CMS Jam Content Management Systems: News and Resources

I’ve mentioned before that my favorite easy CMS is CMS Made Simple (CMSMS). One of the reasons I love it is because it can create search-friendly URLs. What is that and why does it matter?

What is a search-friendly URL?

A search-friendly URL is one that makes it easy for search engines to index and understand what a page is all about. For example, www.yoursite.com/blue-widgets/ tells Google, Yahoo!, etc. that the page blue-widgets is about “blue widgets”.

Why does it matter?

Search-friendly URLs gives a page an extra chance to rank well for that phrase. Many CMS’s will create URLs like this:

www.yoursite.com/id=128483&catno=82746&colid=7373

That makes it just a little harder for that page to rank for “blue widgets” than it would for the search-friendly URL. In addition, search-friendly URLs are…

Content management systems run the gamut from very basic and simple to extremely complex and feature-rich. Large organizations that have extensive staff members, all needing access to site editing, designing, and programming, are probably going to be using the high-end, expensive, feature-rich systems. The independent webmaster often has no need for such complexities [...]

In case you’ve been living under a CMS rock, I want to make sure you know about the best demo site that ever lived - OpenSourceCMS. This site has a fairly extensive array of open source (free) CMS packages already installed, and you can play with (test) every one of them. You can [...]

1. Web-based access to your site’s content, so you can edit from anywhere - home, work, vacation - any place with Internet access.
2. Ability to easily assign tasks to different people. Writers can create and edit content without worrying about messing up the design. Designers can tweak designs without stepping on the [...]

It’s only right that the very first CMS I touch on is the one that is my favorite - CMS Made Simple (or CMSMS for short). I chose this system for my own use because it’s name rings true. It really is easy to install, easy to set up, and easy to use…in other words, it’s simple. I’m geeky, it’s true, but that doesn’t mean I want to spend all my time working with overly complex tools. The geek in me can easily appreciate the time-saving factors of working with tools that are rich in functionality, but quick and easy to use.

I create and manage multiple web sites. What I don’t have a lot of is time.

Welcome to the official kickoff post of CMS Jam! So, what is CMS Jam all about? CMS is the acronym for Content Management Systems, and that’s what this blog is all about…managing your site content.

There are hundreds (maybe thousands) of content management systems on the market, and I certainly don’t intend to touch on all of them. Some are extremely high-end (or simply high-priced), and are usually aimed at the large enterprise market. You probably won’t read much about those products here. This blog is aimed at a completely different segment of the web population. I’m here to help you determine which CMS is best for your small-to-medium web site.