Arc's Track Record of CMS Development in Chicago

In the past several years, we've seen a dramatic increase in the demand for high quality, easy-to-use content management systems systems (CMS) as part of the websites of corporations, governments, associations, and other entitites. More and more of Arc's web development engagements have either been principally focussed on content management systems (CMS), or have had content management systems (CMS) as a key element.

Today, a range of open source CMSs are available; the two most popular are Drupal and Joomla.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the driving forces behind the need for every business and other organization to have a robust and easy-to-use content management system.

Far and away, the most important feature of a content management system is a user-friendly administrative back end.

How can we help you with your content management system needs? Contact us today to learn more . . .

The Content Management System (CMS) - Beyond just HTML

In the beginning days of the World Wide Web, website development meant creating HTML pages. All that mattered was that content could be rendered in a web browser.

Today, a great deal of website development is still done using flat HTML files. In some cases, editing tools such as Dreamweaver are employed, and sometimes cascading style sheets (CSS) are part of the website, but the results is still a set of flat files.

As more and more website managers are realizing, there is a nearly continuous need to update the content of websites. In order to reduce the number of people that have to be involved in each update, methods have evolved to do "content management." Thus, company staff may update website pages directly, for instance using a tool like Wordpress, instead of relying on a web development firm for each change.

But far more effective than submitting changes using Wordpress is to employ a full-fledged content management system (CMS), such as the Joomla CMS. The principal benefit is that you have a total grasp of each page as you are editing it, and can move swiftly from page to page.

Moreover, search engine optimization (SEO) has become an essential task in website management. The Joomla CMS and other content management systems (CMS) make SEO efficient.

What are some of the other reasons Content Management Systems (CMS) are so important? Since design is separated from content with databases and templates, design and feature changes can be deployed instantly across a website. Searching, maintaining and updating content becomes easy and intuitive. It lets multiple content creators, editors and publishers work together with workflow and versioning controls. A scalable and robust architecture increases site performance while graphical editing tools create the simplest yet most powerful content environment.

CMS Development in Chicago: From the Dojo CMS to the Joomla CMS

Arc began its work in content management systems (CMS) about 6 years ago with a proprietary system called Dojo. Eventually, we recognized the benefits of a CMS that had a large user and developer community. We moved to Mambo, and ultimately to its successor, the open-source system Joomla.

Today, Joomla is experiencing rapid growth, and that's why we are focusing our efforts on Joomla. While some users still have Mambo implementations, we recommend they migrate to Joomla, and that any new users migrate to Joomla.

Similarly, while Drupal is a popular CMS, it has been overtaken in popularity by Joomla, and we believe that month-by-month the size and robustness of the Joomla community will make it the clear choice for people selecting a CMS.

Web Design Best Practices: What Makes a Good Content Management System (CMS)?

An essential feature of any content management system (CMS) -- and one of the principal things we focus on at Arc -- is the relationship of content to website navigation and menus.

Another essential feature of content management systems (CMS) is how they integrate with search engine optimization (SEO) and keyword search.

A content management system (CMS) is only as useful as its administrative back end. If administrative users can get their jobs done effectively, the application can be a success in the long run.

For more information about Content Management Systems (CMS) . . .

For an exhaustive comparison of major content management systems (CMS), refer to Open Source Content Management page.

Two major open source content management systems (CMS) are Joomla! and Drupal.