What Is a Content Management System?

What is a Content Management System?

Since this is a WordPress blog, I'll
answer the question in relation to
Wordress.

In simple terms, a Content Management
System is a system that allows you to
create web pages at will without having
to know HTML.

HTML is the computer language that lies
behind every web page, generally speaking.

More accurately, HTML is the computer language
that can be read by search engines that visit
your website and catalog what you've written
there.

So basically, HTML is two things to you. It
is a language that creates web pages that the
public can see.

Secondly, it is a language that can be read
by search engines, like Google, and these
search engines are able to catalog your web
page.

The fact that HTML is catalogable means that
your web page is searchable by the public.
That is to say, an HTML web page can be found
by the public becauee of what you've written
there.

For example, if you write an article about
knitting sweaters on a web page, a
search engine might pick it up and include
it in its search results when someone types
knitting sweaters in the search box.

You get the idea.

If a search engine can catalog your web page
writing in a very specific way, your web page
is HTML.

So what is a Content Management System?

It is a system for manageing HTML without having
to know HTML. That's a simple definition.

Perhaps a better and more accurate definition of
a Content Management System is a system that manages
your HTML for you.

A more practical definition of a Content Management
System is that it manages your web pages for you.

So we've now defined a Content Management System
several different ways.

There's more. There's more ways that a Content Management
System can be defined.

By the way, a Content Management System is often called
a CMS. I'll use this term from now on as well as Content
Management System.

CMS is short for Content Management System.

WordPress is a Content Management System or CMS.

According to this web page on the WordPress site,
Wordpress started out as a blogging system but has
evolved into a Content Management System:

Here's the page that explains this:

WordPress About Us Page

So basically, a Content Management System is more
than just a blogging system. A CMS is a full-blown
webpage system.

More later.

Ed Abbott