CleverStart

Maintaining and developing a website can be daunting to many people, while others look at it as an opportunity. Long gone are the days where your site will consist of 5-50 static (pages that never change) pages that just redirect each other around with a simple navigation or two. With today’s technology people are wanting a website that is dynamic and can grow as you do. Something that they can maintain and develop themselves instead of having to be tied to a web developer that may take a day or two for simple changes. Why not just change it yourself and have complete control over your own site?

Well your in luck because I am going to go over some features of my favorite content management system and some key items that you should be looking for when deciding on which CMS will be perfect for you.

1. Is it simple to use? Meaning do you have a series of steps that "must" be followed in order to make something work, or can you do what you want quickly and in any order you want to.

Wow, you can manage posts (or new articles), your pages and everything else with no prerequiste steps. This is the simplest and easiest to use CMS menu I could find, and I have installed 15+ different ones over the last year. Passed my simplicity test with flying colors.

2. Do you have to know html/css/ how to code something? The average user has no idea on how to do this, why try to force them to learn something just to write a new page or article? So the second test is, does it have a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor, where you can write, format and use images/flash files with no prior knowledge?

Looking at this easy to use menu, I can change text, font, alignment, add hyperlinks and a ton more. Close to the right side is a spot to upload flash files and images right to the server, and once uploaded it even fills out the details so you can just enter them right into your article. Once again this CMS has passed my WYSIWYG editor with some added bonuses such as spellcheck and the ability to add source code to the article if you do happen to know how to code with html/css.

3. Can you change your theme or website design on your own? My third test is whether or not you can change the design/theme on your own. So you updated a logo or want to change how something looks on your own real quick?

So far so good, I can change the theme/design and it looks like I can go in and edit the theme itself and make changes. But we haven’t passed this test yet, can I change that logo or design within the CMS?

Test passed. I can change the logo with ease, not only can I upload it through the admin section but I can also go right in and change it from the file itself. This is a key test to pass because it means that you will be able to support yourself with changes and your site will be able to adapt to any changes with no problem.

Are you excited yet? I love this CMS and it’s simple ways to do things without following procedures or steps. And on top of that, the user is empowered because they have full control over their website and how it is managed.

This concludes part 1, but this will be a three part article that will cover many different aspects of a CMS and how to rate them.

As always if you want more information about this CMS or anything else, just head over to CleverStart.com and give us a shout.