Content management system

A content management system (CMS) is a computer software system for organizing and facilitating collaborative creation of documents and other content. A content management system is sometimes a web application used for managing websites and web content, though in many cases, content management systems require special client software for editing and constructing articles. They can also be used for storage and single sourcing of documentation for a firm including but not limited to operators' manuals, technical manuals, sales guides, etc. The market for content management systems remains fragmented, with many open-source and proprietary solutions available.

The term was originally used for website publishing and management systems. Early content management systems were developed internally at organizations which were doing a lot of content publishing. In 1995, CNET spun out its internal development offerings into a separate company called Vignette, which opened up the market for commercial systems. As the market evolved, the scope of content management systems broadened, and the term is now used to refer to a range of technologies and techniques, including portal systems, wiki systems, and web-based groupware.

Types of content management systems

Several recognised types of content management systems exist:

Web content management systems assist in automating various aspects of web publishing, such as wikis.
Transactional content management systems (T-CMS) assist in managing e-commerce transactions.
Integrated content management systems (I-CMS) assist in managing enterprise documents and content.
Digital Asset Management systems assist in managing the lifecycle of digital media (video, graphics, marketing materials, photos, multimedia presentations).
Publications management systems (P-CMS) assist in managing the publications (manuals, books, help, guidelines, references) content life cycle.
Learning management systems (L-CMS) assist in managing the web-based learning content life cycle. See also managed learning environment.
Document imaging systems are also generally considered under the family of general content management.
Enterprise content management systems (E-CMS or ECM) vary in their functionality. Some support both the web and publications content life cycle, while others support the web content life cycle and either transactional content or customer relationship management content. The definition of ECM put forth by AIIM includes methods and tools that "capture, manage, store, preserve and deliver" content across an enterprise. "Manage" contains components like document management, collaboration, business process management, records management, email management, workflow and web content management. The ECM concept is not restricted to web-based technologies but includes client/server and hosted/On-demand solutions.
Platform Content Management Systems (PCMS) provide the ability to manage all objects (files, folders, programs, etc) on a given set of systems.
Web Portal Content Management Systems - Browser based software that allows concurrent users secure predetermined access to both common digital assets and individual digital dashboards.

External links

Communities and Associations

AIIM, the Enterprise Content Management Association (Association for Information and Image Management).
CENSA, the Collaborative Electronic Notebook Systems Association), scientific and technical content management industry experts association and community of practice.
CM Pros, Content Management Community of Practice.
OSCOM, the central organization for open source content management.

Directories of available systems

CMS Matrix Overview of (web) Content Management Systems.
Open Source Scripts Open Source Content Management Systems.
CMS Watch vendors page List of 40 major Web CMS Vendors at CMS Watch.
PHPXref CMS page Library of cross referenced Open Source Content Management Systems written in PHP.
Software-Pointers List of Content Management Tools.
OpenSourceCMS Directory of Open Source CMS applications with live demos.

Content management systems

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Types of content management systems

See also

External links