Decide on a Content Management System
The following is the definition of Content Management System from Business Dictionary dot com:
content management system (CMS)
DefinitionA software application used to upload, edit, and manage content displayed on a website. A content management system can perform a variety of different tasks for a website including regulating when content is displayed, how many times the content is shown to a specific user, and managing how the content connects or interacts with other elements of the website. This software also enables less technical individuals to manage content on a website easily without having an extensive coding background.
When creating a website, a CMS can really make the process of creating and maintaining the site much smoother than the original method, which consisted of writing files manually; uploading each of them; and then going through the whole process over and over each time any changes were made to the site. With a CMS, websites can be created and updated much more easily and from virtually any computer at any time through an Administrator login module.
Even web designers with an extensive background in writing code will almost always utilize a CMS when creating sites. The next question is then … “What CMS should I use and where do I get it?”
Some web designers create their own content management systems. There are also several software packages you can buy. However, I think the best solution is to use one of the “open source” packages available, which are distributed with a GPL or General Public License. GPL translates into free … free to download, free to share, free to update, free support. You get the idea – FREE. In addition to being free, these CMS packages which are distributed under GPL get updated regularly, have huge support forums, and a huge variety of plugins, modules, and components that can really make a website sing.