The Executive's Guide to Content Management Systems

content
management
systems,
untangled

if you like this program, you may also like

of grass, wires, plumbing, home
entertainment walls, cheeseburgers,
surgeons and crows … apologies for
the mixed metaphors

why we do research and share our thinking?

what is a CMS, what does it do
flexibility and what a CMS can’t do
open source v. proprietary
confusion’s source: a gathering of crows
the right questions to ask
agenda

a cms serves as an interface
between your web content and display
database your websitecms

… the CMS works between marketing
content and distribution modes
(website, email alerts, proposals, etc)

allows non technical users to manage
different types of data on their own
things like images, videos, narratives (text), audio, etc …
a CMS puts you in the driver’s seat

the best are easy to use and fitted to the
tasks you are trying to accomplish

it can’t alter your “display” without a cost

You cannot move the
logo from place to place.
It’s in a fixed position, a
position decided when
the site was designed.
You cannot move the
subnavigation around but
you CAN rename it to fit
the content of the page
as you like.
You cannot change the
size or color of the
headlines or text but you
CAN swap out the copy
in the center and add
pictures, diagrams,
maps, charts and graphs.
so what can/can’t I do with a CMS?

You cannot move
the fixed position
of the main navigation
but you CAN change the
names and the order of
the navigation
You cannot move the
sidebars around the page
but you CAN move them
up and down and you
CAN change the content
of the sidebars as well as
the pages they are
related to. You CAN also
add videos or images if
the sidebar was designed
to accommodate them.

You CAN insert a
new name but not
change the style of
the presentation
You cannot move the
sidebars around the
page but you CAN
open or close the
bars so they display
and enrich the page
or shut down and
clean up the page
You CAN swap
out the image and
the quotation but
you cannot move
the position of the
image on the page
You CAN change
the contact information
but not its organization
or styling
headlines or text but
you CAN swap out the
copy in the center and
add pictures,
diagrams, maps,
charts and graphs.

what is a web page template?
 one of the structured pages of your
website
 some websites have a single temple,
more common to have four to six with two
or three variations on each
 remember: while a single page design can
give enormous flexibility and freedom, you
can’t just move everything in a free for all

the give and take between the display
and your database is strict
database your websitecms

what is a wireframe and its role?
 a wireframe is just another way of thinking
about a template
 before sites are built, wireframes are
written to define all of the functionality
desired on the page
 a good CMS is not restrictive to design
 only limit to page design is the imagination
of the designer or the courage of the client
 but again, once it is coded to display, the
CMS flexibility has its limits

open source
“free” and “flexible”
built by a community
industry agnostic
good at a lot of things,
great at none
go anywhere for service
“less” secure (open)
proprietary
comes with a license fee
built by proprietor
wears an industry hat
great for specific needs
for outfits like yours
serviced by owner
“more” secure (closed)
oversimplifying the complex …

note: nothing is “free;” you need to
consider the total cost of “ownership” …
or getting the open source cms to safely
and dependably do what a proprietary
cms is built to do

consider the total cost of ownership

also note: once you customize an open
source CMS, it becomes proprietary and
you are the proprietor

takeaway: when something is not
working, clients often prefer the “one-
throat-to-choke” model. There is a more
direct line of responsibility in a
proprietary model than in open source.

another takeaway: telling a non-
technical business user that open
source is more flexible or better is like
telling a patient that one plastic surgeon
is better than another because one
gives you the freedom to operate on
yourself. The point is, you can’t.

remember: if you want to change your
display to keep up, you must go back to
the developers for changes (you’re
always beholden to the open source or
proprietary coders)

what is a CMS, what does it do
flexibility and what a CMS can’t do
open source v. proprietary
confusion’s source: the gathering of crows
the right questions to ask
agenda

a gathering of crows
(the IT team, vendors and marketing)

the reality, everyone has an agenda
and it ain’t yours

burned before
 the vendor was charming but went
belly up 18 months after launch

burned before
 the vendor was reliable but in 6
months the CMS was out of date

burned before
 another CMS I missed in our search
had more, better features

burned before
 the IT boys knew networks, not
websites, but threw their weight around

burned before
 my IT department was so intent on
learning SharePoint on the fly, our site
was delayed by months

burned before
 in marketing, some of us learned
enough from our last experience to be
very vocal

burned before
 our marketing partners brother’s
nephew has a friend who told me…

so what’s a highly competent,
somewhat tech-experienced,
slightly tech literate, frustrated executive
supposed to do?

learn to ask the right questions
learn to ask the
right questions

before you question,
here’s a tip
forget looking
for the final,
holy grail
solution— it
doesn’t exist;
only change is
constant

does the CMS have
the features you
want here and now

you can help yourself by:
 knowing which features/functions are
important to you and why
 distinguishing between “must have”
and “nice to have”
 making a list, checking it twice
 understanding that “today’s” features
are less relevant, thanks to the cloud

have you considered
the future

you can help yourself by asking…
 is the CMS in the cloud?
 are new features pushed as available
or on a set schedule?
 how frequently are enhancements
delivered?
 is there a cost in implementing
enhancements?

is it easy to use,
easy to learn

 knowing that ease of installation is
different than ease of use
 getting a demo and having a list of
questions prepared
 looking to see if experienced users of
any CMS smile during the demo

 intuitive?
 easily learned?
 easy to use?
easily enter content?

does the CMS
deliver the flexibility
you require

 knowing what flexibility means to you
 understanding the difference between
a CMS’s “flexibility” and the flexibility of
your site design/display

You CAN insert a
new name but not
change the style of
the presentation
You cannot move the
sidebars around the
page but you CAN
open or close the
bars so they display
and enrich the page
or shut down and
clean up the page
You CAN swap
out the image and
the quotation but
you cannot move
the position of the
image on the page
You CAN change
the contact information
but not its organization
or styling
headlines or text but
you CAN swap out the
copy in the center and
add pictures,
diagrams, maps,
charts and graphs..

is your team an
aggressive user

 knowing if you will be making changes
frequently, adding pages and stretching
its capabilities
 canvassing the team to get an accurate
idea of what you do now and are
frustrated doing…now

is the CMS scalable

 using your analytics to gauge the
typical load then estimating reasonable
increased load
 knowing if the strategic plan calls for
rapid growth

is the CMS secure

 taking host security seriously
 understanding plugin risks
 having a plan for the failure of the CMS
developer

will it help me do
effective SEO work

The Executive's Guide to Content Management Systems

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Editor's Notes