left hand side menu shows the pages that can be edited, in a familiar tree style layout, and the main body has 3 main sections. The page above shows the main content edit window that operates a series of familiar buttons on the toolbar. From here you can preview pages before they are rendered live and alter pages that are work in progress without affecting the main site (see Appendix for a detailed description).

The screen above allows modifications to the page titles and meta-data.

Styles and consistency

Business users format content by selecting from a drop-down menu of style options. The list is customisable and typically tailored to match the type of document the user is working in. This greatly simplifies the authoring process and ensures consistency of presentation

List of functions available in the Nexus content management system

- Numbering

This button creates an ordered list of sequentially numbered items.

- Bullets

This button creates an unordered list of bulleted items.

- Create Layout Table

This creates a table used for visual layout rather than for presenting data. Layout tables are typically used to arrange images and text to achieve a more pleasing visual effect.

- Create Data Table

This button creates a table used for presenting tabular data. An example would be a bus schedule or an expense report. Data tables typically have row and/or column headings and the data inside the table is read and understood in relation to the headings.

- Image

This button is used to insert images. Users can either enter a specific URL where the image can be found, browse a library of images, or select an image from their local computer.

- Line

This button inserts a line.

- Hyperlink

This button is used to insert or edit hyperlinks (or anchors). The button is active only when text or an image is selected.

- Undo

- Edit

Changes the editor's view to WYSIWYG mode.

- View Source

This button displays the XHTML source code of content managed by the editor.

- Browser Preview

This presents the editor's contents as IE would display them.

- Screen Reader Preview

This displays content managed through the editor as a screen reader would process it - in linear fashion. This feature gives authors opportunities to optimise content for accessibility.

- Spelling

This button spell-checks the contents of the editor.

- Bold

- Italic

- Cut

- Copy

- Paste

- Subscript

- Superscript

- Underline

- Strikethrough

- Add Block Quote

This button identifies content as a quotation and indents content as a block, justifying text to the right and left.

- Remove Block Quote

This removes block quotes.

- Indent

- Align Left

- Align Centre

- Align Right

The CMS toolbar is flexible and customisable. Buttons can be shown, hidden or re-arranged. Icons can be modified and new buttons can be added. The CMS interface also provides context-sensitive pop-up menus, or "context menus". These menus are accessed by right mouse clicks. The screenshot below shows the context menu that opens when users right-click on a table.

Useful links:

• Accessibility and Content Management
• Why Content Management Fails
• Designing a good website structure for CMS
• Content Management Whitepapers
• Component Content Management in Practice
• Website Content management