An Opensource Hybrid Forum + Wiki

A content management system or CMS as it is called for short, is a term used to describe a software system which allows you to build and manage a website or a blog. This type of system is critical to the success of almost every website, yet many people are not familiar with this technology.

If you have a website and have enjoyed watching it grow over a period of time, the chances are good that you want to improve it by yourself very quickly. More than likely a lot of the content on your site is outdated or not accurate, maybe it is hard for you and others to find things and updating the site is rather complex. Maybe the appearance of your site is less desirable to you than what it used to be. To worsen things even further, you may have lost track of all of the pages on your website, leading you to forget what was on the site last month or last year.

If this sounds very familiar, rest assured that you are not alone. As a matter of fact, this is what happens when a website is produced using manual tools such as Dreamweaver or Frontpage. If you depend on an external web designer to make changes, it could become costly and time consuming and in some cases frustrating.

A good CMS will enable you to make updates and changes to your website by yourself.

A good working definition of a CMS is this: It supports the creation, management, distribution, publishing and discovery of information. A CMS offers you simple tools needed to create the content for your website, publish it and then archive it in an orderly fashion. You are also allowed to easily alter the structure of your website, the way it looks as well as the navigation provided to your site visitors.

If you are a business owner, there are many benefits to using a CMS including:

• Fast content creation
• Quick TAT (turnaround time) for making changes
• Better site navigation
• More flexibility
• Better site security
• Reduction of duplicate information
• More allowance for growth
• Low site maintenance costs
• Search Engine friendly content

While most of us like to think that we are very capable and knowledgeable, the fact is rather than spending hours trying to code/design, we’d rather be expanding the business/website.  In spite of our efforts to learn HTML, JavaScript, a web language like PHP, graphic design etc –  most of us fall short in at least one area.  With the help of a CMS, even non-technical people can run and maintain a website with ease.

A CMS allows anyone to add content to their site. By just logging in with a user name and password and then using the web editor that is built in, you simply add your content when you please. You can also publish your content whenever you wish by creating a draft first and putting it online later. This comes in very useful if you are sourcing work from several authors or if you simply want to update your site at regular intervals.

A CMS also allows you to have very dynamic content on your website whenever you wish. You can create forums, polls, search functionality, shopping applications and news management easily and whenever you wish.

In short, a CMS allows for the division of design, structure and content. Every area of your website can be recreated and adjusted independently of the other areas. For instance, the design of your website can be changed without having to change the structure of the site or without having to alter your content. You can add some functionality without having to change the design and content and you can change the content without needing to change the design or functionality.  A content management system is flexible, easy to use and offers you a plethora of features which allows your site to grow.

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If you are in search of a better web editor or perhaps even your first editor to design your website, this article is designed to help you. We will take look at the top five, free web editors which allow you to build a website. While you can choose a commercial editor, you should consider taking a look at the free web editors first because they are not necessarily inferior to the paid editors.

There are two types of web editors or website builders as they are also called. The first is a WYSIWYG editor which means ‘what you see is what you get’. Using this type of editor is somewhat similar to using a word processor. You simply type in some words or add some photos on the web page and you will see immediately what your site will look like. The WYSIWYG editors allow you to choose from numerous themes and templates. You are allowed to change the background and text colors and can use the editor’s photos or your own so that your unique style comes out in your site.

The other type of web editor is the text-based editor. A text-based editor is optimized for one or more programming languages for the web such as Java, JavaScript, PHP, HTML, etc. These web editors come with ready-to-use scripts to make it easy for you to code your pages. If you wish to have complete control over your website, this is the type of editor you should consider using.

Here are the best five free website editors, in no particular order:

OpenOffice

This is a very well known, free, WYSIWYG open source web editor that allows you to create web pages. Included are numerous website templates to choose from. It offers you many images and sounds that you can use to enhance your site and OpenOffice is quite easy to learn how to use and is even fun.

Stone’s WebWriter

Stone’s is a great free web editor that is ideal for the beginner to use because it is easy to learn and is full of features that even a few of the paid  programs do not offer. You can edit HTML tags easily by right clicking and you are allowed to format your text in much the same way as you would with a word processor.

Easy HTML

Originating in Finland, EasyHTML is a feature-rich editor that offers you many options such as the ability to edit multiple pages at the same time. EasyHTML also has floating toolbars you can use, a built-in browser and JavaScripts that you can add to your page.

Web-O-Rama

This is another feature-filled editor that has a great interface with useful functionality such as innovative forms for adding images to your pages as well as sounds, tables, lists and links – just to name a few.  There are also drop-down menus, floating toolbars, a great status bar and a find & replace feature. Web-O-Rama is free but the owners do accept donations.

CoffeeCup Free HTML Editor 9.3

With built-in FTP uploading, the CoffeeCup Free HTML Editor is packed with features which allows anyone to design their own website. Included are wizards for creating tables, frames fonts and more. Use custom spell check for entering error-free code and HTML tag highlighting to keep track of your code. This editor is easy to use as you can upload your pages with a single click of the mouse. There are many nice background images available also to give your site a finished look.

It is hard to imagine today, but not so terribly long ago web designers had to hand code their websites from scratch. Just imagine the hassle associated with having to be certain every tag in HTML was perfect. If a big website was being built, it took weeks and even months for the site to become validated. Thankfully today there are web editors available that relieve us of those types of headaches. When designing your website, you need to find a web editor that is easy to use and to navigate. Hopefully this article has helped you to narrow down your search.

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