Ever wondered how blogs are created?
Bloggers are individuals who create and publish blogs . And blogs are online platforms or websites where bloggers express themselves through writing, share their thoughts and experiences for readers or co-bloggers to learn from. Blogging ranges from politics to food or fashion or technology, nature, business and lots more. And it take various forms like videos, images often written articles and others.
I got to think today on how a blogger’s application was created and the most i could think of was just making some designs on the client-side(frontend) with your framework or easy HTML/CSS and Javascript adding the essential crazy functionalities, going to the server-side(backend) structuring the whole model, performing the CRUD (Create, Read, Update and Delete) operation so bloggers can perform the functions via the client-side and then kicking it all into a database. But of course it has to be more than this right?! Orrrr much easier than this
Let’s take a look at this and delve a little deeper into it….
What Is a Content Management System (CMS)?
A CMS short for Content Management System is a software that helps its users read, modify and create contents on a website without having a technical knowledge. In other words, you don’t need to learn how to code to make blogs. What a sweet relief for non-developing writers.
Starting with a piece of content, without the content management system, you’d have to write up some HTML jargons and then upload to your server which could be a little difficult right?
With a content management system like WordPress, Drupal or Joomla, you can write a content that looks a good bit like your taste.
A little feel of creating a content with wordPress
similarly to adding an image or any media.
Is Medium a CMS?
I got kinda confused on thinking if Medium is a content management system. Well it is not a CMS in the conventional sense. While CMS platforms, such as WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla, provide users with the tools to create and manage entire websites, Medium is more specifically designed as a content publishing and social platform. it serves as a content-focused platform that simplifies the process of publishing and sharing articles.
Unlike traditional CMS platforms, Medium is more streamlined, offering limited customization options and handling technical aspects like hosting for its users. Additionally, Medium’s Partner Program allows writers to earn money based on the engagement their content receives from the Medium community. Overall, Medium is known for its user-friendly interface and focus on facilitating content creation and discovery.
What Makes up a Content Management System?
On a more technical level, a content management system is made up of two core parts:
A content management application (CMA) — this is the part that allows you to actually add and manage content on your site (like you saw above).
A content delivery application (CDA) — this is the backend, behind-the-scenes process that takes the content you input in the CMA, stores it properly, and makes it visible to your visitors.
Together, the two systems make it easy to maintain your website, they essentially handle all the code, database queries, infrastructure and other jargons in the back end so you can focus on the front end of your site where both you and your visitors can see.
What Is the Best CMS Platform?
Well that i cannot say but WordPress holds 62.5% market shares on websites with a known content management system. Focusing on WordPress.org, which is the website where the actual open-source WordPress content management system is stored. Beyond WordPress, there are other quite popular conetent management system like
. Joomla
. Drupal
. Magento(for ecommerce)
. Wix
. etc
Most content management systems are pretty flexible nowadays. While there are some that focus on a specific use — like Magento and eCommerce — most of the popular content management systems can be used to create essentially any type of website.
For example, you can use WordPress to power:
Static websites
Blogs
eCommerce stores
Forums
Social networks
Online courses
Membership sites
Portfolios
How to Build a Website with a Content Management System
Building your own website with a content management system is quite simple, the general process looks something like this:
Purchase web hosting and a domain name
Install your content management system of choice on your web server
Configure the content management system to dictate how your site looks and functions
Start writing content using the content management system’s interface.
And now this got me wondering again, How are Content Management Systems built?
Read up on my post on Learning Management Systems.