by Daniel J. Gansle

Created on: December 17, 2008

As a technical writer and courseware developer, I know firsthand the value of a content management system. With the focus on content these days; whether web pages, data, or technical documentation; content management systems become critical in the management and organization of various types of content.

But what exactly is a content management system, and how does it help organize your company's documents and data?

At the beginning of the tech revolution in the mid-to-late 1990s, we organized content via a tree structure using folders and documents in Microsoft Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. However, today's content is far more complex, requiring a more robust and efficient method of managing that content. That's where the content management system comes into play.

A content management system (CMS) is a very broad term used in the information technology industry to refer to any application that manages, creates, organizes, publishes, reports on, and edits content. The content can take various forms including web content, enterprise content, and source (intra-document) content. Let's take a closer look at these three forms of content and their respective content management systems.

1) Web Content CMS (WCM). At the birth of the internet in the mid-to-late 1990s, managing web content was fairly simple. But with the sheer complexity of web content we see today, the need for a CMS to manage the hundreds of website components is acute. Directories, navigation aids, marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), list pages, calendering, e-commerce, and more comprise today's websites. Web content management software brings all these components into an organized, easy to manage system that requires little or no knowledge of HTML or web programming. WCM software includes Bizzuka.com open source software such as Joomla! and WebGUI.

2) Enterprise CMS (ECM). In my role as a technical writer, I've seen firsthand the need for an enterprise (intra-company) content management system. Without a coordinated, organized effort to manage documentation, nobody really knows how to access the documentation or how to filter through to get the information they need. ECM software includes Navicat for MySQL, Bluenog ICE, and the just-released open-source Microsoft Oxite.

3) Component CMS (CCM). Component content management deals with content within each document, typically XML. Its role is to search for and link content, then create new publications out of snippets of content.

Complementing the content management system is the content management development framework (CMF). The CMF is comprised of robust engines and extensions that aid in customization. An example of a CMS software package that offers a CMF is an enterprise content management system called eZ Publish.

With the ever-growing complexity of content, the need for content management systems will grow at an increasingly rapid pace.

For up-to-date news and information on content management systems, visit CMSWire.com.

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