What is a CMS?

A Straightforward Definition

"A Content Management System (or "CMS") is a system that allows users to manage their website content". Let's break down the term to understand why a CMS is a popular commodity today, and how using one can be beneficial to you and your business or organization.

What is Content?

Content is, in essence, any type of digital information. It can be text, photo images, graphic illustrations, videos, audio files, documents, records, and so on - in other words, anything that is likely to be managed in an electronic format.

What is Content Management?

Content Management is the ability to create and manage the digital information described above.

What is the System?

A 'System' is one or more tools that allow the presentation of managed content.

To sum it up: A CMS is an application (usually a collection of tools) that enables a variety of technical and non-technical staff to create, edit, manage and publish a variety of content.

From Static to Dynamic

In the early days of the World Wide Web, it became apparent that it was essential for businesses and organizations to have a web presence. Most of these 'first-generation' sites were static. A website was seen simply as a digital representation of print marketing materials. Editing these sites required very specific technical knowledge.

In response to the realization that websites needed regular content updates, the next generation of web tools was developed. These early CMS applications allowed users to edit content but were geared toward web professionals not the website owners. Most companies, particularly small- to mid-size companies did not have the technical expertise in-house and therefore, relied on a webmaster to change their content. This could take an hour, a day, a week, or a month so they clearly did not have control over their content.

Next came the development of web authoring tools that were directed toward the 'average' user. The driving force behind this was fueled in part by the widespread use of social media. The average user became accustomed to incorporating a variety of digital content easily and why shouldn't all content management tools be the same.

KNOWare™ CMS represents the advent of the next generation of content management systems--a collection of web authoring tools designed to be customized for an individual business or organization. We recognize that every client is unique and so the tools they use to manage their web presence should be unique as well.